A PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE SOUND SYSTEM OF JABA LANGUAGE

In addition, it is noted that phonetics identifies the pool of sounds in human

language while phonology then systematizes the specific language(s). Sequel to the above, Ikekeonwu (1996) asserts that the expression "sound systems" used in distinguishing between phonetics and phonology is crucial in this consideration. According to this linguist; "Phonetics does the groundwork of identifying the articulatory and acoustic parameters that could be utilized for speech; phonology is concerned with 'sound systems' or speech patterns that could arise using these articulatory and acoustic parameters."

Besides, unlike phonology, "phonetics, it is noted, deals with the spoken rather than the written medium. This characteristic of phonetics, according to Omachonu becomes obvious in views of its pre-occupation with phonetic symbols rather than letters of the orthography as it relates to the examination of speech features-tone pitch, stress intonation, duration, syllable and other prosodic features" (Ikekeonwu,39).

Fudge (2003) described phonetics, in Omachonu (2011), as that which gives an account of the total resources of sound available to the human being who wishes to communicate by speech, adding that phonetics in its essence is independent of particular languages; phonology on the other hand, gives an account of specific choices made by specific languages within this range of possibilities. Phonology, therefore, is concerned with the sound systems of a single language. Fudge's contribution largely agrees with Fischer Jorgensen who observed that phonetic study is prone to changes and advances compared to phonology.                  Phonology has two main components: the segmental which analyses speech into discrete segments such as phonemes, and supra-segmental which analyses features which extend over more than one segment such as intonation contours. Another distinction made within phonology is between diachronic and synchronic phonology. The former studies patterns of sound change in the history of a language while the latter studies sound patterns regardless of the process of historical change.

Phonology is studied under the sub-branches of phonemics, phonotactics and prosody. According to Omachonu, phonemics is the study of the individual phonemes of a language. For instance: the /p/, /t/, /g/, etc. in English and the /kp/, /gb/, /kw/, etc. in Jaba form the individual phonemes of the two languages, respectively. Phonotactics, on the other hand, studies the permissible and non-permissible rules of combining the individual phonemes of a language. For instance in Jaba language, it is not permissible to have a combination of the /k/ /m/ or /m/ and /d/phonemes in such a sound. This is because of certain constraints in the rules of combination and this is what phonotactics concerns itself about. Prosody studies the supra-segmental or non-segmental features of word(s) or connected speeches such as speeches, tone, intonation, syllable, etc.

The focus of this research is on the sound system of Jaba where the study

shall concentrate on the syllable as a prosodic feature of Jaba language. From the study so far, it could be deduced that language is made up of a system of structures which could be studied at different levels. The consonants, vowels and tones are a part of the features or aspects of phonology that could be studied under the linguistic level of sound analysis. The Jaba language shall now be discussed so as to discover its sound system but the research will first have to take a look at the ethno-linguistic background of the language under the next section.

2.2 Historical Background of Jaba Language

The Online Wikipedia gives a historical background on the Jaba people and their language. According to this online medium, there are 57 languages spoken as first languages in Kaduna State. Gbari and Hausa are major languages; most other languages are small and endangered minority languages, due to the influence of Hausa. The language of study, Jaba is a language spoken by the Jaba people of Southern Kaduna specifically in Jaba LGA, Kaduna State.Kaduna State forms a portion of the country's cultural diversity because representatives of the six major ethnic groups in the country are found in the state. Apart from this fact, there are also present over twenty other ethnic minority groups, each with its language and art or religion different from the other.

The works of art and pottery (e.g. the "Nok Terracotta") found in the

southern parts of Kaduna State suggest that it is a major cultural centre. Among the major ethnic groups are Kamuku, Gwari, Kadara in the west, Hausa and Kurama to the north and Northeast; "Nerzit" is now used to describe the Jaba (study language), Kaje, Koro, Kamanton, Kataf, Morwa and Chawai instead of the derogatory term "southern Zaria people". Also, the term "Hausawa" is used to describe the people of Igabi, ikara, Giwa and Makarti LGAs, which include a large proportion of rural dwellers who are strictly "Maguzawas."

In the north, the Hausa and some immigrants from the southern states practise Islam and majority of the people in the southern LGAs profess Christianity. The major Muslim festivals are the "Salah" celebrations of "ldeIfitri" and "ldeIkabir", while Christmas, New Year and Easter are observed by the Christians. Two traditional festivals of significance are the "Tukham" and "Afan" in Jaba and Jama'a LGAs respectively. Prominent among the traditional arts, are leather works, pottery and in-dig-pit dyeing with Zaria as the major centre.

The 2006 census provisional result puts the population of Kaduna State at 6,066,562. Although majorities live and depend on the rural areas, about a third of the state's population is located in the two major urban centres of Kaduna and Zaria.The state is divided into 23 Local Government Areas. Jaba is one of the 23 Local Government Areas of Kaduna State with its headquarters in Kafanchan. Jaba Local government has an area of 2,810 km² and a population of 170,008 (2006 census). The Jaba people are known to be hospitable, helpful, industrious and peace loving. When one knocks on the door of a Jaba person at any hour of the day, one is assured of a warm welcome. This is why they are usually regarded as one of the most peace loving people of Kaduna State. Another aspect of their culture is their ability to be able to dance. This has been passed down from generation to generation. They are very good dancers and in fact they are one of the best in the whole of Kaduna State.

The Jaba people are predominantly farmers i.e. about 80% of the population though there are few who engage in other income generating ventures. Among the crops of cultural importance is the finger Millet popularly known as 'tamba', 'acha' or just millet. Just few of them engage in trading, fishing, craft making and bee keeping which also are income generating ventures for the community. Religion is a vital part of life of the people and to this end; there are two major religions in the chiefdom namely Christianity and Islam. However, some Jaba people are adherents of traditional religion popularly called 'dodo'.

Among the people of Jaba, the marriage institution is contracted in stages such as: step I is when the dowry is paid and then followed by the second step which is the marriage ceremony proper. On the wedding day, the groom presents gift items like palm oil, groundnut oil, ram etc. to the bride's family after which he is permitted to take his bride home. Names are given to children on the very day they are born but celebrations are postponed to the convenience of the parents.

The people of Southern Kaduna are also referred to as Nerzit. While they speak many different languages and see themselves as separate peoples, their unity as a group is also quite apparent to them. Hausa, an Afro-Asiatic, Chadic language, is the lingua franca of Northern Nigeria, and this holds true all over Kaduna State where over 57 languages are spoken. Benue-Congo languages, particularly those of the Plateau variety, are the mother tongues spoken by the indigenes. Of these, some of the languages are as mentioned below: Fantsuam (Kafanchan), Gong (Kagoma), Gworok (Kagoro), Jju (Kaje), Koro, Tsam (Chawai), Hyam (Jaba) the study language, and Tyap (Kataf).

There is lack of sufficient data as regards the study language all because the languages of Southern Kaduna are undoubtedly minority languages and as such, understudied. Minority because they are each estimated to have fewer than one million native speakers. They are also considered to be endangered because of pressure from Hausa which for long has been the lingua franca in the north of the country. However locally, these languages remain in use.

According to Blench (1992), "Jaba belongs to the Platoid group found under the Benue-Congo sub family of the Niger-Congo shown in family/phylum. The language Jaba is seen as a means of communication in the market and also used for worshiping at the church. The Jaba language is spoken in towns like Pari, Kizachi, Makama, Kachia, Kwei, Chawai, Rahama Chawai etc." (94) The speakers of this language, that is the Jaba people, are known for the preservation of their culture despite much influence and threat from the western world. For instance, among these people, a child is not allowed to greet an elderly person in the western wayor manner.

2.3 The Syllable Structure in Language

Supra-segmental phonology cannot be broken up into discrete units of utterances. The basis of operation for the supra-segmental features is the syllable, many of which will combine to make up utterances. One fact about the syllable, according to Ladefoged (1989), is that it is a necessary unit in the mental organization and production of utterances. It is for this fact that people believe that, even if they cannot define the syllable, they can count the number of syllables in any given word or sentence. If they are asked to do this, according to Roach (2009), they often tap their fingers as they count, which illustrates the syllable's importance in the rhythm of speech. They are able to do this simply by identifying the vocalic elements(s) i.e. vowels in such a word or sentence or at times by considering the peaks of prominence of sounds making up the word or sentence. It becomes apparent therefore that two categories of segmental phonemes i.e. consonant and vowel combine to form the syllable.                                                               Although it has been noted that the definition of the syllable presents some problems such that an accurate definition becomes difficult, however, there are several theories in phonetics and phonology which have tried to clarify matters in an attempt at providing a precise definition of the syllable.

          The pulse (or motor) theory was suggested by the psychologist, R.H.Steetson (1892-1950). It attempts to define the syllable of a language on the basis of the articulatory effort needed in order to produce them. Steetson argued that each syllable corresponds to an increase in air pressure, air from the lungs being released as a series of chest pulses. In other words, in any utterance there are a number of chest pulses, that is, muscular activity controlling lung movement accompanied by increases in air pressure, which determines the number of syllable uttered. In this therefore, the syllable rather than the sounds is the basic unit of speech.

          Consonants form the boundaries of syllable end and beginning; the pulse is then audible, with the vowels in the middle as in the English word cat /kæt/. It is true that while this can readily be measured, particularly in emphatic speech, it is nevertheless difficult to detect such a pulse in adjacent syllables, as when two vowels (v v) co-occur which gives us a syllable structure of cvvc. For instance, in the following Jaba words;

          Kwain with syllable structure ccvvc /kwaiŋ/

          ɠoin with syllable structure cvvc /gɔiŋ/

In the word 'Kwain' for example, there are two evident chest pulses but usually said in a single muscular effort. Moreover, there is no consonant to form the boundary between them. Surely certain problems remain.

          The syllable has been subjected to various definitions from the point of view of articulatory, acoustic, physiological and psychological. Theorists have argued, however, that the syllable may be defined or described using two broad theories (collapsing the four points into two): the phonetic and the phonological or linguistic approach.

In defining the syllable phonetically, an appeal is made to two sub-theories namely: the prominence and the chest pulse theory. The prominence theory holds that there are some sounds which are more prominent than others; these loud sounds form the peaks of the respective syllables. But the chest pulse theory claims that in any utterance, there are a number of chest pulses accompanied by increase in air pressure. These increases determine the number of syllables in a word.

The phonological theory, on the other hand, views the syllable as being based on the type of phoneme sequence that is permissible in a particular language. This is sometimes referred to as the linguistic approach to the definition of the syllable.However one may define the concept "syllable", the fact still remains that the sound segments of any language can be perceived by the ear as being roughly divisible into syllables. It is in line with the second theory-the phonological theory that Gimson (1991) defines the syllable as: a unit of a higher level than that of a phoneme or sound segment, yet distinct from that of a word or morpheme.In the same vein, Crowther (1997) sees the syllable as; " - any of the units into which a word may be divided usually consisting of a vowel sound with a consonant before and/or after it" (67).

          Collapsing these definitions, therefore, one may describe the syllable as an intermediate level of phonological organization; that is, intermediate between individual segmental units (consonants and vowels) and their combination into words. Put differently, a syllable refers to a pronounceable unit at a higher level than that of a phoneme, but distinct from that of a word or morpheme. It was noticed by Omachonu (2011) that the notion syllable from many indications, is a psychological real unit. For instance, according to Clement and Keyser, speakers of unwritten languages, if asked to divide a word into its constituent parts, will usually divide it into syllables rather than individual sound segments e.g. education will be /e-ʤu-kei-∫η/ i.e. four syllables.

        According to them, it may even prove difficult to convince such speakers that further syllabifications or divisions are possible. This, they assert, was true of English speaking children before the introduction of the alphabetic writing system.The combinatory sequence of syllabic segment(s) which a language permits is referred to as the syllable structure of the language. It could be CV pattern CVV, CCV,VC, and so on.Every language places a constraint(s) as to the pattering of its syllable structure. Structurally, a syllable may be divided into three parts; the peak, the Onset, and the Coda.The onset consists of all segments that precede the peak and are tauto-syllabic with it.Sounds in this position are always consonants. The Coda, on the other hand, consists of all the tauto-syllablic segments that follow the peak. The Coda, therefore, is the consonant sound after the nucleus. Lastly, the peak of a syllable is as well the nucleus of that syllable-the core.

Below is the structural representation of the syllable as demonstrated by Hyman (1975)

                                                syllable

onset                                                               core

(consonant)                                                                     

                                                           peak                                       coda

(vowel)                                    (consonant)                   

It should be noted however, according to Omachonu (2011) that the structure may not apply to all English words or syllables, let alone other languages. For instance, syllables like "ǝu" as in open /ǝupn/ or "ǝ" as