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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: eaadedun@yahoo.co.uk; adedun.emmanuel@kcl.ac.uk

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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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).

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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

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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:

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(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

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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

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“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

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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.

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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

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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.

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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:

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(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.

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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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