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Property concepts refer to properties, qualities or characteristics of referents (Thompson 1988). In many languages, there seems to be a correspondence between the expression of property concepts and the adjective category. There are however languages that express property concepts via means other than the adjective category. This paper examines the means by which property concepts are expressed in Etulo. It is observed that property concepts in Etulo are expressed by qualificatives. Etulo qualificatives subsume a small class of adjectives, a subset of verbs and nouns, and a class of ideophones. We adopt Dixon’s (2004) typological framework in establishing a distinct category of adjectives in Etulo.

Etulo is an Idomoid language spoken in two Nigerian states: Taraba and Benue. This work gives an overview of the core linguistic features of Etulo as spoken in Benue state. At the phonological level, we highlight the Etulo sound system, its tonal features, syllable structure and the most common phonological processes attested. At the morphological level, we focus on its derivational morphology which involves morphological processes such as affixation, reduplication and compounding. We give a list of the identified word classes with emphasis on the noun and verbal system. Also discussed, are grammatical features which are considered areal such as its rich class of ideophones and verb serialization. Our findings show that Etulo shares some core structural features with other Idomoid languages such as Idoma. The data used for this study are obtained from Etulo language consultants who are native speakers. We adopt a descriptive approach in the analysis of the Etulo language data.