Tense Particles in Ibibio Question-answer Pairs
Keywords:
Tense Particles, Questions-answer pairs, allomorphs, declarative structures, information structure, IbibioAbstract
The selectivity of tense particles between the Ibibio basic sentences and question-answer pairs manifests a dichotomy. This dichotomy is not without some exceptions. This paper attempts a study of the distribution of Ibibio tense allomorphs between the basic clause structures and the question-answer pairs. Data for this work were collected from Ibibio native speakers through questionnaires and interviews. Analysis of the data reveals that Ibibio basic clause structures select the type (I) tense allomorphs while the question-answer pairs select the type (II) tense allomorphs. Such dichotomy holds when the basic clause has not undergone any transformation and the inquiry is made with the question word moved to the left periphery of the structure. However, if the inquiry is made with the question word at base generated or in-situ position, which is the right periphery of the structure, a free range selectivity principle applies. This free range selectivity principle also applies in polar situations. The paper concludes that generally, movement of arguments from their base generated positions licenses the type (I) tense allomorphs while non-movement of arguments licenses type (II) tense allomorphs. However, a free range selectivity principle applies in question-answer pairs when the inquiry is made with the question word at base generated or in-situ position.
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