Analysis of Sentence Structure in Abubakar Gimba’s Innocent Victims

CHAPTER ONE

1:0 INTRODUTION
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs and symbols (known as writing medium). A written language is most certainly a very important way to share information and communicate ideas and knowledge in the contemporary world. It provides the avenue for writers to express their views, design new concepts and propagate ideologies they so choose. Wells (1986) points out that “A written text is the writer’s ability to put agreements, laws, and commandments on record”. Poets, novelists, and playwrights utilized this important medium to get their massages across to the intended audience. Most often, these writers make use of literary or poetic license which enable them to use language in a way contrary to its standardized format to communicate their intended massages to their will be audience.
However, sometimes the audiences are unable to comprehend what has been written not only as a result of the use of the literary or poetic license but because of the type of sentence structures the writer used in his work. These sentence structures could be simple, compound or complex sentence. Each has a particular effect on the way in which the written text is perceived and understood by the audience. It therefore goes to say that there is a peculiar impact created in a literary text based on what sentence structure a writer decides to use and show how imperative these sentence structures are in discovering the semantics of every written text.
The word order of English sentence generally follows a subject – verb - object pattern, as in the sentence “The dog (subject) bit (verb) the man (object)”. A general characteristic of language is that words are not directly combined into sentences, but rather into intermediate units called phrases which are further combined into sentences. The sentence “The shepherd found the lost sheep” contains at least three phrases: “The shepherd” “Found” “The lost sheep”. This hierarchical structure that group words into phrases and phrases into sentences serves as an important role in establishing the relationship within sentences. It is of these relationships that make up the meaning of the sentence.
Angela and Philip (1989: 27) view the term structure as “the relationship that exists between the small units that make up a large unit. They stress further that everything in our lives has structure. It is natural that language which is a spoken and a written representation of our experiences also manifest in structured form”. Linguistic sentences are described in terms of semantic function of their various elements and the syntactic forms and relationship expressing them.
Boadi et al (1977) hold that “the grammatical structure of a language results into systematization of what actually happens when we speak or write.” The study of grammatical structure is therefore the study of the systematic patterns in underlying every utterance. What all these mean is that structure is the subject matter of grammar, the set of patterns in which the words of language are arranged in order to convey meaning or the way in which words are organized together to form phrases into sentences. It is important to note that each language has its own sentence structure. For example, the Hausa Language has the sentence structure: subject – verb - object as in “Musa ya buga doki” translated “Musa hit the horse”. On the contrary, Japanese has a basic word order subject – object - verb as in “Wataku shi –wa hon-okau” which literarily translates “I book buy” (Encarta 2009).
It is in line with these facts that the researcher seeks to find out the type of sentence structures used by Abubakar Gimba in Innocent Victims (1988), how they affect the overall composition of the novel and their implications to the reader who is in search of meaning.

1.1 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Most written texts are made-up of multiple sentences that are logically synthesized to express certain ideas. Most often, these sentences are too long and complex or in some cases too short that the reader finds it difficult to make a meaning out of written text. This is likely to be so if the reader does not have a grasp of what sentence structure is used, how it is composed and the kind of effect it creates. It is in view of these that the researcher embarks on the study of sentence structure so as to have good understanding on them.

1.2 PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANT OF THE OF THE STUDY
Every literary text written is intended to be read and understood by the reader so that the writer shares his views with the reader. However, most times this is not achieved as a result of complications arising from language use. For example, works of Wole Soyinka, William Shakespeare, John Done, etc are infused with verbose words and complex sentences which make understanding difficult. The researcher hence feels the need to research into how a sentence structure can affect a literary work and enhance good understanding of the massage intended.

1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
It is hoped that this work will provide a clue or a hint to students and readers of literary works alike to appreciate the given thematic concerns and ideological views of a writer. It will indeed also serve as a complement of order works done in like manner.

1.4 SCOPE AND LIMITATION
Areas covered in this study include simple, compound and complex sentences. It also goes further to identify the presence of each of them in chapter four of Innocent Victims (1988).

1.5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research investigation is undertaken by analyzing sentences in Abubakar Gimba’s Innocent Victims (1988). Excerpts from the novel will be used for the purpose of identifying the particular sentence types and how they help in making the novel either simple or difficult to grasp. The researcher engages in library and internet research to successfully discuss this research topic.

1.6 AUTHOR’S BIOGRAPHY
Abubakar Gimba (OFR) was born in 1952 in Nassarawa, Lapai Local Government area of Niger State. He attended Government College keffi, Amadu Bello University, Zaria (B.Sc Economics) (1977). He joined the Civil service in 1975 as a planning officer first in the North Western State, then later Niger State, rising to the position of the permanent secretary in 1987. He served in that capacity till his retirement in 1987. The Federal Ministry Government appointed him as an Executive Director of Union Bank of Nigeria PLC in February 1988. Gimba as a prolific writer has published several novels and collection of poetry:
Trials of Sacrifice (1985).
Witness to Tears (1987).
Innocent Victims (1988).
Sunset for Mandarine (1992).
Sacred Apples (1994).
Foot Prints (1998).

Innocent Victims (1988) is selected to serve as the data through which the researcher seeks to explore how English sentence structures operate in a literary text. It provides the material resource that will better and more practically show how these sentence structures enhance or hinder meaning. As a literary text of the prose genre, it encompasses the various ways in which language is used in its actual sense and therefore it will serve as a good data for the type of analysis in question. Indeed Abubakar Gimba has written numerous books, but this is chosen because it serves the purpose intended.

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRDUCTION
Sounds are combined to form words, words are integrated in a logical manner to form phrases and phrases into sentences that carry meaning with them which help both the writer and reader to communicate and understand what is communicated respectively. Sentence is therefore noticeable in all written works and it serves as an important medium through which ideas or concepts, instructions, orders, emotion and information are shared between the writer and his readers. This is only by the varied elements that come together to make it up. It is the structure of a sentence that allows for the possibility of comprehension because it is well ordered, well arranged and well synthesized according to the linguistic pattern of that language. Boadi et al (1999: 61) write that “The totality of meaning of every stretch of language consist of some of the meaning of the unit which occurred within the stretched plus the meaning contributed by the way in which the units are organized or in order word the meaning of their structure.”
The term sentence just like other terms in linguistics does not have one standard generally agreed upon meaning by all scholars. Just like Andrew (1994: 54) observed, “linguists have problem in agreeing with how to define the word sentence. Sentence is a sequence of words whose first word starts with a capital letter and whose last word is followed by an end punctuation mark (period/full stop, exclamation mark or question mark)”. Key to Andrew’s definition is sentence as a sequence of words, the first word starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark. This definition is all encompassing except that it fails to say whether it makes a complete meaning or not. And whether these words that begin a sentence can be form word (but, because, the, an, a, and others) or content words (car, man chair, tree, house, and others) or all of them is not explained.
Ebest et al (1994: 442) defined sentence as “An independent unit of an expression”. Iscribe (2010: 54) agrees that “it is the basic unit of written English Language communication”. Ebest et al on their part look at the sentence from a semantic angle and fail to give the kind of detail clarification Andrew gave. However, it does not misrepresent what the sentence stands for.
Eyisi (1981: 34) points out that “a sentence is the chief unit of speech”. She further goes on to say that it is a minimum complete utterance and therefore may consist of one word; ‘come’, ‘run’, ‘fire’ or ‘stop’. To her, all these are sentences. But usually, a sentence consists of more than one word; they therefore have two or more elements that include the subject of a statement and a predicate. It then implies that a sentence is a unit of Language that makes a complete sense, thought or meaning.
Crystal (2003: 331) puts it that “In real life, a sentence is rarely used in isolation. Normally, sentence which “coheres” in this way is called a text – a term which applies to both spoken and written works”.

2.1TYPES OF SENTENCES ACCOURDING TO STRUCTURE

2.1.1SIMPLE SENTENCE
A simple sentence refers to an independent clause; an independent clause is a sentence that stands alone. It is autonomous and has a simple structure of subject and verb combination that expresses a single idea. This implies that a simple sentence carries one meaning or thought.
Enigle and Afrangideh (2001: 48) stated that “A simple sentence expresses only one thought or idea and contains only one clause. For example:
1. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
2. Examination is not the true test of knowledge.
3. The notorious robber has been apprehended.
These clauses carry only a single thought or idea. However, from the definition of a simple sentence by Enighe and Afrangideh, they fail to state whether the clause that carries a single idea is an independent clause that makes a complete sense or a dependent clause which also carries meaning but incomplete meaning or if the clause contains a subject and predicate, or even marked by a punctuation within the clause.
Banjo et al (2004) view the simple sentence as a sentence that contains one idea. It usually consists of one independent clause. Idowu (2001) agrees with this view that a simple sentence has a one clause structure; it expresses a complete meaning or thought. Purkis (1981: 48) consequently holds that “A simple sentence stands alone and makes sense by itself”. Purkis added that a simple sentence contains a finite verb”. Likewise, Boadi (1977: 156) agrees that “A ‘simple’ sentence is a sentence which contains one finite verb only”; a finite verb is a verb that functions as the verb of a clause or sentence” (Ebest et al 1994: 494). For example:
1. Ishaku played football.
2. Steve and Sarah read the book.
3. I won the competition.
‘Played’, ‘read’ and ‘won’ in sentence (1), (2) and (3) are finite verbs, telling about the action performed by the subjects as well as showing the time of the action or the tense.
According to Chukwuma and Otaburuagh (2002:114) “The two basic elements –the subject (noun) and the predicate (verb) will give a simple sentence.” Similar to this view is Jackson’s (2005) remarks which says that simple sentence is the minimal form of a sentence, it contains a subject plus (+) a verb. The subject can either be an animate or inanimate object and the verb must agree with the subject in terms of number and person. For example:
1. Maryam + laughed.
2. The water + has dropped.
3. The room + has been cleaned.
Jackson went ahead to explain that the subject slot is normally filled by a noun phrase and the verb slot by a verb phrase.
Similarly, “a simple sentence is one that contains only one subject and only one predicate” (Ayodele 2001). However, it does not matter the number of subject that is contain in the subject slot so long as they stand as a subject of a single predicate which expresses a single thought.
Finally, Crystal and Davy (1969: 46) believe that “A simple sentence consists of a subject and a predicate, with or without a complement depending on the class of verb occurring as predicate with or without one or more adverbials, and with or without vocative, direct address.”
From all the views presented and discussed, the simple sentence is a sentence structure that has one, two or more subjects and a predicate. The predicate could just contain one main verb or it may be composed of an auxiliary and a lexical verb or just a lexical verb. Also the verb may carry an object if it is transitive or without an object if it is intransitive. It only expresses a single thought or idea and it is generally devoid of complexity. Hence, its basic components are the subject and predicate with or without a complement. There is no use of conjunction in simple sentence.

2.1.2 COMPOUND SENTENCE
The word compound means something made by combining two or more things together to form a whole. Compound sentence is formed when two simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction such as ‘and’, ‘but’, ‘yet’, ‘or’ or by a suitable punctuation like the semi-colon or comma are fused together. For example:
1. Simon came and he conquered.
2. Nao’mi passed the exam yet she did not stop reading.
3. The teacher promise to come early, but he came late.
The underline words ‘and’, ‘yet’, and ‘but’ in the sentences above give a basic and common usage of the coordinating conjunctions used in forming a compound sentence.
“When two independent clauses containing related ideas are joined, it is referred as a compound sentence (Banjo 2004:104). For example:
1. The cage was opened, but the birds did not fly out.
2. Clean the floor or you will be punish.
3. I am strong and I am healthy.
Crystal (2003), says in compound sentences, the clauses are linked together by coordination-usually by the coordinating conjunctions: and, or, but. Each clause can in principle stand as a sentence on its own-in other word; it acts as an independent clause, or main clause.
Chukuma and Otagburuagh (2002: 89) are of the opinion that “Compound sentence has two sentence elements (clauses) that can be treated as equal partners”. But where the first clause of the sentence is an independent clause and the other that precedes it is a dependent clause then the clauses are not of equal parts and can therefore not be refer to as compound sentence. This signifies that a compound sentence combines two clauses of equal rank and is of related meaning. A sentence like:
Grace was happy while she was dancing at the party.
The inappropriateness of this sentence is that it combines an independent clause and a dependent clause as a result of using the subordinating conjunction ‘while’. The second sentence can not stand alone because of the presence of the subordinating conjunction attached to the second clause; hence they are not of equal rank. Chukuma and Otagburuagh further state that transitional words can equally be used between clauses of a compound sentence. But though such words have slight connecting force, they are not pure coordinating conjunction. These transitional words include: nevertheless, infact, however, more over, as a result, and on the other hand. For example:
Andrew’s father built him a house; infact, he provided him with all that he will need for life.
From the above example, it shows that the transitional word ‘infact’ belongs to the independent clause, it introduces and it is preceded by a semi-colon, and there is a comma to set it apart by showing that it is an independent element.
Jackson (2005) holds that a compound sentence must contain two or more principal clauses that are independent; they maybe joined by a comma and a conjunction or by a semi-colon or a colon.
As stated by the various definitions and illustrations above, the compound sentence is a sentence structure that combines two simple sentences or independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction. These clauses must be of equal structure (simple) consisting of single idea each. Unlike the simple sentence, the compound sentence also uses punctuations such as comma (,) and semi-colon (;) to join clauses together.


2.1.3 COMPLEX SENTENCE
The complex sentence behaves rather in a complex dimension than the two already discussed. The need for a complex structure arises when ideas that need to be expressed are themselves complex in nature. Human thoughts and creativities are not always simple and hence could be far beyond what the simple sentence or the compound sentence can express. This is because there are complex communicative conditions and requirements. In this situation the complex sentence becomes necessary. Also to avoid monotony of usage of the simple form the complex structure becomes indispensable.
The term complex can refer to something made up of many interrelated parts and these parts are brought together to form a whole. Complex sentence is one that contains an in dependent clause and a subordinate clause. The independent clause functions as a complete sentence. The subordinate clause also contains a subject and a verb, but can not stand alone as an independent clause. For example:
1. I saw the huge man who was lying across the road.
2. The guests enjoyed the food that was prepared by the hostess.
3. After we finished studying, Daddy and I went to the cinema.
In each of these sentences above, (1) and (2), there is an independent clause that appears first followed by the dependent clause introduced by “that” and “which”. Except in sentence (3) where it begins with a dependent clause introduced by “after” followed by the independent clause.
According to Fabb (1994: 104) “A complex sentence consists of a main clause and one or more subordinate clause”. In a similar vain, Enighe and Afrangideh (2001: 64), agree that “Complex sentence contains one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses”. Likewise, Visionite.Magazine.com (2010), states that “complex sentence has only an independent clause and other subordinate clause(s); that is the main verb plus (+) a subordinate clause(s)”. Common to these definitions is the presence of an independent or main clause and one or more subordinate clause(s). The independent or main clause functions as a complete sentence. The subordinate clause however does contain a subject and a predicate, but it cannot function as a main clause. The subordinate clause depends on the independent clause for its complete meaning. Other subordinate conjunctions are “because”, “for”, “so that”, “in other to”, and “while”. For example:
Rahila traveled abroad so that she could raise the children.
“Rahila traveled abroad” is the main clause. “So that” introduces the subordinate clause, which explains “why” “So that” she could raise the children. This clause is incapable of standing alone to make a complete sense.
Jackson (2005: 211) maintains that “A complex sentence is one in which the sentence element-clauses, no longer functions as equal partners as in the case of compound sentence. He believes that one clause is involved within the structure of another clause and so it becomes dependent. When this happens the subordinate clause depends on the rest of the sentence for its meaning since it is not capable of standing alone.
Banjo et al (2004) follows suit by saying that the complex sentence expresses at least two ideas, one which is the major idea while the other(s) is/are supplementary. To them, the major idea is contained in the independent (main) clause. While the minor or supplementary clauses are contained in the dependent or subordinate clause. This means that the complex sentence result from the inclusion of one sentence as an element in another. The included sentence is said to be “embedded” and it is term as a “subordinate”. The sentence in which it is embedded is called the main clause.
Crystal and Davy (1969: 48) remark that “A complex sentence consists of one main clause of the simple type with the adverbial element of its structure expounded by at least one dependent clause. Similarly, Purkis (1981:43) states that “Complex sentence can be made up of a single clause plus one or more nouns, adjective or adverbial clause”.
In conclusion, the basic constituent elements of the complex sentence are one independent plus one dependent clause. Due to its complex form, complex sentence expresses multiple ideas or communicates numerous information. For this reason, it has multiple subjects and predicates. It is as well characterized by subordinating conjunctions that introduce the dependent clause in the structure.

CHAPTER THREE
METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION3
3.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter focuses on the procedural steps and the method used in carrying out the investigation. This study which is employed in analyzing chapter four, the middle chapter among seven others of the fictional work of Abubakar Gimba’s Innocent Victims (1988) formed the procedural methodology.
3.1 SOURCE OF DATA
The text Innocent Victims is the only source from which the analysis is undertaken. Chapter four is specifically the chapter that is analyzed. The choice of this chapter is due to the fact that it is the longest chapter and the tendency to have the most common sentence structure of Gimba is high. Focusing attention on just one of the chapters of the book does not mean that the researcher did not read the entire text. Rather, it is the limitation of time and space that has constrained the researcher to focus on the selected chapter.
3.2 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
The researcher uses excerpts from chapter four and subjects them to sentence structure analysis. This is done in other to investigate the type of sentence structure the author has employed in the text. However, it is typical of Gimba’s style to use non sentence structure in his literary work that does not belong to any of the English sentence structure. The researcher intends to analyze only structures that satisfy normal English sentences structure. For example, the simple sentence structure consists of ‘subject’ and ‘predicate’ with or without a modifier. It also expresses only a single idea:
1. Simon bought a car.
Subject predicate
2. She will be home soon.
Subject predicate
3. The village Headmaster is now a governor.
Subject predicate
The compound sentence structure has two simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction such as ‘and’ ‘yet’, ‘but’, and ‘or’. For example:
1. Sarah is a doctor, but she hates to see sick people.
2. Ponon washed cloths and Samuel cleared the grasses.
3. Read your books or you will fail your exams.

While the complex sentence structure comprises of one main clause and at least one or more subordinate clause(s). The clauses are separated by a comma (,), a semi-colon (;) or a subordinating conjunction. For example:
1. The sky is cloudy; it may rain.
2. The guests enjoyed the food which was prepared by the hostess.
3. After we finished studying, Daddy and I went to the cinema.
To analyze chapter four, ten excerpts consisting of thirty one sentences are analyzed. This work goes to show the most common sentence structure in the text Innocent Victims and the kind of effect it has on the work.

CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS
4:0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter puts attention in presenting and analyzing Gimba’ sentence structures and how they affect the overall thematic concern of Innocent Victims.

4:1 EXCERPT ONE
The Jumma’et Prayers were just over. Mamman was still contending with the trauma of yesterday’s raw deal meted out to Bakatsoro. Hitherto, he had not been able to discourse the episode with anybody. Not even his wife. He had told her that the Director for Agro-Industrial Projects fell foul of the new Military Overseer of his department. And that was all. He did not allow her to draw him into a question-and-answer session.

COMMENT:
From the above excerpt, there are seven sentences; four are simple sentences, one is a complex sentence and three do not belong to any of the normal English sentence structure. See illustration below.
The Jumma’et prayers were just over.
Mamman was still meted out to Bakatsoro.
He had not been able to discuss the episode with anybody.
He did not allow her to draw him into a question-and answer session.
The first sentence, ‘The Jumma’et prayers were just over’, expresses a single idea. Apart from this idea typical of simple sentences, the sentence just like sentence two, three and four has a subject and a verb.

COMPLEX SENTENCE
‘He had only told her that the Director for Agro-Industrial Project fell foul of the new Military Overseer of his department.’
This structure is typical of a complex sentence. The sentence expresses multiple ideas which are conveyed in the predicate part of the sentence. The sentence begins with the main clause followed by the relative clause introduced by that which makes it a dependent clause. In a complex sentence the minimum numbers of clauses are two such as in the example above.
From excerpt one; there are structures that do not belong to any of the English sentence structures. For example:
And that was all.
Not even his wife.
Hitherto.
According to Fabb (1994) the structure of every normal English sentence is the subject (noun) and predicate (verb). In line with this the constructions above lack this basic form; they are merely conversational in nature introduced in the fictional work. Hence they do not form part of the analysis.

4:2 EXCERPT TWO
“Yes. He didn’t go with his car…There he is coming”, said the girl, pointing towards an approaching Mercedes Benz of light green colour.
COMMENT:
Excerpt two consists of two simple sentences:
1. He didn’t go with his car.
2. There he is coming.
Each of these sentences expresses just a single idea. As a simple sentence, it can stand alone because a simple sentence is an independent sentence. Both sentence one and two have the S+V pattern that is the subject and verb pattern.
From excerpt two, ‘Yes’ is not classified as a complete sentence because it is a response to what was asked. Likewise it lacks a subject and a verb. The construction, ‘said the girl’, pointing towards an approaching Mercedes Benz of light green colour is mere authorial narration and not part of any of the sentence structure because it does not have any feature of the English sentence structure.

4:3 EXCERPT THREE
Faruk came out of the car. It seemed his friend would not stop over, as he immediately began to reverse out of the gate. Faruk waved him good-bye, even though he did not seem to notice.
COMMENT:
Excerpt three has one simple sentence and two complex sentences:
Simple Sentence
Faruk came out of the car.
This is a simple sentence and it tells what the subject, ‘Faruk’ did which is in the predicate, ‘came out of the car’. A simple sentence hence shows a single action which is the idea being expressed.
Complex Sentence
1. It seemed his friend would not stop over, as he immediately began to reverse out of the gate
2. Faruk waved him good-bye, even though he did not seem to notice.
Here sentences one and two express multiple ideas. As a complex sentence, both sentences begin with an independent clause. In sentence one; ‘it seemed his friend would not over’ is an independent clause expressing a single idea. The use of ‘comma’ separates the ideas and hence introduced another clause which is the dependent one. The dependent clause on its part expresses an idea that can only be meaningful when joined with the first clause expressed. Sentence two also begins with the main clause followed by the subordinate clause being introduced by the subordinating conjunction ‘even though’ which cannot stand alone.

4:4 EXCERPT FOUR
“I heard the bad story about Hali Bata”. Faruk normally called his director for the Agro-Industrial Project Division by his name.
COMMENT:
There are two simple sentences expressed in excerpt four. Sentence one expresses a single thought. Sentence two although it is lengthier than sentence one, also expresses a single idea. A simple sentence is not determined by its length just like sentence two, but the idea that is expressed and the properties contained in the sentence in terms of subject and predicate.

4:5 EXCERPT FIVE
“Honestly, I believe that the way the Civil Service works could turn an over-zealous Military reformer into a radical revolutionary, who would shoot his way out of any obstruction…We asked for all these things. Of course, I don’t condone physical humiliation of civil servant; I hate it with all my heart”.
COMMENT:
Excerpt five comprises of three simple sentences and one complex sentence.

Simple Sentence
1. We asked for all these things.
2. I don’t condone physical humiliation of civil servant.
3. I hate it with all my heart.
From excerpt five, the above sentences make complete meaning on their own. Just like every simple sentences, they express a single idea and are introduced by a subject followed by a predicate. Sentence one begins with a subject ‘we’ followed the predicate ‘asked’ that carries the remaining part of the sentence. This is also applied to sentence two and three.

Complex Sentence
I believe that the way the civil service works could turn an over-zealous Military reformer into a radical revolutionary, who would shoot his way out of any obstruction.
This sentence is typical of a complex sentence. It expresses multiple ideas in three parts. The first part of the sentence is the main clause because it makes a complete sense ‘I believe’. The second part of the sentence is a relative clause introduced by ‘that’ and the third part is introduced by ‘which’ a subordinating conjunction. Part two and three, when taken independently will not stand on their own except when they are joined to the independent clause.
However, there are constructions that are not classified in any of the normal English sentence structure, ‘of course’ and ‘honestly’. These phrases cannot stand on their own; they lack a subject, a predicate or even a modifier to make meaning.
4:6 EXCERPT SIX
Otherwise you know that he’s never late for any official assignment. The most punctual, efficient officer in the department… I don’t normally want to talk too often about him; people will say that it’s because we’re from the same Local Authority Area, indeed the same village… I tried seeing him in the hospital, but they said he wouldn’t be allowed to see anybody yet… That’s at the Emergency ward. He shrugged his shoulders.
COMMENT:
In excerpt six, there are five sentences contained. Two sentences are simple, one is a compound sentence and two are complex.

Simple Sentence
1. He shrugged his shoulders.
2. That’s at the Emergency ward.
Sentence one and two are independent expressing one idea. The subject ‘He’ in sentence one performed a single action expressed in the predicate part, ‘shrugged his shoulders’. Sentence two begins with a demonstrative pronoun ‘that’ referring to what happened at the Emergency ward.

Compound Sentence
I tried seeing him in the hospital, but they said he wouldn’t be allowed to see anybody yet.
This sentence comprises of two simple sentences:
1. I tried seeing him at the hospital.
2. They said he wouldn’t be allowed to see anybody yet.
These sentences are of equal rank because the express single idea each and the ideas make complete sense. The presence of the coordinating conjunction ‘but’ makes it a compound sentence.

Complex Sentence
Otherwise you know that he’s never late for any official assignment.
I don’t normally want to talk too often about him; people will say that it’s because we are from the same Local Area Authority; indeed the same village.
A complex sentence is one that has one main clause and at least one or more subordinate clause(s). It is joined by either by a comma, semi-column. As seen in the sentence one has one main clause and a subordinating clause by introduced by ‘that’. Sentence two has one dependent and one independent clause separated by a comma. Only a complex structure such as the ones above can be referred to as a complex sentence.

4.7 EXCEPT SEVEN
Zaalim was trying to go through the day’s newspapers Mamman got to his house. It was a busy day at the office, he said, that was why he couldn’t read any of the newspapers beyond the passing glance he had over the headlines of only a couple of them.
COMMENT
There are two complex sentences in excerpt seven.
1. Zaalim was trying to go through the day’s newspaper when Mamman got to his house.
2. It was a busy day at the office, that was why he couldn’t read any of the newspapers beyond the passing glance he had over the headlines of only a couple of them.
As a complex sentences, sentence one begins with a main clause which can stand alone, followed by the subordinating clause which begins with ‘when’ to the end of the sentence. The subordinate clause give an incomplete idea except it is connected to main clause before it can be comprehensible. Likewise, sentence two has two parts. The first part is the main clause while the second part which begins with a subordinating conjunction ‘that’ is the subordinate clause because it is incomplete.

4:8 EXCERPT EIGHT
“How’s your overseer?” Asked Zaalim, quickly interrupting Mamman incipient thought-train. He closed his newspaper and threw it on the round center-table of the sitting-room. A kind of teasing smile appeared on his face.
COMMENT
This excerpt consists of two simple sentences and one compound sentence.
(1). How is your overseer?
(2). A kind of teasing smile appeared on his face.
A simple sentence can be a statement or a question. Sentence one presents a simple question, ‘how is your overseer? Which does not need a complex answer? Hence, the sentence expresses a single ides.



Compound Sentence
He closed his newspaper and threw it on the round center-table of the sitting-room.
In this sentence, there are two simple sentences joined by a coordinating conjunction ‘and’ which is one of the basic element of a compound sentence. The coordinating conjunction separate two independent ideas.
However, there are constructions that are not considered as sentences:
(1). Asked Zaalim.
(2). Quickly interrupting Mamman incipient thought-train.
The sentences do not carry the Basic English sentence structure that is the subject and predicate. They are classified as authorial narration.

4:9 EXCERPT NINE
And together with the clerk, they left the secretariat happy. He would inform Zaalim the next morning on what had happened.
COMMENT
Excerpt nine has two complex sentences:
1. And together with the clerk, he left the secretariat happily.
2. He would inform Zaalim the next morning on what had happened.
Sentence one begins with a dependent clause which is incomplete, followed by the dependent clause which stands alone. Sentence two begins with the main clause followed by the relative clause introduced by ‘that’ giving an incomplete sentence.

4:10 EXCERPT TEN
The young man’s voice, when hitherto had been deceptively calm, betrayed the critic in him. Zaalim was quick to observe this and did not like it one bit. He nonetheless controlled his emotion.
COMMENT
The above excerpt comprises of three sentences, a simple, a compound and a complex sentence.

Simple Sentence
He nonetheless controlled his emotion.
This sentence carries a single verb ‘controlled’ hence it expresses a complete thought. Taking in isolation the sentence can still stand alone without depending on other parts to make meaning.

Compound Sentence
Zaalim was quick to observe this and did not like it one bit.
A compound sentence normally expresses two ideas. These ideas usually are in the simple sentence structure. The sentences are joined by a coordinating conjunction ‘And’.

Complex Sentence
The young man’s voice, which hitherto had been deceptively calm, betrayed the critic in him.
This sentence has an independent clause at the beginning, ‘the young man’s voice’ a subordinate clause ‘which hitherto had been deceptively calm’ and a dependent clause ‘betrayed the critic in him’. The combination of these ideas makes it a complex sentence.
From the ten analyzed excerpts above, a total of 31 sentences are analyzed. 19 are simple, 9 are complex and 3 are compound sentence. As shown above, Abubakar Gimba used more of simple sentences to convey his massage to his audience. Indeed, nothing in literature is said to happen by mistake; everything is deliberately created to achieve a particular purpose. Gimba may have decided to employ this type of sentence structure to dominate others in other to enhance clarity and avoid vagueness. The preponderance of simple sentence in the novel has made it easily understandable and straight forward. It is within the grasp of an average reader and its purpose is less likely to be misunderstood.

CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

5:0 INTRODUCTIONS
Chapter five seeks to summarize and conclude the study by highlighting on the major findings of the work.

5:1 SUMMARY
This research investigation focuses on the study and analysis of sentence structure in relation to literary work. It becomes essential for a research like this to be undertaking since there is a high correlation between Language (English) and literature. If the end result of every literary work is to be understood by its readers then a comprehensive understanding of how the syntax of the Language operates and affects every text is cardinal.
This study therefore investigates sentence structure in Abubakar Gimba’s Innocent Victims with the aim of clearly showing how either of the sentence types uniquely affects such literary composition.
It has been discovered that Abubakar Gimba uses more of simple sentences in this novel. His particular choice of using simple constructions instead of compound or complex is not arbitrary, but a conscious attempt to keep his readers reading and appreciating its thematic concerns. If presented otherwise, for instance in complex sentences, understanding will be probably blurred.
Equally, this research simplifies the discussions on what sentence structures are. It goes further to unambiguously depict the constituent elements of each sentence type so as to demystify the seeming difficulties that most readers encounter while reading a literary text.

5.2 CONCLUSION
Conclusively, every text or discourse is made up of words, phrases and clauses which are carefully integrated to form a unique blend of thought that captures the essence of the discourse or writing. A writer or speaker usually based on his/her intended subject matter and intended audience employs a particular sentence type that will enable him/her to appropriately transmit massages. This means that knowing the type of sentence used by a writer or speaker is of paramount importance. This work hence concludes that every text has a unique sentence structure and such structures should be appreciated before adequate, clear and true understanding of the work can be grasped.

written by Peace Kyauta Solomon.


References
Andrew, M. (2003). A Grammar of Today. Ibadan, University Press.

Ayodele, S. O. et al. (2001). Evans Qualifying Course in English Language. Nigeria, Evans Brothers.

Banjo, A. et al. (2004). Exam Focus English Language. Ibadan, University Press.

Boadi et al. (1977). Grammatical Structure and its teaching. Lagos, African University Press.

Chukwuma, H. and Otagburuagu, E. (2002). English for Academic Purpose. Nigeria, African-FEB.

Crystal, D. (2003). The Cambridege Encyclopedia of the English: Language.2nd .ed. USA, Cambridge University Press.

Crystal, D. and Devy, D. (1969). Investigating English Style. Honkong, Longman.

Ebest, S. B. et al (1994). Writing from A-z. 3rd. ed. London and Toronto, Mayfield Publishing Company.

Enighe, M. J. and Afrangideh, M. E. (2001). A Guide to Basic English. Jos, Lecaps.

Fabb, N. (1994). Sentence Structure.2nd.ed. London and New York, Routledge.

Sentence structure. Retrieved from http://www.iscribe.org/english/sent.html on 16th october, 2011.

Idowu, O.O. et al. (2001). Round –up-English. Nigeria, Longman.

Jackson, H. (2005). Good Grammar for Students. London, Sage Publication.

Purkis, R. (1981). English grammar Nigeria. Spectrum Book.