The Structure Of The Nyiha Noun Phrase

ABSTRACT

This study seeks to provide an analytical description of noun phrase structure in Nyiha. In its endeavour, this study documents the morphological forms and the lexical items related to the noun phrase constructions in Nyiha. The primary data for this study was collected from Ruanda village in Iyula ward in Mbozi district, Mbeya region.The target population was all the native adult speakers of Nyiha aged between 35 to 70 years. Sources of data included oral literature, documentary and Noun Phrase (NP) questionnaires.

The study based on investigating the several different elements which are part of the noun phrase, the way they agree with the head noun, and how they co-occur in the noun phrase. In this juncture, the study intended to move a step forward from which the view on concords across Bantu languages to the analysis of the noun phrase elements within an NP can be refered to. As scholars have paid less attention to the syntax of the noun and its dependents (Rugemalira 2007), then the analysis of the order of the elements in Nyiha NP was so crucial.

What was found in this study is that the dominant order of the elements in a Nyiha noun phrase is Noun+Demonstrative/Possessive+Numeral/Quantifier+Relative (N + Dem/ Poss+ Num/Quant + Rel). This implies that possessive and demonstrative can precede one another and likewise Num and Quant. Also in this language other elements in the noun phrase can hardly precede the headword (noun).