DS Journal of Language, Linguistics and Literature (DS-LLL)

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Volume 3 | Issue 2 | Year 2025 | Article Id: LLL-V3I2P101 DOI: https://doi.org/10.59232/LLL-V3I2P101

Pronouns and Pronominalization in Ògè

Babatunde A. Abdullahi

ReceivedRevisedAcceptedPublished
07 Feb 202506 Mar 202507 Apr 202530 Apr 2025

Citation

Babatunde A. Abdullahi. “Pronouns and Pronominalization in Ògè.” DS Journal of Language, Linguistics and Literature, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 1-12, 2025.

Abstract

This research examines the morphology and syntax of pronouns in Ògè, a language spoken in Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria. Ògè faces endangerment as younger generations increasingly code-mix with Yoruba. Pronouns, fundamental to most languages, replace nouns for fluency and avoid repetition. The data for this study is based on fieldwork in which Ògè equivalents for the Ibadan 400-word list were collected, as were translations of sentences from Yoruba. The native speakers aged between 50 and 80 years were purposively selected because they better master the speech form than the younger generation, who cannot speak the speech form without code-mixing and code-switching. The wordlist and the sentences were dictated to the informants, and their responses were recorded and transcribed for analysis. Findings revealed that Ògè exhibits various pronoun types, including personal, possessive, anaphoric, interrogative, and demonstrative pronouns. Unlike many languages, Ògè pronouns lack inflection for gender or animacy. However, they do have morphological inflection for cases (nominative, accusative, and genitive) depending on their syntactic position in a sentence. The analysis reveals distinct forms for subject and object pronouns. Notably, the third-person singular object pronoun is phonetically zero, replaced by a copy of the verb's vowel and a tonal shift. Similarly, the second-person singular and plural object pronouns share the same form. This research serves as a part of the documentation of an aspect of the syntax of Ògè.

Keywords

Anaphoric, Reflexives, Pronominalization, Ògè.

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Pronouns and Pronominalization in Ògè