Cite this article as: Ifabiyi A. B. (2024). Dialogue as a Means of Enhancing Security and Integration. Proceedings of International Conference on Rethinking Security through the lens of Humanities for Sustainable National Development Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Pp. 332-342.
Metaphorical
Extension as a Catalyst for Security Development
By
Auwal
Abubakar
Department
of English and Literary Studies
Federal University of Kashere, Gombe State
And
Ahmad
Ibrahim Khalil
Department
of English and Literature
Federal University Gusau
Abstract:
The paper investigates a range of existing morphological patterns which
contribute to the expansion of the vocabulary of a language. The language
barrier is one of the attributes that have kept the storm of insecurity in
Nigeria. While there are 512 indigenous languages, including the three major
ones (Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba), the fear of the unknown in the midst of
non-indigenous language speakers becomes another life threat. The research
deploys the use of both primary ‘introspective’ and secondary data through
elicitation and recording of connected speech as well as interview and
conversations with randomly selected focused groups. Thus, the paper identifies
words that are created through meaning extension and emphasizes how indigenous
language benefits in solving security challenges and the effects it has in
keeping people together as a nation devoid of violence, war and terrorism.
Similarly, the paper will also serve as a guardian against any threat of
insecurity in Nigeria. The research adopts Haspelmath and Sims’ (2010)
Word-Based Theory of Morphological Analysis, where non concatenative patterns
are described quite naturally and emphasizes the fundamental significance of
the word. This study therefore examines the structure of some of the new complex
lexical items, created from existing simple ones that are found as sources of
forming new words into Bole language. The research reveals that some
non-concatenative patterns of different morphological forms exist in Bole
language and function in different contexts. It also reveals that many words
created through Metaphorical extension are mostly nouns.
Keywords:
Concatenation, lexical items, metaphorical extension indigenous language
insecurity
As native speakers, every day one recognizes and understands how
new words are formed and created without only arranging string of words, but
through non-concatenative processes like metaphorical extensions. When the
users of a language do not have words to convey the meaning of new things which
enter the world of their experience, it is not always necessary that new words
are coined all the time (https://open.lib.umn.edu).
New uses are added to the existing words, instead, thus, enriching the language
in its expressive power. Man is basically dependent on Language (whether
indigenous or foreign) for communication. Among many other uses of language,
its use for communication about social maintenance and information about
security issues seems to be the most important because it involves human life.
For this, words applicable to one realm of experience are extended to cover
different realms of experience. Matthews (1991:36) defines
word-formation as the branch of morphology which deals with the relations
between a complex lexeme and a simple(r) lexeme. Matthews (ibid) categorizes
morphology into: lexical and inflectional. Lexical morphology is further
subdivided into compounding/composition and derivation. Many linguists use the term ‘word formation’ as ‘lexeme formation’, but this usage can be
confusing, as all of morphology is sometimes referred to in a larger sense as
‘word formation’. Derivational morphology is the process of changing the
word-class of the base i.e. nouns can be derived from verbs, adjectives from nouns,
and so on. One frequent characteristic of derivation is creating new words for
new concepts, and since we have a greater need for naming diverse nominal
concepts, languages generally have more means for deriving nouns than for
deriving verbs and adjectives (Bauer 2002 in Haspelmath
and Sims 2010:87).
Metaphorical extension is the application of meaning in a new direction through
popular adoption of an original metaphorical comparison. It is another way in
which the meaning of an existing word is modified, thus resulting in new uses.
Information is one of the key roles a language performs in terms of
securitization. It is used to communicate against any suspected danger in every
geographical area. Without language, one hardly reveals a secret to another.
This is true in all languages of the world. Even what one may think to be a
primitive culture or society still has a language system that gives and
receives information on the basis of security alerts.
To take one example: it is interesting to note that speakers of
English have adopted many existing terms from the realm of ocean navigation to
use in talking about space exploration. For instance, they use the word ship to
refer to space vehicles as well as to ocean-going vessels. We speak of
navigation in both types of transportation. They speak of certain objects as
floating in space and of ships as floating on water; we speak of a captain and
a crew for both kinds of transportation.
In a country like Nigeria, where security challenges are
complex, understanding the local languages and cultures is crucial for
effective security operations. By studying indigenous languages, security
personnel can better understand the needs and concerns of local communities,
which can help to build trust and cooperation, and improve the effectiveness of
security efforts.
Research
Objectives
This paper is guided by the following objectives:
1.
To identify
different types of words that undergo metaphorical extension and explain how
they contribute to word formation processes in Bole for security development.
2.
To explain the
function of words that undergo metaphorical extension in phrases and sentences
in Bole language.
Research Questions
The following also are the research
questions that drive the paper:
1.
What types of
morphologically extended word-forms Bole language are found and how they are
formed and contribute to security development in Nigeria?
2.
Do the
morphologically extended word-forms function in Bole language in different
contexts?
2.0 LITERATURE
REVIEW
Whatever
language a child is brought up with, whether English, French, Arabic, Igbo,
Hausa, Yoruba, etc, remains his mother tongue or indigenous language. No wonder
Emenanjo (2004) describes the mother tongue as the language spoken by the child
at home as his first language. Babajide (2000), in addition, has it that it is
the first language that a child acquires, which is a medium of imparting
information, feelings, and desires among the people of a society based on
sounds and symbols that they identify themselves with.
Indigenous language plays a fundamental part
in maintaining peace and assisting the progress of integrating the indigenous
people into an urban area. It remains a valuable source of information for
cultural knowledge and helps in uniting people socially. It expresses people’s
identity and facilitates commonality among the members, especially outside the
locality.
The
security of the people is always considered first among all other things. It is
based on this fact that Omede (2011) takes the concept of security to mean
having concerns and interests on issues regarding the lives and properties of
individuals, as well as having the ability to counter whatever threat in a
state. McGrew (1988), in the same vein, has it that the security of a nation
relies more on two fundamental principles such as controlling and taking care
of the citizens from both internal and external threats and promoting a more
desirable international order together with domestic order, in order that life
threats could be reduced to core values and interests of the state. From the
above definitions, emphasis is solemnly on the citizens possessing the
underlying beneficiaries of every security and any related developmental
assistance the state can offer. It is a fundamental and crucial establishment
whereby individuals are expected to go about their normal businesses without
threats
Akmajian, etal (2008) examines metaphorical extension as a word formation
process and describes it as a way of using an already existing word in another
different way, thereby augmenting the language as though a new word has been
added. The study finds out that metaphorical extension has been the product of
technological changes in societies in describing new phenomena without any
addition in the inventory of the language vocabularies. They uphold that
sometimes, (Akmajian, ibid) maintains that meaning of metaphorically extended
words can become broadened or narrowed. This research will be of great
importance to this establishment.
Margarida, B. (2005) discusses
metaphorical extension as word formation process by which a vocabulary of one
domain is extended to a new domain (metaphorical extension). He identifies
broadening and narrowing as its major classification. The research defines
broadening as a process that occurs when a word with a specific or limited
meaning is widened. It is sometimes referred to as generalization of words.
While looking at narrowing to refer to words that have their meanings reduced
in terms of coverage or scope, he maintains that there are numerous ways by
which new meaning becomes associated with already existing words which
contribute to the expansion of the formation of words in a language. This study
is relevantly to justify the relevant positions.
According
to Lakoff (1987), who particularly argues that metaphorical extension is
central to how humans conceptualize abstract concepts through word formation
processes. He suggests that metaphors are not just linguistic tools but
cognitive mechanisms that allow speakers to extend meanings of words from
physical, concrete domains to abstract ones. This metaphorical extension
reflects how humans structure and understand their experience of the world,
creating new word-forms based on underlying metaphorical mappings, such as
understanding time as money ("spend time"). He claims that people
frequently take a well understood aspect of something and use it to stand
either for the thing as a whole or some other aspects or parts of it to refer
to places standing for institutions, such as Washington for the US government
or Brasillia for the Brazillian government.
Gimba (2006) studies Gender in Bole and describes it as one of the
most problematic aspects of Bole grammar. He explains that gender is rarely
shown in nominal morphology itself but rather in agreement, as seen, for
example, in the perfective verb stem markers -wo(masc.) and –kko
(fern.)”. He maintains that “demonstrative pronouns also show gender agreement,
e.g., ama 'that' (masc.) and osha 'that' (fern), adding that the
tendency is to use masculine gender as the 'default' for most nouns. The
research however, maintains that trees bearing fruits are generally treated as
feminine, e.g., 'tamarind', 'plum tree', etc.; but the fruits are masculine,
verbal nouns are also all masculine with words the different referents or not.
Speakers often confuse of which gender to use with individual words. Due to
this uncertainty, speakers use them interchangeably, e.g., motasorakko/soruwo'
The car (fem/masc) went off the road. He draws examples based on Fika dialect,
but this study will argue if gender is really problematic in Gombe/Kalam
dialect.
2.1 THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
This study adopts Haspelmath and Sims’ (2010) Word-Based
Theory
where both concatenative and non-concatenative morphological patterns are
described quite naturally. The
theory emphasizes the fundamental
significance of the word and the relationship between complex words is captured
not by splitting them up into parts. It captures the processes of base
modification and allows morphological rules of virtually any type that exists
in any language, and morphological rules that affect a wide variety of changes
on bases. The word-based theory is more empirically adequate non-restrictive
and satisfactory, favourable and more general. It is capable of describing many
kinds of morphological patterns that are not found in the world’s languages,
including our concern in this research - that is, metaphorical extension as word formation process. Many
non-concatenative patterns historically began as phonological pattern which involves derivation that does
not add anything on the base. (The reader may notice that most
of the discussions on base modification will be described using terms from
phonology). For example, the Bole noun gorzo
male eg, undergoes phonological processes of vowel change in the first syllable
o→u and palatalisation in the second
syllablez→ /ʤ/ to derive a complex
word gurjawi /gurʤawi/ male pl. In
the singular form, nonu, it is
infixed to create a plural form nonne
with vowel changes u → e on the final
syllable. This, of course, affected the stem-final vowel, but did not affect
the class. While the word-based model can describe many morphological patterns
that do not exist in natural languages, including Pig Latin-type long distance
movement of sounds, perhaps this is not a problem if those patterns would never
arise by historical processes.
The study of morphology deals with word formation and inflection
(i.e. lexical and inflectional morphology). Word formation is subdivided into
two smaller sub-fields, one of which is concerned with the process of
derivation and the other compounding. In order to form a word or inflect it,
one of the three morphological processes, namely; affixation, reduplication and
modification is used. Abubakar (2001:23) also establishes the following rules
as possible inputs and their corresponding outputs in Hausa morphology:
Noun → Noun
Verb → Noun
Adjective
→
Noun
Noun → Verb
Adjective
→
Verb
Noun → Adjective
Verb → Adjective
The perspectives of (Abubakar 2001)
also helps in generating new complex lexical items as the input and output
products of morphophonological operations on the base. The word based theory is
found to be appropriate in capturing and describing lexical items that undergo
modifications/alternations that occur on bases. Similarly, the theory can help
the research towards important discoveries of word formation in the language.
It might lead to raise questions we might not have raised, and seek data we
might not have considered. In addition, the theory can help this research see
connections that might not be made, as well as pinpoint problems that might
have been overlooked.
3.0 METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION
This research
uses mixed methodology which involves direct elicitation, and recording of
connected speech. Similarly, the researcher asked for translations of
unfamiliar words or sentences in the language to get the words correctly. Other methods employed include:
Fieldwork at the research area and listening of audio materials (CD and
cassettes) in Bolewa language from Gombe Media Corporation (Radio). “With the modern
accessibility of audio and video recording devices, speech can now be recorded
from a variety of genres, including conversation” (Marianne in Newman
& Ratliff 2001:36). Similarly, relevant printed
materials were used as additional secondary sources. The lead researcher’s
Intuition being a native speaker too is an additional primary source of data.
These activities are strictly concerned with Gaɗam/Gombe dialect only.
4.0 DISCUSSIONS/FINDINGS
This section presents and analyses the data
drawn from Gaɗam/Gombe dialect to find the categories of words formed through
the processes and discuss the resultant changes the bases undergo and ascertain
the extent at which metaphorically extended words are created in Bole language.
English gloss will accompany each element and where there is need, interlinear
glossing would be provided.
4.1 Solving security challenges can start by
taking time to embark on studying at least the three major Nigerian indigenous
languages- Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba language. Our languages have an important
part to play in fostering security in Nigeria. Studying indigenous languages
will offer us a better chance to understand ourselves as Nigerian citizens.
Knowing ourselves will not only strengthen security but will also strengthen
our national values and identity. This is because having a sound knowledge of
our indigenous languages is an essential element for safeguarding security
challenges. At least we can easily detect when the bad ones intrude into our
environment.
When we work on the knowledge of our indigenous
languages, it becomes an indispensable instrument for national security as this
will help to manage better the numerous ethnic/social crises and other threats
like banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, farmers-herders clashes, among
other,s facing the country. While there may be increasing interactions between
fellow Nigerians and foreigners who speak the English language, there are few
levels of native language exchange among Nigerians themselves, owing to the
inability of most Nigerians to speak one or more of the indigenous languages.
The importance of understanding Nigeria’s indigenous languages is illustrated
in the story of an army officer- Col Salish Adamu (from Depot Nigerian Army),
who could have lost his life from a suicide bomb attack. He narrates the story
thus:
4.2 Metaphorical Extension
There
are words which Bole language does not seem to have their right expressions. In
such cases, speakers often take an existing one and extend its meaning in a
recognizable way. In other words, metaphorical extension has been the product
of technological changes in societies for describing new phenomena without any
addition in the inventory of the language vocabularies. Metaphorically extended
words can either be broadened or narrowed depending on what the meaning
reflects (Akmajianet al, 2008:29).
For instance:
4.2.1 Broadening: Sometimes the use of already existing word can
be put to new uses through broadening where a word attracts a more general use
than its original application in a language (Akmajianet al, 2008:30). Examples below present such cases in Bole
language:
a Word Primary Secondary
ɗárì → east → pilgrimage
potí → sun → day
káibônò →
erecting home → marriage
ánìnshírì
→ thieves → chameleon
dárûkké →
hyper thin → HIV/AIDS
nôntì
yáwì → mother of hen → ostrich
ɓélè → giraffe
→ name of a town
ngûráalè → mall area → local
gov’t area
lépà
→ big area → state gov’t
yáwìyárbà → yoruba hen → duck
mándàsô’é → salt
of deceit → sugar
kuja → thirst
→
fasting
giriiɗì → sound made using stick, finger and calabash
to frighten child → radio
Gómbèi
→a meeting place of the Bolewa people under a tree → (Gómbè) name of town
Other examples of broadening include ɗímbì; magic; where the meaning was
extended to refer to radio. Television has also derived its name in Bole from
same process, as ɗímbì:
magic + ãníshílì; shadow → ɗímbì- ãníshílì; magic shadow; magic with shadow.
4.2.2
Narrowing: The use
of word can narrow as well; a typical example is the word meat. At one time in English means food generally, but now it is
used to refer only to edible flesh of animals (Akmajian et al, 2008:30). Consider these examples in Bole language:
b Word Primary Secondary
kárà → sticks
→ ribs
zórì ôlî →
ground rope → snake
yáwò → bride → woman
ɗârî → east → pilgrimage
âmírì →
excavated land → a
particular pond
bîɗîkî → excavated
land → a particular pond
Sokol → a construction company → a pond in Gaɗam town
Caterpillar →
a construction machine → katafiila; a
pond/ earth dam in Gaɗam
Gombe originally means a meeting point of
the Bolewas under a mahogany tree around Kalam hill, now has been broadened to
a name of town - presently a state capital. ɓélè
is an animal called giraffe, but now referred to as a town. Akko is a proper
personal name in Bolewa, but now broadened to mean a town. biɗiki originally means an ‘excavated
land’ where people fetch mud for local building, but now the meaning is
narrowed to mean a particular pond for fetching water in Gaɗam. In the case of SOKOL- ‘acronym of a civil engineering
company’ whose activities in the area bring about a ditch where rain water used
to stay, undergo similar process where the company’s name was narrowed to mean
just a ‘pond’ for fetching water in Gaɗam. Other instances of narrowing
includes: zoorioli and yawo. Similarly, Katafiila is a name of a particular most sighted machine
(caterpillar) during excavation for road construction, but for now, the name
reflects a broader meaning of the excavation site where running water used to
stay as a source of water to Gaɗam
community. Other instances of broadening includes: ɗari, kaibono, aninshiri, daarukke, nontiyawi and ɓélè.
5.0 Conclusion
This paper attempted discussing a
number of ways in which metaphorically extended words can create new shape of
meanings to form new words in Bole language - a West Chadic family in north
east Nigeria. The
available data proved to some extent, the levels at which the radical element
undergo certain semantic changes to meet the grammatical needs of a word in a
specific grammatical environment. This research underscores language as an
important instrument in nation-building. The paper posits that in a country
like Nigeria with many indigenous languages and about 250 ethnic nationalities,
a situation whereby each and every one of the ethnic groups is afraid of the
potential domination by the other, the best option cannot be outright rejection
of the English language or elevation of any one of the Nigerian indigenous
languages to the status of a national language. The research adopting non
concatenative morphological approach revealed that metaphorical extension in
Bole language appears to be relatively rare as there is no sufficient data in
that regard. Principally,
the word Gombe (now, a name of a
place and of course, a state capital) is a typical example of a metaphorical
extension (via broadening) in Bole language. Many towns such as Bara, Jore,
Bojude, Gadam Bomaa, Gabukka, etc, have undergone metaphorical extension
processes to mean what they are referred to today, making it possible to
creating very large words, thereby increasing the inventory of Bole vocabulary.
Those words or parts thereof that are not composed and must therefore be drawn
from the lexicon are called roots; they are main words that carry meaning
(Leiber, 2009). The use of zero derivation in noun to noun derivation, noun to
adjectives and vice versa has extensively existed in the language. The noun /sota/ ‘lie’ denotes an activity, yet it
is a noun, thus, the semantic criterion is misleading. This corroborated
Abubakar (2001: 21) that “verbs and nouns derived from other parts of speech
are the commonest derivatives in Hausa morphology”. Many lexical items in Bole
have their roots/base function in all the grammatical categories of the
language without undergoing any morphological or phonological alteration to
create another shape of meaning. Similarly, the analysis of the available data
on metaphorical extension further debunked the position of (Gimba 2006) that
gender is a problematic aspect of Bole morphology by justifying the derivation
of gender in most of the processes discussed.
Indigenous languages, being rooted in the reality of culture,
customs, and the tribal life of people, is used to give orientation on how to
behave in society. As long as none of the Nigerian cultures and customs
advocate violence, hooliganism, or war, the indigenous languages can be used by
the community leaders during peace meetings and negotiations explain to the
aggrieved ones the way they will understand better and avoid violence. In
short, it is worth reminding that language is the most important equipment
people use for cultural transmission, communication, and reflection on their
behavior. It controls and checks the actions of people. According to Nicholl
(2008), “language is the tool that enables the emergence of self-awareness and
consequently voluntary control of (one’s) actions.” The goal of indigenous
languages is to make the transition from being self-regulated to becoming
other-regulated. By implication, it is high time groups and individuals put
their hands together by not limiting themselves to a particular Nigeria’s
indigenous languages as that will improve the situation of insecurity in
Nigeria.
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