The structure of negation in Úwù

Abstract

This study examines the structure of negation in Úwù; one of the endangered languages of Nigeria. Úwù is spoken in the Àyèré community in the Ìjùmú Local Government in Kogi State. The present study identifies the various negative markers in the language and their structural distributions both at phrasal and sentence levels. In this study, the researcher establishes that a negative clause is derived through Neg that projects into NegP which takes TP as its complement. It is also observed that the language does not manifest lexical negation. The minimalist program (MP) is used to analyse the syntactic distributions of negative markers in sentences. It is our hope that this study will serve as part of the documentation of an aspect of the syntax of the language. Keywords: Negation, Úwù, Minimalist program