CHAPTER ONE
1.1 General Introduction
This long essay is a study of Negation in Uneme language. In this chapter, historical background of the speakers, the geographical location, and the socio-cultural profile of the speakers, genetic classification as well as the scope and organization of the study, theoretical framework, data collection, data analysis and a brief review of the chosen framework are discussed.
1.2 General Background
Uneme is a language spoken in South-South part of Nigeria. The native speakers of Uneme are found in the North-Eastern part of Edo State. Edo State is an inland in the central Southern Nigeria. Benin City, been the capital of Edo State, is bounded in the North and East by Kogi State, in the South by Delta State and in the West by Ondo State. The official name is Uneme while names used by the speakers are: Uzanu, Anegbete and Udochi. The speakers are found in three Local Government Areas in Edo State, which are Etsako, Agbazilo and Akoko-Edo. The language is also spoken in Okene Areas of Kogi State. Etsako Central Local Government Area is located in the heart of Etsako land, it is bounded in the West by the Etsako west Local Government Area, in the East by Etsako East Local Government Areas, in the North by Okene and in the South by Esan territory.
Akoko-Edo which is found in the Northern part of Edo State is bounded in the North by the present Kwara State and parts of the present Kogi State and in the North-West by the present Ondo State. The population of the speakers was estimated to be about 6,000 (Crotzier and Blench, 1992). The map of Uneme communities is below: