The Eleme language of South-eastern Nigeria presents with several linguistic features divergent from those characteristic of other Cross River languages. Details are given of Eleme phonology, noun phrase morphology, copular constructions and verb group morphology. Among the features examined are indiscriminate phonological variation and elision of phonological segments characteristic to Eleme speech; the distribution of independent pronouns, and pronominal affixes across a large number of tense aspect distinctions; and the extensive use of morphological reduplication, including 'infixation' of subject agreement markers in reduplicated stems. A typological overview of constituent order and suggestions for future research conclude this grammatical sketch of a largely undocumented language.
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The headings below reflect the content of the individual chapters of the dissertation. A summary of what is contained in each chapter is also given.
Eleme, Population, Eleme Society, Genetic Affiliation, Previous Linguistic Description, Characteristics of Cross River Languages.
Inventory of Distinctive Segments, Tone, Phonological Alternations, Syllable Structure, Elision.
Nouns, Demonstratives, Number, Possessors, Attributive Adjectives.
Subject Pronouns, Object Pronouns, Reflexives and Reciprocals.
Predicate Nominals, Predicate Adjectives, Predicate Locatives.
Tense, Aspect, Agreement Suffixes, Auxiliaries, Reduplication, Verb Forms.
Constituent Order in Main Clauses, Other Typological Parameters, Language Summary.