Conclusion
The objectives of this study as stated in section 1.4 were:
- To investigate the level of the endangerment of the ỌZA.
- To identify the demographic variables associated with the endangerment.
- To assess the impact of the shift on the structure of ỌZA.
- To find out whether or not ỌZA language is a useful factor in defining the ỌZA identity.
In pursuit of the first objective, it emerged that the ỌZA language is critically endangered. Hausa has taken over as the first language of all the respondents. On the whole the respondents but a few adults are monolingual in Hausa. Hausa is the choice language of most respondents for conversation with parents, thwarting the transition of ỌZA from parents to children, spouses, siblings, children, age mates and friends. In the language domain Hausa is the most used at home, school, market, work and other places. As we saw in 4.3.5.1, 4.3.5.2, and 4.3.5.3, most of the ỌZA speakers have also exhibited a negative attitude towards their language; majority of the ỌZA believe Hausa is more important to them than ỌZA. What's more, most of them don‟t think that ỌZA should be taught to children, even though most of them agree that a loss of ỌZA language would be a great calamity for the ỌZA people.
In investigating the second objective, we also looked at the demographic variables associated with the endangerment. We determined that age is the first variable, because only the older respondents who are about 60 years can speak the ỌZA language.
Gender is also associated with the endangerment, because amongst the adult ỌZA speaking respondents there are more male who speak the language than the female. This is a great predicament, because the women are usually the ones who are expected to teach language to the children, since they are usually at home. We also found out that the category of those with little or no formal education and those residing in rural areas have the highest number of ỌZA speakers, compared to well educated people and those residing in urban areas.
In our analysis of the third objective, we took an assessment of the impact of the shift on the structure of the ỌZA language. We found out that the shift had some significant impact on the ỌZA structure as there were several elements of the Hausa language that have gained entry into the ỌZA language. The affected domains include the ỌZA lexicon and Phonology. The influence on the lexicon was realised in the form of borrowing where lexical items were absorbed into the ỌZA from Hausa. Most of the borrowed lexical items were drawn from vocabulary relating to religion and other social issues. There is also the practice of code switching and code mixing, which also affects the lexicon.
