Structural Considerations and Grammaticality in Annang Language by Joseph Udondata (Published)
This paper examines issues relating to structure and grammaticality in Annang language. The levels of structure examined include those of morphemes, syllables and syntax. The paper uses the Constituent Structure theory which is fundamental to all syntactic theories. Every sentence in Annang has its ultimate constituents which are made up of the minimal grammatical elements of the sentence. Annang exhibits a linear as well as a hierarchical structure. All these have possibilities for grammaticality. This paper redefines grammaticality to subsume acceptability and the intuition of native speakers as well as those educated in the language. The Descriptive Linguistic Methodology was used in the analysis of the structure of Annang. The paper discovers that the morphological structure of Annang reveals it as an agglutinating language. Even though Annang exhibits characteristics of Universal Grammar, its grammaticality is rather unique particularly in its syntax and lack of articles in its word class. Its openness to delicacy is an important aspect of grammaticality. It is our opinion that the entire linguistic process is a process of grammaticality. The intuition of native speakers may not determine acceptability in a world language like English which has nativized in various corners of the globe.
Keywords: acceptability, constituent structure, grammaticality, linear structure, syntactic theories