Noun Pluralization Strategies in Ninzo: Partial Reduplication, Synonymy, and Loanwords

This study looks at some aspects of noun pluralization in the Ninzo language. Thus, it focusses on how reduplication is used as a process of pluralizing some Ninzo nouns. Furthermore, it investigates some synonymous Ninzo nouns and the processes they employ for plurality. In addition to that, the study looks at some borrowed words and their strategies for changing to plural forms in the Ninzolanguage. Ninzo is a language of the Benue-Congo, Western Kainji group of languages spoken in the southern part of Kaduna State of Nigeria. The study mainly adopted the descriptive approach of linguistics to explore and highlight some of the morphologicalprocesses of noun pluralization of the Ninzo language. The data for the study were drawn from both primary and secondary sources. Data from primary source were elicited through interviews (both oral and written) from the native speakers of the language. Data from secondary source were drawn from Blench’s wordlist of Ninzo language (2011). The findings of this research, therefore, include the following: that Ninzo language utilizes partial reduplication as a process to derive plurality in some of its nouns (while complete reduplication is nonproductive in Ninzo noun pluralization); that synonymous Ninzo nouns (nouns that are alike in meaning and significance) may employ the same or different strategies for their plurality; that majority of the borrowed words are Hausa words and when Ninzo borrowed them, it ‘nativized’them (that is, it puts some features,that suits the Ninzo language system to the nouns; making themlook like Ninzo nouns),before employing different strategies in forming their plural forms; though most of themtend to employ zero pluralization.