Aspects of the Grammar of English and Okrika Noun Phrases
Keywords:
Grammar, English, Okrika, Noun Phrases, SyntaxAbstract
This paper addressed the study on an aspect of the syntax of English and Okrika (noun phrase). The study is necessitated by the challenges L2 speakers of Okrika face while constructing and using phrases in English and also because of limited works in the area of syntax in Okrika language. The methodology adopted was both contrastive and descriptive and data collected through primary and secondary sources. The data revealed that English and Okrika noun phrase can be found in the subject and object positions, although the difference is that where the English NP can perform dative movement, NP in Okrika cannot perform dative movement. Reason
being that both languages have different sentence structure. English has a SVO while Okrika has a SOV sentence pattern. It was also revealed that the hidden verb governing the indirect object in a ditransitive verb construction is not hidden in Okrika in a ditransitive construction. It is therefore concluded that although there are areas of similarities in the position of the NP in both languages, there are still areas of differences.
References
Eyisi, J. (2003). Common errors in the use of English. Nigeria: Afp Ltd.
Huddleston, R., & Pullum. G. (2002). The Cambridge grammar of the English language. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kari, E. E. (2004). A reference grammar of Degema. Germany: Rudiger Koppe Verlag.
Ken-Maduako, I. (2004).Elements of English grammar and usage. Port Harcourt: Edik Integrated Services.
Ndimele, O. M. (1996). An advanced English grammar and usage. Aba NINL
Ndimele, O. M. (2003). A concise grammar & lexicon of Echie. Aba: National Institute for Nigerian Languages.
Nwala, M. A., & Obisike, I. O. (2014). Aspects of English grammar. Port Harcourt: Obisco Nigeria Enterprises.
Nwala, M. A. (2016). Introduction to syntax: The students’ guide. Abakaliki: Wisdom Publishers Limited.
Priye, M. (2016). Noun phrase modification in selected Nigerian newspapers. Unpublished M A Thesis. University of Port Harcourt.
Quirk, R., & Greenbaun, S. (1972). A universal grammar of English. Longman. Radford, A. (1988). Transformational grammar. Cambridge: CUP.
Tomori, S. O. H. (1977). The morphology and syntax of present-day English. An introduction. London: Heinemann.
Worukwo, G. (2005). An outline of English grammar. Port Harcourt: Rodi Printing and Publishing Company.
Williamson, K. (1998). Shaping the future of African languages: A case for unified orthography for Nigerian
languages. In O. M. Ndimele (Ed.), Nigerian languages: A festschrift for Kay Williamson (pp. 3-16). Natural Institute for Nigerian languages.
