by Anari Sam Jaja (ASJ) for May 2024, GO Lifestyle Magazine – The African Edit
The Importance of Language:
I am of the belief that one of mankind’s greatest power is the ability to comprehend. Comprehension is simply one’s ability to acquire knowledge or information, to critically understand the meaning and importance of that information and to apply same accordingly. Comprehension is greatly tied to language; inasmuch as one cannot accurately apply information without truly understanding it. Therefore, language is a channel of communicating knowledge for the purpose of comprehension.
Language and its Influence on Education, Culture and Religion:
There are 6 official languages in the world, one of which is Arabic. Arabic became an official world language, through the spread of Islam. The language first emerged in the northwest of the Arabian Peninsula as far back as the 7th century; however, it was part of a body of languages which included Hebrew and Aramaic.[1] Arabic, along with its culture and religion, travelled with nomads, traders, and scholars of Islam.
English, also an official world language, originated from the Germanic people (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) who conquered Britain in the 5th Century.[2] The Britons at that time spoke Celtic. However, after the invasion by the Germanic people who migrated from present day Northwest Germany, English became the dormant language. Today, English has become the most common language in the world and the official language for many nations. As the language continued to travel, so did its culture and religion through colonialists, corporations, explorers, and Christian missionaries.
Many words used in major languages such as Arabic and English, were borrowed from other languages during their spread.[3] For example, during the process of translating Greek to Arabic, Arabic would simply borrow some Greek words, and this also happened with various other cultures Arabic came into contact with.[4] These borrowed words have been changed to have varying or similar meanings to the originally intended words and most times are used in context to suit the interest of governance and culture spread.
I illustrate this brief history to buttress the link between the growth of a nation and religion with the spread of language. In that same light, we must know that when you take away one’s language, you take away their identity, and when you take away one’s identity, you take away their ability to grow. When a people are unable to comprehend data from their authentic point of view, they lose the ability to grow in their authenticity. Therefore, it is important for an invader to strip its captive of their language and identity and replace it with the illusion of a more superior tongue, a more superior way of thinking, in order to ensure that their ability to comprehend is limited to the knowledge they have been taught by the invader. The great Anglo-Saxon/ English empire understood the importance of language and made English the most powerful language in the world and the official language of many nations. This is why we see the Royal Family, especially the current King of England, from his days as prince advocating tirelessly for the preservation and spread of the authentic/ unadulterated English language.[5]
‘We must act now to ensure that English – and that, to my way of thinking, means English – maintains its position as the world language well into the next century.”[6] –King Charles
During the process of enslaving West Africans and then colonising Nigeria around the 17th century to the 19th century, the British first brought religion and education (especially that of language). There was subtlety in influencing of the mind-set of the captured West African, in this instance, Nigerians, by making the people believe that they were inferior, their culture was barbaric and their language “jargons”.
This brings me to wonder; ideally, if one travels to a foreign land for trade, would such a person not be inclined to learn the language and the culture of the indigenous people to build fair trade relations? Yet, in this case, because the trade relations were not meant to be fair, but of territorial and economic conquest, we had to be stripped of our authentic identity and learn a more “superior” language, culture, and religion to grow economically. As a result, as much as education was beneficial to enlighten us about the way of life of others and interact with other nations, we were at the same time limited from seeing the wealth and history we were going to lose, that was, in fact, being stolen from us.
Language and its Influence on Religion:
“From the very beginning Religion and Education went hand in hand”.- Chinwe Achebe, Things Fall Apart.
We should note that language critically influences the faith, belief systems and spirituality of various clans throughout humanity. To better depict this, I’ll share some of my personal theories about religion. It is noteworthy that I consider myself emphatically a spiritual person. My faith, therefore, is firm in the knowledge that the world did not just happen to humanity, but a supreme force, of which human understanding cannot comprehend, is responsible for the existence and preservation of all things in existence. No matter how far back science can explain life, there is always a beginning, a catalyst, the thing that happened that started it all. Some might refer to this as nature, some as energy, others may say law, and many say God. I say it all started with Chukwu which in one of the most famous post-colonial languages of the indigenous Nigerian people (Igbo), means God. However, when properly translated to reflect the understanding and comprehension of the Igbo language as intended, Chukwu (Chi- Ukwu) means ‘the greatest of all gods’.
The Igbos, therefore, believe in the existence of other gods, whom most times they refer to as their ancestors. I wonder sometimes if this bares any similarity to the Christian and Catholic doctrine of saints. Many religious people may immediately frown at this comparison, countering that Christians do not serve any other gods; rather, that saints are purely servants of intercession to God. In the same light I am made to believe that this is also how the Igbos view their ancestors. This brings me to wonder ever so often if Christianity, for example, is simply the English cultural way of exactly what the native Igbo culture portrays. Are there similarities with the Old Testament and the ancient Igbo traditional religious practices? Did we need to travel more to evolve in our cultural practices?
To give further clarity and comprehension to the issue of language, let us go back to the meaning of the name “God” and what language this word originated from. If you recall at the start of this article, we learnt that the English language evolved through integration with various other languages. One of the words that evolved with the English language is ‘god’, derived from the Proto-Germanic “guda” believed to mean– “to pour, libate” or “to call, to invoke”. A slight shift in translation gives the meaning “one to whom sacrifices are made.”[7]
The term “God” and its related words originally had a neutral gender but underwent a transformation as their speakers embraced Christianity. This transformation served the purpose of differentiating the personal deity of Christians from the impersonal divine forces recognized by pagans. Following conversion, the term began to be singularly used to denote the Christian deity, acquiring characteristics akin to a proper name.
Therefore, if we were translating the literal meaning of God, it would be a deity to whom one libates upon or prays to. I then wonder if prayer was said to a saint in those times of the early use of the word, would they not be regarded as gods? Through the revelation of grace and the accessibility and relationship between mankind and Chukwu, the English now refer to Him alone as God to emphasise His supremacy.
In Hebrew, the original language of Christianity and Judaism, the God of Israel is referred to as Jehovah or Yahweh, a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH). These four letters are said to be the proper name of God in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. Yahweh means “I Am” which is the name by which Chukwu addresses Himself. A name I believe truly and wholistically embodies Him, meaning He is all and everything and whatever the human mind can imagine and that which the human mind cannot imagine, He is. This brings me to the point that He is nature, He is Law, He is Energy, He is God, He is Chukwu, He is YHWH.
I acknowledge the outlandishness of some ancient traditional believes. However, just like many other religions, it is evident that when people do not understand something or intend to assert some level of control, they find a spiritual or doctrinal explanation for why it may be good or evil to influence faith and religious doctrines. Most religious doctrines are popular beliefs of individuals that have lasted lifetimes and have been passed down over several generations, serving as instruments to regulate human behaviour, cultural practices, polity, and laws.
The one very important question I find myself asking is, who is to say what doctrine or pattern God wants mankind to follow? And do these doctrines apply to all of creation? Having opened my heart and mind to search so purely for wisdom and guidance on this matter, there is one fundamental doctrine on which all religion, all legal justice system, and all language stands. This is the doctrine of Love, Equity, Fairness, Nature, and Good Conscience. Does it not then implore individuals to question all religious doctrines that are vehemently repugnant to these five major doctrines of life and nature?
As a people, to fully comprehend the magnitude of the faith by which we all came into existence, why do we then deny our traditional way of identifying the Supreme Creator and accept a foreign comprehension of Him as superior to our ancestral comprehension of Him? From the preceding chapters, I hope that we can agree that in all languages the Supreme Creator is identified as One; all that differs is language.
Language and its Influence on Culture:
Today, Nigeria is the country with the third largest English-speaking population in the world, “with more English speakers and Christians than the country that exported the English language and Christianity to Nigeria” (Siollun, 2021). The ability for the English to study and learn from different cultures did not cause them to negate their original language or culture; instead, they added to it. They became more informed and as a result their culture evolved. This allowed them to spread their knowledge and the impact of same through language, culture and religion.
I am of the belief that the fundamental problem we had in Africa was our lack of desire to learn and explore the world. I wouldn’t blame our ancestors too much because what does a man look for when he has it all? Most of the powerful nation we know today had nothing and were forced to explore for the sake of survival. In Africa we welcomed strangers without learning for ourselves, we never voyaged to learn where these foreigners came from and why they came; instead, we sold our brothers, lost our ways, our language, our customs and are still constantly killing ourselves over foreign doctrines and ideologies set to keep us mentally enslaved. If we were, we would have been more self-aware of our advantages and would have been bolder to also spread our languages around the world.
In conclusion, we see the importance of travel and exploration as a means of spreading and learning language, culture, religion, and ideologies. Travel or explorations allows the growth and evolution of one’s mind and ability to comprehend. It is not too late for us as Africans to spread and evolve our language and way of life, on the contrary Nigerian and many other African countries have been doing a great job through the entertainment industry, in integrating our languages and cultures as critical parts of creativity that is impacting the world. Nevertheless, we should do more. Other sectors, especially our educational sector through research and development, have a lot to do in the preservation and spread of our identity, history and languages. Our institutions must seek out innovative ways to contribute to this cause by preserving our authentic history documented by indigenous historians, creating dictionaries and digital translations for critical Nigerian and African languages, intercultural exchange programs, and much more.
For Africa to rise again, we must remember our tongues and teach them to our children, we must learn from other cultures not to negate ours but to enhance ours. We must embrace spirituality and love for all our people, and we must teach the world the great cultures and strength of Africa.
It is my prayer that one day Africa will be united in her diversity, and Alkebulan (Mother of Mankind) will bask in the beauty of her greatness.
Language is power, language is influence.
References
[1] https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/did-you-know-evolution-arabic-language-silk-roads#:~:text=Arabic%2C%20which%20first%20emerged%20in,a%20considerable%20period%20of%20time.
[2] https://www.britannica.com/topic/English-language#:~:text=Having%20emerged%20from%20the%20dialects,French%2C%20Dutch%2C%20and%20Afrikaans.
[3] https://www.britannica.com/place/England/People#:~:text=During%20the%20Roman%20occupation%20England,western%20and%20northern%20Great%20Britain.
[4] https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/content/did-you-know-evolution-arabic-language-silk-roads#:~:text=Arabic%2C%20which%20first%20emerged%20in,a%20considerable%20period%20of%20time.
[5] https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/24/magazine/speaking-the-prince-s-english.html
[6]https://www.pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/ruining/#:~:text=The%20Prince%20concluded%3A%20’We%20must,language%20being%20one%20of%20England’s
- [7] Watkins, Calvert, ed., The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000.