Sentence-Final Particles

There appear to be ordering restrictions for Sentence-Final Particles in Igala based on sentence meaning. As described in Simpson, sentence final particles are “phonologically small elements, most frequently monosyllabic, which typically (and in most instances must) occur in final position.” Prior studies of the structural position of SFPs in Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Niger-Congo languages have observed SFPs are head-final elements sentence-finally in otherwise head-initial languages (Paul). This observation challenges the Final-over-Final constraint, first proposed by Holmberg in the year 2000. The FOFC states that a head-initial XP cannot be dominated by a head-final VP.

Negation

Example of Negation:

(1)

ű	h(i)	ɔ̀dʒ(e)	àbátʃà	ŋ̌
1SG	cook	morsel	cassava	NEG
‘I didn't cook mashed cassava’ (D:734).

Questions

Final Lengthening

The lengthening of a sentence final segment seems to be related to question formation in Igala. Most commonly, the final segment is either a vowel or the negational morpheme n.

(1) Sentence with out final lengthening.

ɛ̄	dʒ(ɛ)	ɔ̄dā	ɔ̀nálɛ́
2SG	eat	pear	yesterday
‘You ate a pear yesterday.'

(2) Sentence with final lengthening.

ɛ̄	dʒ(ɛ)	ɔ̄dā	ɔ̀nálɛ́	:
2SG	eat	pear	yesterday	?
‘Did you eat a pear yesterday?'