Linguistic Discovery
Dartmouth College

Volume 17 Issue 1 (2021)        DOI:10.1349/PS1.1537-0852.A.514

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Pronouns in Arigidi: A Syntactic Analysis

 

Boluwaji Oshodi

Adekunle Ajasin University

 

Bolanle Foluke Adekeye

University of Ilorin, Nigeria

 

1. Introduction

 

Traditional grammarians classified lexical items into parts of speech and one of such classifications is the pronoun. According to Dineen (1967), a pronoun is a part of speech that can substitute for the proper name of anyone and that indicates a definite person. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a pronoun as any of a small set of words in a language that are used as substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and whose referents are named or understood in the context word that can replace i.e. be used in place of a noun in a grammatical construction. This study examines pronouns in Arigidi (a little studied) speech form with the aim of gaining an insight into their forms, structure and function in line with the classification of traditional grammar. Arigidi and nine other speech forms classified under Arigidi Cluster, Lorena (Ethnologue 2012) are spoken in Àkókó region of Ondo state South-west Nigeria where Yorùbá is the major language. However, based on previous studies such as Greenberg (1963), Hoffman (1974), Bennet and Sterk (1977), Capo (1989), Ohiri-Anichie (2006), Oshodi (2011a), Lorena (Ethnologue 2012) and Olúwádo̩rọ̀ (2014) their true linguistic status is still controversial and yet to be ascertained. This is what always makes any study on any of the speech forms interesting.

 

2. The Concept of Pronoun in Yorùbá

 

Prominent Yorùbá scholars such as Bámgbóṣé (1967, 1990), Awóbùlúyì (1978) and Yusuf (1995) all define a pronoun as the word used instead of a noun. Bámgbóṣe (1967) analyzes pronouns from the angle of syntactic position of occurrence. He defines a pronoun as a word that cannot have a qualifier in the nominal group. He observes further that pronouns have a system of number (singular and plural) and of person (1st, 2nd and 3rd person). Also, they have different forms for the different syntactic positions in which they occur. Awóbùlúyì (1978) and Bámgbóṣe (1990) grouped Yorùbá pronouns into three; subject and object pronouns, possessive pronouns (genitival qualifiers) and the third type which Bámgbóṣe (1990) tagged “noun-like pronouns” because they possess some attributes of nouns in the language. Awóbùlúyì (1978) tagged this third type of pronouns emphatic pronouns. The other pronouns were tagged short pronouns while the emphatic pronouns were tagged long pronouns. In later grammatical theories however, these short and long (emphatic) pronouns were changed to weak and strong pronouns (Manfredi 1987 and Sells 1987). Today, following Ajíbóyè (2004) and Adéṣọlá (2004; 2005), the short/weak pronouns and the long/strong pronouns are also called antilogophor and logophor respectively.

 

Awóbùlúyì (1978) using a functional approach observed that in Yorùbá language, the part of speech traditionally referred to as pronouns is actually a subgroup of nouns. Awóbùlúyì’s claim is based on some specific functions performed by some words referred to as pronouns in Yorùbá particularly their position of occurrence and their relationship with other words in sentences. Though there is the principle of language universality, there are still language specific rules. Based on this, Awóbùlúyì’s claim needs to be verified with facts from other African languages thus, the decision to examine pronouns in Arigidi. More so, since studies e.g. Awóbùlúyì (2008) and (Oshodi 2011; 2013; 2016a) and have established a strong linguistic affinity between Arigidi and Yorùbá, it is hoped that findings from this study would help throw more light on the language subfamily to which Arigidi and the other speech forms belongs and in particular their true linguistic relationship with Yorùbá.

 

3. Pronouns in Arigidi

 

Following the concept of functional analysis, pronouns in Arigidi can be classified as subject and object as well as singular and plural. In addition to these, just like in Yorùbá, pronouns in Arigidi can be classified into two main types: short and long (emphatic) pronouns. There is also another type known as possessive pronouns (genitival qualifiers). Apart from the main function, which is to replace a noun in a sentence, pronouns in Arigidi perform other functions depending on their type and form. These functions shall be discussed under each type of pronoun.

 

3.1 Short Pronouns in Arigidi

 

The short pronouns in Arigidi can be grouped in terms of function (i.e. subject or object) and in terms of number (i.e. singular and plural). Below are the forms of the short pronouns in Arigidi:

 

Subject position

Object position

first person singular

man

“I”

min

“me”

second person singular

ran

“you (sg)”

rin

“you (sg)”

third person singular

()?

“he/she/it”

Ø

“him/her/it”

First person plural

òa

“we”

“us”

second person plural

mán

“you (pl)”

mẹ́n

“you (pl)”

third person plural

wá

“they”

wá

“them”

Table 1. Arigidi Short Pronouns

 

To substantiate the above claim and forms, the pronouns are used in sentences below:

 

(1a)

Man

da

ìyì

e̩he̩

 

I

buy

two

hen

 

“I bought two hens”

 

(1b)

Òjó

ri

min

 

Òjó

hts

see

me

 

Òjó saw me”

 

(2a)

Rán

jo

ògòlòmàs̩í

 

2sg

eat

pawpaw

 

“You(sg) ate pawpaw”

 

(2b)

Títí

rí

rin

 

Títí

hts

see

2sg

 

Títí saw you”

 

(3a)

Á(?)

fo̩

àlà

 

3sg

wash

cloth

 

“He/she washed some clothes”

 

(3b)

Òjó

ri

Ø

 

Òjó

hts

see

np

 

Òjó saw him/her/it”

 

(4a)

Òa

ve

oso

 

we

go

house

 

“We went home”

 

(4b)

Òjó

bá

 

Òjó

HTS

greet

us

 

Òjó greeted us”

 

(5a)

Mán

ko̩n

okùba

 

2pl

possess

money

 

“You(pl) are rich”

 

(5b)

Títí

rọ̀n

mẹ́n

 

Títí

hts

know

2pl

 

Títí knows you(pl)”

 

(6a)

Wá

bo̩

èjin

 

they

drink

water

 

“They drank water”

 

(6b)

Òjó

pún

wá

 

Òjó

HTS

abuse

them

 

Òjó abused them”

 

However, facts from the speech form revealed that the forms in (1-6) attested at the surface structure in basic declarative sentences as short pronouns in subject positions were all derived. They were actually derived from their underlying forms through some phono-syntactic processes. These underlying forms always occur in specific subject positions in some constructions. The underlying and surface forms of the short subject pronouns are shown below:

 

 

Underlying Form

 

Surface Form

first person singular

min

man

second person singular

rin

rán

third person singular

Ø

Ø

first person plural

òa

second person plural

mé̩n

mán

third person plural

wé̩

wá

Table 2. The Underlying and Surface Forms of Arigidi Short Pronouns

 

Consider the examples below which show the sequential processes of how the surface forms (i.e. those listed in table (1) as subject forms) were derived from their underlying forms:

 

 

Underlying form

Assimilation/Merging

Surface form

Gloss

(7)

Min

vè

Man

vè

Man

vè

“I went/have gone”

 

I

HTS

go

 

I

HTS

go

 

I

go

 

 

(8)

Rin

vè

Ran

vè

Rán

vè

“You went/have gone”

 

2sg

HTS

go

 

2sg

HTS

go

 

2sg

go

 

 

(9)

[Ø]

vè

NA

 

 

vè

3sg went/has gone”

 

NP

HTS

go

 

NA

 

 

 

HTS

go

 

 

(10)

vè

Òá

vè

 

Òa

vè

“We went/have gone

 

we

HTS

go

 

we

go

 

 

we

go

 

 

(11)

Me̩n

vè

Mán

vè

Mán

vè

“You went/ have gone”

 

2pl

HTS

go

 

2sg

HTS

go

 

2pl

go

 

 

(12)

Wé̩

vè

 

Wá

Wá

vè

“They went/ have gone”

 

they

HTS

go

 

they

HTS

go

 

they

go

 

 

In examples (1b, 2b, 3b, 4b, 5b, 6b and 7-12), we notice the occurrence of the morpheme between the subject NP and the verb. This element has been tagged the high tone syllable HTS[1]. The HTS assimilates the last vowel of the pronouns. The HTS is then deleted and its tone gets transferred to the assimilated vowel of the preceding pronouns to produce the surface forms listed in table 1. In example (9), the pronoun is presumed to be covert and the first overt element is the HTS thus, the processes of assimilation and deletion were not applicable. In example (7), the tone of the HTS was not transferred to the assimilated vowel of the pronoun for a good reason. This was to avoid metonymy with the second person plural pronoun mán “you(plural)”. If this had not been done, the two forms would have been realized as (mán). In (10), instead of assimilation it was merging that took place. The HTS did not assimilate the underlying form of the first person plural “we” in order to avoid metonymy again. If assimilation had taken place, the first person plural pronoun would have been realized as and the construction in (10) would be realized as vè the exact surface form in (9). The tone of the HTS was however deleted and the surface form was realized as òa. Also, in (11 and 12), there was no need to transfer the tone of the HTS since the underlying forms carry the same high tone on the HTS.  

 

Also, it was observed that the third person singular pronoun in the object position is covert. It has no form and it is not realized at all in Arigidi. This is why it is represented with the null sign (Ø) in example (3b).

 

Another very important observation has to do with the actual form of the 3sg subject pronoun. The morpheme which appeared in that position in (3a) has a question mark in front of it. This was purposely done to draw attention to its controversial form. Oshodi (2011b, 2013) claim that the form is not the 3sg short subject pronoun in Arigidi but the same HTS which assimilates or merges with the underlying forms to produce the surface forms as shown in (7-12). He (Oshodi) also failed to propose a form for the 3sg short subject pronoun.  

 

In this study, the vowel [í] with a high tone is proposed as the underlying form of the 3sg subject pronoun in Arigidi based on its occurrence in some positions where the 3sg subject pronoun usually occurs in Arigidi constructions. Consider the examples below:

 

(13)

sí

oso

 

3sg

be

house

 

“He/she is at home”

 

(14)

yàá

bo̩

èjin?

 

3sg

qm

drink

water

 

“Has he/she drunk water?”

 

Example (13) is a simple sentence while (14) is a question. Also, the form ̣ is proposed as the underlying form of the third person plural subject pronoun in Arigidi based on its position of occurrence in constructions where the third person plural subject pronoun normally occurs. Consider examples (21 and 22) below:

 

(15)

Rin

sí

oso

 

2sg

be

house

 

“You(sg) are at home”

 

(16)

Rin

yàá

bo̩

èjin?

 

2sg

qm

drink

water

 

“Have you(sg) drunk water?”

 

(17)

sí

oso

 

we

be

home

 

“We are at home”

 

(18)

yàá

bo̩

èjin?

 

we

qm

drink

water

 

“Have we drunk water?”

 

(19)

Mẹ́n

si

oso

 

2pl

be

house

 

“You are at home”

 

(20)

Mẹ́n

yàá

bo̩

èjin?

 

2pl

qm

drink

water

 

“Have you(pl) drunk water?”

 

(21)

̣

sí

oso

 

they

be

house

 

“They are at home”

 

(22)

̣

yàá

bo̩

èjin?

 

they

qm

drink

water

 

“Have they drunk water?”

 

Proposing ̣ as the underlying form of the third person plural subject pronoun can be substantiated by the fact that it is the only form that can occur in the position of the third person plural subject (21 and 22) in constructions where the other underlying forms can occur as shown in examples (13-20).

 

As shown in examples (1-22), the major function of the short pronouns in Arigidi both in subject and object positions is to replace a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence. For example, (14, 22, 3b and 6b) above can be rendered as (23, 24, 25 and 26) below:

 

(23)

Ginrin

ukọnrẹn

yàá

bọ

èjin?

 

This

man

qm

drink

water

 

“Has this man drunk water?”

 

(24)

Òjó

wọ̀nrin

Títí

yàá

bọ

èjin?

 

Òjó

and

Títí

qm

drink

water

 

“Have Òjó and Títí drunk water?”

 

(25)

Òjó

 rí

Títí

 

Òjó

hts

see

3sg

 

Òjó saw Títí”

 

(26)

Òjó

pún

àkùku

ìgbẹ́ẹ̀ji

àwọ́rín

 

Òjó

hts

abuse

all

the

children

 

Òjó abused all the children”

 

In (23), the NP subject ginrin ukọrẹn “this man” was replaced with the 3sg subject pronoun í in (14) while in (24) the NP subjects Òjó and Títí were replaced with the pronoun ̣ in (22). Also, in (25), the NP object Títí was replaced with the 3sg object pronoun represented with Ø because it is always covert in Arigidi in (3b) while in (26) the NP object àkùkù ìgbẹ́ẹ̀ji àwọ́rín “all the children” was replaced with the pronoun wá in (6b).

 

3.2 The Long (Emphatic) Pronouns in Arigidi

 

There is another set of pronouns in Arigidi known as long or emphatic pronouns. Apart from the fact that they are differentiated for number and person, pronouns in this class function and behave just like the ordinary nouns in the language. Awóbùlúyì (1978) referred to them as a sub-class of nouns in standard Yorùbá. This set of pronouns in Arigidi behave exactly like those in Standard Yorùbá. The long (emphatic) pronouns are attested only in the subject position and they are shown below:

 

first person singular

amẹ̀n

“I”

second person singular

arọ́n

“you (sg)”

third person singular

úwọ́n/ẹ̀rẹ̀n

“he/she/it”

first person plural

aò

“we”

second person plural

ámẹ́n

“you (pl)”

third person plural

áwá

“they”

Table 3. Forms of the Long (Emphatic) Pronouns in Arigidi

 

The long (emphatic) pronouns in Arigidi perform some specific grammatical functions. One of such functions is that they (long or emphatic pronouns) are the only types of pronouns that can be focused just like nouns in Arigidi. Consider the examples below:

 

(27)

Amẹ̀n

wọ́n

bo̩

èjin

 

I

foc

drink

water

 

“It was I who drank water”

 

(28)

Arọ́

wọ́n

bo̩

èjin

 

you(sg)

foc

drink

water

 

“It was you(sg) who drank water”

 

(29)

Úwọ́n

wọ́n

bo̩

èjin

 

3sg

foc

drink

water

 

“It was he/she who drank water”

 

(30)

Aò

wọ́n

bo̩

èjin

 

we

foc

drink

water

 

“It was we who drank water”

 

(31)

Ámẹ́n

wọ́n

bo̩

èjin

 

you(pl)

foc

drink

water

 

“It was you(pl) who drank water” 

 

(32)

Áwá

wọ́n

bo̩

èjin

 

they

foc

drink

water

 

“It was they who drank water”

 

In examples (27-32), the long (emphatic) pronouns all in bold form were the focused items which were immediately followed by the focus marker wọ́n which is italicized. The interesting thing about focusing in relation to pronouns in Arigidi is that it is only nouns and verbs that can be focused in the speech form. In actual fact, it is only nouns that can be focused in their basic form. Verbs must first be nominalized through partial reduplication just like in Standard Yorùbá and then moved to the initial part of the sentence before they can be focused (see Oshodi 2011a, 2016a). Also, the long (emphatic) pronouns in Arigidi can take modifiers. Consider the examples below:

 

(33)

gọn-ọn

 

we

particular

 

“We in particular”

 

(34)

úwọ́n

gọn-ọn 

 

3sg

particular  

 

“He/she/it in particular”

 

(35)

ègédí

ámẹ́n

 

only

me

 

“Only me”

 

(36)

ègédí

arọ́n

 

only

2sg

 

“Only you(sg)”

 

In (33-36), the long (emphatic) pronouns in bold form took the modifiers which were italicized. Furthermore, the long (emphatic) pronouns can also be questioned by the interrogative word ṣìré “what”, a feature which is only possible with nouns in Arigidi. Consider the examples below:

 

(37)

Amẹ́n

ṣìré

 

I

qm

 

“What about me?”

 

(38)

Aò

ṣìré?

 

we

qm

 

“What about us?”

 

(39)

Úwọ́n

ṣìré?

 

3sg

qm

 

“What about him/her/it?”

 

(40)

Áwá

ṣìré?

 

they

qm

 

“What about them?”

 

(41)

Ámẹ́n

ṣìré?

 

2pl

qm

 

“What about you (pl)?”

 

As shown in examples (37-41), the long (emphatic) pronouns in Arigidi were all questioned by the interrogative word ṣìré “what” just like nouns. Based on the fact that the long (emphatic) pronouns in Arigidi can be focused, can equally take some qualifiers and also be questioned by the interrogative word ṣìré “what” just like nouns in the speech form (see Oshodi 2011a), it would actually be correct to put them in the class of nouns in Arigidi as suggested for Standard Yorùbá (Awóbùlúyì 1978).

 

Also, notice that the 3sg long (emphatic) pronoun in Arigidi has two forms úwọ́n and ẹ̀rẹ̀n. These two forms perform different syntactic functions. As shown in (27-32), úwọ́n is used in focusing, it is also the form that can take modifiers as shown in (33-36) and the form that can be questioned with the interrogative word ṣìré “what” as shown in (37-41). However, in logophoric construction which requires that a particular pronoun be used when someone’s perspective is being reported, it is ẹ̀rẹ̀n that must be used in such context. Consider the example below:

 

(42)

Kọ́lá

á

hẹ́n

péní

ẹ̀rẹ́n

á

wọn

 

Kọ́́la

hts

say

that

himself

hts

laugh

 

Kọ́lá said that he (Kọ́lá) laughed”

 

In example (42), which involves the third person singular long (emphatic) pronoun, it is ẹ̀rẹ̀n that is used as the perspective of Kọ́lá is being reported. This is because the pronoun here must refer to Kọ́lá. Thus, (43) below is not acceptable in the language.

 

(43)

*Kọ́lá

á

hẹ́n

péní

úwọ́n

wọn

 

Kọ́lá

hts

say

that

he/she

hts

laugh

 

However, (43) above can be rendered as (44) below:

 

(44)

Kọ́lá

á

hẹ́n

péní

úwọ́n

gọn-ọn

á

wọn

 

Kọ́lá

hts

say

that

he/she

mod

hts

laugh

 

Kọ́lá said that he (another entity) in particular laughed”

 

The example in (44) becomes grammatical because the 3sg long (emphatic) pronoun úwọ́n in this context took a modifier gọn-ọn which made it clear that the person in reference is not Kọ́lá.

 

3.3 Possessive Pronouns (Genitival Qualifiers) in Arigidi

 

Just like in Standard Yorùbá, there is another type of pronouns in Arigidi tagged possessive pronouns also called genitival qualifiers. As the name implies, pronouns in this class are used sorely to indicate ownership or possession when used with nouns. Consider the sentences below where these pronouns are attested in Arigidi.

 

(45)

Okùba

ro̩n

 

money

my

 

“My money”

 

(46)

Okùba

rìn

 

money

your(sg)

 

“Your(sg) money”

 

(47)

Okùba

àá

 

money

3sg.poss

 

“His/her money”

 

(48)

Àyù

ùú

 

ress

3sg.poss

 

“His/her dress”

 

(49)

Èhaàjo

òó

 

food

3sg.poss

 

“His/her/its food”

 

(50)

Ègírí

ìí

 

head

3sg.poss

 

“His/her/its head”

 

(51)

Okùba

 

money

our

 

“Our money

 

(52)

Okùba

wa

 

money

their

 

“Their money”

 

(53)

Okùba

me̩n

 

money

your(pl)

 

“Your(pl) money”

 

From the examples in (45-53), we can identify the forms of the possessive pronouns in Arigidi. The forms are shown in table 4 below:

 

first person singular possessive pronoun

ro̩n

second person singular possessive pronoun

rin

third person singular possessive pronoun

v̀v́

first person plural possessive pronoun

second person plural possessive pronoun

wa

third person plural possessive pronoun

me̩n

Table 4. Forms of the Possessive Pronouns in Arigidi

 

Possessive pronouns in Arigidi can be classified as short pronouns because they do not possess any attributes of the long (emphatic) pronouns. Also, the third person singular possessive pronoun in Arigidi has no definite form. In examples (45-48) where the third person singular possessive pronoun occurs, it was observed that the last vowel of the noun (i.e. the possessor) is always reduplicated with a low [ ̀] and high [ ́] tone respectively to indicate possession or ownership. It is the reduplicated vowel that functions as the 3sg possessive pronoun in Arigidi.

 

4. Conclusion

 

This study presented a functional analysis of pronouns in Arigidi with focus on their forms and functions. It was revealed that just like Standard Yorùbá, Arigidi attests three types of pronouns; short pronouns, long (emphatic) pronouns and possessive pronouns. Findings revealed that the forms attested as the short subject pronouns were derived from their underlying forms through some phono-syntactic processes. It was also discovered that the first element in the position of the 3sg subject pronoun in certain constructions in Arigidi is not a pronoun but a preverbal element similar to the Yorùbá HTS which marks tense and aspect (Awóbùlúyì 1992, Oshodi 2011b, 2013). Furthermore, the 3sg short object pronoun in Arigidi has no definite form and it is always covert. The same thing goes for the 3sg possessive (genitival) pronoun which also has no definite form. It usually reduplicates the last vowel of the noun (i.e. possessor) which precedes it to express possession or ownership. Pronouns in Arigidi were also discovered to perform similar functions like those in Standard Yorùbá and act more like nouns in their relationship with other lexical items in sentences. These findings further confirm the strong linguistic affinity between Arigidi and Standard Yorùbá. Finally, it was revealed that the lexical items tagged pronouns in Arigidi perform more functions beyond the main function assigned to them in traditional grammar unlike what happens in European languages like English and French. This further confirms that language specific rules are needed to affirm the functional role of lexical items based on their relationship with other lexical items in individual language.   

 

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[1]The HTS is an overt element which occurs between the subject NP and the verb in Arigidi declarative sentence. It is similar to the one found in Yorùbá and its dialects. Oshodi (2011a, 2011b, 2013 and 2016a) in corroboration with the claim of Awobuluyi (1992) refers to it as a preverbal element, a tense and aspectual marker.

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