AFRICAN PHILOSOPHY AND INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES: THE CRITICAL NEXUS

Abstract

African  philosophy  is  the  way  of  life  andthought  pattern  of  the  African people.  These  African  lives  and  thought  pattern  could  extent  to  theAfricanworldview,  Africanculture  and  tradition.  They  were  all  derived,  defined  and expressed  in  the  African  indigenous  languages.As  such,  African  indigenous language  goes  a  long  way  in  promoting  and  unveiling  the  secrets  ofAfrican philosophical worldview,extending to the African culture and tradition.In the light  of  these,a  critic  of  the  nexus  of  African  philosophy  and  Africanindigenouslanguages,  became  necessary,  so  as  to  discover  the  relevance  of African  indigenous  languages  in  the  changing  society.Comparative  analytic method  wasadopted  for  a  proper  examination.The  study  discoversthat  no meaningful understanding will bemade of African philosophy and worldview without the peoples’ indigenous language. The paperalso determines that the problem  of  interpretation  of  African  philosophy  and  worldview  lay  most  on the inadequate use of African indigenouslanguages. Based on this, the paper opines  that African  indigenous  languagesshould  be  given  its  proper  place  in the interpretation of African philosophy, African cultural, traditional activities and  African  worldview.As  such,  the  paper  recommends  that  scholars  should be  thought  their  indigenous  languages.  Africans  must  be  more  interested  in their indigenous languages so as to be properly guided in the interpretation of not only African philosophy but also African culture, tradition and worldview.