Igala Grammar
Disclaimer
This wiki is currently under construction. The information on this page stems from the research that began with the field methods class taught at the McGill Department of Linguistics in Winter 2021.
Cultural Information
Background Information
Igala, known to the Igala people as “àbó ígálâ [àbóogálâ] in their language” is both an ethnic nationality and language (Ẹ̀jẹ̀bá 2016:1)[1]. Certain cultural groups such as the Bassa people maintain an Igala identity while other groups such as the Inoma or Ebu do not view themselves as Igala people (Ẹ̀jẹ̀bá 2016:2). These divergent identities result from different historical interactions between these groups and the Igala people of the Kogi State (Ẹ̀jẹ̀bá 2016)[1].
The Igala territory in Kogi State of Nigeria lies east of the state, and the people are in nine Local Government Areas, out of the sixteen in the state. The Igala Local Governments are Ankpa, Bassa, Dekina, Ibaji, Idah, Igalamela/Odolu, Ofu, Olamaboro and Omala. (Ẹ̀jẹ̀bá 2016)[1].
Spoken by approximately 2,000,000 people (Etu 1999 and Omachonu 2000), Igala is one of the nine main languages in Nigeria (Williamson 1990). The name Igala refers to the people as well as their language (Boston 1968, Williamson 1989b, Ukwedeh 1989 and Etu 1999). The Igala language belongs to the New Benue-Congo branch within the Niger-Congo phylum. It is coordinate with such languages as Yoruba, Itsekiri, Igbo, and Idoma. (Ẹ̀jẹ̀bá 2016)[1].
The Pear Story
The Pear Story is a six-minute film that was produced at the University of California at Berkeley in 1975 and shown to speakers of a number of languages, who were asked to tell what happened in it. In the meantime it has been used in a variety of other studies across other languages. The goal has been to present cinematically a series of more or less natural events to multiple viewers, who are then asked to verbalize what they remember. (UCSB Linguistics) [1].
Dorcas Otu, a native (first language) speaker of Igala, recorded herself telling the pear story. The Winter 2021 Field Methods class, transcribed the story based on Dorcas's recording [2].
Phonology
The phonology of Igala consists of a mid sized inventory of consonants and vowels. Igala is a tonal language. (Main page: Tone)
Phonological Inventory
Consonants
The consonants in Igala are given below.
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Co-articulated velar labial | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | k g | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Fricative | h | |||||||
| Affricate | tʃ dʒ | |||||||
| Approximant | w | ɹ | tʃ dʒ | j | ||||
| Lateral Approximant | l |
Vowels
According to Ejeba (2016), there are seven vowels in Igala. [1] The vowels in Igala are given below.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i | u | |
| Mid | ɛ e | o ɔ | |
| Low | a |
Phonotactics
Syllables in Igala are in the form V, VC, or CVC. The maximal syllable in Igala is CVC.[1]
There are distributional restrictions on where each syllable can appear. CVC can only occur in isolated form. CV can occur word-initially, word-medially, word-finally, or in isolated form. V can occur in all cases except for word medially.
Vowel Hiatus
From a preliminary overview of Igala, it appears that Igala does not tolerate consecutive vowels to be realized in hiatus. Simple morphemes containing hiatus are unattested from what I have been thus far able to observe, and additionally, when adjacent vowels from separate words come into contact in fluid speech, the newly formed hiatus undergoes repair. Take for example, the sentence:
(1)
| a | dabi | t | ido |
| a | dabi | ta | ido |
| 1PL | turn.back | dance(V) | dance(N) |
| We danced again. |
Note: The two vowels in hiatus and its repair are put in bold
In order to repair an underlying hiatus, the initial vowel of the VV string must delete, which we see in the above sentence where the consecutive ta + ido yield tido. The exception to this pattern of deletion is when the initial vowel of the sequence is i, in which case the hiatus becomes diphthongized. In other words, the initial high front vowel becomes a glide and yields a jV string, as seen in the following:
(2)
| Ɛ̋nɛ̋ | lʲ | ɛ̂ | ì/ȷ̀ |
| Ɛ̋nɛ̋ | lí | ɛ̀ | ì |
| Who | see | you | EMPH |
| Who saw you ? / Who saw you! |
It is important to note that as first vowel is elided, the tone associated to it does not similarly disappear but rather merges with the following tone to create a new contour tone (tone sandhi). This phenomenon is evidenced in the above phrase with the formation of a contour tone in lí ɛ̀ à lʲ ɛ̂.
Puzzles regarding Hiatus
When one takes a more comprehensive look into Igala, it becomes clear that not all hiatuses can be repaired in fluid speech as one would have expected based off data like (1) and (2). For instance, if you try deleting the first vowel in examples like the following, an Igala speaker would likely not register the meaning that you are attempting to convey.
(3)
| àbùkpéōmī | |
| àbùkpé | ōmī |
| segment | water |
| Lake |
This cannot be reduced to a simple phonological puzzle where some constraint determines which combinations of vowels repair and which do not, since the exact same combination of vowels repair will repair for hiatus in one situation yet be unable to do so in another. This inconsistency can be observed in the VV combination ‘e+o’ which cannot repair in (3) àbùkpéōmī yet does in the following example:
(4)
| eŋwu | tʃ | odu | wɛ | lɛ | ta: |
| eŋwu | tʃe | odu | wɛ | lɛ | ta: |
| what | AUX | name | your | DEF.DIST | Q? |
| What is that your name (again)? |
Loanword Phonology
Since nouns in Igala begin with a vowel. When non-Igala words are used in Igala, if the word does not already begin with a vowel, a vowel is typically added to the beginning of the word.
For example, the proper name ɹəi 'Ray' becomes iɹəi 'Ray' in Igala.
Vowel Deletion
Often, when one word is vowel-final and the next is vowel-initial the final vowel of the first word will be deleted (as shown below).
(1)
| álādì | t(a) | ídò | f(i) | āgārā | kpà |
| aladi | dance(V) | dance(N) | PERF1 | spider | kill |
| ‘Aladi danced and killed a spider.’ | |||||
Tone
Main page: Tone
There are four level tones (Low (à), Mid (ā), High (á), and Super High (a̋)) and two contour tones (Falling (ǎ) and Rising (â)).
In Igala, tones are involved in morphological processes.
Morphology
Igala is a dominantly isolating language, thus the languages does not make use of derivational or inflectional affixation.
Nouns in Igala end with a vowel.
Nouns
Main page: Noun Phrases
Plural Nouns
In Igala, the morpheme àma pluralizes an animate noun. An example of noun pluralization in Igala is shown below.
(1)
| ū | tʃě | n(ɛ) | ám(a) | ēwú |
| 1SG | do | have | PL | goat |
| ‘I have goats’ (D:4). | ||||
Nominalization
Main page: Nominalization
In Igala, nominalization occurs with the addition either the morpheme ɛ/e or the morpheme a, as shown in the examples below.
In this example, ido ta alone means 'to dance,' while the additional of the morpheme e gives the nominal meaning 'dancing' to the word.
(1)
| ido | e | ta | tʃe | ɛŋʷu | ɔla | mi |
| dance(N) | NMLZ | dance(V) | do | thing | body | 1SG.OBJ |
| ‘Dancing is my favorite thing (to do)' (D:193). | ||||||
(2)
| é | n(ɛ) | ɔ́bē | álādì | n(ɛ) | ɔ́bē | kp(a) | ādʒūwɛ̄ | lɛ̀ |
| NMLZ | use | alado | use | knife | kill | chicken | DEF.DIST | |
| ‘It was the use of knife that aladi used knife to kill the chicken’ | ||||||||
Reduplication
(1)
| imɔtɔ | onɛkɛlɛ | lɛ | rulɛ | ti | itʃekbulu | jè | jè | jè | jè |
| young boy | DEF.DIST | run(V) | run(N) | to | school | slowly | slowly | slowly | slowly |
| ‘The young boy ran to school very slowly’ (D:10). | |||||||||
Verbs
Syntax
Igala is a largely head-initial language. The basic word order of Igala is SVO (subject verb object).
Noun Phrases
Main page: Noun Phrases
Noun phrases in Igala are left-headed (??).
Determiners
In Igala, lɛ acts as a determiner. lɛ seems to have a similar meaning to English's 'the' or 'that.' lɛ is a definite article, not a demonstrative.
An example of lɛ
(1)
| ɔnɛkɛlɛ | lɛ | nɛ | imoto |
| man | DEF.DIST | drive | car |
| ‘The man drove a car.’ | |||
In Igala, ji is a definite article. ji is a definite article. It is a proximal (??)
An example of ji.
(2)
| tʃɔ́tʃì | jī |
| church | this |
| ‘This church.’ | |
The determiner follows the head noun:
(3)
| ɔ̋nɛ́kɛ̄lɛ́ | l(ɛ) | a̋ | f(a) | ītébùlù | lɛ́ | ī: |
| man | DEF.DIST | IPFV | pull | table | DEF.DIST | EMPH |
| What does this sentence mean? | ||||||
Personal Pronouns
The citation forms of Igala personal pronouns are on initial low and final mid tones for subjects/objects, and on initial rising and final mid tones for genitive pronouns. In discourse reference however, cliticized forms of the subject, object and genitive pronouns are used. The genitive pronouns are formed from the sequence of the genitive clitic and any of the pronominal genitive clitics – ordered as genitive Clitic+ Pronominal genitive clitic combination. (Ẹ̀jẹ̀bá 2016)[1].
| Person | Number | Personal Pronouns | Gloss | Subject Clitics | Gloss | Object Clitics | Gloss |
| 1st | Singular, Plural | omi, awa | 'I/me', 'we/us' | u, a | 'I', 'we' | mi, wa | 'me', 'us' |
| 2nd | Singular, Plural | uwɛ, amɛ | 'you(sg)', 'you(pl)' | ɛ, mɛ | 'you(sg)', 'you(pl)' | ɛ, mɛ | 'you(sg)', 'you(pl)' |
| 3rd | Singular, Plural | oŋʷu, ama | 'she/he/it/her/him', 'they/them' | i, ma | 'she/he/it', 'they' | U, ma | 'she/he/it'/'them' |
| Non-Person | Non-Number | ~ | ~ | V | ~ | ~ | ~ |
Possessives
Possession is not morphologically marked (although may be marked tonally?).
Adjective and Adverb Phrases
The morphemes mɛ and gɛ in Igala pattern as adverbs.
mɛ
The morpheme mɛ patterns as an adverb meaning now or already depending on the context.
An example of mɛ with the meaning 'now.'
(1)
| ma | wa | mɛ |
| 3PL | come | now |
| ‘They are now coming.’ | ||
An example of mɛ with the meaning 'already.'
(2)
| ū | gbɔ̋ | kàkīnī | ɛ̀ | tʃɛ̀ | wā | mɛ̂ |
| 1SG | hear | C | 2SG | already | come | already |
| ‘I heard that you have already come.’ | ||||||
gɛ
The morpheme gɛ patterns as an adverb in Igala meaning 'again.'
An example of gɛ.
(3)
| a | dabi | ta | ido | gɛ |
| 1PL | turn.back | dance(V) | dance(N) | again |
| ‘We danced again.’ | ||||
Verb Phrases
Igala has multiple verb phrase constructions, such as serial verb constructions, split verbs, and cognate objects.
The serial verb construction, also known as (verb) serialization or verb stacking, is a syntactic phenomenon in which two or more verbs or verb phrases are strung together in a single clause.
Verbal Elements
Main page: Verbal Elements
Serial Verb Constructions
Below is an example of a serial verb construction in Igala.
(1)
| aladi | kpa | adʒuwɛ | dʒɛ |
| aladi | kill | chicken | eats |
| Alali killed and ate the chicken (D:22). | |||
Cognate Objects
A cognate object (or cognate accusative) is a verb's object that is etymologically related to the verb. More specifically, the verb is one that is ordinarily intransitive (lacking any object), and the cognate object is simply the verb's noun form.
Below is an example sentence with a cognate object in Igala.
(2)
| u | l(e) | t(i) | ona | dʒidʒi | ɛrɛ |
| 1SG | walk(V) | to | path | long | trek |
| He walked a long walk (D:207). | |||||
Alice Tremblay (2021) notes that cognate objects in Igala only occur with unergative verbs, and not with unaccusatives.
(3)
| ū | r(a) | úlɛ́ |
| 1SG | run(V) | run(N) |
| 'I ran' (Tremblay 2021). | ||
Tremblay (2021) writes that an important characteristic of cognate objects in Igala is their ability to be modified, including in relative clauses.
(4)
| ū | t(a) | ídő | (u)jɔ̀ |
| 1SG | dance(V) | dance(N) | cheerful/joy |
| ‘I danced a cheerful dance’ (Tremblay 2021). | |||
Split Verb Constructions
The split verb is a verb that sentence-finally appears as one word, however can be split so part of the verb appears earlier in the sentence.
Below is an example sentence containing a split verb in Igala.
(5)
| dorkas | kp | lɛ | ɔna | fɔ |
| Dorcas | break | door | DEF.DIST | break |
| Dorcas, break the door! (D:?). | ||||
Sentence-Final Particles
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?' | ||||
Focus and Topicalization
Numerical System
The Igala language utilizes a base-20 multiplicative system that also includes functions of subtraction and addition. The system has separate morphemes for numerals one to nine, as well as for ten ɛ̀gʷá, twenty ógʷú, fifty ódʒe, and two hundred ɔgwɔkɔ (Ejeba, 2016, p. 105; Otu, personal communication, 2021). For numerals eleven to nineteen, the form is ‘ten’ followed by a number from one through nine (Savkovic 2021).
(1)
| ɛ̀gʷá | ɛ̀lá |
| ten | nine |
| 'nineteen' (from Ejeba, 2016, p. 103). | |
The rest of the numbers are created using multiplication, addition, and/or subtraction. Igala employs “grouping” numbers for 20 ɔ̀gbɔ̀ and 50 ólí, that are separate from the words listed above, to make larger numbers through multiplication (Savkovic 2021).
(2)
| ɔ̀gbɔ̀ | m | ɛ́gʷá | ɛ̀là |
| twenty | MULT | ten | nine |
| '380' (from Ejeba, 2016, p. 105). | |||
Savkovic (2021) argues that I argue that the morpheme m acts a multiplier between a noun phrase or a grouping number and a digit between two and nineteen. Additionally, she argues for a syntactic structure that includes m in a functional projection, mP, with NPs on either side as its complements.
(3)
| àm(a) | ōlí | m | ɛ́tà |
| PL | tree | MULT | three |
| 'three trees' (D: 386). | |||
Inflection
Aspect
The morpheme a indicates imperfective aspect.
(1)
| ēlì | lɛ̄ | ā | tʃè | mī | ôlū |
| song | DEF.DIST | IPFV | do | 1SG.OBJ | sleep(N) |
| ‘The song is making me sleepy.’ | |||||
The morpheme na indicates that an action is in progress.
(2)
| ábʲá | lɛ̄ | nǎ | kò |
| dog | DEF.DIST | PROG | bark |
| ‘The dog was barking.’ | |||
The morpheme ɲa has a similar meaning to 'go' in English. The morpheme indicates that an event/action will occur in the future.
(3)
| ɛ̌ | ɲá | kpɔ̄ | ɔnà | lɛ́ | fɔ̄ | ɔ̀nâ |
| 2SG.IPFV | go | break | door | DEF.DIST | break | tomorrow |
| ‘You will break the door tomorrow.’ | ||||||