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Subject: [Togo-L] LANGUAGES: Presenting the new orthographies
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Presenting the new orthographies NEXT By Akintayo Abodunrin May 7, 2011 Efforts
to have a standard orthography for Igbo, Ijo, Hausa and Yoruba languages
received a boost on Wednesday when harmonised orthographies for the four
languages also spoken in Cameroun, Benin and Niger Republic were launched. The
Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilization (CBAAC) and the South
Africa-based Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS) presented
the orthographies at a ceremony held at Reiz Continental Hotel, Abuja. The
process of harmonising and standardising the four indigenous language clusters
began in October 2010 when CBAAC and CASAS organised and funded a two-day
international workshop in Abuja. Specialists in the languages from Nigeria,
Benin, Cameroun, Togo, Ghana and resource persons from CASAS participated. The
Abuja workshop was followed by two others in Port Harcourt and Johannesburg,
South Africa, before the documents were finally ready. Nigerian scholars, their
counterparts from Niger Republic and Benin who participated in the workshops,
staff of parastatals under the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National
Orientation and the public were at the launch. For unity and development The
director general of CBAAC, Tunde Babawale, told guests that CBAAC embarked on
the project in partnership with CASAS, which has executed similar projects in
South and East Africa following a recommendation from a workshop. The training
held in 2008 suggested that African languages should be used as springboard and
catalyst for cultural renaissance, unity and development of the continent. He
noted that the project was also necessary to reduce the influence of foreign
languages. “It is disturbing to note that African languages no longer enjoy
places of pride in most homes and schools. Children are encouraged to use
foreign languages in most homes and our schools also pejoratively label our
indigenous languages as vernacular.” Babawale added that CBAAC was further
encouraged to undertake the harmonisation to explore the “inherent potentials
in African languages for the socio-political growth and economic development of
the continent.” He reiterated that having a standard orthography will further
boost the aim of having a united Africa. Babawale said CBAAC found it difficult
to choose the four languages it worked on but that it considered the
“population of users within the country and the cross-border usage of the
languages,” among other criteria. He said the organisation intends to cover
minority languages in the next phase of the project but that the presentation
would be complemented with workshops for teachers and writers, the end users.
Develop our languages The director of CASAS, Kwesi Prah, also spoke on the
successful completion of the project. He said, “We have broken the back of our
job with the translation.” The sociologist who had earlier briefed about his
organisation’s works across Africa, said minority Nigerian languages, including
Fulfulde, are next up for harmonisation. However, the pan-Africanist warned
that Africa must develop its languages if it wants to develop. “We must know,
incontrovertibly, that without our languages, we are not going anywhere. Unless
we realise that, if we want to see progress on the African continent, then we
must develop our languages. We must develop our language, orthography, take
advantage of the resources. Instead of producing a book for one million, you
can produce a book for 60 million people. The more languages you talk, the more
the different worlds to bridge.” Prah added that once the orthographies are
completed, there must be concerted efforts to teach the new languages to
people. He said pilot textbooks should be provided for teachers while
mono-lingual dictionaries should also be published to teach the new
orthographies. Enthusiastic support The board chair of CBAAC, Semiu Bakinson
and the president of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria, Ahmed Amfani, also
commended the initiative and its benefits. Team leaders of the four language
clusters shared their experiences working on the project with the audience.
Leader of the Igbo team, Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche, disclosed that the team came up
with 73 sounds from the acceptable 28 sounds (and more) in Igbo language. She
said the team accommodated every interest and emerged with a unified
orthography that takes care of sounds and writing. Secretary of the Hausa team,
Aliyu Umar, said though much work has been done on Hausa orthography, the
exercise included people from Niger Republic. Anthony Adeniyi of the Yoruba
group noted how French and English influences led to differences in spelling
Yoruba in Nigeria, Benin and Togo. He however reported that the team
incorporated existing orthographies from the three countries. Cyprian Agbegha
of the Ijo team reported that they harmonised vital areas in the 600-year-old
language. An official of the Ministry of Education expected to play a key role
in disseminating the orthography recalled the ministry’s efforts at
popularising indigenous languages. She also assured of the ministry’s readiness
to assist CBAAC in ensuring that the orthographies gets to users. The executive
secretary of the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Barclays
Ayakoroma, also stressed the importance of indigenous languages at the
occasion. He noted that language unifies and pledged the organisation’s support
for CBAAC. “NICO stands with you and is ready to go with you all the way,” he
said. Igue Akanni Mahmoud, a professor from Benin Republic, and Attouman
Mahaman Bachir from Universite Abdou Moumouni, Niger Republic, also gave short
goodwill messages. Backwardness and stagnation The minister of Tourism, Culture
and National Orientation, Abubakar Sadiq Muhammed, in a speech read on his
behalf by the permanent secretary of the ministry, Ibrahim Mahe, noted that
African languages can contribute meaningfully to unity and development on the
continent. He said Africa’s cultural diversity, multilingualism and colonialism
shouldn’t be excuses for the continent’s underdevelopment. “We must begin to
see the use of our languages as essential component of empowering our people,
our countries and the continent. If we fail to promote the use of our
languages, we risk backwardness and stagnation.” President Goodluck Jonathan,
who was represented by Muhammed, touched on the uses of language and assured
that government will back the initiative. “The federal government will also
leave no stone unturned to ensure that our indigenous languages are kept alive
through deliberate and effective policies such as this one being pursued by the
Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation through the Centre for
Black and African Arts and Civilization.” Muhammed added that Nigeria is “ready
to work with other African nations and indeed, the rest of the world to
preserve and propagate our cultural values.” *****************************
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