Structure of Possessive Modifier in Kanuri: a Case Study of Səmonəm Wuro Sərəgəne “Lend Me Your Ears”

This paper examines structure of possessive modifier in Kanuri text Səmonəm Wuro Sərəgəne (Lend Me Your Ears) within the framework descriptive linguistics adopting the work of Cyffer (1998) model of approach. In conducting this research, a text was used as a primary source of data. In the text, all the various places where the structure of possessive modifiers occurred were identified and extracted for data analysis and presentation. The outcome of the study reveals that nzə ‘his / her’, nəm ‘your’, nyi ‘my’, nde ‘our’, ndo ‘your’, nza ‘their’, as dependent possessive and kaanza ‘theirs’, kaanəm ‘yours’, kaanzə’his / her’, kakke ‘mine’ and kaande ‘ours’ as independent possessive modifier. The structure of possessive modifier can function as alienable, inalienable, and affiliation depending on the head noun it attached to. The study also observed that the possessive (bound) is more frequent than possessive (free) in the text. Finally we present their examples in sentences structure and analyzed.