Morphological Description of Selected Loan Words from English to Tiv Language

Abstract

Morphological description of Loan Words is found in so many languages. This study has focused on morphology of English words loaned into Tiv language to ascertain whether the word formation process of Tiv words borrowed from English enjoys the same characteristics as that of English. Taking a descriptive approach, the study has employed both the primary and secondary sources of data generation. The primary data were generated through interview. The study has adopted Nida’s Descriptive Linguistics Theory of 1949 as it was further elaborated by Carl (1996). Findings show that prefixes “u, a mba” in Tiv language are used for plural formation in Tiv words borrowed from English. Also, loan words from English into Tiv are characterized by change in spelling and pronunciation, though the sounds remain relatively the same with slight modifications. The study has revealed that derivational inflections are very rare in Tiv, taking into cognizance the morphological description of the borrowed words from English language. It concludes that English words loaned into Tiv language undergo some morphological modifications in spellings and pronunciation as well as plural formation which set the morphological study of the two languages at par.