verb phrase structure of sinama using chomskyan approach

Few studies are done on languages in Mindanao, Philippines. Sinama is one of the languages in Southern Philippines spoken by Sama Deya, one of the sub-groups of Bajau. This study aimed to analyze the verb phrase structure of Sinama using Noam Chomsky’s approach namely the X-Bar theory and the Minimalist Program. Using qualitative research, the interviews, fables, and songs gathered from the Sinama speakers in Isla Verde, Boulevard, Davao City, Philippines were analyzed. Sinama speakers were consulted for data accuracy. The analyses went through expert validation by professors in Linguistics. Findings revealed that Sinama verb phrase has an equative property, which means that the verb phrase appears at initial or final syntactic position. The verb phrase structures in Sinama are composed of the verb, verb and noun phrase, verb and pronoun, verb and adverbial phrase, verb and prepositional phrase. Hence, this paper contributes to the development of discourse on Sinama language.