PARAMETRIC VARIATION OF FUNCTIONAL CATEGORIES IN ENGLISH AND OGU

Language is quintessentially human. Therefore, there exist general underlying principles characterizing all human languages, the Chomskyan's I-language. These basic principles of human language are differently realised or patterned in each language according to what is grammatical or ill-formed in the language. This is what underlies parametric variation. This study investigates how this principle applies in functional categories, the grammatical aspects of human language characterised by indexicality, connectivity and projection. The study argues that these linguistic categories operate differently, the principle of Universal Grammar notwithstanding, in Ogu, a Nigerian language from Ghana, and English a West-Germanic language. This comparative study investigates aspects of morphology and syntax of Ogu and English. The study argues that syntactic operations in Ogu and English will be limited to those parameters of grammatical structure which are subject to language particular variation. The study found that what the English language signals with inflectional affixes, Ogu does either with word order or with function words. The study further found that the way English and Ogu attest for tense, aspectual and auxiliary plural markers, modals, auxiliaries, agreement in the I- node (inflection phrase), and phonology differ very significantly in many respects. The study concludes that while Ogu and English operate different word order system and have different realizations of their functional categories, Ogu and Yoruba are morphosyntactically identical.Keywords: parametric variation, functional categories, morphology-syntax, Ogu language, English language