Structural case assignment in Gbagyi language: A government-binding analysis of nominative and accusative patterns

Abstract

This study investigates structural Case assignment in Gbagyi, a Niger-Congo language spoken predominantly in north-central Nigeria, within the framework of Government and Binding (GB) Theory. Despite its large speaker base, Gbagyi remains underexplored in syntactic theory. The research examines how nominative and accusative Cases are assigned in canonical structures, testing universal principles proposed by Chomsky (1981) and
subsequent scholars. Data were collected through interviews with native speakers (aged 18–70) in Kuta and Minna, with particular emphasis on the intuitions of elders, and analyzed using GB Case theory. Findings show that Gbagyi aligns with cross-linguistic patterns of structural Case assignment. Nominative Case is assigned to subject NPs by [+Tense] INFL heads (e.g., mi “I” in mi la pyice “I have finished”), while accusative Case is assigned by transitive verbs to object NPs (e.g., ābā “door” in Eɓi lá ābā guya “The child closed the door”). Tree diagrams illustrate the role of adjacency and government, confirming that each NP receives exactly one Case from a single assigner. The study concludes that Gbagyi
conforms to universal parameters of structural Case assignment, with nominative and accusative distribution paralleling languages such as English and Hausa. This analysis enriches the typological understanding of Nupoid languages and demonstrates the applicability of GB Theory to under-described languages.