Aspects Of Kaninkon Verb Phrase
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Aspects Of Kaninkon Verb Phrase
Chapter one
General Background
1.0 Introduction
This study is on the syntax of the Kaninkon language spoken in the Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State. Syntax is the part of language that deals with how words are combined to make sentences and how those phrases are interpreted in natural languages.
In this chapter, we will explore the language’s historical background, social profile (occupation, religion, marriage, festival), language status, and genetic classification. The frame technique was utilised as the research methodology, and Kaninkon verb phrases were analysed using government and binding theory.
Historical Background of Kaninkon People
According to oral history by his “Royal Highness Malam Bako Galadima,” a natural speaker of the Kaninkon language, the Kaninkon people are among the indigenous tribes of Jema’a Local Government, namely the Kafanchan area.
They are native to the area they inhabit. They have traditionally shared boundaries with Kagoro to the northeast, Baiju to the north, Kagoma to the west, and Numana and Mada to the south. They are brothers with Nindem and Kanufi, who are also from the Southeast.
According to oral tradition, the Kaninkon people moved to their current location from Katsina, which appears to be the Katsina of Benue (Katsina-alla). They may be descended from the Kaita family of Katsina State today. This could have been learnt from oral history passed down by their forefathers.
The initial migration involved numerous clans, but the Kaninkon is made up of only two clans, most likely due to interclan fighting. These are Turan to the south and Ngbechio to the north. Turan, the southern clan’s ancestor, married twice and had three sons.
One of the spouses had two boys, and the other had only one. Kyung was the older of the two boys with one of the wives, while Ngarchem (Gerti) was his younger sibling. Kper (Amere) was the only son of the second wife.
Shabiri Ngom introduced the Hausa type of rulership to the Kyung people of Kaninkon area first. This occurred during the reign of Kyop-Ngban-Nikiop Ba’aro Yajod. He was claimed to have sold one of his twin daughters to the Hausa ruling line in order to become the first Tum (or ruler) of Kyung (Bakin Kogi).
Later, in 1810 (pre-recorded history), after he was crowned the first Tum, his daughter Heidiza cursed the Shabiri family. She stated that the family will never give birth to twins. She was not pleased with the treatment she received; it is stated that her father’s actions were later cleared by the clan’s elders.
The Kaninkon did not live in isolation, but with their neighbours: Ningom, Numana, Ninzam, Mada, Kagoma, Kagoro, Ayu, Jaba, Sanga, and Bajju. Indeed, when the British administration arrived, they refused to designate Ningom and Numana as separate tribes, instead classifying them as clans of the Kaninkon.
This classification was based on parallels in culture, language, and other anthropological factors. Some examples include counting from one to twelve rather than one to ten, using the same language, dance, settlement patterns, tribal marks, and culture as a whole. The modest difference in language spoken could be attributed to geographical dispersion and migration.
It is not straightforward to recognise a Kaninkon man while he is speaking or debating with his kinsmen or other people. They also speak the dialect with their children at home.
Sociocultural Profile
It is thought that each society has its own way of life, which varies greatly from culture to culture in terms of values and standards, like Kaninkon does.
OCCUPATION
Farming was the Kyung people’s main economic structure. Traditional agriculturists rely not just on workers but also on kinsmen and neighbours to clear big farms, plough, plant, and harvest them.
The Kyung traditional agriculturist involves the distribution of employment based on gender and age, which includes both men and women.
The division of labour among the Kyung people demonstrates that men did the work that required more physical exertion, such as direct production and consumption, while women supported by cooking and doing other less tedious tasks.
The Kyung people’s major products were food crops such as guinea corn, aki, and cocoa yam. Other minor crops grown alongside the main crops included maize, wini seed, coconut, cassava, and pupkins.
RELIGION
Christianity arrived in the country in 1932, and with it, old religious beliefs were replaced, and there are now just two religions: Christianity and Islam. Islam is restricted to only one district (Dangoma District)
while the rest of the chiefdom is around 90% Christian. Only a few people continue to practise traditional religions, but they are not recognised in society.
Christianity received its first converts in Kaninkon territory in 1932. The Late Pastor Tete became the first Christian conversion on May 8, 1932, and was baptised on October 4, 1934. Mang Kagoro (Makama Ung Fari), Garba Shuri, and Eperi were three additional Kaninkon individuals from Ung – fan who converted to Christianity that year.
Their conversion was to Sudan’s internal mission (Sim) of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA), and as a result, Kaninkon Chiefdom is now overwhelmingly ECW.
FESTIVAL
The main celebrations used to be the anniversary of an elderly person’s death, marriage, and initiation. While marriages could take place at any time, most festivities were held for the dry season, particularly from March to early May.
Thus, if an elderly person died during the rainy season, there would be normal drumming and a small celebration, but the proper celebration would be moved to the dry season.
There was a large festival known as “DUNG,” which did not occur every year but may occasionally take place in “Turan,” the southern half of Kaninkon, or “Ngbechio,” the northern part. There was no celebration, such as a naming ceremony, as these are today influenced by Christianity.
MARRIAGE
On marriage, newborn girls may be bethroded right from birth; that is, if a girl was born in a household, a parent from another family could say “this girl will be a wife to my son” and, like a joke, if interest continued, this could and did happen frequently. The Kaninkon people do not marry strangers, but rather marry themselves.
Marriage celebrations occur only once in a while; if a maiden refuses to celebrate her marriage at the time of celebration, she will have to wait until the next time marriages are celebrated in the kingdom.
LANGUAGE STATUS
The Kaninkon language is spoken in northern and southern Nigeria. According to “His Royal Highness Mallam Bako Galadima,” a native speaker of the Kaninkon language, the population of Kaninkon speakers is approximately 60,000, and it is spoken in Kaduna and Katsina states. The other name for the language is Nikyob.
Genetic classification
Murrit Ruhlen (1987: 1) claims that “the idea that groups of languages that share certain systemic resemblances have inherited those similarities from a common origin is the basis for genetic classification” .
A genetic classification is a subgrouping of all relevant languages into genetic nodes.
A genetic classification thus makes two statements: first, it confirms that various languages are linked to one another (i.e., have a common ancestor). Second, it states that languages are inherited in the form of a tree diagram.
The research discusses one feature of the Kaninkon verb phrase. It investigates the structure of verb phrases in Kaninkon language, as well as the transformation process that involves the structure of verb phrases. These processes and their implications are described and analysed using the Government and Binding Theory model.
This research article has five planned chapters. The first chapter presents the introduction to the research effort, which focusses on the sociocultural profile of the Kaninkon language.
It also explains the research approach used in the study. The second chapter provides a brief overview of the Kaninkon language’s sounds, tones, and syllable inventory. This chapter addressed the fundamental syntactic ideas common to this field of research.
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