THE LINGUISTICS STATUS OF UKWUANI LANGUAGE

ABSTRACT

This research focuses on the linguistics status of Ukwuani language by comparing the Ukwuani language with its neighboring languages (Edoid and Igboid) to determine their level of relatedness using the lexicostatistical method in order to derive the linguistics status of Ukwuani language. The aim of the study is to provide us with a better understanding on the linguistics status of the Ukwuani language. This study employs both the primary and secondary data. The primary data were in the form of oral data which were collected from native speakers of the Ukwuani language while that of Edo and Igbo were sourced from the internet. These data were collected through an interview method using a four hundred wordlist, their responses were written down and also recorded. The secondary data were from published works such as journals, articles, online, textbooks etc. the theoretical framework adopted for this study is lexicostatistics which was developed by Morris Swadesh (1952). It is a method of comparative linguistics that involves comparing the percentage of lexical cognates between languages to determine their relationship. It was discovered in the course of the data analysis that Ukwuani and Igbo languages have a better level of relatedness which amounted to 37% compared to Ukwuani and Edo languages whose percentage of lexical relatedness amounted to 3%