Establishing the Citation Form for Inherent Complement Verbs in Igbo Dictionaries

Abstract

Inherent Complement Verbs (ICVs) in Igbo are verbs that consist of CV roots which obligatorily co-exist with their meaning-specifying nominals. They consist of two morphemes of the type CV + Nominal and the two parts form a semantic unit. These verbs exist as such in the lexicon. Using the dictionaries of Williamson (1972), Igwe (1999) and Echeruo (2001) for data collection, the paper highlighted the problems created by these verbs in Igbo lexicography. It specifically addresses the problem of establishing the citation-form for ICVs and their arrangement in Igbo dictionaries. Findings reveal some significant facts that would help improve the production and quality of Igbo dictionaries. The use of the imperative, infinitive and other inflectional forms as headwords in the extant dictionaries demonstrates the lack of uniformity of citation form and the absence of an established citation-form in Igbo dictionaries. Group arrangement of ICVs in the dictionaries based on certain morpho-semantic criteria constitutes a major challenge for the lexicographer and the dictionary user. The choice of citation and arrangement in extant Igbo dictionaries makes quick accessibility and retrieval of information tedious and often times fruitless, so defeats the very purpose of a reference work which a dictionary is expected to fulfil. The paper concludes with useful suggestions for future Igbo lexicographers.