RESTRICTIVE AND NON-RESTRICTIVE APPOSITION IN IGBO SEMANTICS

Abstract

Linguistics, as a discipline, busies itself with the study of the science of language. Among its many preoccupations is the explanation of how language works. Through linguistics, therefore, we can analyse and comprehend the nature of the complex structural components of a language. Such components include the sound pattern study (phonology), the word structure study (morphology) and the word arrangement study (syntax). Semantics, the next component, is the study of the meaning derived from phonology, morphology and syntax. Semantics explains the various types of meaning that abound within a language. It is on the ground of these varieties of meaning that this paper studies “Restrictive and Non-Restrictive Apposition in Igbo Semantics. The objectives of the study include explaining the meanings of apposition, restrictive apposition and non-restrictive apposition, the difference between the two. It is also purposed to discuss the significance of both types of apposition in Igbo semantics. The researcher, as an L1 speaker of the Igbo language, uses his intuitive knowledge in generating the relevant primary data for the research. The secondary data are sourced from relevant literature. The study is guided by the grammatical concept of noun phrase modification and Use theory of Meaning. Among the findings of the study is that apposition is a grammatical expression in which an existing noun phrase has another one, co-referential with it put in an adjacent position with the pre-existing one, which it helps to describe or modify. The study , also, finds out that a restrictive apposition is the one which provides information essential to the meaning of the noun that it is re-naming, whereas in non-restrictive apposition, the information provided is not essential to the meaning of the noun it is re-naming.