ABSTRACT
This study assesses the verb as a fundamental
element of English. Among the linguistic elements, the verb stands out not only
as a ubiquitous, dynamic element, but as the most important of the syntactic
elements. This superlative description of the verb is evident on its
indispensability in projecting meanings in any expression. Other elements, no
doubt, contribute to complete expression, but none can stand alone and make
complete utterance structurally and semantically. The verb as the heart and
life of expressions expresses action/deed of the nominal, state of the nominal,
events about the nominal, behaviours no other elements in their morphological
changes can supersede. It is the fundamental nature of this unique element that
this paper addresses in order to, recommend further research on the other
elements to ascertain possibly, their essential contributions to sentence
formation which might result in one or all these elements substituting the verb
in its indispensability. In arriving at the unparalled functions of the verb,
materials from the libraries and internet were examined. These sources provided
the data which furnished the work with the fact needed in ascertaining the verb
as an indispensable element for sentence completion, well-formedness, semantic
projection and category changing. This changing or functional shifting aids the
noun and the adjective in taking care of situations incapable of being
represented by these elements.
Chapter One
Introduction
1.1 Background to
the study
Language is a means of communication. As a vehicle of
communication, language is seen as an arbitrary system that allows to transmit representations
to others. According to Encyclopedia Britannica” language is a system of
conventional spoken or written symbols by means of which human beings, as
member of a social group and participants in its culture communicate”. Also,
Henry Sweet sees language as “the expression of ideas by means of speech sounds
combined into words. Words are combined into sentences, this combination
answering to that of ideas into thoughts” (qtd in Encyclopedia Britannica).
Bernard Bloch & George Trager, see language as “a system of arbitrary vocal
symbols by means of which a social group co-operate” (qtd in Encyclopedia Britannica). Language is the expression
of one thought by means of words. By means of language, man is able to inform,
express his feelings and emotions, to influence the activities of others and to
comport himself with varying degrees of friendliness or hostility towards
others. Language is human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas,
feelings and desires.These ideas and feelings are based on one’s environment
and therefore on one’s culture. Language then can be defined as human culture
expressed in words. It can also be viewed as the vehicle of culture.
The ability to speak or use a language does not only
distinguish man from animals, but identifies him as higher than other creatures
living on the surface of the earth. Thus language is species-specific to man.
According to the Bible, God created Adam and endowed him with the ability to
speak” and whatever the man would call each living soul (creature), that was
its name”(New World Translation of The Holy Scriptures, Genesis 2:19). If
language is human culture expressed in words, the English Language expresses
English culture in words. Culture is therefore language imbued and personified.
However, every human language is distinctive. This means that
every language has laid down structures which distinguishes it from other
languages. Thus, language as a system consists of so many components that make
meaning possible. Emphasizing one of its sub-systems, Bolinger says:
Human language is a system of vocal arbitrary communication,
using signs composed of arbitrary patterned sound units and assembled according
to set of rules, interacting with the experiences of its users. (12)
Language, according to Bolinger is rule-governed – whether
spoken or written.
Every element has its distributional properties which makes
interaction possible.
The English Language is undoubtedly the most important legacy
of the British colonial masters to Nigeria. This language came to Nigeria in
1842 with the coming of the British traders and missionaries. Initially,
English was not welcomed because Nigerians did not immediately recognize its
value. Gradually, however, it came to stay as it was adopted as the channel of
instruction and “a vehicle for the training of badly needed man power to run
the fledgling government services. More menial clerical officers – clerks,
accounting assistants, messengers, interpreters, etc were hurriedly trained”
Baldeh (2). The English language became a sine qua non for national political,
social and economic change.
The absolute essentials of English constrained the
constituent Assembly to decide after debates that the English language would continue
to be the “only accepted language in the country’s legislative House”.
Consequently, English became acceptable by the majority of Nigerians. It is now
not only a medium of instruction in schools and colleges, but also a lingua
franca, a second and an official language of Nigerians. The acceptance of
English in Nigeria made it assume three basic functions namely accommodation,
participation and social mobility. Banjo sees the English Language as “the
language of social and economic power…” (65).
It is the language of international commerce … in the sense
that orders are made in English. It is the language of record keeping, even
when transactions are with non-English speaking countries.
Accommodation as a function of language exists at the level
of oral communication. This is noticeable among market women and street vendors
who use it in advertising their goods and hawking their wares. It also bridges
the problems of differences in languages. In a situation in which the
participants in the communication do not share a common indigenous language,
it helps to alleviate the fear of ethnic domination.
In participation, English will remain for a long time the
language that guarantees one’s admission to parliament, educative,
administrative and accommodative sectors of the country. Social mobility
indicates that a person who has the facility on the use of English is regarded
as being successful, brilliant and intelligent. Similarly, Baldeh (3) observes
that “to obtain a lucrative job in the public or private sector, a pass in
English was a necessary prerequisite”. According to him, “to be educated was,
in the eyes of many, to be versed in the English language”. He also observes
that “from being a catalyst for political emancipation, the English Language …
has now apparently become the catalyst for nationalism, political
consciousness, and inter-tribal comprehensibility. It is, the tool for social,
political and educational expression in the vast, multi-ethnic, multi-racial
country. In a nut shell, English provides Nigerians with a window on the world”
Baldeh (7). English thus becomes “a statue symbol and a superior language”. Our
time-minutes, hours, days, weeks and months are recorded and calculated in
English and thought about them is in English” as well. Market haggling is also
done in English (or pidgin). Thoughts, ideas, even one’s native thoughts are
expressed in English.
Language is a habit, and habit is a part of one’s nature. The
speaker speaks and words flow in their natural sequence. Igbo-English,
English-Igbo. If a speaker is conscious of the speech situation, he resorts to
one code. A language or a variety of language may emerge as a result of merging
two languages. For example, the mutual accommodation of European and West
African languages has yielded “Pidgin English”.
Undoubtedly, the English language has come to stay in Nigeria
as the lingua franca, official language or a vehicular language, and like other
languages it has its patterns and structures. The patterns and structures are
obvious in its four categories namely syntax, semantics, phonology and
morphology. Syntax is concerned with the study of the ways in which words are
put together to form sentences and the principles underlying them. Words are
assembled into phrases and phrases are put together to form sentences.
Semantics according to Alo is the study of linguistic meaning. Alo says
“semantics is concerned with such phenomena as word meaning, utterance meaning,
sentence meaning, ambiguity, semantic problems …”(21). Phonology according to
Alo is “the level of linguistic description which describes the system and
patterns of sound that occur in language” (15). Oyeleye, L. and Olateju, M.
define phonology as “the study of how speech sounds of a language are organized
into a system/pattern” (11). Morphology is concerned with the formation of
words and their structural properties.
Talking on the structures of English recalls such things as
phrases, clauses and sentences. The patterns of English have their foundations
on the parts of speech. The English parts of speech are categorized into:
nouns, verbs, adverbs, pronouns, adjectives, prepositions, determiners,
interjections and conjunctions.
It is interesting to point out that each of these parts of
speech has its distinctive roles which when combined, determine the pattern of
English. The various parts of speech are made up of different kinds of words.
Thus words fall into one class or another. The parts of speech are divided into
two main categories namely:
i. The major parts of speech and
ii. The minor parts of speech
The major parts of speech include the nouns, main verbs,
adjectives and adverbs. According to Eyisi these major parts of speech “belong
to the group known as the open system and can admit new entrants. That is, they
are capable of accommodating new words brought about by new ideas, concepts and
inventions …” (15). The minor parts of speech on the other hand, incorporate
pronouns, prepositions, determiners and conjunctions and according to Eyisi
“are described as the closed system because they never admit new words” (16).
Amongst the parts of speech mentioned, the verb stands out
not only as distinct, but as the radical and most important element which
determines the pattern of every sentence, the verb gives meaning to an
expression whether a word, a clause or a sentence. This therefore underscores
the fact that no utterance or expression is meaningful without the presence of
a verb. The absence of a main verb makes an expression meaningless, incomplete
or vague. The style or type of every sentence is determined by the verb in it.
A sentence can be simple, compound, complex, compound complex or multiple
depending on the number of verb or verb phrases it contains. A simple sentence
contains only one verb or verb unit, a compound sentence contains two verbs or
verb units, while a complex sentence contains two finite verbs even though a
part is subordinated. A sentence can also express tense, mood and aspect which
are determined by the verb. A meaningful expression, therefore does not exist
without the verb.
With all intents and purposes, it is obvious that the English
verb is a significant, relevant, important and radical element in sentence
construction.
1.2 Statement of the
Problem
The verb as a major part of speech, is also considered
difficult. It poses a serious challenge or difficulty to many learners of
English as a second language. The inability to use verbs appropriately
contributes greatly to wrong or poor grammar both in oral and written
expressions. This bad use of the verb exhibited in spoken and written English
of many second language speakers constrained the researcher to assess this
linguistic element to ascertain how its use creates well-formed and ill-formed
sentences, projects required meaning and collocates with other elements to
determine sentence completion and radical behaviours which, if lacking, will
make expressions incomplete.
1.4 Research
Questions
1. To what
extent does the verb add to the meaning of an expression?
2. To what
extent does the verb determine the meaning of a sentence?
3. To what
degree does the verb aid the construction and the comprehension of an
utterance?
4. To what
extent can any expression or sentence exist without a finite verb?
5. To what
extent does the poor or wrong use of verb contribute to un-English
expressions?
1.5 Significance
of the Study
Exploring the roles of the verb in sentence construction
brings to focus the importance of this element of the English language. Also,
ascertaining the various distributional roles of the verb in speech and
writing will make users take seriously the learning of this important element.
This study will also help learners to understand that alternative structure,
called expressions without the verbs (verbless expressions) exist for a writer
to have recourse to in speech or in writing. Again, as no particular text has
examined the role of the verb and prepared them on single source, this work
will perhaps be the sample case accessible to researchers and scholars.
1.6 The scope of
the study
This work focuses on the indispensable nature of the verb. It
is about the verb as a fundamental element of the English Language.
1.7 Research
Methodology
Assessing the verb as a radical element of the English
language makes the researcher engage in field work. The researcher would
consult libraries and internet for material on the verb. In undergoing these
consultations, the researcher would be guided by the research questions to help
her ascertain how the verb creates sentence completion, well-formedness or
grammaticalness, meanings, changes categories and overtly gets omitted in
certain expressions.
1.8 Analysis of
the Findings
Again, the research questions would be the instruments for
analysis. Six research questions were formed. These questions however would not
be wholly lifted to chapter for analysis. They would be reformulated to
make each appear a subtitle or heading. This pattern will enable the researcher
supply clear account of the fundamentalness of the verb in effecting good
structures, expected meanings, category shifts and expressions without verbs.
1.9 Organizational
Structure
This thesis is organized into five chapters. Chapter one
incorporates the statement of the problem, the purpose of the study, the
research questions the significance of the study, the scope of the study, the
research methodology, the analysis of the findings and organizational
structure. Chapter two focuses on the review of literature while the third
chapter deals with the syntactic essentials of the other syntactic elements
vis-à-vis the English verb. This chapter discusses the relationships that exist
between the verb and the noun, the verb and the adjective, the verb and the
adverb, the verb and the prepositional phrase. These are considered under
structural, morphological, semantical and complementary relationships. Chapter
four discusses the analysis of the findings. In doing this, the research
questions were rephrased into six subtitles namely: the verb and sentence
completion, the verb and well-formedness, the verb and ill-formedness, the verb
and alternative structures, the verb and verbless expressions and the verb and
category change. The fifth chapter presents the summary of the work and
recommendations and suggestions. Thereafter is the list of the works cited
which shows the sources of the information. Also inclusive are the preliminary
pages.
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Item Type: Project Material | Size: 72 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
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