The Structure Of The Igbo Verb Phrase

Though many scholars have written a lor about verbs and the verb phrase, none
to the best of our knowledge, has made any attempt to adequately describe the structure
of the Igbo Verb Phrase using X-bar framework. This study is intended to fill the gap.
X-bar syntax has been observed to be a formalization of the syntactic structures
of Universal Grammar - a Parameter from which every language, depending on its
predicate structure. chooses its syntactic framework.
This study describes the principles by which the Igbo verb is projected into higher
phrasal categories of the same type. using X-bar principles.
The major categories we focus on are the Verb Phrase (VP) constituents
comprising the:
Verb RootIVesb Stem (V-rootlstem), the Applicative - rv Suffix, the Inherent
Complement and the Bound Verb Complement. The study indicates the syntactic
constituency of each lexical item which defines the bar levels between the syntactic
components.
The study makes specific starernenrs on the adequacy of the X-bar convention as
a system for analyzing the structure of the Igbo verb phrase.
It is hoped that this study will stimulate further research about Igbo verbs and verb phrases.