Abstract
This study examines the syntactic and semantic properties of verbs in Ẹdo, with particular attention paid to the information conveyed by the different transitivity requirements by the verb in a typical Ẹdo clause. The study is necessitated by the need to account for the meaning of the internal morphological structure of verbs in Ẹdo, the classification of syntactically related verbs and the alienability of verbs with regards to their valency. Data were obtained principally from textual materials and interactions with native speakers of the language. The study also consults works of several authors who examined the Ẹdo verbs from different perspectives (Amayo (1976),
Omoruyi (1986), Aikhionbare (1986), Agheyisi (1986), and Omoregbe (1996, 2001, 2002, 2013). It utilizes specifically for this investigation, the descriptive method of the syntactic classification of verbs into basic types according to their subcategorization properties. The findings in the paper show that verbs constitute an important unit in the grammar of Ẹdo language and that it is syntactically conditioned to convey certain information based on its configuration. It portrays that the semantics of verbs is directly conditioned by its diverse roles in realizing the different roles of nominals in the grammar of the language.