Third Person Singular Object Pronoun in Ondo Dialect Revisited

Abstract

This paper is on Oǹdó dialect, one of the dialects in the Southeast Yorùbá group. It is an attempt to revisit the third person singular object pronoun in this dialect area. The paper aims at working a step further on the phonological and morphological properties of the pronoun. Pronoun is one of the function words in the language. It is used to replace a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence. It is a basic vocabulary. The true form of the third person singular object pronoun has been a subject of discussion by Yorùbá linguists. In the standard variety, some believe it is a mere copy or reduplication of the vowel of the verb, while few believe it is un. Some scholars claim that the pronoun behaves alike in Oǹdó, Ilẹ̀-Olújí and Ìdànrè. Theoretical framework for this paper is the Minimalist theory version of Chomsky’s grammar. Methodological approach involves face-to-face interview of some native speakers whose ages are between thirty (30) and seventy (70) years. Observation method is also involved. Written and spoken sentences will also be collected for analysis. This paper reaffirms the fact that un is the underlying representation of the pronoun in both the standard Yorùbá and Oǹdó dialect. Our finding also reveals that the pronoun behaves differently in Ìdànrè and its environs, while it behaves the same way in Oǹdó and Ilẹ̀-Olújí and their environs.