Paper short abstract:

The Yoruba people are a major ethnic group in Nigeria. They had one of the most profound first early contacts with both the European explorers and colonisers with definitive implications for their language as major element of culture and identity. This can be seen in important words, concepts and even names depicting history, roles, knowledge, acceptance and status in colonial and post-colonial society as engagements and opposites of precolonial experiences. Conceptual and theoretical frameworks of diffusion and acculturation were adopted for this study to demonstrate and explain the impacts and intensity of the culture contacts for language and knowledge found among the people. This work profiled such words, sayings, concepts and names in yoruba language and knowledge creation and examined their interpretive understanding and implications as they inform actions, interactions and knowledge within the local existences for global narratives, implications and revisitation. This paper will bring important findings to the conference in empirical manner.

Paper long abstract:

The debate around history of knowledge, transfer and production relative to cultural exchanges and contacts has never been put to rest. There continues to be a need to interrogate the history, ramifications and trajectories of knowledge as cultures meet in space and over time. this paper thus contributes to knowledge in this direction by examining the history, content, nature and usage of words and concepts, including names, among the Yoruba people of South-western Nigeria. The Yoruba people are among the largest ethnic groups in Nigeria and West Africa with citizens spread across the world. The group also has a history of precolonial and colonial contacts which have resonated till date. This is why this study has chosen the group coupled with the fact that the group was/is among those most opened with cultural exchanges and among those with linguistics elements most dynamic and most magnanimous to demonstrate the complexity and reality of the issues under examination. This study used the Yoruba case study to empirically investigate the profoundity and profoundness of knowledge history, production, transfer, usage and continuation within local specificities and and global complexities. Data Collection was through content analysis and oral interviews with Yoruba People to capture the dynamics and trajectories of the problematic. important findings were made through rigorous processes and these will be shared at the conference.