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This work examines the concept of language variation
in Igala speech community of Kogi State. This was achieved through systematic
observation and analysis of the speakers’ use of language in natural
situations. This research focuses on the language variation in the Igala
language. This study aims (1) to identify and describe the language variations
found in the Igala language, and (2) to describe factors influencing the language
variations. This study is qualitative descriptive research. The object of
research is the Igala language. In collecting data, the researcher uses
interview. The data obtained by the researcher is conversation between the
researcher and the respondents. The method of analyzing data is qualitative.
Since region is discovered to influence language variation and potential change
within the Igala speech pattern, this research recommend that further
linguistic investigation at the morphological and phonological levels be
carried out to determine their variability and possible change in Igala
language.
Key words: Standardization, Igala Language, Kogi
State, Language Variation.
CHAPTER ONE
Over the years,
language, which is a natural attribute of man has been of interest to many
scholars who have expressed diverse views in their quest to understand its
nature. Many scholars have tried to define this concept in their own way and no
one has been found to be absolutely satisfactory. Human beings cannot do
without language. This is because it is the very essence of man. The term
"language" has in the cause of time left many questions about its
nature unanswered. Language is indispensable to humanity; without it our whole
existence will become a mirage. The use of language makes living interesting.
In other words, when two or more people come together they use language. They
use language to interact and entertain themselves.
Every language
situation has an intended audience to which it is being spoken. Van Dijk (61)
states that, "language is a major mechanism within the process of social
construction. Jesperson's (56) proposal that human language originated while
humans were actually enjoying themselves is one of the more endearing speculations
concerning the origin of language. It has also been suggested that the original
sounds of language came from natural cries of emotion, such as pain, anger and
joy. Language change is a central aspect of language. Language itself is so
central to human behavior that the study of language in any way, shape, or form
puts us into a complex web of relationship with many other disciplines (Kess,
2) and hence, any analysis of language change incorporates many related areas.
Everyone knows
that language is variable. In other words, every language exhibits considerable
internal variations and speakers, who are aware of their social significance,
make use of the many possibilities offered to them. Variability is everywhere
in language from the unique details in each production of sounds or signs to
the auditory or visual processing of the linguistic signal, (Agbedo, 1).
Language is essentially like everything else in the world around us that is
constantly changing. Labov (43) states that "the study of language variation
is central to the solution of fundamental problems in linguistic theory. He
also notes that language is inherently variable and that a great amount of
variability previously dismissed as "free variation" in fact adheres
to definite patterns determined by both linguistic and social environments.
Studying language variation proceeds mainly by "observing language use in
natural social settings and categorizing the linguistic variations according to
their social distribution" (Chambers, 3).
Also, when people
use language, the most crucial thing is for them to understand each other. It
does not matter the dialect they use as far as communication is achieved. In
addition to this, no dialect or language is inferior to the other. We cannot
help but to agree with Finegan (68) in Talatu (162) that, every language is a
dialect and every dialect is a language.
Therefore, the relationship between language and their dialects is like the relationship between parents and their children. From the parents come the genes of their children. When one looks at the children, one can see their parents inside of them, though there may be differences here and there but not to say that they are not their parents. Languages are the parents while dialects are their children. There may be slight difference between the two, but that is not to say that they are different languages, rather varieties of the same language.
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1.1.1
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE IGALA LANGUAGE
The Igala
language is a Yoruboid language spoken in the eastern part of Kogi State, parts
of Delta, Edo and Anambra states of Nigeria. Igala language is spoken by a
people referred to as Igala. The language is much related to Yoruba, Oluwumi
and Itsekiri languages. The Igala people have a population of over two million
(Omachonu 8). They are surrounded by different ethnic groups like the Ebiras,
Binis, Idoma, Tiv, Igbo, etc. Igala is a well-researched language and very many
scholarly works on Igala exist (Omachonu 201-206; Okpanachi & Kadiri 25;
Adeniyi 96). It is a dominant language in Kogi State spoken by over two million
natives in nine Local Government Areas of Kogi East senatorial District, North
Central Nigeria. Igala land is bounded on the eastern side by Idoma land of
Benue State, flanked by Anambra and Enugu State on the South and by the rivers
Benue and Niger in the north and west respectively. The area is approximately
between latitude 6 and 30 and 840 North and Longitude 630 and 740 East and
covers an area of about 13,665 square kilometers. The language is equally spoken
in some communities outside Kogi State: Ebu in Delta State, Olohi and Ifekwu in
Edo State, Ogwurugwu, Ojo, Iga and Asaba in Enugu State, Odokpe, Njam, Inoma,
Ala, Igbedo, Onugwa, Ode Igbokenyi and Ila in Anambra State (Omachonu 8). Igala
is the 9th largest ethnic group out of the existing over 300 ethnic groups in
Nigeria. It is one of the few ethnic groups that share intimate affinity with
the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria. Aside of that, Igala orthography
(alphabetical writings and correct spellings of words) according to Ocheja (20)
is one of the only twenty-seven or so orthography recognized by the National
Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) of the Federal Ministry of
Education out of the over three hundred main languages that exist in Nigeria
(Audu, J. 393). As a result of the central position the Igala people occupy in
Nigeria, it has been suggested that the Igala language be adopted as the
nation’s Lingua franca but because it is a ‘minority’ language, the idea was
quickly discarded. Owolabi, D. and Dada, S.M. (139), observe that the
suggestion of a seemingly political neutral language, Igala in the central part
of the country has not worked. As a small ethnic and linguistic group located
in the central part of the country, it is assumed that the adoption of the
language of this group would pose no threat to the major ethnic groups who have
always exercise the fear of political domination, if any of the major
linguistic groups languages is selected. It is also assumed by the promoters of
the language as Nigeria’s national language that the central location of this
group will help the language spread to other parts of the country easily and
evenly.
Igala is the name
of the people as well as their language. Abo Igala meaning the Igala people is
the term the people use to call themselves. The name "Igala" is
believed to have been derived from two traditional sources. One tradition says
the name Igala is a fusion of two nouns forming a compound: Iga means a
sheepfold or a pen; while ala means sheep. Due to vowel elision, the two words
(iga+ala) have now become Igala. According to this tradition, the first
settlers in the land (Igalaland) called the Iga-ala-mela meaning nine
sheepfolds or pens, considered themselves as God’s flock who were going about
in search of greener pastures but eventually found one in this location. They
were then generally referred to as the Iga-ala people, and this nomenclature
later metamorphosed to become Igala. From here, the name Igala-mela (joined
with Odolu), which is now one of the twenty-one Local Government Areas in Kogi
State, was derived. In addition, the second tradition has it that the name
"Igala" is a derivative of the Yoruba name for antelope Igala. It
suggests that there were many antelopes during the early migration into the
land, giving rise to the name Igala. This looks plausible, considering the fact
that so many of Igala villages were named after animals. For instance, Ój‘uw‘ọchà
means "antelope hill", Ugwọl‘awó means guinea fowl‘s bath‘, Ọbagwu
means "chimpanzee", Áj‘ukábú means "baboon‘s river", just
to mention a few (kwekudee tripdownmemorylane.blogspot.com).
Furthermore, Etu
(7) reports that according to a source, the original name for Igala was Akpọtọ
and their Chief or Headman was called Ogala, the latter name means the
"leader can never lose his way or cannot go wrong" (because he has
people working with him or that he works with advisers). The land of Akpọtọ
people was invaded by a group of Yoruba adventurers from Oyo, and as the
invaders began to overpower the natives, the latter escaped eastwards in large
numbers. The few people that remained behind in Idah area (the centre of Igala
civilization) began to be referred to as Ogala’s people, the phrase which
gradually became the Igala people or the people of Igala. It should be added
that the name Akpọtọ began to be detested and was construed as derogatory.
Before 1950, the name shifted on many people to the north-east of Idah,
especially on the people called Idoma, shortly after their independence from
Igala in 1949. According to Edimeh (1), Igalaland (Anẹ Igala) refers to the
territory where the people speaking the Igala language are numerically and
culturally dominant, and whose common political identity dates back to the
early 17th century Attah Ayegba Oma Idoko. Igalaland is not coterminous with
the former Igala Kingdom as it no longer includes Idomaland, Igboland and
Ebiraland where the Atta held sway.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
The fact that
most if not all speech communities are more or less socially and linguistically
heterogeneous is a complexity which makes things much more difficult to any
linguist wishing to describe a particular variety (Trudgill, 37). Therefore,
for many years, the reaction of linguists to this complexity is generally to
ignore it by means of concentrating their studies either on an ideal
speaker-listener in a heterogeneous speech community who knows its language
perfectly, (Chomsky, 3).
Igala language
has overtime shown little variation in some aspects of speech such as
phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. This may have been
influenced by some variables like age, region, and social class. Despite the
variations inherent in Igala language, it has received less or no attention by
Scholars in the field of dialectal variation. Thus this research aims at
addressing this problem by investigating the dialectal variation in Igala
Language and also the need for standardization within the Igala language.
1.3
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
The main aim of
this research is to carry out a study of dialectal variation in Igala language
and the factors influencing their existence. The specific objectives include;
(1) To determine the pattern of dialect
variation in the rural speech community of the Igala people.
(2) To unravel the reasons for dialect
variation in the Igala speech community.
(3) To determine the factors that affects
the standardization of a language.
1.4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions were
formulated to guide this study.
(1) What are the patterns of dialect
variations found in Igala language?
(2) What are the factors that affects the
standardization of a language?
(3) What are the causes of variation in the
Igala language?
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