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The Mernyang Verb Phrase
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1.2.5 Marriage:
Marriage in Kwa community is very simple and
straightforward. As usual the man and the woman met, the man proposed
and when they had both reach an agreement, they went for the marriage
ceremonies and celebration.
Before the woman is given to the man, the following steps are taken:
Firstly,
the man who wants to marry will go in the company of his friends to his
in-laws house to present his interest in their daughter and also to
seek their approval. When going, the man will take along with him a jar
of their local gin ‘brukutu’ (properly called ‘i’skolo’ among the people
in the community). In response to the man’s proposal, parent of the
bride will ask their daughter if she would take the man as her husband.
If the girl admits, they ask her to collect the jar of ‘brukutu’ brought
by the man as a confirmation of her interest to marry him, and if she
doesn’t, the jar of the brukutu will be rejected and the man will be
sent away.
After this, the next step will be, asking the man to bring
his parent so that the two families will both dialogue and choose the
day for their traditional wedding.
On the day of the traditional
wedding, items such as: A keg of palm oil, a bag of salt, 3 cartons of
magi cube, 5 goats and 2 rams, 10 fowls and a basket of Benny seed
(their local seed meal) will be brought by the groom’s family for the
bride price
After the payment of the bride price and every other
requirement, the groom’s family will take their wife home. They may
thereafter go for religious wedding if they so wish and if they don’t,
they may not go. What is important is that, traditional wedding has
given them the right to be husband and wife.
The above listed items
are the common items demanded by the bride’s parent for the bride price
in the community. However, some families may want more or less of those
items.
1.2.6 Food:
As I have earlier said, the Mernyang
speakers (Kwa people) are predominantly farmers and they grow plant such
as millet, maize, Benny seed, tuber etc, which are all used in making
their meals.
Some of their favourite meals include:
CHUGUM: It is
made form millet or guinea corn, grounded with groundnuts, melon, fish
and mixed with palm oil and meat cut into pieces. It is made into a
thick paste, folded in corn leaves and cooked. The meal to them is
nourishing, lasting and easy to convey on a very long journey.
Other menu (food) items of the people are: Bala, ishang, gung-gugut, muos, maar, hwan, jituon, chagar etc.
1.2.7 Festivals
Among many festivals that the community observed, the most important and most celebrated are the ‘Shikaam’ and the ‘Sual-beet’
Shikaam
Mernyang as it is called by the people is a festival that is staged by
both the Muslims and the Christians in the community in thanksgiving to
God for his mercies and blessing over them. The festival brings the sons
and daughters of the community from all walks of life together and
thus, provide an avenue for them to rob mind together on what could be
done to ensure peace, unity, growth and development in their community.
The festival holds on every December of each year.
Sual-beet on the
other hand is staged and embraced by the traditional worshippers. The
festival is used to celebrate and pay homage to their dead father
(heroes) who according to them do not leave them but still looking after
them and prospering their ways after death. The festival holds in the
middle of the year (June/July) at the market square of the community.
The festival is done in the company of masquerades who are regarded as
the living dead.
1.2.8 Dressing
The peculiar mode of
dressing of Kwa people (Mernyang speakers) is similar to that of the
Hausas. The men dressed in ‘babarija’ or ‘dansiki’ with a cap, while the
woman dressed in ‘iro’ and ‘buba’, tying the ‘iro’ around their waist
in such a manner that it will leave the calf of their leg uncovered.
1.3 GENETIC CLASSIFICATION
According
to Greenberg (1996:129), African languages are classified into four
(4): Afro-Asiatic, Niger-Kordofanian, Nilo Sahara and Khoisan, while
each has sub-families. Niger Kordofanian is the largest with two
sub-families namely Niger Congo and Niger Kordofanian
1.4 GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE LANGUAGE/PEOPLE
Mernyang
is located at Kwa district of Qua’anpan local government area of
Plateau state. They line in the southern part of plateau state, north of
Nazarawa State and southeast of Kaduna State.
Mernyang is along Lafia/Jos road. From Jos, it is 200km and 120km from Lafia (Nazarawa State).
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