THE IMPACT OF LEXICAL GROWTH AND CHANGE IN TIV LANGUAGE

The fact that all languages are continually in a state of change is no longer issue for argument. However, there is perhaps certain unevenness on the rate and manner of change which varied from time to time and from language to language. The growth and change that take place in language is so gradual that it is hardly possible to notice when it occurs not even the native speakers. In this way, language change, especially in Tiv language provides such afascindfing subject of study because it provides information about the history of the language including its structure and use. The primary concern of this paper therefore, is to examine the causes, processes and channels through which the vocabulary Tiv language is being enlarged. This study will go a long way in making the people who use the language readily understand the complex forces names forced on them. The survey design method was used in this work, where personal interviews and other secondary sources were used for data collection. The paper is very significant because through its findings, it was clearly shown that Tiv language has recorded significant changes especially in its vocabulary. It was discovered that several new words have crept into Tiv language, thus swelling up its vocabulary. It was discovered also that Tiv language has experienced an expansion of its vocabulary through a number of language growth processes which include: borrowing, coinages, compounding, word formation of sound and name words, and that language change also occurs in Tiv language, through narrowing and extension and other processes. Each of these processes made remarkable impact on the change, expansion and growth of Tiv vocabulary. The paper will serve as a source material upon which further research may be based.