PAPERS IN NIGERIAN LINGUISTICS


Book Description




Nigerian Languages, Literatures, Culture and Reforms


Book Description

The papers in this volume were selected from the Silver Jubilee edition of the Annual Conference of the Linguistic Association of Nigerian (LAN) which was held at the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC), Abuja, Nigeria. The Silver Jubilee edition is dedicated to the father of Nigerian Linguistics, Professor Emeritus Ayo Bamgbose. Professor Emeritus Bamgbose was the first indigenous Professor of Linguistics in Nigeria, and the first black African to teach linguistics in any known university south of the Sahara. He was there from the very beginning, and together with co-operation of people such as the late Professor Kay Williamson, he nurtured Nigerian linguistics. He is not just a foremost Nigerian linguist, but also a most famous, respected, celebrated, distinguished, and cherished African linguist of all times. To be candid, Nigerian linguistics is synonymous with Professor Emeritus Bamgbose. In 58 well-written chapters by experts in their fields, the book covers aspects of Nigerian languages, linguistics, literatures and culture. The papers have not been categorized into sections; rather they flow, hence there is some overlapping in the arrangement. The book is an essential resource for all who are interested to learn about current trends in the study of languages, linguistics and related subject-matters in Nigeria.




The Numeral Systems of Nigerian Languages


Book Description

The papers in this collection present the numeral systems of more than twenty Nigerian languages. The papers mainly emanate from a workshop on the numeral systems of Nigerian languages organised by the Linguistic Association of Nigeria during its 23rd Annual Conference which was held at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The workshop arose from awareness created by Dr. Eugene S.L. Chan on the need for Nigerian linguists to document this severely endangered but very important aspect of natural languages. The quantum of mathematical computations - addition, multiplication, subtraction, or a combination of two or all of these - involved in the numeral systems of Nigerian languages is remarkable. The papers reveal that a variety of numeral systems do exist, such as: binary, decimal, incomplete decimal, duodecimal, quinary, quaternary, ternary, mixed, body-part tally systems, and much more. The book is a resource about how different languages manipulate their numeral systems.




African linguistics on the prairie


Book Description

African Linguistics on the Prairie features select revised peer-reviewed papers from the 45th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Kansas. The articles in this volume reflect the enormous diversity of African languages, as they focus on languages from all of the major African language phyla. The articles here also reflect the many different research perspectives that frame the work of linguists in the Association for Contemporary African Linguistics. The diversity of views presented in this volume are thus indicative of the vitality of current African linguistics research. The work presented in this volume represents both descriptive and theoretical methodologies and covers fields ranging from phonetics, phonology, morphology, typology, syntax, and semantics to sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, language acquisition, computational linguistics and beyond. This broad scope and the quality of the articles contained within holds out the promise of continued advancement in linguistic research on African languages.




Languages and Culture in Nigeria


Book Description

Language and Culture in Nigeria contains 97 papers from a wide range of areas in Language and Linguistics written by colleagues, friends and former students of Professor Okon Essien. The collection fulfills a gap in the quest for a documented piece of work on the general pattern and structure of Nigerian names and is an invaluable material for comparative purposes. There are 19 papers in section A focusing mainly on various aspects of sociolinguistics and the role of language in society. Section B comprises 24 papers which fall in the area of stylistics, literature and gender studies. Section C contains 21 papers focusing on applied areas of linguistics. Section D comprises 11 papers on information science and communication studies. Section E contains papers that focus on the formal areas of linguistics, i.e. phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax & semantics. Section F is on Okon Essien as a celebrity. It comprises papers which not only x-ray the contributions of the celebrity to the study of languages and linguistics in Nigeria, but also situate him in the context of other linguistic celebrities globally. Section F is rapped up with a collection of brilliant poems dedicated to Professor Okon Essien by the 'Ode Grandmaster', Dr. Obed Ojukwu. There is also an appendix at the end of the work which is Professor Okon Essien's intimidating curriculum vitae.




In the Linguistic Paradise


Book Description

In the Linguistic Paradise is the second volume in the Nigerian Linguists Festschrift Series. The motivating force behind the establishment of the Festschrift Series is to honour outstanding scholars who have excelled in the study of languages and linguistics in Nigeria. This volume is dedicated to Professor E. Nolue Emenanjo, a celebrated linguist and a pioneer professor of Igbo Linguistics. The book is organised in five sections, as follows: Language, History and Society; Literature, Stylistics and Pragmatics; Applied Linguistics; Formal Linguistics; and Tributes. There are 15 papers in the first section the majority address the perennial problem of language choice in Nigeria. Section two contains 10 papers focusing on literature, stylistics and pragmatics. Section three contains 17 papers a sizeable number of which focus on language teaching and learning, two are on lexicography, while others are on language engineering. Section three contains 16 papers focusing on the core areas of linguistics. In section four a biographical profile of Professor E. Nolue Emenanjo and list of publications is presented, while Nwadike examines the contributions of Emenanjo in Igbo Studies.




Convergence: English and Nigerian Languages


Book Description

The present volume, which is the 5th in the Nigerian Linguists Festschrift Series, is devoted to Professor Munzali A. Jibril, a celebrated icon in university administration, and an erudite Professor of English Linguistics. The title of this special edition was specifically chosen to crown Professor Jibril’s academic prowess in both English and indigenous Nigerian languages, and to mark and laud his official departure from active university lectureship. 72 assessed papers are included from the many submitted. Papers cover the main theme of the volume, i.e. the interaction between English and indigenous Nigerian languages, and there are a number of papers on other secular areas of linguistics such as: language and history, language planning and policy, language documentation, language engineering, lexicography, translation, gender studies, language acquisition, language teaching and learning, pragmatics, discourse and conversational analysis, and literature in English and African languages. There is also a rich section devoted to the major ‘traditional’ fields of linguistics - phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics.




Studies in Nigerian Linguistics


Book Description

Studies in Nigerian Linguistics is a compilation of research papers on topical issues in Nigerian languages and linguistics covering three main areas of research, viz.: Language and Society, Applied Linguistics and Formal Linguistics. The papers in this volume are sectioned as such, even though there are bits of overlapping, especially for some of the papers contained in the first and second sections. The first fifteen (15) papers focus on the major theme of Language and Society in Nigeria. Many of the papers in this section address some peculiar sociolinguistic issues that affect the nation, including the nagging and lingering problem regarding the “language question” for the Nigerian nation even after five decades of the attainment of “Political Independence”, language and national development and language varieties. Section 2 contains papers in Applied Linguistics in its narrow and extended senses. There are papers on language teaching and learning, interference and intraference phenomena, language engineering (with focus on codification), communication disorders, and much more. The third section contains sixteen (16) papers in the core areas of linguistics, including phonology, morphology and syntax of Nigerian languages. Some of the papers address aspects of the phonological and morphosyntactic processes of deletion, affixation, cliticisation, causativisation, complementation, serialisation, agreement, and much more. The phrasal structure and pronominal systems of some languages were also discussed.




Current Trends in Nigerian Pidgin English


Book Description

This book focuses on the structure and sociolinguistics of Nigerian Pidgin English. Its major aim is to serve as a compendium which touches different major aspects of NPE as it has been observed that earlier works in this area have focused only on one aspect or the other. It will offer a broad survey of the form and functions of Nigerian Pidgin (NP) in different domains. The book promises to investigate the use of NP in such domains as popular culture, advertisement, social media and online discussion fora. One major strong point of this volume is the fact that it will direct attention to different fertile areas of NP by focusing, inter alia, on its social functions, its morphology and syntax, its regional varieties, its (possible) use as a viable medium of instruction in school, the changing attitudes of people towards its use, the place of NP in relation to language planning and policy in Nigeria as well as sociolinguistic variation within NP. The book will make a significant contribution to the existing literature on NP as, unlike earlier studies in this area, it will explore the grammatical, sociolinguistic and perceptual aspects of the language. By bringing together the expertise of renowned Nigerian and international scholars who have conducted research in this area, the volume will be an essential resource for researchers, graduate and undergraduate students interested not only in Nigerian Pidgin but also on contact linguistics.




Current Research in African Linguistics


Book Description

Current Research in African Linguistics recognizes and honors Ọladele Awobuluyi’s contributions to African linguistics. The contributors, an international group of scholars, represent four generations of African linguists who have been influenced by Awobuluyi’s work as a scholar and teacher. The papers are organized into three thematic sections, namely applied linguistics and sociolinguistics; phonology and morphology; and syntax and semantics and their interfaces. The wide range of topics investigated in this volume will enhance the reader’s understanding of current issues in the field of African linguistics today. Indeed, the book marks an important contribution to the expanding work on language documentation and comparative linguistics by presenting data and linguistic analysis from a number of different African languages.