GASPRO International Journal of Eminent Scholars

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzed WH-Questions in Eleme within the framework of Principles and Parameters Theory. The study examined the morphological structure, syntactic features, and functions of WH-Questions in Eleme. The study found that Eleme has simple, compound, and complex WH-words. The study also found that WH-Questions in Eleme are both in-situ and ex-situ. The in-situ WH-Questions are generated in their source position, while the ex-situ questions are fronted from their source position to the leftmost periphery of the Eleme clause. The study claimed that the fronted WH-Question leaves behind a trace at its source position, which is co-indexed with the moved constituent in order to establish the history of derivation. The study pointed out that in Eleme, WH-Questions cannot be fronted without focus marking and relativization. The study also showed the semantic functions of WH-Questions in the language. The study recommended that further research be done in the analysis of the left-most periphery of the clause in other Ogoni languages in order to ascertain whether the requirement for focus marking and relativization in the syntactic operation of WH-movement as evident in Eleme is a basic syntactic feature of the Ogoni group of languages.

KEYWORDS: Eleme, WH-Questions, Principles and Parameters, Left-Periphery, In-situ, Ex-situ, Subjacency, Fronting, Relativization, Focus Marking