A MORPHOSYNTACTIC STUDY OF KARE-KARE NOMINAL

PHRASE

BY

BINTA AHMAD WAZIRI

SPS/19/MLG/00056

BEING AN M.A. PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE

DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS AND FOREIGN
LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF ARTS AND ISLAMIC STUDIES,
BAYERO UNIVERSITY, KANO.

MARCH, 2023
1.0 Introduction
This research intends to study the morphosyntactic study of Kare-
Kare nominal phrases. The word morphosyntactic is the adjective
of morphosyntax.
Morphosyntax is derived from morphology which is the study of
word formation and syntax which is the study of how words are
combined into larger unit such as phrase and sentence.
Morphosyntax is the combination of morphology and syntax. They
are combined because they have very close relationship.
According to Crystal (1980:234) morphosyntactic is a term in
linguistics used to refer to grammatical categories or properties for
whose definition criteria of morphology and syntax both apply, as
in describing the characteristics of words.
The main concern of this research is the morphosyntactic study of
Kare-Kare nominal phrase. “The term /nominal phrase/noun
phrase is a phrase that has a noun or pronoun as its head or
performs the same grammatical function as a noun. Noun phrase
are very common cross-linguistically, and they may be the most
frequently occurring phrase type.” (Crystal, 1997:2).
“A noun phrase must have noun as its head (otherwise it wouldn’t
be a noun phrase, would it)? Though of course it may consist of
just a pronoun. If a noun phrase contains just one noun, then that
must be the head. However, given that a noun phrase may contain
other nominal elements as (part of) noun phrase internal
modifiers, a noun phrase can contain more than one noun.”
(Borjars & Burridge (2001:189).
Equally, Rodney (1988:85) states that “nouns usually occupy the
head position in the structure of NPs.”

1
In the light of the above definitions, the current research will focus
on morphosyntactic study of Kare-Kare nominal phrases
specifically the variety spoken in Jalam, Dambam Local
Government Area of Bauchi State. Because there are
varieties/dialects of Kare-Kare language spoken in Yobe State.

1.1 Background of the Study

Basically, there are many researches on morphosyntax.
Researchers contributed a lot towards the grammatical studies and
documentation of some Nigerian languages. Some of these
researchers are: Mohammed (2019), Yakubu (2018), Mukarromah
(2019) and Kuna (2019). Therefore these works motivate the
researcher to work on morphosyntactic study of Kare-Kare
nominal phrases. All the studies mentioned above conducted the
researches on morphosyntax. But there is no any on morphosyntax
of Kare-Kare language, that is what initiates the current research.

1.1.1 Background of the Language

Kare-Kare is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken particularly in north
eastern Nigeria with communities in Bauchi state, Yobe state,
Gombe state and other parts of Nigeria. The Kare-Kare are
scattered over the borderlands of Borno, Kano and Bauchi
provinces. (Ewan, 1969).
The name of the language is actually pronounced as “Karai-Karai”,
but the spelling “Kare-Kare” is the most familiar in publications.
Earlier, Schuh (2009) establishes that “the origin of the name Karai-
Karai is uncertain, stressing that it resembles the Kanuri word
“Kare” i.e. goods, things or loads, which has been borrowed into
virtually many languages in north-eastern Nigeria. It has been

2
suggested that the ethnic term “Kare-Kare” is somehow related to
word. But there is no clear link between a name of the people and
the load “Kare” unless the people were known as carrying load in
an unusual way. Therefore, the name is given to them by Kanuri.”
According to census figure of 1952, the Kare-Kare people
numbered about 39,000 - 50,000 while, according to the 1963
census they number over 129,000 and are almost equally divided
between Borno and Bauchi states. They are also the thirty third
largest ethnic group in Nigeria. (Annals of Borno IV, 1987:50).
“Kare-Kare is one of the seven languages of Chadic family
indigenous to Yobe state. Others are Bade, Bole, Duwai, Maka,
Ngamo, and Ngizim. It is a member of the west branch of Chadic
and hence related to Hausa, the dominant language throughout
nothern Nigeria. Kare-Kare’s closest linguistic relatives are
however, its neghbors, Ngamo and Bole.” (Schuh, 2005).
“Kare-Kare is divided into three dialects. These are Jalmawa
dialect (west Kare-Kare), mostly found in Dambam Local
Government Area of Bauchi State; Birakai dialect which is mostly
spoken in Dazigau, Dagauda and Farsawa; while Kwartamaci
dialect is found in Fika, Potiskum and Nangere Local Government
Areas of Yobe State.” (Abubakar, 2010).
“The traditional place of Kare-Kare origin is Jalam, Dambam Local
Government Area of Bauchi State. Jalam host the most important
annual Kare-Kare ritual festival called ‘Bara ma Jalam’, i.e. festival
of Jalam, which usually comes around after the harvesting
season.” (Schuh, 2005).
According to Schuh (2005), Kare-Kare, Bole, and Ngamo are
members of the ‘A’ sub-group of West Chadic, while Ngizim, Bade
and Duwai are members of the ‘B’ group.
CHADIC
3
 East Chadi
Masa
West Chadic

A B
A B
A B
Dangaleat
Tera Kotoko Kera
Hausa Kare-Kare Bade
Bole Ngizim
Ngamo Duwai
Tangale Warji
Kanakuru Miya

Schuh (2005).
The Current research is specifically on the Kare-Kare variety
spoken in Jalam, Dambam Local Government Area of Bauchi State
i.e. the Jalamawa dialect. (Kare-Kare Jalalum).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

There are many researches conducted on Kare-Kare language,
among the researchers are: Abubakar (2010), Ibrahim (2020),
Hassan (2001), Ewan (1969), Schuh (2005). They conducted their
researches on Kare-Kare on some aspects of the language. Yet, to
the best of my knowledge no any research conducted on the Kare-
Kare nominal phrase, therefore, the native speakers of the
language especially the youth and some few adults find it difficult
in identifying the structure of nominal phrase in the Kare-Kare
language. This motivated the current researcher to embark in the
present research in order to account for the nominal phrase of the
language, since there is no available research that attempted to
identify the morphosyntactic study of nominal phrase in the Kare-
Kare language so as to fill in that vacuum left untouched.

4
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is to carryout a morphosyntactic analysis of
Kare-Kare nominal phrase. Specifically, the objectives of the study
include:-
i. To identify the structure of nominal phrase in the Kare-Kare
language.
ii. To examine the composition of nominal phrase in the Kare-
Kare language.
iii. To analyze the nominal phrase (NP) structure identified in
the Kare-Kare language morphosyntactically.

1.4 Research Questions

In order to achieve the above objectives, the following research
questions are posed:-
i. What is the structure of nominal phrase in the Kare-Kare
language?
ii. What is the composition of nominal phrase in the Kare-Kare
language?
iii. How is nominal phrase (NP) structure identified in the
language analyzed morphosyntactically?

1.5 Scope and Limitation of the Study

The scope of this research is studying the nominal phrase in Kare-
Kare language which is spoken in Jalam, Dambam Local
Government Area of Bauchi State. The research is limited to the
variety spoken in Jalam, Dambam Local Government Area of
Bauchi State, popularly called Kare-Kare Jalalum.

1.6 Significance of the Study

5
The study is significant because it will add to the existing literature
on the Kare-Kare language which will be of help to the subsequent
researchers in the language. The research will also serve as a guide
for other people that will conduct their research on nominal
phrase.

6
2.0 Review of Related Literature
This section aims at reviewing the relevant literature concerning
nominal phrases based on the previous researches conducted.
Adejare and Adejare (1996) present a detailed and interesting
description of the English Nominal Group (NG) and the modifier
and qualifier systems with the NG. They maintain that the NG can
function in three different degrees of delicacy. It functions at the
primary degree of delicacy as an element of clause structure either
in subject, complement or adjunct positions; it functions at the
secondary degree of delicacy e.g., as an element of the
prepositional group structure in the adjunct position; and it
functions at the tertiary degree of delicacy if it appears as subject
of a rank shifted clause.
This work is related to the current study, because element of the
prepositional group structure are also used in Kare-Kare nominal
phrase. The two researches differ in the language involved.
Babalola (2005) compares the nominal groups in the essays of
Nigerian and American columnists. His data were analyzed to
identify the various structural types of the NG in English (H, HQ,
etc.) and then to identify the occurrences of the possible NG
modifiers or qualifiers. (MMH, MMMH, HQ, etc.) that modify the
English NG head. The above study is related to the current study,
because (H, HQ, etc.) are also used in the construction of nominal
phrase in the Kare-Kare language. Though it varies because the
current work is not a comparative study, it only concentrates on
Kare-Kare nominal phrase.
Bagari (1970) conducts a research on some aspects of
nominalization in Hausa language where the researcher explains
that nominalization is divided into some categories which are:

7
nominal phrase, verb phrase, and prepositional phrase, etc. He
further explains that Hausa has no definite or indefinite article
marker. There is only a referential marker which is added to any
noun which has previously been referred to. The referential
marker is __r when the noun referred to is feminine singular. Its
allamorph __n is used in all other cases. The previous research is
relevant to the current research as both of them look at the
elements that make up the noun phrase. But they differ in the
languages involved in their investigations.
Borjars & Burridge (2001) discuss nominal phrase as a noun phrase
that contains a large number of optional elements which can be
either pre- or post-modifier or pre-determiners. They further
explain that determiners have special status within the NP. There
are five types: articles, demonstratives, quantifying determiners,
wh-determiners and possessives. This work is related to the
current research and it will guide the researcher in the analysis of
some Kare-Kare determiners, and possessives in the language. But
they differ in the languages involved.
Galadanci (1969) describes the structure of the simple nominal
phrase, its constituent elements and its role as well as relationships
in the phrase in Hausa language. The work reveals the syntactic
aspects of Hausa simple nominal phrase. He also discussed on
nominal phrases and further subdivided them into serial nominal
phrase, clausal nominal phrase and simple nominal phrase. This
research will help and guide the current researcher in
understanding more on nominal phrase and the classification of
nominal phrase. However, the present research will be on the
morphosyntactic study of Kare-Kare nominal phrases. The

8
relationship between the two works is that both deal with nominal
phrase structures, but they differ in the languages involved.
Galadanci (1976), for instance, describes the nominal group (NG)
of the Hausa language but refers to it as the NP. Based on his
description, the structure of Hausa NP can be analyzed in terms of
head (H) and qualifier (Q). The head is considered as the nucleus
of every NP, the pillar upon which all qualifiers are assembled. In
his description, he makes it clear that every Hausa NP contains a
head and may or may not contain qualifiers. He divides the
qualifier into two, viz., pre-head qualifiers and post-head
qualifiers and refers the former as the elements that appear before
the head and the latter as those that appear after the head. This
work is related to the current research and it will guide the
researcher in the analysis of nominal phrase pre-modifier and
post-modifier in Kare-Kare language. The two researches differ in
terms of language used.
Leach (2006) investigates on English nominal phrase in which the
researcher reveals that “nominal phrase/noun phrase is a phrase
which (typically) has a noun or a pronoun as its head and which
can have various important functions in a clause or sentence,
notably those of subject, objects, complement or prepositional
complement.” He further explains thhat the structure of noun
phrase can be stated simply as follows: (determiner[s]) +
(modifier[s]) + head + (modifier[s]) where brackets represent
optional elements. Very often the phrase consists of a head alone
either a noun or a pronoun. For example, our, he, we, they, etc.
The above research is relevant to this study as both of them study
the nominal phrase pattern. The previous research will also help
the current research in the analysis and construction of some Kare-

9
Kare nominal phrase sentences. The two researches differ in terms
of language used, the former studies English NP, while the latter
studies Kare-Kare NP.
Halliday (1994) describes the structure of the English Nominal
Group (NG) as consisting of a modifier (M), head (H), and
qualifier (Q). Halliday characterizes the modifier as “consisting of
a deictic, numerative, epithet and classifier. The head, which he
regards as the only obligatory element can be a common or proper
noun, pronoun, numerative, deictic or epithet (in an attributive
clause). The qualifier as the last optional item in the English NG is
realized by words, phrases or clauses.” This work contributes
immensely to the present study because both of them are on
nominal phrase but they differ in the language worked on. The
former study, English nominal phrase/group, while the latter will
study Kare-Kare nominal phrase.
Jaggar (2001) conducts a research on Hausa Nominal Phrase (NP).
According to him, the NP functions as subject and object. Like
other scholars in the field of Hausa syntax (e.g. Galadanci, 1976;
Newman, 2000), Jaggar (2001) also maintains that the head is
optionally modified by pre-head and/or post-head elements. In
addition, he adds that the head controls the gender and number of
the inflected constituents clustering around it. For example, the
nominal phrases (NPs) “wani yaro” and “wata daliba” are
grammatical but “wani daliba” and “wata yaro” are
ungrammatical. The above research is related to the current
research as both of them study nominal phrase. The two
researches differ in working languages, i.e. the current study is on
Kare-Kare language, while the above study is on Hausa language.

10
Mercy (2022) conducts a research on comparative analysis of
English and Igbo nominal phrases. The research reveals that a
primary noun phrase in Igbo has heads that demand for and select
other grammatical elements that help to expand them from bare
noun phrases. It also reveals that the NP heads demand for
complement to specify their heads. The study similarly finds out
that the tone plays a role in a shape of a relator in Igbo and English
respectively. Finally, the study reveals that the relator (RELT)
‘nke’, in the nominal category, designates position /genitive/
possession and also relates the subject (head noun) to the
complement in the Igbo language. The above study is related to
the present study, as both of them study nominal phrase and both
of them adopt descriptive approach in analyzing the data
collected. They differ in the language involved.
Newman (2000) conducts a research on Hausa nominal phrase in
which the research reveals that the head of the Hausa NP is an
obligatory element in the language which is optionally followed
by specifying or modifying elements either before or after the
head. The research also identifies specifiers and adjectival
modifiers in the pre-head position. The above study is related to
the current one as both of them study the process of nominal
phrase, and that both of them adopt a descriptive approach. The
former differs from the latter in term of languages involved.
Umar (2004) conducts a research on Bura nominal phrases/groups
by comparative analysis between English and Bura nominal
groups. The aim of his study is to compare the details of the NG in
the two language to find out similarities and differences. The
study adopts the systematic model of Halliday (1973) as the
theoretical framework. The study also describes the items serving

11
as modifiers in the NGs of the two languages and identifies
similarities and differences in their sequence of occurrence. For
example, while English has the sequence of modifier-head, Bura
has either the sequence of head followed by modifiers as in
“mwala ngani” (woman this) (this woman) or modifier preceding
the head as in “japwa madeyeri” (both children). The above
research is related to the present one because both of them study
nominal phrase. The two researches differ in the languages
involved, as the former is on a comparative analysis between
English and Bura nominal phrase/groups, while the current
research is on Kare-Kare nominal phrase.

12
3.0 Research Methodology
This section will focus on explaining the process adopted in
collecting data as well as explaining the methods that will be used
for the study and sample population.

3.1 Methodology
The method used in collecting data for this research is
ethnographic method of data collection which includes
observation and unstructured interview.
The researcher will visit Kare-Kare speaking community in Jalam,
Dambam Local Government Area of Bauchi State and interact with
the Kare-Kare people and collect the information from them.

3.2 Sources of Data Collection

The sources of data collection to be used in this research are
primary and secondary sources. The primary source of data in this
study is series of interviews with the Kare-Kare native speakers of
Jalam, Dambam Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
The secondary sources of data are written and historical
documents related to the subject of the study which includes
textbooks, journals, articles, magazines, Kare-Kare dictionary,
dissertation and theses.

3.3 Model of Data Analysis

The researcher will employ descriptive research model in
analyzing the collected data from the respondents who will be
interviewed by the researcher while conducting the research.

3.4 Techniques and Sampling Techniques

13
The techniques to be used in the collection of this data is phone
recorder and notebook for jotting down some Kare-Kare words. In
doing the sampling, the researcher will adopt random sampling
techniques. The researcher will sample about 20 Kare-Kare native
speakers of Jalam, Dambam Local Government Area of Bauchi
State randomly, in which 10 of them are males aged between 55-60
years, and 5 out of them are retired civil servants; while the
remaining 5 males are farmers without any western education.
And the remaining 10 are female speakers of the Kare-Kare
language aged between 60-25 years in which 4 out of them are
businesswomen without any educational certificate, while 3 out of
them are retired primary school teachers; and the remaining 3 are
young female speakers of Kare-Kare language.

4.0 Sample of Data Collection

14
For this research, the researcher samples some of the collected
words for sample analysis for the purpose of this proposal.

4.1 Data Presentation and Analysis

Some sentences of Kare-Kare nominal phrases will be presented
and analyzed below:-

1. Possessive Linker: The Kare-Kare has two (2) possessive

linkers which are, /ma/ and /ta/ respectively. Examples:
noun + PL + noun nominal phrase gloss
a. dookú+ma+iduhú dookúma iduhu the king’s horse
horse+PL+king
b. jaka+ma+Bello jakama Bello Bello’s bag
bag+PL+Bello
c. kóoróo+ma+baabú kóoróoma baabú a father’s donkey
donkey+PL+father
d. kwar+ta+iduhú kwarta iduhú the king’s house
house+PL+king
e. leewí+ta+Binta leewíta Binta Binta’s boy
boy+PL+Binta
In example (1a-c) above, noun + possessive linker + noun is
illustrated in Kare-Kare language in the construction or formation
of nominal phrases. All the examples in (1a-c) contain noun +
possessive linker /ma/ + noun.
In example (1a), the tone of the phrase (dookúma iduhú) is marked
in low and high tone, while the lengthening is in (dookú), which
means horse.
In example (1b), the tone of the phrase (jakáma Bello) is also
marked in high and low tone without any lengthening. While, in
example (1c), the tone of the phrase (kóoróo ma baabú) is marked
differently, in which (kóoróo) is marked in high and high tone

15
while, the (baabú) is marked in low and high tone. However, the
lengthening is in the whole phrase which is (koorooma baabu).
In example (1d-e) above, the two examples contain noun +
possessive linker /ta/ + noun, as in the phrase (kwarta iduhú) and
(leewíta Binta). The example (1d) which is (kwarta iduhú); the
(kwarta) is marked in low and low tone while the (iduhú) is
marked in low and high tone, and the phrase has no any vowel
length.
Also in (1e) above which is (leewíta Binta), the phrase is marked in
low and high tone as in (leewí) and has a vowel length. While,
(Binta) is marked in low and low tone without any vowel length.

2. Coordinate Nominal Phrase

The coordinate nominal phrase contains two or more heads linked
together by /ka/ = [and], [or]. And can also be linked together
by /kau/, a preposition (with).
Examples of some Kare-Kare nominal phrase that contain /ka/
(and), and /kau/ (with) are as follows:-
Nominal Phrase Gloss
a. kéezi + ka + gaja keézi ka gaja hen and cock
hen CNP cock
b. naanú + ka + baabú naanú ka baabú mother and father
mother CNP father
c. báazin+ka+léewe+ báazin ka léewe young man and
kau+lúude kaulúude children with baby

Looking at the above examples of Kare-Kare coordinate nominal

phrase, we can see that examples (2a-b) are all the same in nature,
because all the examples contain noun + conjunction /ka/ + noun.
While example (2c), contain noun + conjunction /ka/ + noun +

16
preposition /kau/ + noun in the phrase (báazin ka léewe kau
lúude).
In example (1a) above, the phrase (kéezi ka gaja) has a high and
low tone in (kéezi) and a vowel length. While (gaja) has low and
low tone without any vowel length.
Also in example (1b), (naanú ka baabú), the whole phrase has a
low and high tone marked with a vowel lengthening respectively.
However in example (1c), the phrase (báazin ka léewe kau lúude),
the tone is marked in high and low tone, and the vowel
lengthening is in all the phrase. Also the phrase contain noun +
conjunction /ka/ + noun + preposition /kau/ + noun.

3. Noun Based Nominal Phrase

Another nominal phrase structure contained in Kare-Kare
language is Noun + Adjective.
Examples:-
Noun+Adjective Nominal Phrase Gloss
a. rabjáu+ma+bláan rabjauma blaan a beautiful young girl
young girl+beautiful
Noun+Adjective Nominal Phrase Gloss
b. wadé+ma+tam wadéma tam a delicious food
food+delicious
In example (3a) above, noun based nominal phrase are illustrated,
where (rabjáu) denoting girl is combined with an adjective (bláan)
meaning ‘beautiful’ in the Kare-Kare language to form a nominal
phrase (rabjáuma bláan) representing a beautiful young girl in the
language. The tone is marked in low and high tone while, the
lengthening is in bláan.
In example (3b) above, the phrase (wadéma tam) which is a
delicious food has a low and high tone marked on the (wadé)

17
while (tam) has a low and low tone, and the phrase has no any
vowel length.

4. Adjective Based Nominal Phrase

Another nominal phrase structure contained in Kare-Kare
language is Adjective + Noun.
Examples:-
Adjective+Noun Nominal Phrase Gloss
a. madé+ma+mutuka madéma mutuka a red car
red + a car
b. maiwá+ma+kwarau maiwáma kwarau a big house
big a house
c. mafé+ma+shukwabu maféma shukwabu a white shirt
white a shirt
In the above examples, (4a-c), Kare-Kare nominal phrases contain
adjective + noun in the construction of the Kare-Kare nominal
phrases, as in (madema) in example (4a), (maiwama) in example
(4b) and (mafema) in example (4c); all are adjectives modifying a
noun (mutuka) in (4a), (kwarau) in (4b) and (shukwabu) in (4c)
respectively. And all the phrases has a low and high tone marked
in all the adjectives while the nouns are marked in low and low
tone.
In a nutshell, in the formation or construction of nominal phrase in
Kare-Kare language, /ma/ is used in every nominal phrase
formation to give emphasis on that phrase.

18
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