SENSE RELATIONS OF IDENTITY AND INCLUSION IN MWÁGHÁVÚL

Abstract

Sense relations are the relationships existing between lexical items of a language.This study examined sense relations of identity and inclusion in Mwághávúl language. The study adopteda descriptive and analytical research design involving the description and analysis of qualitative data gathered through both primary and secondary sources, with oral interview as the main source of data collection from native speakers of Mwághávúl language from Mwághávúl speaking areas of Plateau State, Nigeria. The lexical pragmatic theory was adopted for the study. The data collected were analyzed descriptively. The findings from the study revealed that, the sense relations of identity and inclusion that exist in Mwághávúl language include synonymy, hyponymy, and metonymy. These sense relations perform the role of explaining the meaning of words or expressions in relation to other words or expressions in the language in order to avoid misinterpretation and misunderstanding by users of the language.The study concludes that competence and proficiency in the use of the language does not just depend on the knowledge of the vocabulary of the language, it also requires the understanding of the different sense relations between words and expressions in the language; as this enhances communication in the language.The study suggests that, to further advance the study of semantics in Mwaghavul language, researchers can delve deeper into the complexities of sense relations, exploring beyond the sense relations of identity and inclusion in Mwághávúl.