Four Decades In The Study Of Nigerian Languages And Linguistics

This volume is produced in commemoration of the official retirement of Professor Kay Williamson from the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The contributing essayists cover five main generations of Nigerian linguists. The collection is divided into six sections: Language, history and Society; Applied Linguistics and Orthography Design; Gender and Communication Studies; Stylistics and Literature; Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis and Translation; and Formal Linguistics. Some of the contributors include: Ayo Bamgbose, Okon Essie, Ben Elugbe, P.A. Nwachukwu, E.N. Emenanjo, P. Anagbogu, Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche, O.M. Ndimele, O.G. Harry, Levi Igwe, C.U. Omego, O. Ojukwu, A.U. Weje, O.N. Anyanwu and A. Idafuro.

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.

This book contains papers which focus on the twin subjects of globalisation and information/communication technologies (ICTs). They express either fear or optimism regarding their effects on the survival of indigenous cultures, languages and literature. This book is a must read for anyone who is interested to learn more about the role of globalisation in the erosion of cultural as well as linguistic diversity, and the impact of ICTs in the development of indigenous languages in Africa.

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.

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 papers here were selected from presentations made at the 24th Annual Conference of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria (LAN) which held at Bayero University Kano. The book contains seventy-seven (77) papers addressing various issues in linguistics, literature and cultures in Nigeria. The book is organized into four sections, as follows: Section One Language and Society; Section Two Applied Linguistics; Section Three Literature, Culture, Stylistics and Gender Studies and Section Four Formal Linguistics.

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 majwor traditional fields of linguistics - phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics.

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.