CASE OF STUDY: LANGUAGE

BY

MEDICINE AND SURGERY GROUP 1

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

MADONNA UNIVERSITY ELELE, CAMPUS.

June, 2023
EDEH’S VIEW ON PHILOSOPHY
Professor Emmanuel Edeh’s perspective on the language philosophically. He
said that the two main avenues to the thought -content of any people are its
language and culture. It is a way of preserving African philosophy
According Emmanuel Paul Edeh in his toward to Igbo metaphysics he
explained the importance of language in his towards to Igbo metaphysics using
Igbo metaphysics as a case study. In Igbo language, the stress of the word is
determinant of its meaning. There are some words spelt in the same way but
different meaning, they have numerous dialects. The multiplicity of dialect in
Igbo language is not a unique phenomenon meaning that these attributes of Igbo
language apply in numerous languages. Oral tradition refers to the dynamic and
highly diverse oral-medium for evolving, storing and transmitting knowledge
and this could be only made possible through language using a way of passing
down traditions of the people which may be done by stories told by elders from
generation to generation. There are numerous works done by son’s of the soil to
be seen by the present generation these novelist include; Chinua Achebe,
Cyprian Ekwensi
Under the traditional ways of oral communication Prof. Emmanuel Edeh
raises the idea of Proverbs and Folktales…Proverbs are used words spoken by
elders as an expression of wisdom. A discussion among the people would be
considered incomplete without the addition of proverbs (input of proverbs by an
elder ‘‘it is regarded as the oil in which words are eaten’’). It also helps in
putting things into perspective for better understanding by the younger ones. It
is said that the words of the old/ancestors was preserved in proverbs told to the
younger generation to keep them alive.
Proverbs are not static they could be manipulated and then could be used
to interpret a lot of things. In Emmanuel Edeh’s words, ‘Proverbs actually
realizes the dream of language and creates a new inert mood of oral traditions.
Example of proverbs include ‘Eziokwu bu ndu- Truth is life’ used to stress the
importance of honesty. ‘Oke Mmadu abughi oke okwu- Size does not
determine the amount of wisdom or ability one has.’ A wise man is a man of
few words. They are used mostly by adults but younger people who do must do
so with caution to avoid the risk of insulting both the ancestors and elders. In a
strict sense women, children and unmarried men are NOT allowed to use
proverbs but are also entitled to other special provision in the Igbo language
THE IGBO FOLKLORE
These are traditional tales preserved orally by the people, they are timeless,
placeless tales circulated among the people. They may be told numerous times
e.g on the farm or streams, to fetch firewood or water, in the evening village
squares etc. but the most favorable places are during moon nights the gathering
are usually supervised by elders or the elder children to guide the younger ones.
The folktales are usually introduced with temporal phrases to point out
undatable time in the past
N’oge gboo gboo- A long time long ago
If it is a story that concerns the supersensory beings, the teller begins by setting
in their land
Na be mmuo- In the abode of the supersensory beings and so on.
It may appear that the Igbo community has the habit of story telling but that is
not the case, these tales are told rather as a means of entertaining the younger
ones but also educating them morally. A key to note in there is that all the
characters of these tales act like humans and exhibit human characteristics. Thus
making it a lot more entertaining to listen to and lessons learned by younger
ones are remembered in a more memorable fashion. Most of the animals in the
stones have symbols they represent like the fortune ‘mbe’. Mbe is said to
represent wisdom and foolishness of his fellow animals and comes out
successful in every difficult situation. The “Agu” is a symbol of strength
“tiger’’. The “Atu” the rhinoceros is said to be the symbol of monstrosity and
many more.
The wisdom of the ancients depicted is transmitted to the young through
tales, all these human thoughts or most especially the thought of the Igbo man is
better captured and expressed for understanding by all when spoken.

ADVANTAGES OF LANGUAGE
✓ It provides information about the movements of the people and their
relationships
✓ It helps to establish theories of origin, migration and settlement of various
communities
✓ They compliment oral traditions and other sources of of historical
information as language and culture are closely linked
✓ It is useful in dating people migration
 DISADVANTAGES OF LANGUAGE

✓ Language dilated acquisition of information since it takes long to learn a

particular language
✓ Some words could be omitted or distorted while translating the language
✓ Various languages may have similar words but different meanings.
✓ The borrowing of words might corrupt or interfere with the parent
language
✓ Some languages have become extinct.
GENERAL VIEW OF LANGUAGE

As stated already, Language is structured system of communication

that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by
which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and written forms and
may also be conveyed through sign languages.
Generally, there are three (3) views of language
✓ The Structural View
✓ The Functional View
✓ The Interactional View
The Structural View of knowledge is based on the assumption that
language teaching can best be done through systematic selection
and grading of structures or sentence patterns. It was widely
implemented in the United States in the 1950s. The basic principle
underlying the approach is: Language is speech, not writing
The Functional View of knowledge looks at how language enables
us to do things; to share information, to enquire, to express
attitudes, to entertain, to argue, to get our needs met, to reflect, to
construct ideas, to order our experience to make sense of the world
The Interactional View of knowledge suggests that people use
different languages based on the context and people. For example,
a college student does not use the same vocabulary and structure
when she interacts with her friends in the play ground and her
professors in school. She uses different vocabulary and structure to
interact with different types of people in different context. This is
the interactional part of a language.
These views of language significantly influence language
teaching methodology in many ways;
Firstly, they help learners realize that only learning the structures
of the language would not help them. Learners need to learn the
functional and interactional use of language. It is also noteworthy
that all these views are closely linked to each other, each of them is
important to learn a language. For example without structure, we
cannot think about specific functional and interactional use of a
particular language. Like the formation of a building, we need
structures of a language. Like the foundation of a building, we need
structures of language, then, we can work on the functional and
interactional uses of that language.
Secondly, these views give learners opportunities to see the
language from any perspectives. They would get the opportunity to
understand different functions of the same language
Thirdly, they help learners explore a variation of using a language.
For example, some Bangladeshi English language may think there
is only one form of greeting.
LANGUAGE FROM OUR POINT OF VIEW
From our (Igbo People) point of view. Language enable us
to connect with our ancestors and afterlife. For example, in
religious practices and rituals the use of tradition is seen as the way
to communicate to the spirit world. Language is considered as a
powerful tool for manifestation .For us, the Igbo people believe
that the words and sounds they have a profound impact on reality.
They believe the words can be either be created or destroyed, built
or tear down. Therefore they place a great deal of importance on
choosing their words carefully and using them purposefully. For
us, language is a means to access the spiritual world connect with
divine, manifest reality and communicate with the ancestor.
Language is a powerful tool tat must be used with care and
intention to achieve harmony with the universe…
In conclusion, language stands as an intricate and profound
aspect of human existence, shaping our thoughts, communication
and culture. The significance of language lies not only on the
ability to convey information, but also in its ability to convey
information but also in its power to shape our perception of the
world, we can see this in the Igbo language as Edeh described in
his book Igbo metaphysics. Every language has its unique features
and how this also applies to the Igbos as shown by Edeh
Emmanuel, describing the uniqueness of the Igbo language and
how it intertwine with their every day life and this makes it special
in its own peculiar way.
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