The majority of English verbs are regular verbs, so, irregular verbs are like regular verb in having “-s†form and “-ing’†form. For example, the irregular has the form of break, breaks, and breaking just as the regular has walk, walks, walking.
Therefore, with the regular verb we can predict the past tense, the past participle form of verb. There are two kinds of verb phrase: finite and non-finite verb phrase. Finite verb is the element of the verb phrase which has present or past tense. Finite verb phrase occurs as the verb element of the main clause. Many irregular verbs have different forms for the past participle, but they determine the meaning one wants to express (20-3). Quirk and Greenbaum, 27-31) further observes that, many English verbs have five forms: the base, the –s form, the past, the –ing participle and the –ed participle. Regular verbs have the same –ed inflection for both the past tense and the – ed participle. And irregular verb forms vary in three forms.
Palmer states that, “English sentences will consist normally of a subject noun phrase and a verb phrase as its predicator or complement†(37). There is a verb or verb phrase group in a sentence. This verb element is part of syntactic category and semantic constituent of a sentence. In a more comprehensive way Leech and Startvik hold that
we call them verb phrase rather than clause patterns, it is the verb that determines the type of clause structure. The part of clause following the verb phrase depends on the verb for its basic structure (253).
Pryse says:
A verb is an ‘action’ or a ‘state’ and tells us what a noun or Pronoun does. The verb “to jump†is an action, but the verb “to become†or “to be†indicate a state of being. The verb is a word(s) in sentence(s) which is changed according to the tense or time in which the action it expresses took place (5,6).
Considering the position of this important element of a sentence, Halliday and Malthiessen state that “a verbal group is the expression of a verb, in the same way that a nominal group is the expansion of a noun, and it consists of a sequence of words of the primary class of verb†(335).
In the following example, “has been eating†is a sequence of verbal phrase, it contains a lexical verb “eat†which comes last, “a finite verb “has†which comes first and the auxiliary verb “been†which comes inbetween. No other ordering of these three components is possible. Halliday and Malthiessen further explain that the verbal group is the constituent that functions as finites plus predicator or predicator alone there is no finite element in the mood structure (335-6).
In addition Baldeh states that a verb is a word (or group of words) which expresses an action done by the subject (the nominal) or a state experienced by the subject. The verb is the most important part of speech. There are two kinds of verbs. Transitive and intransitive. The former must have an object to complete its meaning while the latter expresses a state of action with no bearing on the object. (32)
According to Baldeh, a verb is active when the doer of the action is synonymous with the subject. Verb forms indicate tenses, which are supported by auxiliary (helping) verbs. Auxiliary verbs combine with either the present participle or the past participle in forming their tenses. Furthermore, Ibe include that,
a complete verb is a verb which can be used to construct a complete sentence and consists of the subject and the predicator side which includes the complements (45).
We can deduce from the on going review of literature that the English verbs or verbal group are parts of sentence elements. It has the lexical (main) verb, as well as the auxiliary verb which is divided into two: the primary and modal auxiliary verbs.
Verbs of the English language can be classified into tenses based on the verbal constituent of the sentence and inflectional prefixes and suffixes. These tenses could be present, past tense, past participle and past perfect progressive tense etc. We also discover that English verbs are classified into various categories known as transitive and intransitive verb. The grammatical behaviour of these different types of verbs in sentence formation process gives rise to kinds of sentences. In a more explicit word, a verb is the heart and life of a simple sentence form.
In the same way, the verb called “Ngwaa†in the Igbo language is a significant element in the Igbo language sentence formation. There are some similarities and differences in the English and the Igbo verbs.
According to Ogbalu and Emenanjo (32):
Igbo as a language is different from the English and Latin; the Igbo as a people are different from the English and ancient Romans. As such, the most objective way of describing phenomena in the Igbo language is not by a slavish adherence to the methodology and terminologies employed in English and Latin grammar.
The above observation is very significant and crucial as no language is superior to the other. Thus the governing principles to the word-formation of Igbo verbs may consist of close similarities as well as difference in pattern and method. A teacher of English language as a second language in Anambra state has used a mathematical triangle to illustrate contrastive analysis in an oral interview with the researcher.
According to this teacher, contrastive analysis has long been proved as a good educational method for the acquisition of knowledge, as it enables learners to appreciate the differences between two things which otherwise is wrongly regarded as being similar or congruent. For instance, in mathematics, people do not know that two equilateral triangles with an angle of sixty degree each have different size of sides. It is only contrastive analysis that makes mathematics students understand that though they look like identical forms, yet they are only similar triangles and not congruent triangles. Similar triangles have same shape, but with different areas. But congruent triangles have same area, the same shape, the same angle, and the same sides.
From the above, one can add that, contrastive analysis is a tool by which we identify and/or show differences as well as similarities between things that look identical to each other. According to Okonkwo,
the Igbo verb (Ngwaa) and the verb root (Isingwaa) are all the important parts, which exist in all tense connected with the verb, and also in all other formations derived from the verbs. Verb is the nucleus and paramount stump on which prefixes and suffixes are attached in other to derive forms of verb (21)
Thus, Ikekonu et al observe that, there are “katigori Ngwaaâ€
(Category of verb) tensi, asipekiti, polarity, and muudu. Katigori ngwaa but catigori uto asusu nke na adabere na ngwaa aru oru). O na aputa ihe na ngwaa (152).
(Categories of verb are categories of the language speech which depend on verb for its efficiency and work. It’s evidenced on tenses, plurality, mood and aspect).
These scholars believe that “na eji tensi egosi ndinaazu, ndiniihu na ngaradi (Tense is used in showing progressive tense, past tense, and past participle tense).
Furthermore, Ngoesi explains the Igbo auxiliary verb (Nnyemaka ngwaa):
Nnyemaka ngwaa bu mkpuru okwu na enyere mmekanagwaa (participle) aka iji buru ngwaa zuru oke. Nnyemaka-ngwaa “na†na egosi ihe na eme ugbua, ihe na eme eme, na ihe na eme na-agawanye… Na Igbo, nnyemaka ngwaa buga: “na†“ga†na “ha†weledirigaba. (68-9) (Auxiliary verb is that verb which helps a verb in performing its participle function in a sentence. It helps the verb to function in a unique form. It portrays a verb in its tenses: present, past participle and past perfect etc. The Igbo auxiliaries are words like “naâ€, “ga†and “ha†and “m†etc.
The view of Ngoesi about Ngwaa (verb) is as follows:
Ngwaa bu mkpuru okwu na-ekwu ihe maka mkpoaha. Ma-á»bụ nnochiaha. Obu ngwaa na eziputa echiche di n’ahiriokwu, n’ihi nkea; ahiriokwu obula ga enweriri ngwaa … Igbo nwere isingwaa (verb root), Nnyemaka-ngwaa (auxiliary) Nsinangwaa (verbal derivatives) mgbakwunye (Affixes)…. (68-70).
