Greetings, everyone!
My response is that, if I have the power to bring something that has gone extinct to life, I would prefer to bring back my dialect completely to life.
A lot of things have gone extinct now in our time, and our culture has been diminished, the way of life hasn't been practiced anymore. Our dress code has been dumped, our food has been dumped, and many more things have been dumped, due to changes that have occurred over time. The practice of the traditional way has been overlooked by our younger generation, and it's something we should bring back. This way of life reveals a sense of uniqueness and beauty, and it speaks about cultural diversities in the world, and a sense of belonging. It's very important we prioritize our culture and practice the way of it. And our food in my State is still intact, and the way they prepare it is yummy and delicious that you can't do away with it. I like the fresh veggies, like afang, bitter leaf, editan, atama, pounded cocoyam, and soup.
So if I have the power to bring back something that has gone extinct, it's my dialect.
This young generation describes my dialect as diabolical, and it's annoying when I hear children say that. Instead, they prefer to speak in someone's dialect and English rather than speaking their native language.
I'm an indigene of Akwa Ibom State in Ibesikpo. I can boldly express myself in my native language, even at times when I speak English, a small accent of my dialect will be heard, and I will know that I'm from Akwa Ibom, or they will ask where I am from.
During my project in my final year, we went for field trip to another local government in Akwa Ibom State. We were working on dialects, trying to compare their grammatical structure and function, and the words used by the people in the immediate environment, and I noticed the difference in word structure and grammatical structure. Theirs are different from ours. It was so unique to hear that from them.
While getting data from them, we as linguists realize that, they don't have a documentary of their dialect. We were trying to work on the documentation of their dialect for them so it won't become extinct. And also teaching their children this dialect is of great use and beneficial to the next generation.
Therefore, bringing back my dialect will be a thing of great joy because it's our identity. And I am proud that I can speak my dialect and can write some down.
This is my response to the Hivelearners featured contest week 234 episode 1
I love, I care, and I forgive
