Francis Olayinka Adefabi

Dr. Francis Olayinka Adefabi is an Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. His research focuses on syntax, semantics, morphosyntax, and African languages, with particular emphasis on Yorùbá syntax, dialectology, and the Ṣúpárè dialect of Yorùbá. His work examines focus constructions, negation, interrogatives, and syntactic variation in Yorùbá and other African languages, contributing to the documentation of underdescribed language varieties and broader theoretical debates in generative syntax. He has published scholarly articles on Yorùbá syntax, focus constructions, and morphophonology, with further research under review in national and international journals. Beyond research, he is actively involved in university teaching, academic mentoring, and the promotion of African languages through linguistic research, translation, and language consultancy. He holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.

My research is situated at the intersection of linguistics, African languages, and language documentation, with a primary focus on Yorùbá and other under-described languages of West Africa. I investigate how grammatical structure interacts with meaning and discourse while using variation across languages and dialects to illuminate broader questions in linguistic theory. A major strand of my scholarship is Yorùbá syntax and its morphosyntax. This is complemented by interests in semantics, morphology, and the syntax–discourse interface.

My doctoral research examined negation, wh-interrogatives, and relative constructions in Ṣúpárè (an under-described Yorùbá variety spoken in the Ṣúpárè-Akoko region of Ondo State). Working with data from a less-studied variety reinforced my conviction that African languages and dialects are not merely sources of descriptive data but also essential to the development and testing of theories of grammar.

My current research continues this approach by examining clause-typing in Yorùbá polar questions, particularly the interaction among ṣé, clause-final ni, and copular ni. This work challenges simplified descriptions of Yorùbá interrogatives and explores how formally similar particles may encode distinct grammatical functions and structural positions.

My research interests increasingly extend beyond the analysis of individual constructions to the documentation and comparative study of linguistic diversity in West Africa. Through fieldwork and collaborative research, I have participated in the documentation of Yorùbá dialects and the investigation of languages and varieties whose intergenerational transmission is increasingly affected by Yorùbá, English, Nigerian Pidgin, formal education, and other associated sociolinguistic pressures.

I am currently developing documentation research on Iludotun in the Ajowa-Akoko area of Ondo State, with particular interests in its linguistic classification, lexicon, grammatical structure, genealogical relationships, and sociolinguistic vitality. I see documentation not simply as preservation but also as a means of generating new linguistic knowledge while working responsibly with speech communities.

The African Virtual Affiliate Program at KASC is therefore especially attractive to me because it would connect my work with a research environment that brings African languages into conversation with broader questions in linguistics and African Studies. As a KASC affiliate, I would contribute experience in Yorùbá linguistics, African-language fieldwork, and the analysis and documentation of under-described varieties. More importantly, I hope to develop sustained scholarly collaborations that connect rigorous linguistic analysis with community-oriented documentation and comparative African-language research.

My long-term goal is to contribute to a fuller theoretical understanding of Africa’s linguistic diversity while supporting the visibility, documentation, and continued study of languages and varieties that remain underrepresented in scholarship.