Verbs of Cognition in Igbo: A Reanalysis

Abstract

Verbs of cognition which refer to an Experiencer NP’s mental processes is argued to describe an entity’s unconscious behaviour. Traditionally marked as mental process verbs (Fillmore 1968, Uwalaka 1988), this definition which aligns with the structural properties of the generative grammatical framework poses a critical challenge to Igbo in the generation of more verbs of cognition because of the Igbo verbal system as it is less productive in Igbo. This study therefore aims to reanalyze verbs of cognition in Igbo using the theoretical framework of the Role and Reference Grammar Approach (RRG) proposed by Van Vallin and Lapolla (1997) and Van Vallin (2005). RRG applies the principles of the triad interface of syntax-semantics-pragmatics to decipher verbs of cognition embedded in the intuitive knowledge of the speakers of the language using the inherent temporal properties existing in the language. To analyze verbs of cognition in the language therefore, the Layered Structure of the Clause (LSC), the Aktionsart principles and the logical structures are used to decompose verb structures. This study adopts the descriptive survey research design, the data are obtained from literary Igbo novels and the researcher’s native intuition. Applying the theoretical framework of the decomposition principles of RRG by Van Vallin and Lapolla (1997) and Van Vallin (2005), it is observed that more verbs of cognition in Igbo can be realized through grammaticalized Metaphorical Expression and Figures of Speech. Others are Evidentials using the Macrorole Transitivity. Indications prove that verbs of cognition in Igbo is found not to lie strictly on verbs in a clause as mental processes but more on the co-occurrence of the verb and the nominal complement (V+N predicate). In the clauses Ọ nà-āwá ji ‘He is cutting yam’ and Ọ nà- àwá ànyá ‘He is arrogant’ proves from the perspective of the intuitive speaker that though they have the same grammatical structure, the latter is a cognition clause. This is because, the cognition meaning lies on the co-occurrence of the Verb+Nominal element wá ányá ‘arrogant’ and not on the verb nà- àwá ‘is cutting’. The study concludes that these sources which are originally part of the Igbo structures should be integrated into the verb classes as sources of cognition features in Igbo.