Erosion of An African Language: The Case of Writing Lamnso'

Have you ever read a long question of six lines on the blatant erosion of a culture? One follows that will stir a whirlpool of thoughts in your head concerning a Kingdom in West Africa called Nso'. If in the past your language and culture you have spoken and known for a millennium was suddenly denigrated to a state of nothingness because your country was invaded and and you were defeated, and after one hundred years of suppression and oppression you were liberated and you know that all that was wrong would you still believe that your culture and language were inferior vis a vis those of the invaders? Would you still accept your imposed inferiority for reasons we are about to outline?

I hate to scream but I am sometimes catapulted to do this when I see naive peoples. They hate me for saying the truth and that is scientific. The Oslo Organization I once cited on this forum would chop their heads off to hear that the very baby they are bent on nursing to grow is being tossed out with the bath water by the Nsonites (wira Nso’). By insinuation from the write up in the forum called Shundzev (Watering Hole), there are many an Nso' folk who sincerely believe that their culture and language are inferior to those of the new comers to Africa, Caucasians. That was the mistake the French assimilation instilled in the minds of the colonized. The English did to a limited extent to make us feel that way but they were not as excessive particularly in Western Africa where our Kingdom lies. Then there are Nso elite who have bought this idea of inferiority and do deeply in their minds have the conviction that they will be taking a lower option vis a vis English if they were to take Lamnso and Nso Culture. I will tell you that if I were given the option, I will take Lamnso and Nso culture. They have kept us going for millenniums and the so-called Europhone, that is European languages and culture that were enforced have been with us not up to a century and some of us are getting unnecessarily conceited. They are getting euphoric and those who cannot sit down and learn Lamnso are nervous and screaming to get it off the air or the Internet. I will tell them that they are wrong. I will tell them that they could be civilized, industrialized and be educated in nothing else but in the world of Lamnso’ and Nso’ Culture that are the envy of some foreigners. Look, there are Indians, Chinese, Japanese, Tanzanians who are far advanced and in scientific fields and if you ask them questions in Europhone, they will not reply as they do not know. They feel that it is not necessary as they are excellent engineers, medical doctors, and environmentalist when they have not studied in Europhone. Where is the problem of budding Nso’ forumites? One person told me that they were simply lazy like Mr. Toad in The Wind and the Willows of Kenneth Grahame. Are they?

The other day my car was broken down at Mbve. As is the norm, when you give your car to be repaired you have to watch what the mechanics are doing. I learn a lot that day. I was impressed to hear they have translated all the motor engine parts into Lamnso and it was beautiful. I nodded my head in disbelief. Then I know why English and other European languages were rich. It was because they borrowed or coined new terms the moment they came with new technology of ideas in their world. Lamnso was no exception. Of course, Lamnso' will have limitations as it was never exposed.

I earlier saw many who were out to behave like the old French colonialists who would summon and flog an African who dare spoke that “dialect” before them and hinted to Prof. Kishaani that the reasons why Nso' was not taking up was the lack of its solid foundation. I made my suggestions and we cannot revert to that now. Mr. William Banboyee had suggested that the best way was to start the language teaching and writing at the elementary school level if we were to succeed. Then we fail because we want to start it at the top of the pyramid and everyone is comfortable before the computer screen. Then how many Nso' speaking persons have computers or will ever have one? Where there are people who are irritated, names withheld, they scream and topple the apple cart in the middle of the market. Lamnso' to these modern whitemen is decadence. If you want to put up with that then I am our and will not waste time. Then I recalled discussing the case of Shona and Ndebele that were being taught right at the university level and people were graduating with PhDs in Shona from the University of Zimbabwe. It might be that the Shonas were fast to see the damage the Caucasians did to their culture and stoically sat down to revive it. It seems that we are not seeing it in Nso' and the Diaspora. If not why such negative reaction from some of us? Agains that was what was to give Zimbabweans full independence. To show to the Caucasians that they were human, had their superior culture too and that there was no question of letting it to take a second class position that the Caucasian racists had denigrated it to in the past. This injustice was seen and all swarthy skinned people in that country welcomed it and in earnest took to the learning of Shona and Ndebele. It was not long before some Caucasians were copying them. What was wrong with that? Is Carle Grebe not a Caucasian and was Father John Emonts, SCJ, not a Caucasian too. These chaps mastered Roon Lamnso and can laugh at your smattering Lamnso' of you the Internet elite. What do you think?

Unfortunately the forum is crowded by sons and daughters of often culturally mixed parentage who had not had Lamnso as their home language when they were young. They find it difficult to learn after their college graduation. One reason being that they grown outside the Nso' Speaking world, and might have had the influence of the French where vernacular is frowned at. I have heard others call Lamnso' like a Caucasians who ever felt that his language was superior, "dialect". I will tell them that English proper is so poor that Nso is better than it it. From the 500 words or so that I have used here, half are not English. They were all borrowed from Greek, Latin, French, Arabic, Norman, Scots, Gaelic, etc and are not part and parcel of English. That is what makes English rich. With time we will borrow and coin more words and Nso' could be rich if not richer since we are thinking of writing it at the time when the international intercourse in the world is enhanced by the Internet communication, ease of publication, use of cell phone that was a dream twenty years ago. So the message is that those who are not interested should be quiet and kindly walk out of the house. When I sit in my study as the other time speaking with Dr. Samuel Lamlen in Lamnso' the Caucasian around me were astonished as they had the impression that I was only fluent in English. O, no, I told them that I was fluent in four other languages besides English and Lamnso was my first language.

I think it is easier for a separate Blog to be formed so that those of us interested could communicate exclusively in Lamnso and nothing else. There are only 600 forumites our of a pupulation of half a million Lamnso' speaking lot and more in the diaspora. Even if it means that I would have to write only one sentence as often is the case. We are not going to use it as a class room but we could point out to novices as me where I could turn to improve upon my Lamnso writing and speaking. The impression those who are objecting to the use of Lamnso' on the forum is that those who have mastered it as Prof. Kishaani, Jemeer Yefon, Dr. Beri, Sir Tar, Fr. Mbuy, Carle Grebe, etc. are showing off. I do not buy that. It might be that they are not diplomatic. Let us work behind close doors as the translators of Sa'ka Nyuy wo Jung. They did not go about asking the opinion of Lukong, Chin, and Ngoran. They able-bodied Nso' elements (Nsonites) carried on and before we realized, the New Testament was there in black and white. It is immortalized for life. Now, let us withdraw Lamnso debate from the Forum and let the interested few concentrate on coming out with a comprehensive Nso' grammar books one to five. Let those who have been writing whatever disciplines in it continue. They will have a lofty place in the History of the Nso' Speaking Peoples. Please do not make me to invite the world to our private watering hole, Shundzev.
Thanks for reading so far.

Dr. Viban Viban Ngo.

PS... Could anyone pass this to Prof. Kishaani. I sent a first draft to him and it bounced back. Thanks.

Dr. Viban Viban Ngo.