THE FOCUS OF AFFIXATION AND COMPOUNDING IN MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESS IN MBOSI DIALECT OF IGBO

ABSTRACT

This research work examined affixation and compounding in morphological process in Mbosi dialect of Igbo. This study examined morphological processes by employing the use of Ibadan 400 wordlist and applying the functional morphology theoretical framework to provide a framework for understanding how affixation and compounding serve communicative functions and convey meaning within the dialect. Functional Morphology helps us understand why and how people in Mbosi use things like prefixes and combining words to make their messages clear and effective. The aim of this study is to examine the morphological processes in Mbosi dialect by achieving the following objectives: describe mbosi morphology, examine sound and word changes in Mbosi dialect, and explore word creation, such as prefixes, suffixes, or word combinations. The study reveals that Mbosi dialect morphological processes are realized the same way in languages of the world. This researcher used the secondary and primary data collection technique to analyze the collected data. The researchers used qualitative and quantitative methods were used to analyze the data. Additionally study of this sort is essential to prevent the extinction of the local dialects of Igbo language and to make it available for the younger generations. Consequently, language activists and linguists diaspora especially those from Eastern part of Nigeria, Anambra precisely should come together and provide a workable orthography of the dialect so that it could be used alongside the standard Igbo as a mode of instruction in the primary school level especially in the environments where these dialects are spoken.