CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.0 General Background
This chapter will examine the general background of the study and the speakers of the language with respects to their history and socio-cultural profile. Also, it introduces to us the genetic classification of Mernyang, scope and organization of the study, including the theoretical framework. Method of data collection and analysis, as well as the review of the chosen framework are also examined. This study focuses on the aspects of Mernyang Noun Phrase. Mernyang is a language spoken in Qua’anpan local government of Plateau state.
Therefore, the areas covered in this study are the sound, tonal and syllable inventories of the language, as well as some syntactic concepts such as phrase structure rules, basic word order, lexical categories and sentence types. Also, transformational processes, which are focusing, question formation and relativization are discussed.
1.1 Historical Background
Going by oral tradition, the Mernyang people originated from a man known as ‘Dafyar’. Dafyar and his sister, Nade, left Dala in Kano and settled in ‘Kopfubum’ near the present day Kofyar. Since then, Dafyar and his offspring, which were fourteen (14) in number have scattered all over Plateau State. One of the sons of Dafyar known as ‘Darep Soekoeto’ founded the ‘Kwa’ settlement where the speakers of Mernyang language are concentrated today. Since then, Darep had been giving birth to children who are also producing sons and daughters. The current total population of the speakers of Mernyang is 10,000 (Nigeria census, 2005).
The speakers are officially known as the pan people, including their language, but locally referred to as Mernyang.
The diagram below shows the geographical location of the Mernyang people on the map of Qua’anpan local government.