ARABIC LANGUAGE AND THE CHALLENGE OF IDENTITY IN MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETIES: A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA
| dc.contributor.author | DR. МОНАMMAD KAMEL AHMAD | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-11-03T09:14:06Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-11-03T09:14:06Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2021 | |
| dc.description.abstract | Nigeria is a linguistic, ethnic, cultural and social mosaic with more than fourhundred different indigenous, endoglossic tongues.¹ According to Brann, these languages are of divergent genetic families such as Niger-Kordofanian, Afro-Asiatic, and Nilo-Saharan. Furthermore, Niger-Kordofanian has two branches: Niger-Congo and Benue-Congo. Niger-Congo itself is of three sub-branches, namely, Kwa, WestAtlantic and Adamawa. However, Benue-Congo has two sub-branches: Cross-River and Bantoid.2 a The Arabic language belongs to the Semitic family of languages. It is relative of the South-West Semitic branch that entails South Arabian and Ethiopian languages.3 The Arabic language was first introduced in to Nigeria through the Islamic faith and the Arab traders in the Northern part of the country in the ninth century A. D. when the Old Kanemi Empire was first introduced to Islam. According to Turkham as cited in Zakariya, Arabic at the initial stage was circumscribed to religious sphere in Nigeria due to its great affinity with Islam. The spread of Islam and the proliferation of the Quranic knowledge, coupled with the establishment of the religious statehood in Sokoto by Fulani Jihadists made Arabic gained enormous ground by the end of the nineteenth century. Today in Borno State, there is a sizeable ethno-linguistic minority population called Shuwa Arab whose mother tongue is Arabic. By implication, Arabic is one of the Nigerian languages. The fact that it is not given its due care in this country is regrettable. | |
| dc.identifier.issn | ISBN: 1596-3834 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://kwasuspace.kwasu.edu.ng/handle/123456789/6339 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | AL-LISĀN JOURNAL OF THE ACADEMIC SOCIETY FOR ARABIC LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN NIGERIA (ASALLIN) VOL. III NO. XII, 2021 | |
| dc.title | ARABIC LANGUAGE AND THE CHALLENGE OF IDENTITY IN MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETIES: A CASE STUDY OF NIGERIA | |
| dc.type | Article |