Abstract
This paper attempts to investigate and describe the features of focus markers in Ẹ̀gbá dialect of Yorùbá. The data used in this study were collected from six adults who are native speakers of Ẹ̀gbá dialect in Abẹ́òkúta of Abẹ́òkúta North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria through structured interviews with the use of digital device. Data were also collected from the dialogue of Adéàga’s movie; Odi Ìdíwọ̀n (2020), a movie produced with native Ẹ̀gbá dialect on the You Tube platform. The study employs descriptive linguistics in its analysis. The major findings of this study shows that there are four focus makers in Ẹ̀gbá dialect; ‘wà’, ‘pa’. ‘sí’ and ‘rè’. This article reveals that ‘wà’ shows prominence on constituents such as NP, PP and S; ‘sí’ and ‘pa’ shows prominence on question tag ‘lè’, and ‘ibi’ in interrogative sentences, while ‘rè’ shows prominence on NP, VP, PP, and other question markers in the dialect.The study thereafter argued for the recognition of four types of focus marker in Ẹ̀gbá, contrary to the view of Ọmọléwu (2013) who identified three focus markers in the dialect.The nature of the vowel and the low-tone ‘rè’ changes through phonological processes, depending on the vowel that co-occur with it in the focus construction of Ẹ̀gbá dialect. The paper concluded that the descriptive analysis of a language can give a better and deeperunderstanding of such language.
Keywords: Focus markers, Ẹgbá dialect, Descriptive Analysis, Focus Construction, Dialectology.
DOI: 10.36349/sojolics.2026.v02i02.014
author/KỌ́LÁPỌ̀, Káyọ̀dé Dominion (Ph.D.)
journal/Sokoto JOLICS 2(2) | August 2026 |
