A SEMINAR PAPER ON THE DOCUMENTATION OF TEN PARABLES IN URHOBO LANGUAGE

PRESENTED BY:

EKIUGBO OGHENESUOWHO PHILIP

FOA/07/08/131141

TO:

PROF. (MRS.) R. AZIZA

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS DELTA STATE UNIVERSITY ABRAKA

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE COURSE LLL 405 ************************************** COURSE TITLE: APPLIED LINGUISTICS

MARCH 2011

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

The term parable came from a Greek word parabole meaning Comparison, Illustration or Analogy. It is a succinct story, in prose or verse, that illustrates a lesson. The Oxford Advance learners dictionary render its meaning as a short story that teaches moral or spiritual lesson The name of my Infornant is Mr. Akpobasa Ejiro. He is a young graduate of about thirty years of age, he hails from Kokori- he was given birth to in Kokori and has spent all his life there. Kokori is one of the many clans in Agbon Kingdom. Politically, they belong to the Ethiope east local government area of Delta State; Nigeria. Their major occupation is farming while the language spoken by these people is the Agbon dialect of Urhobo, which belong to the Edoid group of languages.

CHAPTER TWO TEN PARABLES IN URHOBO Below are data showing ten proverbs in Urhobo, The English translation, Its meaning and the circumstances that prompt its usage. The (a) is the transcription, (b) is the English translation, (c) the meaning and (d) is the circumstances or reason(s) that prompt its usage.
1.

a) Abo re ovwiere ada ke igho re avwo de. b) While the lazy man looks, the industrious man accumulates money with which he buys him. c) When a lazy man refuses to work, the hard-working man will accumulate wealth and buy him. d) It is used to discourage laziness. a) Ada wan kugbe, ke agbo kugbe. b) Those that clear the bush together should also plant it together. c) Those that start together should end together. d) It is used to encourage unity among people who are working together or when one person wants to dessert others in a work started by a group. a) Kua ne uwevwin me oye amre, a mre kua ne akpo mee. b) We can only see people saying leave my house and not leave the world. c) You can drive someone out of your house but you cant drive him out of the world. d) It is used as an advice to those who are fond of driving people out of their home. a) Die vwren ne enu cha oto da sion? b) What is that thing that comes from the sky that the ground will reject? c) The ground cannot reject whatever that comes from the sky. d) It is used to remind people that they cant reject any order or thing that comes from someone higher than them. a) Edon hwe erankoo. b) The leanness of a dog cannot kill the dog. c) However difficult things may be, people will still survive.

2.

3.

4.

5.

d) It is used as a word of hope to those passing through difficult times.

6.

a) Wo de gue ohwo, ka vwe urhuru kpe oto. b) When you are gossiping, the tone of your voice should be low. c) Talk under low tone when speaking ill of others. d) This is used to discourage gossip (speaking ill of others). a) Ukpede oye esivwe. b) Work for what will last you for today only. c) Care about today and leave tomorrow to care for itself. d) It is used to advice someone who is anxious or eager to accumulate excessive wealth. a) A vwe emu re otu vwo rue eroboo. b) You dont use everybodys property as personal property. c) Common property is nobodys property and should be treated as such. d) It is used when one person tend to act as if the property of all belongs to him alone. a) Ete emu ruu, e ruoo. b) If you are not up to a task, dont do it. c) It is suicidal trying to perform what we cannot do. d) It is used to advice over ambitious people.

7.

8.

9.

10. a)

Ikuru fefe ye ma mra b) Empty drum sounds more c) An empty scour makes the largest noise d) It is used when the people assume positions that they are not.

CHAPTER THREE CONCLUSION

3.1 PROBLEMS ENCOUTERED DURING THE WORK

1. Difficulty in getting an Informant. 2. Urhobo writing system does not tally with the speech system thus the difficulty in transcription. 3. The word of difference between the English translation and the meaning of the parable is not clear

3.2 ADVANTAGE OF THE EXERCISE

1. It provide a comprehensive record of the linguistic practices characteristics of the Kokori people 2. It provide a firm foundation for linguistic analysis of the dialect in that it creates a citable set of materials in the dialect on which claims about the structure of the dialect can be based. 3. It helps to document the dialect for posterity and possibly for language revitalization.

3.3 SUMMARY

Parable is a short simple story intended to illustrate a moral or religious lesson. It plays an important role in the life and tradition of the Kokori people of Agbon in Ethiope East Local Government area of Delta state.

The choice of parable to be used is conditioned by the circumstances or the purpose that prompts the use of a parable.

Every work has its peculiar challenges, and this is not an exception but the beauty of it all is that it produced a wonderful result considering the advantages of the work.