INTERFIXATION IN IGBO GRAMMAR: AN EVIDENCE OF DUALITY IN IGBO TRADITIONAL THOUGHT

Abstract

An aspect of the Igbo traditional world view is that the world operates with a system of dualities. This perception of reality, which pervades the thought of the Igbo, is illustrated exclusively with pool of complementary dual concepts, verb complexes and regular expressions in the language. In Igbo also, the morphological process of interfixation occurs and regularly derives nouns that have dual constituents of equal morphological standing; for example: Erimeeri (eri-me-eri) “Edible”.The argument in this paper is that products of the process of interfixation in Igbo morpho-syntax constitute another evidence of the fact that duality is basic in the Igbo traditional thought.