By Ezekiel Nabieu
Language has to do with words and their use which differentiates us from the lower animals. “Now the whole earth had one language and few words” (Genesis 11:1). There arose the Tower of Babel when the Lord is reported to have confused the language of all the earth.
When the language in any community becomes irregular and depraved it is followed by their ruin and their degradation. Every living language like our perspiring bodies is in constant notion; some words go off and become obsolete while others are taken into common use or the same word is inverted to a new sense and notion.
Language like all art becomes pale with years as words and figures of speech lose their contagious and suggestive power. Disgustingly, language changes every 18 to 20 years. The disgust is with the older generations while the up and coming generations revel in new words and usage.
The English Language
The English Language is arguably the world’s most international language. And Sierra Leone is one of the countries who have it as their official language through colonization. The title known as “The Queen’s English” is a befitting regard for the importance of this world-wide language amid thousands of languages. So important is the language that English people are put to school to learn their own language. This is to pressure the grammatical purity of the language. It is said to be the most difficult and arbitrary of all languages. It owes its pre-eminence to the fact that it is the accretion and growth of almost every dialect, race and range of time. English is a living language associated with literature.
Krio in distress
Krio is the lingua franca of this country, Sierra Leone, meaning that it is the language which is common to all tribes in the country. Therefore it ought to be of immense advantage. It is the language derived from descendants of European settlers in the West Indies or South America. It definitely is an asset that brings about unity and understanding.
Let us imagine what the scenario of understanding one another would have been in the absence of a common language. There would definitely have been much more conflicts than there are as at now. It is therefore in our best interests to nurture such a language and work towards its standardization.
Foremost among reasons why Krio messages do not easily get through is the fact that speakers who are illiterate attempt to show how educated they are by throwing in purely English words which are not part of the Krio language. They care less about who understands or who does not understand as long as they have said it.
The main culprits in the irresponsible use of Krio are in the electronic media, especially the SLBC which prides itself as a pacesetter. Little do their presenters realize that the unwary listener is likely to accept their language hook, line and sinker, which is why employers in this industry should be more circumspect in their recruitment away from party affiliation and nepotism. Some of the main casualties in this language distortion are school children whose reflexes can be wrongly conditioned at impressionable periods. Regrettably some of them cannot differentiate B from a Bull’s foot.
For the uninitiated let us learn from what may be some leading words and phrases. Most abhorrent of all is the phrase “THOUGHT AM FIT” brought into currency by broadcasters. What is worse about the meaning-less phrase is the fact that so-called educated persons are now using it without regard to its sense or meaning in the first place. But it is nauseatingly sticking. A simple two-word phrase like “FEEL SAY” could do.
The term: “E nor holl Wata”, is translated directly from the English idiom meaning that it wouldn’t work or it would not be effective. That is what “It does not hold water” means. Instead of “E nor fine” or “E nor go woke”. “Hot wata” is meaningless to the illiterate or even semi-literate.
“GO DOWN WELL” is another phrase used popularly that will not make sense to the person without secondary school education even a few with tertiary education. It connotes some situation that needs acceptance or agreement. Instead of “E nor go down well wit me” one might say “Ar nor satisfy wit.”
QUESTION TIME
- Does the silence over the question about another round of “development” funds to MPs not prove that it is going to happen?
- (a) Why would a reputable firm like KPMG withdraw from auditing Ebola funds?
- (b) Is the KPMG mindful of its hard-earned reputation?
© Politico 13/11/14
