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