STUDYING THE PHONOLOGY OF THE OLŮKŮMI, IGALA, OWÉ AND YORŮBA LANGUAGES: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS.

This study presents a comparative analysis of the phonological systems of the Yorůbá, Owé, Igala and Olůkůmi languages of the Defoid language family of Benue Congo. Data were collected from native speakers using the Ibadan Four Hundred Word List of Basic Items. Using discovered common lexemes in the languages, the classification of the languages sound systems and syllable systems are carried out in order to determine the major patterns of differences and similarities. Some major sound changes were discovered in the lexical items of the languages. The systematic substitutions of sounds also constitute another major finding observed in the languages. It was established in this study that there exists a very strong relationship among these languages. The languages are found to be mutually unintelligible except for Owé that has a degree of mutual intelligibility with Yoruba. The paper concludes that the major reason for divergence is language contact.