Sociolinguistic Survey Report for The

0 SOCIOLINGUISTIC SURVEY REPORT FOR THE NUNI LANGUAGE WRITTEN BY: JOHN BERTHELETTE SIL International 2001 1 Contents 0 Introduction 1 General Information 1.1 Language Name and Classification 1.2 Language Location 1.3 Population 1.4 Accessibility and Transport 1.4.1 Roads: Quality and Availability 1.4.2 Public Transport Systems 1.4.3 Trails 1.5 Religious Adherence 1.5.1 Spiritual Life 1.5.2 Christian Work in the Area 1.5.3 Language Use Parameters within Church Services 1.6 Schools/Education 1.6.1 Types, Sites, and Size of Schools 1.6.2 Literacy activities 1.6.3 Attitude toward the Vernacular 1.6.4 Summary 1.7 Facilities and Economics 1.7.1 Supply Needs 1.7.2 Medical Needs 1.7.3 Governmental Facilities in the Area 1.8 Traditional Culture 1.8.1 Aspects of the Culture Affecting the Sociolinguistic Situation 1.8.2 Attitude toward Culture 1.8.3 Contact with other cultures 1.8.4 Summary 1.9 Linguistic Work in the Language Area 1.9.1 Work Accomplished in the Past 1.9.2 Present Work 1.9.3 Materials Published in the Language 2 Methodology 2.1 Sampling 2.2 Lexicostatistic Survey 2.3 Dialect Intelligibility Survey 2.4 Questionnaires 2.5 Bilingualism Testing In Jula 3 Comprehension and Lexicostatistical Data (between villages) 3.1 Reported Comprehension 3.2 Results of the Recorded Text Tests 3.3 Percentage Chart of Apparent Cognates 3.4 Areas for Further Study 4 Multilingual Issues 4.1 Language Use Description 4.1.1 Children’s Language Use 2 4.1.2 Adults’ Language Use 4.2 Language Attitudes 4.2.1 As Reported 4.2.2 Bilingualism Testing in Jula 4.3 Summary 5 Recommendations Appendix 1 Population Data 2 A Word List of Northern and Southern Nuni Dialects Bibliography 1 References 2 Materials Concerning Nuni 3 Materials Published in Nuni 3 0 Introduction This paper concerns the results of a sociolinguistic survey conducted by John and Carol Berthelette, Laurent Nignan, and Gregory and Rebecca Pruett. The survey was conducted between April 5 and May 15, 1994. The survey was necessary due to a lack of data concerning the degree of intelligibility between Nuni speakers in the southern language area and those of the northern area. Since major language development work has been completed in the southern area, it is important to determine the degree of its applicability throughout the entire language area. Thus, the goals of the survey were: ♦ to gather basic information about the Nuna in the northern Nuni-speaking region; ♦ to test for both the lexical similarity and the degree of comprehension between speakers in the south and those of the north; ♦ to determine competency in and attitudes to Jula, a major trade language of Burkina Faso; and ♦ in the event of insufficient comprehension between speakers of the south and those of the north and insufficient competency in Jula, to determine a possible second site for language development work. 1 General Information 1.1 Language Name and Classification The language of the people under study is Nuni (Ethnologue code NNW); the people call themselves “Nuna”. The inhabitants of the northern regions of the extensive “Nuni” territory are commonly referred to as the “Nounouma”. The name “Nounouma”, as it turns out, is a term given by outsiders; the inhabitants of the northern areas refer to themselves as “Nuna” and to their language as “Nuni” (see also Vismans 1994). To avoid confusion, the so-called “Nounouma” will be referred to in this paper as the “Northern Nuna” and their language as “Northern Nuni”; the other speakers, mostly found in the southern part of the language area, will be referred to as the “Southern Nuna” and their language as “Southern Nuni”. With regards to the classification of the language, it falls under the Gur family, of which Burkina’s other Gur members include the Winyé, Lyélé, Kasem, Pana, PwX (Poughouli), Sisala (Yago 1984), and Kalemsé. According to the Ethnologue, a classification of the world’s languages published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics, its full classification is “Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, North, Gur, Central, Southern, Grusi, Northern” (Grimes 1992:173). Of those Burkina languages mentioned previously, it is most closely related to Kasem and Lyélé. 4 1.2 Language Location The Nuni-speaking territory extends from near the Ghanaian border in the province of Sissili, through most of Ziro, into the eastern parts of the provinces of Balé and of Mouhoun, and finally to the southern portions of the provinces of Sanguié and Nayala (see figure 1.2.1). It is a vast territory, covering about 1,200 km2. The languages surrounding the Nuna are numerous. To the west are the Sissala, Dagara, Bwaaba (Cwi and Dakwi dialects), Mossi, Winyé, and Marka. To the north are the Sanan (Samo). To the east are the Lyéla, Mossi, and Kassena. The Sissala and Kassena are also located to the south of the Nuna. Furthermore, both Yari (Dagaari- Jula) and Peul villages or settlements are located within the Nuna’s territory, and a population of Yoruba (originally from Nigeria) have settled in Léo (Napon 1988:18). These neighboring language/ethnic groups can be seen on figure 1.2.1. Figure 1.2.1 Map of Nuni Language Area1 1Adapted from CNRST/INSS 1988. 5 1.3 Population The estimated population, according to the 1985 national census, numbers the Nuna, including the Northern Nuna, at 94,000 (INSD 1991:v. I, 7). Assuming a population increase since the figuring of the census, Lydia Krafft, an SIL linguist among the Nuna, puts the figure much higher, at over 200,000 (Grimes 1992:173). The population density is estimated at between 10–20% (Yago 1984:22). Calculations of the villages which according to our survey constitute the Northern Nuna, based on the 1985 census and figuring in an annual increase of 2.68% (Laclavère 1993:24), number them at 54,000. 1.4 Accessibility and Transport 1.4.1 Roads: Quality and Availability Several major, well-maintained routes—three going from north to south (N6, N13, and R17) and two from east to west (N1 and N20)—pass through or closely by the Southern Nuni-speaking area. These routes serve to help the entire area, an important agricultural region, economically. They also allow for increasing contact between the various Nuni dialect groups and with neighboring ethnic groups. It is also important to note one cause of such good arteries into the region: the importance of Léo as a political and economic center. Léo serves as the provincial seat and has a large market. A final note about the quality of roads in the southern area concerns the difficulty of travel on the secondary routes in the area. For example, certain important villages such as Silli lie between the major arteries. The roads to these “interior” villages do not allow for travel during the rainy season. (Plans are underway to redo the road to Silli, yet as of this writing, work has only barely begun.) In the Northern Nuni region, well-maintained routes run not so much through, but rather around, the region: N14 and N1 running east-west, and D30 running north-south. The lack of adequate road systems is felt especially in the Northern Nuni area east of the Mouhoun, where travel by truck is possible but slow. 1.4.2 Public Transport Systems Since choices of travel within Burkina Faso are limited to either, on the one hand, one’s own bike or moped, or on the other hand, commercial bus or truck, the availability of public transport is an important consideration in assessing actual and potential contact within a larger language community. Public or commercial transport, be it by bus, bush taxi, or private merchants, is possible throughout much of both the Southern and Northern Nuni regions. Two disclaimers must be included. First, Léo and the villages along the main axes are decidedly more accessible by way of public transport than the many villages away from the main routes, due to the simple fact that more 6 traffic passes by. Second, the villages off of the main routes, even if that be by only a few kilometers, can become inaccessible to 4-wheel vehicles during the rainy season. 1.4.3 Trails Numerous trails exist between Nuni villages. In the absence of well-maintained roads, these trails allow for contact by foot, bike, and moped between villages that are not separated by too great a distance. However, relying on trails in the bush will not get one very far very fast. Specifically, those Nuna living in the interior region between routes R17 (and to the north, D30) and N13 have much less contact with the important villages of their respective regions, for example Léo in the south and Pouni in the north, than those living along the main arteries. 1.5 Religious Adherence 1.5.1 Spiritual Life Traditional religious practices and beliefs are still the dominant religious life of the Nuna. In Nuni territory, traditional religion often takes the form of ancestor worship, in which one worships the spirits of dead ancestors. Among the Nuna, too, fetish worship, worshipping objects believed to be indwelled by spirits, and thereby having supernatural power, is strong. In fact, the Nuna, according to G. Kurrle, are renowned in Burkina for their animistic powers. Thus it is plain that many Nuna openly profess to practice the traditional animistic ways. Furthermore, one can never assume that even those professing to be Catholic or Protestant have fully divorced themselves from the traditional religious practices.

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