Transcript 12th-I_ga_la_

Ígálà Language Studies and Development:
Progress, Issues and Challenges
Gideon Sunday Omachonu, PhD, AvHF
[email protected],[email protected]
+2348065309796, +2348058421956
Being the text of a paper presented at the 12th Igala
Education Summit held at Kogi State University,
Anyigba- Kogi State, Nigeria. 28th -29th Dec. 2012.
1
Preamble
As academics, scholars, linguists and Igala native speakers ,
my conviction is that we should be able to give an account of
our stewardship(s) in Igala language studies (scholarship,
research and publications as well as advocacy)over the years
as a way of showing people how we got to where we are
today in Igala studies (progress report),the problems, the
challenging issues and the need to chart a new course for
the study and development of the language especially in the
new age of ICT innovations. For instance, the big challenge
now is how to adequately document and sufficiently
describe/analyse the Igala language scientifically enough and
modernise it to compete favourably, at least, with fairly
documented and described languages in Nigeria. It may be
difficult but it is not an impossible task. This underscores the
aim of the present talk.
2
Introduction(1)
Language is a strong instrument of both ethnic and sociocultural identity. The development of any group of people
is directly a function of the extent to which their language
is properly harnessed for creative and productive thinking,
self-mobilization, mass communication and group identity.
It is to be noted that the advancement of any people (the
Igala people, for instance), the political destiny as well as
the survival of any race in Nigeria and elsewhere in the
world is directly tied to what the people can make of their
language. With Igala, for example, we, the speakers can
achieve co-operation, unity, understanding, social
cohesion, political awareness and healthy living. This is
clearly so because language is the phenomenon that makes
others possible. We shall return to this later as we present
more arguments on why we should study and develop our
own indigenous (Nigerian) languages.
3
Introduction(2)
No matter how good or well placed a language is,
harnessing it for both creative and productive thinking will
be a ‘far cry’ without the collective and concerted effort (a
show of commitment, passion and affection) by the users
in its overall development. The development of any
language is faster and more successful if it is subjected to
rigorous scholarly studies and investigations (research).
This, for now, is to a very large extent lacking in Igala
language, and the implications are quite obvious as we
shall mention later in our discussion. However, this is not
to suggest that nothing has ever been done or heard at all
of the Igala language in linguistic investigation. Besides
discussing the historical development of Igala language
studies over the years, it is my intention to highlight,
among other issues, some of the major research findings or
discoveries made so far in the study of Igala language.
4
The Structure of the Remaining Parts of this
Presentation
 Introducing the Igala language
 Possible Components of Igala language Studies
 The Historical Development of Igala Language Studies
 Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala
Language.
 Why We Should Study and Develop our own
Language(Igala)
 The Challeging Issues & Suggestions (recommendations)
 Concluding Remarks
5
Introducing the Igala Language:
Linguistic Map of Nigeria (Blench 2004)
6
Introducing the Igala Language: Language Classification
(Internal Structure of Niger-Congo, Blench 2004)
Proto-Niger-Congo
Kordofanian
Proto-Mande-Atlantic-Congo
Atlantic
Mande
Proto-Ijoid- Congo
Ijoid
Proto-Dogon-Congo
Dogon
Ijo
Defaka
Proto-Volta-Congo
North Volta-Congo
South Volta-Congo =Proto-Benue-Kwa
Nyo Left Bank West Ukaan
Benue
Congo
East
Benue
Congo
Oko
Yoruboid Akokoid
Nupoid Idomoid Igboid
Kainji
Ukaan Akpes
Edoid
Cross River Platoid
Yoruba IGALA Itsekiri
Bendi Delta Cross
Bantoid
7
Introducing the Igala Language
• Ígálà language belongs to the West Benue-Congo and
more precisely one of the ‘Yoruboid’ languages in
Nigeria. Other languages in the group are Yoruba and
Itsekiri. 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.
• The language is equally spoken in some communities
outside Kogi state: Èbú in Delta state, Ólóhí & Ìfèkwù in
Edo State, Ógwúrúgwú, Ọ̀jọ́, Ìgá & Àsàbá in Enugu State,
Òdòkpè, Ńjàm, Ìnọ́mà, Àlá, Ìgbédọ̀, Ónúgwá, Òdè,
Ìgbòkènyi & Ìlá in Anambra State (See Omachonu
2011a&b).
• It is a register tone language with 3 basic tonemes
(H,M,L), isolating with agglutinative features, basically
SVO, marks aspect but no grammatical tense, major
word classes include nouns & verbs.
8
Possible Components of Igala Language Studies (1)
• Igala studies as a whole is a highly unlimited
academic endeavour or enterprise as it includes
the language, the people, their history and
culture as well as the investigation and/or
application of anything Igala in any field of
human endeavour. Therefore in what follows, we
shall concentrate more on language studies.
• As outlined in Omachonu (2000), Igala language
studies like any other language comprise three
major components: language, literature, history
and culture.
9
Possible Components of Igala Language Studies(2)
• Language: the study of the grammar of the language involves
the following levels of analysis: speech (phonetics and
phonology) which studies the sound system of the language in
terms of its vowels, consonants, tones, syllable structures and
phonotactics as well as phonological processes in the language.
• Next to speech is the study of forms and structures of words
and sentences as obtainable in morphology (compounding,
derivation & inflections) and syntax of the language including
lexical as well as grammatical categories, basic word order and
sentence formation (especially question formation, serial verb
constructions, split verbs, information structure especially topic,
focus etc) , semantics, pragmatics and discourse analysis in
Igala. Besides, it may extend to vocabulary development,
composition writing, comprehension, translation and dictations
for language learning exercises.
10
Possible Components of Igala Language Studies (3)
• Literature as a major aspect of the study will involve a
general survey of the various literary modes (genres) in
the forms of prose, poetry and drama (oral and/or
written) including figures of speech and literary/sound
devices. It includes introducing Igala oral literature
(sources, forms, characteristics and functions) as well as
oral prose forms such as myth, legend, folktale, folklore,
proverbs, riddles, and so on; oral dramatic forms like
music/dance/song, festivals, religious rituals and children
games, then oral poetic forms such as children's poems,
lullaby, funeral poems, chants, incantations, praise
poetry, game poems and so on. One can also look at the
written forms if there are; the historical development of
Igala written literature and a survey of the various
documented literary modes in the forms of prose, poetry
and drama in Igala.
11
Possible Components of Igala Language Studies (4)
• History and culture as the third major aspect will
dwell on the traditions of origin of the Igala people
and the history of the kingdom. It includes a study
of their traditional institutions (social, economic,
religious and political), e.g. Igala life and institutions,
family structures, marriage, greetings, mode of
dressing, social and moral core values of the Igala
society, and so on. This aspect will also look at
important towns & villages in Igala kingdom and
major events in their history and civilization,
chieftaincy institutions, royal dynasty (Ata, Eje,
Achadu, onu and others), Igala heroes, heroines and
important personalities in history.
12
The Historical Development of Igala Language Studies
1848-1990s (1)
• The first published account of the Igala language was in
Rev. John Clarke’s Specimens of Dialects in 1848.
• In 1935, W.T.A. Philpot published an article entitled: Notes
on the Igala. Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies,
University of London, Vol. 7, No. 4. 897-912.
• Armstrong (1951) presented a paper entitled, ‘IGALA: A
Preliminary Report with Word List’ at the Institute of
African Studies, University of Ibadan, and in 1965, he
published comparative wordlists of Igala and Yoruba
(appeared in JWAL vol.2 no.2, 51-78).
• Fresco (1969). The Tones of the Yoruba and Igala Disyllabic
noun prefix (appeared in JWAL vol.6 no.1, 31-34).
• Silverstein (1973) in particular, wrote a Ph.D. thesis on
‘Igala Historical Phonology’ at the University of California,
Los Angeles (See Armstrong & Miachi, 1986).
13
The Historical Development of Igala Language Studies (2)
• Akinkugbe, O. O. 1976. ‘An Internal Classification of the
Yoruboid Group (Yoruba, Itsekiri, Igala)’. The Journal of
West African Languages, XI,2 ,1-19.
• -------------------------- 1978. ‘A Comparative Phonology of
Yoruba (dialects), Itsekiri and Igala’. Unpublished PhD
Thesis, Department of Linguistics and African Languages,
University of Ibadan.
• The search for orthography: 1951 the first orthography
meeting was conveyed at Anyigba and the second, the
1984 Igala orthography committee meeting held at Idah
(a crucial one for that matter) where certain vital and
valid decisions were taken.
14
The Historical Development of Igala Language Studies (3)
• The standard Igala orthography emerged in 1986 and
was approved as published by the then National
Language Centre, Lagos, under the Ministry of Education.
The approved orthography has the following 32 letters
(Armstrong & Miachi, 1986:45-46): (1)
a b ch d
e
ẹ
f
g
gb
gw h I
j k kp
kw l
m
n
ng nm nw ny
o ọ p
r
t
u
nwu w
y
• Dr. Tom Miachi, between 1984 and 1985 organized three
National Seminars/Workshops on Igala language utilizing
the services of linguists and language experts like
Professors R. Armstrong and Eugene Bunkoroske, Dr. Alex
Iwara, Dr. (Mrs.) Femi Akinkugbe and Mr. R. Koops.
15
The Historical Development of Igala Language Studies (4)
• The study of the Igala language at the NCE level
started first at the College of Education, Kastina-Ala
in Benue state in the 1987/88 academic session
• In the 1990/91 academic session, the Department of
Nigerian Languages was established at the Kogi State
College of Education, Ankpa where Igala, Hausa and
Igbo were introduced. And finally, each of these
languages became an autonomous department in
the college in the 1996 /1997 academic session.
16
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• From the 1980s to the present a few works have appeared
on Igala language studies in particular as well as other
aspects of Igala studies in the forms of journal articles,
monographs, books and research projects or theses in
tertiary institutions across the country by scholars both nonnative and the native using native intuition or limited
linguistic knowledge.
• Major recent research findings in Igala language studies
(esp. research works by native linguists) on aspects of the
grammar of Igala (Omachonu 2000, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008,
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, Atadoga 2007, Ejeba, 2008, 2009,
2011, 2012 and Ikani 2010) could be briefly outlined below:
• That Igala language has thirty (30) phonemic sounds made
up of twenty three (23) consonants and seven (7) vowels as
against thirty two (32) published in the Igala orthography of
1986 (See Omachonu 2000, 2001, 2011).
17
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• From the consonant and vowel distributions, the clear
cut syllable structures of Igala have been identified in
the forms of (V, CV and CVV) but the most common is
(CV). This is because (CV) has the widest distribution as
it is found word initially, medially and finally. The syllable
structure and phonotactics of the language reveal that
although it permits vowel sequence, it does not allow
consonant clusters. Even the vowel sequence as allowed
in Igala language is restricted to vowel /i/ occurring
either before or after another vowel e.g. (2):
ábίá
‘dog’
kpàί ‘and’
épìò
‘mud’
òlái ‘soul/life’
èbie
‘seven’
àìlò ‘fear’
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Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• Igala maintains predominantly open syllable
structure, which means that consonants do not
occupy syllable or word final position except the
syllabic velar nasal (ŋ) as in (3):
3: éun [έŋ]‘ thing’
ùjèun[ùʤεŋ] ‘food’
òun [òŋ] ‘he/she/it’.
Notice that the syllabic nasal in the examples above
maintains constant mid tone irrespective of the tone
of the preceding segment (See also Omachonu 2000,
2001a, 2003).
19
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• In addition, nouns are mainly vowel initial
whereas verbs are predominantly consonant
initial as shown in the data below (4):
Noun
Verb
óma
‘child’
jẹ
‘to eat’
àtá
‘father’ mì ‘ to swallow’
áji
‘river’
jί
‘to steal’
éwó
‘goat’
mọ ‘to drink’
20
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• Even the so called glottal fricative /h/ is highly
restricted to occurring only before high front
unrounded vowel /i/ in the language thus (5):
hì ‘to cook’
ìhìòló ‘catrarrh’
òhì ‘answer ’
òhìmìnì ‘sea’
àhίmá ‘louse’
àwóhì
‘left’
ùhìa ‘tiredness’
21
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
Igala as a register tone languag uses the three basic register tones
(tonemes) of High, Mid and low contrastively to perform both
lexical and syntactic functions in the language (See Omachonu
2001a: 97 – 98). (6):
i. áwó ‘guinea fowl’
ii. ákpá‘
cloud’
àwò
‘star’
àkpà
‘Muslim’
àwó
‘a slap’
àkpá
‘insect’
àwō
‘comb’
ákpà
‘hard wood’
áwò ‘
a hole’
ǎkpà
‘maize’
áwō
‘an increase’
iii.
Ì
lè
‘he went’
Í
lè
‘he has gone’
However, the language does not allow mid tone word initially for
noun class words as well as a co-occurrence of two mid tones in
bisyllabic nouns.
22
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• Ejeba (2009) repots that whereas independent words are
fully toned in isolation, tone is assigned to clitics only in
syntactic positions, to express syntactic distinctions for
subjects, objects and genitive phrases, to express tense,
aspect, mood (TAM) and negation on subject clitics, and to
specify the semantic role of non-pronominal enclitics.
• It has been observed also that /h/ and /r/ word finally
especially in personal names such as Attah, Abbah, Adejoh,
Akoh/Akor, Achor in Igala are unacceptable; likewise the
double ‘tt’ and ‘bb’ in Attah and Abbah respectively. This is
because apart from the fact that the language does not
permit consonant clusters, it is an attempt to force the
English language system on Igala (Anglicization of the Igala
orthography) (see Etu 1999, Omachonu 2000, 2001).
23
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• Consequent upon these discoveries, the following
spelling reforms have been recommended in the
affected name of persons, places or things as shown in
the data below (7):
Unacceptable Acceptable Unacceptable Acceptable
Attah/ Atah
Àtá
Egudah
Égwúda
Akoh/Akor
Ákọ
Eguche
Égwúchẹ
Attaboh/Atabor Àtábọ Oguche
Ògwùchẹ´
Abbah/Abah
Àbá
Ogu
Ógwū
Adejor/Adejoh Ádé ̣jó Uku
Úkwú
Akuboh
Àkwúbọ̀ Egume
Ègwúmẹ́
24
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• The taxonomic categorization of words into parts
of speech like noun, pronoun, verb, adverb,
adjective,
preposition,
conjunction,
and
interjection, though it may work perfectly for
English, may not be so with Igala language. For
instance, it could be argued that there are only
two open word classes or major parts of speech
in Igala namely, nouns and verbs. All others are
either derived from these two or exist just as
small groups of words in the language.
25
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
The use of nouns, especially parts of the body as prepositions (8):
Word
Gloss
Prepositional Value
ójί
‘head’
on
éfù
‘stomach”
in, inside
ùbì
‘back”
‘behind
ọ́gbá
‘front’
before
ọ́wọ́
‘hand’
side
Owing to the fewness of conjunctions and prepositions, the Igala language, at
times, resorts to serial verb constitutions (SVC). Serial Verb Constructions or
Verb Serialization refers to a string of verbs or verb phrases within a single
clause that express simultaneous or immediately consecutive actions, have a
single grammatical subject, have no overt connective markers, and are
understood as having the same grammatical categories (see Baker 1989) (see
also Omachonu 2006, 2011, 2012, Ejeba 2011.
(9) I mu
ọ́kọ́
gba (du) je̩
S V
N(Obj) V
V
V
He catch/carry money receive carry eat ‘He collected & embezzled the money’
26
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• Igala exhibits several morphological processes such as
affixation (including prefixation, suffixation infixation, and
suprafixation), reduplication, calquing (desententialization),
clipping, compounding and borrowing (see Omachonu
2001b:60-64). However, unlike English, Igala lends itself more
to derivational than inflectional morphology. Besides,
suffixation which is highly productive in English morphology is
hardly attested in Igala Language. (10):
Prefix
Root/stem Word
Gloss
é
kó̩che̩
ékó̩che̩
‘leaning’
-ing
to learn
ùkó̩che̩
ùkó̩che̩
‘lesson’
‘art of’
to learn
áKó̩che̩
ákó̩che̩
‘leaner/ student’
agent
to learn
27
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
Plural formation for nouns and verbs in Igala. The use of verbs
like ‘ko’ and ‘jo̩’ signal plural formation in the following
sentences (11):
du wa ‘carry/bring SGL come’
du tinyo̩ ‘throw SGL away’
ko wa ‘carry/bring PL come’
ko rinyo̩ ‘throw PL away’
I de̩ emi ‘he/she/it SGL is here’
ma jo̩ emi ‘they PL are here’
• On noun plural formation in particular, it has been observed
that whereas the ‘am(a)’ morpheme normally used as nominal
compound for plural formation is animate restricted, ‘ab(o)’
morpheme is human specific and for the non-animates, plural
formation takes the forms of reduplication, the use of plural
verbs, as shown above (see Etu 1999; Omachonu 2003, 2011).
(12): ákúko̩ ‘teacher’
àmákúko̩
‘teachers’
ónè̩ ‘person’
àmonè̩
‘persons (people)’
ẹ́la
‘animal’
àme̩la
‘animals’
28
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
• The Use of ‘ab (o)’ as plural marker (esp. for human
common nouns): (13):
(ii) Singular
Plural
ó̩ne̩kè̩le̩ ‘male/man’
àbókè̩le̩ males/men
ónobùle̩‘female/woman’ àbókùle̩ ‘females/women’
ògìjo
‘elder’
àbógìjo ‘elders’
ímo̩to̩
‘child’
àbímo̩to̩ ‘children’
29
Major Research Findings from the Study of Igala Language
•
•
•
•
•
Others for Further Reading
Omachonu (ed.) (2011). Igala Language Studies. A ten
chapter book published in Germany last year covering major
aspects of the grammar as well as other related issues such
as literature, history and culture, Igala traditional education,
and so on.
Recent contributions by some non-native linguists
/expatriates
Dr J F Ilori (2010). PhD thesis on Yoruba and Igala nominal
constructions
Driemel Imke (2011). MA thesis on Igala syntax at Humboldt
University, Berlin, Germany.
Esther Nordman (2012), Morakinyo Ogunmodimu, on-going
PhD research at Tulane University, USA and other scholars
or researchers across the globe.
30
Why We Should Study and Develop our own Language(Igala)
• As it has been argued earlier, part of the reasons we should study
and develop our own indigenous languages include the fact that:
 Language is at the heart of the development process of whatever
kind in any community or nation. It serves as the key link between
all the realms that make up a community: wealth, power, value
system, self-definition and evaluation of a community (Ngugi
2008). Language is a strong instrument of both ethnic and sociocultural identity and the development of any group of people is
directly a function of the extent to which their language is studied
and developed. As it stands, any race whose language is not
adequately documented and used for any literary or serious
academic or literacy purpose has no real identity; such a race is
decadent.
 The development of any language is faster and more successful if
it is subjected to rigorous scholarly studies and investigations
(research), publications in scholarly books and journals as well as
advocacy.
31
Why We Should Study and Develop our own Language(Igala)
 Igala has been at a serious disadvantage in terms of linguistic
scholarship or investigation over the years. For instance the
following foundation publications on African/Nigerian
languages and linguistics have no information on Igala
• Westermann & Ward (1933). Practical Phonetics for Students of
African Languages.
• Ladefoged (1964). Phonetic Study of West African Languages
equally excluded the language in that comprehensive survey
covering about sixty-one (61) West African languages.
• Dunstan (1969). Twelve Nigerian Languages
• Heine & Nurse (eds.) (2000). African Languages: An
Introduction
• Aikhenvald & Dixon (eds.) (2006). Serial Verb Constructions
• Yusuf (ed.) (2007). Basic Linguistics for Nigerian Languages
Teachers
• Aboh & Essegbey (eds.) (2010). Topics in Kwa Syntax
32
Why We Should Study and Develop our own Language(Igala)
• Several factors may account for the slow or lack of heartwarming progress in the study of Igala language and the
corresponding slow pace of development in the language. First,
the language is not a major language in Nigeria and therefore
does not receive the attention accorded the three major
Nigerian languages; Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
• Secondly, there are only a few native speakers of the language
who are linguists or have the required linguistic training with
which to rise up to the challenges of advancing the study and
overall development of the language.
• Besides, research has shown that the negative language
attitude of most native speakers towards the study of the
language as a school subject, together with the corresponding
lack of incentives from the government(s) and well-placed
individuals, among other factors, has impeded the wind of
progress in his direction (See Omachonu 2011). We shall return
to this later as we discuss some challenging issues associated
with Igala language studies and development.
33
Why We Should Study and Develop our own Language(Igala)
 At present, Igala is not taught in schools as it should neither is it
used as a medium of instruction in schools, it is listed among
Nigerian languages without curriculum and it is not taken at any
public examination.
• The earlier we realized that knowledge of language is
knowledge in its totality and that mother tongues are the
fountain 'head' of creative thinking, and then concentrate on
the study and development of our own, the better and more
rewarding for us.
• There is a growing awareness or realism among language
experts that linguistic attribute can influence learning and in
turn attracts economic advantage. As Haruna (2012: 11) has
argued:
Language is looked at as human capital and the language skills of an individual
are interpreted as a source of educational and economic advantage. Individuals
and nations who are not able to use their languages for all their main
transactions of their daily lives, they are doomed to life of dependency in the
shadow of the languages of the colonizer (see also Djite 1993, Prah 1996).
34
Why We Should Study and Develop our own Language(Igala)
 Besides, the study and development of the Igala language, for
instance, will lead to massive job creation (8,668 needed to
teach Igala, Yoruba, and Hausa at primary JSS & SSS in Kogi
state 2009/2010 session, c.f. Federal Ministry of Education
2011, pg. 58) , reposition Igala children to knowing and
appreciating their language and rich cultural heritage. It will
equally halt the endangerment of the language and reposition
it to compete favourably with well studied, documented and
developed languages in Nigeria- Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Efik and a
few others.
 The efforts at Igala language studies and development will not
only expose the Igala community to the tradition of reading
and writing but would ensure safe keeping of somewhat
permanent records and preservation of our core values and
cherished cultural heritage and practices. In addition, we could
secure or keep our top secrets in our mother tongue as a
security strategy against the enemy(ies) and/or foreigners.
35
Why We Should Study and Develop our own Language(Igala)
• Other reasons we should engage in the study and development
of the Igala language are:
 To raise the sociolinguistic profile of the language. I share the
opinion of Awobuluyi (2012:5-6) that what will help us in
raising the profile of the low esteem indigenous languages is to
first empower them both linguistically and politically and then
remove every obstacle ‘in the way of evolving in our midst
strong traditions of publishing respected and treasured works
of scholarship and literary creativity in them‘. As it has been
argued further, only such respected scholarly traditions can
help raise them above ‘the orbit of low variety speech forms in
which they are currently stuck‘.
 To ensure that Igala language survives possible future
subjugation or foreseeable future threats. A well-entrenched
and time-honoured tradition of scholarly and literary writing in
Igala could protect the language against any future threats of
endangerment or permanent linguistic subjugation (see also
Awobuluyi 2012b).
36
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
• As pointed out earlier (in the preamble), documenting
the Igala language adequately and describing or
analysing it sufficiently and scientifically enough and
modernising it to compete favourably, at least, with
fairly documented and described languages in Nigeria
may be an uphill task. It is not without some
challenges. Even at that it is not an impossible task.
Unfortunately, Igala language study today, all said and
done, is faced with some difficulties or challenges
especially in terms of scholarship and its overall
development. Some of the challenges include:
• (i) Apathy towards mother tongue and the problem of
dialect variations
• (ii) Issues in language standardization and the variety
to study and develop
37
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
• (iii) Lack of standard source materials for language
teaching and learning e.g. comprehensive syllabus
and/or curriculum, primers, textbooks and other
instructional materials.
• (iv) Lack of qualified language teachers and/or native
speaker linguists
• (v) Inconsistencies, controversies and recent changes in
the Igala orthography
• (vi)Lack of adequate knowledge and linguistic skills for
language documentation and description
• (vii) Lack of incentives from the government and other
stake-holders (individuals and groups).
38
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
• In spite of these problems or challenges, my attitude
is that instead of allowing discouragement to weigh
us down, we should allow the challenges to spark
off interest in us as we encourage research in the
language; beleiving that the best way out of a
problem is to find an endeuring solution. It is against
this background that we proffer the following
suggestions or recommendations as a way of
collectively charting a new course for Igala language
studies and development:
39
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
 Considering the chaotic linguistic situation in Nigeria in which
over 400 indigenous languages compete for space and
recognition, it is imperative we embrace our own and hold it
very close to our chests by turning off our hitherto gross
negative language attitude and concentrating on its study and
development. Igala language is the real identity that we have as
a race or a people, therefore we cannot afford to toy with our
collective destiny.
 As Igala people, the only way we can achieve most of our
shared dreams for the development of the language is through
some joint and cast-iron commitment from us as academics
and native speakers of the language using our energy, time,
knowledge and resources of all descriptions. For instance,
against all odds or the challenges, Igala language is undergoing
some scientific study following the several attempts at language
studies and development reported earlier. However, these
40
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
dotted attempts need an umbrella body to serve as the regulating
agent for all that one says or does in the study of Igala language.
For instance, at present, people write Igala language ‘anyhow‘
without paying particular attention to certain writing conventions
and principles guiding presentation of data. The Igala language
needs a language development to champion the course of allround language development in Igala. I‘m happy to announce to
us the birth of Igala Studies Association (IGSA) and I wish to invite
all Igala sons and daughters especially core acdemics irrespective
of the discipline to be part of the association. The maiden annual
conference of the association comes up in April 2013 at the Kogi
State College of Education, Ankpa (the flyers and posters
announcing the conference are being distributed. Eunsure you get
one and make it a duty to invite others because we are sure you
will attend). Membership is open to all (including non-native
speakers) who are genuinely interested in the study and
development of any area/aspect of Igala studies.
41
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
• Faithful implementation of the provisions of the National Policy on
Education for mother tongue education in Igala speaking areas of
the state. It could come as Igala in Schools Project (IISP) just like
the Nupe in Schools Project (NISP). Collecitvely we could impress it
on the government through the Ministry of Education to
commence the implementation of mother tongue education in
Igala land, especially at the primary school level and even at junior
secondary schools to start with. This is imperative because the
mother tongue as the fountain head of creative thinking
constitutes and remains the foundation for the child’s other
language experiences and learning in life (see Awobuluyi 2012).
• The Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN) has been deeply
concerned about this and has recently written a position paper on
this to the Hon. Minister of Education on ‘Massive Job Creation
through Faithful Implementation of the Provisions of the National
Policy on Education’ (15th September, 2011).
42
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
LAN has also submitted a memo to the Chairman, Senate
Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution on a similar
position concerning mother tongue education and other linguistic
issues that deserve constitutional attention (29th May, 2012).
 Apart from a collective change of attitude, we could empower the
language politically by actively promoting it as a social property
through the following means: purposefully developing it, actively
teaching it as school subject and teaching other subjects in it as
supported by the appropriate government policies and making it a
required instrument for access to political and material rewards
such as employment, promotion, appointments and training
opportunities.
 As a medium of instruction in schools and medium of
communication in administration at various levels and in the key
sectors of the state economy, we must pay attention to the
modernization and expansion of the vocabulary to enable it to
cope with such demanding functions. This could be achieved by
encouraging and promoting guided research and publications in
the language and developing meta-language for it as well.
43
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
 In addition to putting in place a language development
association and establishing language study and development
centre(s) for Igala and other languages in Kogi state, tertiary
institutions especially the university can be a very strong and
effective instrument in language study and development. The
university has the required expertise in trained linguists and
language specialists who can competently handle issues in
language studies and development as well as language policy
matters. The university also has needed funds voted annually to
sponsor rsearch in such areas of need and common interest.
Considering the roles that a language such as Igala plays in the
community as it relates to the transmission of knowledge, values
and other know-hows, no research can be more relevant than
that in language designed to achieve and enhance the
communicative and expressive powers of human language.
44
The Challeging Issues and Suggestions/
Recommendations
• The university owes it as a duty to concentrate on the
study and development of a language or languages within
its immediate environment. As it were, establishing a
Department of Languages and Linguistics in our own
university here, the Kogi State University will help us realise
most of our shared dreams for the study and development
of Igala.
 Lastly, there is a lot that individuals and groups can do on
the path to the study and development of the Igala
language. If each of us either as individual or group were to
engage in some hands-on activites towards meaningful
study and development of the language in our respective
chosen areas of research or endeavours, there would be
much more to show for Igala language studies and its
overall development as well as the rich cultural heritage
that we have hitherto been ignoring to our peril.
45
Concluding Remarks
• I‘m quite convinced that with commitment, time, and sufficient
financial resources, any language at all can be studied and
developed to the level of a viable and effective means of
communication and medium of instruction.
• However, if after all said and done, there are still some iota of
doubt left in some of us concerning the feasibility of charting a
new course for Igala studies and development, I leave such
doubting minds with the following as ‘ food for thought ’. The
first is an anecdote and the second, a charge.
i. A little boy had read numerous stories about various life-anddeath struggles between a man and lion. But no matter how
ferociously the lion fought, each time the man emerged
victorious. This puzzled the boy, he asked his father, ‘why is it,
Daddy, that in all these stories, the man beats the lion, when
everybody knows that the lion is the toughest cat in the
jungle?‘
46
Concluding Remarks
• The father answered, ‘Son, those stories will always end
like that until the lion learns how to write‘ (culled from
Killens, 1965:46).
• ii. Recall that individuals and nations who are not able to
use their languages for all their main transactions of their
daily lives are doomed to life of dependency in the shadow
of the languages of the colonizer. Whereas our forefathers
may be excused because they apparently did not have this
privilege, opportunity and the benefit of early contact with
any writing systems as well as the awareness, there may
be no excuse for us and our children because we have
heard and have seen.
• In all, whether we realise our dreams for the study and
development of the Igala language depends entirely on
our determination and commitment or lack of it; what we
do or fail to do as individuals and as a people.
47
Thank you for your attention
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