AN ASSESSMENT OF LEVEL OF LANGUAGE ENDANGERMENT IN NIGERIA: A STUDY OF EGGON LANGUAGE OF NASARAWA STATE BY SULEIMAN ADAMU SARVI PhD./ARTS/7045/2011-2012 A Thesis Submitted to the School of Post Graduate Studies, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Award of Doctor of Philosophy in African Languages, Department of African Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria June, 2016 Declaration I hereby declare that the work in this thesis titled “An Assessment of Level of Language Endangerment in Nigeria: A Study of Eggon Language of Nasarawa State” was Performed by me in the Department of African Languages and Cultures, under the supervision of Professor Munir Mamman, Dr. Magaji Yakawada Tsoho and Dr. Salisu Garba Kargi. The information derived from the literature has been duly acknowledged in the text and a list of references provided. No part of this work has been presented for another degree or diploma at any institution. Suleiman Adamu Sarbi ____________________ Date: ____________ ii Certification This thesis titled “An Assessment of Level of Language Endangerment in Nigeria: A Study of Eggon Language of Nasarawa State” meets the regulations governing the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) of the Ahmadu Bello University, and is approved for its contribution to knowledge and literary presentation. Professor Munir Mamman _______________ ____________ Chairman, Supervisory Committee Signature Date Dr. Magaji Yakawada Tsoho _______________ ______________ Member, Supervisory Committee Signature Date Dr. Salisu Garba Kargi _______________ ______________ Member, Supervisory Committee Signature Date Dr. Balarabe Abdullahi ________________ ________________ Head of Department Signature Date Prof. Kabir Bala _________________ _______________ Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies Signature Date iii Dedication The work is dedicated to my parents, may their soul rest in perfect peace, Amin Thumma Amin. iv Acknowledgements All Praises be to Allah (SWT) and Peace be upon His beloved Servant and Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (SAW), Members of his Family and his Companions. It is duty bound upon me to express my profound gratitude to Professor Munir Mamman, Chairman of the supervisory Committee, who saw to the thorough conduct and compilation of the work. Despite his various commitments, he stood firmly for the successful completion of the work. In fact, I owe him special thanks and continuous prayer for Allah‟s blessing and Protection. I am equally grateful to Dr. Magaji Yakawada Tsoho, and Dr. Salisu Garba Kargi, members of the supervisory committee, whom I have always contacted with questions and requests. Definitely, the technical advices they have offered led the work to great success. May Allah guide them and protect them in all respects. Complement of all seasons to Professor Muhammad Lawal Amin former Head of Department of African Languages and Cultures and Dr. Balarabe Abdullahi, the Head of Department, who jointly saw to my successful admission into the University. In addition to that, their concern and encouragement over my studies played tremendous role in the success of the programme. The introductory letter to Nasarawa State by the Head of Department, really served the purpose for which it was issued. Considerable regards to my academic mentors and fathers in persons of Professor Halliru Ahmed Amfani and Professor Salisu Ahmed Yakasai both of the Department of Nigerian Languages Usmanu Xanfodiyo University Sokoto for their fatherly guidance, May Allah bless them benevolently. v Special salutation goes to Dr. Bello Al-Hassan who made some observations and pointed out corrections that led the work to be restructured. I am grateful. I am indebted, as well, to Dr. Sha‟aibu Hassan, present Coordinator Postgraduate Studies. Definitely, his contribution to the success of this work cannot be forgotten. The acknowledgement will dare not forget the contribution of Prof. Hafizu Miko Yakasai, Internal Examiner, who was on sabbatical from the Department of Linguistics and French, Bayero University Kano. My profound regards and thanks to all academic and non academic staff of the Department of African languages and Cultures, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. I am duty bound to acknowledge and appreciate the contribution of my research assistants such as Malam Musa bin Adam, Unguwar Alhaji Yakubu Agyaragu, leader of the team for the questionnaire distribution and collection, Malam Musa Muhammad Lafia and Malam Isa Musa (Yaro SP) Agyaragu, who saw to the hitch-free interview as guide and linkage. I am really grateful. Special thanks to Gana Qarami (Sulaiman) my host whenever I was on my fieldwork. He always accommodated and sometimes escorted the researcher to areas of the research. I really appreciate the endurance and perseverance of the members of my family for my frequent absence with them. Finally, I must express my best regards and gratitude to the management of Sa‟adatu Rimi College of Education under the administration of Dr. Sule Musa and his deputy Dr. Kabiru Ahmed Gwarzo, for granting me the opportunity to pursue the Ph.D. and for the financial support. Special regards also to Malam Abdulmumini Bello Imam, the Registrar of the College and Hamza Mani „Yangora, Director Planning. I dare will not forget to extend my vi thanks to colleagues and all members of staff in the Department of Hausa and School of Languages as a whole; such as Malam Babangida Magaji Isah, Dr. Bilkisu Yusuf Hassan and Malam Umar Yahaya, Head of Department of Hausa among many others, all of Sa‟adatu Rimi College of Education Kumbotso, Kano State. Alhamdulillah. vii Abstract The contribution of the study is to investigate and find out whether Eggon Language of Nasarawa State is endangered, the degree of its endangerment, factors responsible for its endangerment and whether the endangerment is reversible. It contains five chapters with chapter one as general introduction which contains the Statement of the problem, the aim and objective of the study, research questions, justification of the study, the scope, basic assumptions and significance of the study. In chapter two, the related literatures have been reviewed in which general observations on the review and the ground for the present study have been provided. Chapter three contains issues on the research methodology in which a part from the library work, three hundred and eighty one (381) questionnaires has been filled by equal number of respondents and the same number has been interviewed, as informants, in collecting the data of the research. Area and population samples have been determined and the latter has been based on 381 respondents for a total population of 50,000 – 52,000 etc. The chapter also discloses the theoretical framework of the study, its assessment and the justification for using it in the present study as the pioneer work that has empirically tested the framework. After ascertaining the endangerment of Eggon, the work has endeavoured to discover the degree of the endangerment of the language and has been found to be severely endangered. The research has also discussed that the intergenerational language use of the Eggon, and the negative attitude of the native speakers towards the language have been discovered the major factors that have initiated and hastened the endangerment of the language. However, the endangerment has been found to be reversible as the language is not extinct. It is still spoken by some generations and transmitted by some parents. Finally, the research recommends that, to revitalize the language, there is an urgent need to document and standardize the language and adequate pedagogical, grammatical and literary materials should be provided. viii Table Table 1 Languages of Nasarawa State and Neighbouring Eggon Areas Table 2 Sample of Endangered Languages in Some Nigerian State Table 3 The Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (GIDS) Table 4 Intergenerational Language Transmission Table 5 Proportion of Speakers within the Total Population Table 6 Trends in Existing Language Domain Table 7 Response to New Domains and Media Table 8 Materials for Language Education and Literacy Table 9 Governmental and Institutional Language Attitudes and Policies Including Official Status and Use Table 10 Community Members‟ Attitudes toward Their Own Language Table 11 Amount and Quality of Documentation Table 12 Information about Respondents Table 13 The Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS) Table 14 Number of Respondents for Each Alternative and Equivalent in Percentage: Questionnaire Table 15 Number of Respondents for each Alternative and Equivalent in Percentage: Questionnaire Table 16 Number and percentage of respondents for each language and domain: Questionnaire Table 17 Number of respondents for each alternative and equivalent in percentage: First interview Table 18 Number and percentage of respondents for each language and domain: First interview ix Definitions of Technical Terms The following are some of the operational concepts: Bilingualism – is a phenomenon that devotes to the study of production, processing and comprehension of two languages (Bhatia, 2014:1). Code-mixing– is thus a sign of deficiency in, or ignorance of, one of the languages in contact (Ahukanna, 1990:179). Code-switching – is the occurrence of forms from one language (called the embedded language) in an utterance that is primarily composed of another language (called the matrix language) within