Affixal Morphology in Yoruba Language

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Author: Adekunle Moses (Lagos State University, Nigeria)
Speaker: Adekunle Moses
Topic: Language, Dialect, Sociolect, Genre
The (SCOPUS / ISI) GLOCAL AFALA 2023 General Session

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Abstract

Studies on affixal morphology in Yoruba language have created a wide gap and gradually becoming confusing and inconsistence. Many literatures on the topic are greatly misleading teachers in all cadres of academic. It therefore becomes imperative to discuss extensively on the linguistic characteristic features of Affixes in order to avert misrepresentation of classification of affixes in the language. The paper highlights on the basic and universal linguistic characteristic features of affix such as; definitenes, predictivity, basicness, productiveness and morphemic headedness. This study uses descriptive analysis as the theoretical framework to allow convincing arguments in the present position. Although, most of the claims are not new but unconcentious arguments need to be streamlined in literary setting. This research study hints that vowel prefixation is the only sub-division of affixal morphology tenable in the concatenative morphology of Yoruba language. The paper expects the morphologists in the Yoruba language to re-appraise their previous positions to guide against misrepresentation of facts about affixal morphology in the language.

Keywords: affixal morphology, predictivity, productiveness, basicness, morphemic headedness.