1.1 Introduction
This work sets out to do a comparative study to determine the status of the Ikere and Ijebu varieties of Yoruba in order to find areas of convergences and divergences which will help determine the level of mutual intelligibility between them. The motivation for this study is that there have been some controversies as to the relatedness between these two language varieties. Thiswork sets out to examine the Ekiti and Ijebu varieties of Yoruba in the light of these controversies and establishes their linguistic status as well.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research hypothesis and questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
Dialectal variation is an observed phenomenon found in every language in this world. Variation is far from being a defect of a language; it is true that human being language is governed system in which a huge amount of creativity which is one of the important characteristics of language is possible. Variation is a neutral operation, and linguists could not prove that non-standard language (dialect) is less enough by means of communication than what is called standard language, so that variation does not make the language less in quality or rank , but the problem is in the speech community attitudes’ to the speakers or talkers of these dialects ,speech community is the responsible to give a social rank to the different forms of language, the matter of stigmatizing and elevating some speakers depends directly on the background of the speaker and the abilities which is based on the selecting and pronouncing of some words.
The study is divided into four chapters. Chapter one is the general introduction to the study. It entails the preliminaries, the Ikere and Ijebu varieties of Yoruba: the languages and peoples, the aim, scope of study, significance and methodology of study. In chapter two a review of relevant literature is carried out. It entails a linguistic viewpoint, a theoretical review, definition of terms and definition of terms. For chapter three, the data collected is analyzed and the results are also presented to show the convergence and divergence between the Ikere and Ijebu varieties of Yoruba. Chapter four entails the concluding remarks where the summary of work done, findings and conclusion are presented. This is followed by the references and appendix sections.
Languages are used in different forms, in different situations and for different purposes. This use of language has given birth to various forms. For example if a dialect is defined as a geographical sub-division of language, we do not come very far without the definition of language and sub-division is not a very clear concept either. Therefore discussions of the terms will be necessary. These discussions will be treated in the second chapter of this study.
According to Catford (1965:84), a language variety is:
“a subset of formal and or substantial features which correlateregularly with a particular type of socio-situational feature”.
A language can thus be defined as a body of words and system used for communication among people of a particular nation or area. This definition only scratches the surface of language as a whole, but it is essential in the understanding of the afore-mentioned terms. A dialect then, is a variety of language that is distinguished from other varieties of the same language by features of phonology, grammar and vocabulary, and by its use by a group of speakers who are set off from others geographically or socially.
This work sets out to do a comparative study to determine the status of the Ikere and Ijebu varieties of the Yoruba language in order to find the areas of convergences and divergences which will help determine the level of mutual intelligibility. However, there has been some controversies as to the relatedness or otherwise between these two varieties. This work also sets out to examine these varieties and establish the linguistics status of these varieties as well.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation reveals the problem of the Dialectal Variation research work which is in the speech community attitudes’ to the speakers or talkers of these dialects, speech community is the responsible to give a social rank to the different forms of language, the matter of stigmatizing and elevating some speakers depends directly on the background of the speaker and the abilities which is based on the selecting and pronouncing of some words.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to scrutinize the Dialectal Variation of Ikere and Ijebu people. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To compare Ikere and Ijebu varieties of Yoruba
- To determine their relatedness and whether they are dialects or simply varieties of Yoruba language.
- To show when two or more languages or dialects are classified under the category of language or dialect convergence or divergence among people living Ikere and Ijebu.
- To highlight on reasons behind language variation among people living Ikere and Ijebu.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What is the conceptual framework of language and dialectal variation among people living Ikere and Ijebu?
- What are the stages of development of standard language among people living Ikere and Ijebu?
- Is there any relevant reason behind language variation among people living Ikere and Ijebu?
- What is the most important concept about language and language variation among people living Ikere and Ijebu?
1.6 Significance of Study
This study will be of immense benefit to researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.7 Scope of Study
The study focuses on the Dialectal (Language) Variation among the Yoruba People. It is restricted to the people of Ikere and Ijebu in Nigeria.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
1.9 Previous Works
There is no contrastive study carried out on Ikere and Ijebu varieties. Although there are individual studies on Ijebu and Ikere respectively, but no work focuses on the varieties as a particular study.
1.10 Data and Methodology
The Ibadan word list of 400 basic items was the primary instrument for data collection. The choice of the Ibadan 400 word list is informed by the fact that it constitutes a reliable and codified source of frequently used words in Yoruba language.
