CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Background
Language is the fabric that ties every member of the society together. It is an instrument used by man for specific purposes. The focus of this research is to shed light on how noun phrases are formed in Migili language. Migili is a Nigerian language spoken in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The first chapter of this research focuses on the genetic classification of Migili language, the scope and organization of study, the theoretical framework, data collection, that is that government and binding theory.
According to Winkler (2007:l05) “Syntax is the branch of linguistics that is concerned with the principles by which the phrases and words of a language are combined to make sentences”. In other words, syntax is a sub-field of linguistics that studies the arrangement of words in a sentence.
1.2 Historical Background of Migili
Migili refers to the name of a language and also a group of people. The Migili people constitute about 96% of the total population of Agyaragu in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The language is spoken by about 18,000 speakers.
History has it that different tribes such as Migili, Alago and Eggon settled at Kororofa kingdom in Taraba State. It was said that a man named Akuka was denied the right to the throne and as a result had to leave Kororofa together with some other members of the Migili tribe to a place called Ukari and later to Lafia region. Some of them moved to Abuja (FCT), Minna in Niger State and Kubacha in Kaduna state.
The Eggon tribe is a close neighbour of the Migili with some of them having the knowledge of Migili language. Today, Migili language has various alternate names like; Ligili, Jijili, Koro of Lafia, among others.