Language education as s catalyst in documenting local languages: a case of the Lubukusu noun phrase

Abstract

This paper focuses on the important role that Language education can play in the documentation of local languages. According to Ethnologue, there are currently about 7,000 living languages in the world. 90% of the languages, it is believed, will be extinct by 2050. In Kenya Bong’om, Omotik, Ongamo, Sogoo, Suba and Terik are on the verge of being extinct. This study therefore aims at bringing out how language education can be useful in documenting and preserving the Lubukusu Noun Phrase data. This study’s objectives are to: - describe the Lubukusu substantive and derived noun, find out the co occurrence pattern of the Lubukusu head noun and modifiers and finally describe the agreement patterns within the Lubukusu noun phrase. This study is important in documenting Lubukusu and the realization of Chapter 2 section 7 of the 2010 Kenyan constitution. Furthermore, it goes a long way in supporting the language policy on the use of mother tongue in Kenyan lower primary schools. The study was carried out in Bungoma County. From the study it was established that Lubukusu substantive nouns are different from Lubukusu derived nouns, most Lubukusu modifiers occur after the head noun and agreement mostly involves the modifiers copying the head noun’s prefix structure.