Uma ne Edo hia no re Sipeni(Spain)

Before African languages become extinct

By Sun News Publishing

Sunday, June 1, 2008

In the recent past, articles in newspapers and magazines at home and abroad have written on the probable extinction of Africa's indigenous languages. Although this is a major source of concern, there has been no significant rescue.

Blazing Ideas is however introducing into the market, three language learning materials namely books, CDs and Flashcards for the continual existence of these languages. The African Language Made Easy series, African Phonics Flashcard series and African Language Made Easy series Audio-series, all in three indigenous languages, are Blazing Ideas' debut line of products, created to enrich the indigenous language vocabulary of students, readers, and professionals. And they are made in the best learning materials, which meet the evolving global standards.

1. The African Language Made Easy series comprising six books in three different indigenous languages.

2. The African Phonics Flashcard series in three different indigenous languages.

3. The African Language Made Easy series, audio-series comprising three beautifully packaged audio-CDs, which are replicas of the audio-CD's that accompany the book. They are done separately to counter its piracy and also for affordability, as it would be sold at reduced cost compared to the book. All the narrative and sound (songs) features in the book edition will be in it also.

Dr. Lolade Otitoloju, the founder of Blazing Ideas explains that the creative team who work on the  edutaining materials together are professionals from different parts of the country. She expressed optimism in the project restoring hope in the local language.  Losing a language is like losing one s identity. I noticed that many of the children of our generation speak little or nothing of their local languages. Initially, I started this project for my daughter, but I think there are many people out there who want to teach their children how to speak their native language too.

We will release more product lines in other African languages soon. We believe in what we do, and we think that African children should be able to learn their native languages, with as much fun as they will learn the English language. What we intend is to make learning native language as much fun as possible. Basically, all our materials are interactive, and we are confident that this approach will work to great effect.

The Executive Director of the African Languages Technology Initiative, Dr Tunde Adegbola also expresses the hope that the product line "is coming at a time when wide debate over the importance of our indigenous languages is being argued.

While this approach to learning African languages may seem relatively new, Otitoloju expresses that she is confident that these product lines will translate into increased applications from these groups.

CONCEPT

Blazing Ideas Blazing Ideas Limited was established for the advancement and dissemination of African Indigenous Languages with particular emphasis on Nigerian Languages through several interactive media and materials.The company intends to design, develop, publish and distribute globally, innovative electronic language learning solutions on handheld devices, memory media cards, and via internet downloads. As an international quality African-language publishing house and a market and business research firm, Blazing Ideas has license to publish, in electronic format, reference titles, including monolingual dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and various other education and trade publications.

Blazing Ideas is founded by Dr. Lolade Otitoloju. She is a graduate of College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (M.B.B.S) with a Diploma in Tropical Medicine & Infectious Diseases and Masters in Public Health from the University of London (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine).

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/124>

Challenges of rescuing Edo language

By Francis Onoiribholo, Senior Correspondent, Benin

INDEPENDENT

Culture has been acknowledged as the way of life of a people and that language is indisputably the very first index of cultural affinity. Creation has been specific and unbiased by allocating a portion of mother earth to every linguistic group, no matter the size or political relevance. Even as late into creation as 1948, a portion still needed to be carved out for the perpetual freehold of a race, culture, movement and creed.

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly designated the year 2008 as the International Year of Languages in full realisation that some vulnerable languages need protection from slow death. The UN therefore mandated the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) to ensure that every language is supported to survive the onslaught and oppression of neighbouring or colonising languages of higher populations or superior political ideologies.

Institute for Benin Studies, a non-governmental and non-profit organisation is dedicated to providing information and knowledge to the people of Edo to enable them contribute meaningfully to self and community development. In a retreat for Edo Language Users, which had participants from the media, educational institutions of both the secondary and tertiary and other stakeholders, the Institute interpreted the United Nations mandate and upheld her aspiration. It recently devoted substantial energy, time and resources to reviving the dying Edo Language because the visible attenuation in the contemporary use of the language needed to be arrested and reversed.

Speaking at the retreat, which took place at the Bishop Kelly Pastoral Centre, Benin City, the Secretary of the Institute, Mr. Aiko Obobaifo, described Benin as the cradle of Black Civilization but regretted that this same Benin was in dire need of a leadership that would return the kingdom and even the extent of the empire at its height to its days of glory. The reduction of Nigeria's numerous languages to mere three was blamed for the inadvertent disinterestedness being displayed towards the other languages and this, it was observed, had done incalculable damage to Edo Language.

Obobaifo characteristically admonished that "our collective apathy has done innumerable damage to our enviable patrimony - vilifying giants while Lilliputians get glorified and conferred with undeserved honours". Besides the external threat to the development and propagation of the language, internal problems are identified to constitute a large proportion of the negative response that Edo Language is now seemingly getting from the people. This no doubt would have prompted Obobaifo to further posit that, "we must reassess our value system and roundly condemn the emerging culture of bowing to the leadership of miscreants through intimidation" . When people, who largely do not appreciate the need for academic or literary pursuit, are compulsorily foisted on the people, they are not expected to champion a cause to further or promote literary development, he said.

The government was urged, therefore, to ensure that the policy on the use of the mother tongue for instruction in the first two years of primary school is strictly enforced by the Universal Basic Education Board and the Ministry of Basic Education.

The Isekhure of Benin Kingdom, Chief Nosakhare Isekhure, also observed that there was marked decline in the enrolment of students willing to study Edo Language as a course at the University of Benin and College of Education, Ekiadolor. While Prof. Osayuki Oshodi of the Faculty of Education, University of Benin, confirmed that there were adequate opportunities for the study of Edo Language, he nonetheless blamed the non-utilisation of this opportunity on the societal value the people have placed on graduates of these institutions.

To corroborate this societal neglect, the Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Okhaemwen D. U. Edebiri, extended his reasons for the non-attractiveness of the study of Edo Language to the government that refused to offer employment to the graduates. Even when it is indisputably acknowledged that trained Edo Language manpower is in acute short supply, the few available ones do not get employed. This situation can hardly encourage others to read the course knowing full well that employment may not be available and this has discouraged quite a few intending students.

Therefore, the revival of the language that many are afraid might go into extinction must commence from the home front, extend to the wider society and get domesticated in schools. Every parent was admonished to ensure that the children speak their mother tongue from home, that is the first two and three years of the child's existence even before it gets into nursery, pre - kindergarten and kindergarten classes. Once the child becomes grounded in the mother tongue before the invasion of any foreign language, the devastating effect would not be as total as when there would be a complete vacuum for the invading foreign language to occupy instead of it having to struggle with the existing mother language before it is displaced.

Expressing same view, Dr. Victor Omozuwa of Department of Linguistics and African Languages in the Faculty of Arts, University of Benin, confirmed that having primary knowledge of the mother tongue was of immense benefit when studying any other language. Though he conceded that student enrolment in the department was low in respect of Edo Language, he argued that genuine encouragement of intending students by generous incentives and the opportunity of being gainfully employed at the end of their programmes are absolutely necessary to the expected growth, sustenance and propagation of Edo and other Nigerian languages.

Participants at the retreat included those from the electronic media, churches, mosques, National Orientation Agency (NOA), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Edo State Oil and Gas Development Commission (EDSOPADEC), the local government councils, the ministries of Basic Education, Justice, Arts, Culture and Tourism, Information and Orientation, the academia and indeed other serious stakeholders some of whom have written in Edo Language for upward of 40 years, many palace chiefs and some community leaders.

The well-attended event successfully attracted all and sundry because the collaborating and sponsoring Solomon Iyobosa Edebiri Foundation removed the financial burden of paying fees from the participants. There was a general demand that similar workshops/seminars and retreats on Edo Language and other areas of ethics and tradition be organised more frequently. The Institute for Benin Studies was highly commended for the initiative and the organisational skills displayed. The concluding singsong said: 'wa gia gha zedo!' meaning, 'Let us speak Edo Language'.

------------ ---

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/128>

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/133>

Native Language

It really is a saddening but growing lifestyle that some people have embraced thinking, that it is a pride to announce that their offspring canNOT or do NOT speak their native language.

One may not be proficient in his native language, let alone their dialect, but I still agree that it is important that parents raise their offspring to have at the very least an understanding of their own language. Such goof-ups result in parents making eye contacts/signals to their children in the presence of visitors only for such kids to respond, by asking if their parents have something in their eyes.

Some of us may not have had the opportunity to master the reading and writing of our native languages, because they weren't offered or were discontinued in our school curriculum, but most people I know that I schooled with all learned at the very least how to speak our native languages from our parents.

Presently, native languages are being included in the school curriculum beginning at elementary level, enabling today's children to have a better master of the native tongues of Nigeria in addition to the Queen's language which is the lingual franca of Nigeria, and I find this very commendable.

It's embarrassing when my 7 year old niece can read even the Yoruba language better than I can, and knows simple words like window, etc, which I simply assumed to be 'findow', because I probably heard it on the street somewhere when I was younger. I cringed and reflected on how much of my language I truly can teach my own offspring, considering I'm only good at speaking it, and get away with writing at times, by the mere fact that Nigerian languages share the use of the same alphabets as the English language.

For those who think or make the excuse that it would be confusing for their kids to learn an additional language, I think that's simply BULL. Growing up we had the OPTION of learning and speaking up to 3 languages, which consisted of our native languages, spoken in our homes, the Queen's English which we were taught both at home and in school, and a foreign language, usually French, which we were taught in school. Some people who attended schools where a native language was an option, sometimes chose that over French.

The bottom line is NONE of us grew up confused, most of us mastered, the Queen's English because it is the lingual Franca, and at the very least learned to understand and speak the other 2 languages, even if we weren't proficient at reading or writing them. Some of us even picked up the pidgin language as well as a little of other languages, be it Ibo, Yoruba or Hausa from our neighbours and friends. I don't think that our ability to understand up to 6 or 7 languages has confused us, even though we may not be proficient at reading or writing all the languages.

Those of us who migrated to the U.S. have even learned to pick up Spanish, as a 4th (or 7 or 8th) language, despite the fact that we may not necessarily be proficient in it, so what basis is there for the EXCUSE that learning to speak your native language will be confusing.

I think it's nothing but 'colo' if a parent thinks it's HIP or they're closer to being accepted in the Western world, by not teaching their children their native tongues. After all, most of us in the Diaspora were raised in Nigeria, mastered the Queen's English while growing up and schooling in NIGERIA, and till today read, write and speak better English than most of our Caucasian counterparts who were schooled only in English. Moreover, despite the fact that some Nigerians have deeper accents and may SOUND different, it does not detract from the fact that we do speak better grammatically than some of our American or other foreign counterparts. Everyone has an accent, regardless, because any intonation different and distinct to what one is used to hearing is what determines an accent foreign to them.

I too have some relatives whose children were raised to speak English only, although most understand their native language, and although I respect the choices of their parents and whatever their reasoning may be, I still think it's a disservice to their offspring, especially when their cousins are speaking in the native language and they cannot communicate with them, or fully understand what the conversation is about.

Generally, I also don't believe it's excusable regardless of where the children were raised, in or out of Nigeria, because there are kids who were raised in the Diaspora, some of whom have never been to Nigeria, who not only understand, but also speak their native language, and embrace their customs and cultures, because their parents took the time to make the effort to teach them.

Children raised in Nigeria who cannot speak the Nigerian language have been shortchanged, by their parents. While it may be the school's desire or responsibility to make sure students master the lingual franca, it is not their responsibility to teach a child to master his/her native language except they offer it on their curriculum and the child has chosen to value that opportunity.

Most people that grew up in Lagos may have missed the opportunity to learn their dialect, but at the same time gained from the multicultural environment because it provides the opportunity to learn several other languages in addition to ones native language as opposed to having grown up in ones native hometown.

I've learned more of my native language in the Diaspora than I mastered during my youth in Nigeria, but the language foundation that was previously laid for me, plus my eagerness to learn, helped me learn faster. I am not ashamed to ask what a word means, because I'll rather be enlightened, than ignorant, faking knowledge.  I'm not interested in pretending to be 'only English speaking' either, because I delight in the richness of my culture, my language and the uniqueness I'm afforded at being a Nigerian and an African.

Cxsm

5th April '04

� Cxsm 2004   All Rights Reserved

To read more and respond to the article visit http://naijapositiv e.myfastforum. org/about234. html

NaijaPositive

http://NaijaPositiv e.myfastforum. org

Dedicated to providing you with POSITIVE news and updates about Nigeria.

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/134>

Help, Nigerian languages are dying!

mi�rcoles, 26 de noviembre de 2008

14:36

Help, Nigerian languages are dying!

Editorial

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

The recent alarm by the Culture and Tourism minister, Chief Kayode Olatokunbo that some Nigerian languages are fading away because they are no longer being spoken by their people, has added to the growing fear that the nation is under the threat of cultural extinction.

One of the indicators of Nigeria�s uniqueness is the multiplicity of the languages spoken by its people. Nigeria is reputed to have over 450 languages and dialects, but it is an embodiment of its culture. Noting that a people�s culture is its identity, the loss of a language is symptomatic of the loss of the very culture of a people.

To lose a language is tantamount to the loss of not only cultural identity but also cultural heritage.

Over the years, Nigerians have been experiencing gradual, often ignored cultural imperialism which has seen the massive erosion of our traditional values and precepts. No doubt, the effect of the West on our society is strong, especially among the younger generation. In terms of dress codes and patterns, Nigerian youths have largely embraced the West at the expense of our traditional outfits, yet it is worse that even our languages will be lost too.

Unconsciously, the seed for the mortification of the languages were sown early in the day. Pupils, especially in the rural settings were forbidden from speaking their local languages--derogatorily branded as vernacular while in the class rooms. Ability to speak the Queen�s English thus became a social status-indicator.

It is even worse in the urban areas, where the major means of communication is the English Language. Those who are able to speak their mother tongues, do so with multiple code-switching. Indeed, even some parents have become so used to speaking the English language that they can barely converse in their local languages. Consequently, the language their children pick up first is the English Language or the pidgin version of it as the case may be.

As at today, several Nigerian children, especially in urban centres are only able to speak the English Language. What that means is that with a generation of Nigerians barely able to speak their mother tongue, such languages face strong threat of generational transfer. This is the basis of the alarm raised by the Culture and Tourism minister.

It is in an attempt to sustain and deepen the speaking of the languages that the nation�s education policy has stipulated that students must be exposed to at least one major Nigerian language at the junior and secondary school examinations.

But not only is the number of languages so chosen most unrepresentative of the array, it is even more ironic that in some cases, teachers even use English as a medium of teaching the local languages.

Former minister of Education, Prof Babatunde Fafunwa, had launched a campaign for instructions to be delivered in local languages. But it was a campaign that could not fly, essentially because of the shallow and restricted orthography of most Nigerian languages.

Indeed, if the local languages will be preserved, parents must begin to bring up their children speaking the local languages. Domestic communication should be done in the mother tongues, while the English Langauge is reserved as the language of business and officialdom. This will deepen the acquisition and promotion of the local languages.

Curriculum developers must also begin to broaden research into developing the languages of even smaller ethnic groups with a view to making them study-friendly, since they are far more prone to quicker extinction. The media must also deliberately design programmes that can encourage local language culture.

All said, Nigerian languages must not be allowed to die. We all have a key role in preserving this important aspect of our cultural heritage.

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/142>

THE ORACLE

By: NOSAKHARE ISEKHURE.

SO THAT OUR LANGUAGES MAY NOT DIE

 About 28 years ago, I was a student at Concordia University in Montreal Canada , where I studied Journalism and political Science combine honours before my post graduate degree in Public Administration in the US .  In 1999, the Department of Mass Communications of the University extended   an invitation to me to visit as alumni of the Institution and to participate in the marking of an event in the Department. Unfortunately, the Canadian High Commission had no consular office in Nigeria as they had severed diplomatic relations with the country during the last Military era. During this period, Nigerians intending to visit Canada had to travel to Accra , Ghana to do so, which  I did.  The rest is now history. When in the month of April 2008, an invitation was sent to me from Edo people in Montreal to join in the launching of their organization, the Edo Association in Montreal , Quebec Canada , I   saw it as another great reunion, and accepted the offer to attend. Having just attended a similar event in Danvers City in the State of Massachusetts , USA , I had to transit Toronto before enrouting Montreal to  attend the occasion.  The   event was certainly a home coming reunion, a crucial one, more so when I was also to present the Goodwill message of the Oba of Benin and in addition to personally  present  a paper, as requested by the  group, on  HOW EDO CULTURE, TRADITION AND LANGUAGE CAN BE REVIVED .  I  saw  this as an  occasion to deal with a subject that had bordered my mind over the years, as one  often see and witness how Nigerians by sheer symptom of inadequate  knowledge, reject and treat with contempt their own indigenous cultures. My enthusiasm was hyper-elevated by the historical and contemporary knowledge displayed by the Nigeria High Commissioner to Canada Professor  Iyorwuese  Hagher  Phd,  from Benue State,who during his opening speech inflamed  the hall with  authentic history of the  Great Benin Empire; its contributions to  international diplomacy by being the earliest kingdom that established diplomatic relations with the Western World. He spoke about his sojourn at Iguobazuwa Town the then headquarters of Ovia Local government   under the Midwestern State when Brigadier Samuel Ogbemudia was the military Governor. He appraised the unparalleled development projects he started, the development of sports, the social and economic boost he provided women when Midwest was the first and still the only state in the County that recruited women as Greyhound Bus drivers. Greyhound buses, the type that still runs in the  United  States of America and  Canada started and ended in  the then Midwestern  State, now Edo State. He recalled the state excellence in sports, particularly the OGBE HARD COURT INTERNATIONAL, that brought World class Long -Tennis players into the country on international tournaments,  a  pace setter in the  utility of Pre- Paid NEPA meters then, which is now returning to the country under the PHCN, the well paved  roads and the construction of the largest ring road within the centre of the city metropolis, the first and perhaps  the only one  in the  entire country. The High Commissioner, however, remarked that in spite of these great and wonderful achievements  Benin City in particular and the State in general  nose-dived into stunted development, reduced to a  glorified  neighborhood with collapsed infrastructures as a result of bad governance, while her daughters became accused of indecent jobs  participation abroad, thus bringing disrepute to a once noble ,flourishing empire, and her people.  In spite of these temporary short comings, the High Commissioner told the audience that Benin will rise again  and that ,in fact, the entire country shall blossom  to greatness within the next 20 years as the Federal Government under President Shehu Yar dua was already laying  the  foundation for this  growth. He announced that a  Railway system from Lagos , passing Benin City   all through to Calabar shall be constructed soon,  and the audience responded with deafening applause. The High Commissioner did a perfect ambassadorial job for the country and by extension before the international community. I wish him well. When it was time to present my papers, I saw my task being made easier. The High commissioner  had  set the standard, I had the  inspiration  to  follow suit   by  drawing attention  to  how broad and topical the theme  for discussions was which relates to culture and how to revive same. I made it clear that the gradual erosion of culture in Edo State also affects other Nigerians of different ethnic nationalities.   This to me was a phenomenon that bothers on issues that many of our people back home worry about when they witness the daily erosion of our cultural values and traditions in the name of foreign cultures that are alien to us no matter how we may be tempted to copy them. As the Chief Priest of Benin who has pretty good knowledge about our customs and traditions including its taboos, one feels quite disappointed each time people believe that culture means westernization and civilization means rejection of ones heritage in preference for something totally alien. A Polish national who was a professor that took us in philosophy classes in the university those days used to say that  the more educated a person becomes, the more the person understands the value of his culture But in Nigeria, the more they often claim to be educated, they more grotesque they believe and behave as foreigners and strangers in their own country. One maybe kind enough to asked them what streets their families houses are in London, New York , Amsterdam, Vienna, Geneva or Rome, that now make them feel that thy are now super immigrants without origin. They may not have any ready answer. Back home, a good number of them have no idea about who they are, where they come from, what obtains in their communities, and what are the fundamental cultural traits of their people.  These people claim to be Nigerians, but have divested themselves of being product of Nigerianism.  By NIGERIANISM, I mean any Nigeria born by any of the indigenous ethnic nationalities that existed prior to the amalgamation of the country in 1914. Any Nigerian who does not fit into this parameter, must be seen as an alien. The term Culture has been accepted as covering the totality of a peoples peculiarities from their history, experiences, traditions, marriages, burial rites, food, mode of dress, concept of good and evil, religion, spiritual dimension, political organization, world view, laws, philosophy of life and the concept of life and death, all summing-up to what is understood as the ways of life of a people. Anthropologists all over the world have offered theoretical suggestion that life on the planet earth is more than 200 million years old. This suggestion presupposes that the current species of man from which our primal ancestors descended refers to as homo sapien, is evidently the last stock in human evolutionary process on earth. Historical records have kept clue to the various material and non material artifacts left behind as legacies from which upcoming generations had to pick their clues of classical  existential  paradigm. One of the most potent traits of human civilization is the evolution and development of languages. This is one of the prime technologies invented by man.

On the surface of this earth, human lives exist in many parts, be they the Eskimos of the Tundra Region, the aborigines of Australia, the gypsies of North England, the Red Indians, the Arabians, the Sumerian, the Aryans, the Incars, the Mexicans, the Egyptians, the Edos, the Yorubas, Hausas and the Bantus etc, have had to develop complex language technologies that enabled them to communicate on a daily basis. They created codes to retain secret and sacred information and above all, held consequentially to oral tradition that helped to keep memories of the past in order to have a reference point to build their future. I do not know of any great civilization of man that did not develop a language. Language, therefore, is one of the earliest human-knowledge- development processes and it is still with us today. Mankind developed much higher when oral language evolved a written text through hieroglyphic writings developed in Egypt , which has revolutionized global knowledge and world-out reach. All over the world today, both the spoken and written languages have reached their optimum  and final levels of universal permanence. The big question is whether our people in Nigeria , particularly the Edo people both at home and abroad, are aware that while others are propagating their spoken and written languages, our people are shamelessly disowning their own and helping consequently to destroy them. Our people feel so terribly inclined to believing that to speak  English and abandon their local language is an indication of education. And I reply them, An English person who by birth inherited English language, speaks it as a first language and cannot write it  as it were, is an illiterate. So also is a Benin person or any person from Nigeria who speaks his or her language only and cannot write it is equally an illiterate. Merely being able to read and write in a colonial language only successfully makes you a half-literate person. The owners of English language know that you are not English. They refer to you as speaking English as a foreign language. That is why Africans traveling to America are required to pass a test call TOEFL , meaning TEST  OF ENGLISH AS FOREIGN  LANGUAGE  as a requisite  condition for admission into approved Universities.  If a pregnant  woman and her husband were to  develop the skill to speak English to their unborn baby from her  worm, that would still not make the child a native  English speaker, except perhaps the child is born in Britain and therefore had acquired birth certificate to that effort.  There is nothing special about speaking or writing English or any other language outside that which is indigenous to us, except as a matter of circumstance and convenience. To correct this imbalance, we must retrace our steps and begin the divine process of being literate in our local languages. Language is a gift from the most high power known in Benin as  OGHENE-OSA . Maybe that is what they refer to in English language as the  THE ALMIGHTY GOD . Plants and Animals have their languages too. They speak, communicate and understand themselves.

In the month of February, 2008, a reverend gentleman from the Catholic Church in Benin City forwarded a letter to me with a screaming head line, EDO LANGUAGE IS DYING BEFORE OUR EYES, PLEASE HELP! I felt so touched by the contents of the letter which exposed what we already know, which is the relative negligence of the arts of speaking and learning Edo languages in primary and secondary schools in the State even when the subjects have been duly approved by the Federal Ministry of Education as one of the language-subjects to be written under the West African School Certificate Examination. Good as this intention were, it was further noted with dismay that the department of languages at the college of Education Ekiadolor that trained teachers under the National Certificate of Education (NCE) scheme had closed down for reasons of no further enrolment of students into the department. The University of Benin that offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Edo language was also closing up because no enrolment into the department. The decline in enrolments into the two institutions was because many of those who went for the programme and graduated could not find jobs. These graduates could not be engaged because government could not enforce the teaching of local languages in schools.

PART 11.

 It is a paradox that past governments that were run by our own sons and daughters, not British colonialists, could not enforce the legal mandate as encompassed in the United Nations charter on indigenous languages which says that every child has a right to be trained and educated in his or her local and indigenous language. It is rather unfortunate that this universal declaration has not touched the minds and sensibilities of policy makers in Nigeria hard enough. Let it be noted that eight years of the past civilian rule further accelerated the destruction of Edo language in schools. The letter from the catholic reverend father, further spurred me to action. I wrote a letter to his Excellency Prof. Oseriehmen Osunbor, the executive Governor of Edo state, the Oba of Benin and the Commissioner for basic Education drawing their attention to this grave trend. I am informed that the state has since begun action on this scheme of compelling Edo languages as provided for by the enabling laws to be taught in our schools. We are going to be on the look out to monitor its implementation to the letter. Because of the concern of our people with regard to this development, the Institute of Benin studies has just begun a programme that will enable our people, both young and old to begin classes in the institute to be able to learn to read and write Edo languages. It must be noted that other Nigerian languages must be given the same push.

The next disturbing phenomenon is the rejection of our cultural festivities which find expression in our traditional- spiritual- mode-of worship, (now call traditional religion), burial ceremonies, naming ceremonies, social interaction, community based organizations and identity. Sadly enough, it must be stated that parents have been guilty of the offence of bringing up their children as foreigners within their own country. The World  at large and all the human beings on this earth had passed through a lot of trial and error experiences which form part of the festivals celebrated in different places Worldwide.  Festival is the re-enactment of events in a peoples life that have divine spiritual meanings for community survival and self perpetuation. The missionaries came with their own religion and a theolgy they called Christianity. They told us that in the absent of Christianity, all other mode of worship was Satanic and not supported by the God they propagated and the heaven and hell they invented. We did not cry to them that we were  in need  of  a  God to worship, and a kind of Heaven or Hell  as  sought for as  a final destination point; a kind of one-way ticket to nowhere.  Our primal Ancestors had a better understanding of what  God essence meant and how to relate to it. They were never in need of tutorials as to how to reach the ultimate Being. They knew that every thing in existence both animate and inanimate had lives and such entities  exploit vibrations as a medium of contact with that  Great Spirit without requiring any written text or a trained evangelist.  For example, all living things, outside mankind are on a daily basis communing with the Supreme- Being or the  Great Spirit . They see what we cannot see, hear messages we cannot, have no doctors, no  hospitals to attend, no schools,  no supermarkets, no maps to navigate,  yet these animals never get strayed coming to our homes asking us to take them back to where they came from. They never cry to us for food, we  go to them for food, violate their territorialities looking for survival means.  Our primal ancestors know them better, just like plants, they have their own languages and the elevated souls can hear them and communicate with them. They saw them as co-inheritors  and co-participants in the divine mission to unravel the hidden  plans of the most High God on the planet earth. The earth is here to stay for eternity and the Benin people say  AGBON-EFO meaning  the World shall never end.  ODARO-AGBON RIE , meaning the World is constantly on a forward march, no going back. This movement provides for new strength, knowledge, discoveries which certainly   put all previous dogma into nothingness and disuse. The World entered the aquarium millennium about eight years ago, the 21st century. This 1000 years  is very crucial and unique in its own sense  and  dimension as  many   profound revelations and events shall take place and  mankind  shall see  the earth and her divine activities from an angle that mankind never anticipated. All genuine spiritual messages being suppressed for  financial benefits shall sprout with renewed vigor. All fake Religious and Scientific dogma shall fall apart.  The Earth shall experience profound spiritual cleansing. As the old dialectical saying goes.  NOTHING IS, ALWAYS BECOMING

  Our ancestors were not religious, but highly spiritual.  Religion is political and exploitative, while spirituality is self-realization, actualization, and soul development process, which recognizes the reality that man is an explorer on this particular planet earth. This condition of man, is preparatory to the next process of reincarnation for either  a higher or a lower mission, depending ofcourse, on the activities of the person during the current and past embodiments. Unlike the Christians and the Muslims, the Traditional African Religion, as now being called and as practiced  among the   Edo people  never  engage in PROSYLITIZATION . They never condemn others, never ask you to come and join them. They know that every human being is spiritual. For them spirituality, on like religion, is a purely individual personal relationship with  his or her divinities, and therefore wholly exclusive. They never killed other fellow human beings in order to intimidate others to join the fold to propagate their beliefs. They saw the Almighty God from everything in existence and their neighbors as an extension of themselves. For them,  if one cannot see God through ONESELF, then God does not exist anywhere else because MAN  is the  APPROXIMATE REPRESENTATION OF GOD ON THE PLANET EARTH. It is not their business to convert others because the spiritual need of every person is decreed from the most high divinities and not a function of earthly fancies, interest and mere enrolment.  The  Great Spirit ,(God) according the Incans is within  every human being. If anyone fails to recognize such a phenomenon, then such a person has to undergo personal self discovery in this present incarnation. And if one fails such realization in the current embodiment, one would be provided another chance in the next embodiment. That is the role of reincarnation. This is the essence of human spiritual evolution, growth and the extension of FREE WILL.

 Our Edo people like every other African people  had customary practices, taboos and decrees that ensures that when a person discovers that his her domestic animals are missing, traditional alarm is raised and anyone hearing such alarm would know that the missing  animal belongs to somebody and such stolen or held up animal(s)is quickly released.  I grew up to see my grand father wives and  other older women in our  neighborhood, shading and displaying their  farms wares on a   Cane tray call  ATETE positioned on a  wooden platform  and placed by the Roadside. Then prospective buyers walking pass would come  to collect  the quantity they require and deposit the  money an the tray  and leave. The entire items would be sold without any one supervising and present to enforce the rules or terms of purchase. . The money sold remained on top of the Tray and the owner of the wares returned to collect her money, complete without a dime missing.  This was a crucial aspect of a well cultured people who cherished the virtues of absolute sincerity and trust. The Trust and Sincerity mentioned were enforced by a means of deterrence mechanism reflected on a piece of iron tied with a red cloth that was usually placed at the centre of a trading Cane-Tray.  The missionaries intruded in the name of evangelism and called it IDOL WORSHIP, then the deterrence instrument  was destroyed and full-scale stealing, looting and killings emerged. While those who engaged in it were told that forgiveness exists every Sunday in the House of a God they brought, the later day modern churches admitted that they have the capacity to cleanse such mortal sins with tithes they collect from their members every Sunday. We have no quarrel with that, every human-being has a right to choose his or her spiritual need. One thing is certain, God does not approbate and reprobate. The laws of NEMESIS cannot be covered by tithes, by mere confession and by beautiful robs. However, it must be understood that the right to accept and practice a religion should not in any way empower such practitioners and their members to cast aspersion or invectives on those who hesitate to subscribe to the Heaven, Paradise and Hell invented by smart theologians from the Mediterranean . They ignorantly refer to us  unbelievers    YES!, we unbelieve  what they propagate and they unbelieve what we believe in. Consequently, they too are.  unbelievers We have our own understanding of what HEAVEN is and where to find it. This is not the subject of this paper.  As a matter of recall, the Edo people have more than 100 festivals, the Yoruba, Igbo, Igala, the Urhobo and the  Tivs  etc have there unique festivals which  approximate the same essence and spiritual values as  the foreign ones our people are made to subscribe to in the name of  evangelism. The Edo people have their own history and stories of how the Earth came into being. This has influenced the method of our marriage ceremonies, burial rites and other ceremonies which historically, varies from place to place. Every society has a duty to maintain its own unique culture and should never allow it to give way to alien culture that has no relevance to their historical and cultural experiences. The area of emphasis has to be the living culture which is reflected in our individual languages as earlier identified in this write-up..  As a matter of recollection, lately in Benin City for example, both so-called educated and uneducated people speak English as their first language to their children. By this disturbing act, they have lost out on the crucial and unique aspects of our culture as reflected in our customary morning salutation. The Benin people have salutation for morning time, afternoon, evening and midnight . It is distressful to hear from a child of about four years  old when their parents speak to them in our popular Pidgin English  make u greet uncle and the child would respond  good morning uncle I had on several occasions queried parents who deliberately deprive their children of access to their indigenous language. It is a common knowledge, which is uncommon in Nigeria that the more languages we speak the brighter, more alert and attuned our brains become. The destruction and neglect of our language also spills over to other areas of human development effort, i.e., music, dance, mode of dress, dignity of labor, social interactions and the food we eat. For example, the traditional dances we have and the instruments invented  for playing the music for such  dances   as IZAGBEDE created in Eguae-Edaiken in Uselu and Esakpaide from Oba palace for example, do not have any equivalent. Ugho as the first social dance in Benin also does not have an equivalent. Just as it is in Benin so it is all over the world. People have been given specific knowledge to develop their skills within the environment and conditions they found themselves. It would therefore, amount to profound set back if we abandon our heritage and begin to copy and ape as if we were deprived by the benevolence of nature to be co- receivers and givers of knowledge  as other people have been  privileged          as to be. I have been privileged to travel extensively on this earth. Everywhere I have been to, I see profound commitments in different people holding onto their languages and their traditions. On a closer look, one can readily see certain areas of cultural alignment and similarities in spite of apparent differences. Nature acts on the basis of multiplicities and complexities which give results to abundance. On this planet earth no two human beings are ever the same; Finger prints profile had proven that since its invention. This scenario relates to every sphere of human activities. So those praying and working towards a homogeneous culture are those working anti-clockwise against natural laws and God design. For example, apart from England , there is no country in Europe that has English as its national language. If Nigeria were colonized by the French, German or the Spanish, we would have been speaking and writing any of the mentioned three languages. In New York, London, Amsterdam, Rome, Geneva, Vienna and other parts of Europe, the Chinese and India nationals, the two largest race of people on earth ensures that their children not only speak their indigenous languages wherever they are, but also write them. The same is true of all Muslims who subscribe to the Arabic World. It is very easy to identify an Indian national any where in the world because of the way they dress. They choose to be themselves rather being caricature of alien culture. For them English is a foreign language and, therefore, a second language of communication. India too was once a British colony. Proficiency in English or in any language that is not indigenous to anyone successfully makes the person look more like a damsel of outward beauty, but  sick within. Such a person is lost in the oasis of mis-identity which often relates to inverted complex. It has to be radically understood that any language spoken as a matter of colonial intrusion, is a language of captivity and enslavement, so it should be regarded as a language of convenience, and not as a result of any inherent superiority. Each time I see our people regaling themselves in the illusion of presuming that being able to speak or write what they call  good English presupposes elegance and academics makes me want to puke. By reflex action I look at these people as those who had by self delusion accepted  inferiority complex .What is special and sacrosanct about English or any other language that makes yours insignificant and profane? After all, the world once knew of Latin, Roman, and Hebrew languages. No language or culture on a broader scale is superior or inferior to the other. All languages are susceptible to death if not propagated. We pray that ours shall never go that way. The challenges to preserve our useful and unique cultural practices must begin at home. Parents are responsible for the success or failure of their children, not being able to abide be the relevant aspects of our culture. I grew to meet my grand-father who was not educated, and my father who was educated. There was no tine any of us spoke English at home even when vernacular as it was called those days was not permitted during school hours. However, we were taught how to read and write Edo language in Schools, and the fact that we never spoke English at home did not diminish our fluency in English. By the time we got into secondary schools, French and Latin became compulsory subjects also.  Today, I feel so

surprised when parents assume and very wrongly too, that if they speak their local languages to their children at home, they will not be proficient in English or in any other language at school. I don t know where they got that Road-side-theory from. This is a very poor and unscientific theory. The more languages a person learns to speak, the greater positive activities, and utility the person s brain membrane becomes. There are people who are called polyglot who are adept in speaking a variety of languages. Those has not hindered or inhibited their capacities and dignities, but rather make them more of world recognized personalities than others. Language is one of the most potent forces used in getting to the hearts of the people anywhere in the world. It breaks barriers, open gates and attracts immediate recognition and acceptance. Ladies and gentlemen let it be re-emphasized that the revival of our culture lies with every one of us. Our culture is part of us and we are part of it. We are dependent on it, and it is not dependent on us. It is an independent variable while we are the dependent variable. We may decide to ignore our culture to our own peril. It has been said that a man who is not proud of his heritage is not fit to be recognized as a human being. The only difference between MAN and the lower animals is the development of a living culture.  CRITICAL SAYING: LIVE YOUR CULTURE AND LET IT BE PART OF YOU. THERE IS NOTHING TO LOSE EXCEPT PERHAPS THE TRAIT OF INFERIORITY COMPLEX.

Signed:Hon.Chief Nosakhare Isekhure JP, FIBS.

CONTRIBUTOR TO COLUMN:

THE ORACLE: NATIONAL MIRROR.

23/9/2008

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/145>

Group holds workshop to develop Urhobo language

mi�rcoles, 26 de noviembre de 2008

14:39

Group holds workshop to develop Urhobo language

http://www.vanguardngr.com/content/view/22523/44/

Group holds workshop to develop Urhobo language

Written by Lucky Oji   

Monday, 24 November 2008

The Urhobo Studies Association, Delta State University Abraka will on 25 and 26,

November, 2008 hold a workshop on, Developing the Urhobo Language to Cope with

Modern Realities.

This was made known through a statement signed by Dr. (Mrs.) Rose Oro Aziza,

Convener and Mr. Moses Darah, Secretary, Organising Committee and made available

to newsmen in Warri recently.

The event which will hold at the Pre-degree Auditorium, Campus III of Delta

State University, Abraka would create a forum where writers, teachers at all

levels of education and translators can come together and examine the writing

system of the Urhobo language and devise a uniform writing pattern; and also to

create an avenue for examining strategies for vocabulary development to enable

Urhobo cope well as a language of education at all levels pre-primary to

tertiary levels.

While soliciting for financial support from well meaning Urhobo natives to

enable them organise a successful workshop, the statement further revealed that

speakers from various universities in the world which includes Prof. Tanure

Ojaide, University of North Carolina , Prof. M. Y. Nabofa, Niger Delta

University, Prof. Shirley Ifode, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Imelda Udoh,

University of Uyo, Dr. C. Ohire-Aniche, University of Lagos, Dr. Ismaila

Junaidu, Director, National Language Centre, NERDC, Abuja and Dr. Deborah

Onoyovwi, College of Education, Warri will be in attendance.

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/160>

Elitism or Just Plain Culture Loss

mi�rcoles, 26 de noviembre de 2008

14:41

Elitism or Just Plain Culture Loss

by Ayo Abdullah, AYOOLA7@aol.com

Source: gamji.com

I have watched with a rising sense of alarm at a rather odd

development most noticeable amongst many Nigerians of southern

origins. A palpably large section of this group of Nigerians

seem to believe that for their offspring to speak any language

besides the English language is an abomination. It has become

fashionable to see parents ensuring (and enforcing) that their

children speak only in English almost from birth. The children

are actively shielded from acquiring their parents first

language, which more often that not, is a Nigerian language.

The logic of this eludes me, as the prospects of the loss of an

important part of one s cultural roots can only be anything but

desirable. In the wholesale adoption of western cultural mores,

our peoples of Southern Nigeria seem to additionally attach an

aura of elitism to the fact that their children do not speak,

say Yoruba or Igbo. They would proudly announce that their

children are not permitted to communicate in the native language

as if this alone would increase their children s chances in the

real world. They seem convinced that every possible connection

between the children s ethnic/native origins must be severed.

Bad as it is that this occurs within these Nigerian families in

the Diaspora, I find it singularly unforgivable that its

manifests very rabidly in Nigeria proper. What possible

advantage can a young girl of Edo origin, living in Benin City,

attending a  posh local private primary school have if she

cannot communicate well in Edo? Are her parents arming her well

for her future by denying her a potent tool that she will need

to communicate with, live with, identify with and most of all

deal with her local community in the foreseeable future of her

life?

By the way, I do not buy that bandied fable that a child who

speaks only in English will do well in all other academic fields

and most certainly in English as a subject. Linguistic

researches in the 1970s and 1980s, have conclusively settled

that issue. It was established that second language acquisition

was remarkably enhanced in children who had learnt their native

languages first. They had a quicker and better understanding of

say English, when they had first been taught to speak Yoruba or

Efik as infants.

There are families who will ensure they only hire nannies or

domestic house helps who will pretend to one form of spoken

English or the other. They are further empowered by the

children s parent to make sure they (the children) don t lapse

from the straight and narrow of this dictate. Many-a-domestic

have lost cherished employment for flouting this rule. We then

have very young children who should be comfortable with speaking

and understanding their native languages first, now babbling in

some grammatically and linguistically ghastly form of English

often to almost comical effects. Indeed there are older children

(pre-teens) whose elitist parents have ensured they can

virtually speak only English, the correct way. I have seen

amongst this lot, children with almost racist disdain for local

Nigerian languages. A twelve-year old daughter of a family

friend once jolted me by asking, but Uncle, who will we speak it

to? This reflects their clearly elitist thinking planted and

nurtured by their parents. The parents of this child wrung their

hands in feigned helplessness when my partner and I demanded an

explanation for what we considered a tacit acceptance of the

notion that our cultural heritage did not amount to anything. We

have fought so hard and come such a long way from the era when

such beliefs were fashionable amongst the neo-colonialist

thinking of ways back. We have too much to be proud of as it

relates to human development to let anyone make us ashamed of

whom and what we are.

I have seen some children in the Diaspora with parents of

Nigerian original ancestry who are not taught or encouraged to

learn their native Nigerian language because these parents are

seeking to ensure the children s full integration within the

host country of residence. I ask them, do these Nigerian

descended children out-perform children of Asian origin who live

within these same communities? In the United Kingdom and the

USA, I have noticed countless times with heart-swelling pride

when I watch Asian children (almost all!) who smoothly switch

from (Queen s) English after saying good night to their friends,

to their native languages when they start to chatter about their

day to their mother or father who picks them up at close of

school each day. What are we ashamed of?

Guilty parents should borrow from the leaf of parents from the

northern part of Nigeria. I am yet to see someone from Nigeria

with Hausa/Fulani origin anywhere in the world, of speaking age,

who cannot communicate in his or her native tongue. This is a

direct credit to the thinking that they are actually proud to be

Hausa or Fulani and that they are willing to propagate this

thinking to generations unborn. I see a nasty future when we

could actually have cultureless black peoples parading in the

one instance as Nigerians who have lost any form of cultural

identity with Southern Nigeria (yet they live there) and in

another as UK/US/Western European descendant of someone who was

once an Igbo or Ijaw man!

Just when some parts of the world are starting to dare to

believe that black people have shrugged off the odious toga of

being a backward race, let s not now start to dig a low pit for

ourselves by thinking that our languages and indeed our cultures

are inferior or even dispensable. We must passionately keep our

many positive cultural traits (languages, etc) and can then take

from the outside world those many things that will complement

and complete us. The cultures we ardently attempt to emulate and

identify with are the same ones that now (albeit, reluctantly)

marvel at some of the great things our ancestors have done for

humanity. I continue to find it strange that our peoples do not

see that we are still never fully accepted anywhere other than

in our cultural enclaves regardless of how much pretending we

do. That we can sometime think we will become better by losing

this  identity is frankly hilarious. Let your kids know what

they really are.

Ayo Abdullah

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/96>

Language Education In Nigeria

mi�rcoles, 26 de noviembre de 2008

14:44

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/104>

http://sociolingolinguistics.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/benin-edo-language-policy/

Benin: Edo language policy

Posted by sociolingo on March 28, 2008

BNC makes case for Edo language policy

Written by Simon Ebegbulem

Tuesday, 25 March 2008

THE Benin National Congress (BNC) a socio-cultural organisation in

 Edo State, has urged the state House of Assembly to prevail on the

relevant authorities in the state to implement the Edo language

 policy in all private and public schools, so as to save the cultural

heritage of the Binis from extinction The Congress through a letter addressed

to the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mr Zakawanu Garuba,

signed by its National President, Mr Aiyamenkhue Edokpolo, lamented

that non-teaching of the  subject as well as the significance of the

cultural heritage such as dancing steps, artifact, moats, dresses and

historical tales has in no small measure denied the younger

generations of the essence of enculturation.

It pointed out that Edo language was listed among the languages to

extinct before the year 2020 by the United National Education,

Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) report of last year,

saying that since the emergence of that report, governments and

concerned groups across the globe have been articulating ways to save

their heritage from the  sad prediction .  As a cultural heritage

group, we hold our people the duty to raise the stake for the safety

of our heritage hence our resolve to humbly appeal to you to ensure

that not only is Edo language taught in our schools, it must be made

compulsory for every student of Edo State origin to secure a pass as

�a promotional yardstick it stated.

Full story:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5417&Itemid=44 More on Edo language 

This entry was posted on March 28, 2008 at 5:32 pm and is filed under AFRICA, AFRICAN COUNTRIES, African language

http://sociolingolinguistics.wordpress.com/language-policy-in-africa/

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/103>

LANGUAGE VITALITY: EDO COMMUNITY

mi�rcoles, 26 de noviembre de 2008

14:49

LANGUAGE VITALITY:

THE EXPERIENCES OF EDO COMMUNITY IN NIGERIA

Esohe Mercy Omoregbe

Abstract

The linguistic situation in Edo state of Nigeria is a complex one and the complexity derives from the fact that it is a multilingual state with no common language. Edo is the main indigenous language spoken in Benin City, the capital of Edo state. But the mixture of languages in the land makes it difficult for Edo language to maintain its high position and its vitality.

In the bid to have a common language for easy communication in the state, Edo is facing the excruciating problem of being in constant struggle with English language and pidgin. These two languages are being used as the languages of wider communication to the detriment of Edo language.

The result of this is the gradual abandonment of Edo, which is posing a big threat to its vitality. The chances of survival of any language in such circumstances depend largely on the attitudes portrayed towards it.

This paper raises an alarm at the noticeable gradual decline in the use of Edo language even in its home base. It examines the attitudes of the speakers towards their language and provides some recommendations as a way of checking this negative tendency and ensuring the survival of Edo in spite of the heterogeneous linguistic situation in the land.

INTRODUCTION

Edo language belongs to the class of minority languages in Nigeria as opposed to the major languags, which comprise Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo. The minority class includes all the other languages in Nigeria including Edo, Urhobo, Ijaw, Esan, Itsekiri, Isoko, Fulani, etc.

THE LINGUISTIC SITUATION IN EDO STATE

There is a heterogeneous linguistic situation in Edo state as in some other parts of Nigeria like Rivers, Delta, Plateau, Kaduna, Taraba and Adamawa states. In each of these states, there are no common languages. As a result, different ethnic groups within the states speak indigenous languages slightly intelligible to one another. Other residents in Edo state include those with Esan, Owan, Auchi, Urhobo, Isoko and even Igbo and Yoruba backgrounds. The speakers of these languages attempt to speak Edo as a second language. The main Edo speech community is generally homogenous with noticeable peculiarities in the speech of the inhabitants of most of the other speech communities. The different varieties however, appear to be mutually intelligible.

The complexity of the linguistic situation in Edo state arises from the fact that none of the indigenous twenty-four languages is a major language nor is any used as a common medium of communication in the state. The people readily resort to the use of English and the Nigerian pidgin as the common languages for easy communication. This is done to the detriment of the indigenous languages especially Edo.

NOTICEABLE GRADUAL DECLINE

This study draws the attention of Edo speakers to the noticeable gradual decline in the use of Edo. In order to know the attitudes of speakers of Edo, we interviewed a cross section of the people within the ages of ten to eighty (10-80) years. They were categorized as follows:

Category 1: 10 - 25 years

Category 2: 26 - 40 years

Category 3: 41 - 80 years

From the interview, it is speculated that about 35% of Edo speakers have positive attitude towards the language. 60% has negative attitude while 5% has indifferent attitude. The study is being undertaken with a view to getting the speakers to develop the right and desired attitudes towards the language in order to maintain its vitality. It is envisaged that the observations and recommendations in the study will go a long way to doing that and to steering up further development of Edo.

THE PLACE OF EDO LANGUAGE IN EDO STATE

Edo is a core member of the group of genetically related languages called the Edoid group (Elugbe 1989). It is rated as one of the first few of the twenty-four languages, which make up the Edoid group in Nigeria. The language is currently spoken throughout most of the territories, which are coterminous with the old Benin province. This constitutes the permanent core of the pre-colonial Benin Kingdom and includes the following local government areas: Oredo, Ikpoba-Ikha, Orhionmwon, Uhunmwunode, Egor, Ovia, North East and Ovia South West. Edo is the main language spoken in these local government areas.

EDO LANGUAGE AND GLOBALIZATION

Edo language was first documented by the early colonial administrators and missionaries, Omozuwa (2003), records that one of the first documented works in Edo includes the translation of the gospel according to St. Mark, primers and catechism books written for schools and churches in 1914.

Though a minority language, Edo has a global recognition. It's use is highly favoured in different parts of the globe. For example, Edo is known to be spoken in some parts of Calabar. The use of Edo in this area may have been encouraged during the period of the Benin Massacre when the Benin monarch then, Oba Ovoranmwen was deported to Calabar in 1897. Since then, the use of Edo in that area, has survived till date.

In other parts of the country like Lagos and Delta states, Edo-related titles like Iyase can be observed in their kinship and other vocabularies. Even outside the country, Edo is favoured. Americans value Edo monarchy very highly to the extent that Edo statues can be found all over America. There is no doubt that the use of the language is also being encouraged to some extent in this area. It is also possible that Edo usage is spreading to other parts of the globe with the exodus of Edo indigenes to Europe, Britain, etc.

From the foregoing, it is obvious that Edo is not an unknown nor unpopular language. It is a household name at home and abroad but the heterogeneous nature of languages in its home base tends to threaten its very existence.

THE PRESENT CONDITION OF EDO LANGUAGE

Language is one of the important properties of man that forms the basis of communication and makes it possible. The language of a people serves as a binding force and is seen as the vehicle used to pass down the history of such a people from one generation to another. So when a language dies, a people's culture is said to have died too.

Edo occupies a very important place in the history of the Edo people just like its culture. In fact, the two appear to be inseparable in every activity of the people. This fact is most noticeable from the scenario of the palace of the Benin Monarch, the dressing as well as the greeting habits of the people. Edo people have a distinct family greeting system by which every speaker is identified with a particular family. An Edo child is expected to learn and use these greeting forms as he grows up. This is a core aspect of the vitality of the language.

The importance of Edo is also seen in the way it is used nowadays in songs, home video series, poetic performances etc. In spite of all these, Edo is fast loosing its vitality and the Edo people, out of ignorance or sheer negligence are neither aware of this nor do they know the implications of such a tendency.

The result of the interview conducted, as well as that of our personal observation, shows that the general attitudes of the people towards the language and their level of awareness of the present state of the language, is not commensurate with the importance of the language. In the sections that follow, we make some general observations of the prevailing attitudes of Edo language users towards the language.

ATTITUDINAL PROFILE ON EDO LANGUAGE

An attitude can be seen as a way of behaviour towards something in a particular situation. Language attitude therefore, is concerned with opinions, feelings or beliefs that people have towards a language. Following Adegbija (1994), we will say that language attitudes are evaluative judgements made about a language or its variety, its speakers towards efforts at promoting, maintaining or planning a language or even towards learning and teaching it. Attitudes are very crucial to the growth or decay of a language. They are also crucial to its restoration or destruction. In addition, they are crucial for sustaining the vitality of a language (like Edo).

The status of a language is seen from the foregoing as being determined by the types of attitudes towards it. The vitality of Edo is observed to be currently under serious threat and this can be examined from the point of view of the present attitudes of people towards the language. Attitudes can either be positive or negative. We also observed in the course of this study that people could also have what we have termed indifferent attitude towards the language. Each of these attitudinal types tends to affect the vitality of the language in different ways.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

There is a positive attitude to a language when that language is seen to be growing and flourishing. This is only possible when positive feelings are attached to the language. The speakers of such a language will do everything possible to promote the language and ensure its preservation and maintenance. A language can also attract positive attitudes from its speakers if it has a large number of speakers, performs many functions and has a codified form.

In this way, its vitality can be sustained and cannot be endangered. This is the position of English, French and even Nigerian pidgin today. It is speculated, based on the interview conducted, that only about 35% of Edo speakers have some positive attitude towards the language. This percentage of speakers can be categorized as follows:

The first group of speakers comprises writers and producers of Edo literature, especially those produced as texts for schools. Though much of their effort can be said to be money-oriented, the fact remains that it is helping in a significant way to keep Edo language alive.

The second group with positive attitude includes the songsters in Edo who are springing up in large numbers. In spite of the linguistic flaws observed in most of the pronunciations of members of this group, the language lives on.

A third group comprises producers of home video series as well as the performers themselves, who in their bid to entertain and make money, are helping to sustain the language.

Yet, a forth group of speakers includes those who are studying Edo in higher institutions of learning like the College of Education, Ekiadolor, and the Universities of Benin and Lagos. This group includes teachers of Edo at the different levels of education; the different guilds such as artists, ironsmiths, bronze smiths etc. Who are in constant touch with the language.

Other speakers worthy of recognition in this regard include translators, media workers using Edo, interpreters, traditionalists and parents who still remember to speak Edo and ensure its usage in their homes. Moreover, Edo has a reliable, codified and standard orthography. In spite of all these, the language is not highly favoured since the different groups of speakers identified so far, constitute a very small percentage of the population of Edo speakers.

NEGATIVE ATTITUDE

Negative attitudes to a language as opposed to positive attitudes, arise when there are no favourable feelings towards the use of the language. In the context of negative attitude, speakers of a language shy away from all that has to do with the language. About 60% of Edo speakers are speculated to have negative attitude towards the language. This percentage of speakers refuses to be associated closely with Edo. They do not also care most times what happens to the language. Such an attitude is found not to be in the interest of the vitality of the language. The youths in Edo appear to be the main culprits in this direction.

We agree with Aziza (2003) based on our observation that the continued existence of any language depends largely on the attitude of its native speakers, particularly the youth. This is true because they are the ones who are supposed to carry on the intergenerational usage as well as transmission of the language both within and outside their immediate environments. If a language is taken to be functionally irrelevant to its youth, such a language will continue to shift ground for other languages.

We observe in this study that, Edo is shifting grounds for English and pidgin as they are now used as common languages in the state to break communication barriers. It is the case that people prefer to learn and use the languages that are socially and economically useful to them. We observed that most Edo speakers choose the better option of a more common language so that they can flow with the time. This confirms Aziza's belief that more nations are forced to join the common language usage in order to get into the mainstream of life in the area. This probably accounts for the reason why the younger generation of Edo speakers has developed negative attitude towards their language.

There is a great deal of absence of language loyalty among Edo speakers especially the youths towards the language. We observed also that a large proportion of Edo people truly pay lip service to the development of the language. Many of them tend to propagate the language in theory only. But the vitality of a language like Edo can only be sustained both in theory and practice. The youths and other speakers of the language are of the opinion that the use of Edo (a local language) does not endow the Edo speaker with any special privilege and hence their negative attitude towards its usage. Many other factors combine to militate against the survival of Edo and its development. Such factors are being examined in the sections that follow.

THE GOVERNMENT

The negative attitude of the government of the day is also contributing to the decline in the use of Edo. When the government has a nonchalant disposition towards the indigenous languages and does not do things to ensure that policies on language are implemented and accomplished in schools, then the people governed will have the same nonchalant attitude towards the indigenous languages by not using it well.

With regard to Edo, a nonchalant attitude is observed in the Edo state government as he is not doing anything to ensure the proper and continued study of Edo in schools. The National Policy on Education (NPE) stipulates that the medium of instruction in the early years of school should be in the child's mother tongue or language of the immediate environment or community. This is not being implemented well in Edo state.

It has been observed that it is through education that negative attitudes to indigenous languages highly stand out (Adegbija 1994). The type of attitude both the teachers and pupils have towards a language can go long way to determine its survival and continuity. It is not uncommon to find in some schools in Benin unfavourable inscriptions like "vernacular speaking is not allowed in this class". Defaulters are usually sanctioned.

What they call vernacular here is indeed the mother tongue, which they are supposed to be encouraging. It is obvious from the above that this is not in the spirit of the NPE. Many of the schools in Benin are observed to be either teaching Edo minimally or not teaching it at all. Even in schools where it is taught, the translation method is usually adopted i.e. the teachers merely pronounce Edo forms and translate them into English. In some cases, pidgin is used to explain such forms.

THE HOME

The Edo home is seen as a social setting where a family (usually extended), lives together. The home is the first place where the Edo child has his first interaction with people: his parents, siblings and relations. With his innate ability, he acquires the language of the home as his first language and he is expected to adapt to the language spoken in the home as he grows up. So the home is where most of the language learning, identity formation and the establishment of social bond take place for children early in life through interactions with members of the family.

It is very common nowadays to find Edo people speaking languages other than Edo in their homes. They prefer to speak such languages (usually English and pidgin) to the detriment of Edo. It is also the case as Oyetade (2001) rightly points out, that some parents ban their children from using their mother tongue, like Edo. Edo is no longer well spoken in more than 60% of Edo homes. Even the so-called typical Edo settings are not left out of this problem.

In many of the homes, it is observed that pidgin is used and is basically becoming the most favourable language of choice in Edo homes. Pidgin is essentially a communication system that developed among people who do not share a common language. But members of most Edo homes do share a common language (i.e. Edo) except in a few ones where there are mixed marriages. It is obvious from this that the majority of Edo people do not like their language. From the forgoing, it is obvious that the use of pidgin in Benin is not restricted to any group of speakers. The older generations use it as a second language while the younger ones use it as a first language- a situation, which poses a threat to the vitality of Edo.

THE MEDIA

Edo state media can be said to have a negative attitude towards Edo since they are not doing much to propagate the language. Only a few programmes are done in Edo. These include news translation, requests, obituary, and some other notices and a discussion programme (i.e. Ibota). The majority of the programmes in the media are done in English and pidgin. This situation is opposed to what obtains in some other parts of the country like the cosmopolitan Lagos, where speakers jealously guard their language against any external dominating language and ensure its use in all situations.

THE CHURCH

The church in Benin is not left out of this negative tendency. In most churches in Benin, services are conducted in English and pidgin. Occasionally, interpretations are done in Edo. Only a few orthodox churches like the Anglican, Catholic and Baptist and a very few Pentecostal churches have purely Edo services. Even in such churches; two or three services may be conducted in English and pidgin, while only one (often interrupted by English) service is conducted in Edo.

GENERAL OBSERVATION

In recent times, the use of Edo has witnessed a drastic decline in Edo community. The rate at which the language is spoken has reduced considerably. Even most of those who speak the language, do so with wrong pronunciations. This negative attitude towards the language can be traced back to the colonial era where the use of indigenous languages was proscribed. This proscription made the speakers of the language (including Edo) to feel that their language was, and is still less appropriate for use in schools (and now in homes). Since then, English language, the language of the colonial masters has continued to be used for several functions institutionalized by the colonialists such as government, administration, law, education and even religion. The foreign language was and is still seen as a symbol of unity and integration in multilingual settings like Edo land.

Based on the present condition of Edo, one can conclude that the colonial era has done more harm than good. It instilled in the natives the attitudes of superiority and respect towards the English language. The result of this is that the natives have inferiority complex towards their own local languages. The degree of this complex is increasing by the day and is affecting the vitality of Edo language.

INDIFFERENT ATTITUDE

Indifferent attitude to a language arises where there are mixed feelings towards the language. Those with indifferent attitudes (mainly youths) do not care whether the language improves in usage or remain static. For them, any language can be used at any time or situation so long as it is prestigious and can help them to improve their lot. This is because people do not want to remain static (Adegbija 1994). They want to move up the social leader and be seen as achievers. They want to be associated with the language that is admired as one of the best because such a language is seen as an avenue to attain certain goods and services. They prefer to speak and use such a language to the detriment of their mother tongue (i.e. Edo). This group if speakers cannot be bothered about the preservation and sustenance of the vitality of the language.

LANGUAGE ENDANGERMENT

There is a great indication from the discussion so far, that Edo language is potentially endangered. We have examined the different attitudes of Edo speakers towards their language. Generally, positive attitude towards a language helps it to grow and flourish like the case of English. But negative attitude tends to create problems of retaining the speakers of a language amongst other problems. There is the tendency for speakers of the disfavoured language (like Edo) to shift to the favoured language and more prestigious ones (i.e. English & pidgin). This is a situation where a language is gradually being submerged into another and this can lead to language loss if it is not promptly checked. Edo is just at the initial stage of endangerment but if the poor and discouraging attitude towards the language is not checked very soon, it may start going through the other stages of endangerment and may eventually end up in extinction or total loss.

Wurm, S.A. (2002:14) distinguishes five levels of language endangerment as follows:

Potentially endangered language - if the young ones start preferring the dominant language.

Endangered language - if the youngest speakers are young adults and only very few child speakers.

Seriously endangered language - if the youngest speakers are middle aged or past middle age.

Terminally endangered language- (i.e. moribund language) - if there are only a few elderly speakers left.

Extinct language - where no one is left to speak it.

Following Wurm, we would say that Edo is already potentially endangered. In the bid to become more competent in English, many Edo speakers, particularly the young ones, are gradually abandoning their language. The use of Edo is no longer highly favoured in many settings (home, school, church, media, social gatherings etc). English and pidgin, the dominant languages are being preferred to Edo.

There are even more convincing reasons to conclude that the language is already being endangered when we consider the fact that a large number of Edo parents fail to teach the language to their children. Only a few parents, who consider the language to be an emblem of identity and a preserver of culture, still encourage the use of the language. The problem here is that these people, who appear to be loyal to Edo, probably out of sentiments or true intent, are in the minority. Their effort to sustain the vitality of Edo may not yield long lasting results. Their effort may be suppressed by those speakers who have negative attitudes towards the language and who are in the majority. These speakers can do all they can, probably out of ignorance, disloyalty or lack of good intent, to discourage the sustenance and continuity of the language.

Moreover, there are no standard and appropriate teaching aids as well as qualified and experienced teachers for Edo language in schools. The language is not being used as stipulated by the NPE as a medium of instruction in the lower schools. Edo is in constant struggle with English and pidgin in nearly every setting in the state. The result is that Edo is fast losing its vitality and hence it is potentially endangered.

THE NEED TO REVITALIZE EDO LANGUAGE

It is obvious from the discussion so far, that there is indeed a gradual decline in the use of Edo and hence the need to revitalize it before any further decline. All hands must be on deck to restore its past glory and ensure its continued usage in every situation. This can be done in a variety of ways as outlined below.

The government of Edo state can make policy statement in favour of (a) the teaching of Edo in schools in Benin, (b) the use of Edo in the state media, and other official transactions, (c) publishing in the language etc. We need materials to lay down for the coming generation so that there will be continuity in the use of the language.

Parents should endeavour to teach their children Edo and encourage its usage both in the homes and outside the homes.

Edo traditional leaders should be more actively involved in this revitalization crusade.

For the proper implementation of the NPE stipulation, an Edo language board should be set up to monitor the activities of schools as regards the teaching of Edo.

Edo language learners and their teachers at the different levels, should be given regular reinforcements to encourage them. These include amongst other things.(a) Edo language teachers allowance (b) regular training programmes and workshops with remunerations for the teachers, (c) enhanced salary etc.

More importantly, Edo youths need to be constantly reassured of the positive support of their elderly ones in all their endeavours. They should be always be reminded of the very important place they occupy in the generational usage and transmission of the language.

Lovers of Edo people and their language, should also do all they can to encourage the use of the language and help to promote and sustain it.

CONCLUDING NOTES

Attempt has been made in this paper to examine attitudes of Edo speakers towards Edo language. The paper raises an alarm to alert Edo users on the declining condition of the language. It drew attention to the distinction between the important status of and the present discouraging attitudes of speakers towards it. Whereas Edo occupies an important position in the history of the people, speakers are not doing much linguistically and otherwise to maintain its vitality. The paper observed among other things, that the present discouraging attitudes have already pushed Edo language into potential endangerment. The fear that this may affect Edo culture negatively and cause disintegration is expressed since language is seen as a vehicle of a people's culture as well as a symbol of their unity an identity. Consequently, the paper recommends, while concluding, that both the government and people of Edo state should as a matter of urgency and importance join hands together to revitalize the language.

It is the submission of this paper that in spite of the multi-ethnic nature of the linguistic situation in Edo land, the threat to the vitality of Edo can be stopped. A lot can be done to bring back the lost glory of the language and even move it from its so-called minority position to a non-endangered and higher level of usage.

REFERENCES

Adegbija, E. (1994), "English & Indigenous Languages in Kwara State (Nigeria). The Bottom Line Attitudinal Factors." In Multilingual Journal of Cross-Cultural & Inter Language Communication. Richard (ed.) Vol. 13-3, Weltered Gruyter, Berlin.

Adeyemi, B (2002), "Language Attitude Patterns of Nigerians". In, Language Attitudes and Language Conflicts in West Africa. Igboanusi, H. (ed.) Emcrownfit. Ibadan.

Amfari, A. H., (2001) "Some Observations Regarding Governments Attitude Towards Hausa Language in Nigeria." Paper Presented at the Nigerian Millennium Socio-linguistics Conference. University of Lagos, August 16-18.

Aziza: (2003) "Pidgin and the indigenous languages of the Warri of Delta State." In Four decades in the study of languages and linguistics in Nigeria: A fetchscrift for Kay Williamson. Ozo-mekuri Ndimele (ed). Pgs 123-130.

Bamgbose, A. (2001) "Language Policy in Nigeria: Challenges, Opportunities and Constraint." Paper presented at the Nigerian Millennium Socio-linguistics Conference. University of Lagos, August 16-18, 2001.

Bradley, D. (2002) "Language Attitudes: The Language Factor in Language Maintenance". In Language Endangerment and Language Maintenance. Bradley, D. & Maya (eds.) Routledge Curzon. London.

Elugbe, B. (1986). Comparative Ediod: Phonology & Lexicon. Delta Series No. 6. Port-Harcourt.

Emenanjo, E.N. (2002) "Language Policies and cultural Identities", A Paper presented at the World Congress on Language Policies. Barcelona. 16th -20th March.

Imasuen, E. (1997). Edo Course Book 2., Aisien. Benin City.

Federal Republic of Nigeria ( 1981). National Policy on Education (Revised).

Okon, E & Okon, M. (2003). Topical Issues in Socio-linguistics: The Nigerian Perspective. Emhai. Port Harcourt.

Omozuwa, V.E (2003). "Edo Orthography Revisited" In Ndimele Ozo Mekuri (ed) Four Decades in the Study of Language & Linguistics in Nigeria. A Festschrift for Kay Williamson. NINLAN. Aba.

Oyetade, O. (2002) "Attitude to Foreign languages and Indigenous Language Use in Nigeria". In Language Attitude & Language Conflict in West Africa. Igboanusi. H.(ed). EniCrownfit Ibandan

Ugorji, C.U.C (2003). "Dialect Communities & Languages Vitality" in The Linguistic Paradise. A Festschrift for E. Nolue Emenajo. Ndimele Ozo Mekuri (ed.) National Institute for Nigerian Languages Aba.

Waudaugh, R. (1987). Language in Competition, Dominance, Diversity & Decline. Basil Blackwell Ltd, Oxford.

Wurm, S.A. (2002) "Strategies for Language Maintenance & Revival" in Language Endangerment & Language Maintenance, Broadly, D. & Bradley, D & Bradley, M (ed.) pgs 11-23. Routledge Curzon, London.

Please visit The Institute for Benin studies' website at http://www.GreatBenin.org Best viewed with Opera downloadable at http://www.opera.com/download

__________________________________________________________

News, entertainment and everything you care about at Live.com. Get it now!

http://www.live.com/getstarted.aspx

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/106>

African writers urge for protection of languages

mi�rcoles, 26 de noviembre de 2008

14:50

http://www.buanews.gov.za/view.php?ID=08041012451003&coll=buanew08

Date: 10 Apr 2008

Title: African writers urge for protection of

languages

---------------------------------------------------------------

By Nthambeleni Gabara

Cape Town - Aspiring African writers, authors and

academics in the Western Cape have urged government to

enforce policies that will protect indigenous

languages.

They told Arts and Culture Minister Dr Pallo Jordaan

during an Imbizo held at Stellenbosch University on

Wednesday that they were concerned about the lack of

legislation regarding indigenous languages and

writings.

According to a statement released by the MEC for

Cultural Affairs and Sport in the Western Cape, Whitey

Jacobs, the writers felt African languages in South

Africa were constantly under threat because there is

no legislation that enforces their protection and

usage.

The imbizo noted that the erosion of indigenous

languages was further perpetuated by the critical

shortage of new written material in African languages

as a result of the publishing company's resistance.

Writers voiced their concern about the continued

marginalisation of IsiXhosa at public schools as well

as in Model C schools.

Current education policy stipulates that Grade 10

learners must take only two languages as subjects at

the imbizo, they writers said, adding that government

should introduce legislation that would enforce the

usage of all official languages.

"This places IsiXhosa and other indigenous languages

at a disadvantage because of the perceived inferiority

of these languages," read the statement.

The authors urged the Department of Education to

ensure learners at the foundation stage are taught in

the respective mother tongue to ensure good prospects

for the development of these marginalised languages.

Publishing companies were blamed for failing to

provide adequate support to African writers which are

resulting in the scarcity of written material of

indigenous languages.

Accessing funding and resourcing of structures was

also discussed at the imbizo, which forms part of

government's imbizo week.

Mr Jordaan said he would ask the National Arts Council

to embark on a road show in all the nine provinces to

brief organisations about the processes and procedures

for a successful application. - BuaNews

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/109>

UBE Curricula and Nigerian languages

mi�rcoles, 26 de noviembre de 2008

14:52

�GUARDIAN

�

�Friday, May 09, 2008

�

�UBE Curricula and Nigerian languages

�

�By Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche

�

�I READ with consternation the article by Rotimi Oyekanmi

titled "New UBE Curricula Unveiled In Lagos" which was published in

The Guardian on Thursday, May 1, 2008. In it, the author mentioned

that among the compulsory subjects to be offered by pupils in primary

classes 1 to 3 are English Studies and one major Nigerian language

(Hausa, Igbo or Yoruba). In primaries 4 to 6 and Junior Secondary

School 1-3, the same situation obtains, except for the addition of

French as a compulsory subject. Thus, throughout the 9 years of the

Universal Basic Education, all the close to four hundred small

Nigerian languages are completely excluded from the country's

official curricula.

>

> Those of us working in the area of Nigerian languages know that

this marginalisation of the non-major languages is fraught with grave

consequences. First, it will exacerbate the feelings of resentment

already harboured by speakers of these languages that the country

favours only the big three languages - Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. This

surely works against the unity and security of the country. Secondly,

it amounts to an unfortunate policy reversal at a time when the

Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council has been

striving to produce orthography and curricula for some small

languages, all in a bid to encourage their being taught in the school

system. Thirdly, and most important, the non-teaching of the small

languages in schools will hasten their extinction. Already,

researches carried out all over the country show that virtually all

of the country's four hundred languages are endangered, with some

very near extinction. In a related research

> carried out last year, this writer found that, on the average, 15

per cent of Nigerian children aged six years to 11 years and 25 per

cent of them aged five years and below cannot speak their parents'

indigenous language. If this loss of indigenous language competence

among children is allowed to continue, then Nigerian languages would

have died out in the next 50 or so years. In a world where linguists

are warning that up to 90 per cent of the world's existing 6000 to

6,500 languages would not survive into the next century, it is a

shame that Nigeria is now taking a very retrogressive step towards

her languages. If we are serious about our ideal of unity in

diversity and about preventing the extinction of our indigenous

languages, then the new UBE curricula as they affect languages have

to be immediately revised.

>

> The first step is to reinstate the "Language of the environment" as

a core subject in primary and junior secondary schools. This means

that the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba children will study their own

languages while children of other language backgrounds - Urhobo,

Nupe, Tiv, Ijaw, Ibibio, Fulfude, Kanuri, etc - will also have the

opportunity to study their own languages. It has been pointed out

that this has been the prescription of the National Policy on

Education (NPE) since 1977 but it has not been implemented in most

states of the Federation. Rather than throw out the baby with the

bath water, however, the challenge before us should be to examine why

the Nigerian languages provisions of the NPE have not been

implemented and then resolve to make amends. Far from the misgivings

held in some quarters that this is a tall order, it can be stated

here that adequate expertise and technical competence exist to teach

every Nigerian child his or her language in

> the school. What has been lacking is the political will to do so.

With regard to the study of French, and of Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba as

Second Nigerian languages, this is desirable but far from priority in

the face of the more horrific danger of the death of the mother-

tongues. The suggestion here is that French and Second Nigerian

languages should be removed from the list of primary school subjects,

while they should be transferred to the elective list in the Junior

Secondary School.

>

> This rejoinder concludes by calling on the Federal Government and

the Universal Basic Education Commission to immediately reinstate the

language of the environment in the UBE curricular to accommodate all

languages spoken in the country. Further, the governors, legislators

and indigenes of the states where the small languages are spoken

should now take active interest in seeing that their languages are

taught in schools. Finally, the entire government and people of

Nigeria are hereby alerted that all the country's indigenous

languages are facing extinction. Shall we let them die?

>

>

> Dr. Ohiri-Aniche is of the Faculty of Education, University of

Lagos.

Pegado de <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Evbonaze-nEdo/message/113>

Major Languages of Africa

mi�rcoles, 26 de noviembre de 2008

14:54

http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/MajorLanguages

On this page/Sur cette page... (hide)

1.     1. Language Profiles for Localisation

2.     2. Major Languages of Africa - explanation

1.     2.1 Many languages, many dialects

2.     2.2 Choice of languages for this document

3.     3. Changes to the list of Major Languages

1.     3.1 Changes in 2005

2.     3.2 Changes in 2006

3.     3.3 Changes in 2007

4.     4. Other languages

Language is the central consideration in localisation, and questions regarding choice of languages to localise in, choice of dialect when a language has more than one, and prioritization of languages when there will be work on several, are likely to confront any localisation effort. Therefore it is useful to have more information on the languages, their interrelationship, and their contemporary use. In brief, it is important to look at specifics to the extent possible when discussing localisation in Africa.

This section therefore provides profiles of a select group of the most widely spoken languages in Africa. An explanation of the choice of languages follows the list of language profiles, below.

1. Language Profiles for Localisation

A template of the topics

covered in each language profile

provides explanations of the topics.

�         �Afrikaans

�         �Akan

�         �Amharic

�         �Anyi, Baule (en fran�ais : Agni et Baoul�)

�         �Arabic (�������)

�         �Bamileke

�         �Bedawi (Beja)

�         �Bemba

�         �Beti (Ewondo, Fang, Bulu)

�         �Berber

�         �Chewa, Nyanja

�         �Chokwe, Ruund

�         �Dagaare

�         �Dinka

�         �Ebira (Igbera)

�         �Edo (Bini)

�         �Efik, Ibibio, Anaang

�         �Fula (en fran�ais : Peul) (Fulfulde, Pulaar, Pular)

�         �Ganda (Luganda, oluGanda..)

�         �Gbaya

�         �Gbe (Ewe, Mina, Fon)

�         �Gikuyu

�         �Gogo

�         �Gurage

�         �Hausa (en fran�ais : Haoussa)

�         �Hehe

�         �Idoma

�         �Igbo

�         �Ijo

�         �Isle de France Creole

�         �Kalenjin (Nandi, Kipsigis)

�         �Kamba

�         �Kanuri

�         �Kimbundu

�         �Kongo (Kituba)

�         �Kpelle (en fran�ais : Guerz�)

�         �Krio, Pidgin (Cluster)

�         �Kru, Bassa

�         �Lingala

�         �Lozi (Silozi)

�         �Luba (Chiluba)

�         �Luo, Acholi, Lango

�         �Luyia

�         �Maasai

�         �Makua, Lomwe

�         �Malagasy

�         �Manding (en fran�ais : Mandingue) (Bamanan/Jula/Mandinka/Maninka)

�         �Mende, Bandi, Loko

�         �Meru

�         �Mongo, Nkundo

�         �Moore

�         �Nama

�         �Ndebele, Northern

�         �Ndebele, Southern

�         �Nubian

�         �Nuer

�         �Nupe

�         �Nyakusa

�         �Oromo

�         �Oshiwambo

�         �Runyakitara

�         �Rwanda, Rundi

�         �Sango

�         �Sara

�         �Senufo (Senari)

�         �Serer

�         �Shona

�         �Sidamo

�         �Somali

�         �Songhai, Zarma

�         �Soninke

�         �Sotho, Northern (Sepedi)

�         �Sotho, Southern (Sesotho)

�         �Sukuma, Nyamwezi

�         �Suppire, Minianka

�         �Susu (& Yalunka) (en fran�ais : Soussou et Djalonk�)

�         �Swahili (Kiswahili)

�         �Swazi

�         �Temne

�         �Teso, Turkana

�         �Tigrinya

�         �Tiv

�         �Tsonga

�         �Tswana (Setswana)

�         �Tumbuka

�         �Umbundu

�         �Venda

�         �Wolof

�         �Xhosa

�         �Yao, Makonde

�         �Yoruba

�         �Zande

�         �Zulu

�         Afrikaans

2. Major Languages of Africa - explanation

2.1 Many languages, many dialects

The figure of 2000 languages is often cited for Africa, representing about a third of the living languages of the world. A lot depends on how one defines language. Many languages have dialectal variants, and in many cases tongues with different names are so closely related that native speakers can communicate. At what point is a variant so distinct as to be considered a separate language? When can different variants be treated as a unit? These are critical questions for localisation in many cases, and sometimes there may be more than one answer depending on the nature and goals of the localisation.

SIL International, through its well known encyclopedic effort called Ethnologue to document all human languages, has tended to distinguish among dialects as separate languages. While this may be appropriate when considering the linguistic characteristics of a particular tongue and the precise way to translate important texts, it is arguably of less importance for verbal communication and for less exacting text reqirements like a set of commands in a software interface.

On the other end of the spectrum is the tendency to group together interintelligible tongues - usually dialects of a language. This is the approach for instance of the Center for Advanced Studies of African Societies (CASAS) in its advocacy and research work. For purposes of this study, similar tongues will be considered together, though reference will be made to Ethnologue's linguistic information.

2.2 Choice of languages for this document

The question then arises how to choose which languages to consider in this report. A useful list is that arrived at for an entirely diferent purpose - prioritizing African language instruction efforts at U.S. universities. In 1979, specialists in African languages identified a total of 83 languages (some grouped) based on their importance in terms of number of speakers and regional use. A project headed by linguist David Dwyer of Michigan State University compiled information on these languages for publication (Dwyer 1987) and eventual posting on a website (Webbook of African Language Resources 1997). Along the way the number of languages was raised to 85 by the splitting up of one large grouping of southern African languages.

Because that list was not compiled with localisation in mind, it was recognized when adopting it for this PanAfrican Localisation project, that it probably would need to be modified. In addition, several questions were identified regarding the choice of languages, including:

�         �For some smaller countries, their main indigenous language(s) are not included - is this a problem and should all countries in Africa have at least one language represented in the list?

�         �How appropriate are some of the language categories that concern clusters of languages? That is, that the category includes tongues that are different enough that even though they may share a common origin, be closely related, or bear the same name, they can't be considered a single unit for localisation purposes.

�         �Should we subdivide the list of languages by priority for attention as the abovementioned Handbook does?

�         �Are there other sources that should be consulted about the list of languages and the inclusion of others?

We began this list with the 85 languages in the Webbook in 2005 for the purpose getting the process started, and as a basis for discussion in considering what ICT has to offer for the larger number of African languages. Much of the information we began with was drawn from the Webbook information, with additional information from sources such as Ethnologue added in progressively.

3. Changes to the list of Major Languages

3.1 Changes in 2005

Several changes have been made as of early August 2005:

�         �Added Afrikaans, as it is the third major language in South Africa in terms of speakers, and also spoken in Namibia. (It was not in the Webbook listing in early 2005, but has since been added.)

�         �Added Beti, as it is a major cluster of interintelligible languages (Ewondo, Fang, Bulu) in southern Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. (It was not in the Webbook listing.)

�