THE SOCIOLINGUISTIC RELEVANCE OF NIGERIAN PIDGIN PROVERBS

BY

OYO EKPO OYO, Ph.D.CENTRE FOR GENERAL STUDIES

CROSS RIVER UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGYCALABAR - NIGERIA

E-mail: oyoekpooyo@gmail.comPHONE NO: +2348033380451

AND

REV. SIS. M. EUNICE ATSU, Ph.DCENTRE FOR GENERAL STUDIES

CROSS RIVER UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGYOKUKU CAMPUS - NIGERIA

E-mail: PHONE NO: +2347038809212

ABSTRACTLanguage is one of the instruments used in communication. Nigerian pidgin is one of the

languages that is widely spoken in Nigeria by people of all ages and sex and the speakers cut across all social classes and backgrounds. This research work focuses on the relevance of Nigerian pidgin proverbs in the sociolinguistic world. It examines the concept of sociolinguistics, Nigerian pidgin, the meaning and qualities of proverbs and the sociolinguistic relevance of Nigerian pidgin proverbs. The work chooses about fifteen Nigerian pidgin proverbs from its corpus for discussion. Some other proverbs in the language are collated and labelled Appendix A. The paper gives the literary translation/meaning of each of the proverbs it chooses for discussion. The work contributes to the existing body of knowledge in Nigerian pidgin and scholarship in general.

KEYWORDS: Sociolinguistics, proverbs, Nigeria pidgin, language, witticism.

IntroductionA Pidgin may be defined as a contact language of people of diverse language

backgrounds who are in need of a common language. It requires the contact of two or more cultures or languages and there must be a dominant 'alien' language that supplies the bulk of the vocabulary. Todd (1974) defines pidgin as a marginal language that arises to fulfil certain restricted communication needs among people who have no common language while Todd (1984) defines it as “a communication system that develops among people who do not share a common language” (p.30).

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A Pidgin may be restricted or extended. The restricted variety of pidgin serves for a short period and is often discontinued when the contact stops. The extended version, on the other hand, is not a mother tongue but is extended and used beyond the original limited function which caused it to come into being (Oyo, 2013) concluded that Nigerian Pidgin is indeed extended.

Nigeria is a linguistically heterogeneous nation and this complex status poses a lot of problems in communication among the people. In this kind of situation, Nigerian pidgin stands out as the most viable option that can solve the country's language problems. It is today the language of widest communication in the face of the multiplicity of languages in the country. The language has contributed immensely to the communication aspect of the socio-economic life as well as in bridging the communication gap among the various classes of people in the country. It is spoken across the country and “is more or less the 'official' language … in the country” (Oyo, 2006) (p.1). The language has helped in enhancing meaningful socio-economic values and to interpret them and provide information on the meaning and significance of certain events and issues. Nigerian pidgin is today used in some churches (in choruses, teaching, sermon and prayers), in schools (informally), in the film and music industries, in commerce, in politics and in the media (for news, advertisement, orientation, mass mobilization, enlightenment campaigns, jingles) and so on.

The language may have emerged around the eighteen century with the coming of the Europeans, namely, the Portuguese, the Germans and the English for the purpose of trade. The English, however, stayed longer than others as they stayed through the era of missionary works and later, colonial rule. The colonial rule lasted for many decades until 1960 when Nigeria had her independence from the British. This may account for why English is the major superstrate language of Nigerian pidgin.

Nigerian pidgin had in the past been viewed negatively and many derogatory names were given to it. Many viewed the language as “inferior language, as a vulgar tongue lacking in refined or euphemist expressions and hardly able to cope with subtlety of thought and analysis” (Essien, 2003). Today, the case is different as many Nigerians have developed positive attitude towards the language. The language has been affirmed by many Linguists including the researcher as a language in its own right satisfying all the features of language. This has triggered numerous research works on the origin, growth, development of the language as well as on its grammar. Many more research works are on-going.

The problems facing Nigerian pidgin today includes the fact that it lacks status as some people in authority still view it as a deviant form of the English language even when they speak it, and so have refused to accord it recognition officially. The language also lacks an approved orthography and standard spelling rules.

These notwithstanding, the language has grown and is still growing with it vocabulary drawn from English and indigenous Nigerian languages, loan words, borrowings, coinages, slang expressions and self – evolving creation of the speakers. It is through some of these that a number of Nigerian Pidgin proverbs have been generated.

Literature on sociolinguisticsA number of works have been done on sociolinguistics by many scholars. Many scholars

and researchers have also given various definitions of sociolinguistics. In what follows, the researcher looks at some of these with a view to adding flavour to the research work.

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Fishman (1972) states that sociolinguistics is “the study of the characteristics of language varieties, the characteristics of their functions and the characteristics of their speakers as these three constantly interact, and change one another within a speech community ” (p.3). Gites (1979) sees sociolinguistics as an examination of the field of language in its social context while Hudson (1980) defines sociolinguistics as “the study of language in relation to society” and that it throws light both on the nature of the language and on the nature of society” (p.1).

Pride (1971) points out that “sociolinguistics is not simply an amalgam of linguistics and sociology but it embraces in principle, at least every object of the structure and use of language that relates to the social and cultural function” (p.287). Wardhaugh (1989) says that sociolinguistics is “the relationship between language and society with the goal of a better understanding of the structure of language and how languages function in communication” (p.12).

On some of the major works on sociolinguistics, Fishman (1972a) analyses multilingual settings, with hypothetical examples, the domains of language behaviours and then does an integration of macro and micro parameters. The work looks at multilingual speech communities as distinct from each other. It is directed to a formal consideration of many descriptive and analytic variables which may contribute to an understanding of who speaks what language to whom and when in those speech communities that are multilingual in nature. The work focuses essentially on multilingual settings in which a single population makes use of two or more “languages” or varieties of the “same language” for internal communication.

Sankoff (1972) carries out a review of some of the major trends in the analytical approaches which had been proposed and illustrates with data collected on the behaviour of multilinguals among the Buang of New Guinea. The works helps us to know that though the data were drawn from a multilingual community, the kind of linguistic behaviour involved like shifting or switching among the various codes is not limited to only multilinguals as it does not differ from the behaviour of monolinguals.

Bell (1978) examines the goals, approaches and problems of sociolinguistics. The topics are selected to draw interest from its readers especially as the interdisciplinary nature of sociolinguistics makes a natural bridge between the humanities and sciences. The work's layout follows a development from issues at the micro level of sociolinguistics explanation, the function of language in the individual, in dyadic and small group interaction to the macro-level of language choice among larger groups and aggregates up to those of the nation and state.

Hudson (1980) provides a theoretical framework within which the findings of sociolinguistics may be related to the theory of language structure. It points out many positive contributions that a sociolinguistic viewpoint can make to the study of language structure. It states that sociolinguistics is both empirical and partly theoretical like other subjects and that the “armchair” approach to sociolinguistics can be fairly productive, whether it is based on facts collected in a systematic way as part of research or simply on one's own experience. The work asserts that personal experience is a rich source of information on language in relation to society.

Literature on proverbs Finnegan (1970) asserts that “the exact definition of 'proverb' is no easy matter”(p.393).

The work says that “the proverb is a saying in more or less fixed form, marked by shortness, sense and salt and distinguished by the popular acceptance of the truth expressed in it” (p.394).

Proverb is a form of witticism with aesthetics background and neatness of structure and sharpness of poetic appeal. Okpowho (1992) defines a proverb as “a piece of folk wisdom

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expressed with terseness and charm. The terseness implies a certain economy in the choice of words and a sharpness of focus, while the 'charm' conveys the touch of literary or poetic beauty in expression” (p.226). Crystal (1997) states that proverb is a “short, pithy, rhythmical saying which expresses a general belief or truth” (p.19).

Akporobaro (2001) defines a proverb as “an aphorism, a wise saying, based upon people's experience and is a reflection of the social values and sensibilities of the people” (p.105). He further sees a proverb as “a graphic statement that expresses a truth of experience” (p.108). He continues by saying that “its beauty and source of delight in what it says is readily perceived and accepted as an incontrovertible truth… and empirical fact based upon and derived from people's experience of life, human relationship and interaction with the world of nature” (p.108). Ogbulogu (2002) is of the opinion that proverbs provide a short house of peoples belief, attitudes, wisdom and reaction to a variety of situation (p.112).

Jenkwe (1992) defines proverbs as “short pithy statements which usually contain general truths”. They are not used in isolation from speech; rather, they are used to clarify the speaker's points, to embellish his speech, or state of philosophy or outlook in life” (p.149 -150). Chukwuma (1994) is of the opinion that a proverb is “a sentence, two or more units of speech utterance brought together in different association within these units that constitute form” (p.105).

Okon and Ekpenyong (2002) state that proverbs are short statements that portray the intellectual and communicative contents among the speakers in a speech community. Achebe (1958) captures the essence of proverb when he says that it is “the palm oil with which words are eaten” (118).

Proverbs are made up of a number of qualities. Proverbs are regarded as statements based on experience and which have social functions. Proverbs in African languages of which Nigerian pidgin is one, are usually expressed in direct statements while some come in form of imperatives and interrogatives but in simple or complex structures. Many proverbs are self-explanatory. Other qualities include brevity and economy of expressions with rhythmic (sound) effect. There is also the use of irony and sarcasm and some form of heightened speech in some proverbs. Some appear in singular while other appear in plural with various verb tenses or in the first, second or third person pronoun.

Proverbs in Nigerian Pidgin, like in other African languages, are highly picturesque and have delightful mode of expression that owe their appeal to a number of figures of speech like simile, metaphor, imagery and so on. Another quality is that proverbs have hidden and oblique form of speech with overtones of playing safe and avoiding direct commitment. The depth of the hidden meaning is usually implied.

Methodology The data for this paper were got through personal contacts and direct correspondence

between the researcher and the respondents. Personal interviews and the researcher's participation methods were adopted. The research population was selected through the random and the stratified sampling methods from students of University of Calabar and Cross River University of Technology, residents of Police and Army barracks in Calabar, and the Ikom-Ogoja axis. Also used were drivers and park workers of inter-state transport services. The population was made up of male and female respondents and their ages ranged from 17years to 68years.

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Nigerian pidgin proverbs were carefully noted and jotted down in files by the researcher and later investigated, analysed and discussed in the work.

Sociolinguistic relevance of Nigerian pidgin proverbsA major point worthy of note is that Nigerian pidgin does not belong to any linguistic

group or ethnic group in Nigeria. It is a language used by most Nigerians in spite of tribe and tongue. This, therefore, makes it possible for people of diverse ethnic and linguistic groups in the country to contribute their wits in coming up with proverbs in Nigerian pidgin.

Many Nigerian pidgin proverbs are got directly from mother tongue (indigenous Nigerian languages) of the speakers. The indigenous languages have enormous influence on Nigerian pidgin proverbs. Some of these proverbs are seen as a direct translation of the proverbs of our mother tongues into Nigerian pidgin. Since indigenous Nigerian languages are the substrate languages of it and proverbs in these languages are culture –oriented as they express the people's culture, philosophy and world view. The speakers tend to simply translate the proverbs in their mother tongues directly into Nigerian pidgin while still retaining their full meaning and essence.

Many other Nigerian pidgin proverbs are self – evolving. Others are coinages and some generated through the creative ingenuity of the speakers. Nigerian pidgin proverbs tend to be used by speakers to answer questions, prove a point or support a point of view in social communication. The proverbs can reflect a wide range of ideas, concepts and phenomena. These proverbs are used to advise, to admonish, to warn, to satirise and ridicule, to educate, to entertain, to persuade, to actuate, to dissuade and to settle disagreements and so on.

The common themes in Nigerian pidgin proverbs include the need for peace and unity, love, caution, humility, honesty, truthfulness, patience, humanity, God's will and purpose, the all –knowing God, luck, the godly, the wicked, beauty and so on.

Nigerian pidgin proverbs are also heard in speech situations where Nigerian pidgin holds sway. This language is used by the elders where there is no common language, but used by the younger generation as a language of wider social communication – whether there is a common language or not. Speakers of Nigerian pidgin use proverbs in the settlement of disputes, naming ceremonies, traditional marriages and so on especially where the people involved belong to diverse ethnic groups.

Whereas in other African languages, proverbs are mostly used by the elderly ones, in Nigerian pidgin, the otherwise is the case. In the language, the youths and the elders use proverbs in their discussions with the former using the proverbs to create fun, to satirise and to entertain as the case maybe. The use of Nigerian pidgin proverbs is not the exclusive preserve of the elderly ones in society. The youths are the ones who create some of the proverbs based on their experience and interaction in the society.

In what follows, we have chosen some of the Nigerian pidgin proverbs for discussion so as to bring out their relevance to us in society.

Discussion and analysisProverbs generally enhance effectiveness in communication and speech. Proverbs are

not used in vacuum. They are used to achieve some goals. It is worthy of note that the meaning of some of the Nigerian pidgin proverbs are opaque. The meaning of some on the surface is not related to the meaning of the words that constitute it. The meaning of the Nigeria pidgin

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proverbs can be philosophical, situational, contextual or literary as we will soon see.The work is presented as follows; the Nigerian pidgin proverb, the English translation of

the proverb and the meaning and discussion of the relevance of the proverb to society.

1. Na flai wey no dey hear word dey folo dead bọdi kpeme/kpai/meng fọ grave.“It is the stubborn fly that follows the dead body into the grave”.This is highly philosophical and a universal truth about life. Anyone who fails to heed advice, usually ends up in trouble or serious danger. It is usually used to address one who is persistent in some bad actions. The aim is to warn the person against such act(s) and to cause him/her to desist from such.

2. No mata how nyash smart reach, breast dey fes am enta haus.“No matter how smart the buttocks is, it is the breast that will be the first to enter the house”.This is also philosophical. The proverb recognises hierarchy of authority and people are naturally or politically or administratively in different positions. There is always the first and there is always the last. The wisdom behind the proverb is that no matter how fast one seems to be, he/she can never run faster than his/her shadow. We should follow the queue and wait for our time.

3. I no gri, I no gri na im dey tie dres.“Disagreements often lead to fight”.This is a proverb that cautions us against getting ourselves involved in disagreements that end violently. Many often, we insist on our 'rights' and want 'things' done our own way. The moral lesson is the call for peaceful resolution of all perceived problems as two wrongs cannot make a right.

4. Sọfri sọfri kach mọnki.“Cautiously and patiently one catches the monkey”.This proverb calls for caution and patience in whatever we do. It is only this way that we will succeed. In the proverb, 'mọnki 'monkey', an animal known for its agility is used to symbolize success or whatever we aim to achieve in life. We can only succeed if we are steadfast, cautious, persistent and patient in life.

5. Na tree wey near tree dey mek mọnki shine.“The agility of a monkey depends on the nearness of trees”.The proverb portrays some lessons in success. The success of one entails the cooperation and support of not just fellow human beings but other factors after all we need a little bit of luck in everything we do. We must be united and cooperate with one another to succeed in life.

6. Craze no dey hard to form, na di waka waka bi di wahala.“It is not difficult to pretend to be crazy; it is the walking around (trekking) that is the problem”.We all can pretend to be what we are not – often times, we claim to be what we are not in

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actual sense and when the time comes for us to exercise the responsibilities of such calling, we are found wanting. We should be who we are. In other words, the proverb tells us that it is “easier said than done”.

7. Pesin wey dey fọ tu haus no fit kach tif.“One who lives in two houses cannot apprehend a thief”.The proverb tells us that one who indulges in many things at a time hardly succeeds as a result of total lack of concentration and lack of control. It admonishes those who think they can achieve many things at the same time. The moral lesson is that we should do things or go about life systematically.

8. Pikin wey piss put fọ riva no dey troway am (di piss); if im mama pipul no drink am, im papa pipul go fọ drink am.“A person who urinates into the river does not waste it; if the father's kindred do not drink it, the mother's kindred will do”This proverb is philosophical and carries some moral lessons with it. One's action or inaction today may be detrimental to one or to one's relations later in life. We should be very cautious and careful of our deeds in society after all we reap whatever we sow and the evil we do either lives with us or lives after us.

9. Lazi pesin no dey chọp swit swit ting.“A lazy person does not eat sweet dainties”.The proverb condemns laziness. A lazy person cannot enjoy the good things of life including success. It stresses the need for hard work in all that we do after the Bible states that “from the sweat of thy face, thou shall eat bread”. Nothing good in life comes easy.

10. No mata hau your tempa hot reach, e no fit kuk beans.“Your temper cannot boil beans no matter how hot it is”.The proverb rebukes and condemns hot temperament. It calls on us to be calm always as one's hot temper cannot solve any problem. It makes a jest of hot tempered people who achieve nothing meaningful at the end. Hot temperament can only lead one to a sad, painful, regrettable or disastrous end.

11. Na di koporat wọta and gari get, na im mek gari dey rise.“It is the co-operation between water and garri that makes the garri to swell up”.'Garri', grated and fried cassava is usually prepared by adding hot water to it to get the form that is used in eating with 'soup' in Nigeria.This is a proverb that emphasizes co-operation between and among people and unity of purpose. It talks about peaceful co-existence which usually leads to happy and profitable life. Indeed, peace is better than war. Another Nigerian pidgin proverb,Na koporat mek rice ful fọ pọt. “It is the cooperation that exists among the grains of rice that helps the rice to swell up”, emphasises the theme of the earlier one. It is in unity that we can remain a strong force.

12. Newspaper today na suya pepa tọmorọ.“Today's newspaper may end up as paper used in wrapping 'suya' meat tomorrow”.

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'Suya' is roast meat (of ram or cow)A philosophical proverb It is, which reminds us of the transient nature of mankind and the vanity associated with life and all what it entails. We do not control our future. It is in God's hands and we should remember that we are ordinary mortals and nothing in life last forever.

13. Na wetin yu luk troway face yuo nebọ tek pas yu.“It is what you overlook that your neighbour uses to surpass you”.This proverb calls on us not to overlook everything as those things we may seem not to be interested in may have been what would have led us to success. We need to be curious and at alert if success is to be attained. We should be interested in the activities around us.

14. Flai wey sabi bọdi no fit enta pit toilet.“A clever (adult) fly does not enter inside the pit toilet”.This emphasizes the need for us to be mature in our thought and deeds and the need for us to apply wisdom in all our daily business. We should be careful and conscious of everything around us so as to avoid getting into danger. We should always look, learn, understand and be convinced before we leap.

15. Soja go; soja kọm.“When a soldier leaves, another replaces him”.The proverb which conveys a universal truth has the theme of succession. It shows the nature of man as mortal and transient. It tells us that there is time for everything and no condition in life is permanent. It also portrays the indispensability of man.

The work tried in this section to analyse and discuss the meanings and societal relevance of the fifteen Nigerian pidgin proverbs randomly selected from the corpus. We based our analyses and discussion on contextual and philosophical framework.

Conclusion The work focused on the sociolinguistic relevance of Nigerian pidgin proverbs. The

introduction looked at Nigerian pidgin as a language. The researcher took a look at some literature on sociolinguistics and proverbs generally before looking at the methodology. It then did an indepth treatment of the main focus of the paper using fifteen proverbs for discussion and analysis.

The work found out that Nigerian pidgin is rich in proverbs. Most speakers of the language hardly make up to three sentences without garnishing their speech with one or two or more proverbs and such proverbs follow the context of speech. Their (proverbs) wit, attractiveness, insight and meaning are usually seen as arising from the context. These proverbs serve to spice up discussion. They enhance the stylistic beauty of effective communication in the language.

It was also found out that some of the Nigerian pidgin proverbs are directly translated from the proverbs of the many indigenous languages while others are pure Nigerian pidgin creation. This helps to enrich the Nigerian pidgin as the speakers of the various indigenous languages which are rich in proverbs “donate” some of these to Nigerian pidgin through

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translation.It is acknowledged that despite the rich corpus it was impossible to gather all the

Nigerian pidgin proverbs. Carnie (2000) supports this when he says that “due to the indefinite and productive nature of language, a corpus could never contain all the grammatical forms of a language nor could it even contain a representative sample” (p.10).

Even though the language has no approved orthography and no standard spelling rules, it has grown and expanded over the years beyond the expectations of many who had negative attitude towards it. Nigerian pidgin is today very popular and is not restricted to any group of people or social stratum. It is a language that copes with a wide range of ideas, concepts and situations and is used freely in situations where it would have been impossible without a common language.

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Essien, O. E. (2003). National development and language policy in Nigeria. In O, Essien and M, Okon (Eds). Topical issues in sociolinguistics: The Nigeria perspective. Aba: National Institute for Nigerian Languages, 21 -24.

Finnegan, R. (1970) Oral literature in Africa. Nairobi: Oxford University Press.

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APPENDIX A. Some other Nigerian pidgin proverbs in our corpus. (The list is not exhaustive)

1. Big maut dey tọk, big ie dey hie, goat dey chọp big yam ie.2. E don tay fọ chewing stick and morning.3. Kari mi, I kari yu na im mek rice ful pọt.4. Na from clap dem dey enta dans.5. Leg wey dey waka kurukere, eye wey dey si kurukere, kurukere dey si am.6. Mọnki smart, mọnki smart na tri wey nie tri mek am.7. Chikin wey run komot fọ Borno go Ibadan go still end fọ pot of soup.8. Kau wey dey run go America go kombak laik kon bif.9. Akara and moi moi get di sem papa,na wetin dem si mek dem diferen.10. Wetin separate kpekere and plantain chips, na pakage.11. Eskọt mi,eskọt mi, n aim slav trade tek start.12. Di wọta wey dem tek mek eba no fit kọm bak to yu.13. Pikin wey say im papa no go sọk bres, im tu no go sọk.14. Trọbul dey sleep yanga kọm wak am.15. Pesin wey dey haid bọdi no fit haid am fọ toilet eye.16. Chicken tok sey (nai) im mama hot bọdi swit pass breast wọta.17. Luk fọ black goat bifọ nait kọm.

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18. Animal wey escape fọ trap dey so-so fear ben-ben stick.19. Wọn figa no dey fit kọmọt lice fọ pesin hed.20. Lion born yu kọm dey laik got (goat).21. Tru tok get haus, na lie dey waka waka.22. Pikin wey sey im mama no go sleep, im tu no go sleep.23. Kau wey no get tail, na God dey draiv am flai.24. Na smọl smọl old wuman dey tek join dans.25. Na fọ old age ashawo dey sabi say pikin good.26. Nyash no get tit but e dey kut shit.27. Kokcroch wey don jam fowl, jam bad luck.28. Mai ting, awa ting no bi di sem ting.29. Toto wọta smọl but e reach prick tek baf.30. Na kriket tel impikin dem say no mata hau grawd strong, dem no go sleep fọ outside.31. No bi eye wey dem tek chọp eba wey dem dey tek share meat.32. Dem no dey tel blind man say salt no dey fọ fud.33. Bifọ yu si mọnki, mọnki dọn si yu.34. If pikin say im sabi die, im papa sef go tel am say im sabi buri.35. If e bi laik say evribọdi dey kraz nay u dey kraz.36. Wuman wey dey find pikin no dey wear pant sleep.37. Weda hot no mean say fowl go lay boil(ed) egg. 38. Pesin wey dọn faint faint bifọ no bi stranja fọ dead.39. Monki dey work, Baboon dey chop

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