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Description:
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This book presents the sound structure of seven Nigerian languages– Hausa,
Igbo, Yoruba, Igala, Efik, Fulfulde and Idoma. The first chapter presents
a critical review of the linguistic situation in Nigeria which has an
estimated over three hundred and fifty (350) languages with each language
representing, as it were, a distinct ethnic group. Chapters two and three
handle the issues of speech apparatus and airstream mechanisms,
respectively. While giving a review of the basic principles and practice
associated with the study of phonetics, it also underpins the theoretical
framework of the work which leans heavily on linguistic phonetics as
enunciated and discussed in Ladefoged, 1971, 1982, 2005 and Maddieson,
1984. Chapter four discusses phonation especially as it manifests in the
languages studied. Chapter five identifies, classifies and discusses the
segments– consonants and vowels– used in the languages indicating their
combinatory possibilities and aspects of the prosody of these languages.
Chapter six investigates patterns of intersegmental co-ordination in the
languages while chapter seven details aspects of interference exhibited in
the languages especially with regards to the English language which is
still used, alongside Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, as the official language in
the country. Chapter eight has the translation of a passage in English
'the harmattan' into four of the languages studied. Phonemic
transcriptions of the passage are provided as well.
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