A Comparative Analysis of the Structure of English and Awing

Abstract

No language exists without a structure. Structure here, implies the arrangement of grammatical elements in languages. English and Awing, as well as other West African Languages exhibit certain grammatical structures in common. This paper preoccupies itself with a comparative analysis of the structure of English and Awing in respect to grammar. It focuses on determining the extent to which words and sentences are organised in both languages by looking at their similarities and differences. The paper offers a description of English plural morphemes and shows how they differ from those of Awing. It also reveals that even though, the basic order of elements in a sentence in both languages is subject, verb and object (SVO), Awing also has subject-object and verb (SOV) as far as negative sentences are concerned. The difference in their grammatical patterns brings about difficulty and confusion in the use of both languages. The analysis is done using the structuralism approach of Routledge, (1993, p. 262), which states that, Structuralism is, “any approach to linguistic description which views the grammar of a language primarily as a system of relations.” The research is quantitative and qualitative. Having worked as a linguist in the Awing language for twelve years, the researcher made a lot of inputs in developing the language. So, she provided data for this research. Due to their differences in structures, we have come to realise that there is the transfer of the first language (L1) on to the second language (L2) and vice versa, which hinders the good mastery of both languages.