On the Formation of Questions in Ẹdo (1988) | Thomas O. Ọmọruyi | 6 Citations
On the Formation of Questions in Ẹdo
Author: Thomas O. Ọmọruyi
Published: 01 Jan 1988
Journal: Journal of African Languages and Linguistics
Volume: 10, Issue: 1, Pages: 19-32
TL;DR:
The authors describe the grammatical structures of both polar and non-polar questions in Edo with a view to determining their formative processes, based on the data for this study drawn largely from the author's native competence in the language.
Abstract:
Linguists commonly classify questions into the categories Yes/No and WH. These labels are based on the kind of response in the case of the former, and on the spelling of many English question words in the case of the latter. In this paper, we refer to these as polar and non-polar questions, respectively. Our aim is to describe the grammatical structures of both types of questions in Edo with a view to determining their formative processes. Edo, also called Bini, is a member of the Edoid group of languages (Elugbe 1979) which belongs to the Kwa sub-group of the Niger-Congo family of African languages. It was the main language of the ancient Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria. The data for this study are drawn largely from the author's native competence in the language. We have also benefitted from many native speakers who have served as informants.