FABUNMI Felix Abidemi
Email address(es): fabunmibm@yahoo.com, fafabunmi@oauife.edu.ng
Office Address: Room 301, African Studies Building, OAU, Ile-Ife
ORCIDiD: http://orcid.org/0000_0001_9987
Academic Qualifications: BA (1stClass), MA, MA Ling., Ph.D.
Areas of Specialization: Syntax/SyntacticTheories, Morphology, Micro-Sociolinguistics (Dialectology), Lexicography & Translation Studies
Title of M.A. Thesis:
(1) Tense, Aspect and Modal Systems in Ijesa Dialect of Yoruba
(2) Negation in the Mofoli Dialect of Yoruba
Title of Ph.D. Thesis: Tense and Aspect in theMofoli Dialect of Yoruba
Scholarships:
University Scholarship for Outstanding Students, OAU, Ile-Ife – 1989/1990
Chief J. F. Odunjo Prize for the best student in Yorùbá Language – 1992
Chief Delano Prize for the best student in Yorùbá Literature – 1992
Faculty Prize for the Overall best student in the 1992 Graduating Class – 1992
RopoRomoke Award for the best overall Students, Faculty of Theological Studies, the Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary (NBTS), Ogbomoso, Nigeria.
Fellowships:
Institute on Field Linguistics and Language Documentation Scholarship, University of California at Santa Barbara – 2008
Postdoctoral Fellow, African Humanities Program of the American Council of Learned Societies (AHP-ACLS) – 2010/2011
Research Grants:
TETFUND Research Grant, NRFGreenNCartoon and Folktales, in collaboration with some academic colleagues in Computer Science and Engineering – 2022/2023
Ongoing Current Research:
A Morpho-linguistic Survey of Dialects of the Yorùbá language outside Nigeria
Publications:
Fabunmi, F.A. 2001. “Notes on Ìjèsà Tense and Aspect Marking.” Studies in African Linguistics, (Los Angeles, UCLA, U.S.A). Vol. 30, No. 1: 113-114.
Fabunmi, F.A. 2002. “Contextualized Theory of Beauties as a Pivot in Yorùbá Oratures.” Jalal: A Journal of Languages and Literatures, Vol. 2, Nos. 1&2: 106-117.
Fabunmi, F. A. 2003. “A GPSG Appraisal of Sequential Distributions of Auxiliary Verbs in Ijesa Dialect of Yorùbá.” Nordic Journal of African Studies. (University of Helsinki, Finland). Vol. 12, No. 3: 355 – 371.
Fabunmi, F. A. 2004. “The Status of Yorùbá Dialects in Communicative Competence and Language Proficiency.” Africa Development CODESRIA, Senegal. Vol. xxix, No. 3: 103 – 113.
Fabunmi, F. A. and A. S. Salawu. 2005. “Is Yorùbá an Endangered Language?” Nordic Journal of African Studies. (University of Helsinki, Finland). Vol. 14, No. 3: 391 – 408. http://www.njas.helsinki. fi/pdf-files/vol14num3/fabunmi.pdf
Fabunmi, F. A. 2006. “The ‘Nigeria Project’ and the Indigenous Languages ofNational Integration.” Papers in English and Linguistics. (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria). Vol 6: 85 – 94.
Fabunmi, F. A. 2007. “A Linguistic Introduction to the Mò̩fò̩lí Dialect of Yorùbá.” Nigerian Languages, Literatures, Culture and Reforms (A Festschrift for Ayò̩ Bámgbósé), edited by Ozo-MekuriNdimele, Port Harcourt: Linguistic Association of Nigeria No. 6: 487 – 504.
Fabunmi, F. A. 2008. Ìtúpalè̩ GírámàYorùbáMò̩fò̩lí (A Grammatical Analysis of Mò̩fò̩lí Dialect of Yorùbá). Cape Town, South Africa: The Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS). ISBN: 978-1-920447-22-9 (223 pages).
Fabunmi, F. A., Gordon S. K. Adika, & A. S. Salawu. 2009. Current Perspectives in Phono-Syntax and Dialectology. Ghana: A Publication of the Department of Gur-Gonja, Faculty of Languages, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. ISBN: 978-9988-8498-1-0 (457 pages).
Fabunmi, F. A. 2010. Negation and the Scope of Negation in YorùbáMò̩fò̩lí. Saarbrucken, Germany: VDM Verlag. ISBN: 978-3-639-25527-0 (194pages).
Fabunmibm, F. A. 2010. “Vigesimal Numeral in Ifè̩ (Togo) and Ifè̩ (Nigeria) Dialects of Yorùbá.” Linguistik Online (Universitaet Osnabrueck, Neuer Graben, Germany). 43, 3/2010: Available online at: http://www.linguistik-online.com/43_10/fabunmi.html, pp 31-44.
Fabunmi, F. A. 2011. “Pronouns in Mọfọli Dialect of Yorùbá.” Perspectives on African Studies: Essays in Honour of Toyin Falola, edited by Rotimi Taiwo & Akin Alao. Munchen, Germany: LINCOM Europa Academic Publishers, pages 304-316.
Fabunmi, F. A. 2012. As̩èrànwó̩ Ò̩rò̩-ìs̩eNínúYorùbáÌjè̩s̩à (Auxiliary Verbs in Ìjè̩s̩à Dialect of Yorùbá). Ile-Ife, Nigeria: O̩bafe̩mi Awolowo University Press. ISBN: 978-1-920447-22-9 (189 pages).
Fabunmi, F. A. & A. S. Salawu. 2013. Readings in African Dialectology and Applied Linguistics. (LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 85). Munchen, Germany: LINCOM EUROPA Academic Publishers (GmbH). ISBN: ISBN 9783862884179 (542 pages).
Fabunmi, F. A. 2013. “Negation in Sixteen Dialects of Yorùbá.” Open Journal of Modern Linguistics (Universitaet Osnabrueck, Neuer Graben, Germany). Vol. 43, No. 3:59-75.
Fabunmi, F. A., A. Nsoh and S. A. Atintono (Eds.) 2014. Journal of African Culture and Languages. A Publication of the Department of Ghanaian Languages Education (Gur), University of Education, Winneba, Ghana. Vol. 2, No. 1 (208 pages).
Fabunmibm, F. A. 2015. “Mo̩fó̩ló̩jì Yorùbá Mò̩fò̩lí (The Morphology of the Mò̩fò̩lí Dialect of Yorùbá).” Lagos Notes and Records: A Journal of the Faculty of Arts, (University of Lagos, Nigeria). Vol. 19, No. 2: 119-134.
Fabunmi, F. A. (Ed.) 2016. Ifè̩ Journal of Languages and Literatures. A Publication of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Vol. 2, No. 1:1-292.
Fabunmi, F. A. (Ed.) 2017. Ifè̩ Journal of Languages and Literatures. A Publication of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Vol. 3, No. 1:1-202.
Fabunmi, F. A. (Ed.) 2018. Ifè̩ Journal of Languages and Literatures. A Publication of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Vol. 4, No. 1:1-203.
Fabunmi, F. A. 2019. “The Syntax of Pronouns and Interrogative Markers in theMò̩fò̩lí Dialect of Yorùbá.” Africa and Its Diaspora Languages, Literature and Culture:Essays in Honour of Olasope O. Oyelaran, edited by Olanike Ola Orie, AkintundeOyetade& Laide Sheba. Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pages 117-129.
Fabunmi, F. A. and J. A. Adejumo. 2020. “Lexicalization of Pragmatic COVID-19 Lexemes in the Yorùbá Language.” Ifè̩ Journal of Languages and Literatures, Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. Vol. 6, No. 1:226-250.
Fabunmi, F. A. (Ed.) 2021. Ifè̩ Journal of Languages and Literatures. A Publication of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Vol. 7, No. 1:1-356.
Fabunmi, F. A. and O. T. Olumuyiwa. 2022. “Ogun Àwíté̩lè̩ Tí Fálétí Ko̩: Ò̩nà Àbáyo̩ Sí Àìláàbò Orílè̩-Èdè Nàìjíríà (Faleti’s Ogun Àwíté̩lè̩: Elixir of Life and the Declivitous Nigerian Security),” YORUBA: The Journal of Yorùbá Studies Association of Nigeria. Vol. 11, No. 1:136-146.
Fabunmi, F. A., O. T. Olumuyiwa and K. O. Oladeji. 2023. “A Diachronic Survey of the Yorùbá Dialects within Nigeria and within and outside Africa,” YORUBA: Journal of the Yorùbá Studies Association of Nigeria, Vol. 12, No 2:16-36.
Fabunmi, F. A., A. S. Salawu, I. I. Olodude and N. A. Abass. 2024. “Are Lexemes ni, kú, jú and dú Deflective Verbs in Yoruba?,” YORUBA: Journal of the Yorùbá Studies Association of Nigeria, Vol.13, No 2:74-87.
Fabunmi, F. A. 2024. “Is the Nigerian Linguistics Democracy Endangered?” A paper presented at the Scientific Session of the 26th Convocation of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL), University of Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria, Thursday 8th August 2024.
Staff Profile:
Prof. Felix Abídèmí Fábùnmi hails from Ejigbo, Osun State of Nigeria. He attended Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, University of Ibadan, Ibadan Nigeria, Nigeria Baptist Theological Seminary Ogbomoso, and University of California, Santa Barbara, USA. He won the Faculty Prize for the best over-all performance in the 1992 Graduating Class, Faculty of Arts, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ilé-Ifè, Nigeria. He has BA Yorùbá (First Class) honours, MA Yorùbá Language, and MA Linguistics degrees. He also holds a PhD degree in Yoruba Linguistics in 2006. He graduated with Masters of Divinity in Theology (M.Div.Th) in 2018 from NBTS. He has been carrying out teaching, research and community services since 1993 in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife, where he is now a Professor (2013). In 2007, he was appointed the Acting Head of the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, Obafemi Awolowo University, and from August 2020 to July 2023, he was the substantive Head of the Department. Professor Fabunmi is a theologian and a counselor trained from Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary (NBTS) Ogbomoso. He was recently ordained as a trained Baptist Minister into the full gospel ministry. His areas of academic research include Syntax, Syntactic theories, Morphology, Semantics, Language Development, Lexicography, Dialectology and Language Translation. Professor Fabunmi’s areas of specialization also include Applied Linguistics, Language Contacts and Macro Sociolinguistics. As an intellectual, he has many publications covering books, edited books and contributions to books, edited journals, journal articles and research monographs in local, national and international reputable publication outlets. He has attended several academic, professional and ministerial conferences both within and outside Nigeria. He is the immediate former Editor of Ifè Journal of Languages and Literatures; he is currently the Editor of YORUBA: Journal of the Yorùbá Studies Association of Nigeria (YSAN). Professor Fabunmi was an InField Scholar at the Institute on Field Linguistics and Language Documentation, University of California at Santa Barbara, United States of America. Professor Felix AbídèmíFábùnmi is one of the pioneer post-doctoral fellows of the American Council of Learned Societies’ (ACLS) African Humanities Program (AHP), during which he spent his residency at the International Institute of Advanced Studies (IIAS), University of Ghana, Legon, as a fellow of the Program for the Study of the Humanities in Africa (August 2010 and July 2011). He was a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Languages, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, from September 2013 to December 2014. He was also a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Linguistics and Languages, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State. Aside from academic research, teaching, preaching, praying and counseling, Rev. Prof. Fabunmi’s hobbies include singing, gospel songs composition, hymns composition, playing the musical instrument (Piano, Keyboard, Guitar & Drum Sets), reading, writing, gardening and community services. He is happily married to Mrs. Victoria Yejú Fabunmi (Nee Adeoye). The family is greatly blessed to belong to God, and the family is fruitful and blessed with lovely children. Reverend Professor Felix Abidemi Fabunmi loves God and he is a genial personality.