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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 cultures of ethnic groups in 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.
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). Nigerian Pidgin English is very commonly spoken in the South-South region of Nigeria (Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, et-cetera), and is spoken alongside the corresponding dialectical renderings of Nigerian English [which exists in mediated form throughout all of Nigeria and on a(n) anecdotal, social level are arguably far better-known than the Hausa rendering of it].
Although Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba happen to be the three main political entities of Nigeria (based on population-numbers), pidgin English, a local 'patois' that represents a casual variation of Nigerian English, is known to be far more characteristic of the South-South region of Nigeria than anywhere else in the country.
It is more concentrated than the pidgin spoken in the city of Lagos, which is occasionally seen as merely an urban-Yoruba-mediated version of Nigerian English. Warri, Sapele, Port Harcourt and Bini City are examples of major Nigerian cities where truly concentrated pidgin English is spoken, especially relative to others.
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]
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]
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 Nigeria. [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.
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".
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]
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]
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.).
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 usage 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]
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 those pertaining to the Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba, respectively. [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:
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]
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]
Ẹ̀bà (Yoruba) also known as Ebe or Pinon' is a staple swallow from Togo and Benin, also eaten in the West African sub-region and other African countries. The term èbà originates from Yoruba. It is a cooked starchy vegetable food made from dried grated cassava (manioc) flour commonly known as garri all across West Africa. It is often eaten with rich soups and stews, with beef, stockfish or mutton. The dish is often described as having a slightly sour, sharp taste.
Nigerian Pidgin, also known as Naija or Naijá in scholarship, is an English-based creole language spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria. The language is sometimes referred to as Pijin, Brokun 'Ullu' or "Vernacular". It can be spoken as a pidgin, a creole, dialect or a decreolised acrolect by different speakers, who may switch between these forms depending on the social setting. In the 2010s, a common orthography was developed for Pidgin which has been gaining significant popularity in giving the language a harmonized writing system.
The culture of Nigeria is shaped by Nigeria's multiple ethnic groups. The country has 527 languages, seven of which are extinct. Nigeria also has over 1150 dialects and ethnic groups. The three largest ethnic groups are the Hausas that are predominantly in the north, the Yorubas who predominate in the southwest, and the Igbos in the southeast. There are many other ethnic groups with sizeable populations across the different parts of the country. The Kanuri people are located in the northeast part of Nigeria, the Tiv people of north central and the Efik-Ibibio are in the south South. The Bini people are most frequent in the region between Yorubaland and Igboland.
Egusi (Yoruba) is the name for the protein-rich seeds of certain cucurbitaceous plants, which, after being dried and ground, are used as a major ingredient in West African cuisine.
In West Africa, garri is the flour of the fresh starchy cassava root.
Àmàlà is a staple swallow food originating from Nigeria popularized by the Yoruba ethnic group of Southwestern Nigeria and other parts of Yorubaland. It is made of yam, cassava flour, or unripe plantain flour. Tubers of yams are peeled, sliced, cleaned, dried and then ground into flour. It is also called èlùbọ́. Yams are white in colour but turn brown when dried which gives àmàlà its colour. It is a popular side dish served with ewédú and gbẹ̀gìrì, but is also served with a variety of other ọbè(soups), such as ẹ̀fọ́, ilá, and ogbono.
Yoruba literature is the spoken and written literature of the Yoruba people, one of the largest ethno-linguistic groups in Nigeria and the rest of Africa. The Yoruba language is spoken in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo, as well as in dispersed Yoruba communities throughout the world.
Articles related to Nigeria include:
There are over 525 native languages spoken in Nigeria. The official language and most widely spoken lingua franca is English, which was the language of Colonial Nigeria. Nigerian Pidgin – an English-based creole – is spoken by over 60 million people.
Nigerian cuisine consists of dishes or food items from the hundreds of Native African ethnic groups that comprises Nigeria. Like other West African cuisines, it uses spices and herbs with palm oil or groundnut oil to create deeply flavored sauces and soups.
Anti-Igbo sentiment encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards the Igbo people. The Igbo people make up all of south-eastern Nigeria and a part of South-South and Middle Belt Nigeria's geopolitical zones. Igbophobia is observable in critical and hostile behaviour such as political and religious discrimination and violence towards the Igbo.
Several braille alphabets are used in Nigeria. For English, Unified English Braille has been adopted. Three other languages have been written in braille: Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. All three alphabets are based on English readings, with the addition of letter's particular to these languages. Punctuation is as in English Braille.
Tuwon masara is a Nigerian corn flour swallow eaten primarily by the Hausa and Fulani that resembles fufu. It has several alternative names. This meal is not only common in the northern parts of Nigeria, it is well known around the world, it is just cooked in different ways depending on the country.
Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in The New York Times. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there is no clear or agreed-upon definition for the term, which has made it a subject of several controversies.
Guosa is a constructed interlanguage originally created by Alex Igbineweka in 1965. It was designed to be a combination of the indigenous languages of Nigeria and to serve as a lingua franca to West Africa.
Pounded yam or Iyán (Yoruba) or Ruam-Yo (Tiv) is a Nigerian swallow food native to the Yoruba, Igbo Edo, Tiv and Ebira ethnic groups. It is a traditional food prepared by pounding boiled yam with a mortar and pestle. Pounded yam is similar to mashed potatoes but heavier in consistency. It is a smooth and tasty delicacy traditionally eaten with the hands.
BBC Yoruba is the Yoruba language service of the BBC World Service meant primarily for the Yoruba-speaking communities in Nigeria, Benin Republic, Togo and Yoruba speakers in diaspora. It is part of the 12 new language services incorporated by the BBC World Service. The other languages are Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Igbo, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu and Tigrinya.
BBC Igbo is the Igbo language service of BBC World Service meant primarily for the Igbo-speaking communities in the south-east, South-south of Nigeria and Igbo people in diaspora. It is part of the 12 new language services added to the BBC services and the other languages are Afaan Oromo, Amharic, Gujarati, Yoruba, Korean, Marathi, Pidgin, Punjabi, Telugu and Tigrinya.
Wazobia is a term that means "come" in three major Nigerian languages: Yoruba (wa), Hausa (zo), and Igbo (bia). It is often used as a symbol of unity, diversity, and inclusion in Nigeria, a country with over 250 ethnic groups and languages. The term is also used as a name for various media outlets, cultural events, and social movements in Nigeria.
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