Title:
INFLUENCE OF CONSONANT OMISSION ON SOME IGBO WORDS: A STUDY OF ONITSHA EDUCATIONAL ZONE

Authors:
Augustine Ngozi Eze and Christopher Chinedu Nwike, Nigeria

Abstract:
This study looked at how some Igbo words were affected by the removal of consonants; it was conducted in the Onitsha educational zone in Anambra State. In Igbo, there occurs elision of consonant. At the vocal cord, compression of the air produces spoken sounds known as consonants, implying that there is restricted airflow at the vocal cords. The removal of a spoken consonant from a word that contains a consonant is known as consonant elision. This study's specific objective is to understand the potential changes that could arise from pronouncing terms that contain consonant speech sounds in Igbo, and to find out the possible changes that are brought about in the spelling of some Igbo terms as a result of consonant omission. Through the use of a random sampling technique, sixteen students from Ezechima Primary School Onitsha Anambra State participated in the study. A descriptive survey design approach was used in the study. This study found that the omission that occurs in a word due to consonant elision makes the word incomplete. The study's findings showed how a term's typical pronunciation changes when a consonant is omitted, though, there is no meaning loses. This study recommends that future research should concentrate on specific Igbo terms that have consonant omissions that cause pronunciation changes but are not classed as words or terms to be examined under consonant omission in the Igbo language.