CHAPTER ONE
BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter is concerned with the history of the Igbo, Ibibio languages and its speakers, language classification, statement of the research problem, objectives of the study, the research questions, significance of the study, scope of the study, delimitations of the study and definition of basic terms.
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
Language according to Yusuf (2012) potentially is a communicative medium capable of expressing issues and concepts as well as moods, feelings and attitudes. Adedeji (2015) views language as an integral part of human behaviour and it serves as the primary means of interaction between people. This means that language is an inevitable and inseparable tool from human beings as it permeates their lives from birth to death. No aspect of human activities can be succesful without the effective use of language, human beings need it to share ideas, experiences, emotions, and interact with other people in the society or in environment, (Ayeomoni, 2011). Emeka-Nwobia (2015) avers that the repository of people’s identity and way of life is enmbodied in their language as well as transferrred to other people and newer generations, via the means of language. That is, language is tied to culture of a group of people. No culture can thrive without language, just as no society can exist without language. Characteristically, language is species specific and is of generic possession that is peculiar to human beings. The share of a common code between individuals in a society is involved in language. These codes individuals share are arbitrary patterned in the form of symbols which could be in a vocal or written form.
In contemporary linguistic description, a second language speaker inevitably encounters some difficulties in the pronunciation of words due to the influence of his/her mother-tongue (L1) on the target language (L2). The underlying differences between the languages in contact which give rise to the problems exhibited by most L2 speakers are likely to be recognised at the levels of modern linguistic analyses: phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatic levels of description, Ekpe (2000). Adetugbo (1993) opines that the interplay of the L1 and L2 seem to be most evident at the phonological level than other levels of language analyses. Reason is that, the speaker may maintain the morphological, lexical and syntactic varieties to achieve a balance semantic importance of utterances, but this same process can hardly be maintained at the phonological level without a slight divergence from that of the native speaker (RP) utterances. Thus, the ability for an Ibo learner of Ibibio and Ibibio learner of Igbo to communicate effectively is hinged upon an appropriate selection and ordering of phonological structures. Ibo learners of Ibibio and vice-versa would ordinarily experience a learning and pronunciation problem bordering on interference as a result of differences between the Igbo and Ibibio phonology. The problem could make it difficult for the Ibo learners of Ibibio and vice-versa to achieve success in their learning endeavour.
Phonology, which is the bedrock for studies of indigenous languages studies how segmental and suprasegmental patterns of a language are specified and organised. Analysis in phonology may reveal similarities in various aspects of two or more language. It is important to note that every language has its own unique sound pattern; no language shares the same phonological rules. This study aims at investigating the suprasegmental features (tone and intonational patterns) in the Igbo and Ibibio languages, providing an insight to the types of tone and intonational patterns of the two languages in order to determine their similarities and differences. The phonological variation in their tone and intonational patterns will constitute a pronunciation problem to the Igbo learners of Ibibio and the Ibibio learners of Igbo.
1.1.1 THE HISTORY OF THE IGBO LANGUAGE AND ITS SPEAKERS
The Igbo /ígbò/ language according to Greenberg (1963) is a tone language which belongs to the Niger-Congo language family and Kwa subfamily. It is recognised as one of the three major Nigerian official languages (Igbo, Hausa, Yoruba) principally spoken by the Ibo people, of the southeastern region of Nigeria once identified as Biafra. Udegunam (2004) citing Armstrong (1962:284; 1964:22-23) notes that members of the ‘kwa’ speech community started separating from their ancestral stock and moved out to occupy their present location, thus creating variations of the Igbo language. Armstrong in Oluikpe (1979:2) grouped the speech varieties from Atani, Nnewi and Umuoji as Onitsha dialect. On the other hand, Ogbalu (1974) sees the Igbo language as having two dialects, that is, Onitsha and Owerri. To him, Owerri dialect comprises the Igbo language spoken in Delta, Owerri, Aba, Umuahia and Okigwe areas, while Onitsha dialect comprises the speech pattern of the people of Awka, Onitsha, Enugu, Abakaliki and Nsukka. Ikekeonwu (1986) grouped Igbo dialects into five clusters- Northern Igbo, inland East Igbo, Waawa Igbo, Riverine Igbo and Inland West Igbo- each of these according to her has sub-dialects within a speech community. There are speech varieties showing some differences when compared with the standard form. In view of the above postulation, the variety of Igbo language that the researcher use in this study is the standard Igbo, which is used in teaching, broadcasting, publication, and so on.
Scholars (Olauda Equiano 1794, Afigbo, A. E. 1974, among others) controversies regarding the origin of the Ibo people is uncertain, as popular believe assumes the Nri kingdom version as one of the version of Igbo origin. Olauda Equiano (1794:25-28) claimed that the Ibo are one of the lost tribes of Israel. His argument according to Afigbo (1974:29) was that the Ibo practised certain Jewish traditions intermingled with indigenous beliefs. To them, there are certain Egyptian’s acts that can be found among the Ibo that is, their business inclination since they had once been under Egytian dominance. This is why there can be hardly any part of the world one cannot find an Ibo person. Armstrong (1962) and his group believed that the Igbo migrated from the area where River Niger and River Benue meet. However, the Igbo folklore believes that the Ibo people were sent down from heaven by Chukwu (the supreme God) to a hill called ‘Eri’ to begin civilisation. It was from this hill, which people said is around Igbariam that the Ibo spread to Nri. Nri is seen as people who enjoyed a special relationship with ‘Ala’ (earth goddess). In view of this, Thomas (1914:11), Leonard (1906:34-39), Talbot (1926-392-598) (in Afigbo 1994:11) posit:
“Not only could they reveal and declare the wishes of Ala, they could also intercede between it and any person or community that broke its injunction and remove the pollution (nso) arising from such transgression”.
They indicated that this could be seen as the reason it is only the chief priest from the clan that can appease the gods when a person or community violated the customs of their land. It is also from Nri that you can get people that can reconcile man and the gods. This privileged position of the Nri with regard to “Ala”, the premiere active deity of the Igbo serves to strengthen the suggestion that Igbo culture originated in the Northern Ibo area, Onwuejeogwu (1972) affirmed to this assertion. In another development, Afigbo (1974) laid emphasis on the density of population of the Ibo which has been compared to that of the Nile valley. This is as a result of the length of time which the Ibo have lived on and exploited this environment.
