Language Family Research Project - Essay Example

Language Family Research Project Name: Number: Course title: Course number: Date due: Content Introduction...........................................................................................................................pg.3 The location (map) of where Luri language is spoken..........................................................pg.3 The Luri language family tree………………………..…………………………………….pg.7 Description of the language………………………………………………………………..pg.8 Conclusion............................................................................................................................pg.9 References...........................................................................................................................pg.10 Introduction The Luri language is usually one of the Nigerian languages at the verge of extinction due its diminished number of speakers in combination with the influence from other major languages that are almost similar to it. Due to its scarcity obtaining adequate information about becomes a real challenge other than just few sources of information including the few studies that have already been conducted as well as government databases (Campbell & Hoskison, 1972). However, the Luri language has not been adequately researched and it was first recorded in the survey that was conducted by Campbell & Hoskison on Bauchi State in the year 1972 (Blench, 1998; Campbell & Hoskison, 1972). In addition, there is a hundred-word wordlist that is currently held by Nigeria Bible Translation Trust archives located at Jos. This is actually the likely source of the figure given on the population of the 30 speakers found on both the Index of Nigerian languages as well as the Ethnologue. The language is classified as an Afro-asiatic language; this is then classified again into the Chadic and then subsequently into the West (Campbell & Hoskison, 1972). The location (map) of where Luri language is spoken According to the available records the Luri language is still spoken by approximately 30 speakers who are predominantly located in central Nigeria mostly around the Bauchi town. This is particularly in the villages of Luri and Kayarda (Languages of Nigeria, 3). These villages are in some 15 kilometres to the southeast direction of the Bauchi town within a close proximity to the Langas which is located in (9°83 E, 10°17 N). This is clearly highlighted in the linguistic map of Nigeria provided in the diagram shown below (Figure 1). The actual reason why it has been presented by a tiny shaded region denoted as 142 is due to its little number of speakers (Lewis, 2009). Some sources record that after a Grazing Reserve creation, the people from the Luri village were forced to move thereby creating another Luri around 10 kilometres away. Due the continuously decreasing number of the Luri speakers and the influence by other major languages around that region, most of the Luri speakers have been compelled to switch to either Langas (=Nyamzak) or Hausa. However, this is mainly because Luri is relatively very similar to Nyamzak in most of the language aspects a factor may prompt it to be treated as its dialect since it is the Nyamzak is still a largely spoken language (Blench, 1998). However, the map shown below clearly highlights the region and exact place where the Luri language is spoken (Language Family Trees, 4). This is mostly around central Nigeria marked by number 142 on the key of the map. However, its nature of the little speakers makes it not to be predominantly dispersed indicating that it is likely to become extinct within a very short period of time (Campbell & Hoskison, 1972). This is mainly because of the lack of adequate information both written and verbal which could help its passage into other generations. Figure 1: A map showing the region where the Luri language is spoken The Luri language family tree The Chadic languages is made up of a language family of approximately 200 different dielects or languages and widely spoken across northern Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Centra African Republic, belonging to Afroasiatic phylum. According to Newman (1977) he divided the family into four main groups, which have been accepted in all subsequent literature: West Chadic which consist of two branches which included (A) the Bade, Zaar and Warji languages and (B) Ron, Bole, Hausa and Agas languages. Central Chadic ( Biu-Mandara) consist of three branches, which include (A) the Kamwer, Bura and Bata languages, among other groups; (B) the Musgu and Buduma languages; and (C) Gidar. East Chadic consist of two branches, which include (A) the Nancere, Tumak and Kera languages; and (B) the Mukulu, Dangale’at and Sokoro languages. And lastly, the Masa. The Luri language belongs to the Afro-asiatic language family which is among the languages that have the longest history which gives this language its unique quality. The presence of written records of the Afro-asiatic language usually makes it easier to reconstruct in comparison to other language families (Language Family Trees, 4). However, among the existing subgroups of the Afro-asiatic language the Luri language belongs to the Chadic which is commonly spoken in vast regions of the central Africa. The Chadic subgroup is also spoken in other parts of North Africa (Blench, 1998). The Afro-asiatic languages nowadays are spoken in vast regions ranging from the northern Africa countries to Arabia (Lewis, 2009). This is partly attributable to ‘Boroafrasian’ speakers due to the aspect of breaking into other smaller groups including the Berber as well as Semitic dialects that are commonly spoken in the Arabian Peninsula. However, the Luri language forms an insignificant part of the Chadic subgroup of the Afro-asiatic language. This is mainly because of its little number of speakers (Campbell & Hoskison, 1972). However, the Chadic group is further subdivided into other subgroups such as the Biu-Mandara, Masa, East and West whereby the Luri language is included in the West subgroup. This group of language is often spoken in a wide range of central and North African countries. However, the Luri and Daza languages are both included into the west subgroup whereby the two languages are spoken in Central and some parts of northern Nigeria (Blench, 1998). Moreover, despite the Luri language being at the risk of extinction the Daza language is also commonly spoken by a reasonable number of people considering that its speakers constitute a considerable portion of the Nigerian population. Additionally, the family tree for the Luri language can be simply presented according to the figure below (Figure 2) which shows the subgrouping of the Afro-asiatic language which indicates the family tree of the Luri language. Figure 2: Family tree of the Luri language Afro-asiatic Berber Cushitic Semitic Omotic Egyptian Chadic Biu-Mandara East West Masa LURI Daza However, the most obvious characteristics of the languages that are included in the Afro-asiatic group languages characteristics include the use of the use of vowel changes in the formation of the words. This is similarly the same as it is in English where vowels are used to make differences between words. Like in the English example, feet foot, vowels make the difference between separate words (Blench, 1998; Dalby, 1998). This is in conjunction with the use of the prefixes and suffixes as the main distinctions between the words. However, the most obvious characteristics usually make this language similar to several others that are within this language subgroup. Thus, their similarities in reconstruction have made them to be similar in virtually all aspects (Lewis, 2009). In addition, the Afro-asiatic language is actually similar to many other languages. These language families include Indo-European, Altaic, Dravidian and Sino-Tibetan. These similarities range from the current ones as well considering the history of them in order to identify their historical similarities by looking at their ancient form. However, the Afro-Asiatic language is usually a large family which is mostly concerned with a very great diversity which it uniqueness in comparison to most of the other languages (Campbell & Hoskison, 1972). Moreover, most of the subgroups that are included into this major group usually have numerous linguistic similarities including their sentence formations as well as vowel changes thereby greatly contributing to showing the relationships among them (Language Family Trees, 4). Similarly, there are numerous aspects from which one can consider the family tree of the Afro-asiatic languages, that is, irrespective of their similarities there is also the need for considering the available geographic diversity (Lewis, 2009). This is evident from considering that despite the Afro-asiatic group of languages being similar in one way or the other they are usually spoken in a vast region ranging from the central and North Africa to Asia. Additionally, these factors have greatly played a role in the classification of these languages into their respective groups (Languages of Nigeria, 3). Thus, the most identifiable feature about the family tree of the Afro-asiatic languages the increasing degree of similarity as you move down the family tree (Language Family Trees, 6). This indicates that the languages that at the bottom of the tree diagram tend to be more related when compared to their counterparts above the tree diagram. Description of the language The full name of the language is usually the Luri language and it is spoken by a very few people located around the central Nigeria. This has made this language to be listed among the endangered languages that are at the verge of extinction (Lewis, 2009). This is due to the fact that the language is spoken by approximately 30 people whereby majority of them are above fifty years. However, the influence by other major languages that are around such as the Langas (=Nyamzak) or Hausa has compelled most of the native speakers of the Luri language to switch to them (Campbell & Hoskison, 1972). According to a study that was conducted by Patience Ahmed in the year 1992 the Luri language is also referred by other name which is Zagsi a presumable variant version of the Zakshi language. However, there is no information available regarding to the use of this language other than its minimal usage in the communication among its speakers (Lewis, 2009). The main economic activity of the speakers of the Luri language is usually mixed farming whereby they are involved in livestock keeping as well as farming. However, there is no available major scripts written using language except a few writing found at the Nigeria Bible Translation Trust archives. The language is never used in schools, by media nor for administration a situation most attributable to its little number of speakers. Conclusion The Luri language is often spoken by a small fraction of people who are located in the central Nigeria around the Bauchi town in the villages of Luri and Kayarda. These two villages are actually the places where the Luri language is actively spoken by a little number of people. This small number of people who usually speak this language has made it hard to study due to the hindrances posed by the absence adequate information which can allow effective description and analysis. This is also true due to the fact that despite most of others speakers of the Luri language switching to other languages the available native speakers who have consistently continued to speak it are very old making it impossible to effectively extract information from them (Language Family Trees, 5). References Blench, R. (1998). The Status of the Languages of Central Nigeria', in Brenzinger, M. (ed.) Endangered languages in Africa. Köln: Köppe Verlag. Campbell, N. & Hoskison, J. (1972). Bauchi area survey report. Institute of Linguistics, Ms. Mimeo (research conducted 1969/70). Crozier, D. & Blench, R.M. (1992). An Index of Nigerian Languages, (2nd ed.). Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics. Dalby, A. (1998). Dictionary of Languages. London: Bloomsbury. Language Family Trees, Retrieved on 4th December 2011 from http://www.ethnologue.com/show_family.asp?subid=52-16 Languages of Nigeria, Retrieved on 4th December 2011 from http://www.ethnologue.com/show_map.asp?name=NG&seq=50 Lewis, M.P. ed. (2009). Ethnologue: Languages of the World, (16th ed.). Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com/. Luri, Retrieved on 4th December 2011 from http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ldd Voegelin, C.F. (1977). Classification and Index of the World’s Languages. 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