the sociolinguistics of nigerian pidgin

7/24/2019 The Sociolinguistics of Nigerian Pidgin

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HE SOCIOLINGUIS ICS OF NIGERIAN PIDGIN

(ENGLISH) ON UNIVERSI Y CAMPUS

BY

M.S. ABDULLAHI-IDIAGBON

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN


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Introduction

As once a student at various times in aCollee o! "ducation and Universities as #ell

as a lecturer at a Collee o! "ducation$

%ol&tec'nic and (resentl& at a Universit&$ I

'ave o)served )ot' as a student and a

lecturer$ 'o# students use (idin-"nlis' in

di!!erent circumstances as a means o!communication.

It is *uite interestin to note t'at #'at

actuall& started as a +continenc& lanuae,

)et#een t'e #'ite merc'ant$ #'o later

turned colonial masters$ and t'eir )lactraders 'as no# )ecome +an elitist cam(us

lanuae, s(oen amon t'e teemin

(o(ulation o! t'e Nierian students in 'i'er

institutions o! learnin. In ot'er #ords$

(idin #'ic'$ uir et. al. /01234526 'ave

descri)ed as +t'e traditional inter!erence

used c'ie!l& )& t'e (ros(erous and (rivileed

sections o! a communit&,$ re(resented )& t'e


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unsilled and illiterate class o! societ& is no#

)ein (roudl& s(oen )& students o! tertiar&

institutions on cam(uses.7'us$ at common rooms$ ioss$ 8ossi(9

centers$ vie#in centers$ (la&in rounds$

rall& rounds$ rela:ation ;oints$ movie

rounds and a 'ost o! ot'er meetin (oints

#'ere and #'en students are relieved o! t'eiracademic routines$ t'e& are seen interactin

livel& #it' (idin-"nlis'.

7'is (a(er t'ere!ore intends to e:amine t'e

use as #ell as esta)lis' t'e (o(ularit& o!

%idin-"nlis' amon t'e Nierian studentson cam(uses )ased on sociolinuistic

(rinci(les. 7'e varia)les lie domains o! use$

se:$ ae$ et'nicit&$ status amon ot'er

relevant ones #ill )e considered.

7'e Conce(t o! Sociolinuistics

Holmes (2001) observes that not until the beginning of the last decade, the term

sociolinguistics was not accorded prominence. ociolinguistics can be defined as the stud! ofthe relationship between language and societ! (Hudson 1""0, Holmes, 2001). #his implies that

as soon as we embar$ on the stud! of %H& we spea$ in '#*+ wa!s we are alread! within

the realm of the sociolinguistics.


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Sociolinguistics variables like sex, status, literacy level, exposure, setting,

idiosyncrasies and socio-cultural values, and how they influence the linguistic

behaviour lie within the scope of sociolinguistics (Adeyanju, 199!" #hrough one

or $ore of these factors, the social identity of a speaker or a speech co$$unity

is signaled"

A culture is better understood and pro$oted through its language because

language serves as a $irror to a society and its cultural practices" %rooks (19&'!

observes that

+t is through the magic of language that man comes eventuall! to understand to an impressive

degree the environment to which he lives and, still more surprising, gains an insight into his own

nature and his own condition.

)y$es (19*'! opines that language cannot be the sa$e in ter$s of the

assigned role and value, therefore, +ish$ans (199*! assertion that no language

is inferior is aptly logical" #his is because where two or $ore speech

co$$unities co$e in contact, a lingua franca or co$$on language of

co$$unication e$erge (Stockwell, ..!" #he e$ergent language can serve as

a substrate or an auxiliary to the $ain or superstrate one(s! or serve as just a

$eans of business transaction or even rise to beco$e an international language"

)e further points out that it is the social situation-use popularly known as context

that affects the $orpho-syntactic pattern of a language" Since pidginisation,

according to )y$es (19*1'!, is a /co$plex process of sociolinguistics0, we


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shall now consider the use of igerian 2idgin 3nglish a$ong students in the

igerian 4niversities"

7'e Oriin o! %idin

-pinions differ on the et!mological genesis of the word pidgin. dwards (1"") firsttraced the word to /ortuguese -cupacao which means business or peueno bab!tal$ or

simpl! bab!. He said the word could as well be lin$ed to the *merindian pidian which

means people. He reported that some scholars claim that the word originated from Hebrew

/idgin or pigeon which means barter or a bird, respectivel!. Hence, from the foregoingvar!ing conceptual opinions, dwards deduced this definition of a pidgin as

a bab!li$e and rather superficial repetitions associated with trade communication (p. 2).

)ol$es refutes the assertion that pidgin is a baby talk" )e e$phasi5es that

/pidgins and 6reoles are real languages not baby talk" #hey are used for serious

purposes0 (p"1!"


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7eca$p (19*1*8! describes pidgin as an incidental co$$unicative

language within a $ultilingual setting which /is the native language of nobody0"

ts vocabulary according to 7eca$p, is donated by the socio-politically do$inant

language /in the original contact situation0, $ost especially, with the 3uropean

i$perialists" 2idgin is therefore an a$alga$ of the $ain, foreign or superstrate

language and the indigenous or substrate language" Stockwell (..! observes

that because of the overwhel$ing colonial expansion of the %ritish i$perial

power, /around a :uarter of all pidgins and 6reoles have 3nglish as ele$ent0

(p"1!"

;uirk et" al" acknowledge that unlike the 6reole, pidgin is used to replace

the native language in a $icro-speech co$$unity" #his i$plies that pidgins are

restricted to a few practical issues or events" )ol$es also agrees that pidgins are

spoken $ore for an affective than referential purpose"

At the early stage of pidgin ;uirk et" al" observe that pidgins initially are

exclusively used for referential and not for affective functions" #hey evolved /to

serve a narrow range of functions in a very restricted set of do$ains0 (p" '!"

2idgins are of considerable interest to sociolinguits because of the

influence which the society exerts on their for$s and functions" )udson

(199.&! confir$s


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ach pidgin is of course speciall! constructed to suit the need of its users which means that it has

to have the terminolog! and constructions needed in whatever $inds of conte3t.

#he si$plicity and resilience of pidgin are always perceived differently by

people" #he positivists (e"g" Akinnaso, 199< Adegbija, 199'! see these :ualities

as an asset and a boost to easy ac:uisition of the language" =n the other hand,

others (e"g" %rann, 198< 3lugbe, 1998! view the language conte$ptuously and

describe it as a debased for$ of language"

7eca$p (19*1!, )y$es (19*1! and )udson (199.! give a synopsis of the

characteristics of pidgins as follows

i" 3li$ination of gra$$atical devices like inflections, plural possessive and

tenses"

ii" #he use of reduplication as intensifier"

iii" Ability of a word to have se$antic extension i"e" expanded $eanings"

So$eti$es, a speaker code-switches fro$ the standard 3nglish to pidgin

in order to indicate, deliberately that the $ood of discussion needs to be

changed" #his type of code switching is known as $etaphorical code-switching"

#his practice is noticeable a$ong the youths who often differentiate between the

/fun ti$e0 and /business ti$e0" 6ode-switching deserves $ore attention than


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code-$ixing in discussing pidgins" #his is because the idea of pidgin

presupposes (code! $ixing of languages"

Nierian %idin

-biechina (1"4), lugbe (1""5) and gbo$hare (2001) are unanimous in their opinionthat the igerian /idgin nglish came into igeria through the coast. 6ifferent pidgin variants

have been noticed on igeria 7 -biechina8s version shall be considered because the writer

considers the meticulousness of the writer in compartmentali9ation of igerian pidgin into

variants as e3haustive and critical. :elow is a diagram which summari9es -biechina8sclassification of the igerian /idgin nglish; the variants identified are five, namel! :endel,

'alabar, ?aiduguri and /ort Harcourt variants.

(i)

Bendel Variant


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(

ii) Calabar Variant (iii) Kano/Maiduguri Variant

(iv)

Lagos Variant (v) Port Harcourt Variant


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A variant is characteri5ed by a preponderant influence of its substrate

language on the for$ and usage of that variant" A variant popularises

vocabularies fro$ a substrate language including their pronunciation, spelling,

usage and $eaning beyond the territory of the original speakers"

An investigation into the use of 2idgin 3nglish in igeria is necessary in

order to understand the social structures of the society and the language

behaviour itself" >riting on igerian pidgin, ?owitt (1991! also re$arked that

recently the pidgin has attained the feat of dignity not only a$ong the illiterates

but also the literate $e$bers of the society" )e instantiated that the use of pidgin

signals proxi$ity and infor$ality and that it is good for cracking jokes"

n his contribution, Adegbija (199'! strengthens the utility of the 2idgin

3nglish and even proposes the elevation of igerian 2idgin 3nglish as a national

language" )e cites its grassroot popularity and cultural neutrality and easy

ac:uisitions as so$e justifications" )e acknowledges, however, the likely

proble$s to be encountered" +or instance, Adegbija $entions aura of inferiority

or stig$a, cultural baselessness and lack of indigenous status as the $ajor cogs

to his proposal" )e concludes that

igerian /idgin nglish has a far much larger number of spea$ers than what has been referredto b! :amgbose (1"402) as tandard igerian nglish.


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@egister is another sociolinguistic variable definable pri$arily by the

context and purpose of co$$unication" #his research shows (through

:uestionnaire and oral interview! that igerian 2idgin 3nglish can be categori5ed

into three"

(i! =rdinarily igerian 2idgin 3nglish spoken by the vast $ajority of igerian

people"

(ii! >afy-ranky which is a special variety popular a$ong the igerian students

and which of course is the $ajor focus of the paper" =ral interview reveals

that this category evolved at Ajegunle, a suburb of agos city, $ostly

inhabited by low-inco$e earners including young $usicians who perfor$

at club houses where $ajority of those in attendance are students and

socialites of low or average status" )owever, />afy0 as being popularly

referred to has spread beyond its originators to virtually all nooks and

crannies of students settle$ent" Busicians like 7addy Showkey, African

6hina, agbaja and 6harlie %oy, to $ention but few are exa$ples of the

apostles of >afy @anky" ncidentally they enjoy tre$endous audience and

patronage fro$ the youths ($ost especially students fro$ higher

institutions! as well as fro$ the socialites"

(iii! )ooligans version popularly associated with the touts, /area boys0 or

hoodlu$s"


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#he first type is the co$$onest that will not be our focus now" #he second

and third types share so$e things in co$$on especially in ter$s of slangs"

)owever, the third is $ore densely $uddled with slangs than the second" Slangs

present an alternative source of words into igerian pidgin" Slangs are

characteri5ed by neologis$, clipping, sound sy$bolis$ and $etaphoric

ele$ents"

Met'od o! Data Collection and Classi!ication

Sociolinuists aree t'at t'e !ield is )ot'

t'eoretical and em(irical. 7o collate t'e data$

si: Nierian Universities9 cam(uses #ere

selected !or t'e distri)ution o! *uestionnaire

as #ell as !or oral intervie#.


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re(resentatives /see t'e !ormat o! t'e

*uestionnaire in t'e a((endi:6.

Data Anal&sis

B& no#$ 'o# (idin "nlis' is )ein used on

Nierian Universities9 cam(uses s'ould

deserved academic attention. Over t'e &ears$

(idin in Nieria 'as e:(anded$ sta)ili@ed

and (ro)a)l& creoli@ed. 7'is is )ecause attimes$ linuistic resources lie )orro#in and

coinae are resorted to in order to co(e #it'

da&-to-da& emerin !unctions and conce(ts.

or instance$ t'e #ord +asari, is an Ara)ic

#ord !or (olice #'ile t'e #ord +solo, is acoinae used to mean +calm do#n,. 7'ese

'ave )een introduced )& t'e Nierian &out's

on cam(us andor t'e 'oodlums to s#ell u(

t'e le:ical reister o! t'eir (idin t&(oloies.

Li!e on cam(us is a)out academic and non-

academic activities. No dou)t t'at t'e

"nlis' lanuae is t'e o!!iciall& reconi@ed

medium o! communication #it'in students


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and )et#een students and t'e Universit&

sta!!. It is also t'e lanuae o! instruction.

"ven t'en$ (idin e:(ressions intermittentl&or once in a #'ile are used )& t'e lecturers

!or ;ocular e!!ects so t'at t'e lecture #ill not

)e )orin. 7'is (ractice$ as revealed )& t'e

oral intervie#$ o!ten maes students !eel t'at

suc' a lecturer is accessi)le and$ in t'e

im(ression o! t'e res(ondents$ t'at 'e 'asood met'od o! teac'in. On cam(uses$

(idin e:(ressions are commonl& resorted to

(er!orm t'e !ollo#in !unctions4

0. 7o 'erald musical concert o! interest

#it'in or outside cam(uses.

5. 7o #omani@e or tal a)out ladies or

ladies discussin t'eir male !riends.

. 7o e:(ress t'eir )asic domestic needs

lie-eatin and clot'in.

. or inter(ersonal(rivate discussion.


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Naturall&$ )ein in adolescent or earl&

adult'ood stae$ students are !ull o! &out'!ul

e:u)erance. No #onder t'at t'e& are !oundtalin a)out or racin (arties. %idin is

used to s(read in!ormation a)out suc' an

occasion. Some e:am(les o! suc' e:(ressions

are4


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/i6 ?e et runs t'is #eeend or s'o# de&

!or to#n t'is #eeend /t'ere is oin to

)e a (art& in to#n t'is #eeend6.

/ii6 You 'ear sa& ;ive de& !or cam(us or im

o 'a((en !or cam(us toniteE /'ave &ou

'eard t'at t'ere is oin to )e a musical

s'o# on cam(us toni'tE6.

7als a)out ladies dominate students

discussion outside lecture rooms. 7'is t'eme

is o!ten e:(ressed in (idin at di!!erent

rela:ation centres on cam(uses. Here are !e#

e:am(les4

/i6 I! &ou #an runsco(e t'at c'ic)a)e$

mae &ou !irst do#nload t'e )a)e9s data

/I! &ou #ant to #oo t'at lad& &ou s'ould

!irst et in!ormation a)out 'er6.

/ii6 Honestl&$ t'e )a)e !ine no small. 7'e

)a)& na co#)ell /Honestl&$ t'e lad& is

c'arminl& )eauti!ul. 7'e lad& is also )i-

)reasted6.


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/iii6 Na 'er ariseto )e t'at /t'at is 'er

intimate male man !riend6 also no#n as

suar dadd& in Nierian "nlis' conte:t./iv6 You s#eet Omo /&ou are ver& )eauti!ul$

&oun lad&6.

/v6 7ear im #ra((er /'ave a se: #it' 'er6.

Sometimes$ students use (idin "nlis' as anindirect means o! re*uestin !or !avour. 7'e&

)e !or mone& or !ood stu!! !rom t'eir

colleaues. Let9s consider !e# e:am(les4

/i6 I #an re; mae I no &aata !or round

/I #ant to eat6 so t'at I #on9t !all do#n orcolla(se.

/ii6 Huner de& #ire me /I am 'unr&6

/iii6 Come #ac /come and eat6

/iv6 I )e raise me #it' +ten !i)re, /(lease

lend me N0FF.FF6.


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Note t'at 8re;9 and 8ten !i)re9 are slans.

or inter(ersonal or (rivate discussion$

(idin is used !or various (ur(oses. It can )e

used to solidarise$ esta)lis' and maintain

relations'i(. In addition$ it !unctions as t'e

lanuae or identit&. 8Close (als9 use it to

(raise or admonis' one anot'er. Here are !e#

o! suc' e:(ressions4 as collated !rom t'e

*uestionnaire.

/i6 =asala don )urst /t'ere is an

imminentloomin daner6

(ii! Ala$ don blow (the secret has been exposed!

(iii! o kwa$, carry go (no proble$, you can go on!


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(iv! Cou go kpe$e (you will be left out!

(v! dey kawa o ( a$ leaving!

(vi! Bake we waka go (let us go or leave!

(vii! beg $aintain (please, be cal$!

(viii! Dentle$an no dey inside aluta (every student is the sa$e!

(ix! Eatakata don burst (trouble has occurred!

Boreover, for casual greetings, pidgin expressions are co$$only used by

the students" So$eti$es, a re:uest for favour follows these greetings" )ere are

exa$ples

(i! )ow runsF (how is the workF!

(ii! >hats up (how is itF!

(iii! Cou dey live (you are in enjoy$ent!

(iv! Bake we yarn (let us talk!

#he spea$ing of pidgin on campuses signals intimac! among the spea$ers and as such, it does

not, in most cases, indicate unseriousness of issues or lac$ of proficienc! in the use of nglish.

+urther discussion on the use of 2idgin 3nglish on ca$pus will re:uire a

brief discussion on the centrality or significance of agos in igeria" ot until

1991, agos had been the capital city of igeria since the colonial ad$inistration"


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%eing the $ost populated and co$$ercially busiest city in igeria, people

especially igerians, fro$ different parts of the country co$e for fortune-seeking

orGand business transaction" 3ven, those who live in or have been to agos are

considered Hcivili5ed by those who do not share fro$ this privilege"

#his position gave agos an influential status" t is the $eeting point for

people of diverse socio-cultural and educational background" Diven these

differences, 2idgin 3nglish serves as the $ost suitable bridge for the peoples

co$$unication gap"

+urther$ore, agos still re$ains the state with the highest nu$ber of

$usicians" #he influence of $usicians, of course, in spreading slangs a$ong the

youths is overwhel$ing" n addition, the role of press in populari5ing a concept is

tre$endous, and south west is considered to be the seat of the $ost viable and

critical press in igeria (diagbon, 1999!" ncidentally, agos is the $ost

influential state in south west and the region is predo$inantly inhabited by the

Coruba race" #his, in a nutshell, accounts for why a considerable nu$ber of

Coruba words and slangs found their ways into the igerian 2idgin 3nglish"

6a$puses are but a $icro-society that draws its own inhabitants fro$ a larger

society" As such, agos influence affects pidgin 3nglish as it is being spoken on

the igerian ca$puses"


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ot all slang in igerian pidgin derive their source fro$ the agos

influence, so$e slangs are exclusively being used by cli:ues of students who

belong to particular cults or societies" n this sense, slangs are highly technical

and can only be understood by those Hwho belong, the associates or initiated"

Slangs in this perspective, nor$ally generate negative i$pression fro$ the non-

aligned students, religious bodies as well as other ca$pus co$$unity" Students

involve are also aware of this societal reaction and so they hardly use the$

except where they consider safe and appropriate" 3xa$ples of such pidgin

expressions are

(i! >etin be your logo (identify yourselfGwho are youF!

(ii! #he guy don ga5 (the $an is dead!

(iii! Shine your eye well well (be carefulI!

(iv! 6hill (be cla$!

(v! +ashy the guy (neglect the $anGlady!

#he core registered of the initiated are difficult to co$e by, $ore so, this

research is not keen at probing into that area"

6ode-$ixing is another co$$on feature of ca$pus pidgin 3nglish" >ords

fro$ igerian indigenous languages are inserted into or $ixed with the 3nglish


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language" %ut pidgin is nobodys language and it is evident that student-speakers

freely code $ix with any of the indigenous languages irrespective of the ethnic

background of the speakers and irrespective of the location of a ca$pus" t is not

unco$$on therefore to hear )ausas in %ayero 4niversity, Eano or Ah$adu %ello

4niversity, Jaria, code-$ixing with Coruba or gbo indigenous language" )ere are

so$e exa$ples of code $ixing )ausa with 3nglish"

(i! Cawa don ga5 (trouble has occurred!"

(ii! no dey for this wahala (count $e out of this trouble!"

6ode $ixing gbo with 3nglish

(i! 6hineke sebi sey $y hand no dey (Dod knows that know nothing about

it!"

(ii! %iko see $e see trouble (please, bail $e out of this conspiracy!"

(iii! Cou dey $ake yanga (you are too proud!"

6ode $ixing Coruba with 3nglish

(i! >etin de sele (what is happening!

(ii! Cou sweet =$o (you are beautiful lady" =$o literally $eans a baby but it

is technically used to represent a lady!"


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(iii! ?oo co$ot for road (please, leave the roadGexcuse $e!

*part from the fusion of le3ical items from the igerian indigenous languages intoigerian pidgin, &oruba slangs li$e -robo and


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Conclusion

#he paper, having gone through the transitional process of the /idgin nglish in igeria, beams

its search light on the uniueness of the usage and use of this /idgin nglish on the campuses ofthe igerian Aniversities8 campuses. +t e3amines how students have contributed to the

uniueness of form and functions of this variet! i.e. the campus /idgin nglish.

-ne therefore established that the impact of the igerian students as a communit! in creating

or>and sustaining positive attitude towards igerian pidgin underscores the assertion that a new

prestigious status for the language has come to sta!. +n addition, this wor$ further strengthens the

findings of the positivists li$e Bowitt, 1""1; *degbiCa, 1"" etc. that the language is no longer

viewed with respite and contempt, and that its growing popularit! portends a promising future

especiall! among the new elitist generation.

#he research does not however see igerian 2idgin 3nglish as being

ethnically neutral but rather considers it as being ethnically-balanced" #he

disparity between these two ter$s, in $y own usage, is that while the for$er

$eans a language that does not identify with any ethnic group (which of course

is not true!, the latter signifies that the language acco$$odates substrate

languages contributions to the for$ and $eaning of this pidgin 3nglish"

3ven though $any distinguished igerian linguists have worked and are

still working on the for$, functions and variants of igerian 2idgin 3nglish, the

researchers, with all acade$ic sincerity, has not been privileged to co$e across

sociolinguistics study of igerian 2idgin 3nglish on 4niversity ca$puses" #his is

therefore another token contribution to the existing large volu$e of works on

igerian 2idgin 3nglish" +inally, as far the igerian 4niversity ca$puses are

concerned, and by extension other tertiary institutions ca$puses in igeria, the


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speaking of this variety of pidgin is a veritable way of de$onstrating co$radeship

and solidarity a$ong students of the igerian higher institutions of learning"


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REFERENCE

*degbiCa, .. (1"") #he 'andidature of igerian /idgin as a ational


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Bowitt, 6. (1""1) igerian nglish Asage an +ntroduction igeria

the sociolinguistics of nigerian pidgin

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