A SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS OF RELATIVIZATION IN SELECTED CENTRAL YORUBA SUB-DIALECTS: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF ÙSÌ-ÈKÌTÌ AND ÌKEJI-ARÀKEJI ÌJẸ̀ṢÀ

Abstract

The main thrust of this work is to examine the syntactic process of relativization in two sub-dialects of the central Yoruba dialect cluster. This research aims to examine and analyse the areas of convergence and divergence in these two speech forms. The theory adopted for this research is the Principles and Parameters theory, propounded by (Chomsky 1981) in his Book tittled: Lectures on Government and Binding Theory and the model adopted under this theory is the move alpha rule, which maps the deep structure to the surface structure and unifies all transformation rules. Many basic and derived sentences (relativised sentences) were drawn from the two speech forms: Ùsì-Èkìtì and Ìkeji-Arákeji Ìjẹ̀ṣà sub-dialects of Yorùbá Language. Some of the researchers' findings show that while the process of relativization of constituents in Ìkeji-Arákeji Ìjẹ̀ṣà dialect and Ùsì-Èkìtì involve the movement of the relativized NP from the Spec of the IP to the Spec of the RelP, it was discovered that while Ìkeji-Arákeji Ìjẹṣa dialect makes use of an overt resumptive pronoun in Subject NP relativization, the resumptive pronoun is covert in Ùsì-Èkìtì sub-dialect. This is because the resumptive pronoun is embedded in the relative marker kó through the phonological processes of vowel elision and contraction. It was also discovered that both sub-dialects have two distinct relative markers which are used to relativized different constituents. For example, while in Ùsì-Èkìtì, kó is used for subject NP relativization and kìí is used to relativize Object NP and a nominalised verb that is a verbal noun. In Ìkeji-Arákeji Ìjẹṣa sub-dialect, the relative marker yèé is used to relativize the subject NP and the object NP, while the relative marker kìi is used to relativise the nominalised verb in the sub-dialect. In conclusion, it was discovered that analysing the internal structures of Yoruba dialects and sub-dialects will promote the documentation of lesser-known Yoruba dialects and sub-dialects, which will help open new frontiers of knowledge and protect these speech forms for posterity. Keywords: Relativization, X-bar, Movement theory, Ìkeji-Arákeji, Ùsì-Èkìtì