Abstract:
Anaphora is central to the study of the Government and Binding Theory (G-B) of syntax. Antecedent - Anaphor relation deals with the relationship between two linguistic items-the antecedent and the anaphor where anaphor refers back to the antecedent to get its meaning. Few works have been done in lgbo anaphora. This study therefore focuses on the analysis of Antecedent- anaphor relations in Mbaise dialect of Igbo. It adopts a syntactic argumentation to the study based on the Government and Binding Principles of Chomsky (1980, 81b). Findings show that antecedent anaphor relation holds in the dialect and that 'onwe' (self), 'ibe' (self), and 'ogwe' (self) are all anaphors. While some anaphors are bound in a minimal domain others cross clause boundaries to locate their antecedents. Thus principle A of the Binding Theory is violated. Also antecedents of anaphors must not always be subjects in the dialect of focus especially when used in idiomatic expressions. The * reflexives 'ogwe' and 'ibe' were found to be used interchangeably in some contexts using appropriate pronouns. The study recommends that principle A of the Binding theory be stated without reference to minimal domain and a subcategorization of reflexives in the dialect where antecedents of group A functions as a subject and group B may not.
