AFRICAN LANGUAGES PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0General Background This research work focuses on the phonology of Adim language spoken in Akankpa Local Government Area of Cross-river State, Nigeria. Adim lies in the Northern part of the forest belt of Southern Nigeria. Adim shares boundary with Ugep in the North and Idomi in the east, both in Yakkur Local Government Area. Adim is the official name of the language and the native speakers also call themselves Adim. Another name for Adim language is Orun or Arun. Adim speakers are widely spread across the other areas with Cross-river State of Nigeria such as Calabar, Ekoni, Yakhur and Idomi. In this chapter will be focusing on the historical background,socio-cultural profile, scope and organization of the study, theoretical framework and the genetic classification of Adim language. 1.1 Historical Background According to oral tradition as related by my informants, the Adim people migrated from a village called Edem Omere Akapa as a result of war and threat from the neighboring village. The first place the Adim people settled after migrating from Edem Omere Akapa was Idomi, an area confronted with hills, some left while others stayed back. The second place they settled after Idomi was Ugep, some spread to Adim while some were found in Ekoni. All of these places are in the present Cross-river State. The Adim people were together until the advent of the British Colonial masters who came to introduce them to western education that then opened the gate f

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0. General Background This chapter introduces the language of study, the people speaking the language and their geographical location. It introduces us to the background of the speakers of the language which includes their culture and beliefs. Also, a brief explanation of the scope of the study, Method of Data Collection, Genetic Classification and the Theoretical framework used in carrying out the research on the language are discussed. This research is aimed at describing the Bura Negation. Bura is a language Spoken in two (2) local government areas in Borno State. The two local governments’ areas are Biu and Shani respectively. The Bura people are about 250,000 in population. 1.1. Historical Background According to oral history, Bura speakers were believed to had their origin from the Northern part of Nigeria in Borno State. The State shares border with Niger Republic, Chad Republic and Cameroon Republic and Common boundaries with Adamawa, Gombe and Yobe States. The Bura lived north of Biu before being attacked by Yamta – ra – wala around 16th Century. The few people Yemta brought with him intermarried with the Bura and built up the Biu dynasty into a kingdom. Those descended from Yemta’s group were called Pabir (Babur), this is why Pabir and Bura differ considerably in culture and appearance. Until today, the Pabir are the ruling class among the Bura, and all the Bura villages pay tribute to t

Introduction to the History of Gùngáwá People and Language. Gùngáwá is an adopted name for the Bàrèshe people by their Hausa neighbors which means Island dwellers because of their nearest to rivers and lakes. The people call themselves Bàrèshe, Tsureja or Yáúráwa but officially called Gùngáwá. The names of the language are Gùngáwá, Gùngácí. The Gùngáwá people are mostly found in Northern part of Kebbi State, and around Islands in extreme Sokoto State few of them were also in Niger State especially Kontangora area and Borgu Local Government Area and a recent funding in Kaiama Local Government Area of Kwara State. TABLE OF CONTENTS Title page i Certification ii Dedication iii Acknowledgement iv Table of Contents vi-viii CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 General Background 1 1.3 Historical Background 1 1.4 Sociocultural profile of the Gunganwa People 4 1.5 Genetic Classification of Gunganci Language 9 1.6 Scope and Organistions of Study 11 1.7 Theoretical Framework 11 1.8 Data Collection and Data Analysis 12 1.9 Brief Review of the Choosen Framework 13 CHAPTER TWO BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS 2.1 Introduction 14 2.2. Aspects of Gunganci Phonology 14 2.2.1. Sound Inventory in Gunganci Language 14 2.2.2. Consonant Sounds 15 2.2.3. Gunganci Consonant Chart 15 2.2.4. Vowel Sounds 23 2.2.5. Gunganci Vowel Chart

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 GENERAL BACKGROUND This research work is on the Verb phrase of Kuturmi. Kuturmi is one of the languages spoken in Kaduna State. It is spoken in Awon and Arikwo. It has two dialect, Inuwa and Umsuwe which is used in Arikwo and Inuwa is been used in Awon (district head quarter) Umsuwe is the majority while Inuwa is the minority. In this chapter, we shall discuss the historical background, Geographical location and Socio-linguistics profile of Kuturmi speakers, the genetic classification of Kuturmi language, Scope and organization of the study, Justification of the study, Methodology, Data collection, Data Analysis and the Theoretical frame work. 1.1 GEOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Kuturmi land is situated geographically between latitude 9-5 degree North and 10 degree north and longitude 7.5 degree East and 8.0 degree east. The region lies to the Western part of Kachia district headquarters. The region is bounded by the river guinea to the East and South and to the North and West by the Kadara tribe. It is about 12km from Kachia town. The vegetation of this Area falls under the guinea savannah type with prominent feature of fall grasses called elephant grass. Among the natural resources of the region are timber, palm produce, trees and some agricultural products such as ginger, maize, millet, yam, cassava and a host of others. 1.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The history of Kuturmi people wa

CHAPTER ONE MERNYANG LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS • INTRODUCTION This chapter introduces the Mernyang language and its speakers. It also discusses the historical background of the study, the geographical location, cultural and social background, the scope and delimitations of the study, genetic classification, justification and significance of the study vis-à-vis, the research method used. Mernyang which is pronounced as “Mernyan” is a language spoken in plateau state of Nigeria. It is spoken in the southern part of plateau by small community as a dialect. Mernyang as a language is officially called MERNYANG and it means “nucleus of rebel” The name which the language is generally called “pan”. The community pan are of seven (7) in number but there are just only three (3) major fluent speakers of Mernyang language in Pan chiefdom and these are the Kwa district, Kwang district, and Dokan kasuwa district. Each community of pan chiefdom varies in pronunciation but they all understand one another. The project work is based on the Mernyang dialect. In this work, Mernyang morphology is the focus, this work will feature the consonant and vowel chart of Mernyang since the language has no written form, Mernyang word formation processes, word classes, Morphological typologies, morpheme structure, morphemic function and most importantly the morpheme in Mernyang language. 1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND THE MERNYANG AND THEIR NEIGHBOURS The migration of a large group of people believed to be of the s

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION Language is the universal fabric that holds every individual of a community together. An instrument, used by man for communication within his environment, without which there would be no meaningful relationship between the human world. Language can also be referred to as the medium through which ideas, thoughts, and other forms of human communication are expressed or carried out. In the metal compartment where all possible, meaningful and acceptable words are formed, there are certain rules that must be followed or certain conditions met before any word can be viewed as acceptable in any language. The branch of linguistics that studies the compatibility of such combinations and proposes the rules for their formation is called MORPHOLOGY. The basic concept of this branch is the morpheme, the smallest meaningful unit in grammar which may constitute a word or part of a word. Every language has its own set of morphological rules which are strictly adhered to by members of its community. Such members , (Native speakers) share a great deal of unconscious knowledge about their language which helps in the acquisition of their first language with little or no formal instructions. In connection to morphology, the Migili language has been duely investigated with a view to finding/revealing the aspects of its morphological set up. The Migili people are a tribal group found in Agyaragu local government, Lafia, Nasarawa State. The first chapter of this

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 General Background of the Study Language is the fabrics that ties every member of the society together, which serves as an instrument used by man for specific and distinguishable purposes. Indeed, the focus of this research is to shed light on how verb phrases are formed in Migili language. Therefore, the first chapter of this research is focused on the genetic classification of Migili language. As an introductory chapter, attempts shall be made to trace the origin, socio-cultural profile, administrative system, religion, geographical location, topography (life zone) economy, marriage rites, map, genetic classification of Migili. Effort shall also be extended to the organization of the study, theoretical framework together with a review of the chosen theory, data collection and analysis and some syntactic concept. According to Crystal (1994: 420) syntax is the study of the rules governing the way words are combined to form grammatical sentences in contrast with morphology that studies word structure. This branch of linguistics is concerned with how words are combined to form phrases are sentences in a rule governed manner. In a nutshell, words are not together in a random order, they follow certain observable patterns in any language. 1.1 Historical Background of Migili Migili refers to the name of a language and also a group of people. The Migili people constitute about 96% of the total population of Agyaraoju Obi Local Government, Na

This research is aimed at describing an aspect of syntax of Kaninkon language. And our focus is negation in the language. Kaninkon is a language spoken in Jema’a local government area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The native speakers call themselves kyung (Kaninkon). Although, the Kaninkon is not a major group in Nigeria, yet the speakers are found in various part of Nigeria, especially in the Northern part of the Country. The Kaninkon people are among the indigenous tribe of Jema’a local government and Kafancha area in particular. The areas they occupy traditionally has border with Kagoro to the North-East, Bajju to the north, Kagoma to the West, Numana and Mada to the South. They are brothers with Nindem and Kanufi who are also to the South East. In this chapter, we shall discuss the historical background of the speakers, the geographical location, social cultural profile of Kaninkon people and the genetic classification of the speakers together with the aims and objective of this research. In this chapter also, we shall be reviewing G - B syntax and relevant literatures on negation as a syntactic process in human language. And also, we shall mention the scope and organization of the study, statement of the research problems and research questions. TABLE OF CONTENTS Tittle Page i Certification ii Dedication iii Acknowledgements iv List of Abbreviations and Symbols vi Table of contents vii CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL BACKGROUND 1.1 I

CHAPTER ONE GENERAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Introduction This research is aimed at describing aspects of negation in Koenoem language. Koenoem language is a language spoken in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State of Nigeria. In this chapter, we discussed the general background and socio - cultural profile of the Koenoem people. The genetic classification of Koenoem language as well as the aim and objectives of the research is discussed. We also included the scope and organization of the study. 1.2 Historical Background of Koenoem People A popular legend of the Koenoem claimed that they were influenced by the attempt to link their origin to the universal respective and centers of old civilization. This legend claimed that they migrated from France to their present location for economic reason. Koenoem means “to refuse”, the reason why this utterance was rendered by the Koenoem speaking people was that there was a river dividing them with their neighbouring village, and the river belonged to them i.e. the Koenoem. Inspite of that their neighbouring villages were claming ownership because of the immense benefit from the river. The Koenoem people because of this mess said they would not fold their arms and watched them; they presented all their problems to their

CHAPTER ONE 1.0 GENERAL BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY This research work is based on the aspects of noun Bura noun phrase. The study forms an important aspect of the syntax of the language. By syntax, we mean the branch of linguistic analysis which involves the arrangement of words to form grammatical sentences a rule governed way. It should be noted that there are many aspects of syntax, but this research will focus on the noun phrase of Bura language. A phrase could be described as group of words that forms an integral part a sentence. There are different types of phrasal categories, for example Noun, Verb, Prepositional, Adverbial, Adjectival phrases etc. Each phrasal category is named after the lexical category that heads the phrase. For instance, a verb heads a verb phrase, a preposition heads a prepositional phrase. In this chapter, we will carry out a survey of the historical background of the language, socio­linguistic profile under which we shall describe the occupation, marriage, religion, festivals, culture and beliefs, language status and the genetic classification of the language. Government and Binding theory is used as a theoretical frame work the analysis of the study. 1.1 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The pabir and bura are ethnically different, but both speak the bura language. They are the major tribes Biu and Askira L.G.A''S of Borno state and Gombi L.G.A of Adamawa state. The population of bura people in Borno sta