The Syntax of Pronominal Features in English and Izon Languages

Abstract

Pronominal references are significant in syntactic studies for their role as substitute NPs. Being categorized under nominal elements, this paper  surveys the grammatical feature of pronouns which are valued and checked along with their clausal verbs for the convergence of syntactic  computations. The theoretical demand of the study is satisfied by the minimalist thesis of Chomsky whose analytical emphasis features checking,  sharing or valuation hinged on the three syntactic operations of Merge, Agree and Move. This is research in comparative syntax involving English,  an Indo-European language and Izọn grouped under the Ijoid phylum of the Niger-Congo family. Therefore, the data for the work was derived from  textbooks written in English and Izọn, from recorded participatory observation with native speakers of Izọn in Foropah community as well as from  introspection of the authors. The findings suggest that English pronouns, unlike the full NPs, are valued as interpretable by a matching probe and  are checked before Spell-Out (overt morphological inflexion to denote case). On the other hand, pronouns in Izọn as well as the full NPs mark case  abstractly; the Agreement and case features are uninterruptable, hence are checked after Spell-Out. The study has been able to highlight the cross-linguistic differences and  homogeneity of pronomial references in the two languages.