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GA AS A HOMONYMOUS LEXEME IN IGBO: A MORPHOSYNTACTIC AND 

SEMANTIC ANALYSIS 

 

 

Christiana Ngozi Ikegwuonu 

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam, Anambra State   

 

 

Introduction  

In many natural languages, words may not only have meaning properties in isolation, 

they often bear some meaning relations with each other. Words may be semantically related 

either because they share certain properties or because they exhibit contrastive semantic 

features. There are quite a number of meaning relations which words exhibit due to how they 

interact with each other in the sentence. Some words enter into some kinds of meaning 

relations to make different meanings other than they could have made in isolation. It is this 

notion that gave rise to different meaning relation that obtain both at word and sentence 

levels.  

 In Igbo language, there are many homonymous lexemes. These lexemes have 

different and unrelated meanings, but their surface phonetic forms are the same. Ga is among 

the homonymous lexemes we have in Igbo. This study therefore undertakes its study to find 

out how it manifests in the syntactic structures of the language. This paper has five sections. 

Section one is the introduction. Section two is overview of homonymy. Section is the 

morphological structure of ga whereas section four is the syntactic and semantic analysis of 

ga in Igbo. Section five is the conclusion. 

 

Homonymy: An overview  

 Homonymy appears to be a universal phenomenon. In different natural languages, 

many words from different word classes appear to have the same spelling and pronunciation. 

A homonymy is a word which has the same sound, and the same spelling as another but with 

a different meaning or origin. Crystal (2007:220) defines homonymy as “a term used in 

semantic analysis to refer to lexical items which have the same form but differ in meaning.” 

According to Anagbogu, Mbah and Eme (2010), homonymy can be looked at from two 

different angles: the first is to see it as a word having many meanings (polysemy) or to 

assume that different meanings realize themselves in a similar form, that is, they are spelt and 

pronounced alike though they do not have the same meaning. To Yule (2006:107), the term 

“homonymy” is used “when one form, (written and spoken) has two or more unrelated 

meanings.” 

 Allan (1986:84) defines homonymy as “a lexical meaning relation holding between 

lexemes that have the same phonetic features but have two or more different meanings.” 

Palmer (1981:102) notes that “if identical forms have different origins, they are treated as 

homonyms and form separate entries.” In his view, Saeed (2003) posits that homonyms are 

unrelated sense of the same phonological word. Ndimele (1999:51) illustrates using below 

example: 



      

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    Living organism distinguished from animal  

  Plant  A factory  

    Machine for generating electricity  

 From the above example, we observe that the word plant describes three different 

items. That is, plant 1, describes living organism distinguished from animal, plant 2, 

describes a factory and plant 3, describes machines for generating electricity. The above 

example shows that a homonymous lexemes can have two or more entirely distinct meanings. 

 

The morphological structure of Ga in Igbo    

 Morphologically, ga is formed with a consonant and a vowel thus: g + a    ga [CV] 

structure. With the CV structure, it can function as a full lexical verb as well as verb root, 

which can take affixes. Nwachukwu (1983:132) posits that ga is not quite an auxiliary like 

na, because unlike na “it can function in a non-auxiliary capacity, that is, as the only verb of 

an independent clause in the language.” He gives the feature specification of na thus [+V, + 

Aux.–], ga has the specification thus [+ V, + Aux] since ga can be used as a verb that is [+V] 

and as an auxiliary, that is [+Aux]. 

 

The syntactic and semantic analysis of Ga in Igbo constructions  

Ga as a lexical verb 

 The verb is a universal phenomenon in human natural languages. The meaning of a 

verb can be analyzed into a structure representation of events it designates. A verb has been 

described traditionally as a word which states the action performed by the subject. It is a 

word that tells us what the subject does in the sentence. That is why it is defined as an action 

or a doing word. The Igbo verb form is complex and it is the most fascinating of all the word 

class in the language. Mbah (2006) describes Igbo language as a verb language. This is 

because verb plays significant roles in the grammatical structures of the language. Unlike 

English where word formation cuts across different grammatical categories,  Igbo words are 

only formed from the verb. According to Nwachukwu (1983) no verb is formed from any 

other part of speech. 

 Green and Igwe (1963:64) claim that the “verb is distinguished formally from all 

other parts of speech by the fact that it is the only one in which an inflectional affix is found.” 

The verb takes the harmonizing vowel prefix a-/e- according to the root vowel of the verb. 

The morpheme constituents of the verb in various verb forms are either the CV root or the 

root and the vowel prefix. 

 The verb root can be independent in the sense that it can stand alone. The affixes 

which are attached to the verb root cannot stand alone but depend on the main verb to have 

meaning. The dependent particles are affixes which can come before the main verb root. 

They are called prefixes whereas those that are attached after are called the suffixes. 

 It is important to not that the verb root and its nominal modifiers are in one semantic 

unit, and as such, they form one entry in any dictionary because without the nominal, the verb 

root would be very ambiguous and unspecified. Emenanjo (1987:128) notes:  

 



      

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The inherent semantic nature of the Igbo verb is that it obligatorily co-exists with a 

nominal element which always complements. It is the nominal element that we call 

the complement … the truth is that the semantic content of every Igbo verb 

inherently describes a certain action or state which by its very nature implies the 

co-existence of complements. 
 

 Following Emenanjo’s view, it implies that ga cannot in isolation form a meaningful 

semantic unit unless it co-occurs with inherent complements. Below are the examples of 

some of the inherent complements of ga. 

 

 1. a. Ga ǹga (imprisonment/go to prison) 

   b. Ga ǹjèm̀ (go for a journey) 

   c. Ga ògù (go to war) 

   d. Ga ọlàakā (bead the bangle) 

   e. Ga òwu (knit the thread) 

   f. Ga ihe olū (bead the neckles) 

   g. Ga ùle (go for examination) 

   h. Ga àkpà (bead the bag) 

   i. Ga mbọ (scratch) 
 

The data below show homonymous ga and its different unrelated meanings. 

2.      a.  go  

   b.  pass through a small opening  

  c.  bead 

   Ga  d.  hook somewhere  

  e.  rake fallen leaves and make soil smooth  

  f.  scratch with nails or something sharp   

  g.  pin together/chain together 

     

From the above data, examples (2a – g) can be represented in the sentences below: 

3.  a. Uchè gàrà      ǹga. 

  Uche g-rvpst prison.  

  Uche went to prison. 

              b.  Òkụkọ  gàrà           nà      m̀pìo. 

  Fowl    pass-rvpst  prep small hole. 

  The fowl passed through the small hole. 

    c.       Ùju gàrà          ọlàakā. 

             Uju bead-rvpst bangle. 

                       Uju beaded the bangle. 

    d.  Ijèọma gàrà            òwu      nà    ǹtụtū. 

             Ijeoma knit –rvpst thread prep-needle. 

             Ijeoma knitted the thread.  

    e. Ọkpụkpụ gàdoro       Òbi n’àkpịrī. 

  Bone        hook-rvpst Obi prep-throat. 

 
 . . 

 
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  The bone hooked Obi inside the throat. 

   f. Ebe   ogwu ahù   gàdoro       Chikē dì njọ. 

  Place thong Dem hook-rvpst Chike be bad. 

  The place that thong hooked Chike is bad.  

  Ha gachara     ugbo ha. 

    3pl rake-rvpst farm 3pl. 

  They raked their farm. 

   g. Uchè gàrà               Ibè mbọ n’ihu. 

  Uche scratch-rvpst Ibe nails prep-face. 

  Uche scratched Ibe’s face. 

 From the foregoing, ga takes the rv suffix in the syntactic structures to indicate 

different semantic readings. It is also observed that the ga in sentences (2a - b) and (2c - d) 

are somehow related in meaning in the sense that it indicates movement of an entity or object. 

Examples (2e - g) do not related to movement. Ga in sentences (e, f and h) are related in the 

sense that pains are inflicted on the entities.    

 

Ga can take an open vowel suffix to express imperative 

  Ga as the verb root can take an open vowel suffix to express imperative readings. 

The structure is thus: [CV + V] verb. Consider examples below: 

 3. a.    Gàa 

  Ga – ovs  

  Go 

         b. Gàa       ụkà  

  Ga-ovs church 

  Go to church 

    c. Gàa       ōwū   

  Ga-ovs thread 

  Knit the thread     

   d. Gàa              yā mbọ 

  Scratch-ovs  3pl nail 

  Scratch him/her/it 

              e. Gàa       hā ichè 

  Ga-ovs 3pl different 

  Pin them differently   

 

In the above data, the tone of verb roots are consistently on low tones whereas the open 

vowels which are attached to them are consistently on high tones. 

 

Ga can take -rv suffix to indicate past tense 

 The -rv suffix is attached to the verb root ga to express past tense in Igbo. The 

structure is thus: [CV + rv] verb. Consider below examples: 

 5.  a. Àda gàrà         ugbō. 

  Ada go-rvpst    farm. 

 Ada went to the farm.  

. . 

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         b.  Ijèọma gàrà          ọlà ntì ya ùnyàahụ. 

  Ijeoma bead-rvpst earring 3g yesterday.   

  Ijeọma beaded her earring yesterday. 

      c.   Nwambā gàrà               Obi mbō.     

            Cat        scratch-rvpst Obi nail. 

            The cat scratched Obi. 

      d.   Ọ gàrà         hà    ọfụma.  

            3pl pin-rvpst 3pl well. 

  He pinned them well. 

The -rv past tense marker assumes the features of the vowel of the CV root and becomes low 

tone. 

 

Ga can take extensional suffixes 

 Ga can take extensional suffixes to extend the meaning of the verb root in the 

syntactic structures. Consider the following examples: 

   6.  a.  Ọ gàtèrè      aka 

  3sg go-suff hand 

  He went far 

             b. Ewu gafèrè n’oghere ahù. 

  Goat pass-rvpst prep-hole Dem. 

  The goat pass through that hole. 

       c.   Ọ gaāla ihe olu Àda.  

  3sg bead-rvp-ovs-perf thing neck Ada. 

             She has beaded Ada’s neckless.  

       d. Ọ gakpọrọ Ada anya m̀gbè ha rụrụ ọgù.   

  Scratch-rvpst Ada eye when 3pl fight-rvpst war. 

  Scratched Ada’s eye when they fought.  

         e. M̀gbè Uchè rìrì          nri     nnukwu ọkpụkpụ gachìrì ya   n’àkpịrī. 

  When Uche eat-rvps food  big bone               hook-rvst 3sg throat. 

  When Uche was eating big bone hooked her throat.  

         f. Ibè agachasīala ebe ọ gà-akọ ugbo. 

  Ibe pr-rake-rvpst place 3sg fut-pr-farm farm.  

  Ibe has raked where he will farm. 

           g.   Ọ gàkọtàrà akwụkwọ àbùọ.   

  3sg pin-rvspt book two. 

  He pinned the two books together. 

In the above data, the underlined words indicate the CV root, that is ga which takes the 

extensional suffixes. 

 

Ga can take the prefix i/ị to derive infinitive 

The structure is thus: [Pref i/ị + CV] verb as in: i + ga        ịgā (to go) 

 7. a.  Ịgā nga adịghī               mmā. 

  Pr-go prison pr-be-Neg good. 

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         To go to prison is not good. 

         b. Ọ    hìàrà          àhụ  ànyìnyà   ịgā      n’oghere   ahù. 

  3sg difficult    body horse      pr-pass prep-hole Dem. 

  It is difficult for the horse to pass through that hole. 

        c. Ha chòrò ịgākọ          akwụkwọ ahù. 

  3pl want-rvps pr-pin book         Dem  

  They wanted to pin those books together. 

        d. Onyeisī    ānyị chọrọ          ịgā ya   mbọ    ebe          ahù. 

  President 1pl   want-rvpst pr-scratch-suff 3sg place  Dem. 

  Our president wanted to scratch him that place. 

In the above data, the tone of ga is no longer low. It changes to downstep tone because it 

indicates infinitive. 

 

Ga can take the prefix o/Ọ with cv + cv roots to derive gerund  

 The morpheme structure is thus: [Pref o/ọ + CV + CV] verb. 

In forming the gerund, the CV root is reduplicated as in: ọ + ga + ga          ọgịga 

In the above data, the reduplication is a partial one. Consider the following examples: 

 8.a.      Ògịga Chikē  gara        be     Ezè wètàrà      udo. 

  Going Chike go-rvpst home Eze bring-suff peace. 

  Chike’s going to Eze’s home brought peace. 

      b. Ògịga    ebe   ahù         sìrì             ike. 

  Passing place Dem      cook-rvpst strenght. 

  Passing through that place is difficult.   

   c. Ògịga      ọlà ntì ahù    adīghī     mmā. 

  Beading earring Dem pr-be-neg good. 

  The beading of that earring is not good.  

Furthermore, n is prefixed to ga and another CV root to derive words such as: 

 9. a. Ǹgàngà (pride) 

                b. Nganye (beading) 

                c. Ngado (hooking)  

        d. Ngacha (raking) 

     e. Ngakọta (pinning together) 
    

 

From the above data, (9a - c) can be represented in the sentences thus: 

 10.  a.  Ǹgàngà ya dì   egwù 

  Pride    3sg be    fear 

  His pride is too much 

          b.  Nganye ọlà ntị     ahụ  adịghī       mmā 

  Beading ear ring Dem pr-be-Neg good 

  The beading of that ear ring is not good 

      c. Ngàdo    ogwu ahụ  dị  omimi    

  Hooking thong dem be deep. 

  The hooking of that thong is deep. 

. . . 

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From the foregoing, it is observed that the verb ga has different meanings in the sentences. It 

also takes different affixes to extend its meaning.   

 

Ga as an auxiliary  

 In Igbo, there exist a number of auxiliaries. They have their phonological shapes and 

their syntactic behaviours respectively which vary from dialect to dialect. ga is among the 

well known auxiliaries recognized in Igbo. Nwachukwu (1983:122) posits that Igbo 

auxiliaries are verbs because they can take inflectional affixes which are the strongest 

diagnostic test for verbs.” However, unlike full verbs which can be the only verbals in 

sentences, the auxiliaries cannot be found alone. They are always obligatorily used with the 

participle verb complement, that is, bound verb complement which are dominated by the 

verb. Nwachukwu (1983:123) adds that in “terms of feature specifications, full verb are [+ V, 

- Aux] where auxiliaries are [+ V, + Aux]”. He further comments that “the dependent nature 

of the auxiliary in an utterance is confirmed by the fact that whenever there is need to 

emphasis the meaning of the sentence by a cognate verbal qualification, this element (the 

bound cognate noun) is derived from the verb rather than from the auxiliary.” Unlike the full 

verbs, auxiliaries cannot be used to derive any item. Mbah (2011:20) contends that “the 

auxiliaries verb helps the main verb to function properly or have specific meaning.” We are 

going to discuss the auxiliary ga in below: 

 

Ga  can be used to express future time meaning (aspect) 

 Ga and the participle verb can be used to express future time meaning. In terms of 

semantic ‘implications of ga Welmers and Welmers (1968:73) quoted  in Nwachukwu (1983) 

posit that the verb form with ga is used for referring “to future” rather than “intensions”, 

something not yet begun.” Winston (1973:151) quoted in Nwachukwu (1983) contends that 

ga future also expresses probability or expectation” in addition to “literal future time”. 

Consider the following examples expressing the affirmative and the negative counterparts: 

 11. a.  Ezè gà-èje       ụkà   Ezè agāghī         eje    ụkà 

  Eze fut-pr-go church   Eze pr-go-Neg-pr-go church 

  Eze will go to church   Eze will not go to     church 

                b. Uchè gà-àbịa         echi  Uchè agāghī ābịa               echi 

  Uche fut-pr-come tomorrow  Uche pr-fut-Neg-pr-come tomorrow  

  Uche will come tomorrow  Uche  will not come tomorrow 

In the above data, the auxiliary is consistently on a low tone, following by the participle verb. 

The above sentences indicate simple future time meaning. Furthermore, the ga future marker 

and the participle verb “aga” can co-occur in the sentence as in: 

 12. a.  Ọ gà-àga        ụkà   Ọ    agāghī       āga     ụkà 

  3sg fut-pr-go church   3sg pr-fut-Neg pr-go church 

  He will not go to church  He will not  go to church 

      b. Ọ gà-àga         nga   Ọ    agāghī      āga      nga 

  3sg fut pr-go prison   3sg pr-fut-Neg pr-go prison 

  He will go to prison   He will not go to prison  
        

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 The below examples express the future past time meaning that indicate unfulfilled 

action. It is expressed with gààrà which is always on a low tone and is followed by either the 

participle verb or infinitive. Consider these examples:  

 13.  a. Ibè gààrà èje/ìje     ụkà  Ibè agāraghī            īje/ije   ụkà 

  Ibe fut-suff pr-go church  Ibe pr-fut-suff-Neg pr-go church 

  Ibe would have go church  Ibe would not have go to church 

       b. Ha gààrà  abịā/ịbịā    ebe à   Ha agāraghī          abịā/ịbịā  ebe à 

  3pl fut-suff pr-come  here  3pl pr-fut suff-Neg Pr-come here 

  They would have come  They would not have come here 

 

Ga can be used to express future progressive  

 In some dialects of Igbo, ga can be used as a suffix to the verb root in order to express 

future progressive aspect. Examples: 

 14.   a. Ha    rìgà       nri 

  3pl eat-prog food 

  They are eating food 

        b. Ike   tàgà          ọjị 

  Ike chew-prog kola 

  Ike is chewing kola 

       c. Ijèọma     nùgà      mmirī 

  Ijeoma drink-prog water 

  Ijeoma is drinking water 

When ga expresses progressive, it retains its low tone. 

 

Ga can be used to express future perfective  

 Ga and the participle verb plus the perfective marker can be used to express future 

perfective. 

15.   a. Òbi gà-azụtala        akwụkwọ               Obi agāghī àzụtala      akwụkwọ  

 Obi fut-pr-buy-suff-perf   book             Obi fut-pr-buy-suff-perf     book 

 Obi  will (already) have bought the book Obi will not have bought the  

     book 
 

b. Àda gà-echutela                  mmirī          Ada   agāghī     echutela                     

             mmirī 

 Ada fut-pr-fetch-suff-perf   water         Ada pr-fut-Neg pr-fetch-suff-perf 

             water 

Ada will (already) have fetched water        Ada will not have fetched water 
 

 It is observed that the tone ga in the affirmative is low whereas in the negative 

becomes downstep with the negator ghị. 

 

Ga as a plural enclitic  

 Ga can occur alone as an enclitic to indicate plural. It is glossed as some. Consider the 

following examples. 

 16.   a.  Àda bùte         oche     ga. 

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  Ada bring-suff chair   some. 

  Ada bring some chairs. 

       b. Ọ   chọrọ           akwụkwọ    ga. 

  3sg want-rvpst  book          some. 

  He wanted some books. 

       c. Akwụkwọ ga       kà    ọ    chọ̀̀̀
̀
rọ̀̀̀

̀
. 

  Books      some   that  3sg  want-rvpst.  

  Some books that he wanted. 

      d. Òbi, Uchè  nà   Egō  bụ̀̀gà   ụmụ̀̀nnē m. 

  Obi, Uche and Ego   are     siblings me. 

  Obi, Uche and Ego are my siblings.   

 

In the above data, ga becomes high tone and follows the nouns in the sentences to indicate 

plurality in (16a – c) whereas in (16d), it is attached to the verb to indicate plurality. 

 

Conclusion  

 In this work, we have analyzed ga as a homonymous lexeme in Igbo. Phonologically, 

ga can be realized as single lexeme but it can be semantically interpreted in different ways. It 

is observed that ga can function as a verb, auxiliary as well as plural marker in the syntactic 

structures. It can accept inherent complements. It can also take different affixes to extend its 

meaning in the syntactic structures. Finally, if ga stands alone without any inherent 

complements or affixes, it will be semantically empty and ambiguous. Therefore, as a 

homonymous lexeme, it needs inherent complements and attachment of different affixes to 

enable it become meaningful in the syntactic structures.  

 

 

 

References 

Allan, K. 1986. Semantics: An Overview. In Bright W. (ed). International Encyclopedia of 

Language. New York: Oxford University Press. Vol. 11, 394 – 398. 

 

Anagbogu, P.N, Mbah, B.M and C.A. Eme 2010. Introduction to Linguistics (2nd edition). 

Awka Dreams. 

Crystal, D. 2007. A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics (15th edition). Singapore: 

Blackwell Publishing. 

Emenanjo, E.N. 1987. Elements of Modern Igbo Grammar. Ibadan: University Press. 

Green, M.M and Igwe, G.E.1963. A Descriptive Grammar of Igbo. London: Oxford 

University Press. 

Mbah, B.M. 2006. GB Syntax: Theory and Application to Igbo. Enugu: St John-Afam 

Publications. 

Mbah, B.M. 2011. GB syntax: A minimalist theory and application to Igbo. CIDJAP Press. 

Ndimele, O.M. 1999. Semantics and the Frontier of Communication (2nd edition). Port  

Harcourt: University of Port Harcourt Press. 



      

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Nwachukwu, P.A. 1983. Reading on Igbo Verb. Onitsha: Africana Feb. 

Saeed J. 2003. Semantics. Oxford: Blackwell 

Welmers, W.M and B.E. Welmers. 1968. Igbo: A learner’s manual. Los Angeles: Privalely 

Publisher. 

Winston, F.D.D. 1973. Polarity, mood and aspect in Ohuhu Igbo verbs. Africa language 

studies. 14.119 – 178  

Yule, G.  2006. The study of language (3rd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 


