Sociolinguistic study of language contact in Ubolo speech community, Enugu State-Nigeria

Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary report of the linguistic study of language contact in a rural speech community of Ubolo, Enugu State, Nigeria, using a sociolinguistic approach. The researchers selected seven linguistic groups in the area of study. They are Ubolo (the indigenous community), Awka, Onitsha and Owerri from different regional linguistic groups of Igboland. Others include: Hausa, Idoma and Yoruba from other ethnolinguistic groups in Nigeria. The researcher relied mostly on unstructured oral interview, direct observations, group discussions, and interactive sessions. The data collected for the study were analyzed using Higa’s directionality model of analysis. From the study, five basic issues that influenced language contact in Ubolo speech community were established from the factors examined. These are trade/historical antecedents, access roads, border areas, migrations. More specifically, the research revealed the effects of language contact to include linguistic borrowing, code-switching, and hyperadoptation. In addition, it was discovered that the factors that influenced linguistic borrowing in the area of study include: Domain or the contact area, age, convergence, prestige, referee design, and interaction.