1.0 General Introduction
Language is a human means of communicating ideas, emotions and desires. It is a system of arbitrary, vocal symbols which permit all people in a given culture, to communicate and to interact. Any language is fundamentally, series of sounds which become meaningful only when the sounds are grouped together in certain, definite arrangements.
The role of language in human life cannot be over emphasized and it calls for proper documentation to avoid language extinction. In citing the goals of linguistic research, it is pertinent to know that it involves language policy formation, language planning and standardization.
This research work aims at examining the aspect of Nungu negation. This introductory part will show some factors on the language and its speakers by looking at the historical background of the language, socio-cultural profile, genetic classification of the language, a brief review of the chosen theoretical framework, scope and organization of study, and data collection and data analysis.
1.1 Historical Background
The Nungu tribe is said to have migrated from a Hill side in Bauchi State. The migration was due to persistent oppression from their enemies in neighboring villages, and due to their search not only for conducive and peaceful environment, but also fertile ground to plant their crops. The name they bore at the beginning was “Rindre”, but after their victories, they adopted to be called “Nungu”, meaning “warriors”
When they got to Plateau State, they settled on the north− western part of the state, the present Nassarawa State and made their living for more than seven decades. While they were in Nassarawa State in Wamba Local Government, they occasionally joined their clan in Bauchi during their annual festivals where they discussed the future of their tribe and the well-being of the people.
The Nungu people were forced to migrate from Nassarawa State when their leader was denied of his crown as the King of Wamba kingdom and his title was given to a Fulani man instead. This act of kingship denial was seen as an insult by the Nungu people and they intended to wage war but was prevented by their clans in Bauchi. When the Nungu king was about to die, he called all his people together and told them to find their way from Wamba and go to another place instead. He said that they should not stay with those tribes that cheated them. Some of the Nungu tribes therefore migrated down to Kaduna and settled in Borumo, a village situated in Jema’al Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Meanwhile some of the tribes stayed in other regions of Nassarawa, but the majority stood their ground in Wamba Local Government of Nassarawa state while others dispersed elsewhere.
According to online sources, the Nungu people were about 10,000 in population as of the National census dated 1973, but those in Kaduna state were above 3,500 people, even though some of their sons and daughters were in other states working in the ministries and Government offices.
Nevertheless, the majority of Nungu are in Nassarawa and Bauchi States (their ancestral home land)
Nungu Language is also known as ‘RINDRE’. Rindre is preferred by the native speakers of the Language.
1.2 Sociolinguistic Profile Of The Nungu Tribe
Every community has its district way of life. The way people eat, what they wear, their mode of marriage, etc differ in various societies. The Nungu people, just like every community, have their distinct culture and traditional.
Nungu is a language spoken as the mother tongue in Nungu speaking territories both in Bauchi, Wamba Local Government Area of Nassarawa State, Borumo village in Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State. It has neighbouring tribes like Gwandara, Kagoro, Ninzam, Atuku, Hausa, and a host of other tribes.
1.2.1 Occupation
Nungu people are predominantly farmers. They practice both subsistence and commercial farming. The major crops are cereals, pulses (or legumes) and vegetables. The main cereals are sorghum, millet, maize, rice and acha; the dominant pulses are cowpeas, groundnuts, beniseed and soybeans; while the major vegetables are onions and tomatoes. The Nungu people also engage themselves in blacksmith work; they carve iron and invent various useful tools such as hoe, cutlass, knives, guns and other domestic iron made tools. Hunting is another occupation they are so much interested in. Each man went with his gun hanged at his shoulder.
1.2.2 Religion:
Nungu people are predominantly Christians and idol worshippers. The traditional worshippers sacrifice to their god called “kinga”, meaning the greatest god. Precisely, kinga is a carved stone object like human head (skull). This stone is kept in a sacred place they call “Kaze− kinga”, which is the shrine for their great god. The shrine of this god is erected at the village centre, and beside it is the village square where they hold the village meeting, and some other gathering.
The chief priest performs the daily duty of blood sprinkling on a stony object by killing a domestic fowl. In addition, he sprinkles the blood with the powder from a certain sacred tree. All forms of societal vices and crimes were sanctioned using the Kinga. Undoubtedly, there are still some elderly traditional worshippers who also go to church.
1.2.3 Housing:
The factors that determine the building of houses in Nungu land are war and agricultural requirements. The Nungu people used to live in huts. The major building structure is made of mud and hay. In fact, those using mud for their building are the civilized among them. Notwithstanding, in the recent times, they have started using bricks and some have gone to the extent of using blocks with cement substance to enhance the durability of the building.
1.2.4 Clothing:
Prior to westernization and civilization, the Nungu people clothed themselves with animal skin. They made various styles from skin materials such as shirts, trousers, skirts and so on. Women even went to the extent of using such materials to tie their babies to their back.
1.2.5 Marriage:
Presently there are two kinds of marriage practices in Nungu land: religious marriage (church wedding) and traditional marriage. Nungu people practice both monogamy and polygamy. Boys marry at the age of eighteen years, while girls marry at the age of sixteen.
A marriage between youths of Nungu land was by special arrangement. A boy’s parents could announce their desire to engage a girl for their son if no other man had done so before. The young man would give four young chickens to the father of the girl. Thereafter, they were both considered betrothed (only if the girl loves him). The man then rendered agricultural services to the parents of the girl for the space of four to seven years, for the girl to make use. As it was, farm work was for the father of the girl. The young man had other services for the mother and that was to re-thatch her roof after every two years. Then at the specified time, the wedding ceremony could take place.
1.2.6 Ceremonies:
The Nungu people, like most African societies, have quite a number of ceremonies and initiations. A child’s naming ceremony is done on the seventh day after birth. When a child is born to Nungu communities, he or she is circumcised on the seventh day.
In Nungu Communities, the dead is mourned by covering the corpse with goat skin. The elders give their last respect to the dead by performing some traditional rites, thereafter, the dead will be buried.
If a man dies abnormally, he will be buried in the bush, when a youth dies, there is a great mourning and he/she is buried in his or her room. But when an old person dies in the night, he or she is kept in the local mortuary prepared by the people with sands from the river, banana leaves, and water. The corpse is laid on the sand inside the mortuary usually for two days and the burial rites are performed thereafter.
They also celebrate a number of festivals among them is, “I?ri rih'sé” Meaning, the new yam festival, Màngá, and Màt?ngbà which serve as the festival that bring all the Nungu Speaking Communities together. During the celebration of Màt?ngbà which comes up with two years interval, it involved blood ritual and sacrifices, and it covers the range of the sacred days.
In the olden days, they sacrificed with human blood but over time, they have changed to animal blood. Precisely, they either sacrifice a he-goat or a bull in place of human being.
1.2.7 Education
Before the advent of western education, the Nungu people have a way of teaching moralities, respect, and skills within their communities. The education of their children is of utmost importance, because they believe that an uneducated mind will be problematic to himself and the community in general and ultimately die in ignorance. They thereby teach and impact moral knowledge to their children right from birth, and as they grow they set them on skills training.
Western Education was embraced by the Nungu communities and they emphasized that both male and female should be given equal right to education. In their effort to support Government programme on Universal Basic Education, the Nungu community in Jema’al LGA., collaborated with neigbouring villages to build a primary school with modern furniture so as to make it easier for their children to acquire education.
1.2.8 Administration:
In Nungu Community, leaders are selected through consultation. Before a leader is selected, all the clan, including the youth must be present. They will share ideas and deliberate on the characters and the roles played by the selected candidates throughout his staying in the community. After the deliberate examination and finding with unanimous decision, that the person is worthy of the leadership position, they forward the name of such person to the highest authority for the coronation.
1.3 Genetic Classification Of Nungu Language
Genetic classification of language is based on the assumption that languages originated from a common ancestor. The essence of the genetic classification of Nungu Language is therefore to trace the origin of the language and show its relationship to other languages, especially African languages. Nungu language belongs to the plateau group of languages. The platoid itself is a sub-family of the Benue-Congo, which originated from the Niger-Congo phylum of the Niger-Kordofanian language family. The Language family tree below shows the genetic classification of the Nungu Language (Williamson, 1982; 102)
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