Grammar of Etulo: A Niger-Congo (Idomoid) Language

Abstract

This work provides the first detailed linguistic description of the grammar of Etulo, a language spoken in Nigeria by a minority group in Benue and Taraba states. This description establishes Etulo as a tone language characterised by a predominant SVO word order, non-inflectional morphology, prominent aspectual values, obligatory complement verbs and verb serialization, among other features. This grammar also serves as a foundation for further description of the Etulo grammar and for the development of pedagogical materials needed in Etulo language teaching. Within the Benue-Congo sub group of languages, Etulo is classified as an Idomoid language alongside seven other languages with which it shares striking linguistic similarities. These include Idoma, Igede, Yatye, Alago, Akweya, Akpa, and Eloyi, none of which has yet received a robust linguistic description in the form of a grammar. This work therefore serves as a reference work not only for Etulo, but also for other Idomoid languages yet to be described. This volume will be of interest to researchers of African linguistics in general and Idomoid languages in particular, as well as Africanists, comparative linguists and language typologists more generally.