GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT

Every language is dynamic in its nature and structure. This includes how interrogative constructions are formed in the language. The Obolo language has various ways of realising interrogative constructions. In connection with this, this study examined the various interrogatives with more focus on polar interrogatives. The main emphasis here was on the formation of such interrogatives from their underlying declarative and imperative constructions. To realise this, data were elicited from Ataba dialect of the Obolo language through interviews, observation and personal intuition about the formation of interrogatives in the language. The findings of this study reveal three methods of realising polar interrogatives in the Obolo language. Namely: (a) using interrogative intonation marker (b) using interrogative particles and (c) using tag questions. The findings also revealed specifically that there are interrogatives with interrogative particles such as: ìrè, kémbè andÓ-nọ ́/ó-tét/ó-kpèbé–types as well as tag interrọgatives using ‘ìrè/kémbè ì-kâ’ and ‘Ìrè/kémbè ìkárè ìkâ’.

KEYWORDS: Interrogatives, polar interrogatives, interrogative particles, tag questions