ASPECTS OF NEGATION IN KOENOEM LANGUAGE

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL BACKGROUND

 1.1      Introduction

This research is aimed at describing aspects of negation in    Koenoem language. Koenoem language is a language spoken in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State of Nigeria.

                        In this chapter, we discussed the general background and socio - cultural    profile of the Koenoem people. The genetic     classification of Koenoem language as           well as the aim and objectives of the research is discussed. We also included the         scope and organization of the study.

1.2       Historical Background of Koenoem People 

                        A popular legend of the Koenoem claimed that they were influenced by the           attempt to link their origin to the universal respective and centers of old civilization.           This legend claimed that they migrated from France to their present location for        economic reason.

                        Koenoem means “to refuse”, the reason why this utterance was rendered by          the Koenoem speaking people was that there was a             river dividing them with their             neighbouring village, and the river belonged to them i.e. the Koenoem. Inspite of          that their neighbouring villages were claming ownership because of the immense            benefit from the river.

                        The Koenoem people because of this mess said they would not fold their    arms and watched them; they presented all their problems to their ancestors to fight   for them. As a result of this new born babies immediately after given birth to, will be         strike to death by thunder from no where. When the villagers got to realized that all            the happenings was as a result of their selfish interest, they call a meeting and        resolve the issue immediately and handed over the land to the Koenoem people and    that is why in both Shendam and Mikang land, today don’t take this Koenoem for       granted.

1.3       Geographical Location of Koenoem People

                        Koenoem people are located in northern part of Shendam Local Government         Areas of Plateau State and Eastern part of Mikang Local Government Area of           Plateau State. The Koenoem village was formally a ward under shendam province         and later relocated to Mikang Local Government Area. The major towns around             Koenoem are: Doka, Zomo and Piapun.

1.4       Socio - Cultural Profile of Koenoem People

                        Cultural is defined as a total way of life of a group of people in a    geographical setting. Keonoem people have their district cultural and traditional       beliefs which are expressed in their mode of dressing, occupation, religion, festivals             and marriage system.

            Marriage System in Koenoem

                        The Koenoem people have their culture, norms, and values. When it comes to         marriage the person who wants to marry pay a specific amount of money and some        traditional items for the kinsmen before contacting the father of the girl for bride       price. The amount paid for bride price is not always much that is why they marry       many wives.

                        The first step to marriage is to pay some certain amount of   money and some         items, other material things such as rappers shingginda, millet for local brint       beer to the elders of the family. The second step is the bride going to the groom’s        farm to check his capability whether is capable of taking care of the wife he intends            to marry. If the groom is capable they move to the third step which is the   introduction of the two families to each other and after that the proper marriage.

                        In Koenoem land divorce does not take much time, they believe if a woman           leaves a man the more he brings in another one to replace her. Some divorce are         made in the court of law through the             chief judge pronouncement and others in a    traditional way, where the two families come together and settle amicably by paying     back what they collected from the grooms family.

            Occupation of Koenoem People

                        The major occupation of Koenoem people is farming. Majority of the people          are subsistence farmers though commercial     farming is also practiced. They cultivate        crops like maize, millet, guinea com, groundnut and rice as well. After harvesting all         these crops, buyers come from urban centre and buy at the cheapest price and take it        to the city.

            Religion of Koenoem People

                        In Koenoem land the three (3) religions are observed i.e. Christianity,         Traditional and Islamic religions. Christianity dominates followed by traditional      religion then Islamic religion. Most of the people practicing Islamic religion are             indigenes of the land. The general language use in the place of worship is Hausa except the traditional worshipers who used the local dialect to make their   incantation.

            Festivals of Koenoem Language

                        Festivals are organized to unite their kinsmen from far and near. The chief priest is regarded as the ruler of the tribe only, but without defined territory. There is           a particular festival celebrated to commemorate the death of their heroes who had      fought tirelessly to emancipate them from the shackles of invaders and other form of            oppressions. Their annual festival is celebrated on the 12th December, for this         festival an Antelope must be casted to appease the gods.

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            Educational Background of Koenoem people

                        The Level of Education in Koeneom village is very low, because most of    them believe that farming is the best way to make money.

                        Education as defined by one philosopher popularly known as Plato who said          education is the production of sound mind to a sand   body. In this definition we are           made to understand that the Koenoem people were not aware of the positive impact            of education, but now             they have realize the positive impact of education and they             now send their children to school, so as to take active part in politics.

Administration in Koenoem Land

                        Koenoem people’s administration is more or less a traditional system of      administration. The people of Koenoem take orders from their chiefs. The chief is         the administrative and ceremonial leader in   the village.

                        There, chief who is called long Koenoem dictate some certain things for     them, and any other information which is to be relay to the           people must past through        the chief before disseminating it to the masses.

                        After the chief the second in command is referred to as angwa meaning      halmet, he takes directives from the chief to the people.

1.5       Genetic Classification of Koenoem Language

            {Accessed November 2010}

                                                      AFRICAN LANGUAGE

            Afro Asiatic         Niger Kordofanian                  Nilo Sahara                           Khoisan

       Niger Congo       

         West Atlantic                                  Mande                                    Atlantic Congo 

           Atlantic                                                Ijoid                                         Volta Congo

                 Ewe                             Edo                                        Benue Congo                    Plateau

                Northern Jos                                        Western Jos                                   Eastern Jos

                    Zomo                           Doka                     Koenoem                                   Piapun

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1.6       Statement of the Research Problem

                        The target of this research is to analyze Negative sentences in Koenoem      language. Therefore, these work primarily focus on Negation in Koenoem language      and our aim is to identify the various             negative construction and negation markers in             the language, their position in the language.

1.7       Aims and Objective

                        The purpose of this work is to carry out a syntactic analysis of Koenoem     language with focus on the syntactic process known as negation. Our aims and         objectives in this research work include.  

            i           To explain what negation is

            ii          To discuss how negation is used in Koenoem

            iii         To identify the various negations

            iv         To also discuss the transformational processes used in deriving negative                              constructions in the language.

1.8       Scope and Organization of The Study

                        This work is limited to negation in Koenoem language and it is divided into           five chapters. Chapter one deals with the introductory part of the work, which     includes general introduction the historical             background and socio-cultural profile            of Koenoem language, genetic classification, aims and objectives, scope and organization of the study.

       Chapter two deals with literature review here we shall review the chosen frame work that is the government and binding theory of syntax and explain its relevance to this work. Chapter three shall focus on negation as a syntactic process in Koenoem language showing among others the various positions negation markers can occupy in Koenoem language chapter four shall deal with transformational processes in Koenoem such as focus construction and relativization in relation to negation. Chapter five will summarize and conclude the work.   

1.9       Data Collection

                        The method used in this research work for our data collection is direct        translation method from English Language based on the Ibadan 400 word list.           Data elicitation was carried out by direct interview of language helpers with the       proceedings recorded on audio cassette. The frame technique was also employed             during data collection.

            Informants Data

            Informant Name:        MR. GWAITIL TITUS

            Occupation:                 Military

            Age:                            28

            Religion:                      Christianity

            Language spoken apart from Koenoem: English, Piapun, Hausa, Tal.

            Number of years spent in Koenoem: 20 year

1.10     Data Analysis

                        To ensure an efficient data analysis is this research, all the data collected    were carefully transcribed. The morphemes that make up the phrases and sentences       were also carefully glossed. The data collected were used according to how the      native speakers used them without imposing and extraneous rules or norm.