1.1 Introduction
Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies the compatibility of such combinations and proposes the rules for their formation. Morphology deals with the structure of words. Look at the words: knowing, knowingly, unknowingly. The last two words can be subdivided as knowing and –ly, and unknowing and –ly. Here un-, knowing, and –ly are called morphemes. A morpheme can be defined as the minimal meaningful unit that cannot be further subdivided. The study of morphemes is called Morphology. The structuralized were interested in defining a unit of language that did bear meaning; so they proposed the concept of a morpheme. In the metal compartment where all possible, meaningful and acceptable words are formed, there are certain rules that must be followed or certain conditions met before any word can be viewed as acceptable in any language.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Today, the Migili people are known as settlers in Obi, Agyaragu local government, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. They can still be found in other places such as Minna, Abuja, Kubadha in Kaduna, Zuba e.t.c.The major population of about 18,000 people constitute about 96% of Obi Agyaragu local government area. The Migili tribe has a long history which dates back to the old Kwararafa Kingdom in Taraba State. The Kwararafa kingdom comprised of different ethnic groups such as Eggon, Algo, Idoma, and the Gomai. Each tribe took turns in occupying leadership positions of the kingdom and a heir was selected from the royal home of each ethic group. But things changed when it was time for Akuka, a Migili descendant who was next in line to ascend the throne.
Akuka was plotted against hence he could not become the next leader. This sparked up a lot of negative reactions from the Migili people as well as some other tribes who viewed such an action as unjust, a way through which they were deprived because of their small population. Together with all members of the tribe, Akuka moved down to a place called Ukari where they settled down for a while and later moved to Agyaragu in Lafia, Nasarawa State where they reside presently.
Language is the universal fabric that holds every individual of a community together. An instrument, used by man for communication within his environment, without which there would be no meaningful relationship between the human world. Language can also be referred to as the medium through which ideas, thoughts, and other forms of human communication are expressed or carried out. The basic concept of this branch is the morpheme, the smallest meaningful unit in grammar which may constitute a word or part of a word. Every language has its own set of morphological rules which are strictly adhered to by members of its community. Such members, (Native speakers) share a great deal of unconscious knowledge about their language which helps in the acquisition of their first language with little or no formal instructions.
In connection to morphology, the Migili language has been duely investigated with a view to finding/revealing the aspects of its morphological set up. The Migili people are a tribal group found in Agyaragu local government, Lafia, Nasarawa State. The first chapter of this research centers on areas such as the historical background of the Migili people, their socio-cultural profile, occupation, religion, festival, mode of dressing, marriage, genetic classification. Several other aspects will be reviewed in the latter chapters of the project work.
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to assess the Aspects of Migili Morphology.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that there is information insufficiency of the aspects of migili morphology. This is not to say, however, that traditional analogy is not without some problems. As has frequently been pointed out, it often seems unconstrained, and there is an element of unpredictability with it.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to assess the Aspects of Migili Morphology. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To examine the morphological processes attested by the Migili language structure;
- To examine the Migili language and expose its morphological aspects.
- To ascertain the functions of morphemes in Migili language structure; and
- To determine the various steps, theories and methods would be used and considered in the analysis and exemplification of the morphemes and their processes.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What are the morphological processes attested by the Migili language structure?
- What are the functions of morphemes in Migili language structure?
- What are the morphological aspects of Migili language?
- What are the various steps, theories and methods would be used and considered in the analysis and exemplification of the morphemes and their processes?
1.6 Significance of Study
This study will be of immense benefit to researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.7 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Assessment of the Aspects of Migili Morphology in language studies.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Establishment Policies: Establishment policies posed a serious limitation as most staffs are not ready to release information needed for this project work. There were lots of information needed from the staffs of this establishment to enhance the study which took them time to release or they did not release at all for security purposes, hence the scope was reduced.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
