AKU: An African Journal of Contemporary Research

It is shocking and unbelievable for an affix or a bound morpheme that does not necessarily have a meaning of its own to command a strong contextual value in the Igbo language. It is on account of this uncommon distinctive attribute that the topic of this study is "Enclitics and their Contextual Application in Igbo Semantics". The objectives of the study are to explain what is meant by enclitics, offer some examples of enclitics in the Igbo language, explain the meanings of some of their contextual applications, analyse the contexts of use and establish the implications of the usage. The method of research is descriptive, including the researchers' intuitive knowledge of the Igbo language, The theory to steer the study is the Use Theory of Meaning. The study finds out that enclitic is an affix that is usually phonologically made to lean on a host word, without necessarily having a meaning of its own, but may impart a certain connotation. In terms of examples, the study finds out that 'zi/zi, 'd?, noo, n?, kwa, si, kwu, ris?, gas?, gasja, ri and lu, are some examples of enclitic in Igbo. Also discovered is that the contextual application of enclitic is about the meaning that is understood based on the situation in which something happens. It also finds out that, like in 'Ndi a cha b? nke unu', it is used in an all-involving situation, and that in the expression, "onye di ka a na- agwa?", the context of application is that of doubt and sadness. The study also finds out that the implications of the analysis are to attract the attention of the Igbo standardization committee to streamline some things to further develop the language. It is also found that the analysis adds to the beauty of the spoken Igbo words. In terms of significance, the study is anticipated to open up some researches of the sort in other world languages.

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