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The Akebu Language Area of Togo a Sociolinguistic Survey

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The Akebu Language Area of Togo a Sociolinguistic Survey DigitalResources Electronic Survey Report 2018-012 The Akebu Language Area of Togo A Sociolinguistic Survey Gabriele Faton and Katharina Tupper The Akebu Language Area of Togo A Sociolinguistic Survey Gabriele Faton and Katharina Tupper SIL International® 2018 SIL Electronic Survey Report 2018-012, November 2018 © 2018 SIL International® All rights reserved 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. Abstract A sociolinguistic survey was conducted by SIL personnel in the Akebu language community of the Republic of Togo in November and December 2000, and the report was written in April 2002. Akebu is classified as a Togo Remnant language. The purpose of the survey was to gather data that would help SIL Togo-Benin administrators determine the need for SIL’s participation in Akebu language development. The researchers conducted individual and community interviews in order to collect data concerning Akebu speakers’ attitudes towards the use of Akebu and Ewe in various speech domains, their attitudes toward the development of their own language, other languages used by Akebu speakers, and whether their use is a threat to the continued use of Akebu. General information concerning population, literacy, religion, and community structures in the Akebu language area was also collected. Results of the interviews indicate that Akebu speakers’ attitudes toward Akebu and its development are positive. The reported level of proficiency in Ewe is low, and there are no indications of language shift. (This survey report written some time ago deserves to be made available even at this late date. Conditions were such that it was not published when originally written. The reader is cautioned that more recent research may be available. Historical data is quite valuable as it provides a basis for a longitudinal analysis and helps us understand both the trajectory and pace of change as compared with more recent studies.—Editor) Contents 1 Introduction 1.1 Language classification 1.2 Language and people group name 1.3 Previous research 1.3.1 Linguistic research 1.3.2 Historical research 1.4 Language area 1.5 Origin and migration history of the Akebu people 1.6 Population 1.7 Social structure 1.8 Religion 1.8.1 Traditional religion 1.8.2 Christianity 1.9 Education 2 Research questions 2.1 Dialect situation (including any variety of Akebu) 2.2 Multilingualism 2.3 Language attitudes 2.4 Language vitality 2.5 Existing social structures 2.6 Literacy 2.7 Church context 2.8 Potential leadership 3 Methodology 3.1 Assessment techniques 3.1.1 Preliminary interviews 3.1.2 Community questionnaires 3.1.3 Interviews with community leaders 3.1.4 Wordlists 3.2 Implementation 3.2.1 Community interviews 3.2.2 Interview with the sous-préfet 3.2.3 Interviews with education officials 3.2.4 Interviews with church representatives 3.2.5 Wordlists 4 Results 4.1 Language name(s) and area 4.2 History of the Akebu people 4.3 Ceremonial centers in the Akebu area 4.4 Ethnic identity and influence from other ethnic groups 4.5 Dialect situation 4.6 Language use and attitudes 4.6.1 Attitudes towards the use of Akebu 4.6.2 Language use and attitudes towards Ewe 4.6.3 Language use and attitudes towards the use of other regional languages 4.7 Language vitality of Akebu 4.8 Religious situation and language use 4.8.1 Language use in churches 4.8.2 Christian mission agencies in the area 4.8.3 Written and oral materials in the religious domain iii iv 4.9 Formal and non-formal education 4.9.1 Formal education in the Akebu language area 4.9.2 Non-formal education in the Akebu language area 5 Language project potential 5.1 Homogeneity of the linguistic community 5.2 Middle-aged leadership 6 Conclusions 7 Recommendations 7.1 Akebu varieties 7.2 Akebu clans 7.3 Potential partners in a language program Appendix A: Map of Akebu Language Area Appendix B: Questionnaires Appendix C: Akebu wordlists References Suggested readings 1 Introduction A sociolinguistic survey was conducted among the Akebu language community in the Akébou province (sous-préfecture) of the Republic of Togo1 in November and December 2000 by Gabriele Faton (née Schoch) and Katharina Tupper (née Wolf), researchers from the Togo-Benin branch of SIL International (SIL Togo-Benin).2 The survey was designed to provide administrators of SIL Togo-Benin with information about the Akebu language area that would enable them to determine the need for SIL involvement in Akebu language development. An Akebu-speaking student from the Université du Bénin, Lomé, Togo, served as a research assistant. She comes from the Akebu language area, and Akebu is her first language. This introduction contains background information concerning the Akebu language and people. Subsequent sections present the research questions employed, a description of the assessment techniques and their application, and research results. The report ends with conclusions and recommendations. Unless otherwise stated, all information was gathered in interviews with individuals who were Akebu community members. We are grateful to local authorities and citizens for the authorization and assistance that made this research possible. 1.1 Language classification Westermann (1927) and Greenberg (1954) classify Akebu with the Togo Remnant languages, also referred to as Togorestsprachen or Ghana-Togo Mountain languages. Historically, linguists have disagreed as to whether the Togo Remnant languages form a separate linguistic group. Westermann (1927) lists them as a separate subgroup, whereas Greenberg (1954) classifies them in the Kwa family. Heine (1968), in his description of the noun class system of the Togo Remnant languages, follows Greenberg (1963) by classifying them with the Kwa family. On the basis of wordlists,3 Heine divides the Togo Remnant languages into three subgroups: (i) Basila, Lelemi, Logba, Adele, Likpe, Santrokofi, and Akpafu; (ii) Avatime, Nyango, Bowili, Ahlo, and Kposo; and (iii) Kebu (Akebu) and Animere. In the same vein, Stewart (1989) classifies Akebu in the following manner: Niger-Congo, Atlantic- Congo, Volta-Congo, Kwa, Left Bank, Kebu-Animere. Accordingly, Stewart reclassifies the Togo Remnant languages under (New) Kwa, Kebu-Animere, Kposo and Avatime-Nyangbo, and considers that, together with the Gbe languages, they all belong to the Left Bank branch of (New) Kwa. More recently, Stewart classifies Akebu as New Kwa, Ka-Togo, Kebu (Williamson and Blench 2000). 1.2 Language and people group name The Ethnologue (Gordon 2005) lists the following alternative names for Akebu: Akebou, Kebu, Kabu, Kegberike, and Ekpeebhe. Other works contain additional alternative language names: • Akébou (Gayibor 1996) • Kogboriko (Bendor-Samuel 1989:230) • Ökpöprikö (Froelich, Alexandre, and Cornevin 1963:159) • Kögbörikö (Wolf 1907) • Kebu (Heine 1968, Stewart 1989) • Ekpeebhe (Barbier 1989) 1 At the time of the survey, Togo was divided into 31 provinces (préfectures), which in turn were subdivided into cantons. Akebu is spoken in the Akébou sous-préfecture (sous-préfecture de l’Akébou). 2 SIL is affiliated with the Direction de Recherche Scientifique in Togo. It has been accorded non-governmental organization status. 3 The wordlists contain 193 words and are based on Swadesh. 1 2 Akebu speakers we interviewed were unanimous in applying the terms [ǝgbǝbǝ] to themselves as a people and [kǝgbǝkǝ] to their language. (The conventional spelling of these terms is Egbeebe and Kegbeeke.) According to one Akebu speaker, the Akebu people call their language [kǝgbǝrǝkǝ], and neighbouring people (such as the Ewe) call it “Akebu” or “Akebu-gbe” and refer to the Akebu people as “Akebu” or “Akebu-to/Akebu-vi”. In this document, we will use “Akebu” as the English spelling of the language name.4 1.3 Previous research 1.3.1 Linguistic research Previous linguistic work on the Akebu language includes an Akebu grammar (Wolf 1907) and a wordlist established by Bertho (1952). Voegelin and Voegelin (1964) and Westermann (1927) mention Akebu. Heine (1968) used these works, among others, when he studied the noun class system of the Togo Remnant languages and attempted to classify them. More recent publications on Akebu include an Akebu-German dictionary (Koffi 1981), a wordlist (CNL 1983), an analysis of texts (Rongier 1981), and a paper on noun classes and consonant alternation (Storch and Koffi 2000). 1.3.2 Historical research Cornevin (1969), Gayibor (1996, 1997), and Froelich et al. (1963) have done extensive historical research on people groups (including the Akebu) in Togo. (See section 1.5.) 1.4 Language area The majority of Akebu speakers live in the Akébou sous-préfecture.5 The town of Kougnohou, the largest in the language area, is its administrative center (seat of the sous-préfecture). The area borders Ghana and extends from north of Badou to Kougnohou in the south, to Kamina in the north, to Foto-Yéyé in the west, and to Hohoé-Atigoza (Eseleke) in the east.6 The eastern border runs along the rivers Ayakpé and Eté. The settlements of Ahamansou and Pampaoulé, which today are in Ghana, were formerly Akebu farms with only about twenty to thirty huts. Due to the growing trade in cacao, many non-Akebu settled in these places and a majority of non-Akebu currently live there (Froelich et al. 1963). Today, there are no villages of Akebu speakers left in Ghana. The Akebu language area is rather distinct in that the geographical limits are clear. All of the Akebu speakers who were questioned during the community interviews agreed about the language borders. (See section 4.1.) 1.5 Origin and migration history of the Akebu people Cornevin (1969:28) considers the Akebu people as a conglomerate of the original inhabitants of the Plateau d’Akébou (Akebu Plateau) and three immigrant groups.
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