CHAPTER ONE
1.0               GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Language is the universal fabric that holds every individual of a community together.  An instrument, used by man for communication within his environment, without which there would be no meaningful relationship between the human world.  Language can also be referred to as the medium through which ideas, thoughts, and other forms of human communication are expressed or carried out.
In the metal compartment where all possible, meaningful and acceptable words are formed, there are certain rules that must be followed or certain conditions met before any word can be viewed as acceptable in any language.  The branch of linguistics that studies the compatibility of such combinations and proposes the rules for their formation is called MORPHOLOGY. The basic concept of this branch is the morpheme, the smallest meaningful unit in grammar which may constitute a word or part of a word.
Every language has its own set of morphological rules which are strictly adhered to by members of its community. Such members , (Native speakers) share a great deal of unconscious knowledge about their language which helps in the acquisition of their first language with little or no formal instructions.  In connection to morphology, the Migili language has been duely investigated with a view to finding/revealing the aspects of its morphological set up.  The Migili people are a tribal group found in Agyaragu local government, Lafia, Nasarawa State.  The first chapter of this research centers on areas such as the historical background of the Migili people, their socio-cultural profile, occupation, religion, festival, mode of dressing, marriage, genetic classification. Several other aspects will be reviewed in the latter chapters of the project work.  
1.1     HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MIGILI   
      In an interview with the town chief (ZHE Migili) who is he traditional ruler and an autocrat, two major facts were revealed.  One of them is the fact that the name of the language popularly known as Mijili is incorrect rather it is formally known as Migili.  The second fact duely noted by him is that the Migili people are not part of the Hausa tribe as they have been mistakenly identified by many.
The Migili tribe has a long history which dates back to the old Kwararafa Kingdom in Taraba State.  The Kwararafa kingdom comprised of different ethnic groups such as Eggon, Algo, Idoma, and the Gomai. Each tribe took turns in occupying leadership positions of the kingdom and a heir was selected from the royal home of each ethic group.  But things changed when it was time for Akuka, a Migili descendant who was next in line to ascend the throne . Akuka was plotted against hence he could not become the next leader.  This sparked up a lot of negative reactions from the Migili people as well as some other tribes who viewed such an action as unjust, a way through which they were deprived because of their small population.  Together with all members of the tribe, Akuka moved down to a place called Ukari where they settled down for a while and later moved to Agyaragu in Lafia, Nasarawa State where they reside presently.
Today, the Migili people are known as settlers in Obi, Agyaragu local government, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria.  They can still be found  in other places such as Minna, Abuja, Kubadha in Kaduna, Zuba e.t.c.The major population of about 18,000 people constitute about 96% of Obi Agyaragu local government area.