ENDOCENTRICITY IN ÉTÚNÒ COMPOUND WORDS

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the linguistic feature known as endocentricity in Étúnọ compound words, which occurs in a number of languages. Endocentricity is a term used to describe the hierarchical relationship in which the syntactic and semantic features of a compound word determined by one element (the head). Gaining insight into the endocentricity principles In Étúnọ compound words help clarify the language processes that underpin the semantic interpretation and word creation. The literature surrounding Étúnọ compounds and endocentricity is limited but growing. Previous studies have examined various aspects of the language but few have specifically focused on the Étúnọ compound type. So therefore the aim of this research is to categorize Étúnọ compound words into the word groups they occur, show their semantic relation and account for the head position amongst the constituent. This research makes use of the primary and secondary source of data collection, for analysis this study introduces the use of Basic linguistic Theory (Dixon, 2010), a theory which helps linguist understand how languages are structured and how they function across different cultures and contexts as a theoretical framework for deciphering and analyzing data. The findings of the study shows that Étúnò compound words can be categorized under nominal compounds (N+N, A+N, and V+N), these nominal compounds are headed (The "head" of a compound word is the part that carries the main meaning or represents the central concept. It's the element that determines the grammatical category of the compound) and this head is responsible for the semantic relations in the constituent. This research also shows that the Étúnò language also possess a mixture of left have and right hand (head first and last) position of heads in a compound word.