in Ikwere: a rare case of agreement in a language with no agreement system (original) (raw)

Ikwere verbs in sentences can sometimes contain the nasal bilabial consonant /-m/ in the final position. We notice however, that this feature is fairly marginal in the language because the consonant in question mainly occurs where the subject of the sentence is the first person singular. This article claims therefore, that /-m/ marks agreement based on person, meaning that it is evidence of a cross-referencing between the subject noun and the verb. Interestingly, the first person singular does not automatically co-occur with /m/. On the other hand, /-m/ may co-occur with the second and third persons singular as well as the first, second and third persons plural. The aim of this article is to outline the conditions under which this agreement occurs. And while hinging on the absence of noun class agreement or agreement based on gender and number in this language, it is finally suggested that the subject-verb agreement in Ikwere should be regarded as a residual of a more elaborate archaic system which, like the noun class system in some Niger Congo languages (cf. Welmers 1973: 189) including Ikwere, will sooner or later become obsolete.