SOCIOLINGUISTICS SITUATION AND THE PLIGHT OF THE MINORITY IN NORTHERN NIGERIA: A CASE STUDY OF GBAGYI

Date

2015-11-26

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Department of Languages and Linguistics, Nasarawa State University, Keffi

Abstract

Much has been documented in Sociolinguistics about the advantages of bilingualism but perhaps not much has been done to examine the negative effects it has on smaller languages. The focus of this paper is therefore on the sociolinguistic situations that involve the dominance of Hausa on other .......minority, languages.in the North especially the .Gbagyi language.In another development, It examines the level of interference of Hausa lexis and sentence patterns in Gbagyi as one of the minorities languages in northern Nigeria, using Blench’s 1017 wordlist. The paper also determines the extent of Hausa influence on the Gbagyi as well as found out the means of preserving it from total extinction. • The descriptive statistical method is employed in gathering data and the simple percentage tool is also used to discover the extent' of incursion of Hausa into Gbagyi language. This paper finally tries in proffering solutions on how the language can be revitalized and saved from going into extinction.

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Citation

Crawford, J. (1996). Seven Hypothesis of Language Loss; Causes and Cures in a Cantonic(ed.) Stabilizing Indigenous Languages flagstaff. USA: North Arizona University. Dorian, N.C. (19S9). Investigation Obsolescence; Studies in Language Construction and Death. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Elugbe. B. (1994). 11 National Languages and National Development ", in Emenanjo, )V.£.(ed.): Multilingual Minority Languages and Language Policy In Nigeria. Agbor: Central Books Ltd. Gwamna, D.J. ( 2002). The" Gbagyi and the challenges of the future. Vol 2, No. 4 pp. 10-20 Fishman. J. (1991). Reversing Language Shift, Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Assistance to Threatened Languages. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual matters

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