Download Aspects of the Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners

Journal of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria Volume 14 Number 2 2011 (pp. 249-262)
Aspects of the Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
C. Ailende Ativie
Department of Political Science & General Studies Unit, Novena University, Ogume,
Delta State, Nigeria
E-mail: [email protected] Phone: +234 803 502 7594
This paper examines noun and verb phrase structures in both the English and Esan
languages. It compares and contrasts the two languages to determine, especially areas
of difficulties which hamper the learning of English by the Esan bilingual. It examines
structural forms of MHQ elements of the noun and verb phrases in English and Esan,
and their relatedness to meaning with a focus on the positions of the auxiliary and
main verbs in the expression of Time, Aspect and Mode. The study aims at awakening
teachers of English to the possible areas of grammatical error generation which may
arise from the Esan speaker’s mother tongue interference into his use of English.
1. Introduction
Language, as a means of communication, is a system of vocal symbols through which
a people express their thoughts and feelings. Dell Hymes (1964), for this reason, sees
language as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for group interaction. The
English language, which serves as an example, is a natural language, and it is a major
language spoken all around the world today (Fenyo, 2003). Identified as a member of
the Germanic tribe of the Indo-European family of languages (Encyclopedia
Britannica, 22), English is presently spoken as mother tongue (MT) in Britain, the
United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In many African and Asian
countries, English is adopted as second language (L2) as well as official language. In
these countries, it is as well the medium of instruction in schools from the primary up
to tertiary level. Heralded by trade in the second half of the nineteenth century and
later by missionary activities in Nigeria, the English language has been classified into
four varieties as used in Nigeria (see Ayo Bamgbose 1995; Ayo Banjo 1996, etc.).
The Esan (or Ishan) language, which speech is restricted to the peoples of the
central region of present-day Midwestern Edo State of Nigeria, is another example of a
natural language. As Jacob Egharevba (1968) traces the history, ‘the early peoples of
Ishan … are all emigrants from Benin’ (5), and this makes ‘the Ishan [a] sub-tribe of
the Binis’ (Fugitive Offender, 1). So, the Esan variety of the Bini or Edo language, like
Igbo, Idoma, Yoruba or the Twi (Ghana) languages, linguistic studies have shown,
belong to the Kwa sub-group of the Lower Niger Congo languages (Michael Crowder,
1978). The two languages, English and Esan, spoken alternately by the Esan bilingual,
are in contact but not without the usual observable phenomenon of interference.
2. The Interference Phenomenon
The Esan bilingual mostly speaks English as second language (L2) with errors from
his MT or first language (L1). Such errors, known as interference, gave rise, in the first
instance, to determining ‘under what conditions a pair of contrasted language systems
exhibit similar or different traits’ (“The Vocalic Systems of Edo [Bini] and English”,
176), resulting in contrastive linguistic analysis (CA). Thus CA, as agent of prediction,
Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
250
serves “an inductive investigative approach based on the distinctive elements in a
language” (LinguaLinks Library, 2004). Therefore, to identify the linguistic habits of
the L1, the researcher must resort to CA. This is because the habits of the L1 are
different from the target language (TL), and these habits most often cause errors (Ron
Sheen, 2001). Accordingly, ‘Weinreich (1953) suggests that the first language
influences the acquisition of the second one. With the term interference he refers to the
rearrangement of patterns that result from the introduction of foreign elements into the
more highly structured domain of language’ (Language Contact and Bilingualism, 82).
Such contact of two languages often does engender phonological, syntactic and/or
lexico-semantic interference as noticed even with the Esan learner of the English
language. Appel and Muysken (1987) sum up that research in the literature has proved
that ‘errors in second language performance were believed to be mainly the result of
transfer of first language skills or habits’ (2). And the differences or similarities could
lead to impediment or facilitate the learning processes of the TL. By interference,
therefore, Smith (1979) refers to negative transfer which pertains to problems of the
influence of MT on TL, and positive transfer which refers to the ease in learning the
TL because of the similarities inherent between the MT and TL. Although the whole
idea of interference is based on transfer theory, ‘error analysis and contrastive analysis
are carried out to show vividly the problems [usually of negative transfer which] a
learner might have in the study of the target language’ (Uhunmwangho and Anyanwu,
177). While its aim, as it were, is to serve the development of teaching material in the
learning of the TL, this paper examines interference from the perspective of syntax or
grammar of the Esan MT speaker with a focus on noun and verb phrases as they affect
the TL, English, either negatively or positively. This is because the student, as Lado
(1957) observes, ‘tends to transfer the sentence forms, modification devices, the
number, gender and case patterns of his native language’ (58) owing, perchance, to
psychological and subconscious memorization of his MT language structure.
3. The Grammatical Phrase Structure
Vic Webb and Kembo-Sure (2000) consider the grammar of a language as ‘the totality
of the unit (or elements) in a language together with the rules that govern their use’
(60). The grammar of Esan has an established autography which sound and tone
system derive from the Irrua (or Esan Central) Received Pronunciation (RP). It is a
major language in Edo State of Nigeria, spoken alongside Bini, Ora and Etsako
languages. As official language, it is used as primer for schools in Esanland, serving as
a medium of instruction in the primary schools and in the State television/radio
stations as a means of disseminating information through public paid announcement,
and in news translations. It is also used alongside English in formal gatherings such as
churches and other worship places, and in politics. The Esan’s first contact with the
British was through the missionaries who built churches, schools and hospitals through
which they established the British system of rule in the Nigerian country. The English
language became the language of government which many Esan speakers did learn, a
number of whom consequently became bilinguals, speaking their native Esan side by
side with English. Investigating into its structure reveals that Esan, as a language, has
the nuances of a generative grammar in the sense that it posts a two immediate
constituents or bipartite analysis of an NP + VP structure. It follows, therefore, that
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Esan manifests the traits of a phrase structure (PS) grammar which analyzes utterances
in terms of its syntactic constituents (Tomori, 1977). Much like transformational
grammar (TG), Esan contains data that can attract ‘responses relating to what is
intuitively known about language structure’ (“The Systemic and the TGG Models”, 9).
According to Adejare and Adejare (1996) ‘the NP + VP formula, like the subject +
predicate of traditional grammar from which it derived, is more of a semantic division
of the clause into what is being talked about (subject) and what is said about the
subject (predicate) than a syntactic unit’ (132). The phrase structure in Esan, therefore,
can be analyzed and contrasted with English in terms of M(odifier) H(ead word) and
Q(ualifier) deep structure as expounded by Halliday (1961) in his neo-Firthian model
of grammatical analysis.
4. The Noun Phrase (NP) Structures in Esan and English
Quirk and Greenbaum (1973) see the NP as elements which typically function as
subject, object and complement of a sentence. Mary Macintosh (1984) is unambiguous
in her definition of NP which she sees as ‘constituents that have the ability to stand as
topic, focus or answer’. In Esan language, the NP could occur as single words (mostly
proper nouns) and/or as constituents (names of persons and places). Thus, the NP in
Esan can be analyzed in terms akin to the English MHQ or simply as H as obtainable
in English. The two languages share a similarity where the M and Q elements could be
optional while the H element is obligatory. The difference, however, is in the sequence
of occurrence of the MHQ elements which are differently ordered in structure. In this
paper, we shall consider the examples as spoken in Esan language; their transliteration
into English and, of course, the English gloss equivalents in that order as we examine
the Esan structural elements in the following description of a book:
H M
(1)
M
M
H
M
M
M
M
M
M
H
Ebe ni hẹnhẹn ọbhili = Book the first black = The first black book.
Though in English, the four positions: Determiner (D), Ordinal (O), Epithet (E) and
Nominal (N) or (D O E N) of the M element, which are related to the modifier word
class, usually function to pre-modify the H to present an MH group of structure. In
specific terms, in order words, English distinguishes the D O E N as pre-determiners
of the M element at a second degree of delicacy from within the same items that are so
designated as modifiers which serve at the first degree of delicacy. In Esan, the same
modifier word class functions as post modifiers of the same H but this time, to present
a HM variant group within the NP modification structure. A noticeable similarity in
the English and Esan NP structures is in the Q element which position comes after the
Esan HM group to form a HMQ post-post modification structure in the description
below, as conversely as the Q element comes after the MH in English to form the
MHQ structure.
H
(2) Ebe
M(D)
ni
M(O)
M(E)
Q
H
M(D) M(O) M(E)
Q
hẹnhẹn ọbhili n’ọribhi uk’agala = Book the first black which is on chair =
M(D)
M(O) M(E)
The
first black book which is on the chair.
H
Q
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252
So, unlike English which can accommodate the four D O E N elements under the
modifier group before the H, Esan accommodates but only three of the phrasal
elements – the D, O and E elements– at a time, and noticeably after the H. Notice,
however, that in spite of the Esan HM group structure, the H element could also be
followed immediately by the Q post-modifier element in post head position as in the
following structure:
H
Q1
Q2
(3) Okhuo ọmọse mọse [where reduplication of the word signifies intensity] =
H
Q
M
H
Q
Woman very beautiful = A woman who is very beautiful.
Or, if the Esan speaker must make the Q element achieve the post head modification,
as obtains in English then, he would have
H
M
Q
H
Q
M
H
Q
(4) Okhuo n’ọmaman mọse = Woman who is very beautiful = A woman who is very
beautiful.
It is worth mentioning that the reason why the Esan HQ structure functions the way it
does is because, in his cultural language, the Esan speaker would most often omit the
definite and indefinite articles such as will not be permitted by the rules of English
grammar. (See example (2) above). It has missing indefinite and definite
articles/modifiers which should qualify the nouns, book and chair in English. Also, see
example (4) with a missing indefinite article/modifier for woman). For this reason, we
have also such a structure as
H
M
Q
H M
Q
(5) Ikhuo eva n’Ọkhiria neele = Wives two whom Ọkhiria married =
M
M
H
Q
The two wives whom Ọkhiria married.
Yet, we have
H
Q
H
Q
M
M
H
(6) Abhiẹbhiẹ n’ọfua ni = Butterfly which white that = That white butterfly.
In spite of the modifier/qualifier positional swaps in both the English and Esan
translations, that or the Esan equivalent ni posts a deictic function. It is, therefore, not
a consequence-introducing lexeme as it may appear to be in such a structure as
H
Q
H
Q
M
H
Q
(7) Okhuo n’ọka sena nia = Woman who first come before = The woman who came a while
ago.
So, the ni or ọni (that), like the na or ọna (this) lexemes are demonstrative pronouns
used to indicate objects of far or close proximities respectively. This suggests that this
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Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
class of words also function as modifiers within the Esan NP structure. The same can
be said of their plural forms eni (those) and ena (these). Thus, like in English,
proximity plays a crucial role in the Esan speaker-hearer relationship which is carried
over into English much the same way as abstract nouns function alike in both
languages. The implication here is that the Esan learner of English finds these easy as
they facilitate the learning of the TL. This is so because of the similarity and
equivalence of use which such structures post in the learner’s MT.
Following the viewpoint of Quirk and Greenbaum above, the Esan NP functions
in a sentence structure as subject, object and complement of a nominal group
ostensibly to highlight, as in the English NP, the performer of action even though their
M and Q positions and their functions to H may vary as seen previously in examples
(3) and (4) above, as indeed again in example 8 following:
H
M
Q
H
M
Q
(8) Uwa eva n’Ọkhiria bọnlẹn = House two which Ọkhiria build [with no inflection of past
form
M
H
Q
of the verb] = Two house(s) which Ọkhiria built.
(See illustrations below of the Esan and English NMG structures depicting similar
grammatical expressions).
NMG
H
house
M
two
NMG
Q
which
Ọkhiria
build
M
two
H
house(s)
Q
which
Ọkhiria
built
Notice yet that the H, in its singular or zero inflection form house, as used in Esan,
stands for the plural form houses in English where the numeral modifier, two, in Esan,
accounts for the plurality denoted in the English H equivalent. The error is factual to
state, therefore, that a large percentage of countable nouns in Esan function solely in
their singular forms, but whose pluralities are determined as in (8) above. And, by
themselves, only a negligible few Esan nouns, on their own, reflect the plurality in
their function by inflections. Nouns like okhuo/ikhuo (woman/women), okpea/ikpea
(man/men), obhokhan/ibhokhan (child/children), ukpọn/ikpọn (cloth/clothes),
ukhunmun/ikhunmum (medicine/medicines), oran/eran (wood/woods), etc. constitute
the very few that can differentiate between singular and plural forms of inflected
nouns in Esan. (These forms select from nouns that begin with vowel sounds). So,
most countable nouns which take the ‘s’ plural forms in English are not by themselves
plural capable in Esan. Their plurality is denoted by the numeral-modifying element
which post determines the number or countability of the H. And this affects the Esan
learner of English who, sometimes, omits the ‘s’ plural forms of countable nouns when
Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
254
he speaks English, unconsciously transferring his dominant Esan cultural expression
and structure into the TL, English.
In spite of the aforesaid difference in the English MHQ and Esan HMQ
modification patterns, the two languages reflect similar items functioning in the M and
Q positions of their individual structures. For example,
H
M
M
Q
H
M
M
Q
(9) Ibhokhan eea egwẹgwẹ n’e wẹẹ bh’ẹkọwa = Children three little who sleep in the room =
M
M
M
H
Q
The three little children who slept in the room.
This example reveals that the items that function in the M position in both the English
and Esan NP structures select from the D O E N elements –having the N or nominal
element less in Esan than the English D O E N structure– while the items that
function in the Q position of the NP structure in both languages select from
nominalised clause, relative clause, prepositional phrase and adjectival phrase,
although the Esan NP structure is essentially univariat paratactic in its style of
modification. This is unlike the English NP, however, which can either be univariat or
multivariate, hypotactic or paratactic in its modification structure. The con, rather than
the pro, in the Esan modification style is that it serves to delimit the speaker’s
descriptive power in English. This is because English, ideally, identifies a higher range
of eleven modifier positions (M1-11) as identified by Olu Tomori (58), than a meagre
three which is the maximum that Esan can effectively achieve. It follows, therefore,
that though English allows such a structure as the following; Esan does not, namely,
M1 M2
M3
M4
M5
M6
M7
M8
M9
M10
M11
H
(10) All the middle three strong little round old red traditional coral beads.
In reducing this to a less cumbersome and manageable status (since it is unusual to use
all eleven modifiers in everyday speech), we could have the following structure with
six modifier positions for short:
M1
M2
M3
M4
M5
(11) All the three strong
red
M6
H
coral beads.
Better still, example (11) could be replicated in a similar structure as in (12) following:
M1
M2
M3
M4
M5
M6
H
(12) The young ebony tall talented beautiful daughter.
Indeed, in spite of the reduction in the modifier positions in English to six, for ease of use,
Esan lacks the capacity to generate (11) and/or (12) above except in fragments yet of, say,
three different HM group structures owing to the Esan delimiting modification ability. The
following structures, taken as fragments of (12) above, suffice for exemplification:
H M
M
M
H
M
M
M
M
M
M
H
(13) Ẹhale n’ikhere ọbhili = Daughter the young ebony = The young ebony daughter.
And,
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Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
H
M
M
M
H
M M
M
M M
M
H
(14) Ẹhale n’ọtalẹn ọgwemin = Daughter the tall talented = The tall talented daughter.
And,
H
M
M
M
H
M
M
M
M
M
M
H
(15) Ẹhale n’ikhere ọmọnse = Daughter the young beautiful = The young beautiful daughter.
The result of the fragments –examples (13), (14) and (15)– from the single NP
example (12) above, reveals that the ability of the Esan learner is largely hindered to
pile up epithets [in spite of the reduced modifier positions as in (11) and (12)] above to
describe apt situations in English. This is because the Esan modification system is only
effectively M1-3 capable as discussed above. It is near impracticable and, therefore,
incorrect in Esan language to generate such delimiting hypotactic structure as follows:
H
M
M
M
M
H
M
M
M
M
(16) Ọnọwena bhi’siebe n’ọbh’uwa-ebe n’ọkhua n’ọkike = Staff library at university last
=
M
M
M
M
H
The last university library staff.
Meaning here is less explicit by reason of adjective pile up beyond the M3 limits which
Esan can contain. Again, since the modification system in Esan is neither M1-11 nor
M1-6 capable as in English, the sole alternative for the Esan-English bilingual to realize
an entire NP [such as (16) above] in one expression, besides fragmentation as achieved
in (13) to (15) above, will be to re-cast the sentence into the M and Q category of
structural description as follows:
H
M
M
Q
M
M
M
H
Q
(17) Ọnọwena bhi’siebe n’ọkike n’ọbh’uwa-ebe n’ọkhua = (The) Last library staff at the
university.
Similarly, (12 above) could be re-cast into the M and Q category for a more meaningful Esan
expression thus:
H
M
M
Q
H
M
M
M
(18) Ẹhale n’ikhere n’ọmọnse ọnọtalẹn nọbhili n’ọgwemin = Daughter the young beautiful
Q
M
M
M
H
Q
who is tall ebony talented = The young beautiful daughter who is tall, dark and talented.
Note that in Esan, the use of this form is rare. In spite of this, it must be pointed out that the M
and Q element descriptions of the Esan HM structure create nominalization in the language
which serve as rich source for Esan local adages and christening, and hence
H
M
Q
H
M
Q
M
H
Q
(19) Osẹ mudia mhẹn = God stand for me = May God be with me, and
H
M
Q
H
M
Q
M
H
Q
M
H
(20) Ẹhi dia mhẹn = Soul straight for me = My soul be wholesome (better still, wholesome
soul).
Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
256
But also, it accounts for the reason that the direct interpretation into English of Esan local
adages lacks fluency of speech namely, because of the differentials in the MH/HM
modification systems of the nominal groups in both languages. There is, in order words, the
transfer of the rules of phrase, clause or sentence formation of Esan into English by the
student and hence, his Esan MT transliterations which arise following deviations from the
norms of the TL, in an attempt to communicate in the latter. Notice, however, that Esan has
determiner sub-types – pre-determiner, determiner proper and post-determiner – as does
English except that in the Esan determiner proper, the definite and indefinite articles are
sometimes omitted as discussed previously. Furthermore, the NP in Esan does accommodate
as in English, the following modifiers:
(i) possessives as modifiers:
H
M
H M
M
H
(21) Okọ n’ọsole = Car his = His car;
(ii) adjectives as modifiers:
H
M
H
M
M
H
(22) Uwa ekẹn = House mud = Mud house;
(iii) demonstratives as modifiers:
H
M
H
M
M
H
(23) Ọnọria na = Person this = This person.
Like these modifiers, the Esan NP also has qualifier types:
(i)
possessives as qualifiers:
H
M
Q
H
M
Q
M
H
Q
(24) Emilin eea n’esẹmhẹn = Things three that belong to me = Three things that belong to me;
(ii) adjectives as qualifiers:
H
M
Q
H
M
Q
M
M
H
(25) Uwa-ebeh n’ọhkua = Institution the which is higher = The higher institution;
(iii) demonstratives as qualifiers:
H
M
Q
H M
Q
M
H
Q
(26) Uneh n’ọgbitọan ni = Pig the which is dirty that = That pig which is dirty;
(iv) numerals as qualifiers:
H
M
Q
H
M
Q
M
M
H
(27) Okhuale n’esọle isẹn = Basket the which his five = His five basket(s).
Because the Esan learner of English often commits errors as from his/her L1 modifier
system, he/she often tries to avoid the use of these modifiers for alternative
expressions in English and this, most times, generates more syntax errors.
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Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
5. The Verb Phrase (VP) Structures in English and Esan
Normally, following the examples of the NP structures explicated above, the verb
phrase (VP) may also have a number of M or Q elements in its structure. Sometimes, it
may have none of these elements except the H which functions in the entire sentence
as the only item in the MHQ group (Scott et al. 1968). And where the M and Q
elements exist in a VP structure, these items have modification functions akin to those
of the English NP. For example,
M
H
Q
M
H
Q
(28) Ọn’ẹgogo rẹi wena nọsẹn = The clock was working perfectly.
Other examples are
M
H
Q
M
H
Q
(29) Imeh khian la ti’ebe = I am going to my studies, and
M M H
Q
M
M
H
Q
(30) Ọdianọsẹn ki dẹi diọ bh’ẹki = Ọdianọsẹn will have gone to the market, etc.
The pattern of these structures suggests that the Esan VP, unlike the differences in the
NP structures of both languages, is typically MHQ structured as obtained in English.
Having established sameness in the pattern of the English/Esan VP structures, our
focus will not be on the Esan MHQ verbal modification structure, therefore. Rather,
this paper will, heretofore, dwell on error generation by the Esan speaker of English,
as these errors relate to the VP structure, such as the positions of the auxiliary and
main verbs in the expression of Time, Aspect and Mode.
Chomsky (1965) says that the VP is a constituent of V + NP, where V may
further subdivide into auxiliary + main verb (and the NP as treated previously).
Several verbs in English, therefore, correspond to different types of object and
complement, while others admit to aspectual contrast of the progressive (dynamic) and
non-progressive (stative) forms (Quirk and Greenbaum). Furthermore, the VP in
English consists of regular and irregular verbs, where the regular verbs have four
identified positions – the base (with no form of inflection); the third person with an ‘s’
singular form; the ‘-ing’ present continuous form and, of course, the ‘-ed’ past
tense/participle forms. By these forms, the English verb changes in meanings with
inflections. Seen as the only obligatory word class used for expressing processes,
actions, events, states and relations, the verb bears an unusually high semantic load
resulting from several operating systems which include Tense, Aspect, Mood, Modal
and Finiteness (Tertiary English Grammar, 130). However, these areas usually
constitute problems for the Esan learner of English who, in his MT, does not
differentiate between regular and irregular verbs, except in the application of the future
tense only as in examples
(31) Inodẹ, imhẹn tunẹ
=
(32) Ẹlẹna, imhẹn tunẹ
=
(33) Ewiẹ, imhẹn dẹi tunẹ =
Yesterday, I run;
Today, I run; and
Tomorrow, I will run.
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258
So, unlike the English verb, the verb in Esan is essentially regular. (Only the future has
an expression of modality). The Esan learner of English, therefore, has to come to
terms with the problems of inflection of the English verb usage. This is so because, in
his MT, he neither needs do inflection of any verb for aspectual contrasts, nor for tense
formations.
The auxiliary, we know, is regarded as a helping verb which could bear semantic
independence when it functions as a lexical verb; yet, it could have primary and modal
functions. In English, therefore, the main function of the primary auxiliaries – BE,
HAVE and DO – is to serve as auxiliary carrying mood and tense in their finite and
non-finite forms. In Esan, the use of the finite form is limited, as in:
(34) Ena i ye = Here I am,
although the more popular form used by the generality of the Esan speaker is
V
NP
V
NP
(35) Ghee mhẹ bh’ena = See me here;
(36) Ena ọ ye = Here s/he/it is;
and hence, its other variants
and the other forms
(37) See her/him/it here, etc.
This is applicable also to the HAVE and DO finite forms, but do not distinguish
singular and plural forms, past or present in Esan language as does English. (Note, also
that Esan does not distinguish the masculine, feminine or neuter gender as seen in
examples (36) and (37) above. The Esan language, however, uses the non-finite forms
as follows:
(38) Ọle i vade ẹlẹna
=
S/he is coming today;
(39) Ọi vae dọ tuẹ mhẹn
=
S/he came to greet me.
or the ‘to’ + x form in
Another form common to both languages is ‘must’.
(40) Ọle dẹi dọ tui Mama =
S/he must go to greet Mama.
Thus, we have from the verbal structure, verbal group (VBG) entities of which the
diagram below is used to illustrate an MHQ verbal structure for the auxiliary (and
Esan cantenative) formation functioning as does English.
VBG
M
must
H
go
Q
prep.
vb.
to
greet
n
Mama
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Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
Examined from the perspective of the VP, therefore, the structure breaks down into a
typical Esan verb cantenative of aux + vb + NP; where the NP subdivides into the nonfinite ‘to’ prep. + vb + N. This engenders the ease with which the student learns
auxiliary formations of the TL.
In spite of the above, the modal (secondary) auxiliaries in Esan combine the
English equivalence of can, shall, will and may solely for permission whereas, in
English, these forms are used for both permission and intention. For example,
(41) Ọrhukpe khẹi sabo yo
(42) Ọrhukpe dẹi sabo yo
=
=
Ọrhukpe can fit go = Ọrhukpe can/may go; and
Ọrhukpe will/shall fit go = Ọrhukpe will/shall go.
This latter form is close to the must form of use in (40) above. The limited use of
modal auxiliaries in Esan, therefore, accounts for the reason that the range of English
modal auxiliaries are difficult for the Esan learner of English to select for different
situational uses in the TL. This problem also affects the use of the English semimodals ought and need which, in Esan, are realized in one finite form in as follows:
(43) Okojie hẹi yomi = Okojie ought/need to go.
Other forms difficult to distinguish in Esan are the English shall/should, will/would,
can/could, may/might, because they all are realized as nearly one form of expression in
Esan. Indeed, like in English, auxiliaries in Esan may help to perform the functions of
negation, interrogation as well as in the emphatic affirmation of sentences as follows:
(44) Odiboh khi sabọ yo? = Odiboh ought/need not go? = Ought/need not Odiboh go? [Interrogation].
(45) Odiboh khi sabọ yo = Odiboh will not/cannot fit go = Odiboh won’t/can’t go [Negation].
(46) Odiboh dẹi sabọ yo = Odiboh can/will fit go = Odiboh can/will go [Emphatic
affirmation].
These forms make it possible for the Esan learner of English to perform with ease, in
the TL, the functions of negation, interrogation and affirmation of sentences despite
the poor or weak nature of sentence build-up.
The Esan mood system functions much like its English counterpart to produce
equivalent imperative and non-imperative structures. Example,
(47) Wẹi ukpaa = Put out light = Put out the light [Imperative].
(48) Ọria i wẹi ukpaa? = Someone put out light? = Did someone put out the light? [Nonimperative polar interrogative].
(49) Khọọ wẹi ukpaa? = Who put out light? = Who put out the light? [Non-polar
interrogative, non-imperative].
Notice, however, that imperatives in Esan, like in English, are not marked for
modality. For example,
Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
260
(50) Kpanọọ mudia = Get up standing = Rise and remain standing, and
(51) Vae bhena = Come here.
Like the mood, the voice systems of English and Esan are similar because they both
use the active and passive voices alike. Both languages employ the actor, process and
goal elements alike. For example,
(52) Etusi i gbo’mọn = Etusi prepared soup [Active voice], and
(53) Omọn Etusi gboolo = Soup Etusi prepared = The soup was prepared by Etusi.
The transitivity systems of English and Esan function alike in the sense that transitive
verbs in both languages require an object (direct or indirect) in the complement
positions of their structures. For Example,
(54) Ẹbosẹle bun uwa = Ẹbosẹle build house = Ẹbosẹle built a house,
and intransitive verbs that do not require objects nor complements, for example
(55) Ọ viẹ = S/he/it weep = S/he/it weeps.
Thus, the Esan learner of English has little or no problem in mastering the mood, voice
and transitivity systems of English since he shares similar systems in his L1. In other
words, knowledge of his Esan MT facilitates the learning and mastering of the mood,
voice and transitivity systems of the TL, English, because of the similarities inherent
in the systems of the two languages. In spite of these similarities, the tense, as a
linguistic feature for handling time-relations in speech, differs from language to
language. In Esan language, Tense combines with Aspect to operate within the system
of the tense in the sense that it recognizes (as it does in English as well) the completion
or non-completion of the processes depicted within the structure of the VBG. To wit,
Esan tense mostly reflects regular verbs with no inflections for time as obtains in
English as said earlier. Strictly speaking, the Esan language is universally reconciled
on past, present and future verb markings based on prosodic or phonological
considerations. This is because speech melody or intonation and its subsequent change
often change the meaning of a sentence. Esan employs the rising high-low, falling
low-rise and rising high intonations to signify the present, past and future verb
markings unlike English that uses inflectional verb markings to denote time. For
example,
(56) Ọi vae (present tense with a rising high-low tone or pitch) = S/he/it comes;
(57) Ọi vae (past tense with a falling low-rise tone or pitch) = S/he/it came;
(58) Ọi vae (future tense with a rising high tone or pitch) = S/he/it will come.
Being a tone language, meaning in Esan verb is realized simply by the
stress/unstressed regular form (of the verb) to denote specific time of action as seen
from the Esan verb occurrences in examples (56) to (58) above. In variation, the verb
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Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
in Esan may employ the English ‘-ing’ irregular equivalent of the progressive Aspect
which is on-going at the time of speaking. For example,
(59) Ọ vade (continuous tense with a fall high-rise tone or pitch) = S/he/it is coming.
Unlike English that takes the ‘-en’ form of the perfective Aspect, Esan relies on the
past regular form of (58) above to denote the HAVE (has, had) forms as follows in
(60) Ọ vaae (present perfect tense with a low fall-rise tone or pitch) = S/he/it has come.
Note, however, that the perfective here also indicates auxiliary function.
6. Conclusion
This essay has examined noun and verb phrases in English and Esan, and has
highlighted errors as problems emanating from the discrepancies which arise from
Esan MT expressions as wrong applications into the rules of the TL, English. Indeed,
the Esan NP, with modifiers, begins with a headword (H) which is capable of taking,
at the most, three modifier elements (or is M1-3 capable) in its structure before
considering the Q element(s) in the form of a HMQ structure. It could be argued that
the Esan modification system is not as extensive as its English equivalent, and this
could delimit the speaker/learner’s descriptive ability in English though much meaning
construes from its nominalization structure to give near equivalent expressions in
English. The VP, on the other hand, has its verb functioning in Esan as much as it does
in English. The difference, however, lies in the fact that the Esan VBG can
accommodate not more than two modifier elements before the H to produce an MHQ
ordered structure.
Overall, the study shows that there are differences and similarities in Tense,
Aspect and Mode of the two languages which either facilitate the learning of English
or confirm that the learner tends to transfer modification devices and the sentence
forms of his native Esan language into the foreign language of English. To correct the
anomaly of syntax errors, where they occur, of the Esan-English bilingual, therefore,
the teacher of English must concentrate on teaching noun and verb phrases as well as
nominal and verbal group structures which constitute prime areas of weakness of the
Esan learner of the English language. This, indeed, owes to Lado’s affirmation that
‘the degree of control of these structures that are different is an index to how much of
the language a person has learned’ (59). Besides, the study will serve to enrich the
experiences of the Esan L1 speaker and teacher of English in his elementary teachings
of the TL, English, as a subject.
Ativie: Syntactic Problems of Esan Learners of English
262
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