Preserving Linguistic Heritage

This study assessed the current understanding and gaps in the transmission of the Yewa dialect, identified factors contributing to the dialect’s endangerment, and provided data to inform language preservation and revitalization strategies in Nigeria. The level of danger faced by the Yewa dialect, in terms of the number of its current speakers and the percentage of the youngest generation acquiring fluency in it, has never been explored in literature. The study, relying on a mixed-mode approach, foremost geospatially described all twenty-nine communities identified as Yewa dialect-speaking. Among other findings, the study established that there is a worrisome depreciation in the absolute number of Yewa indigenes who understand their dialect and have acquired fluency in it, albeit the youngest demographic (Generation Z) engaged in the study is disproportionately impacted. Furthermore, by adopting the multinomial regression technique, the study reveals that only three factors emerged as significant underlying forces behind the erosion of the dialect, calibrated across five categories of mastery levels: the risk of being stereotyped as unsophisticated (.039); the presence of tertiary institutions within the Yewa region (.048, .044, and .041); and proximity to Lagos, where Yoruba, Pidgin, and English are dominant (.40). Based on the findings, the study suggested strategies that can be adopted by heritage vanguards and custodians of traditional resources to confront the erosion of the dialect.