Linguistics & African Languages
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Item Revisiting the mother-tongue medium controversy(Montem Paperbacks, Akure, 2010) Fadoro, J. O.A number of studies carried out on 'Primary School Dropouts' in Nigeria and elsewhere attributed the dropout phenomenon (which ranges from 40% to 60%) in certain countries to premature introduction of English as a language of instruction at the primary school. In the National Policy on Education (Revised in 1981), the mother-tongue medium policy was clearly and unambiguously stated for the first time. Since then, several experiments have been carried out to prove the efficacy of mother tongue as medium of instruction in the primary school. Notable among these is the Ife Six-Year Yoruba Primary-Project (SYYPP) 1970- 1975. This study provides answers to the following questions: (i) Are the proprietors of Private Nursery and Primary Schools aware of the mother-tongue medium policy? (ii) What is their attitude towards it? (iii) To what extent is the policy statement adhered to? (iv) If the policy is not-adhered to, what are the reasons given for not adhering to it? (v) What is the status of the so-called major languages and languages of the immediate community in these schools, that is, are they being taught as subjects? (vi) How many periods are allotted to them per week on the timetable, compared with exoglossic languages like English and French? (viii) What are the implications of all these on the so-called major languages of Nigeria and the languages of the immediate community? Answers to these questions form the basic thrust of this paperItem The Nigerian language policy: theory or practice?(The Linguistic Association of Nigeria, 2013) Fadoro, J. O.The language provision in the National Policy of Education (l977) prescribes among others that 'in the interest of national unity, each child should be encouraged to learn one of the three major languages' (i.e. Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba), Scholars have frowned at the language used in couching the recommendations. For instance, Bamgbose (2000b) opines that some 'escape-clauses' were woven into the recommendations, such that stakeholders in education can violate them with impunity. This study was carried out to find out whether the three major languages are being taught in secondary schools as subtly prescribed by the language policy. In the course of the study, thirty-five schools spread across three states - Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos - were sampled. Information gathered show that Yoruba is taught in all the schools, whereas Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba are taught only in four of them, while Igbo is taught in seven of them. From this, we deduced that only four schools teach the three major languages. Three of them are located in Lagos State while one is located in Oyo State. None of the schools visited in Ogun State teaches the three major languagesItem Collaboration and advocacy in the management of stroke induced speech disorders: aphasia as a case study(Manifold Grace Publications, Ibadan, 2016) Oluwadoro, J. O.; Awoniyi, E.Item New trends in personal names among pentecostals in south western Nigeria(West African Linguistic Society, 2016) Fadoro, J. O.Research attention has been devoted to personal names in different cultures all over the world. However, there is an emerging trend among the Pentecostals, which to the best of our knowledge has not been explored. This is the tendency to place more emphasis on how names sound, rather than the meanings of such names. This paper is devoted to this issue. Data were elicited from 20 parents (15 mothers and 5 fathers); overall 60 children with different names are reflected in the data. Halliday’s Systemic Functional Theory (SFT) formed the theoretical background of the paper. Here, the emphasis is on the function and use which the user of language makes it to perform. In this case, the aesthetic function has an over-riding precedence over other functions, such as religion, harmony with fathers' names, and family backgrounds. Even though, all these are reflected in the names examined, but the sound component is more pervasive than any other. The morphological analysis of the names also reflects that four morphological processes are involved. These are Prefixation, Alphabetism, Clipping and Composition. There is a subtle revolution in naming practices being precipitated/initiated by Pentecostal parentsItem Towards Akokoid orthographies(2012) Fadoro, J. O.Language contact between Akokoid and Yoruba has resulted in gradual shift from Akokoid. Thus, the speech forms subsumed under Akokoid now face a precarious problem of extinction in the near future. As a step towards the possibility of preserving these speech forms, previous scholars have prescribed the need to analyse and describe them as well as propose good orthographies for them. In response to this prescription, the present study proposes two orthographies for the Akokoid speech forms. Jules Gillieron and Edmond Edmont's pioneering theory of traditional dialectology, served as the theoretical framework. The University of Ibadan 400 wordlist was used to obtain data from 34 informants. Selection of informant was guided by the Acronym NORM(s) (Non-Mobile, Old, Rural, Males). In analyzing the data, Pike's discovery procedure in phonological analysis and Williamson's Orthographic Conventions were employed. Lexicostatistics conducted earlier revealed that Arigidi and Erushu are 88.5% cognate and are also mutually intelligible, so we classified them together as dialects of Arigidi. By contrast, the Owon varieties, comprising of Afa, Aje, Udo, Oge, Igashi and Uro are 81.0% cognate and they are mutually intelligible, therefore they are classified together as Owon. Two distinct but related languages within the nine speech forms were identified. These are Arigidi and OW9n, jointly referred to as Akokoid. As a result of their endangered status, there is need for harmonization and standardisation within each group. This paper responds to this need by providing two orthographies, one for Arigidi and the other for owon as a preliminary measure towards their preservation and use in educationItem The Possible sources of /z/ in AO(Yoruba Studies Association of Nigeria, 2012) Fadoro, J. O.The place of Ao among Yoruba dialects has been clearly identified in previous research. Its location within the South Eastern Yoruba (SEY) of Awobuluyi (1998) has been incontrovertibly established. However, the dialect has two phonemic consonants which distinguish it from the other dialects of Yoruba. These are /z/: The voiced alveolar fricative, and /λ/: The voiced post-alveolar fricative. This paper focuses on the possible source of /z/ in the sound system of Ao. Three possibilities are explored. These are: spirantisation, affrication and the effect of neighbouring Edoid languages. On the basis of phonological plausibility, the researcher cleaves to the first possibility spirantisation, otherwise known as fricationItem Phonological variation in Akokoid(The International Institute for Science, Technology and Education, 2013) Fadoro, J. O.This paper examines the process of language change occasioned by different phonological processes in the nine speech forms which scholars have given different names, such as Northern Akoko Cluster (Hoffman 1974), Akokoid (Akinkugbe 1978), Amgbe (Capo 1989), Arigidi – Amgbe (Akinyemi 2002) and Arigidi- Owon (Fadoro 2008b). These nine speech forms are Arigidi, Erushu, Afa, Oge, Aje (Ese), Udo, Oyin, Igashi and Uro all spoken in the present Akoko North-West Local Government with its headquarters in Oke-Agbe, Ondo State of Nigeria. Through the direct method of data elicitation, the Ibadan 400 wordlist was used to obtain data from 30 informants. Selection of informants was guided by the acronym (NORMs) (Non-mobile, Old, Rural, Males). The major finding of this research is the fact that the speech forms in question have undergone systematic changes over time. These changes have occasioned phonological variation within the group. Arigidi (which is made up of Arigidi and Erushu) has twenty phonemic consonants, whereas Owon (which comprises Afa, Oge, Aje, Udo, Oyin, Igashi and Uro) has twenty-two. This difference in the number of consonant phonemes coupled with different phonological processes, such as nasalisation, palatalisation, spirantisation, simplification of complex segments, vowel raising, changes in tonal pattern, etc have resulted in phonological variation across the speech forms. This paper is not only a state of the art report on language change motivated by phonological variation, it examines how phonological variation is produced by mechanical systematic sound changes, affecting the original sounds of the language and how these sound changes affect the language of different sectors of the speech community in different ways, thus producing variation where once was homogeneityItem Yoruba movies and the problem of subtitling(International Organization of Scientific Research, 2013) Fadoro, J. O.Yoruba movies producers seem to have devoted much attention to the visual quality and the thematic thrust of their works to the detriment of some seemingly unimportant aspect of their products. One of these neglected or underestimated aspects is the issue of subtitles, the written translations of the dialogues in English Language. This paper selects seven Yoruba movies for a detailed evaluation. Errors in concord, spelling, tense, aspect and wrong selection of words are very rampant in these movies such that one wonders why such neglect and carelessness should be allowed in such movies that are very rich in thematic thrusts and excellent in visual quality. These errors are not only highlighted, they are discussed, analysed and attempts have been made to propose what should have been the correct versions of the wrong translations that are pointed out. This paper throws a big challenge to films producers to pay attention to this important issue and allow specialists in different areas so that their products will not be lacking in qualityItem Nativisation of Arabic names: the Yoruba language as a case study(Global Journals Inc, USA, 2014) Fadoro, J. O.One unique characteristic feature of the Yoruba language, spoken in South Western Nigeria is that when words are borrowed into it from other languages, such words are nativised. Some scholars have discussed the rules that apply in such cases. However, this kind of study has not been extended to Arabic names borne by Yoruba people (to the best of my knowledge). This paper therefore discusses the rules that apply on some of these names. Thirty Arabic names are purposively selected for discussion here. The theoretical framework adopted is natural phonology which operates with phonological processes that are deemed to constitute natural responses of human vocal and perceptual systems to the difficulties encountered in the production and perception of speech. Yoruba speakers apply some phonological rules on Arabic names in an attempt to make them conform to the syllable patterns of the Yoruba language. Vowel insertions of two kinds take place. The first kind is epenthetic in nature, because it involves the insertion of an extra medial vowel to break consonant clusters. The other kind takes place at the word final position. This is done to prevent consonants from ending names since the Yoruba syllable structure is essentially an open oneItem Akokoid comparative wordlist(Council for Innovative Research, 2014) Fadoro, J. O.Akokoid, in this paper, refers to the nine speech forms which are spoken in Akoko North-West Local Government Area of Ondo State in South-Western Nigeria. These speech forms are Arigidi, Erushu, Afa, Oge, Aje, Udo, Oyin, Igashi and Uro. Since the 1970‟s, scholars have lumped these speech forms together as dialects of the same language without any detailed lexicostatistic investigation. Thus, the major objective of this paper is to determine whether the speech forms are really dialects of the same language through lexicostatistic analysis. Data were collected from 34 informants spread across the nine geographical areas where the speech forms are spoken through the direct interview method. In analyzing these data, Swadesh‟s principles of lexicostatistics were used. The lexicostatistic figures reveal that Arigidi and Erushu are 88.5% cognate, so they are classified as dialects of Arigidi. Afa, Oge, Aje, Udo, Oyin, Igashi and Uro are 81% cognate, so they are classified as dialects of the same language called Ọwọn (meaning „tongue‟). Two distinct but fairly related languages were identified within the nine speech forms. These are Arigidi and Ọwọn, jointly referred to as Akokoid by virtue of their Akoko root. Therefore, there is no justification for lumping them together as dialects of a single language