More on the Serial Verb Construction in Iyi ̩̀nno

Abstract

Studies on the properties and derivation of SVC have over the years persisted as unresolved issues in African linguistics. There are series of postulations in terms of classification, properties and derivation of the structure ranging from descriptive analyses to theoretically motivated representations of the structure. On Ì̩yi ̩nno ̩ little is known about the construction and its properties. Although Abimbola (2014) gave a beacon of hope towards the derivation proposing that there is one and only one clause structure projected, he did not discuss the properties of the construction. Abimbola and Taiwo (2014) also misrepresent some of the classes. Observing these inadequacies, the present paper discusses the properties, types and derivation of the SVC in Ì̩yi ̩nno ̩ dialect of Aika language with a view to reviewing the claim made in Abimbola and Taiwo (2014). The paper adopts the Minimalist Program as its theoretical framework. Data for the study were gathered using both structure and unstructured interview. Proposed a revision of Abimbola (2014) on the bases of LFresidue of shared DP object jointly selected from the Lexicon but not legible at PF interface. The LF-residue caters for the valuation of the verbs’ roaming features i.e phi-feature, case and assignment of theta to the residue object without flouting Inclusiveness Condition. Only the linearized copy of the DP object is legible at the PF interface.