A Morphological Study of Nominal Compounds in the Ijesa Dialect of Yoruba

The morphological structure of compound nouns offers critical insights into the lexical creativity and organisational principles of a language. This study undertakes a morphological analysis of nominal compounds in the Ijesa dialect of Yoruba, spoken primarily in Osun State, South West Nigeria. Using a descriptive linguistic methodology, data were collected from 50 native Ijesa Yoruba speakers in Ilesa and Ilesha-East local government areas through elicited word lists, conversational recordings, and naturalistic observation. The study identifies and classifies nominal compound patterns, examining the phonological, semantic, and syntactic rules that govern compound formation in this dialect. Existing studies on Yoruba morphology have largely used standard Yoruba or the Oyo dialect as their reference, rendering Ijesa morphological data underrepresented in the literature. This research therefore contributes new empirical data to Yoruba dialectology and morphological theory. The theoretical framework is grounded in X-bar theory and lexical morphology, which allow for systematic analysis of headedness, constituency, and compounding processes. The study further examines whether Ijesa nominal compounds follow the same right-headedness principle documented for standard Yoruba or whether deviations occur. Findings are expected to reveal a productive set of compounding patterns unique to the Ijesa variety. The research will produce a classified lexical inventory that supports further comparative Yoruba dialectological studies. Keywords: morphology, nominal compounds, Ijesa dialect, Yoruba, South West Nigeria.