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THE FUTURE OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH1
BY
ADEDUN, EMMANUEL ADEDAYO, Ph.d
Department of English
University of Lagos
Akoka – Yaba
Lagos, Nigeria
Visiting Scholar
Centre for Language, Discourse and Communication
King’s College
London
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Phone: 00234- 80234 - 14410
Biographical Note
Dr. Emmanuel Adedayo is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English, University
of Lagos. His research interests are Sociolinguistics and application of sociolinguistic
insights to advertising and film. His teaching and research experience spans one and a
half decades.
1 This article has been made possible by the research fund granted by the Central Research Unit of the
University of Lagos and the exposure offered by the Centre for Language, Discourse and
Communication of King’s College, University of London.
2
THE FUTURE OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH
Abstract
Nigerian English has over a period of more than three decades attracted the
attention of egg-heads, linguistic experts, language scholars and policy makers.
Different view points about this variety of English have been duly documented
by researchers. These view points range from the existence or otherwise of the
indigenized variety to its typologies, subsets, nuances, standardization and
codification.
This article undertakes an elaborate review of existing literature on Nigerian
English in order to properly situate the present state of scholarship in the area
with a view to making futuristic projections about this domesticated variety of
English. An historical overview helps us to trace English to Nigeria where the
interplay of political, educational and cultural factors combine to create a
distinct variety that is now referred to as Nigerian English. This author submits
that in spite of the apathy of educators and government agencies toward its use,
the future of Nigerian English is very bright as this variety of English has a lot
of intervening factors at its advantage to ensure its continued relevance in
Nigeria.
ORIGIN OF ENGLISH IN NIGERIA
It is a known fact that there has been a rapid expansion of the speech
community of the English language. This has been quite progressive over many
centuries. It was first spoken in England before spreading to Great Britain,
North America, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Africa. Today, English
has reached virtually the entire world (Akindele & Adegbite, 1999). One major
factor which aided the spread of English is colonialism. It is also this factor
that brought English in contact with majority of countries that use English in
the world today, including Nigeria.
3
There have been speculations on the actual date of the contact of English with
Nigerian languages. Most historians however agree that nobody can point to
the actual date or the beginning of the use of English in Nigeria. It is however
speculated that the earliest contact between Europe and West Africa was made
by the Portuguese in the 15th century (Akindele & Adegbite,1999). These
Portuguese were sea merchants and pirates who were in search of a new sea-
route to India and/or the orient (Awonusi, 2004). By the end of the 15th century,
Portugal had established trading posts in West Africa. This led to a trade
contact between Portuguese and Benin. Due to the need for a language of
communication which would enhance trading, the pidgin was gradually
established. According to Todd (1974) quoted in Elugbe (1995), a pidgin is “a
marginal language which arises to fulfill certain restricted communication
needs among people who have no common language”. This first pidgin was a
Portuguese-based one. Before long, other Europeans like the Dutch, English
and others discovered how lucrative trade along the sea coast was, and got
involved. After some time, the English dominated the trade, and gradually, the
English-based pidgin emerged. This was so because according to Elugbe
casting of roles exists even in the contact situation such that the language of the
superior people is the one on which the emerging pidgin is based. Also the
visitor (in this case, the English people) could not be expected to learn each of
the numerous languages of the local population.
The trade between the British and Nigeria grew rapidly that by 18th century, the
interest had shifted from materials to humans. Akindele and Adegbite (1999)
note that it was not until 1831 that the first English Fort was built on the Gold
Coast. The British got to Nigeria through the Slave Coast. Citing Dike (1956),
Awonusi (2004) reports that during these two centuries, none of the old staple
of trade -
gold, Ivory, malamute and Benin Pepper – proved as permanent or profitable as
the traffic in the Africans themselves. Thousands of slaves were shipped to the
plantations in the America and West Indies. While there, they learned the
language of their masters. With the abolition of the slave trade, legitimate trade
flourished once again. Some of the freed slaves who had by then become
competent in English were sent back to Africa and they settled in Sierra Leone
and Freetown. Nigerians among them later returned to the country.
The period also witnessed a massive influx of missionaries who came to spread
the gospel of Jesus and to evangelize the pagans. These freed slaves who had
already learned English, came in handy as they served as interpreters. The
missionaries built churches and schools and taught the natives English
language. Although they claimed that their task was not to make Christian
converts speak English, it was rather to make the people literate enough to read
4
the Bible in their own languages (Akindele & Adegbite; 1999). Yet English
dominated the school curriculum under various sub-heads like; reading,
writing, dictation, composition and grammar. (Adegbite: 1979 cited in
Awonusi, 2004). Some indigenes who were able to learn and use the language
became Catechists and teachers in the mission schools.
Towards the end of the 19th century, Lagos and Ijebuland were conquered by
the British. This forced more Yoruba to accept Christianity and consequently
English education. The colonial imposition of English on Nigeria, as Akere
(2004) reported, was primarily to train Nigerians to become literate in English
to be able to work in the colonial administration. But as the influence of the
colonial administration began to expand, many began to see English as a
language that could displace the indigenous languages. By then, English had
been made the language of administration, trade, religion and a medium of
instruction in schools. It also became the language of interaction between
Nigerians and the British. These years of interaction brought the English
language closer to Nigerian indigenous languages and by implication, the
numerous Nigerian cultures.
Chronologically, the contact can be summarized as follows: the British in
search of better trading opportunities found their way into Benin. They traded
in material
good and later turned to trading in human. The use of English in Nigeria
survived the departure of the colonial Lords as the language of administration
and medium of instruction in schools.
TYPES OF ENGLISH IN NIGERIA
The English language which was first spoken in England has now become a
global language. This widespread of English resulted in the development of a
number of national varieties in different countries. With the rise of Information
Technology, the status of English has risen drastically. Today, it served
different functions in different countries where it exists as first language, (L1),
second language (L2), or foreign language (FL) (Kachru,1985) quoted in
Egwuogu (2007) classified the users of English as follows: Inner circle, which
includes countries like: Britain, America, Australia, who are the native
speakers; Expanding circle which refers to countries like France, Germany,
China, who use English as a foreign language. Outer circle which includes
countries where the status of English is that of a second language (L2). Some of
these countries are: India, Ghana and Nigeria.
In Nigeria, English language has the status of a very important and prestigious
language. The level of competence in English has been often tied to the level of
5
education a Nigerian speaker has attained (see Akere 2004, Adegbija 2004 and
Jowitt 1991). There is an obvious rough correlation between the level of
education attainment and classification of the type of English spoken in
Nigeria in terms of the level of education of the speakers. We identify the
following types: highly educated, averagely educated and nominally educated
type of English (Akere, 2004). While Egbe identified them as simply types 1,
2, 3, 4 – which explains the type spoken by university educated people; the
type used by secondary school students and ‘’those whose formal education is
not higher than their level of deficiency in English” (Jowitt 1991: 38). There is
a type of English spoken by primary school leavers and many with post-
primary school education with exposure to types 1 and 2 and also the type used
by primary and modern school leavers without exposure to types 1 and 2
mentioned above. Jowitt (1991), following Brosnahan (1958) listed 4 levels of
usage. These stages are equated with levels of education. Those in stage I are
those with no formal education; while
those in stage II are those with only primary education completed. In stage III
are those with only secondary education completed and those with university
education completed are in the fourth stage.
These classifications according to the level of formal education is based on the
presumption that “fluency, articulateness as command of lexical range and
grammatical structures derive partly from the degree of exposure to the English
language in the formal school education” (Akere 2004), yet in reality, the level
of education does not determine the level of proficiency in English language.
There are people at an early stage in life who are likely to speak the type of
English associated with university graduates. There are also those without
formal education that are still competent in English. Akere pointed out that a
considerable number of people have acquired greater proficiency in English,
not through formal education, but as a result of their long service in either
government or business establishments.
Also, the implication of this classification is that there is an automatic
movement from one stage to another as one advances to the higher level of
education. This may not always be the case because there are countless
graduates whose level of proficiency in English is the same with those with just
a primary school education.
There are also other types of English not determined by one’s level of
education. Banjo (1975) identified four types (varieties) as follows: the first
type is the one spoken by semi-illiterate Nigerians and those with elementary
education; the second type, he attributes to negative transfers from the Mother
Tongue; this type, he observed, is locally acceptable but lacks international
intelligibility. The third variety is spoken by secondary school leavers while the
fourth type is a close model of the British accent. This last type has a higher
6
international intelligibility but it is locally unacceptable. Adekunle (1979)
identifies three varieties: the first is the near-native variety, spoken by well-
educated Nigerians. The second is the local colour variety. He sees this as the
usage of English that is Nigerian environmentally conditioned. The third is the
one that relies on transliteration and is characterized by deviations from
English syntactic structures. (See Adegbija 2004: 31).
This classification by Adekunle corresponds with that of Bamiro (1991) as
cited in Bamiro (2006). Bamiro identified three varieties of English in Nigeria
as – the higher variety, the intermediate variety (mesolect) which is
internationally accepted variety and the lower variety (basilect), which is the
“context” variety associated with the illiterate and semi-literate population.
From the above, it is obvious that the types of English spoken in Nigeria
identified by scholars are the variety classified according to the level of
education, and the variety classified according to the degree of intelligibility.
Each of these varieties can be further subdivided as shown above.
NIGERIAN ENGLISH
At the initial stage of the contacts between the British and Nigeria, the main
forces that moved Nigerians to learn the English language were the economic
advantages which the mastery and knowledge of English conferred on the
learner, either as interpreter, teacher or catechist, cook, clerk , etc. The period,
before and immediately after independence in 1960, was marked by a near
negative attitude towards English. The joy of independence made many
Nigerians to question the wisdom in the continued retention of English as the
official language (Bamgbose 1971).
English however survived Nigerian independence and also retained its position
as the language used in official domain but not without being “tamed to suit the
Nigerian environment” (Adegbija, 2004). The adaptation of English to suit the
Nigerian environment is captured in these words of Achebe: “I feel that English
language will be able to carry the weight of my African experience. But it will
have to be a new English, still in full communion with its ancestral home but
altered to suit new African surroundings” (See Bamiro, 2004). The type of
English spoken in Nigeria has a Nigerian flavour which differentiates it from
British English. Various terms like domestication, acculturation, nativisation,
nigerianisation, and so on have been used to describe the adaptation of English
language to convey the Nigerian experience (See Adegbija 2004; Adetugbo,
1977; Jowitt 1991; Bamgbose 1995; Bamiro 2006; Mbisike; 2007).
7
So English has been given a Nigerian citizenship. Adegbija compares the role
of English in Nigeria to a servant who does precisely what the master requires.
Are these enough reasons to identify the kind of English spoken in Nigeria as a
variety of Standard British English? Some scholars like Prator (1968) and
Brann (1975) deny the existence of a variety of Standard British English (SBE)
called Nigerian English (NE). They rather attribute features which many claim
constitute NE to deviations from SBE (See Adegbija 2004). These deviations
according to these scholars are as a result of the mother tongue interference on
English language. Does it then mean that (this) interference phenomenon is the
only thing that defines Nigerian English? Can NE be considered a variety of
English just as American English, Newzealand English, Australian English,
etc?
Many authors like Adetugbo (1977), Bamgbose (1971), Adegbija (2004)
acknowledge the existence of Nigerian English. Adegbija asserts that
“domestication has given birth to ‘Nigerian English’’’. Kachru (1985)
classified the users of English into concentric circles: the “norm-producing”
inner circle, made up of native speakers; the “norm-developing” outer circle,
made up of L2 users; and the “norm-dependent expanding circle, comprising
speakers of English as a foreign language. Kachru’s classification is a
recognition of the existence of varieties of English. Some of these varieties,
according to Quirk et al (1972) as cited in Adegbija (1989) are “of such
longstanding that they may be thought stable and adequate to be
institutionalized and regarded as varieties of English in their own right rather
than stages on the way to a more native-like English.”
Bhatt (1995) faulted the (18th century) belief that language is of divine origin
and hence was perfect in its beginnings. Such misplaced attitudes according to
Bhatt ‘serve only to decimate the logic of English language acquisition and use
in outer circle contexts. What is referred to today as standard English has taken
many centuries to evolve. Even as it is, the so-called standard English is still
undergoing changes because, language is not static (see Mbisike 2007). In
similar manner, “standard English itself is subject to some degree of variation”
(O’Donnel & Todd, 1991). Bhatt raises two questions concerning the
understanding of variation in English across cultures. First, what is the
structure of ‘non-native Englishes? And second, how did they come to be the
way they are? Adegbija (2004) states
that ‘the domestication of English in Nigeria is a natural response to yawning
linguistic and socio-cultural needs”. The day-to-day contact of English with
8
Nigerian indigenous languages created the need for new ideas to be expressed
in new ways that were unavailable in the native variety of English. Bamgbose
(1995) examined what he called three strands that will help appreciate the form
of Nigerian English. The first is the contact English which produces a form of
pidgin that has gradually developed into Nigerian pidgin. The second strand in
the development of Nigerian English is the import of the so-called ‘Victorian
English’ – VE. This type of English, according to Ubahakwe (1974) as cited in
Bamgbose (1995) represents the prototype of Nigerian English. The third
strand is the English of the school which has a heavy dose of Christian
religious literature. It is this variety that has been subjected to nativization and
thus can be regarded as the direct predecessor of today’s Nigerian English.
“That Nigerian English exists is no longer the point” (Dadzie 2004). The
evolvement of this variety of English called Nigerian English has taken many
centuries after the initial contact between English and Nigerian indigenous
languages. Nigerian English can then be defined as that variety of English that
has developed as a result of the contact between SBE and Nigerian indigenous
languages. NE is simply “English the way Nigerians speak and write it” (Okoro
2004).
It is wrong to assume that interference phenomenon is the main thing that
constitutes Nigerian English. It is equally wrong to believe that errors and
imperfect usages are the features of what make up the Nigerian English
(Okoro, 2004). Rather, typical Nigerian English innovation are related to the
local socio-cultural and linguistic context of Nigerian culture and society
(Adegbija, 1989). English is used to express experiences that are typically
Nigerian and the language is altered to suit its new Nigerian surrounding
(Bamiro, 2006). Nativization of English in Nigeria is not limited to the features
of transfer of lexical, syntactic, semantic and phonological patterns of
numerous Nigerian languages into English, it is equally concerned with the
creative development of English, in addition to the evolution of distinctively
Nigerian usages, attitudes as well as pragmatic use of the English language
(Bamgbose 1995). Even among the Britons there are also varieties such as
Welsh, Scottish and Cockney aside the standard English. This means that
language itself has many inconsistencies (See Ogunsiji 2007). When a
Nigerian speaks English, no mater his level of education, it is easy to identify
him as a Nigerian because of the reflection of some structural characteristics of
Nigerian languages. Nigerian English is characterized according to the levels of
language analysis in phonology, syntax, lexis and semantics (Adedun, 2008).
Akere (2004) attributed the emerging patterns of phonological, syntactic,
lexical and semantic features of NE usage to a ‘reflection of several
sociolinguistic factors”. Some of these factors are:
9
(1) the multilingual Nigerian community in which English is learned and
used.
(2) Most Nigerian users of English are bilingual in English and at least one
indigenous language.
(3) The predominant use of English as a medium of instruction and a
subject of study in the educational system of the country and,
(4) The quality of instruction in English provided and/or received at the
various levels of formal education (p. 282 ).
Awonusi (1990) identifies the characteristics of Nigerian English as follows:
- The non-aspiration of stop consonants in word-initial position by many
speakers.
- The general absence of the dental fricatives // and //and their
interchange with /d/.
- The absence of the voiced palato-alveolar fricative /з/ which is
substituted with sounds like /s/, /z/ and /d/ in words like: ‘televison’,
‘pleasure’ and ‘range’.
- The general absence of vowel reduction or weakening into the schwa.
- The operation of phonological processes like cluster reduction,
syllabification, vowel epenthesis etc. Articulation of /h. in ‘heir’, /b/ in
‘debt/, /d/ in ‘kicked’ , etc.
- The operation of peculiar stress pattern.
It is often assumed that Nigerians often use the sounds of their native
languages when speaking in English especially for sounds which are
missing in the indigenous languages. (Awonusi 2004). Apart from the
peculiarities of Nigerian indigenous languages found in Nigerian
English phonology, the American English has also contributed a great
deal to the phonology of NE. Some of these American features found in
NE are:
(1) T-tapping – Nigerian speakers of English in their bid to produce t-
tapping, they produce the voiceless alveolar stop as a tap /?/ which is
10
something between /d/ and /r/. Words like better, party, daughter, are
pronounced as /bera/, /pari/, /dּכ:ra/, respectively.
(2) Yod-dropping: that is the loss of /j/ after coronal consonants is one of
the features that distinguish American English from R.P. Many
Nigerians drop the yod in words like, tune, assume, suits, student while
many retain it in words like, news, attitude
(3) Pronunciation of /ּכ/ as /a:/. American English does not have the vowel
sound /ֿכ/ and often substitutes it with /a:/. For example, God, got are
pronounced /gּכ:d/ and /gat/ respectively. Nigerians tend to imitate this.
(4) The use of a near American-style stress pattern in some words like –
‘cigarettE (See Awonusi, 1994; Egwuoju 2007, Awonusi 2004, Adedun
2007).
The syntactic characteristics of Nigerian English extensively studied by Jowitt
(1992:112), (1995:218) are summarized by Banjo (1995:218) as follows:
(1) Classification: which deals with form-class shifts. e. ‘He offed the light.
(2) The pluralization of SBE uncountable nouns like advice, ‘equipment’
(which is also pluralized in AME), junk; personnel.
(3) Sub-categorization of verbs: which refers to static verbs as event verbs
in NE. Example: “I hear English’’ (I understand English).
(4) The use of prepositions where SBE will drop it as in “Dealers demanded
(for) eight billion”, ‘The thieves bolted (away) with the money; the
omission of preposition where it is necessary” Example ‘They condoled
with the parents of the deceased”. Also, using the wrong preposition
(See Dadzie 2004).
(5) Inflections e.g. “He use to drink too much” (He is used to drinking)
(6) Special use of modals. e.g. “After the referee might have arrived, the
match will begin’ (After the referee has arrived, the match will begin).
(7) Relativization: e.g. I know the person who his father has died. Instead of
‘I know the person who father died.
In addition, the distinctiveness of NE is seen in usage of parts of speech.
Articles are often dropped before nouns where they appear in SBE. Example
11
“He died of (a) stroke (where ‘a’ is dropped). While some nouns with plural
forms are often given singular forms like in – I washed my pant in the sink’,
‘Give me the plier’.
The use of proper pronouns in subject or object position in NE is different from
SBE. This is obvious in reciprocatory pronouns ‘each other’ and ‘one another’
often confused with reflexive pronouns themselves, ourselves. (See Dadzie
2004).
Lexical characteristics of Nigerian English derive from processes of linguistic
modification and adaptation which the English language is undergoing in
Nigeria (Akere 2004). Studies have shown that the American English has
influenced NE lexical items greatly. (Awonusi 1994; Egwuogu 2007) Egwuogu
asserts that “at the phonological and lexical levels, Americanism are
ovewhelmingly visible.” Words of American origin found in Nigerian English
are particularly those that relate to entertainment, politics, music, fashion,
business, computer and the internet. Some of these words are: kiosk, babysitter,
vacation, movies, period, raincoat, gubernatorial, gas, shorts, jail, duplex,
presidential etc. Awonusi (1994) classified such use into three:
The first group, according to him, are those American lexical items which
Nigerians do not know their British equivalents. Below are some of these items
and their British equivalents.
BRITISH AMERICAN/ NIGERIAN
‘Paraffin ‘Kerosene
‘ladder ‘pantry
Booth Kiosk
Crisps Chips
Guard (railway) Conductor
Put through (telephone) Co’nnect
12
Motorway Expressway/freeway
Flex Elelectric wire/card
‘dynamo ‘generator
So’licitor ‘lawyer
Ar’ticulated Trailer truck
The second group consists of ‘American’ word for which Nigerians have a high
preference, notwithstanding their knowledge of their British equivalents.
BRITISH AMERICAN/ NIGERIAN
surgery doctor’s office
Single ticket One-way ticket
mackintosh raincoat
Briefs Shorts
Jabs (injection) Shot
E’state car station wagon
immerssion, heater water, heater
leader (newspaper) editorial
The third group are lexical items which are distinct in British and American
varieties. Both varieties are used freely by Nigerians.
13
BRITISH AMERICAN/ NIGERIAN
number plate licence plate
Goal Jail
curtain Drapes
Queue Line
Full stop Period
Nought Zero
rubbish garbage/trash
Ring-up/phone Call
Shop assitant Sales girl/clerk
Query Wharf/prer
Lost property Lost and found
Holiday Vacation
Restroom Toilet
Other scholars have studied Nigerian lexical items in relation to their semantic
variations which include: semantic shift/extension, coinage, transfer, analogy
and acronyms, (See: Bamiro, 1994; Adedun, 2007; Adegbija, 1989; Alabi,
2000, Jowit 1991). Semantic shift, the meaning of a word or a group of words
is extended to cover a new concept. A few lexical items in native English have
had their semantic range restricted, shifted or even extended in Nigerian
14
English, examples of such words are: escort: to see a guest off. Machine: a
motor cycle. Amount: money.
COINAGES: According to Adegbija (1989), the necessity for accommodating
new experiences, feelings, thought patterns, modes of life, culture and customs,
etc. which English in Nigeria has encountered led to the creation of lexical
items which have nativized meanings. Examples are: half-current: when the
electric voltage is low and the lights are not bright.
Bukateria: A blend of Yoruba ‘buka’ (a place where food is sold) and – teria
(an invented English suffix).
Others are: Iroko, agbada, moi-moi, cash madam, housegirl, jambite, etc.
TRANSFER ‘Lexico-semantic transfer may be in the form of transfer of
context, transfer of culture, transfer of meaning or /and transfer of Nigerian
pidgin features (Kachru, 1983, cited by Adegbija 1989). Cross-cultural
pollination has given birth to many meanings. Some of them are:
Bride price, ‘introduction’ (formal presentation of the bridegroom and her
relations to the bride and her relations.
ANALOGY: According to Adegbija, ‘suffixation and prefixation are models
in Nigerian English. The new lexical items could be entirely English or hybrid
of English and the mother tongue lexical attempts like; invitee, arrangee,
decampee, etc.These are based on analogy with words such as adressee,
examinee etc.
ACRONYMS: The formation of new lexical items by the use of the initial
letters of existing lexical items has produced typical Nigerian English
acronyms.
Example: NEPA – Nigerian Electric Power Authority
ASUU – Academic Staff Union of Universities
WAI – War Against Indiscipline
SAP – Structural Adjustment Programme
OYO – On Your Own
JAMB – Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board.
15
An expression like O.K. (Okay) has emerged and has been given several senses
different from its native English meaning. Adegbija and Bello (2001) identify
seven possible uses of Ok.
- It can be used to convey the sense of ‘yes’ as in: Lecturer: is that taken?
Student: ok sir.
It is used to mean ‘endorse’ or approve. Example: the minister okays more
deportation of activists. It could be used to mean “all right” and ‘in good
health” respectively in the following expressions.
- I am ok for tonight (all right)
- Don’t worry, you will soon be ok.
Ok can also be used as a gap filler; to provide the speakers the opportunity to
better organize their thoughts. Example: The man told him and he agreed. Ok,
after the man’s departure, he changed his mind. Another Nigerian-specific
sense of OK is its use to convey a goodbye or to terminate discourse. This is
illustrated below:
Student: Ok sir
Lecturer: Ok (the student then goes out of the lecturer’s office).
The above dialogue obviously occurred at the end of interaction between the
lecturer and his student. Another interesting sense of OK in Nigerian English is
its use to convey a rebuke implying ‘that is enough’. Also an ironical sense of
“I’ll deal with you later” may also be conveyed by the uttering of OK in
Nigeria as illustrated below.
Mother: (to her son) will you stop that?
Son: I won’t stop it.
Mother: Ok (See also Adegbija 2004).
Adegbija (1989) however identified six main causes of lexico-semantic
variation in Nigerian English, two of which he said are primary. These causes
are the socio-cultural differences between the English and Nigerian people,
pragmatic aspects of the dynamics of a multilingual context, the exigencies of
varying discourse constraints and modes in English and in the indigenous
languages; the indomitable, pervasive and omnipresent influence of the media;
the standardization of idiosyncracies and errors, and the predominantly formal
medium of the acquisition of English.
At the semantic level, Okoro (2004) enumerates the following as features of
Nigerian English:
16
(1) Redundancy: This refers to tautology or incompleteness of expression
which often leads to confused meaning. e.g. night vigil, wake-keeping,
funeral ceremony, return back; linger on, raise up, short knicker.
(2) The use of normal English lexical items to express entirely different
meanings. For instance, the use of “too sweet’ to refer to “very
delicious” food.
STANDARDISATION OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH
The question of whether there is a standard Nigerian English has given
language scholars a lot of concern. No wonder there have been studies on what
actually constitutes a standard Nigerian English. The issue of a region
developing its own standard of an international language has generated many
controversies (Mbisike, 2007). Prator (1968) cited in Mbisike (2007) claims
that this nativization process should be curtailed because it reduces the rate of
intelligibility with the native variety of the language. Other scholars claim that
a variety of any language must be mutually intelligible to all the speakers of
that language (see: O’Donnel and Todd 1999, Okoro 2004). In other words, a
dialect (variety) of a language like English must conform to the rules governing
the usage of the language at all levels – phonological, lexical, semantic,
syntactic and even pragmatic levels. It has become obvious that the only
condition for the acceptability of a standard Nigerian English lies in its
intelligibility to other speakers of English, especially native speakers. The
question that may arise is: has Nigerians actually identified a standard form of
the Nigerian English? If there is “Standard Nigerian English”, there ought to
equally be a “non-standard Nigerian English”. The two terms are often used as
if they are mutually exclusive. Okoro (2004) however offers an explanation
when he states that “rather than talk about “Standard Nigerian English” and
“Non-standard Nigerian English”, it appears more practical to talk about a
single variety – Nigerian English – which contains standard and non standard
usages”. These usages occur according to the Nigerian speaker’s level of
competence in English language which is often determined by his or her level
of education.
The journey towards the standardization of Nigerian English actually began
with the nativization of English in Nigeria. Bamgbose (1995) identifies three
aspects of this nativization as linguistic, pragmatic and creative nativization.
17
The linguistic nativization, according to Bamgbose , is the one that is most
often described. This includes the substitution of Nigerian language vowels and
consonants for English ones, replacement of stress for tones, pluralization of
some non-count nouns, introduction of culture-specific vocabulary items,
semantic shift and back formation. The next aspect of nativization is the
pragmatic use of English. The cultural practices of people in the Nigerian
environment has greatly impinged on the use of English language in that modes
of address are formalized to reflect social status and age.
Creativity is the third aspect of nativization and it manifests itself in two ways:
first, there are expressions that are coined to reflect the Nigerian experience.
Examples are ‘been to’ (one who has traveled outside the country) ‘suffer head’
(a poverty stricken person/a pauper); ‘to take in’ (become pregnant) ‘four-one-
nine’ (a dupe). Second, authentic Nigerian idioms are translated into English.
This is often used in literary works by Nigerian authors.
These aspects of nativization of English in Nigeria also makes obvious the
peculiarities of Nigerian English. We can then identify the features of NE by
using Okoro (2004) classification. First is what he terms the common-core
features because they are shared with other varieties worldwide. These include
syntactically and semantically neutral sentences like: “good evening”, Today is
Monday”, “He is our teacher”, which involve pragmatic categories of number,
tense/aspect, case, gender, voice and concord. It also conforms to the
orthographic conventions of spelling and punctuation.
Second are those that exhibit peculiar Nigeiranisms. They include loan words
such as “garri”, agbada, iroko; coinages like: bride-price, boys’ quarters, head-
tie; category shifts such as “to tipp-ex an error” (to cover an error with
correcting fluid)l to flit a room” (to spray it with an insecticide); and finally
meaning broadening in words like “customer” (which refers to both buyer and
seller in NE).
Third are local idioms and also existing native speaker idioms that have been
modified. Examples are:
- One tree cannot make a forest (Be: One swallow cannot a summer
make).
- Don’t put sand in my garri (BE: Don’t ruin my chances)
- Cut your coat according to your size (BE: …according to your cloth)
18
- What is good for the goose is equally good for the gander. (BE: sauce
for the goose is equally good for the gander)
- You met me well/ your legs are good (BE: inviting someone who has jut
arrived to join in a meal).
- She used long leg to obtain the job. (She obtained it through undue
influence and favouritism)
The fourth feature is the characteristic breaches of the code; that is
characteristic errors like redundancies e.g. night vigil, wake keeping, new
innovation, funeral ceremony; use of redundant prepositions: requested for,
contemplated on, etc., omission of determiners before singular nouns: e.g. I
have lecture, I will give seat; and stative verbs used dynamically e,g, we
are not hearing you, I am seeing her, John is owing Mary, etc.
Relying on the studies made by scholars, (Okoro 2004; Bamgbose 1995;
Awonusi 2004, Mbisike 2007), we can then assert that there seems to be an
assumed agreement by Nigerian speakers of English as to what standard
Nigerian English is. Thus, expressions deviating completely from the norms of
English language are then classified as non-standard usage of Nigerian English
because such expressions lack international intelligibility. If we insist on
international intelligibility, Okoro (2004) asks “what will become of local
idioms like “don’t put sand in my garri, you met me well, your legs are good,
she has bottom power; or loan words like danfo, molue, agbada, egusi, and
coinages like ‘bride-price, been-to, timbre-and-calibre”? These are expressions
that illustrate the cultural realities of the Nigerian environment. These are
certain Nigerian usages that we can say are mutually intelligible. Let us
examine the use of the verb “fill” in British English. I have filled in the
application form/ I have filled out the application form.
In NE, the expression will be “I have filled the application form.” The British
and American speaker of English will have no difficulty in understanding the
third expression by a Nigerian user of English. However if an English word has
been ascribed a completely different meaning in the Nigerian context, there
may be a problem of understanding for the speakers of native English. A word
like ‘teller’ in the Nigerian context refers to the slip one uses to pay money into
a bank account, while for the native speaker, it is the person employed to
receive and pay out money in a bank. The international intelligibility and
acceptability of standard British or standard American is “an accidental by-
product of the power and influence Britain and the United States have
exercised in the world in the past’’ (Jowitt 1991). Nigeria, at this stage of
national development, has stronger justification for preferring internal to
international criteria for the evaluation of her own brand of English. This is
because what distinguishes members of a speech community are certain shared
features in the use of a language. Each language variety develops some non-
shared features which distinguish it from others and allow it to express the
19
socio-cultural realities of the speech community (Mbisike 2007). The location,
culture and users of the “so-called” standard English vary. It is therefore
important that non-native varieties should be studied in the context of situation
appropriate to each variety, users and uses. That a close relationship exists
between the culture of a people and their use of language is not in dispute. In
language is a verbal expression of culture (Akindele & Adegbite 1999). Since
Nigeria does not share a common cultural experience with the British, it is
expedient for her to define a standard Nigerian English that will depict her
cultural experiences.
THE FUTURE OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH
It is evident from the fore-going that Nigerian English is a valid dialect of
English with enduring future prospects. In spite of the critical stance of the
purists and standard English apologists that Nigerian English should be derided
and kept away from the educational institutions, this variety of English still
pervades the entire social space of the country. Though it is not formally taught
in the schools, one finds its daily use by students, an indication that, like the
acquisition of a first language, it is naturally learnt. It is even by this singular
fact that its future becomes more secured because this variety of English is self-
perpetuating as it requires no formal learning. In addition, it is not only
students that one finds using Nigerian English; people at different levels of the
society irrespective of their social standing and educational attainment also
make use of this variety of English either consciously or unconsciously. This
also favours the future perpetuation and preservation of Nigerian English. More
importantly is the use of the variety in fiction by Nigerian writers. We all know
the contribution of creative writing to the growth and preservation of any
language. The story of the development of native English is not complete until
names like William Shakespeare are mentioned. Similarly, the contributions of
writers like Chinua Achebe to the growth of Nigerian English are being
acknowledged.
Whether Standard or Non Standard, Nigerian English is an authentic family of
world Englishes that is bound to grow and expand beyond its shores in the
shortest possible time. The effort of Nigerian creative writers who employ this
brand of English in their creative enterprise and the booming film industry in
Nigeria are serious factors that will propagate this variety of English to the rest
of the world. It is important that government at both federal and state levels
show interest in the future direction of Nigerian English instead of allowing
itself to be misled into thinking that the variety is an evil that should be
prevented from circulating. If government shows interest in its future direction
now, it will have control on how the variety evolves. One way the government
can achieve this is by incorporating Nigerian English into the curriculum,
juxtaposing it with the learning of Standard English. This will raise awareness,
at least at educational levels, about the differences between both the Standard
20
English and Nigerian English, and also about contexts and appropriateness of
use.
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