Morphosyntactic study of Dholuo verb phrase
Abstract
The study explores the morphosyntactic structure of Dholuo verb phrase. Dholuo is a Nilo Saharan language spoken in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and South Sudan. Tense and
agreement in pro-drop in the Dholuo verb phrase has not been fully studied. The purpose of
the study was to analyze the agreement in pro-drop in Dholuo verb phrase. The objectives
of the study were to: identify the constituents of the Dholuo verb phrase; describe the
morphological elements of the Dholuo verb phrase; and explain features of agreement in
the Dholuo verb phrase. Principles and Parameters Theory (Chomsky, 1982) was used to
guide this study. This study used a qualitative approach where descriptive research design
was employed to study and account for the validity of Principles and Parameters to analyse
Dholuo verb phrase. Data were generated by both the researcher, himself being a native
speaker of Dholuo, and semi-structured interview from twenty adult Dholuo native
speakers in Nyan‟giela village, Rachuonyo South Sub-county in Homa Bay County. Non–
probability sampling was used because the research was interested in the representativeness
of the concept in their varying forms that maximized the scope or range of variation of
study. Convenience and Purposive sampling techniques of non-probability sampling were
interchangeably used to reduce bias of using one method. The data was thematically
studied according to the number, tense, aspect, negation and person. Syntactic analysis was
done in line with the tenets of Principles and Parameters Theory. After studying and
analysing the data, it was revealed that Dholuo verb phrase has a linear arrangement with a
lot of elements such as verb, preposition, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs and nouns.
Morphological elements of Dholuo verb phrase are pronouns, prefixes, suffixes, negators
and adverbials. It has both free and bound morphemes. Dholuo is a tonal language that
marks agreement with tone, prefixes and suffixes. A pronoun is the main agreement marker
of Dholuo verb phrase. The study concluded that Dholuo is a pro-drop language that marks
agreement by affixation. Dholuo marks all agreements except gender. Pro-drop and
affixations are recommended for possible related future studies
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