A Monosystemic Approach to the Study of the Ebira Language Sound System

Abstract

The study, A Monosystemic Approach to the Study of the Ebira Language Sound System attempts to identify the sound system of Ebira language, its characteristics and peculiarities. The study therefore sets out to achieve the specific objectives: describe the areas of vowel harmony and elision, examine the tone distributions in Ebira Language, identify and describe the syllable structures of Ebira language. The study focuses on Ebira Okene, a dialect spoken in Kogi State central. Concepts like phonology, phonemes, vowel harmony, vowel elision, tone and syllable structure, reviewed and works like Scholz (1976) and Adive (1984). The theoretical model adopted for this study is the monosystemic approach by Daniel Jones. Furthermore, the data for this research was collected through a structured interview, recorded through the use of instruments like phone, computer, pen, jotter book and introspective evidence. The researcher uses probability sampling or random sampling procedure for the selection of the data. The made bare the fact that, the nine vowels of Ebira language operate in two harmonic sets. Ebira is an open syllable language having no syllables with final C (consonant). Syllables Types 1, 2 and 3 are combined in organized structures to form words and other grammatical constructions. Ebira has three level tones and two kinetic tones The level tones (high, mid, and low) have a very wide distribution. The two kinetic tones (highfalling and low rising) do not occur word initial or word medial, except high falling tone which occurs on the one syllable verb prefix denoting person and number. This research may be a stepping stone for those who wish to delve into the study and description of the language in terms of its phonological components.