Unubi, S U N D A Y Abraham (USA)

This article is primed to investigate with a view to establishing whether Arabic and Hausa are cognates or not. Since languages are said to be living or alive, the concept of identicalness is a possible phenomenon as applicable to other living creatures. The researchers adopted secondary method in collecting the data for this study. This data comprised diagrams of the linguistic family trees and samples of lexical items taken from the two languages under study, and analysed. The lexical items are 25 in number, which we tabulated, tone-marked and glossed accordingly for purposes of clarity and correctness in articulation on the part of the readership both locally and internationally. The analysis paved the way for the investigators to ably pin down and clearly pinpoint cases of cognacy or cognateness appropriately as the case may be, which made them to arrive at a conclusion. The researchers chose the genetic hypothesis propounded by Hale in 2007, as a theoretical background for this study. From the analysis of the linguistic family trees of both languages as well as the lexical items, the findings of the study suggested that both languages are actually cognates. A few of these lexical items include: Arabic sab"i:nHausa sàbà"in "seventy";Arabic huku:mahHausa hùkuumàa "government" ; Arabic jamhu:riyyah-Hausa jamhuuriyàa "republic", etc.

Semiotics (or linguistic signs) has become a very crucial aspect of communication that the study of Linguistics cannot be complete without the mention of it. It is on this basis that the researcher carried out this study with a view to assessing the communicative richness of linguistic signs in the English, Ígála, Tàro̟k and Yorùbá languages. This research utilized both primary and secondary sources in its data collection strategy. For the primary aspect, we elicited the data from twenty-eight native speaker informants of the three Nigerian languages involved in this study (Ígála, Tàro̟k and Yorùbá). And for the secondary aspect, we made use of extant material, especially for data on the English and Igala. The data comprised both body language and iconic or symbolic signs. These we presented in a tabular form and analyzed concurrently. There are forty signs in all, and the breakdown is as thus: English = fourteen; Ígála = ten; Tàro̟k = six; and Yorùbá = ten. From the investigation, some of the findings are as follows: (i) that both ékakwú (ákwú éka) in Igala and ìgàngáng-ngà in Taro̟k have cultural significance symbolic of death announcement; while ékakwú (ákwú éka) is shooting of gun(s), ìgàngáng-ngà is beating of a drum, both are practised to publish and show the direction where the death has occurred in a community; (ii) the nine meanings of ét’ọwọ́ (ọ́wọ́ éta) in Igala, (i.e. making a snap sound with the thumb and the middle finger) have shown that a sign can be polysemous in meaning.
Key words: English, Ígála, Tàro̟k, Yorùbá, communication, linguistics, language, sign

This paper discusses the use of conjunctions in some languages of Africa. Conjunctions which are words used to link or connect two words, phrases, clauses or sentences together, either in speech or in writing, are not restricted to English alone, but are also found and used in other languages of the world. Conjunctions are regarded as one of the eight parts of speech in English, according to the traditional grammar. In English, the basic function of conjunctions, which is that of linking or connecting, also does same in these languages of Africa, as captured in this paper but there is a slight difference. This paper is rich because the author has worked hard to trace the presence and use of conjunctions in a good number of African languages as outlined here, and it will be of great interest to both students and scholars in the fields of English/Linguistics in particular, and the entire readership in general. The (main) author, having written on conjunctions in English: meaning, types and uses before now, deemed it fit to carry out this study because this crucial area of language study perhaps seems to have received less attention from language scholars and students. The reason for this is attributable to the fact that conjunctions have been adjudged few, and as such, it is believed that there is not enough to say there. Therefore, this article serves as an impetus to those who might like to carry out studies in this area of language study.

This paper examines the place of language in policy formulation and implementation in some countries of Africa. Such policies could be economic, educational, agricultural, social, political/electoral, etc. Over the past years to the present, Africans in many African countries have experienced inconsistencies and discrepancies in the policies formulated, especially when weighed with their implementations. This is partly not unconnected with the fact that some African leaders are oblivious of the far-reaching impact of the language use on the realisation or implementation of policies hitherto formulated. This is because words as linguistic resources are dynamic and vibrant, and therefore, can create or make, mar or destroy, kill, save, build peace, cause full blown war, etc. Data for this research was collected through a secondary source (internet sources), specifically 12 online papers, which included the speeches of some African leaders during policy formulation as well as their reactions or utterances within the period of implementation (which were noted along with their sources - websites). There are three African countries captured by this study; Liberia, Nigeria and South Africa. The finding of the study showed that the fiascos recorded in the realisation of policies by leaders of Africa are partially due to the kind of language they use, especially after formulating certain policies, which antithetically hampers implementation or achievement.
Key words: language, policy, policy formulation, policy implementation, Africa.

This paper examined the pragmatics of connectives in English and Igala. The article revealed that pragmatic connectives usually express relations between speech acts. That is, it essentially handles the issue of how connectives perform their linking functions contextually or pragmatically to encode meaning in a language. When two propositions are linked by a connective, whether uttered by an interlocutor or between an interlocutor and a listener, pragmatics plays a pivotal role in influencing their meanings to be something different from what they should be denotatively. Data collection for this research was generated exclusively from secondary sources, which was drawn mainly from the existing material on pragmatic connectives in both languages. Thus, the pragmatic implications of propositions linked by connectives were clearly presented and analysed concurrently. The data comprised five utterances of both English and Igala, which also contained five connectives, namely: àmâ 'but', todúlɛ́ 'so', ʧájí 'unless/until/till', àbɛkí 'or' and íʧɛun 'if' were selected, presented and analysed. The English data was labelled A while the one on Igala was marked B. The major result of the study indicated that connectives actually have pragmatic value, especially when linked with two propositions in both languages. Introduction Pragmatic connectives usually express relations between speech acts. Normally, speech acts do not come alone. They actually occur in ordered sequences as accomplished by one speaker or subsequent speakers, e.g. in the course of a conversation. In other words, a sound analysis of speech acts, which is a central task in pragmatics, to some extent, cannot be carried out without previous understanding of the notion of an act or action. As a matter of fact, a serious linguistic pragmatics should not only account for speech acts but also for relations between speech acts and the ways these relations are expressed in the sentences and texts used to perform such speech act sequences. Particularly then, our main concern in this research is to investigate how these relations are expressed by various connectives in both English and Igala languages.

This paper investigated a contrastive study of English and Igala segmental phonemes: implications for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers and learners. A contrastive analysis is a linguistic tool used in comparing two unrelated languages, and the main objective of it is to bring out the differences in the two languages compared with a view to emphasising on the effects which such differences have on both EFL teachers and learners. This research appealed only to the secondary sources of data, which included the orthographies of both languages under study. The Igala orthography was obtained from the department of Igala Language and Culture, Kogi State College of Education Ankpa, in addition to other material in Igala. The consonant and vowel phonemes of the two languages were placed contiguously in a tabular form and given appropriate heading to be able to observe their level of differences and similarities easily. Then words in which these phonemes occur in the Igala language were supplied and the phonemes indicated. Some of the findings of this research revealed the following: (i) that the consonant phonemes such as /ð/, /θ/, /s/, /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /v/ and /z/, and the vowel phonemes /ǝ/ and /ʌ/, which are present in English are however absent in Igala, just as /kp/, /gb/, /ny/, /kw/, /gw/ and /nw/ that are present in Igala are absent in English; (ii) English has twelve pure vowels (monophthongs) and eight diphthongs, while Igala has fourteen monophthongs and eleven diphthongs; (iii) that these differences have posed certain teaching and learning difficulties to both EFL teachers and learners who are native speakers of the Igala language; and (iv) that while English has twenty-four consonant phonemes, Igala has twenty-three.

This paper investigates and delivers essential linguistic knowledge on French and English languages to the entire readership in the field of general linguistics. Knowledge, according to the old maxim, is power. The essential linguistic knowledge on the languages under study, as supplied by the researchers here includes how their names came to be, their locations and ethnographies, their genetic and typological classifications as well as their sociolinguistic situations and dialectal issues. Doubtlessly, this kind of philological, genetic and typological linguistic knowledge is highly necessary for linguists, students and language admirers, as it empowers them to create a section on basic linguistic information about these languages when carrying out studies or researches involving any branch of linguistics (morphology, phonology, syntax, etc.) in any of the two languages, especially in their introductory portions.

This article expfalores teaching Igala and English languages effectively in primary schools in Igala land. Actually, the outcome of teaching effectively is that which leads to change in behavioural knowledge. Although the old adage which says "Somebody can lead a horse to the river but cannot force her to drink water" is still relevant here, if the teaching is done effectively, the serious-minded pupils will study hard to ensure a productive and satisfactory learning outcomes. Today, it is not an overstatement to say that some primary school pupils can neither write and spell simple Igala names/words properly nor construct simple sentences in English correctly. Judging from their classroom experiences, the researchers have indeed, observed that teaching these languages effectively in our primary and secondary schools is necessary for maximum learning outcomes.

This paper explores and exposes the historical development, scope and subject matter or object of study of Pragmatics as well as explaining with relevant data how pragmatics, Semantics and Discourse Analysis handle the study of meaning in language. Pragmatics, which is a branch of linguistics concerned with the use of language in social context, did not just appear in the study of language like a 'ghost' but has a historical origin, a scope that it covers, and a subject matter. In addition, this research, apart from arming us with the information on the origin, scope and subject matter of Pragmatics, had gone a step further to tell us how Pragmatics, in conjunction with Semantics, which is the study of the meaning of linguistic expression, and Discourse Analysis, which is the study of the ways in which language is used in texts and contexts, deal with the study of meaning in language at different levels, as separate disciplines of English and Linguistics.

This paper examined nominal categories in Igala. The nominal categories that were handled by this article include: number, possession, gender, definiteness and case. These play crucial role in all languages of the world. In the method for the study, data collection included both primary and secondary sources. In the primary source, the researcher selected two linguists in the department of Igala, Kogi State College of Education Ankpa, as consultants in terms of getting the relevant data as regards nominal categories in Igala. The secondary source included extant material on this subject done by other researchers in the past both in Igala and other languages for purposes of enriching this work. Some of the findings of the study include: (i) the Igala language has no gender distinction in its case grammar (pronoun)-thus we have the third person singular subject pronouns i and òuŋ (òŋʷu), which are glossed 'he/she/it' as well as the third person singular object pronoun uŋ (ŋʷu), also glossed him/her/it; (ii) definiteness in the language is marked by demonstratives, which are of two types: proximate-jí 'this', and distal-lɛ́'that', while indefiniteness is expressed through the use of the numeral ǒka 'one' or 'someone'; (iii) four cases have been established as used in day-today conversation in the Igala language, which are nominative/subjective, accusative/objective, possessive/genitive, and vocative; and (iv) both ɛkɛƖɛ̀and ɛ́nɛkɛƖɛ 'man' or èbùƖɛ̀and ónobùlɛ 'woman' are used interchangeably in the language but it is only ɛkɛƖɛ' man' and èbùƖɛ̀'woman' that can take the plural marker or morpheme àbó-, while ɛ́nɛkɛƖɛ 'man' and ónobùlɛ 'woman' cannot. If we do, they lose their man/woman sense and evoke a different meaning entirely, and therefore, become ungrammatical, as in *àbɛnɛkɛƖɛ would mean 'people of the male folk, and *àbonobùlɛ would mean 'people of the female folk'.

This article investigates selected derivational morphological processes in English, Hausa, Igala and some other languages of the world. Morphological processes are a means of changing a word base or root to adjust its meaning and to fit into different syntactic and communicational contexts. To achieve this in a language, linguists usually utilise certain tools called morphemes or affixes or word-elements, which are added or attached to the base or root of a word. In this article, the researchers have arduously and ardently examined these languages to bring out their rich and interesting morphological processes. We have found out that derivational morphology, which is concerned with forming new lexemes, i.e. words that differ either in syntactic category or in meaning from their bases, is extremely productive in languages. Introduction This paper treats derivational morphological processes, as selected and studied in English, Hausa, Igala and some other languages of the world. As a matter of fact, morphological processes are unique and interesting phenomena in the study of languages of the world, and they usually catch the attention of linguists. For this reason, before discussing the morphological processes selected in the languages under study, we have decided to proffer the definitions of morphology, derivational morphology and morphological processes as a brief literature review for easy comprehension. Furthermore, this study, to the best of its ability, has handled prefix, suffix, infix, interfix, circumfix, transfix and suprafix or superfix, among other morphological processes in the aforementioned languages and some other languages of the world.

This paper explores the fundamental linguistic information on English, Igala and Hausa languages. As it is often said, information is power. The fundamental information on these languages as provided by the researchers here includes how their names came to be, their locations and ethnographies, their genetic and typological classifications as well as their sociolinguistic profiles and dialectal issues. Of course, this typological and philological linguistic information is highly necessary for linguists and language enthusiasts as it brings to their fingertips in just a single article such information that is basic for any kind of study in these languages under focus here and other languages of the world.

This research examines the artistic use of language by
Ifeoma Okoye in her novel: Men Without Ears. The
author uses language to admonish the Nigerian
citizenry in particular and mankind in general to
beware of vainglory or pride, incontinency,
corruption, professional misconduct as well as undue
desire for amassment of material wealth. The writers
of this paper painstakingly assess such use of
language by the author, and by so doing, they have
not only conspicuously inflamed the passion of the
readership but also added aesthetic value to the novel
Key word: language

This paper compares the use of language by both writers-Okoye and Armah to portray the social ills prevalent in their societies: Nigeria and Ghana. A comparative study of this kind is a useful dynamic and heuristic tool capable of throwing valuable light on the characteristic features of the two works compared (Firbas cited in Johansson (9), as paraphrased by us)). As a matter of fact, the researchers, through this paper, have brought to limelight the beauty of the two works in terms of the language use by the writers, and this has added more value to both works literarily and academically.

This paper discusses Igala syllable and phonotactics. As phonological phenomena in which a unit of sound is made up of a central peak of loudness in a word, and certain sounds (either consonants or vowels) are not permissible to occur in certain positions or environments, the subject of syllable with phonotactics is both unique and important generally in the languages of the world, including the Igala. The instrument adopted for data collection in this study is that of the secondary source, which comprises extant material or works done by other scholars over the past years. This is done in conjunction with the researchers' intuition or insight as native speakers of the language. The data for this research was presented in two sets: that on syllable was labelled (1) while the one on phonotactics was labelled (2) respectively. The first data was presented orthographically while the second was presented phonemically. This was done intentionally to enhance readership comprehension, which comprised both the layman and the linguist. Since vowel sounds seem to be the focus in syllable, and consonant sounds in phonotactics, the two data were presented along with both charts. The study revealed that neither a consonant nor a cluster of consonants are permissible or allowable in the syllable of Igala at the word final positions, except in few ideophonic words as claimed by Ejeba (2016), and syllabic velar nasal /ŋ/ as also claimed by Omachonu (2011) previously.

This paper compares the approach of A. C. Gimson to English stress with that of H. J. Giegerich, which is an aspect of their works. According to Firbas (1992) as cited in Johansson (2008:9), a comparative study of this sort proves to be a useful, dynamic heuristic tool capable of throwing valuable light on the characteristic features of the works compared. In other words, when we compare two works, we can see the characteristics of each of them more clearly in terms of differences and similarities, and the comparison can contribute to a better understanding of both works (as paraphrased by us). Bearing this in mind, the researchers painstakingly examine the subject of stress in both works in order to uncover to the readership the differences and similarities in the approaches of both scholars.
Keyword: stress, comparative study, differences, similarities.

This paper, which examines consonant deletion in the speech of English-Platoid bilinguals, is in the domain of articulatory phonetics. When English words end in two or three consonants, speakers of English who are native speakers of Platoid languages usually delete consonants word finally during articulation. This has been of deep interest to the researcher, and therefore decides to investigate the phenomenon that leads to this incidence as a way of proffering a linguistic explanation to it. To do this, a total of twenty-two sentences containing words that end in two or three consonants were used as data elicitation technique from some English-Platoid bilinguals. These words were noted by the researcher during informal daily conversations at different occasions. The words whose consonants got deleted at the word final position were transcribed phonetically for purposes of clarity. The second part of the data constitutes the elicitation of six words of common nouns each from ten indigenous Platoid languages. Since the focus is on consonant deletion, few consonant systems of these languages were also presented. This is so done with a view to discovering whether there is evidence of consonant cluster in those languages or not, especially at word final position in order for the researcher to pin down the factor responsible for the deletion. From there, the study concludes that there is no evidence of consonant cluster at word-final positions in Platoid languages, and where it does, it only exists as digraph orthographically, as in: shīk-bīsh 'sin', kàt-ɗang 'if' (Mwaghavul); kámbo̟ ng 'cocoyam' (Ron); ìsho̟ sh 'honey bee', nànámàng 'girls' (Afizere); ìkpáng 'plate', ǹding 'water' (Tarok), etc.

This paper investigates significant linguistic information on Arabic and Hausa languages. Linguistic information on any natural language of the world belongs to the fields of historical linguistics or diachronic linguistics (which studies the development of language and languages over time as well as their historical development) and philology (the study of language history). The significant information on these languages as provided by the researcher in this study includes how their names came to be, their locations and ethnographies, their genetic and typological classifications as well as their sociolinguistic profiles and dialectal issues. As a matter of fact, the typological and diachronic or philological linguistic information of this kind is highly necessary for linguists or scholars, students, language enthusiasts and laymen as it brings to their fingertips in a single study or article such information that is basic for any kind of study in the languages under focus in this paper as well as other languages of the world. This article has also brought to the front burner the acclaimed genetic relationship between these two Afro Asiatic languages, hence making this study a worthy exercise.

This paper investigates significant linguistic information on Arabic and Hausa languages. Linguistic information on any natural language of the world belongs to the fields of historical linguistics or diachronic linguistics (which studies the development of language and languages over time as well as their historical development) and philology (the study of language history). The significant information on these languages as provided by the researcher in this study includes how their names came to be, their locations and ethnographies, their genetic and typological classifications as well as their sociolinguistic profiles and dialectal issues. As a matter of fact, the typological and diachronic or philological linguistic information of this kind is highly necessary for linguists or scholars, students, language enthusiasts and laymen as it brings to their fingertips in a single study or article such information that is basic for any kind of study in the languages under focus in this paper as well as other languages of the world. This article has also brought to the front burner the acclaimed genetic relationship between these two Afro Asiatic languages, hence making this study a worthy exercise.

The use of signs as a means of communication in a typical Igala setting dates back to the days of our fore-fathers. It is highly prized or valued to be a rich means of communication because of its importance especially in social interactions among the Igala people. However, the trend has changed as this is no longer obtainable in contemporary times. Undoubtedly, the advent of western culture, which is diametrically opposed to the African culture, has lent its coin to the use of signs among the Igala people, especially the younger generation. In fact, it is regrettable to note that the youths of nowadays no longer comprehend simple sign language given by their parents who seek to communicate with them in a peculiar manner, even in a typical Igala setting. This paper, therefore seeks to revive the use of signs among the Igala people by way of reminding the already-informed, and by educating the young. This will be achieved by applying the historical and descriptive methods presenting our cherished signs in Igala language, and providing their semantic interpretation. Furthermore, the researcher has made efforts to represent most of the signs discussed in this paper pictorially. The paper shall focus mainly on non-verbal cues such as facial expression and gestures, which involve the use of hands and other body-language as explored by both the ‘speaker’ and the ‘hearer’ since these constitute signs as a means of communication among the Igala people. It is submitted here that some of the signs are Igala-specific while some are general, and can be understood cross-culturally. This research shall adopt the theories in systemic functional linguistics as its theoretical framework.
Keyword: language, linguistics, sign language

Since language is dynamic, and teaching is a dynamic tool of instructing and training someone (the learner) for desired change in their lives, behaviors, experiences, and statuses, it also requires a dynamic and an experienced mind to carry it out. In its methodology, the study adopted both the primary and secondary sources of data gathering technique. Observational examination of both teachers and learners of the English language constituted the primary source while extant material dealing with the teaching and learning of English comprised the secondary data. The observation mainly bordered on phonetics and phonology, that is, how some Nigerian teachers of English realize or articulate some sounds and words of English, which in turn has impacted negatively on the learner. These sounds and words are divided into two groups – A and B, and group A is further divided into vowel and consonant sounds. We also presented the charts of the vowels and consonants of English to guide us in our analysis. The result of this investigation showed that mother tongue interference is the main factor responsible, and that teachers need to do extra work on themselves for satisfactory and positive learning outcomes on the learners, which is a direct consequence of effective teaching.
Keywords: English, teaching, effective teaching, education.