

American International Journal of Education and Linguistics Research; Vol. 3, No. 1; 2020 

ISSN 2641-7987   E-ISSN 2641-7995 

Published by American Center of Science and Education, USA 

 
34 

 
Consonant Insertion in Iyinno: A Critique 
 

Abiodun Samuel Ibikunle 

Department of Linguistics and languages 

Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria 

E-mail: abiodun.ibikunle@aaua.edu.ng 

 
Nureni Oluwaseyi Bakre 

Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola Adamawa State, Nigeria 
E-mail: bakrenureni8@gmail.com 

 
O̩lalekan Malik  Adebayo 

Department of Linguistics and languages 

Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria 

E-mail: leklinguist97@gmail.com 

 
Abstract 

Unlike vowel insertion (epenthesis), consonant insertion is a rare occurrence in languages. It is against this backdrop 
that this study examines the occurrence of consonant insertion in I ̩̀ yí̩̩̀ nnò̩ ̩́  as claimed by Ibikunle (2008:122). He 

(Ibikunle 2008:122) claimed that, there is an insertion of voiced bilabial nasal [m] between two nouns while 

combining them to form new words. This paper shows that, the voiced bilabial nasal [m] found between two nouns 

in the lect is not the case of consonant insertion but rather, an associative morpheme (a genitive marker) [mὲ] which 

has lost its vocalic anchor as a result of hiatus resolution across morpheme boundary. Also, our study reveals that, 

after [mέ] has lost its vocalic anchor, the nasal feature of [m] got transferred to the (oral) V1 of the second noun 

across morpheme boundary. 

Keywords: Epenthesis; Associative Morpheme; Vocalic Anchor; Hiatus, Possession. 

1. Introduction 

I ̩̀ yí̩̩̀ nnò̩ ̩́  also known as I ̩̀ í̩̩̀ nó̩̩̀ , is a lect of AIKA
1 spoken in Ayánrán, a linguistic community in Ondo State, Nigeria. By 

the West, Ayánrán is bounded by Ìse ̩̀  and Ìsùà to the South, both located in Akoko South-East Local Government 

Area of Ondo State, Nigeria. To the North, we have Ìkiràn-Òkè and Ìkirà-Ile. By the East, we have Ìbílò and 

Ìkákumò̩  - Ò̩ láyè̩ le 

 According to Oyebade (2004:73), consonant insertion is not common in languages. Also, researches show 

that any language that seems to have such, need to be carefully examined by looking at the occurrence of the 
consonant in question, that the consonant must have lost its vocalic anchor, which might be as a result of hiatus 

resolution across morpheme boundary and at the same time, has a grammatical or lexical function(s) it performs in 

the construction. 

 However, Ibikunle (2008:112) argues that whenever two (2) nouns are combined to create possessions in 

I ̩̀ yí̩̩̀ nnó̩̩̀ , there will be voiced bilabial nasal [m] insertion. This paper sees this as a rare occurrence and hereby 

challenges it by exploring the situation with a different view. 

 
2. The Claim  

According to Ibikunle (2008:112), 

 There is insertion of voiced bilabial nasal [m] in I ̩̀ yí̩̩̀ nnó̩̩̀  whenever two (2) nouns are combined to create possessive 

constructions. 

                                                             
1 Although Arohunmolase et al (2006a), Salfnner (2009) and a host of others use Ukann/Ikaan instead of ÀÍKA in their research. 
But recently, ÀÍKA has been used by other scholars. It is an acronym made up of the initials of the villages where the lect  is 
spoken i.e. Ayánrán-Ìs̩̀ è̩  -Kákùmò̩  -Àúga (Abiodun 1999, Elugbe 2001).  

mailto:abiodun.ibikunle@aaua.edu.ng
mailto:bakrenureni8@gmail.com
mailto:leklinguist97@gmail.com


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The data he used to buttress his points are presented thus: 

1. (a)  [ὲnͻ̩́]  [àháɪ ̩́]   [ὲnͻ̩́mã háɪ ]      “Animal” 

         Meat  farm 

    (b) [aʃʊ̩́ ]  [itítí]   [aʃʊ̩́mɪ títí]      “Titi’s feaces” 

          Feaces  Titi 

 
    (c)  [aʃʊ̩́ ]  [ehú]   [aʃʊ̩́me hú]       “Rice” 

         Feaces   rat  

    (d)  [ɪ ʃͻ̩́]  [ikέhi  dé]  [ɪ ʃͻ̩́mi kέhi de]        “Kè̩ hinde’s head” 

         Head  Kè̩ hinde 

    (e) [àháɪ ̩́]  [ͻlá]   [àháɪ ̩́mͻ  lá]       “Farm” 

         Farm  Ò̩ lá 

    (f) [òrù]  [ufúdʒídʒí]  [òrùmu fúdʒídʒí]       “Snake’s tail” 

          Tail     snake 

    (g) [èʃìgè]  [ejú]   [èʃìgème jú]              “Friend’s house” 

         House                  friend 

    (h) [èdédé]  [umͻ̩́]   [èdédému mͻ̩́]          “Water pot” 

          Pot  water 

    (i)  [èrùrù]  [ὲmà]   [èrùrùmε  mà]          “Tortoise’s heart 

          Heart          Tortoise 

3. Interrogating the Claim 

The assumption that a voiced bilabial nasal [m] is inserted between two (2) nouns while combining them to form 

possessions in I ̩̀ yí̩̩̀ nnò̩ ̩́  by Ibikunle (2008:11) is phonologically unacceptable. Our study shows that the voiced 

bilabial nasal [m] found at the right side of the arrow is not the case of consonant insertion but rather, an associative 

morpheme (a genitive marker) [mὲ] which has lost its vocalic anchor as a result of hiatus resolution across 
morpheme boundaries. This is shown in (2) below: 

2. (a)  ὲnͻ̩́   mὲ    àháɪ ̩́   [ὲnͻ̩́mã háɪ ̩́]   “Animal” 

        Meat         gen.    farm   

    (b)   àʃʊ̩́   mὲ    itítí   [àʃʊ̩́mĩtítí]   “Titis feaces” 

         Feaces  gen.  Títí 

    (c)   àʃʊ̩́   mὲ  ehú   [àʃʊ̩́me hú]   “Rice” 

         Feaces  gen.  rat 

    (d)   ɪ ʃͻ̩́  mὲ  ikέhɪ  dé   [ɪ ʃͻ̩́mi kέhɪ  dé]     “Kè̩ hinde’s head” 


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         Head  gen.  Kehinde   

    (e)  àháɪ ̩́  mὲ  ͻlá   [àháɪ ̩́mͻ  lá]       “Ola’s farm” 

         Farm  gen.  Ò̩ lá 

    (f) òrù  mὲ  ufudʒidʒi  [òrùmu fúdʒídʒí]     “Snake’s tail” 

        Tail  gen.   snake    

    (g) èʃìgè  mὲ  ejú   [èʃìgème jú]             “Friend’s house” 

        House  gen.  friend 

    (h) èdédé  mὲ  umͻ̩́   [èdédému mͻ̩́]          “Water pot” 

         Pot  gen.  water 

    (j) èrùrù  mὲ  ὲmà   [èrùrùmε  mà]          “Tortoise’s heart 

       Heart           gen.  Tortoise 

From the data above, we could see that the voice bilabial nasal [m] found in between the two (2) nouns in 

each data is not the case of consonant insertion but rather, it is a morpheme (genitive) on its own, which is affixed to 

indicate possession in the lect. Furthermore, it can be deduced that the genitive marker [mὲ] lost its vocalic anchor 

as a result of hiatus resolution across morpheme boundaries, and then the nasal feature of the consonant got 

transferred to the (oral) V1 of the second noun across morphemes. 

 This paper will be an incomplete and controversial one without indicating how we derived the original 

vowel ([ὲ]) of the voiced bilabial nasal. This is explained with the aid of the data below: 

3.  (a)  [ὲnͻ̩́]     “meat”    [ʊmͻ̩́]      “water” 

It was observed that, when the speakers want to show that the “meat comes from the water not from the 

bush” they will add the morpheme [mὲ] (in form of emphasis) to show that the meat is from the water. This is shown 
below; 

       (b)  / ὲnͻ̩́    mὲ                 ʊmͻ̩́ /          [ὲnͻ̩́mʊ mͻ̩́] “Fish” 

     Meat       ‘that comes from’       water 

Also, the example in (4) buttresses the point above; 

4. /mὲ   àʃèi  /   [ma  ʃèi  ]  “that of egg” 

     of  egg 

   /mὲ  ejú/   [me  jú]              “that of house 

    of  house 
 It was from these instances we derived the vowel [ὲ] for the voiced bilabial nasal [m] for the lect. 

Most importantly, whenever a consonant initial noun is emphasized like what is obtained in 4 above, the morpheme 

{mɛ } shows up while its vowel invariably survive as shown below: 

5. /mὲ   músù/   [mɛ  músù]  “that of cat” 
     of  cat 

   /mὲ  kpɛ̩́kpɛ̩́jɛ/  [mɛ  kpɛ̩́kpɛ̩́jɛ]              “that of duck” 

    of  duck 

 
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4. Conclusion 

This Paper Has Shown That it is not valid to argue that there is consonant insertion in I ̩̀ yí̩̩̀ nnò̩ ̩́  as claimed by Ibikunle 

(2008:112). There are two major arguments proposed to debunk this claim: First, the proposed consonant that is 

inserted between the nouns is not a consonant but a morpheme which indicates possession and lost its vocalic anchor 

as a result of hiatus resolution across morpheme boundaries. Second, literature has it that consonant insertion is not 

common in languages like vowel insertion. 
 

References 
Arohunmolase, O. ( 2006).A Brief Linguistics Desription of Ìígau and Ìyínno ̩́  and the Outline of the Social and 

Historical Situation of the Languages and their Communities. Ondo:Lekoba Publishers.  

Elugbe, B. (2001). The Classification of Akpes and ÀÍKA(Unpublished). 

Ibikunle. (2008). Aspect of phonology of Ayánrán. Project work submitted to the Department of     

 Linguistics & Languages, Adekunle. Ajasin. University. Akungba. 

Ibikunle. (2014). An Autosegmental phonology of Ìyínnó̩̩̀ . Unpublshed M.A. Project submitted to the Department 
of Linguistics & African Languages, University of Ibadan, Ibadan. 

Oyebade, F. (2008). A Course in Phonology. Ijebu Ode: Shebiotimo Publications. 

Salffner, S. (2009). Tone in the Phonology, Lexicon and Grammar of Ukaan. PhD Dissertation  

 London: University of London. 

 
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Copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. This is an 

open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license 

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