SYNONYMS AND THEIR CONTEXTUAL MEANING IN TIV LANGUAGE: AN ANALYSIS

Abstract This study is an appraisal of the synonyms and their contextual meanings in Tiv language. The motivation for this study is borne out of the fact that languages over the world have the universal capacity to use interchangeably, their lexical items by substituting a word or group of words for the other. To this end, speakers of a language are expected to choose appropriately, the most suitable word to replace contextually in order to retain the same or near same meaning of the replaced word or expression. This is in itself, the artful and creative use of language. To do this, the study adopts a qualitative method of data extraction and analysis. The analysis is done based on the semantic theory of sense relations that deals with meaning. In data analysis, findings reveal that indeed, Tiv language also has synonyms that are contextually used just like the English language and other languages. The study makes it submission that the strict sense of any discourse at all is based on the role of context in providing lasting solution through synonymous words so as to remove ambiguity in situations where a word tends to have rendered many interpretations in a discourse.