With respect to the emergence of
loanwords, Platt et al. (1984) observe that linguistic contacts between
languages result in the incorporation of some words coming from other tongues.
Thus, the process of adopting foreign words is not strange or unusual. It
happens in all languages and dialects in varying degrees and ways because
speech communities do not function in isolation. The intermingling of people of
different cultures and languages brings about borrowing, and through it,
languages accommodate foreign elements, words and ideas geared towards
expanding their vocabularies. Again, languages come into contact through
bilingual speakers. Banjo (1983), Madaki (1983) and Pariola (1983) in Olaoye
(1991) posit that when languages come into contact, a variety of phenomena such
as bilingualism, borrowing, relexification, code-switching, code-mixing and
perhaps language death take place. However, Scotton (1988) opines that the use
of a borrowed item in a language is codeswitching until enough speakers use it
and the item is accepted by native speakers into their dictionary.
Lexical borrowings are by far the most
commonly attested language contact phenomenon, and it is therefore not an
aberration in the world of languages as languages come in contact at different
points. Nigerian Pidgin is a product of such contact and it relies on other
languages for survival. Just like human beings, languages (including Nigerian
Pidgin) borrow linguistic items and expressions from one another to complement,
improve and develop their vocabularies. No wonder Haspelmath and
Tadmor (2009:1) state that ―no language in the sample and probably
no language in the world is entirely devoid of loanwords‖.
Nigerian Pidgin (NP), like other
living languages has borrowed extensively intranationally and internationally.
The vocabulary of a pidgin language is usually small compared to that of other
languages, but it continues to grow and acquire more linguistic items when in
active use. It is often described as a
marginal language used by people who need to communicate for certain restricted
purposes. For this reason, pidgins tend to arise on trade routes, for example,
along the coast of West Africa. The more languages a pidgin comes in contact
with, the more the words it borrows from the languages, and it adopts the words
in various situations. With time and with increased use, a pidgin when it
becomes an ―expanded pidgin‖ is able to satisfy all the linguistic needs of the
immediate community in which it is used. Where an expanded pidgin co-exists
with a host language, as for example Nigerian Pidgin does with the English
Language in Nigeria, research has shown that it is not an appendage of that
host language, It is a language of its own with a distinct linguistic system
(Elugbe and Omamor 1991, Gani Ikilama 1993).
Ken Saro Wiwa‘s book ―Sozaboy‖ is a
post independence novel which describes the fortunes of a young naive recruit
(in the Nigerian Army during the Nigerian Civil War) who entered the army proud
but eventually faced confusion, disillusionment and horror. Mene is totally
naive, and remains so till the end of the novel. Despite his limited knowledge,
Mene always manages to survive while the others -- who started out with him --
quickly die.
Saro-Wiwa gives a sub-title to his
novel, "a novel in rotten English." This is an antiwar novel, which
is real and experimental in its constant, but sustained use of pidgin English.
Other authors, such
as Achebe and Soyinka have used
Pidgin English in their dialogues, but Saro-Wiwa has utilised the language of
the novel in order to reflect the reality of the context around his story as he
indiscriminately borrows lexical items from different languages. The writer
sets out to actually write, hence the tag ‗rotten English‘. According to his
words in his preface to the novel:
Sozaboy's language is what I call 'rotten
English,' a mixture of Nigerian pidgin English, broken English and occasional
flashes of good, even idiomatic English. This language is disordered and
disorderly. Born of a mediocre education and severely limited opportunities, it
borrows words, patterns and images freely from the mother-tongue and finds
expression in a very limited English vocabulary. To its speakers, it has the
advantage of having no rules and no syntax. It thrives on lawlessness, and is
part of the dislocated and discordant society in which Sozaboy must live, move
and have not his being.
In
society today, differences exist among people of different social and economic
classes. It is this class distinction that Saro Wiwa demonstrates by employing
and combining different tongues. Through the introduction of broken English,
Pidgin English and indigenous languages, Saro Wiwa showcases the disorderliness
in the novel. There is anarchy, but it also constitutes a source of comic
relief and sustains the interest of the reader. This necessitates the
indiscriminate borrowing of so many words from different languages to buttress
the writer‘s control of the language.
The
major goal of radio and television stations is to disseminate information at
the grassroot level. This is why there is an increasing number of radio
stations that broadcast in Nigerian Pidgin today, since according to research,
NP is the language of widest outreach in
Nigeria. Gani-Ikilama (1996:314)
confirms this thus: when asked through which language the
largest number of Nigerians can be reached, 59% responded that it is pidgin,
while 28% said it is Hausa, 4% responded in favour of Yoruba, 2% in favour of
Igbo and the remaining 7% responded in favour of other languages.
The choice of
this language in the media is to accommodate both the educated and the
uneducated. These stations that broadcast in NP have indeed taken the freedom
of expression very far, for with Nigerian Pidgin, many listeners feel very
free. Liberty FM, Supreme FM and Freedom FM are some of the radio stations that
broadcast in Pidgin in Kaduna. Kaduna is therefore a multilingual city for it
represents the Nigerian character. Supreme FM is known for its popular
programme ‗Oga Driver‘ which attracts many listeners and Wazobia FM is widely
known as a station that broadcasts exclusively in NP.
1.2 Statement
of Research Problem
Linguistic borrowing is an
already established fact among languages of the world. Borrowing is a feature
of all living languages, as distinct from a language like Latin, which is
referred to as a ―dead‖ language, as it cannot accommodate new words.
Considering the situation that brought NP into existence, a host of Nigerians
and linguists would rightly expect it to borrow from any language around and
especially from languages around the delta areas of Nigeria where NP thrives
most: indeed, in such areas, it is considered a creole, that is, a pidgin that
has become the mother tongue of its users.
Many Nigerians today dislike to be
associated with NP because they see it as derogatory or as a language meant for
illiterates or semi educated people. Particularly some educated Nigerians have
always stigmatized NP. Owing to its relationship with the English Language from
which the bulk of its initial vocabulary was derived, NP is often seen as an
inferior language. It is also regarded as an exoglossic language, yet all
things considered, this language NP has its roots in Nigeria and it is used
within Nigeria.
Olabode (2008:1) presents the situation in the
following way. The Nigerian Pidgin has an ironic stigma that
even language experts find it difficult to understand. It is the most widely spoken language, the only
unbiased langua franca with interjection of many indigenous languages across
the country and it is the language often used by politicians to attract the
attention and votes of the masses, yet it is the most maligned language
dismissed as the language of the uneducated.
The general attitude against
Nigerian Pidgin is what Mafeni (1971) tags ―traditional attitudes of
disapproval‖. However, linguistic research continues to bring NP out of this
negative situation. Elugbe and Omamor (1991) say that NP is like the errand boy
whom everybody uses but disowns.
NP like any living language in active use has
borrowed many words to swell its originally small vocabulary, and it is
therefore important to know the sources of the borrowings considering the fact
that most of the countries where these donor languages are spoken share no
demographic boundaries with Nigeria. In addition, finding the real provenance
of linguistic items or determining the true avenue of loaning is a difficult
matter that is often neglected in the study of loanwords.
1.3 Research
Questions
Our research questions are as follows
a) What are the loan words found in NP?
b) How intelligible are those loaned linguistic items to users of
NP?
c) How are the loaned items adopted and integrated in NP?
d) What type or nature of borrowing exists in NP?
1.4 Aim
and Objectives
The aim of the study is to find the
sources of NP‘s vocabulary items collected from our
sources, given that the initial
bulk is from the English Language. The objectives include:
a) to Identify the loan words that are found in NP.
b) to determine how intelligible the borrowed items are to Nigerian
users of pidgin.
c) to explain the linguistic adjustments that accompany the
adoption and adaptation of loaned lexical items into NP.
d) to determine the nature/type of borrowing that exists when
lexical items are loaned from other languages into NP.
1.5 Significance
of the Study
So many literature and works exist in the
field of linguistic borrowing. It has been established that all languages
borrow irrespective of the status and according to Garba (1979), no language in
any society which has come in contact with any other society or societies is
entirely pure. All such languages have adopted some loan words from one
another. Again, all languages borrow irrespective of where they are spoken, the
population of the users and their status. Nigeria Pidgin also borrows, so it is
important to know the sources of these words found in the language since it is
a distinct language. The knowledge of
many Nigerians on the properties of NP is relatively poor. It is hoped that
this research will increase knowledge in this field.
This work therefore aims at describing the
existing link between NP and other languages within and outside Nigeria. In
addition, we hope to re-establish that NP is a language of its own with a
developed and stable grammar and a vocabulary that satisfies the linguistic
needs of its users in particular situations or communities. Furthermore, a work
of this nature is carried out in Zaria, a northern Nigerian town because
researches have proved that NP is used all over Nigeria. Moreover, Ahmadu Bello
University is a multilingual setting; a federal university with federal
character.
1.6 Scope
and Delimitation
This study investigates borrowings
in NP with a focus on Ken Saro Wiwa‘s Sozaboy (1985) and relatively current
(2015) news scripts from three NP using radio stations. Emphasis will be laid
mainly on lexical items. Words from different sources will be analyzed. The
choice of this literary text is that it depicts an earlier version of pidgin
and it is also a codified form too. The author calls his work ―rotten English‖,
not by accident but by choice. On the other hand, Kaduna is a cosmopolitan
city, hence the use of NP in broadcasting stations is a deliberate practice.
News scripts from three NP using radio stations in Kaduna have been considered
in this work.
Buyers has the right to create
dispute within seven (7) days of purchase for 100% refund request when
you experience issue with the file received.
Dispute can only be created when
you receive a corrupt file, a wrong file or irregularities in the table of
contents and content of the file you received.
ProjectShelve.com shall either
provide the appropriate file within 48hrs or
send refund excluding your bank transaction charges. Term and
Conditions are applied.
Buyers are expected to confirm
that the material you are paying for is available on our website
ProjectShelve.com and you have selected the right material, you have also gone
through the preliminary pages and it interests you before payment. DO NOT MAKE
BANK PAYMENT IF YOUR TOPIC IS NOT ON THE WEBSITE.
In case of payment for a
material not available on ProjectShelve.com, the management of
ProjectShelve.com has the right to keep your money until you send a topic that
is available on our website within 48 hours.
You cannot change topic after
receiving material of the topic you ordered and paid for.
Login To Comment