ANALYSIS OF TIV AND ENGLISH INFLECTIONAL MORPHEMES

Abstract

Linguistic studies have shown that language is rule governed and has systematic structures that require linguistic application to ensure conformity. This paper attempts a morphosyntactic analysis of Tiv inflectional morphemes. Data were drawn from personal observation and analysis of English and Tiv morphosyntactic inflections, as the researchers are Tiv-English bilinguals. The study analyses Tiv inflectional morphemes through Distributed Morphology Theory. Findings reveal that formation of inflections in Tiv is complex and that the devices which attend inflectional formations are complicated and irregular.