ASIAN TEFL
ASIAN TEFL: Journal of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, Vol 2(1), 2017

Morphological Description of Noun Formation Process: Case of Suffixation and Prefixation in Iguta Language

Mohammed Ahmad Ado (1. Bauchi State University, Gadau, Nigeria 2. Universiti Utara Malaysia)
Siti Jamila Bidin (School of Languages, Civilization and Philosophy, UUM College of Arts and Sciences, Universiti Utara Malaysia)



Article Info

Publish Date
09 Jun 2017

Abstract

This paper dwells on a concise morphological description of Noun formation process involved in Iguta language (a minority endangered language in the north central, Nigeria). To this end, the paper explores the suffixation and prefixation processes involved in the formation of nouns of Iguta language. Ado’s (2017) 455 Iguta wordlists was employed as secondary data and was qualitatively used as instrument for the analyses in this paper. Ado’s 455 Iguta wordlists is primarily based on the standard dialect (i.e., Andirgiza) spoken by its native speakers in five selected towns in Jos North local government of the Plateau state, Nigeria. Hand analysis strategy and a thematic analytical process were used in developing insights on the language data during the analysis. The findings revealed ‘-char, -di and –e’ morphs as suffixes to inflect while  ‘t-, ti-, ha-, a-, an-, m-, i-, ma-, si-, ndu-, s-, tu-, tun-, tumu- morphs as  prefixes to either inflect or derive nouns. It is also observed that most singular nouns in Iguta are inflected to produce the plural forms using ti- or tu- prefixes especially when the pattern of the singular words begin with a vowel morpheme or phoneme. In accordance with the findings, it is suggested that prefixes and suffixes are part of the affixation process used in noun formation of Iguta language. In conclusion, the study has contributed in descriptive linguistics in terms inflectional or derivational suffixation and prefixation process used to build nouns in Iguta language. This paper may assist professional teachers and linguists in understanding the suffixations and prefixations existing in Iguta language.

Copyrights © 2017






Journal Info

Abbrev

asiantefl

Publisher

Subject

Education Languange, Linguistic, Communication & Media

Description

ASIAN TEFL; e-ISSN: 2503-2569, p-ISSN: 2527-5038; Journal of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, a peer-reviewed journal, is an interdisciplinary publication of original research on ELTand Linguistics. The journal aims to provide a forum for scholarly understanding and promote the process of ...