A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF OPERATORS IN ETULO AND IGBO

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative analysis of tense and aspect (operators) in Etulo and Igbo using the Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) framework. It examines the morphosyntactic and semantic realization of tense and aspect in both languages, focusing on the functional layering of the clause. The study reveals that while both languages are aspect-prominent, they deploy distinct strategies for marking tense and aspect. Igbo relies on tonal patterns and prefixes, while Etulo utilizes auxiliary particles and adverbials; for instance the morpheme wa which marks perfective aspect in Etulo occupies the sentence final position in some cases while the morpheme that indicates progressive aspect occupies the clause medial position. The findings highlight the typological significance of operator placement in RRG and the diachronic divergence within Niger-Congo languages.