Outlier stock and Northern Nigeria’s convergence zones

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Published: Mar 31, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6092/jalalit.v1i1.6734

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Ronald P. Schaefer
Department of English, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
Francis O. Egbokhare
Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan

Abstract

We undertake a two-step inquiry relative to Northern Nigeria’s convergence zones. Initially we compare West Benue Congo’s Edoid language Emai to linguistic features assigned these zones. This provides an affinity quotient for Emai relative to each zone: 75% for the Macro-Sudan Belt (MSB) and 55% for the Wider Lake Chad Region (WLCR). We then assess Emai sentential coordination and noun class prefixing. Coordination reveals cognates for adversative àmma ‘but’ and disjunctive ráà/láà ‘or,’ both found among Northern Nigeria’s majority languages and sourced from Arabic. Cognates occur not only in Northern Nigeria but also among the Emai, today a forest zone agricultural clan. In addition, remnant noun class prefixing in Emai privileges herding over farming. It thus favors a pastoral past. Combined, coordination and noun prefix data suggest a wave-like migration of Edoid peoples into the rainforest and the opportunity for extended interaction of the Emai with WLCR and MSB populations. We suggest therefore that investigation of contemporary outlier languages like Emai might further clarify areal influence and contact within Northern Nigeria.
KEY WORDS: Emai, Edoid, Wider Lake Chad Region, Macro-Sudan Belt

Article Details

Issue
No 1 (2020): Journal of African Languages and Literatures
Section
Research articles
Author Biographies

Ronald P. Schaefer, Department of English, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Ronald Schaefer is professor emeritus at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, USA. Earlier he taught at the University of Benin in Nigeria, where he began analysis of Edoid and Emai linguistic structure. Together with Francis Egbokhare, he has compiled a two-volume collection of Emai oral tradition, developed a bilingual dictionary, and constructed a reference grammar. His articles and chapters have appeared in various journals, books, online publications as well as online databases.

Francis O. Egbokhare, Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan

Francis Egbokhare has been Professor of Linguistics and African Languages at the University of Ibadan since 1999. He was a Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung at the University of Hamburg in 1996. Relative to Emai, his mother tongue, he and Ronald Schaefer have co-authored a number of papers and chapters as well as several books that document its oral narrative tradition, phonology, lexicon, and grammar. Also included among his publications are papers and chapters on Nigerian Pidgin English.