South-South Journal of Humanities and international Studies Tense Markers in Kalaḅarị: A Synchronic Study By Priye E. Iyalla-Amadi, Ph Department of French and International Studies, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, Nigeria. [email protected], [email protected] %234 806 126 0905, +234 705 190 5992 Abstract The diachronic and synchronic approach to language study was first introduced by Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss scholar considered by many as the father of modern linguistics, to refer to two possible approaches to the study of any language. While the diachronic approach refers to the study of a language in its evolution over time, the synchronic addresses the study of that language at a particular point in time, usually in the present. In this paper, we aim to undertake a synchronic study of the alaḅar! language, a West "frican language spoken in the southern part of #igeria, with particular reference to markers which express the concept of time through tense markers that indicate the past, the present and the future. " specific area of interest is to observe how speakers of alaḅar!, an i%oid language of the #iger-Congo family whose basic word order is Sub%ect-Ob%ect-)erb *+arry, ,--./ p. 012 express this concept in relation to 3nglish, a germanic language of the Indo&3uropean family with a basic word order of Sub%ect-)erb&(b%ect (Finegan, 0456/ p. 652 and to note any in7uences arising from it. This is of interest because 3nglish is the o8cial language of #igeria and every alaḅar! speaker is expected 0ense Mar2ers in Kalaḅar4: A Synchronic Study 1 South-South Journal of Humanities and international Studies to acquire it to be able to communicate e:ectively with the wider world. Key !ords: Tense markers, Kalaḅarị, synchrony, !ord order, lan"uage #amilies. Introduction 0he expression of time as indicated 7y grammatical tenses in various languages point to time as a fluid concept, especially as it relates to the spea2ers9 perception of the realities 7eing descri7ed using linguistically ascri7ed mar2ers. A pertinent case in point can 7e found among some spea2ers of I2:erre, a language spo2en mostly in a geographical area called Rivers State in the southern part of !igeria. In some dialects of the I2:erre language, there is only one lexical term ;e2ile9 to refer to the concept of time in the past, yesterday, or time in the future, tomorro:" It is therefore not unusual to hear a culturally :ell-integrated I2:erre person of that particular dialect saying in English “I :ill see you yesterday”, or “I sa: you tomorro:=" >ernard ?omrie9s @,-).A example of :ays of expressing events in the past in the 0ur2ish language may also 7e cited here" He notes that there are t:o :ays to report events in the past according to :hether the narrator is the direct experience of the action or he o7served or :as told about the action. 0his may :ell serve to corro7orate instances of linguistic relativity summed up in :hat has since 7een 2no:n as the Sapir $Whorf hypothesis to the eCect that5 ,A each language is unique and describes reality in accordance :ith its o:n experiences of the :orldE and &A :e perceive reality according to the cultural influences and other:ise of our indigenous languages. In the vie: of Ed:ard Sapir (1929), <!o t:o languages are ever suFciently similar to 7e considered as representing the same social reality"= And for >enjamin Gee Whorf @,-.+A5 <:e dissect nature along lines laid do:n 7y our native languages"” 0ense Mar2ers in Kalaḅar4: A Synchronic Study 2 South-South Journal of Humanities and international Studies Since grammatical tenses are indicators of a language9s relationship :ith events concerning the time$space continuum, it is important to deHne the chosen approach for its study" In this paper, the Saussurean dichotomy of synchrony as opposed to diachrony has 7een adopted to elucidate ho: the phenomenon of events in the continuum of time is usually captured in the 3alabari language at the present time" Ither Saussurean dichotomies (derived from the name of the foremost Swiss linguist of the &*th ?entury, Ferdinand de SaussureA include the other distinctions such as signifier @le signifiant in French) and signified @le signifi; in French) meaning t:o aspects of the same linguistic entity :hich constitute the linguistic sign; langue (language as a collective, shared phenomenon) and parole (language as individualized speech); as :ell as paradigmatic (interchangeableA and syntagmatic (linearA relationships among :ords or le6emes in a linguistic environment" 0he dichotomy of diachrony and synchrony descri7e the study of language from the perspective of changes over time in the language, or the state of a language at a given point in time, respectively" For us in this paper, :e have adopted the synchronic study of tense mar2ers as they occur at the present time in the Kalaḅar4 language" Brief Lin"uistic History o# Kalaḅarị 0o have a comprehensive understanding of the position of 3alaḅar4 in the family of languages, a 7rief linguistic history may 7e reDuired" According to anthropological research conducted 7y Billiamson and >lench @&***5 22), 3alaḅar4 7elongs to the Ijoid group of languages in the !iger$?ongo language family, specifically the East Ijo phylum, along :ith some other languages like I7ani (spo2en mainly 7y the inhabitants of >onny and Ipo7o in Rivers State), 3irike (spo2en 7y those in I2rika and IguK>olo areas of Rivers State), !embe (majority of the speakers can 7e found in >ayelsa State), etc" They go on to state that the Ijoid group actually consists of Defaka and Ijo to :hich 3alaḅar4 7elongs specifically" Dapper @&**'5 &A affirms that Kalaḅar4 is one of the Ija: (an Anglicized spelling of Ijo) tri7es 0ense Mar2ers in Kalaḅar4: A Synchronic Study 3 South-South Journal of Humanities and international Studies that live in the Niger$Delta region of Nigeria. A language tree :hich traces the position of each mem7er in the Ijoid group is here reproduced to further clarify our study5 PRI0I-ILIID ILI DEFA3A WES0 EAS0 ORU1A BISE!I A3I0A IMI! A3AHA NE1>E N3IRI (A3ASSAA KIRI3E I>A!I (O3RI3AA KAGAḄARN Grammatical Structure o# Kalaḅarị It may 7e safe to say that the grammatical structure of our indigenous languages influence our speech habits and sometimes shape our 0ense Mar2ers in Kalaḅar4: A Synchronic Study 4 South-South Journal of Humanities and international Studies perception of time-related events using the language, a vie: already echoed 7y ?omrie @,-).A" After all, as ?rystal (2010, p" '/A notes, grammar is the :ay :e make sense of :ords. Be shall therefore loo2 at the grammatical structure of (modern) 3alaḅar4 in relation to ho: time divisions are expressed in it using tense$mar2ers. In our vie:, tense mar2ers, or the tenses that indicate the time divisions of events, are actually lexical morphemes that indicate a people9s linguistic attitude to:ards the concept of time" 0hey could 7e descri7ed as a reflection of ho: the spea2ers of the language perceive time delineations through speech. Orammatically, ho:ever, tense, as deHned 7y Ene:are (2015, p" (&A refers to a category used in the description of ver7s referring primarily to the :ay the grammar of the language mar2s the time at :hich the action denoted by it too2 place" This suggests that tense refers to changes in ver7 forms to indicate time and action. ?omrie (1985, p" '+A gives a deHnition that correlates tense :ith time in his deHnition of tense as the grammaticalisation of location in time" Some Duestions could 7e posed at this point5 is the language in Duestion o7served to 7e inflectional, like Gatin or Ara7icE or does it display an agglutinative trait, like Japanese or Swahili; or perhaps it is isolating :here, according to ?rystal @&**/5 295), the :ords are invariable :ith no ends upP ?ould the language perhaps 7e said to 7e a combination of all the types mentioned aboveP Descri7ing 3alaḅar4, Harry @&**(5 ,'A is of the vie: that it is largely an isolating language" Iur o7servation of the speech habits of the spea2ers lead us to say that the language can also 7e described as agglutinative in certain instances. For example, to say ;thank you9, some 3alaḅar4 :riters (cf. Dapper (2010), Qoung-Harry (2002),) say5 ;Imiete9 literally meaning ;you have done :ell9, :hile other :riters (cf. >raide (2013), Harry @&**(AA say ;I miete9" In the latter speech act, ;I9 represents a separate grammatical category that means ;you9 and can 7e said to 7e isolating, :hile in the former case, ;I9 forms one indivisible lexical unit :ith the rest of the utterance in an agglutinative stance" It may 0ense Mar2ers in Kalaḅar4: A Synchronic Study 5 South-South Journal of Humanities and international Studies ho:ever 7e instructive to mention that the 3alaḅar4 language is still undergoing standardization processes and that it9s orthography is not Duite uniform. As noted 7y Jene:ari (2011, p" 24), <most users of the language do not seem to have anyR" system of orthographic conventions to go 7y=" Happily, ho:ever, a 3alaḅar4 translation of the >ible has 7een recently pu7lished and temporarily serves as a possible reference point for a suggested orthographic system for the language" Be say ;possible reference point9 7ecause Duite a fe: pu7lished :riters of the 3alaḅar4 language like Dapper are not in agreement :ith some of the orthographic conventions used in :riting the language" A serious area of contention is that the authors of the 7ible favour a :ritten form of the language :hich does not accurately portray its spo2en form. In their vie:, it means that a non-native learner of the language could 7e misled in his practice of the language in real-life speech situations.