A transformational generative approach towards understanding al-istifham

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences www.iiste.org
ISSN (Paper)2224-5766 ISSN (Online)2225-0484 (Online)
Vol.4, No.10, 2014
38
A Transformational- Generative Approach towards
Understanding Al-Istifham
Dr. Fatai Owolabi Jamiu
Affiliation: Tai University of Education, Ijagun; Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State
A lecturer at Department of Religious Studies
Postal Address: P.O. Box 1951, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State
E-Mail: fatja_miu2@yahoo.com
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to analyse the formation of interrogative sentences in Arabic through the application of
the basic linguistic concepts and to explain the derivation of those sentences with their transformations via the
employment of the Transformational-Generative tools and concepts.
This paper attempts to examine the ways and manners which
al-Istifham could be understood through a transformational-generative approach. It begins with an introduction
with a sketchy overview of the origin and development of Arabic grammar in the Arab world. Effort is made to
explain the theoretical framework used in the paper. Basic terms and concepts are carefully explained. We have
been able to show that, Arabic, as a language with VSO word-order, allows a right hand movement. It is
discovered that it is categorized mainly into two, viz: (1) al-Istifham al-Lughawi (linguistic question) and (2) al-
Istifham al-Adabi (literary question). The formal is characterized by abhathun lughawiyyah (linguistic analysis)
but the latter is characterized by aghradun balaghiyyah
(rhetorical objectives). The study shows that where two particles of Istifham Hal and Hamzah are used they both
have a syntactic and semantic markers which would be answered by any of Adawatul-Jawab (answer tools).
Introduction
The grammar of any language is as important as the language itself. This is because the study of
grammar reveals how language works. Grammar as a branch of linguistics deals with form and structure of
words and their interrelation in sentences. According to Yusuf (1997:1), this branch of linguistics has been
receiving a great and increasing attention among the linguists formed our motivation to this study. Our syntactic
excursion to the study of al-Istifham would take Transformative –Generative grammar as a guide.
A language, according to Allerton (1990:68-112) “is basically a system of signs, i.e. of institutionalized
sensory patterns that ‘stand for’ something beyond themselves, so that they ‘mean’ something. These signs
and words are governed by a set of rules that are referred to as grammar of any language. Liliane Haegeman
(1992:121) has submitted that “ the totality of all the rules and principles that have been formulated with respect
to a language constitutes the grammar of that language”. Grammar is also a systematic study and description of a
language. In linguistics, grammar is a term for the syntactic and morphological system, which every unimpaired
person acquires. Grammar is intended as an aid to the learning and teaching of a language.
The word ‘grammar’ is most commonly used to mean a description of the structure of the sentences in a
language. A grammatical description of Arabic, for instance recognizes and indicates how these elements are
related to each other. For example, the subject of an Arabic sentence comes after the verb, and before the
predicate if the sentence is verb-less. Grammar also specifies the manner in which the basic elements are
combined into larger units. Fu’ad Nu‘man (1973:17) describes Arabic Nahw (syntax) as
Rules and principles that inform, the role and function
of every word, the vowelization of last letters of those
words and their analysis.
Every language has a way to describe what is considered correct speech. The rules for the correct usage
in any language are said to be prescribed and traditional. Hence, it is called traditional or classical grammar. In
Arabic, the traditional grammar as opined by Dayf (1992:14) is said to be originated and established by Abul-
Aswad ad-Du’ali on the initiation and order of ‘Ali b. ‘Abi Talib.
However, the interest in the study of language, and, more specifically, in the study of grammar can be
traced back to the ancient Greeks. At first, the Greeks’ concern for language was rooted in their philosophical
studies, and in this connection there arose a number of controversies over the nature of language. One of the best
known of these was the physis-nomos controversy in BC 200, which according to Lean (1993:95), centred
around the question of whether language is a product of nature (physis) or a product of convention (nomos).
One very significant contribution to the study of language was that of Dionysis Thorax (c.170- 190
BC). It was Thorax who presented one of the first descriptions of what is today called phonology and
morphology. The father of modern grammatical theory and of synchronic grammar particularly was the Swiss
linguist Ferdinard de Saussuer (1857-1913) followed by Leonard Bloomfield (1887-1949)( Allerton, 1990:115).

Vol.4, No.10, 2014
39
The major trend in linguistics in recent time is transformational generative grammar. The year 1957 was
a turning point in the history of language in the world. It was an American linguist, Noam Chomsky, who
published in his work ‘Syntactic Structure’ a new approach to the study of grammar. This approach, according to
Chomsky (1965:3), was subsequently known as “Transformational Generative Grammar”.
However, the syntactic debate that occurred between the different schools of Arabic grammar, such as
Basrah and Kufah schools of grammar, as opined by Samira (1987:139) can be referred to as a contribution to
the study of Arabic grammar.
Theoretical Framework
This study has adopted basically the transformational generative approach as our guide to the syntactic
analysis of al-Istifham. We shall use the Extended ST model which is one of the revised versions of Chomsky’s
Aspects of the theory of syntax popularly known as ST. We have chosen to use the EST model in order to be able
to handle more adequately the description of Yes/No and Who-Questions in Arabic.
According to Katz and Postal, transformations are meaning – preserving since they do not change
meaning of sentence as general consensus in Standard Theory as maintained by Banjo (1969:40). Thus,
questions are the same as the corresponding declaratives in underlying structure as shown below:
To further illuminate their postulation, Katz and Postal proposed that question be marked as such in
deep structure and that the constituent being questioned also be marked. They posited the Deep Structure
morpheme ‘Q’ to carry out the first of these functions and Wh- morpheme for the second. Thus, the sentence of
1(a&b) would have the corresponding deep structure represented in 2 (a&b)
At the syntactic level, the Q-morpheme would replace the subject of the verb to become:
Then, the law of Wh-movement which is known in Arabic as Sadaarah would be applied. (Wh-movement is the
movement of the wh-word or its equivalents from its original position within the declarative sentence to the
initial sentence position) and the product would be:
The analysis is the following in the tree diagram
Basic/Surface Structure

Vol.4, No.10, 2014
40
Basic Terms and Concepts on Arabic Grammar
The origin of Arabic grammar goes back to the 7th
century. The birth of which was exerted by efforts to put an
end to prevalent grammatical errors in reading of the Qur’an. The Arabs were known for their eloquence and
intelligence. They talk with error-free tongue and lucidity. The grammatical errors were occasioned by the
spread of Islam to other nations and the need to use Arabic by the new converts as a language of communication
and religion. The prevalent grammatical mistakes were not only common to the non-Arabs but also to the Arabs
themselves. This is because of their interaction with speakers of other languages. It has been said that even
Hajjaj b. Yusuf, who was known for eloquence and oratory prowess, as maintained by Dayf (1992:12)
committed grave grammatical mistakes in his khutbah which shows the wide spread and predominance of this
linguistic disorder and malady.
It thus became imperative to proscribe the errors and prescribe some grammatical rules in order to
improve the language. Hence, the rules and principles of Arabic grammar were codified. This was later known as
classical Arabic grammar which is prescriptive in nature because it states the rules that govern Arabic language.
According to Dayf (1992:13), the impetus behind the codification of Arabic grammar was mainly religious and
social, in order to protect and preserve the language of the Holy Qur’an. The precursors of Arabic grammar were
the like of Abul Aswad ad-Duali, Abdullah b. Abi Ishaq and ‘Isa b. ‘Umar whose views were entrenched in the
formulation of Arabic grammar.
Transformational-generative Grammar
In 1957, Noam Chomsky propounded a grammatical theory often referred to as “Transformational-
Generative-Grammar”. It is a theory of generative syntax which addresses the problem of what language is, and
what makes language a specifically human phenomenon as explained by Olateju (1998:140). Transformational
grammar is said to be generative because it reflects the ‘productive’ or ‘creative’ aspect of human language.
Productivity and creativity in human language refer to ability to generate
(construct) and understand an indefinitely large number of sentences in one’s first or second language, including
sentences that one never heard before.
In other words, Transformational Grammar as opined by Adeyemi (2000:26) is based on what a language
user knows about his language, which would be obviously manifested in his ability to recognize utterances that
are ‘grammatical’ and those that are ‘ungrammatical’. As an hypothetical example, an Arab or Arabist on

Vol.4, No.10, 2014
41
hearing or reading the following sentences:
‫ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ‬ ‫ﺫﻫﺐ‬
4. a. The boy went to the school
‫ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺫﻫﺐ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬
b. To go the school the boy
recognizes (4a) as grammatical and well-formed and (4b) as ill-formed and ungrammatical because it is not in
the accepted formal structure and word-order.
Competence and Performance
In order to establish the linguistic theory or grammar for a language, transformationists often resort to the
native speaker-hearer’s intuitive knowledge about different types of sentences in the language. The native
speaker-hearer has the ability to decide whether a sentence is accepted or not without being educated. This
intuition is what the transformationists call ‘competence’ while ‘performance’ refers to the actual (contextual)
use of language in the society. For instance, you don’t need to tell an Arab or Arabist that the following
sentences are paraphrases of each other, that is, they have the same meaning:
‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻻﻥ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﻠﻚ‬ ‫ﺃﻧﺖ‬ ‫ﺃﺗﺎﺭﻙ‬-‫؟‬ ‫ﻋﻤﻠﻚ‬ ‫ﺗﺘﺮﻙ‬ ‫ﺃﺃﻧﺖ‬
5. a. Are you leaving your work now?
‫ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ‬ ‫ﻳﻘﻮﻡ‬-. ‫ﻗﺎﺋﻢ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ‬
b. The boy is standing.
‫ﻛﺘ‬‫ﺍﻟﺮﺳﺎﻟﺔ‬ ‫ﺒﺖ‬-‫ﻣﻜﺘﻮﺑﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺮﺳﺎﻟﺔ‬ ‫ﻛﺎﻧﺖ‬
c. The letter was written.
From these, we can say that someone would be linguistically competent in any language when he is able:
(i) To recognize grammatical and ungrammatical sentences in that language.
(ii) To produce (speak) and understand infinite number of sentences in that language.
(iii) To detect ambiguity
(iv) To recognize sentences that are paraphrases of each other.
Transformation
A transformation is a tool or device used to change the form of one linguistic structure to another. For
instance, an active sentence al-Jumlatul-Ma’lumat be change to a passive sentence al-Jumlatul-Majhulat while a
simple declarative sentence can be changed to a question through the use of transformation. Examples:
‫ﺭﺳﺎﻟﺔ‬ ‫ﺯﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺐ‬
6. a. Zayd wrote a letter
‫ﺭﺳﺎﻟﺔ‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺒﺖ‬
b. A letter was written
‫ﻛﺘﺎﺑﺎ‬ ‫ﻗﺮﺃﺕ‬
c. You read a book
‫؟‬ ‫ﻗﺮﺃﺕ‬ ‫ﻛﺘﺎﺑﺎ‬ ‫ﻛﻢ‬
d. How many books did you read?
According to Chomsky, transformation is “ a rule that operates on given string with a given constituent structure
and converts it into a new string with a new derived constituent structure (Adeyemi, 2000:27). The purpose of
transformations contained in the transformational component of Chomsky’s grammar as observed by Riemsdjik
and Williams (1980:3) is to state explicitly relation that exists between distinct surface structures and deep
structure in accordance with the native speaker’s intuition about his language. Transformation operates on phrase
markers (PMS) as in
S
QM VP1 NP AUX VP2
N DER NP
N
by performing one or more basic operations i.e. movements, deletion, re-ordering of element etc. in the PMS.
In Transformation Grammar, transformation is of two kinds:
(i.) The obligatory transformation
(ii.) The optional transformation.
In obligatory transformation, application of a set of transformational rules is obligatory if the sentences to be
generated are to be grammatical. As for optional transformation, application of such rules is not compulsory but
optional. This kind of transformation characterizes Arabic literary output most especially poetry where a poet
may regard or disregard the grammatical rules and syntactic order.
Al-Istifham
Al-Istifham means questions in Arabic but in general usage; it is a form of language that invites a reply. In

Vol.4, No.10, 2014
42
grammar, according to Johnson (1996:227) a term in the classification of sentences, referring to types
distinguished by form and function from such other sentence types as statement and command. Nu’mah
(1973:17) defines al-Istifham thus:
‫ﻋﻨﻪ‬ ‫ﻭﻳﺠﺎﺏ‬ ‫ﻗﺒﻞ‬ ‫ﻣﻦ‬ ‫ﻣﻌﻠﻮﻣﺎ‬ ‫ﻳﻜﻦ‬ ‫ﻟﻢ‬ ‫ﺑﺸﻴﺊ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻌﻠﻢ‬ ‫ﻁﻠﺐ‬ ‫"ﻫﻮ‬
"‫ﺍﻟﺠﻮﺍﺏ‬ ‫ﺃﺩﻭﺍﺕ‬ ‫ﺑﺈﺣﺪﻯ‬ ‫ﺃﻭ‬ ،‫ﻋﻨﻪ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺴﺘﻔﻬﻢ‬ ‫ﺑﺘﻌﻴﻴﻦ‬
Seeking for an information on something that is not
Known before and always answered by specifying
the information required or by using one of the answer
tools.
However, the term ‘question’ could be regarded as a genetic term for several constructions that require
information from addressee. It differs in form and function.
In Arabic language, Istifham is categorized mainly into two, viz: (1) al-Istifham al-Lughawi (linguistic
question) and (2) al-Istifham al-Adabi
(literary question). The formal is characterized by abhathun lughawiyyah (linguistic analysis) but the latter is
characterized by aghradun balaghiyyah
(rhetorical objectives). The two are sub-divided into different classes according to the type of answers they elicit
as postulated by Radford (1988:49). Major typological divisions of al-Istifham are as follows:
(1) al-Istifham at-Tamm (Yes/No question)
(2) al-Istifham al-Juz’i (wh-question)
(3) al-Istifham al-Adabi (Rhetorical question)
(4) al-Istifham al-Ikhtiyari (Alternative question)
(5) al-Istifham at-Takriri ( Echo question)
(6) al-Istifham ghayr takriri (Non-Echo question)
(7) al-Istifham at-Tasrihi (Direct question)
(8) al-Istifham ghayr at-Tasrihi (Indirect question).
Al-Istifham at-Tamm (Yes/No Question)
This is a kind of question in which the interrogation refers to the whole sentence hence it is named ‘tamm’
(complete). In English, according to Radford (1988:49) it is called Yes/No because they can be appropriately
responded to by the use of either a positive (Yes) or negative (No) values or their formal equivalents in other
languages like na’m (yes) or la (no) in Arabic language. Such questions indicate an uncertainty in the part of the
speaker and require a clarification- affirmative or negative – on the part of the addressee. Formally, in Arabic
this type of question is characterized by two particles Hal and Hamzah. These two particles are always initially-
positioned. The two particles of Istifham Hal and Hamzah are both a syntactic and semantic markers. Any
sentence that starts with any of the ‘question particles’ and would be answered by any of Adawatul-Jawab
(answer tools). These answer tools are:
‫ﻛﻼ‬ ، ‫ﺃﺟﻞ‬ ، ‫ﺟﻴﺮ‬ ، ‫ﻵ‬ ، ‫ﺃﻱ‬ ، ‫ﺑﻠﻰ‬ ،‫ﻧﻌﻢ‬
This does not mean that al-Istifham at-Tamm (Yes/No) cannot be circumvented by other answers, as the
examples show below:
‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﺗﺬﻫﺐ‬ ‫ﺃﺃﻧﺖ‬
7. Are you going to school?
This would be appropriately answered by (na’m) ‘Yes’ or (la) ‘No’ but there are other possibilities as given
below:
‫ﺃﺩﺭﻯ‬ ‫ﻻ‬
8. a. I don’t know ?
‫ﺭﺑﻤﺎ‬
b. Perhaps, may be
‫؟‬ ‫ﺗﺴﺄﻟﻨﻰ‬ ‫ﻟﻤﺎﺫﺍ‬
c.Why are you asking me?
al-Istifham at-Tamm (Yes/No Question) is sub-categorized into two:
(1) Hal question (2) Hamzah question.
Hamzah Question
This is a kind of interrogative sentence that starts with hamzah. This morpheme is a question marker in any
sentence it starts. Examples are:
‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻜﺘﺎﺏ‬ ‫ﺃﻗﺮﺃﺕ‬
9. a. Did you read the book?

Vol.4, No.10, 2014
43
‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﺃﺗﺬﻫﺐ‬
b. Will you go to the school?
‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺼﺎﺑﻮﻥ‬ ‫ﺃﺗﺒﻴﻊ‬
c.Do you sell soap?
Their corresponding declarative will be the above mentioned sentences without morpheme Hamzah at the
beginning. All examples given above are positive-oriented, because what succeed hamzah are positive, and
response for this would be (Yes) na’m or (No) la but when negative tools succeed the question particle hamzah
the negative response would be na’m while the positive response would be bala.
Formation of Hamzah Question
In Arabic, hamzah question is formed by addition of hamzah as question maker to the initial part of the
sentence. Furthermore, the hamzah question is not a prefix-restricted to any of the noun (ism) or verb (fi‘l ), it
does appear before the two. Hamzah can appear before the noun or verb as the course may be. For example:
‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪ‬ ‫ﺃﺳﺮﻕ‬
10. a. Did the boy steal?
‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻷﺳﺘﺎﺫ‬ ‫ﺃﻳﻐﻀﺐ‬
b. Does the teacher angry?
‫؟‬ ‫ﻣﺴﺎﻓﺮ‬ ‫ﺃﺃﻧﺖ‬
c. Are you traveling?
In the first example, the question maker (hamzah) is followed by verb (saraqa). The hamzah would be analysed
grammatically as harful-Istifham
while saraqa and al-Walad would be grammatically explained as verb and subject. In the example No. 10c,
hamzah would be analysed as harful-Istifham while anta musafirun are subject and predicate (Mubtada’ wa
Khabar)
Transformation of Hamzah
In linguistics, the transformation needed to derive hamzah question from their underlying representations.
In English, the transformation is to move auxiliary to the sentence-initially. Example: Tola can write ------- Can
Tola write?
For the data available in Arabic, we argue that there is no auxiliary movement. What is needed to derive the
question is to move the abstract Q- constituent to the first position of the sentence and replace it with the Q
morpheme. For example:
‫؟‬ ‫ﺯﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﺃﻳﺬﻫﺐ‬
Surface structure: (11.a.) Will Zayd go?
‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺯﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﻳﺬﻫﺐ‬
Deep structure: (11.b.) Zayd will go (Qm)
‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﺮ‬ ‫ﺃﺫﻫﺐ‬
Surface structure: (11.c.) Did ‘Umar go to the school?
‫ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﺮ‬ ‫ﺫﻫﺐ‬
Deep structure: (11.d.) ‘Umar went to the school
Move Qm to the sentence initial position and replace it with the Qm hamzah will arrive at the surface structure.
This can be phase-marked as follows:
Surface Structure
‫؟‬ ‫ﺯﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﺃﻳﺬﻫﺐ‬
S
NP VP AUX QM
N V M QM
‫ﺃ‬‫ﺯﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﺫﻫﺐ‬ ‫ﻱ‬
Deep Structure
‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺯﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﻳﺬﻫﺐ‬
S
Q NP AUX VP
Q N M V
‫ﺯﻳﺪ‬ ‫ﻱ‬ ‫ﺫﻫﺐ‬‫ﺃ‬

Vol.4, No.10, 2014
44
Surface Structure
‫ﺝ‬-‫؟‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﺮ‬ ‫ﺃﺫﻫﺐ‬
S
INF VP1 QM
‫ﺃ‬
AGR TNS ASP V
‫ﺫﻫﺐ‬
VP2
NP Pers No Past Perf
PP
NP P
N Def 3rd
sg.
‫ﻣﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻝ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﺮ‬
Deep Structure
‫ﺩ‬-‫ﺃ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﻤﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﺮ‬ ‫ﺫﻫﺐ‬
S
INF VP1
AGR TNS ASP V
VP2
‫ﺫﻫﺐ‬
QM PP NP Pers. No. Past Perfect
NP P
‫ﺃ‬
N DEF N 3rd
sg.
‫ﻣﺪﺭﺳﺔ‬ ‫ﺍﻝ‬ ‫ﺇﻟﻰ‬ ‫ﻋﻤﺮ‬
To derive No.(11.a.) from No. (11.b.), the following operations are needed: Move the Qm at the final sentence in
no. b to the sentence initial position and replace it with Qm hamzah giving the surface structure in (11.a.). The
same thing applies to (c.) and (d.).
Conclusion
Our approach in this paper has been basically descriptive. We have used the transformational generative
grammar as a tool to analyse a type of Arabic question, hamzah question. The question particle of hamzah
question is seen to occur in sentence initially. We have been able to show that, Arabic, as a language with VSO
word-order, allows a right hand movement. It is discovered that it is categorized mainly into two, viz: (1) al-
Istifham al-Lughawi (linguistic question) and (2) al-Istifham al-Adabi (literary question). The formal is
characterized by abhathun lughawiyyah (linguistic analysis) but the latter is characterized by aghradun
balaghiyyah (rhetorical objectives). The study shows that where two particles of Istifham Hal and Hamzah are
used they both have a syntactic and semantic markers which would be answered by any of Adawatul-Jawab
(answer tools).
From the foregoing, it becomes evident that the study has given clear meaning to the functions of
Istifham which elucidate grammatical rules that would be of immense benefits to the following categories of
people:
i. Any student of Arabic who may wish to have a concise but encompassing knowledge about the
usage of Interrogative particles.
ii. English grammarians will also find it useful especially in comparative analysis of the niceties of the

Vol.4, No.10, 2014
45
particles.
iii. It is very inspiring to a potential Arabic writer who may wish to use interrogative particles in
disseminating ideas, thoughts and information as grammarian.
References
Adeyemi, B. (2000): Studies in English Language, ( Ibadan: Encrownfit Publishers).
Allerton, D.J. (1990): “ Language as form and pattern: Grammar and its categories” in Encyclopedia of
Language, (London: Richard Clay Ltd.).
As-Samira, I. (1987): Al-Madarisu Nahwiyyah, (n.p. : Darul-Fikr).
Banjo, L.A. (1969): “ A Contrastive Study of Aspects of the Syntactic and Lexical Rules of English and Yoruba
’’ (unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Ibadan).
Chomsky, N. (1965): Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, (Cambridge: MIT Press).
Crystal, D. (1992): The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, (New York: Cambridge University Press).
Dayf, S. (1992): Al-Madarisu Nahwiyyah, (Egypt: Darul-Ma‘arif).
Johnson, S. etal (1996): Collier’s Encyclopedia, (New York: ITM).
Na‘mah, F. (1973): Mulkhas Qawa’id Lughatil- Arabiyyah, (Egypt: Matba‘atu Nahdat).
Olateju, M.O.A. (1998): “A Syntactic Approach to Literary Discourse Analysis: The Yoruba Example”
(Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ibadan ).
Radford, A. (1988): Transformational Grammar: A First Course, (Cambridge: University Press).
Riemsdjik, H. V. & Williams, E. (1980) Introduction to the Theory of Grammar, (Cambridge: IMT Press).
Yusuf, O. (1997): Transformational Generative Grammar, An Introduction, (Ijebu-Ode: Shebiotimo
Publication).

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