ON THE ROLE OF TONE IN IGBO NEGATION

Abstract

Negation in Standard Igbo is marked by the general negative suffix . Some other Igbo dialects use other types of negative suffixes. It is a well known fact that tone plays important grammatical roles in Igbo. And so negation is also marked by changes in tone pattern. However, there are some dialects such as Nneewi and Onicha that have suffixless negative constructions and also have inherently negative auxiliary verbs. In these suffixless negative constructions, tone is the only indicator of negation. It seems that the common denominator for the suffix and suffixless negative constructions in most Igbo dialects including Standard Igbo is the presence of a floating high tone which could be borne by the ‘default agreement prefix’ (Dechaine 1993) or the verbal element (aux and main verb). This position is contrary to Ndimele (1995, 2004, 2009), who argues that a floating low tone plays an important part in Igbo negation. My position is supported by different constructions in different dialects of Igbo that lack the negative suffix but yet negation is overtly implied. Data from these dialects show that negation could be marked by high tone alone in some construction or high tone plus the negative suffix in some others. I therefore conclude that high tone (not low tone) plays important role in Igbo negation and in fact the primary negative marker in Igbo