A syntactic and Semantic Analysis of the Tὲὲ Verb Phrase

Abstract

This study descriptively analyses the syntactic and semantic features of the Tὲὲ verb phrase. It also analyses the structure of the verb phrase in Tὲὲ, a language spoken in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State.  The verb phrase is a syntactic unit composed of at least one verb and its dependents and other modifiers but not always including the subject. The verb is central in every language coupled with the fact that it is the most important and widely described phrase because the structure of and the meanings expressed in many languages revolves around the verb word. The research focuses to explore the peculiarities of the verb phrase in the language focusing basically on the structure of the verb phrase and the meaning generated thereof. It focuses on the features of the verb phrase in Tὲὲ; the constituent that make it up, their arrangement as well as the meaning attributed by such arrangements. The primary data for this work were collected using the intuitive knowledge of the researcher as a native speaker verified with unstructured interview with competent native speakers.  From the analysis of the data collected, the researcher discovered that the verb phrase in Tὲὲ can have various configurations. The constituents that may combine with the head of a verb phrase to project it into a larger structure are the complements and the adjuncts. The complement of the verb phrase can be the noun phrase, the prepositional phrase and the inherent complement. The adverbial functions both as complement and adjunct in the language.