Paper long abstract:

It is without any doubt that most African Languages, in the precolonial period were not more utilized orally. It was the coming of the colonialists that facilitated the reduction of African languages to written form. Although, various African colonial governments made some attempts to codify some African languages through the institutionalisation and development of their orthographies as well as the codification of the languages, yet, the colonial languages were given a much higher official status. As such, colonial languages were used for documentations of official and religious correspondences. In Nigeria in general, and among the Yoruba in particular, English was employed to facilitate all forms of diplomatic transactions. The consequence of this has seen the incapacitation of Yoruba in the area of speaker-ship and usage in diverse fields, especially in the different academic fora. Following this background, this study is an attempt at creating models for the reconfiguration and strengthening of African languages in order to be able to meet up with the demand and present realities of African studies. Suggestions on how to achieve this includes terminology development in various academic study areas; introducing models and strategies of translation, and especially machine translation; elevating the status of the languages and revisiting their codification processes. This study will enable the reflexivity of African languages in line with the culture and general worldview of the African people, which the foreign language has been struggling to achieve. It is expected that the outcome of this attempt could proffer solutions to some of the epistemology and semantic issues facing African studies.

Keywords: Codification, Orthographies, Models, Reconfiguration, Terminology Development

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Paper short abstract:

Who is considering the politics and balance of forces amongst who funds research, who needs research, what kind of research is conducted and funded; and how is this politics played without sacrificing the sanctity of objectivity in research?

Paper long abstract:

That research in African Studies should be conducted in African Languages is becoming a popular intellectual stand. It has been driven by the logic that the best way to capture the experiences and convey the realities of a people is to work with their languages. But who is considering the politics involved: the struggle for value and balance of forces amongst who funds research, who needs research, what kind of research is conducted and funded; and, where is research realistically best disseminated to achieve its set aims and objectives? This paper explores, interrogates and analyses 'these politics' through established literature and focused group discussions. Findings from both are subjected to in-depth analysis and the conclusion is drawn that though conducting African Studies research in African languages is, in principle desirable, it must yet be pursued within the realistic global context of the struggle for value and balance of forces: the politics. A few ways of doing so are then suggested.

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Paper long abstract:

Contemporary scholarship in African studies is confronted with a major dilemma. That of foreign languages that have served as media for expression and thought due to colonialism and the need to put African languages at the forefront of African scholarship to ensure that African scholarship strives towards authenticity in knowledge production. Foreign languages cannot be dispensed with in an outright manner, neither can we engage in full utilization of indigenous African languages in the pursuit of research due to their poor development, limitation in scope and the African colonized minds that have altered the notion of the African-being-in-the-world.

However, the contemporary challenge in African studies calls for the decolonization of mind, language and concept to engender African renaissance and sustainable development. How this feat can be achieved forms the basis of this paper.

I argue, using renowned scholars in African studies such as Ngugi Wa Thiong'o, Kwasi Wiredu, Ali Mazrui, W. E. Abraham, Molefi Kete Asante, Paulin Hountondji, P. O. Bodunrin, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Abiola Irele among others, that the most viable way out of the dilemma is to pursue an integrative linguistic episteme that will pursue aggressively the institutionalization of African language in African studies in conjunction with extant linguistic frameworks embedded in the African linguistic sphere as a result of colonialism. This approach becomes imperative due to the need for an acceptable language of discourse in the global knowledge scheme and the fact that African scholars cannot re-invent the wheel but build upon the existing language episteme. Furthermore, the approach presents an opportunity for African scholars to decolonize concepts, not from any radical perspective that may be counterproductive to global scholarship, but on a gradual basis. After all, the pertinent goal of African scholarship is to attain an all-inclusive renaissance that will be conducive to universal scholarship and sustainable development for Africa.

Keywords: African language, Decolonization, African Studies, Authenticity, Development.

Word Count: 304

Paper short abstract:

What are the limitations and prospects of indigenous languages in African ethics scholarship? This paper addresses this question by arguing the imperativeness of a pluriverse conception of African ethics.

Paper long abstract:

What are the limitations and prospects of indigenous languages in African ethics scholarship? This paper addresses this question by arguing the imperativeness of a reflexive interrogation of the use of indigenous languages in the construction and re-interpretation of moral values in ethics scholarship in African Studies. This paper provides some theoretical reflections on the weaknesses and strengths of a reconfigured linguistic nuances in the articulation of the overlapping dominant moral ideals embedded in traditional and changing moralities in African culture. This paper defends a pluriverse conception of African ethics studies reconfiguration that marks a considerable shift from both the 'exterior orientation' that prizes exogenous knowledge production on moralities in Africa with international dissemination and preservation mechanisms, as well as the 'interior orientation' in African Studies that is driven by the postcolonial quest of defending African identity in African ethics scholarship by largely writing back to the audience and moral agents outside of Africa. In reconfiguring ethics scholarship in the new African Studies, this paper exposes some fundamental limitations of the new emphasis on African languages in ethics scholarship while concluding with some prospects for future African Studies.

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Paper short abstract:

Drawing insights from theorists like Lee-Whorf, Vygotsky and others, this paper explores selected works of Sophie Oluwole and Alena Rettova as cases in point to examine the problems and prospects of doing African Philosophy in African languages and what they portend for African Studies.

Paper long abstract:

Some recent reflections on African Studies have tended to present African Philosophy as the foundation upon which a proper understanding of contemporary African experiences could be laid. Proponents of this position have gone further to argue that a reconfiguration of African Studies could be attained in this sense. However, against the background of colonial linguistic determinism in Africa, one cannot speak of genuine African Philosophy—by which is meant the examination of the fundamental assumptions about the nature of reality in Africa and the ideas by which Africans live—without considering language as the vehicle of these assumptions and ideas as well as their investigation. In this regard, this paper explores selected works of Sophie Oluwole and Alena Rettova as cases in point to examine the problems and prospects of doing African Philosophy in African languages and what they portend for African Studies. This study adopts a qualitative research approach, relying on hermeneutical analysis in the examination of these selected works. Drawing insights from theorists like Lee-Whorf, Vygotsky and others who posit an intrinsic connection between experience, thought and language, this paper argues that multiplicity of language use in African Philosophy reflects the multiple expressions of the African experience. It argues further that whilst doing African philosophy in African language may be viable, it also raises some critical questions.

Keywords: Afrophone Philosophy, Linguistic determinism, hermeneutics, African Philosophy,

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Paper long abstract:

Modern faiths and the Yoruba language: Reconfiguration of the Yoruba Lexicon

Luqman Ayodele YUSUFF

yoyussuf@yahoo.co.uk; ayusuff@unilag.edu.ng

Language mirrors culture; and belief systems are part of culture. The advent of modern faiths has systematically affected the use of the Yoruba language in its attempt to serve its purpose of propagation in the modern religions (Christianity and Islam) discourse, especially to non-literate adherents who are not proficient in the English and Arabic languages which are respectively the languages in which the faiths are proclaimed. Conversely, the Yoruba language is affected resulting to reduction in the use of lexical items relating to indigenous faiths. The same fate has bedeviled the Yoruba personal naming system where names whose morphological structures are Yoruba, have meanings that reflect modern faiths sensibilities. However, names with indigenous faiths connotations are no longer given to children at birth. Rather, we have reminiscences of them as surnames. Woefully, in most cases, modern faiths adherents even change or adjust their family names to further distance themselves from indigenous faiths. Using the Lexicalists' theory of Generative Morphology, this paper interrogates these issues and presents the lexical additions and percolations as well as semantic maneuvers, inclusive of names, culminating in the contemporary Yoruba lexicon.

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Paper long abstract:

The religions of the Africans have ached due to the interpretations of colonial missionaries, although colonialism has formally ended; the effects can still be felt in the attribution of certain concepts as imports from Christianity or outright denial of their existence in the context of African religions. When believer in Yoruba religion talk about Ìràpadà they mean redemption, but Christian theologians do not agree that redemption occurs in the religion of the Africans. This paper highlights the understanding of Ìràpadà in Àdìmúlà and draws up possible similarities and differences between the idea of redemption in Àdìmúlà and Christianity. This is first an empirical investigation of the meaning and use of redemption (Ìràpadà) in the religion of the Yoruba and second a comparative study of the idea of redemption in Christianity and Àdìmúlà. Practitioners of Àdìmúlà will be interviewed to elicit their understanding of Ìràpadà, as contained in the Ifá corpus. To analyse the finds, tables will be drawn to highlight and compare the differences and similarities in the use and understanding of Ìràpadà as a concept in Àdìmúlà and Christianity. Justification for the differences and similarities will be done in discussing the findings. The findings show a huge denial of the possibility of Ìràpadà in Àdìmúlà, basically because of the centrality of Jesus Christ in Christianity. Christianity professes that only Jesus can save -ra eniyan padà, "Jesus answered, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). Since Àdìmúlà does not profess belief in Jesus Christ there cannot be Ìràpadà in Àdìmúlà. There is therefore the need for a reflexive interrogation of meaning and interpretation of concepts used in African religions and the roles they play in the path of interreligious dialogue as it may be difficult to exclude redemption from the religion of the Africans.

Key terms: Àdìmúlà, Ifá corpus, Ìràpadà, Redemption, Religion, Yoruba

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Paper long abstract:

The practice of philosophy in Africa has been dominated by foreign languages. Indeed, philosophical ideas by African scholars are expressed in different languages such as Greek, Latin, German, French, Spanish, Arabic and English to the detriment of the indigenous African languages. The argument is that African oral tradition is inadequate to the practice of philosophy. Consequently, different schools of thought in Africa for some times now have been debating on the possibility of Philosophy in African languages. Four major trends are noticed. They are: first, the hardliners such as Hountondji, Mudimbe, Towa who see no philosophical attempt in any unwritten language; secondly, the school that explores the substance of African languages represented by Senghor; thirdly, the group of Nyerere, Gyekye and Gbadegesin among others that sees Philosophy in Africa through concepts in indigenous languages and finally the group of Kagame, Sodipo and Hallen who discovers a solid ground for conceptualization in African Languages. It is against this background that this paper through a phenomenological and critical analysis examines the space of African philosophy. It argues that of the four schools of thought, the fourth seems adequate and conform to the aspiration of contemporary trends in African studies. Consequently, the paper advocates a deconstruction of the mindset on African Languages and argues that conceptualization of thought can take place in African languages.

Key Words: African languages, conceptualization, oral tradition, philosophy.

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Paper long abstract:

This paper investigates the cultural import of proverbs in contemporary Yoruba society in Nigeria. Proverbs are short, witty, popular expressions that contain morals, truth, socio-cultural precepts and heritage of a particular group of people. They often address the heart of a discourse in any given context truthfully and objectively. Every ethnic group in Nigeria (and indeed the world over) has its set of proverbs, maxims and popular sayings formulated and collected over several generations. Proverbs are carriers of culture; building blocks for wise living and good moral life. They convey nuances of culture and through their transmission from one generation to another, ensure the continued relevance of such nuances (Ademilokun, 2014). Proverbs keep us grounded and give us insights into wise living and help us make good decisions thereby satisfying the concept of moralities in African realities. One common thread that runs through world religions and cultures is the universal affirmation of the cultivation and practice of "good character". This concept, popularly known in the Yoruba milieu as "omoluabi" is believed to be responsible for fundamental contributions of morality to the overall human flourishing and wholeness of Yoruba societies and people. Proverbs are an important cultural element in Yoruba ideology. It is a veritable component of 'ways of speaking' among the constituents of Yoruba speech communities across age groups, as well as social and occupational categories of speakers. Yoruba proverbs are one of the tools for communicating, negotiating and practising moralities. They constitute the foundation on which moral positions can be taken and established. Using, sixty purposively selected proverbs that deal with the Yoruba concept of "Omoluabi" (good character), this paper employs a socio-cultural linguistic approach to show how the rhetorical force of the proverbs can help reveal the ills in our society and reclaim some of the virtues of "Omoluabi" which have hitherto been lost to forces such as globalization, unfettered individualism, toxic ambition and nonchalant attitude.

KEYWORDS: Proverbs, good character,

socio-cultural linguistics,

culture

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