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Language of Nasarawa and Benue States, Nigeria Digital Resources Journal of Language Survey Report 2021-035 A Sociolinguistic Profile of the Ajiri (Eloyi) [afo] Language of Nasarawa and Benue States, Nigeria Ken Decker, Innocent Jonah, John Muniru, Yakubu Danladi, Benard Abraham, David Onoja, Christina Riepe A Sociolinguistic Profile of the Ajiri (Eloyi) [afo] Language of Nasarawa and Benue States, Nigeria Ken Decker, Innocent Jonah, John Muniru, Yakubu Danladi, Benard Abraham, David Onoja, Christina Riepe SIL International® 2021 Journal of Language Survey Report 2021-035 2021 SIL International® ISSN: 2766-9327 As a peer-reviewed journal for original research articles, SIL Electronic Survey Reports (ISSN: 1559-1417) has been well-known since 1999. The SIL journal title was changed to Journal of Language Survey Reports, starting with the first issue in 2021. Fair-Use Policy: Documents published in the Journal of Language Survey Reports series are intended for scholarly research and educational use. You may make copies of these publications for research or instructional purposes (under fair use guidelines) free of charge and without further permission. Republication or commercial use of Journal of Language Survey Reports or the documents contained therein is expressly prohibited without the written consent of the copyright holder. Orphan Works Note: Data and materials collected by researchers in an era before documentation of permission was standardized may be included in this publication. SIL makes diligent efforts to identify and acknowledge sources and to obtain appropriate permissions wherever possible, acting in good faith and on the best information available at the time of publication. Series Editor Angela Kluge Managing Editor Eric Kindberg Copy Editor Eleanor J. McAlpine Compositor Marisa McHenry Abstract This report concerns a sociolinguistic survey conducted among the Ajiri (Eloyi) [afo]-speaking communities in the Nasarawa Local Government Area (LGA) and the Kokona LGA of Nasarawa State and Agatu LGA of Benue State, Nigeria. The language has previously been known as Eloyi and Afo, but Ajiri is preferred. Ajiri is classified in the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. There are an estimated 105,000 to 110,000 ethnic Ajiri. Due to language shift in Benue State, the numbers of Ajiri speakers may be less. This study of Ajiri is part of a larger initiative to provide sociolinguistic information to organizations, development agencies, and local communities who are working collaboratively towards meeting the language development needs of the ethnolinguistic groups of Nigeria. The goals of this research included gaining a better understanding of linguistic variation in Ajiri and the role of Ajiri and other languages in the lives of the Ajiri speakers. With these goals in mind, this study utilizes linguistic and sociolinguistic data collected through group and individual interviews, participatory discussions, observations, and wordlist collection. Our data indicates that Ajiri, in Nasarawa State, has a relatively large population of speakers and the language use is vigorous. Therefore, the Ajiri language vitality is assessed as EGIDS level 6a (vigorous). However, in Agatu LGA, Benue State, the Ajiri are a minority and they are in the process of shifting to Agatu. Language vitality in those communities is assessed as EGIDS level 7 (shifting). Some Ajiri people perceive that there are two varieties, Mbeki (highlands) and Ambu (lowlands). Linguistic data reveals that there is a third variety which we have called ‘riverside’. However, there is not enough variation to require more than one language development effort. There has been some language development in the form of a trial orthography, a dictionary, and a Bible translation. The Ajiri are a very multilingual community; nearly everyone speaks three to five languages. Hausa and English are the usual “second” languages and they are the main languages used in schools and churches. However, there is no evidence of people shifting to either of those languages. Contents Languages Mentioned in this Report 1 Introduction 2 Purpose and research questions 3 Previous research 4 Research methods 4.1 Participatory discussions and dialect mapping 4.2 Select leader interviews 4.3 Observation 4.4 Analysis of qualitative data 4.5 Wordlist collection and analysis 5 Geographic, demographic, and social description 5.1 Language and people identification 5.2 Location, settlements, and administrative division 5.3 Population 5.4 Origin of the Ajiri 5.5 Other social descriptions 5.5.1 Social structure 5.5.2 Occupations 5.5.3 Education 5.5.4 Religions 5.5.5 Intermarriage 6 Influence from other languages 6.1 Language contact 6.2 Multilingual proficiency 6.3 Implications for language development 7 Language vitality 7.1 Functions of languages in the repertoire of the Ajiri 7.2 Means of acquiring languages in the repertoire of the Ajiri 7.3 Motivation for using languages in the repertoire of the Ajiri 7.4 Environmental support for the maintenance of Ajiri 7.5 Differentiation 7.6 EGIDS assessment for Ajiri 8 Linguistic relationships 8.1 Classification 8.2 Dialects and lexical similarity 8.3 Phonetic similarity and variation 8.4 Phonological variation 8.5 Morphological variation 8.6 Discussion of analysis 9 Summary 10 Recommendations Appendix A: Dialect Mapping Instructions and Group Sociolinguistics Questionnaire Appendix B: Church Leader Questionnaire Appendix C: School Teacher Questionnaire Appendix D: Sample Observation Schedule Appendix E: Wordlist Appendix F: Plurals Wordlists Appendix G: GPS Points for Select Villages References iv Languages Mentioned in this Report These are languages mentioned in this report, with their ISO 639-3 code. The ISO 639-3 codes are the international standard three-letter designations for languages, defining a unique identifier for each. The Ethnologue (Eberhard et al. 2020a) is a catalog of all the world’s languages and is published by SIL International, which is the registration authority for ISO 639-3. Most of these names are also used for the ethnic group which speak the language as their heritage language. Often the names are used in the text primarily as a reference to the ethnic group. Afo, Afu, Afao, Afoa, Aho, alternate names for Ajiri [afo] Gbagyi [ɡbr] Ajiri1 [afo] Gbari [gby] Agatu [agc] Gwandara [gwn] Ake, an alternate name for Akye [aik] Hausa4 [hau] Akpa [akf] Idoma [idu] Akweya, an alternate name for Akpa [akf] Igala [igl] 2 Akye [aik] Iɡbo [ibo] Alago [ala] Koro Zuba [vkz] Ambu, dialect of Ajiri [afo] Lijili [mgi] Arabic [arb] Mada [mda] Basa [bzw] Mbeki, dialect of Ajiri [afo] Ebira [iɡb] Nigerian Pidgin English3 [pcm] Edo [bin] Rjili [uji]5 Eggon [ego] Tangale [tan] Eloyi,1 Eloi, an alternate name for Ajiri [afo] Tanjijili,5 an alternate name for Rjili [uji] English3 [eng] Tiv [tiv] Epe, alternate name for Ajiri [afo] Urhobo [urh] Fulfulde [fuv] Yoruba [yor] Gade [ged] 1 Current language catalogs, such as the Glottolog 4.2.1 (Hammarström et al. 2020), refer to the language as Eloyi. However, during this survey, it was found that most native speakers prefer their language name to be Ajiri, and this will be used throughout this report. A thorough list of alternate and previous names can be found in § 5.1. 2 Current language catalogs, such as the Glottolog 4.2.1 (Hammarström et al. 2020), refer to the language as Ake. However, during the Decker et al. (2021b) survey, it was found that most native speakers prefer their language name to be spelled Akye. 3 In Nigeria, there is a variety of English recognized by linguists as Nigerian English and another called Nigerian Pidgin English by linguists. However, both are frequently referred to colloquially as English. We did not pursue specification in this distinction. 4 There are different dialects of Hausa, but we did not pursue specification in this distinction. 5 Current language catalogs, such as the Glottolog 4.2.1 (Hammarström et al. 2020), refer to the language as Tanjijili. However, during the Decker et al. (forthcoming 2021a) survey, it was found that most native speakers prefer their language name to be spelled Rjili. v 1 Introduction This report describes a sociolinguistic survey conducted among the Ajiri (Eloyi) [afo]-speaking communities in the Nasarawa Local Government Area (LGA) and Kokona LGA of Nasarawa State and Agatu LGA of Benue State, Nigeria. Ajiri is classified in the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. There may be about 105,000 to 110,000 ethnic Ajiri. Due to language shift in Benue State, the numbers of Ajiri speakers may be less. The fieldwork was conducted on the 17th to 20th of October 2019 by Innocent Jonah,6 John Muniru, Yakubu Danladi, Benard Abraham, and David Onoja,7 members of the SIL Nigeria language survey team. Ken Decker served as a consultant on the survey and provided writing assistance on this report. The research was conducted in seven Ajiri towns. This survey report includes linguistic, sociolinguistic, geographic, and demographic information which we use to profile the sociolinguistic environment8 of the Ajiri people. This profile is used to draw conclusions about the possibilities for language planning and development. Through this research, we learned that the language vitality of Ajiri, in Nasarawa State, can currently be described as EGIDS level 6a, vigorous, and the future of the language is sustainable. Blench (2007), and others, have reported that there are two varieties of Ajiri, the speech of the highlands (Mbeki) and the speech of the plains (Ambu). In this paper, we will demonstrate that, rather than the two varieties previously reported (Blench 2007), there are three varieties: the highlands, plains, and what we call the ‘riverside’ variety. The riverside variety is spoken in Agatu LGA, Benue State, and the Ajiri there are shifting to Agatu, the dominant language in the area. There is not enough variation between the three varieties to require more than one language development effort. The Ajiri language vitality is assessed as EGIDS level 6a (vigorous).
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