A comparative analysis of English and Igbo noun phrases using x bar theory

The primary noun phrases in Ígbò have heads that demand for and select other grammatical elements that help to expand them from bare noun phrases into lexical items. This paper made use of a qualitative method of research. The reviews were both theoretical and conceptual. Sources of data include primary and secondary sources. The concept of noun phrases in the noun lexical and phrasal categories has been controversial, i.e. whether the head is initial, medial, or final in Ígbò. The paper made a comparative analysis of English and Igbo noun phrases using x bar theory to determine the head of a noun phrase category, its place of occurrence, the specifiers (complements) required by the heads, the semantic conditions guiding the selection and assignment of the heads in NPs. It was observed that the [NP] heads demand for complements to specify their heads. Other findings include the relator (RELT) ‘ǹkè’, in the nominal category, designates position/genitive/possession and also relates the subject (head noun) to the complement. Tone plays a role in the shape of the relator. In the complements of nouns, the IC is differentiated from the object complement