IDEOPHONIC VERBS IN HAUSA
IDEOPHONIC VERBS IN HAUSA
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Date
2012-10
Authors
DAHIRU, TANIMU
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Abstract
Ideophonic verbs in Hausa (Ideophones with syntactic behavior of
verb) are verbs whose sounds suggest their meaning. These type of
verbs escaped the sight of researchers. The research exposes yet
another landmark in the study of Hausa language. Three Hausa
dictionaries were studied, where ideophonic verbs were extracted
and analyzed. Words like faska “to hit with the palm” tsuugaa “to
pour too much water” etc are verbs which sounds imitate certain
sounds or actions. Ideophonic verb has two basic things. The first is
that the sounds in every word imitate the sounds of the real action
and secondly, the action is woven neatly with an intensifier. These
types of verbs are semantically two dimensional, one expressing
manner of action and the other expressing degree of action.
Ideophonic verbs are of two types: Onomatopoeic Ideophonic verbs
and non-onomatopoeic ideophonic verbs. The connection between
sound and sense in these types of verbs are also analyzed.
Description
IDEOPHONIC VERBS IN HAUSA
BY
DAHIRU TANIMU
M.A/ARTS/42335/2004-05 (Old)
M.A/ARTS/04551/2010-2011 (New)
DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES
AND CULTURE
FACULTY OF ARTS
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
OCTOBER 2012