http://hdl.handle.net/10311/96 Sat, 11 Jul 2026 08:52:28 GMT 2026-07-11T08:52:28Z http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2147 Politeness in language use in Tswana Kgotla meetings Kololo, Peggy; Kari, Ethelbert E. This paper focuses on politeness in language use in kgotla meetings among the Tswana ethnic groups of Balete, Bangwato and Bakhurutshe. It investigates how interlocutors’ use of language reflects social behaviour and how it relates to the conventions of interaction, such as openings and closings and other typical features of meetings, in kgotla meetings. The data in this paper was obtained from video recordings and interviews and was qualitatively analysed based on the communities of practice (CofP) approach (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet, 1992) and on Watts’ (2003) view of politeness. The results indicate that polite behaviour occurs both linguistically and non-linguistically during interactions and is enacted according to the norms of Tswana ethnic culture. Furthermore, the results indicate that the use of figurative language is evident in the interlocutors’ discourse. The paper concludes that interactions in kgotla meetings show polite behaviour, and that interactions in a socio-cultural context are largely dependent on various factors that affect the interlocutors’ use of language. Fri, 30 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2147 2021-04-30T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2000 The languages of Rivers State of Nigeria: An overview Kari, Ethelbert Emmanuel This paper provides an updated overview of the languages of Rivers State of Nigeria in respect of the number, linguistic classification and features of the languages, as well as the distribution of the languages across the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state. This is because the existing overviews contain little or no data on the linguistic features of the languages. It notes that Rivers State is a multilingual state in which 28 native or indigenous languages are spoken, and that the languages fall into two major sub-families (Benue-Congo and Ijoid) within the Niger-Congo phylum. With relevant data, the paper highlights and illustrates some of the interesting linguistic characteristics of the languages, which include advanced tongue root vowel harmony, noun classification via noun prefixes and noun classifiers, inclusive-exclusive distinction in personal pronouns, sex gender, verbal extensions, serial verb constructions and subject and/or object agreement marking. Furthermore, the paper considers the distribution of Rivers State languages and notes that the languages are not evenly distributed across the LGAs, and that many indigenous people of the state are bilingual or multilingual in the languages of the state. Finally, the paper notes that despite the enabling national and state policies and laws favouring mother-tongue education, Rivers State languages have not actively been used at the levels stipulated by the policies and laws. It recommends the enforcement and implementation of existing laws and policies so that the indigenous languages of the state are used at the levels stipulated by the National Policy on Education for the benefit of the citizens, state and country. Wed, 06 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10311/2000 2019-11-06T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1840 Verb inflectional morphology in Ikwere Kari, Ethelbert E.; Alerechi, Roseline I.C. Although some work has been done on Ikwere verb inflectional morphology, no comprehensive description of this aspect of the language exists. This paper aims at providing a fairly comprehensive description of the verb inflectional morphology of Ikwere, an Igboid language (Niger-Congo) spoken in southern Nigeria. It notes that the marking of inflectional categories of tense, aspect, mood and polarity in Ikwere is a combination of affixes, auxiliaries and tone. The paper identifies -kata and -li as markers of resultative and potential respectively. It also identifies the combination -ká and -lâ as marking emphatic prohibitive, in addition to -rV, -ga, -lV/-nV, -bè, -kọ̀, dè/dà and -V identified by Alerechi (2015), which respectively mark factative/assertive, progressive, perfect, inceptive, habitual, future and prohibitive. The paper further establishes that in addition to root-controlled vowel harmony noted by Alerechi (2007, 2009), affix-controlled vowel harmony is also attested in Ikwere. Finally, the paper demonstrates that although tense, aspect, mood and polarity are different in theory, in practice they criss-cross themselves in verb forms in Ikwere, thus resulting in such combinations as ‘resultative past’ and ‘future potential’. Tue, 31 Jul 2018 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1840 2018-07-31T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1833 Cognate object constructions in Degema Kari, Ethelbert Emmanuel This paper provides a descriptive analysis of cognate object constructions in Degema. Cognate object constructions refer to constructions that involve a verb and a cognate nominal object that is morphologically and semantically related to the verb. It distinguishes between eventive and referential cognate object constructions in Degema, observing that verbs in the former select only a cognate object whereas those in the latter can select a cognate object or a non-cognate object. The paper highlights asymmetries in cognate object constructions in Degema in the licensing of syntactic phenomena such as pronominalization, questions and topicalization. Furthermore, the paper classifies cognate object constructions in Degema into three semantic groups based on the semantic class of verbs from which these objects are derived. Consequently, it distinguishes constructions with activity, achievement and stative reading. In general, cognate objects in Degema are noted as clarifying or providing contrastive information about the activity or state of the verb from which they are derived and with which they collocate. Sun, 01 Jan 2017 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/10311/1833 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z