Journal of West African Languages Volume 43.2 (2016) 16 A UNIFIED ANALYSIS OF THE ҼDO -LV SUFFIX Lendzemo Constantine Yuka and Raphael Osarense Iyamu University of Benin, Nigeria. University of Benin, Nigeria. lcyuka@uniben.edu raphaeliyamu@gmail.com Abstract This study provides a unified reading of the Ҽdo -lv suffix. Previous analyses of the suffix have argued for either an iterative reading on verbs suffixed with the -lv extension or a plural reading on arguments (internal in the case of transitive verbs and external in the case of intransitive verbs). This work accounts for the reading of the Ҽdo -lv suffix as a complex interaction between aktionsart (the features [punctual] and [telic]) and transitivity. Preliminary data available lead us to posit that the basic function of the Ҽdo -lv suffix is to extend events temporally. It achieves this through two strategies; the -lv suffix ‘extends’ [+punctual] verbs by imposing an iterative reading on the verb while [-punctual] verbs are extended by pluralizing verbal arguments. This study thus shows the pertinent role of aktionsart in the grammar of the Ҽdo language. Keywords: aktionsart, Ҽdo, morphosemantics, -lv suffix, temporal extension 0. Introduction The Ҽdo -lv suffix is one of two inflectional verbal suffixes in the language (the other being the -rv suffix). It is known as the -lv suffix because of its phonetic shape; it is composed of the voiced alveolar lateral stop /l/ when the nucleus of the last syllable of the verb is an oral vowel and realized as the alveolar nasal /n/ when the nucleus of the last syllable of the verb is a nasal vowel and a vowel which is conditioned by the last vowel of the verb stem to which the suffix is attached. Example 1(a)-(i) below presents an illustration of this phenomenon as described by Ӑmӑruyi (1986b:70); Verb Verb + Suffix 1 (a) dè ‘buy’ dè-lé ‘buy repeatedly’ (b) vù ‘uproot’ vù-ló ‘uproot repeatedly’ (c) fì ‘throw’ -ló ‘throw repeatedly’ (d) tà ‘say’ tà-ló ‘say repeatedly. (e) sùn ‘crawl’ sùn-no ‘crawl repeatedly’ (f)  ‘Break’ bùn-nó ‘break repeatedly’ (g) tìn ‘fly’ tìn-nó ‘fly repeatedly’ (h) sàán ‘jump’ sàn-n ‘jump repeatedly’ (i) mìe ‘squeeze out liquid’ e- ‘squeeze out liquid repeatedly’