IMPORTANCE OF LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY

Language is the most obvious and most prominent of human talent, which is also one of the fundamental features of human characteristics. For humans and society the importance of language can not be kept to a minimum. As a personal matter, language is not only a means of communication between individuals but also a way to express personality. First, it makes social connections easier. As we have seen, society is a network of social relations, because it is easier to construct as men can easily exchange their ideas as the development of social connections between individuals in contact with language I mean it. E. H. According to Sturtevant, "Language is an arbitrary healthy symbol system through which members of social groups collaborate and interact.

Linguistic behavior represents a complex social meaning. Language defines the various social groups we are identified and the roles that we play in society. The language indicated by the association is a symbol of the various social identities used to build a particular identity (Baldwin). In contemporary society, languages ​​have undergone a large fragmentation where languages ​​become marked as dialects or standard languages ​​(Britt 15). These subdivisions are necessary for society to more closely identify smaller groups from larger groups. For example, a group wishing to be classified as a high-level social class group wishes to distinguish themselves by using a specific dialect or accent and to mark them as standard languages ​​(Britt 11)

Language is very important in human society and is very important in Nigerian heterogeneous society. It is believed to be in over 250 languages ​​(Aduwa-Ogiegbaen and Iyamu, 2006). Each language is related to a different ethnic group. However, according to the 15th edition National Language Report cited by Dada (2007), about 510 symbiotic languages ​​coexist in Nigeria. In the same report, Nigeria is one of the 22 most diverse languages ​​in the world. Therefore, in such a language culture, inconsistency of communication is not only expected, but also occurs internally.