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Aspects Of Adim Morphology
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1.3.5 TYPES OF CURRENCIES USED IN ADIM UP TO EARLY 20TH CENTURY.
The use of copper rod as a medium of exchange was less cumbersome and more convenient than the barter system.
Another
type of currency that was widely used not only in Adim but Biase area
in the Nineteenth century was Manilla currency. In Adim, the manilla was
called ’Okpogo’. It was believed that the Ibibio traders, possibly from
Itu, introduced the Manilla currency in Biase area. Manilla was whitesh
in colour and the standard size of a Manilla was about 15cm. Eighty
Manillas was equivalent to one pound.
Other Manillas in circulation
included the snake Manilla weighing (5 ½) and the king Manilla weighed
(6lbs). Four Manilas were equivalent to one Shilling. In the colonial
years of the 20th century, the colonial masters began to regard these
different currencies as anachronistic, inefficient and cumbersome in
nature. Consequent upon this, in 1897, Sir Ralph Moor, who was in charge
of the protectorate of southern Nigeria between 1896 and 1903, saw the
problem associated with these currencies in counting and carrying such
currencies about. About 30 Shillings worth of Manilas is a load for one
person. For these reasons, he strongly believed that the continuous use
of these currencies would retard the expansion of trade in southern
Nigeria and Biase area. He therefore perceived the necessity for handy
and easily managed currency and was determined to change the existing
currencies as quickly as possible (Eyong, 2005).
After several
attempts and opposition, Moor finally introduced a coinage type of
currency and so on 1st December 1902, the native currency (Copper and
Brass rods) was abolished from circulation. The popularization of a coin
currency took a native step forward. With the instruction of Penny and a
tenth of Penny pieces in 1908.
Some of these currencies were one
white Shilling with a person’s head inscribe on the coin and the white
penny with a hole in the middle. After some time, a brown Shilling was
introduced. On the one side of the brown shilling was inscribed the
effigy of George VI of England, wearing a crown on his head. On the
other side were inscribed a palm tree, the figure 1947 and the words,
‘British West Africa’, Twelve penny made a shilling. These currencies
were used until the Pounds, Shillings and Pence (£: s: d) came into
circulation in Biase in about 1950.
FIGURE 1.2
(The history and development of Adim, Raphael o. Eyong)
HERE ARE SOME OTHER PICTURES RELATED TO THE CULTURAL LIFE OF THE PEOPLE OF ADIM
FIGURE 1.3
(The history and development of Adim, Raphael o. Eyong)
FIGURE 1.4
(The history and development of Adim, Raphael o. Eyong)
FIGURE 1.5
(The history and development of Adim, Raphael o. Eyong)
FIGURE 1.6
(The history and development of Adim, Raphael o. Eyong)
1.4 PHYLO-GENETIC BACKGROUND
Phylo-genetic classification is one of the major area of comparative or historical linguistics.
According
to Heine and Nurse (2005:25), genetic or phylo-genetic classification
involve putting together related languages into families or language
groups that can be presumed to have derived historically from a common
ancestors.
The Cross River or Delta-Cross languages are a branch of
the Benue-Congo language family in south-easternmost Nigeria posited by
Joseph Greenberg. It is one of the few of his branches of Niger-Congo
that has withstood the test of time.
The original name was Cross
River. The Bendi languages were soon seen to be aberrant, and the other
branches united under the term Delta-Cross. However, the inclusion of
Bendi is doubtful, and it has been tentatively reassigned to the Bantoid
family, making the two terms Cross River and Delta-Cross synonymous.
There are four clusters of languages in Delta Cross:
· Central Delta, 8 languages, the most populous being Ogbia with 100 000 speakers
· the 5 Ogoni languages, with Ogoni proper (Khana) having 200 000 speakers
· Upper Cross River, 22 languages, the most populous being Lokaa with 120 000 speakers
· Lower Cross River, 23 languages, including Ibibio-Efik (3½ million)
· The internal structure per Cornell (1994), reproduced in Williamson and Blench (2000), is as follows:
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