Junctures in Etulo Verb Serialization Adaobi Ngozi Okoye Department of Linguistics, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria Abstract—Verb serialization involves the use of two or more verbs in the expression of series of related events. This feature has been established for West African languages and also for Etulo, an Idomoid language of the Benue Congo language family. This present study examines verb serialization in Etulo in order to ascertain the juncture types that can be confirmed for the language. The study adopts the Role and Reference Grammar theoretical approach in the analysis of the data. Data for the study were elicited from Etulo native speakers resident in Adi, Buruku Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Based on the analysis of the collected data, the study confirms both nuclear and core junctures for Etulo language. Furthermore, these junctures are distinguished on the basis of argument realization and sharing in the language. Index Terms—serial verb construction, juncture, argument, role and reference grammar, Etulo I. INTRODUCTION The phenomenon of serial verb constructions is common to most West African languages. According to Aikhenvald (2006) serial verb constructions describe what is conceptualized as a single event. Dixon (2006) agrees with Aikhenvald’s view and further adds that the multiple verbs in a Serial Verb Construction, conceived of as describing a single action can sometimes, but not always, be analysed into sub events that relate to one verb. In a serial verb construction, two or more verbs are put together. These verbs form a complex predicate which expresses series of related events. Based on a general characterization, serial verbs share arguments, lack connectives and in addition share grammatical categories among other cross-linguistic characterizations proposed for serial verb constructions. Earlier study in Serial Verb Construction in Etulo (Ezenwafor 2019) discusses Serial Verb Construction hereafter SVC based on the typological criteria proposed in Aikhenvald (2006). Based on the criteria, Ezenwafor (2019) observes that Etulo SVC perform both semantic and grammatical functions. The study further establishes types of SVC to include symmetric versus asymmetric, contiguous versus non-contiguous and optional versus obligatory types. In addition, Ezenwafor (2019) asserts that the range of meaning expressed by Etulo SVCs include but not limited to benefactive, instrumental, accompaniment, completive etc. The author with regard to the characterization of SVCs submits such features as mono clausality, argument sharing, argument and switch function among other typological features. Ezenwafor (2019) essentially classifies SVCs in Etulo based on some features attested for SVCs cross linguistically and further distinguishes Etulo SVCs from a similar multi verb construction referred to as consecutive construction. The present study however departs from Ezenwafor (2019) as it examines Etulo SVCs adopting the Role and Reference Grammar framework espoused in Van Valin & Lapolla 1997;Van Valin 2005). Specifically, the paper studies the logical structure of Etulo SVCs in addition to accounting for the types of junctures attested in Etulo SVCs. Based on the layered structure postulated in RRG framework, a distinction is made between nuclear and core serialization in the classification of SVCs. In the present study, the terms serialization and serial verb constructions (SVCs) are used interchangeably. The rest of the paper is organized as follow: Section 2 reviews related literature while Section 3 discusses the theoretical framework adopted in the study. Section 4 discusses the juncture types attested in Etulo SVC. Section 5 forms the conclusion of the study. The next section goes into the review of some works on SVC. II. STUDIES ON SVC SVC comprises sequences of verbs which are not connected by conjunction markers and form a single clause. Some common features have been assumed in the characterization of SVC based on cross linguistic investigations, (Baker 1989, Collins 1997, Aikhenvald 2006, Dixon 2011). These features include lack of conjunctions, sharing of arguments, sharing operators such as tense, aspect, mood, intonation, juxtaposition of two or more verbs and denoting of single event Baker (1989) opines that SVCs are constructions in which a sequence of verbs appear in a single clause. The author further observes that the verbs in a series have a single subject and share logical objects. Foley and Olson (1985) in Caesar (2016) view SVCs as constructions in which verbs sharing a common subject and object are merely juxtaposed without any intervening conjunction. Collins (1997) also agrees with these authors on argument sharing among verbs in a series. These agreements notwithstanding, concerns have been raised and proposal made with regard to the issue of SVCs expressing a single event. For instance, Schultze-Berndt (2000) has observed the difficulty associated with the application of this feature to cross-linguistic data. On the other hand, Bohnemeyer, Enfield, Essegbey, Ibarretxe- Antuñano, Kita, Lüpke and Ameka (2007) propose the Macro-Event property which requires a shared reference among ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 587-594, June 2021 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1106.01 © 2021 ACADEMY PUBLICATION