Lexical Comparison and Intelligibility between the Tiv and The Ugare Languages

Abstract

The Tiv language in Nigeria and Ugare in Cameroun belong to the Tivoid sub-group of Benue-Congo group of Languages. These linguistic groups share linguistic and socio-cultural similarities due to their common migratory history. However, their linguistic similarity is often overestimated, thus creating the confusion that both Tiv and Ugare are dialects of the same language. This paper therefore, examines the extent of the similarity between the Tiv and Ugare languages on the basis of their lexical similarity and mutual intelligibility. The aim is to establish the level of similarity (in terms of lexico-semantic aspects) and whether there is mutual intelligibility between them or not. Attempt has also been made to account for the perceived similarities through sociolinguistic inquest. The paper applies the framework of lexicostatistics, thereby using a two hundred item Swadesh wordlists to obtain data in order ascertain lexical similarity and also made use of Recorded Text Testing (RTT) to examine mutual intelligibility between Tiv and Ugare. The data is analysed using percentages. The findings reveal that the level of lexical similarity between Tiv and Ugare is low. This shows that they are separate languages and not dialects of the same language. This finding confirms the fact that their listing as separate languages on the Ethnologue is proper. The paper also reveals that there is low intelligibility between Tiv and Ugare given the low lexical similarity. However, the sociolinguistic information reveals high bilingualism involving Tiv and Ugare. This is as a result of the common ancestral history, contact and high social network between the people of these linguistic group characteristic of border communities.