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Nigerian English

Nigerian English, also known as Nigerian Standard English, is a dialect of English spoken in Nigeria.[1] Based on British English, the dialect contains various loanwords and collocations from the native languages of Nigeria, due to the need to express concepts specific to the culture of the nation (e.g. senior wife).[2]

Nigerian Pidgin, a pidgin derived from English, is mostly used in informal conversations, but the Nigerian Standard English is used in politics, formal education, the media, and other official uses.

Dialects

There are three main dialects of Nigerian English: Hausa English (spoken by the Hausa), Igbo English (spoken by the Igbo) and Yoruba English (spoken by the Yoruba).

Sociocultural implications

Nigerian English is a nativized form of English. Like South African English, its nativization and development as a New World English corresponds roughly with the period of colonization by Britain and afterward.[3] Nigerian English became a nativized language that functions uniquely within its own cultural context.[4]

Nigerian English has long been a controversial idea in that the idea of a "Standard Nigerian English" (SNE) is difficult to establish,[5] considering the fossilization that has occurred in the formal instruction of English in many regions of Nigeria, for a variety of factors largely including "interference, lack of facilities, and crowded classrooms".[6] Contact between British Standard English and Nigerian English, which have two very different sets of grammatical, pronunciation, and spelling rules has caused there to arise a predominant occurrence of "faulty analogy" (the assumption that because one grammatical feature resembles another in usage, the rules applying to the former also apply to the latter) in what Okoro refers to as "substandard" varieties of Nigerian English.[6]

However, a few features have united across communities that bridge the differences between different varieties even within Nigerian English, all pertaining to cultural values that are expressed uniquely in English terms. Two prevalent examples are "sorry" and "sir".[4] The literal meaning of "sorry" usually indicates some sort of responsibility on the part of the person saying it, but for all varieties of Nigerian English, it is used to express sympathy in a unique way, or to show empathy to whoever has experienced misfortune. "Sir" or the replacement of names with titles indicates respect and a high value for politeness. The tacking on of "sir" to another title ("Professor sir")[4] illustrates a greater level of prestige than normal or an instance of being more polite than the norm.

Though the exact levels of Nigerian English usage are contested, one suggestion indicates there are four levels of usage within the nativized (but not indigenous) English:[6]

  • Level 1: Pidgin, spoken as the casual language
  • Level 2: A step above, and the most spoken. Spoken by those with elementary education[6]
  • Level 3: Marked by more expansive lexicon, fluency and use of the features that Level 1 speakers "avoid" spoken by those with "secondary education"[6]
  • Level 4: Proposed as the NSE as its features are very similar (but still characteristically Nigerian) "to Standard English", spoken by those with a college education[6]

The system of levels is only one of the proposed differentiations of the pragmatic realizations of Nigerian English. Because of the nature of its presence in Nigeria, the English language has been a point of contention among Nigerian residents who strive for a more nativisitic lifestyle (returning to the predominant speech of indigenous languages of the country).[7] However, the nature of the introduction and the role of English in exerting the values of colonization on a post-colonial Nigeria have caused some to call English inseparable from the nature of language in the region.

Lexico-semantic innovations

There are three basic subsets of innovations that have occurred as a result of the nativization of English in Nigeria:[8] "loanwords, coinages, and semantic shifts".

Loanwords

A loanword is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as "a word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification". Nigerian English has a plethora of loanwords that have no direct English equivalents but have rooted themselves into the dialect with a unique meaning.[9] The examples below of prominent Nigerian English loanwords are provided by Grace Ebunlola (quoting them):[9]

  • agbada: a kind of flowing dress for men, especially among the Yoruba: ‘Chief Ogini wore agbada to the wedding ceremony.’
  • babban riga: a kind of long, loose dress for men, especially among the Hausas: ‘I really like your babban riga.’
  • akara: an item of food, also referred to as ‘bean cake’
  • akamu pap: a kind of corn porridge: ‘This morning I ate akara and akamu.’
  • akpu, banga, eba, egusi, ogbono, tuwo: ‘soup’ (in various Nigerian languages), as in: ‘Anytime I eat eba I have stomach upset’; ‘Can I eat some tuwo?’; ‘I don’t like the smell of akpu’; ‘I will like to eat ogbono soup mixed with egusi.’
  • danfo, okada: a mode of transportation: ‘You either go by danfo or you take an okada.’
  • adakaji, oba: chieftaincy titles, as in: ‘The Adakaji II was at the coronation of the oba of Lagos.’

Coinages

Coinages, though similar to loanwords, function as a sort of colloquialism that is spoken in English but has a unique cultural meaning. These are also especially prolific in Nigerian English.[10] Compared to loanwords, coinages typically have a short lifespan and are adopted for unique cultural purposes of the present, and as such, die out quickly after their acquisition.[10]

Examples are provided by Abdullahi-Idiagbon and Olaniyi:[11]

  • Long-leg (meaning "well-connected")
  • Free and fair
  • Come of age
  • Carpet crossing (equivalent to crossing the floor in the UK)
  • No-go area
  • Man of timber and calibre
  • Money-bag
  • Political juggernaut/Heavyweight
  • Political bride (a coalition partner or running mate)
  • Accord Concordia
  • Bottom power (woman using her sexuality as a bargaining chip)

Coinages are not the same as acronyms, though Nigerian English also has unique acronyms.

Acronyms serve a variety of functions, and follow the same rules as Standard English acronyms: the first letters are taken from each word in a phrase (especially titles of office, agencies of the government, etc.).

Semantic shifts

The study of semantics is, overall, a general study of the meaning of words.

A common example of semantic shift is in the reappropriation of the meaning of English words for Nigerian purposes and uses. This can cause the original English meanings to be "shifted, restricted, or extended".[12]

For example, in some areas, despite the international meaning of "trek" having a connotation of a long distance or difficult journey, the Nigerian use is means "walk a short distance".[12]

A particularly expansive example of semantics in NE is the use of a variety of greetings. That stretching of meaning can change the meaning of the English phrase but also represents something from Nigerian culture. For example, the saying "goodnight, ma" can be said regardless of time of day and functions simply as an assumption that the person in question will not be seen until the next day.[4] That has especially been noticed in Yoruba culture.[4]

Phonology

As the literature currently stands, most phonological studies have analyzed a plethora of Nigerian English speakers from a wide range of backgrounds (region of origin, current profession, social class, etc.). There has been special focus on such regions as Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.[5] Nigerian English can be thought of in a similar way to American English in this approach: just as in American English, Nigerian English varies from region to region, and as such, phonological variables are realized in different ways in different regions.[5]

Some common features across Nigerian Englishes include:

  • Voiced -z sounds in which the "s" is present in spelling become voiceless, i.e. "boys" is pronounced /ˈbɔɪs/.[13]
  • Fronting of /ɪ/ vowels into /e/, exhibited in words such as "expect", pronounced /ekˈspekt/ in NE.[13]
  • Because voiced palato-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ is not present in most Nigerian varieties, any words including this phoneme are converted into the -sh /ʃ/ sound, such as in the word "conclusion", pronounced /kənˈklʃən/ in NE.[13]

Prosody

Early studies have associated Nigerian English with being syllable-timed rather than stress-timed, but the dialect has thus far evaded specific grouping in either category.[14] Milde and Jan-Torsten suggest that Nigerian English is closer to a tonal language, akin to other West African tonal languages, but rather than tones being associated with stressed and unstressed syllables, they are associated with grammatical functions.[14] They suggest that "articles, prepositions and conjunctions tend to have a low tone, whereas nouns, verbs and adjectives are usually produced with a high tone."[14]

Use in technology

In July 2019, Google announced its new Nigerian English accented voice for Maps, Google Assistant, and other Google products.[15][16][17] It is based on work of speech synthesis created by a team at Google led by Nigerian linguist Kola Tubosun.[18][19][20][21] In January 2020, Oxford English Dictionary added over two dozen new words of Nigerian English to the Oxford Dictionary.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ^ . Encarta. Microsoft. Archived from the original on 9 September 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
  2. ^ Adegbija, Efurosebina. (1989) "Lexico-semantic variation in Nigerian English", World Englishes, 8(2), 165–177.
  3. ^ Lass, Roger. "Language in South Africa." Chapter 5: South African English, Cambridge University Press, 2002, print.
  4. ^ a b c d e Adamo, Grace Ebunlola (February 2007). "Nigerian English" (PDF). English Today. 23: 42–47. doi:10.1017/S0266078407001083. S2CID 232148985 – via CambridgeCore.
  5. ^ a b c Convergence: English and Nigerian Languages: A Festschrift for Munzali A. Jibril. M & J Grand Orbit Communications. 2016. doi:10.2307/j.ctvh8r1h7. ISBN 978-978-54127-0-3. JSTOR j.ctvh8r1h7.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Okoro, Oko (Spring 2017). "Nigerian English Usage and the Tyranny of Faulty Analogy III: Pronunciation". California Linguistic Notes. 41: 26–62. S2CID 116908.
  7. ^ Adamo, Grace Ebunlola (February 2007). "Nigerian English" (PDF). English Today. 23: 42–47. doi:10.1017/S0266078407001083. S2CID 232148985 – via CambridgeCore.
  8. ^ Adamo, Grace Ebunlola (February 2007). "Nigerian English" (PDF). English Today. 23: 42–47. doi:10.1017/S0266078407001083. S2CID 232148985 – via CambridgeCore.
  9. ^ a b Adamo, Grace Ebunlola (February 2007). "Nigerian English" (PDF). English Today. 23: 42–47. doi:10.1017/S0266078407001083. S2CID 232148985 – via CambridgeCore.
  10. ^ a b Abdullahi-Idiagbon and Olaniyi, M.S. and O.K. (2011). "Coinages in Nigerian English: A Sociolinguistic Perspective" (PDF). African Nebula. 3: 78–85.
  11. ^ Abdullahi-Idiagbon and Olaniyi, M.S. and O.K. (2011). "Coinages in Nigerian English: A Sociolinguistic Perspective" (PDF). African Nebula. 3: 78–85.
  12. ^ a b Adamo, Grace Ebunlola (February 2007). "Nigerian English" (PDF). English Today. 23: 42–47. doi:10.1017/S0266078407001083. S2CID 232148985 – via CambridgeCore.
  13. ^ a b c Okoro, Oko (Spring 2017). "Nigerian English Usage and the Tyranny of Faulty Analogy III: Pronunciation". California Linguistic Notes. 41: 26–62. S2CID 116908.
  14. ^ a b c Gut, Milde, Ulrike, Jan-Torsten (2002). The Prosody of Nigerian English. Germany: University of Bielefeld. pp. 1–4.
  15. ^ . Reuters. 2019-07-24. Archived from the original on 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  16. ^ Ekwealor, Victor (2019-07-24). "Google officially announces 'Nigerian English Voice' and other new products". Techpoint.Africa. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  17. ^ "Google unveils new products, introduces Nigerian accent to map navigation". The Nation Newspaper. 2019-07-24. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  18. ^ "Google Maps, with its new Nigerian voice, wants to make commuting in Lagos easier". TechCabal. 2019-07-30. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  19. ^ Okike, Samuel (2019-07-26). "How Kola Tubosun and his team gave Google a Nigerian accent". Techpoint.Africa. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  20. ^ Kazeem, Yomi. "How Google created a Nigerian voice and accent for Maps". Quartz Africa. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
  21. ^ "If We All End Up Sounding Like Americans, You Can Probably Blame Voice Assistants". TechCabal. 2019-01-24. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
  22. ^ "Release notes: Nigerian English". Oxford English Dictionary. 2020-01-13. Retrieved 2020-01-28.
  23. ^ Kazeem, Yomi (23 January 2020). "These are the Nigerian English words added to the Oxford Dictionary". Quartz Africa. Retrieved 2020-01-28.

Further reading

nigerian, english, pidgin, nigerian, pidgin, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books. For the pidgin see Nigerian Pidgin This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Nigerian English news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Speech example source source source Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie a writer with an educated Nigerian accent Problems playing this file See media help Nigerian English also known asNigerian Standard English is a dialect of English spoken in Nigeria 1 Based on British English the dialect contains various loanwords and collocations from the native languages of Nigeria due to the need to express concepts specific to the culture of the nation e g senior wife 2 Nigerian Pidgin a pidgin derived from English is mostly used in informal conversations but the Nigerian Standard English is used in politics formal education the media and other official uses Contents 1 Dialects 2 Sociocultural implications 2 1 Lexico semantic innovations 2 1 1 Loanwords 2 1 2 Coinages 2 1 3 Semantic shifts 3 Phonology 3 1 Prosody 4 Use in technology 5 See also 6 References 7 Further readingDialects EditThere are three main dialects of Nigerian English Hausa English spoken by the Hausa Igbo English spoken by the Igbo and Yoruba English spoken by the Yoruba Sociocultural implications EditNigerian English is a nativized form of English Like South African English its nativization and development as a New World English corresponds roughly with the period of colonization by Britain and afterward 3 Nigerian English became a nativized language that functions uniquely within its own cultural context 4 Nigerian English has long been a controversial idea in that the idea of a Standard Nigerian English SNE is difficult to establish 5 considering the fossilization that has occurred in the formal instruction of English in many regions of Nigeria for a variety of factors largely including interference lack of facilities and crowded classrooms 6 Contact between British Standard English and Nigerian English which have two very different sets of grammatical pronunciation and spelling rules has caused there to arise a predominant occurrence of faulty analogy the assumption that because one grammatical feature resembles another in usage the rules applying to the former also apply to the latter in what Okoro refers to as substandard varieties of Nigerian English 6 However a few features have united across communities that bridge the differences between different varieties even within Nigerian English all pertaining to cultural values that are expressed uniquely in English terms Two prevalent examples are sorry and sir 4 The literal meaning of sorry usually indicates some sort of responsibility on the part of the person saying it but for all varieties of Nigerian English it is used to express sympathy in a unique way or to show empathy to whoever has experienced misfortune Sir or the replacement of names with titles indicates respect and a high value for politeness The tacking on of sir to another title Professor sir 4 illustrates a greater level of prestige than normal or an instance of being more polite than the norm Though the exact levels of Nigerian English usage are contested one suggestion indicates there are four levels of usage within the nativized but not indigenous English 6 Level 1 Pidgin spoken as the casual language Level 2 A step above and the most spoken Spoken by those with elementary education 6 Level 3 Marked by more expansive lexicon fluency and use of the features that Level 1 speakers avoid spoken by those with secondary education 6 Level 4 Proposed as the NSE as its features are very similar but still characteristically Nigerian to Standard English spoken by those with a college education 6 The system of levels is only one of the proposed differentiations of the pragmatic realizations of Nigerian English Because of the nature of its presence in Nigeria the English language has been a point of contention among Nigerian residents who strive for a more nativisitic lifestyle returning to the predominant speech of indigenous languages of the country 7 However the nature of the introduction and the role of English in exerting the values of colonization on a post colonial Nigeria have caused some to call English inseparable from the nature of language in the region Lexico semantic innovations Edit There are three basic subsets of innovations that have occurred as a result of the nativization of English in Nigeria 8 loanwords coinages and semantic shifts Loanwords Edit A loanword is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as a word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification Nigerian English has a plethora of loanwords that have no direct English equivalents but have rooted themselves into the dialect with a unique meaning 9 The examples below of prominent Nigerian English loanwords are provided by Grace Ebunlola quoting them 9 agbada a kind of flowing dress for men especially among the Yoruba Chief Ogini wore agbada to the wedding ceremony babban riga a kind of long loose dress for men especially among the Hausas I really like your babban riga akara an item of food also referred to as bean cake akamu pap a kind of corn porridge This morning I ate akara and akamu akpu banga eba egusi ogbono tuwo soup in various Nigerian languages as in Anytime I eat eba I have stomach upset Can I eat some tuwo I don t like the smell of akpu I will like to eat ogbono soup mixed with egusi danfo okada a mode of transportation You either go by danfo or you take an okada adakaji oba chieftaincy titles as in The Adakaji II was at the coronation of the oba of Lagos Coinages Edit Coinages though similar to loanwords function as a sort of colloquialism that is spoken in English but has a unique cultural meaning These are also especially prolific in Nigerian English 10 Compared to loanwords coinages typically have a short lifespan and are adopted for unique cultural purposes of the present and as such die out quickly after their acquisition 10 Examples are provided by Abdullahi Idiagbon and Olaniyi 11 Long leg meaning well connected Free and fair Come of age Carpet crossing equivalent to crossing the floor in the UK No go area Man of timber and calibre Money bag Political juggernaut Heavyweight Political bride a coalition partner or running mate Accord Concordia Bottom power woman using her sexuality as a bargaining chip Coinages are not the same as acronyms though Nigerian English also has unique acronyms Acronyms serve a variety of functions and follow the same rules as Standard English acronyms the first letters are taken from each word in a phrase especially titles of office agencies of the government etc Semantic shifts Edit The study of semantics is overall a general study of the meaning of words A common example of semantic shift is in the reappropriation of the meaning of English words for Nigerian purposes and uses This can cause the original English meanings to be shifted restricted or extended 12 For example in some areas despite the international meaning of trek having a connotation of a long distance or difficult journey the Nigerian use is means walk a short distance 12 A particularly expansive example of semantics in NE is the use of a variety of greetings That stretching of meaning can change the meaning of the English phrase but also represents something from Nigerian culture For example the saying goodnight ma can be said regardless of time of day and functions simply as an assumption that the person in question will not be seen until the next day 4 That has especially been noticed in Yoruba culture 4 Phonology EditThis section contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA For the distinction between and see IPA Brackets and transcription delimiters As the literature currently stands most phonological studies have analyzed a plethora of Nigerian English speakers from a wide range of backgrounds region of origin current profession social class etc There has been special focus on such regions as Hausa Igbo and Yoruba 5 Nigerian English can be thought of in a similar way to American English in this approach just as in American English Nigerian English varies from region to region and as such phonological variables are realized in different ways in different regions 5 Some common features across Nigerian Englishes include Voiced z sounds in which the s is present in spelling become voiceless i e boys is pronounced ˈ b ɔɪ s 13 Fronting of ɪ vowels into e exhibited in words such as expect pronounced ekˈspekt in NE 13 Because voiced palato alveolar fricative ʒ is not present in most Nigerian varieties any words including this phoneme are converted into the sh ʃ sound such as in the word conclusion pronounced k e n ˈ k l uː ʃ e n in NE 13 Prosody Edit Early studies have associated Nigerian English with being syllable timed rather than stress timed but the dialect has thus far evaded specific grouping in either category 14 Milde and Jan Torsten suggest that Nigerian English is closer to a tonal language akin to other West African tonal languages but rather than tones being associated with stressed and unstressed syllables they are associated with grammatical functions 14 They suggest that articles prepositions and conjunctions tend to have a low tone whereas nouns verbs and adjectives are usually produced with a high tone 14 Use in technology EditIn July 2019 Google announced its new Nigerian English accented voice for Maps Google Assistant and other Google products 15 16 17 It is based on work of speech synthesis created by a team at Google led by Nigerian linguist Kola Tubosun 18 19 20 21 In January 2020 Oxford English Dictionary added over two dozen new words of Nigerian English to the Oxford Dictionary 22 23 See also Edit Nigeria portal Language portalReferences Edit Nigerian English Encarta Microsoft Archived from the original on 9 September 2010 Retrieved 17 July 2012 Adegbija Efurosebina 1989 Lexico semantic variation in Nigerian English World Englishes 8 2 165 177 Lass Roger Language in South Africa Chapter 5 South African English Cambridge University Press 2002 print a b c d e Adamo Grace Ebunlola February 2007 Nigerian English PDF English Today 23 42 47 doi 10 1017 S0266078407001083 S2CID 232148985 via CambridgeCore a b c Convergence English and Nigerian Languages A Festschrift for Munzali A Jibril M amp J Grand Orbit Communications 2016 doi 10 2307 j ctvh8r1h7 ISBN 978 978 54127 0 3 JSTOR j ctvh8r1h7 a b c d e f Okoro Oko Spring 2017 Nigerian English Usage and the Tyranny of Faulty Analogy III Pronunciation California Linguistic Notes 41 26 62 S2CID 116908 Adamo Grace Ebunlola February 2007 Nigerian English PDF English Today 23 42 47 doi 10 1017 S0266078407001083 S2CID 232148985 via CambridgeCore Adamo Grace Ebunlola February 2007 Nigerian English PDF English Today 23 42 47 doi 10 1017 S0266078407001083 S2CID 232148985 via CambridgeCore a b Adamo Grace Ebunlola February 2007 Nigerian English PDF English Today 23 42 47 doi 10 1017 S0266078407001083 S2CID 232148985 via CambridgeCore a b Abdullahi Idiagbon and Olaniyi M S and O K 2011 Coinages in Nigerian English A Sociolinguistic Perspective PDF African Nebula 3 78 85 Abdullahi Idiagbon and Olaniyi M S and O K 2011 Coinages in Nigerian English A Sociolinguistic Perspective PDF African Nebula 3 78 85 a b Adamo Grace Ebunlola February 2007 Nigerian English PDF English Today 23 42 47 doi 10 1017 S0266078407001083 S2CID 232148985 via CambridgeCore a b c Okoro Oko Spring 2017 Nigerian English Usage and the Tyranny of Faulty Analogy III Pronunciation California Linguistic Notes 41 26 62 S2CID 116908 a b c Gut Milde Ulrike Jan Torsten 2002 The Prosody of Nigerian English Germany University of Bielefeld pp 1 4 Google goes Nigerian with local accent informal transit routes Reuters 2019 07 24 Archived from the original on 2019 07 31 Retrieved 2019 08 01 Ekwealor Victor 2019 07 24 Google officially announces Nigerian English Voice and other new products Techpoint Africa Retrieved 2019 07 28 Google unveils new products introduces Nigerian accent to map navigation The Nation Newspaper 2019 07 24 Retrieved 2019 07 28 Google Maps with its new Nigerian voice wants to make commuting in Lagos easier TechCabal 2019 07 30 Retrieved 2019 08 01 Okike Samuel 2019 07 26 How Kola Tubosun and his team gave Google a Nigerian accent Techpoint Africa Retrieved 2019 07 28 Kazeem Yomi How Google created a Nigerian voice and accent for Maps Quartz Africa Retrieved 2019 08 01 If We All End Up Sounding Like Americans You Can Probably Blame Voice Assistants TechCabal 2019 01 24 Retrieved 2019 07 28 Release notes Nigerian English Oxford English Dictionary 2020 01 13 Retrieved 2020 01 28 Kazeem Yomi 23 January 2020 These are the Nigerian English words added to the Oxford Dictionary Quartz Africa Retrieved 2020 01 28 Further reading EditKortmann Bernd 2004 A Handbook of Varieties of English Morphology and syntax Vol 2 Walter de Gruyter p 813 ISBN 3110175320 Cheshire Jenny 1991 English around the world Sociolinguistic perspectives Cambridge University Press p 514 ISBN 0521330807 Faraclas Nicholas G 1996 Nigerian Pidgin Routledge p 2 ISBN 0415022916 Ngefac Aloysius 2008 Social differentiation in Cameroon English Peter Lang p 19 ISBN 9781433103902 Ihemere Kelechukwu U 2007 A Tri Generational Study of Language Choice amp Shift in Port Harcourt p xvi ISBN 978 1581129588 Farooq Kperogi Glocal English The Changing Face and Form of Nigerian English in Global World New York Peter Lang 2015 ISBN 978 1433129261 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Nigerian English amp oldid 1143942717, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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