Chinyere ohirianiche, the president of linguistic association of nigeria lan, on tuesday in abuja, said about 400 nigerian indigenous languages were endangered. Pdf on jan 1, 2018, susan akinkurolere and others published a study on the extinction of indigenous languages in nigeria. There are 27 languages close to extinction in nigeria. Unless current trends are reversed, these endangered languages. Niger has 11 official languages, with french being the official language and hausa the most spoken language. An endangered language is one that is likely to become extinct in the near future. Many languages are failing out of use and being replaced by others that are more widely used in the region or nation, such as english in the u. This stateoftheart handbook examines the reasons behind this dramatic loss of linguistic diversity, why it matters, and what can be done. Unlock this profile with an essentials plan see which languages in nigeria are endangered, stable, and institutional, plus. Languages are becoming extinct at twice the rate of endangered mammals and. Nonetheless, there have been some attempts to document the endangered languages of africa, to ascertain their relative threat levels, and to catalogue the continents extinct languages. At first sight, the question is igbo an endangered language, would appear to be grossly misplaced, since the survival of the language seems to be well guaranteed by its status both as one of the three main languages of nigeria and one of the major languages of literature, education, and commerce in africa. In recent years, the federal government has been making efforts to promote the use of indigenous languages, many of which are endangered. There are over 500 native languages spoken in nigeria.
Nigeria living tongues institute for endangered languages. In the second section we discuss the concept of language endangerment and the importance of. If it loses all of its native people, it becomes an ex tinct langu age. Some of the indigenous languages spoken in nigeria include tiv, kanuri, and fulfulde. A study on the extinction of indigenous languages in nigeria. Nigeria boasts of her many and diverse cultures and languages, but steps need to be taken to preserve the most important cultural heritage of our various ethic groups otherwise we risk loosing them forever. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and are working to. Type the name of the language into the search field and click search corresponding endangered languages. Nigerias indigenous languages endangered, may go into. The aim of this paper is to present the topic of language endangerment in general concerning the historical background, the classification, the value of languages, and the causes as well as the supports for language endangerment. Federal college of fisheries and marine technology. The discrepancy comes from the fact that several are closely related, and can be grouped together or considered apart.
Endangered languages, endangered knowledge maffi 2002. The exact number of languages spoken in nigeria is not quite certain as there are some languages which are yet to be discovered. An endangered language is a language that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few. Nigerias indigenous languages endangered, may go into extinction lai mohammed. It is established that two languages, namely, ghanaian english ghe and akan, especially the twi dialect, and to a small degree, ewe, are slowly killing off the smaller ghanaian languages. Users may also type only a part of the name and the dropdown menu will provide a list of predictions that are similar to the query typed. The study focuses on language endangerment in nigeria presented by the example of yoruba. It is spoken by a population of between 20 and 25 million people. For instance, in 1970 almost all winneba natives spoke efutu ewutu as their.
The present electronic is a revised and updated edition of an index of nigerian languages by david crozier and roger blench 1992, which replaced keir hansford, john bendorsamuel and ron stanford 1976, a pioneering attempt to synthesise what was known at the time about the languages of nigeria and their classification. Pdf igbo is one of nigerias three major languages, with hausa and yoruba being the other two. Nigeria is a multilingual group of states consisting of over four hundred spoken languages from hausa to igbo, yoruba, ibibio, fulani, edo, kanuri, efik, fulfulde and several other in hundreds. Via this interface, you can browse through them, using combinations of search criteria andor zooming in the. Causes and possible solutions 23 annals of language and literature v2 i1 2018 it is heartbreaking that yoruba culture beliefs. The online edition of the atlas is complementary to the print edition it does not reproduce the regional and thematic chapters of the print version, but it offers additional information on the listed endangered languages. Cambridge core sociolinguistics the cambridge handbook of endangered languages edited by peter k. In some areas of nigeria, ethnic groups speak more than one language. Vono, also known as kiwollo kiballo, is a nearly extinct kainji language of nigeria region. Indeed, people preserve their culture by promoting their languages. In many homes in western nigeria, english language is fast taking over as the mother tongue.
Kaduna state number of speakers unknown there were 500 speakers in 1973 17 ziriya language ziriya jiriya and sheni are a kainji language of nigeria. Researching and reviving the unami language of the lenape by maureen hoffmann a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the degree of bachelor of arts in. Ohirianiche made the disclosure at the unesco international mother language day celebration organised by. An endangered langua ge i s a langua ge that it is at risk of falling out of use, generally because it has few surviving speakers. Pdf a study on the extinction of indigenous languages in nigeria. With the disappearance of unwritten and undocumented languages, humanity would lose not only. Below is a list of endangered languages in nigeria. The linguistic society of americawas founded in 1924 for the advancement of the scientific study of language. Many linguists predict that at least half of the worlds 6,000 or so languages will be dead or dying by the year 2050. As reported in 2003, nigerian english and nigerian pidgin were spoken as a second language by 60 million people in nigeria. They are geographically but perhaps not linguistically distinct. A study on the extinction of indigenous languages in. However, out of the three major languages in the country, namely igbo, hausa and yoruba, studies have shown that the igbo language is the most endangered and currently under severe threat of.
Almost all my early material is simply in the form of analysed wordlists with some rather perfunctory information concerning location and speakers. The cambridge handbook of endangered languages edited by. The paper discusses this issue with some illustrational analysis. This number includes 510 living languages, two second languages without native speakers and 9 extinct languages. Please be advised that we experienced an unexpected issue that occurred on saturday and sunday january 20th and 21st that caused the site to be down for an extended period of time and affected the ability of users to access content on wiley online library. Bolanle elizabeth arokoyo, olukumi language projects, 20 present.
Endangered languages3 describe the manner in which this local community program played a central role in the development of regional and national movements affecting native american languages and their speakersspecifically, the creation ofthe american indian languages development institute and the formulation and passage. What are the problems of indigenous languages in nigeria. Primary schools is a path to the loss and eventual extinction of the. Only a few of these languages are used in news presentation in the broadcast media. There are over 520 languages spoken in nigeria and 27 are close to extinction already. Nigeria is home to hundreds of indigenous languages. He question has sometimes been posed if igbo, one of the three major languages of nigeria, is an endangered language. There are more than 250 distinct ethnic groups and languages in nigeria. I have been working on the recording and documentation of endangered languages and cultures since the 1980s, at first principally in nigeria, later extending my remit to other african countries, then later to asia and the pacific. In nigeria, there are various ethnic groups, each having its own peculiar language and. Join this global effort to conserve linguistic diversity. The phenomenon of language endangerment and, ultimately, language loss is considered in regard to indigenous ghanaian languages. Nigeria as a multilingual country is currently said to have over five hundred languages, though the dominant languages officially recognised by the government remain.
The exact number of languages spoken in nigeria is not quite certain as there are some. Igbo is one of nigerias three major languages, with hausa and yoruba being the other two. Depending on how they are counted, niger has between 8 and 20 indigenous languages. The cambridge handbook of endangered languages it is generally agreed that about 7,000 languages are spoken across the world today and at least half may no longer be spoken by the end of this century. The following list includes all mammals which occur in nigeria and are rated as critically endangered cr, endangered en or vulnerable vu in the 2004 iucn red list of threatened animals. Does the language face the threat of total extinction in the next two or so decades. Sophie salffner, nigeria projects coordinator, 2012 present.
Languages of nigeria the number of languages currently estimated and catalogued in nigeria is 521. The society serves its nearly 7,000 personal and institutional members through scholarly meetings, publications, and special activities designed to advance the discipline. Unescos endangered languages programme it is estimated that, if nothing is done, half of the over 6,000 plus languages spoken today will disappear by the end. Unesco interactive atlas of the worlds languages in danger. Interest in work on endangered languages and dialects dates back to the mid1990s with connells work in the mambila plateau of nigeria and cameroon, with the work of gibbon, connell and ahoua in the ivory coast on ega, and with the collaborative work of akinlabi, connell and ndimele on defaka and nkoroo in the. The centre for endangered languages, tezpur university was established in 2014 with the aim of conducting substantial research on the lesser known and endangered languages of northeast india and to revitalize them with the direct and indirect institutional intervention. The endangered languages project is a collaborative online platform for sharing knowledge and resources for endangered languages. Reflections on linguistic interference and the impact of language policy and politics on minority languages emmanuel aito university of regina introduction known for its extreme linguistic diversity elugbe 1994, nigeria is home to languages numbering about 400. Implications for the teaching and learning of indigenous languages in nigeria. The official language of nigeria is english, the former language of colonial british nigeria.
Reflections on linguistic interference and the impact of language policy and politics on minority languages emmanuel aito university of regina introduction known for its extreme linguistic diversity elugbe 1994, nigeria is home to. Indigenous language is no longer the mother tongue particularly in the west of nigeria. Nigeria languages major and minor langauges spoken in. Taiwo opeyemi agoyi, akoko languages project, 20 present. Unesco defines four le vels of lang uage endangerment between s afe not endang ered and extinct.
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