THE SYNTAX OF NOMINAL MODIFIERS IN IBIAKPAN AKANANWAM (ANNANG)

CHAPTER ONE

1.0      INTRODUCTION

This research is on the Nominal Modifiers in Annang. It will identify the nominal modifiers, the types of nominal modifiers and their distribution or the places they can occur in sentences in the language (whether they occur before nouns or after nouns). Nominals are word that can be substituted for a noun in a sentence. Modifiers are words that limit the function of a noun in a sentence.

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Language is a system of communication. Language is a means of communication between individuals that share the same symbols for understanding each other. Ndimele 1997: I says Human Language is often described as a semiotic system because it entails the use of certain agreed upon symbols and signals to convey meaning from one person to another within a given speech community. Eka and Udofot (1996:3) language is the most brilliant of human inventions. It is by the means of language that people who live by together are able to interact. However, language is first perceived as a string of noises organized into meaningful patterns for the purpose of communication. However, the above explanations of language agree on certain issues. First that language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no relationship or link between a word and what it means and also that language is conventional. In language there exist some form of unwritten agreement or non-instinctive communication, this means that it is a learned behavior used by a group of people in a speech community. Although there are animal signs and computer language it is the speech of human beings that is elaborate enough to be studied. However, any language that is spoken by a group of human beings is a national language. Language is the medium by which the culture and cultures and collective experience of a people are transmitted from generation to generation and also a means whereby the people organize and patterns their lives through processes concept and categories.