Deletion Transformation in the Igbo Language

NNEJI, OGECHUKWU MIRACLE [email protected] +2348063622121

Department of Linguistics, Igbo and other Nigerian languages University of Nigeria Nsukka. Abstract This paper studies the methods of applying transformational rule to deletion in the Igbo language. Having the concept of Universal Grammar in mind, that is the type of comparative syntactic investigation which seeks to provide an interlinguistic variation or similarities that may exist among languages, it examines the processes of deletion in Igbo; what happens from the deep structure to the surface structure that brings about this transformation and how it is relevant to the study of Igbo syntax, using the theoretical framework of Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG). The findings of the paper show that certain lexical items which are hitherto existent in the deep structure get deleted before getting to the surface structure through the application of deletion rules of imperativization, equi-VP deletion or equi-NP deletion. Our treatment of these types of deletion does not, in any way, suggest that only three types of deletion exist in languages but these are the only three deletion transformations observable in the standard Igbo. 1.0 Introduction Noam Chomskys transformational theories in the study of language have greatly influenced the learnability conditions of linguistics within the past six decades. His Transformational Generative Grammar (henceforth TGG) designed in 1957, which is an improvement on Harris (1951) transformational rules, has received a lot of attention and the most extensive exemplification and further development. Harris transformational rules were relations between sentences, for instance the relationship that exists between an active sentence NP1-V-NP2 and its passive counterpart NP2-be-V-en-by-NP1. TGG comprises three components: the phrase structure (PS) component, the transformational component, and the morphophonemic component. Each of these components consists of a set of rules operating upon a certain input to yield a certain output.

With the application of transformation, two levels of structural presentation are in agreement or conformity. In this paper, we shall examine in some details the deletion transformation as it relates to the Igbo language. The Igbo language like other subject verb object (SVO) languages can be subjected to different types of transformation. TGG was introduced as an improvement on the Phrase Structure Grammar (PSG). Chomskys chronological movement of grammar glides from Finite State Grammar (FSG) otherwise known as Markov Process Grammar. FSG was introduced to represent a simple structure relating one word in a language string to the next. It was presented as the simplest device with the property of handling an infinite variety of sentences within a finite mechanism. The numerous short comings of FSG which include, among others, its inability to analyze mirror image constructions, and recursive sentences could not account for a detailed grammar of a language. As an improvement on FSG, PSG was introduced. PSG is a more radical model of grammar that makes use of rewrite rules. PSG together with XI syntax makes use of the phrase marker which is a set of vertices or nodes connected by branches or lines. At the bottom of the phrase marker are the terminal nodes which carry the lexical items of the constituent structure or sentence. PSG is not without its shortcomings. An important point of discussion in phrase marker is that of dominance and precedence. Dominance occurs at a vertical range when an item is directly above another without any disruption while the occurrence of precedence appears in a horizontal form. By this, we mean that the lexical items share a linear relationship between each other where one comes before the other without any intervening node between them. The disadvantages of PSG cannot provide and arrange a clear rule that will guide the production of well-formed sentences especially those with recursive constituents. It does not recognize the existence of intermediate categories. This gave rise to the introduction of Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG). The proponent of TGG argues that transformations are necessary to account for the relationship

between constituent structures: that the structures which otherwise appear different may have the same origin and vice versa. This paper therefore, focuses on the transformational deletion rule, which is one of the transformational rules that aids in deriving the surface structure from the deep structure. The paper is divided in sections. Section one which is the introduction presents a general overview of the study, presenting the state of the art, and the operational definition of terms. Section two which is the literature review is divided into two: theoretical review and empirical review. In section three, data was analyzed while the last section summarizes the work. 2.0 Literature Review

This section of the paper reviews previous literature in relation to the topic of study. The section is divided into two theoretical and empirical studies. 2.1 Theoretical Studies According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (1995), transformational rules do not operate in isolation but constitute an integrated system. Transformations were originally interpreted as string operations, mapping one string onto another by reordering, inserting, or deleting material. The passive transformation given in the introduction involves the first two operations. As such, it can be modelled by a context-sensitive rewrite rule. Transformations that delete material, however, are unrestricted rewrite rules. Ndimele (1999) observes that deletion is a process by which some lexical items are dropped in the course of transformation. Nwala (2004) identifies dative movement, imperativzation, Equi-NP deletion, and Equi-VP deletion as the types of deletion. To Agbedo (2000) and Anagbogu et al (2010), deletion is the elimination of certain constituents from the
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deep structure. Anagbogu, Mbah and Eme (2010) include dative movement while Agbedo adds relativization as another instance of deletion. Nwala (2004) and Anagbogu et al (2010) agree that dative movement deletion involves a change of position between the direct object (DO) and indirect object (IO). At the surface structure, the IO is seen to perform the function of the DO as a result of the deletion of the preposition to. Another name for underlying structure is deep structure. Anagbogu, Mbah and Emeh (2010) observe that the deep structure is that area of grammar where all the phenomena which make an utterance meaningful are fully specified. To Tomori (1977:82), the deep structure of a sentence is the underlying syntactico-semantic component of the sentence. Therefore, one can say that the deep structure is the abstract form of a sentence before it is uttered. Transformations were originally interpreted by Tomori (1977) and Ndimele (1999) as string operations, mapping one string onto another by reordering, inserting, or deleting material(s). Transformation according to Emenanjo (1978) is a complete change to something that makes it have an improved appearance or usefulness. We can however say that transformation is the change which takes place at the deep or underlying structure level that affects both the syntactic and semantic relevance of the sentence. In the course of this change, some lexical items change their positions in the sentence while others are moved and yet some others get deleted. Deep structure (henceforth DS) is an abstract level of representation that underlies the syntactic structures of any sentence. This is to say that another name for DS is underlying structure. It is at the DS that all the features which make utterances or sentences meaningful

are specified. Ndimele (1999) observes that the sequences of grammatical units upon which transformational rules operate are the DS. To achieve the desired change on the deep structure, transformational rules (T-rules) are used. T-rules operate to link the deep structure to the surface structure. They cannot change the meaning of the sentence. According to Chomsky (1964), T-rules are meaningpreserving. As a parametric variation, each language selects its T-rules depending on the structure of such language. Ndimele (1999:159) observes that every T-rule selects a sequence of symbols as its input, and then turns them into another set of symbols as its output in accordance with certain conditions that operate in that language. Lexical items are said to be co-referential when they are identical in meaning and perform the same function in a sentence. The first of these lexical items is the antecedent while the second is seen as the anaphor. Illustrating with the sentence: Ada gburu nne ya (Ada killed her mother), ya which is the anaphor is the same person as and refers to Ada, its antecedent. The anaphor does not have any independent meaning outside its antecedent. Ndimele (1999) and Tomori (1977) suggest an alternate name for nested category as mirror-image properties and constituent sentence respectively. According to them, a mirrorimage property is an embedded clause or sentence which disrupts the sequence of constituents in the main clause. It can be said to be recursive structures that are derivable from a sentence. 2.2 Empirical Studies Johnson observes that there are situations in which we are more confident about where the relevant marked position is, and the argument bearing that role is spoken somewhere else.

Radford (1988) argues that the two levels of structure (DS and S) are inter-related by a set of movement rules known technically as transformations. He discusses a number of Trules including Verb movement, I movement (responsible for the phenomenon generally known as Subject Auxiliary Inversion which has a central role to play in the syntax of direct questions in English), NP (Noun Phrase) movement (NP movement in passive structures, raising structures and ergative and middle structures), extraposition, and WHmovement (Wh- questions). In fact, his work focuses more on movement transformations discussing in some details the phenomenon of subject auxiliary inversion, and different types of NP movement. He uses IP movement to derive an interrogative sentence as below where S stands for subject. [ Ce] [ C Will ] [S He [ I will] [ VP tell the truth] [VP tell the truth] ]?

[S he [ I - ]

Newton (2011) studies affix-hopping and Do-support in Old Irish. In the study, she discovers that there is a parallel relationship between Old Irish affix hopping and that of English, where tense and agr(eement) features are argued to lower from T to V. She does not give the specified meaning of T and V, and did not back up her studies with clear examples. Encyclopaedia Britannica (EB) also observes that TG is an offshoot of PSG representing the sentence the man hit the ball at the PSG level as the man will hit the ball at the TG level thereby inserting the auxiliary verb will into the second sentence. Chomskys (1957) rule for passivization is given as NP1-Aux-V-NP2 NP2-Aux+be-en-Vby+NP1. According to EB, this rule of passivization presupposes and depends on the prior application of a set of PS rules. Using this rule, the second sentence above the man will hit the ball will be generated as the ball will be hit by the man as shown below. The man [NP1] will [Aux] hit [V] the ball [NP2] Active voice
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The ball [NP2] will [Aux] be [be+en] hit [V] by [by] the man [NP1] - Passive voice. The ability of a speaker to know the right transformation to apply at any given time is what is called linguistic competence, knowing the transformations that are obligatory and those that are optional. If transformation rules are misapplied, the result will be ungrammaticality of the sentence. Napoli (1996) presents another name for dative movement as spray/load sentences using two pairs of sentences as examples. a) Joan sprayed paint on the wall. Joan sprayed the wall with paint. b) I wrapped the child in a blanket. I wrapped a blanket around the child. The prepositions used in each of the pairs is different (on vs with; and in vs around). Waya (2010) studies deletion in Tiv and discovers that imperativization, equi-NP deletion, and equi-VP deletion under the condition of indefiniteness exist in the language. Even though these transformations were not discussed in detail as to how they occur in the language, Waya presents a shallow example of deletion under the condition of indefiniteness thus. Hanma kwaghyan doo Kwaghyan doo Every food is good Food is good.

His method of analysis does not tell us the word class of the words, or the original form of the sentence at the deep structure level.

3.0

Data Analysis

In this section, data from the Igbo language are analyzed to show how deletion transformation rules operate in the language. 3.1 Imperative Deletion

Imperativization in Igbo involves the deletion of the second person pronoun (either singular or plural) and the modal auxiliary verb ga in a sentence. Examples. 1a) { ga-apx ebe a NP { 1b) 1c) 1d) Aux VP You will leave this place Will leave this place Leave this place Leave this place You will leave this place

ga apx ebe aga apx ebe apx ebe a -

Pxq ebe a

At the deep structure level, sentence 1b appears as 1a. The deletion of {, the second person singular pronoun leaves us with 1b. The deletion process continues with the elimination of the auxiliary verb ga, to yield the terminal structure in 1d. It should be however noted that the deletion of ga brought about the insertion of q in pxq to derive pxq ebe a. Deletion worked together with insertion to yield the grammatical construct in 1d. 2a) { ga-enye m ego NP1 { [NP1] 2b) 2c) 2d) ga Nyem ego Aux ga [Aux] enye nye m m VP enye egoegom You will give me money NP2 ego

Will give me money Give me money Give me money

3a)

Unu ga-ab[a akwxkwq NP1 Aux VP

You will come to school NP2 akwxkwq [NP2] Will come to school Come to school Come to school They will come here

Unu [NP] ga [Aux] 3b) 3c) 3d) 4a) ga B[a akwxkwq. Ha ga-ab[a ebe a NP1 Aux ab[a b[a

ab[a [V] akwxkwq akwxkwq

VP

NP2 ebe a [VP] Will come here Come here Come here

Ha [NP] ga [Aux] ab[a 4b) 4c) 4d) 5a) ga B[a ebe a Unu hapxnx m aka. NP1 VP NP2 ab[a b[a ebe a ebe a

You leave me alone

Unu [NP1] hapxnx [VP] m [NP2] 5b) 5c) hapx m aka Leave me alone Leave me alone

Hapx m aka

It is the same deletion process which applies to 1 that also applies to 2-5 except that in 1, insertion of the extensional suffix q to the verb root px is introduced. Examples 1-5 show that even though some elements are deleted from Igbo sentences, grammaticality is still retained because the original ideas are maintained in the (d) part of each of the sentences, where (a) represent the DS and (d) stand for the surface structure except in 5 where the surface structure is (c). In the Igbo language, imperativization is an optional transformation. It depends on the choice of the speaker whether to realize the sentence in its deep structure or in kernel form.
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3.2

Deletion under the Condition of Identity Deletion under the condition of identity deals basically with repeated elements

especially in conjoined sentences. Linguistic economy demands that repeated elements should be deleted leaving their heads. We shall study equi-VP deletion or VP deletion under identity and Equi-NP deletion or NP deletion under identity. 3.2.1 Equi-VP Deletion Equi-VP deletion is prevalent mostly in nouns that are compound in nature at the Dstructure. In this case, the second verb phrase (VP) is deleted. Examples. 6a) Okeke na Okafq gara qrx Okeke and Okafq went work.

Okeke na Okafq [NP] gara qrx [VP] At the DS, the above sentence is a compound of two independent sentences as in b and c below. NP VP Okeke went work Okafq went work

b) Okeke gara qrx c) Okafq gara qrx -

The implication is that the VP of the sentence gara qrx is repeated in the kernel form. This duplication gives room for the second VP to be deleted under the condition of identity giving us the form in 6a at the surface structure. The same applies to 7-9 below. NP 7a) b) c) VP Garri and soup are sweet. Garri is sweet Soup is sweet.
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Xtara na ofe d[ xtq Xtara d[ xtq Ofe d[ xtq

The second VP d[ xtq in 7c is deleted to derive the structure in 7a. NP 8a) b) c) VP Nneji and Nnaji are human beings Nneji is a human being Nnaji is a human being

Nneji na Nnaji bx mmadx Nneji bx mmadx Nnaji bx mmadx

The second VP bx mmadx in 8c is deleted to yield the structure in 8a. NP1 AUX VP 9a) b) c) NP2

A na m akwado ule sintak[s[ na fqnetik[s[ - I am preparing for syntax and phonetics exams. A na m akwado ule sintak[s[ A na m akwado ule fqnetik[s[ I am preparing for syntax exams I am preparing for phonetics exams.

The second VP akwado ule is deleted 3.2.2 Equi-NP Deletion While Equi-VP deletion deals with the Verb Phrase, Equi-NP deletion concentrates on deleting a duplicated Noun Phrase (NP) in a compound sentence. This is exemplified using 10 and 11 below. NP 10a) VP

Obi gara ah[a, zxta ube, oroma, na akwukwqnri Obi went to market, bought pears, oranges and vegetables.

At the DS, 10a is a combination of four sentences as follows. 10b) Obi [pst] ga ah[a Obi [pst] zxta ube
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Obi [pst] zxtaoroma, Obi [pst] zxta akwukwqnri

Since linguistic economy demands that repeated elements be deleted leaving their heads, we shall have 10c. 10c) 10d) 10e) 10f) Obi [pst] ga ah[a, [pst] zxta ube, [pst] zxtaoroma, [pst] zxta akwukwqnri Obi ga+pst ah[a, zxta+pst ube, zxta+pst oroma, zxta+pstakwukwqnri. Obi gara ah[a, zxta ube, zxtaoroma, zxta akwukwqnri Obi gara ah[a, zxta ube, oroma, na akwukwqnri.

Affix-hopping applies on 10d to realize the past tense form of the verbs in 10e whereas 10f is the surface structure of the sentence. 11a) Any[ gara be Nneji, rie nri, kpaa nkata, lawa.

11a is a concatenation of three sentences at the deep structure. 11b) Any[ gara be Nneji, Any[ ri riri nri Any[ kpara nkata Any[ lara 11c) Any[ [pst] ga be Nneji, Any[[pst] ri nri, Any[[pst] kpaa nkata, Any[[pst] la.

At this level, the NP any[ is deleted so that we have 11d. 11d) Any[ [pst] ga be Nneji, [pst] ri nri, [pst] kpa nkata, [pst] la.

On 11d affix-hopping applies where the past forms assume the correct positions as in 11e
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11e) 11f)

Any[ ga+pst be Nneji, ri+pst nri, kpa+pst nkata, la+pst. Any[ gara be Nneji, rie nri, kpaa nkata, lawa.

The affix-hopping of the past form (ra) of the verb kpa in 11e brings about an insertion of the extensional suffix a in 11f. Therefore, deletion of some elements brings about insertion to retain grammaticality. 4.0 Summary of Findings and Conclusion In the course of this study, it was found out that imperativization which is the deletion of the second or third person pronoun applies to the Igbo language. Also, insertion can also function alongside deletion as seen in example 1 where the removal of the auxiliary verb ga brought about the insertion of the extensional suffix q to the verb stem px to derive pxq. Without the insertion of q the result would have been an ungrammatical sentence. Also Equi-VP deletion exists in the kernel form of certain Igbo sentences as seen in 6-9. We agreed that Equi-VP deletion deals with the removal of a verb phrase otherwise duplicated in the deep structure. Equi-NP deletion can be found in Igbo language from examples 10-11. From the findings, deletion of lexical items in Igbo language can attract other forms of transformations especially insertion as seen 1 and 11, and affix-hopping in 10 and 11. Transformational rules operate like a string where one may lead to another and still retain meaning. The findings above agree with the universal notion that transformations are meaning preserving as the meanings of the original sentences remain the same irrespective of the transformations that have taken place on them. It is recommended that the sentence structure of indigenous Nigerian languages be studied in order for us to have a database for local languages which will serve as a good reference point for future studies and reduce the dearth of research materials in the area of syntax.
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Waya, D.T. (2010). Deletion in Tiv: A Transformational Analysis. PG Seminar Paper, Department of Linguistics, Igbo and Other Nigerian Languages, University of Nigeria Nsukka.

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