Language and Worldview: Conceptualisation of Novel Concepts in Languages of Nasarawa State

Abstract

The paper investigates the extent to which language and worldview interact in the conceptualization of novel concepts in six (6) languages of Nasarawa State using linguistic relativity hypothesis. Data for the study were generated from a checklist containing forty-five (45) novel concepts. The methods of data analysis were both descriptive and comparative. The results show that speakers of the languages express the novel concepts as nominal compounds, descriptive noun phrases, genitive constructions and ideophones. Four major conceptualization strategies: description, compounding, transliteration, and imitation were found to account for the conceptualization of the novel terms in concert with the respective worldviews of the speakers of the languages. The findings support the view that conceptual differences indicating differences in worldview occur across the languages. The results of the study support the middle course proposal of the moderates, who argue that the effect of the interaction between language and worldview is local, transient, and shallow; not total or sacrosanct. Apart from fostering a better understanding of the relationship between language and worldview of the respective linguistic communities, and revealing the subconscious attitudes of the speakers, the study would form part of the efforts to document and describe endangered languages. And by this, the study can be said to be potentially transformative as it could be reproduced in other Nigerian languages.