by Habeeb Kayode Yahaya
Kachru (1988, 5)
as cited in Crystal (2003, 77) has identified three basic categories of English
language circles; the inner circle, the outer circle, and the expanding circle.
The inner-circle are the native speakers of English e.g. United Kingdom and the
United States of America, the outer circle uses English as their official
language, they are anglophone countries mostly ex-colonies of the countries in
the inner circle, India and Nigeria belong to this category. In the expanding
circle, English is used as a foreign language e.g. China, Russian, Brazil, etc.
which explains why there are multiple Englishes across the globe. According to
Brinton (2000, 10) the structure of English is divided into five sub-fields:
phonology/phonetics, morphology, syntax, semantics, semantics, and pragmatics,
however, this chapter focuses on semantic usage in Nigeria English.
Nigeria is a
West African country with more than 150 million people and with not less than
250 languages being spoken. English language came in contact with Nigeria initially before
the trans-Atlantic slave trade around 1553 and spread through slave trafficking
periods then missionary activities of Europeans and colonialism subsequently (Faniran, Ajibade and Adeolaadetomi 2016, 2) but
since then it has become a significant official language used in court,
business transactions, politics, constitution, and education to mention a few.
“Almost every Anglophone country has now
developed a set of distinctive uses, some more divergent than others” (Blench 2006, ii). Like other Englishes all
over the globe, Nigeria English has become unique with certain features
peculiar to it which had made it distinct from the English the native speakers of
the language speak. It has become localized and flexible to be able to adapt to
the traditions and culture of the country. Chinua Achebe (1975) as cited in citing Theophilus, Lanior and Aondover (2013, 76))
who was one of the most prolific writers in Nigeria opines on what makes
Nigeria English exist:
“We should bend the language to accommodate our thought patterns and perform tasks suitable to us instead of looking at it as the language of the colonizers”
This statement explains
the existence and uniqueness of Nigeria English and significantly its purpose.
When the English language is domesticated by Nigerian speakers to be able to
express the socio-cultural terms the native speaker’s English lacks, the result
is Nigerian English. Nigerian English has become quite distinct from the native
speakers’ own in terms of its use of some culture-specific transformations and
non-conformity with global and surface structure constraints. It is so because it
has come in contact with many local languages and English is a second language,
this explains why it is different from the varieties of English spoken in
countries where English is the mother tongue.
(Ekpe 2010, 50). Nigerian English is relatively indigenous to Nigeria and its
usage is often intra-national rather than international a role it plays
significantly.
Nigerian English
is earmarked by a unique style of semantic use and methodology which has
attracted a number of researchers. Semantic is one of the basic components of the English
language and it deals with meaning, that is, how words are used to convey a
meaning, it could be lexical or grammatical (Brinton 2000, 11). In Nigeria
English, semantics is a reflection of the local languages and their
sociocultural values. It can also be seen as “the
influence of one‟s first language or Mother tongue on the system of another
language or a second language that one is using” (Faniran et al 2016, 2-3). Even though Nigeria has over 250 languages,
it is important to cite the influence of Yoruba, Igbo, and Hausa on the system
of the English language in an attempt to use English language, these major
languages affect and determine the use of semantics in Nigeria English to a
very large extent. The cultural and social values and background of Nigerians
shape the use of English words to convey meanings.
There are
certain semantic identifiers in Nigerian English, which are basically the components
of semantic usage in Nigeria English. According to Theophilus, Lanior and Aondover 2013) they are semantic extension,
semantic narrowing, semantic shift, semantic reduplication, and coinage of new
words with entirely new meanings (neologisms) among other semantic issues.
Semantic
extension is one of the most crucial semantic peculiarities of Nigerian
English, as the name implies, it is the expansion of meaning to another that
is, ‘’the addition of meanings to a standard English word” Akindele and
Adegbite 1992, 55). An established meaning of words or expressions in standard
English is often extended to convey another meaning in Nigeria English. Even
though these semantic extensions could be symbolic in most usage, however, it explicitly
coveys a meaning that Nigerians can be related to easily. Kola nut is an English word,
and it is a seed of the kola tree (Cola acuminata) according to its standard
English meaning, on the other hand, it means and is often attributed to “bribe”
in Nigeria English. Another example includes the use of strangers for visitors,
and the extension of “to stay” to mean “live” e.g. I stay in Lagos.
Another feature
of Nigeria English is semantic narrowing. Semantic narrowing is more like the
opposite of semantic extension, in this semantic usage, “meaning of existing
English words are semantically narrowed to have a contracted scope” (Theophilus, Lanior and Aondover 2013, 78). A good
example is the use of the word ‘fuel’ which standard meaning is a substance
that provides energy through combustion. Fuel is a broad term, however, the semantic
use in Nigeria English is often narrowed down to convey ‘petrol’. E,g Kerosene is more expensive than petrol (Theophilus, Lanior and Aondover 2013, 78).
Another semantic
identifier that is worthy to be discussed is a semantic shift. According to Theophilus, Lanior and Aondover (2013, 78) semantic
shift “involves redefining the characteristic pattern of a word”. The use
of such expressions or words in Nigerian English depicts a total shift from its
standard English meaning, therefore, causing the marginalization of its standard meaning. An example is the popular use of “machines” to depict bikes. E.g. I prefer taking a
machine (motorcycle) to my workplace. The most common use of semantic shift is
the word “light”. The meaning that is mostly attributed to it in Nigeria
English is ‘electric power source’. The need for this semantic shift, based on
the last example cited, is due to the electricity condition in Nigeria which is
not stable unlike the electricity of the native speakers. Therefore, there is a
need to express the coming on and off of the electricity which is available in
the standard English. It is common for Nigeria English speakers to express
statements such as “they just brought the light” or “they just took the light”
to express themselves.
Other semantic
traits in Nigeria English language includes Semantic reduplication (tautology)
e.g. “Past history”, loans and coinages with new meaning e.g. the use of words
such as Emir, Sultan, Ooni (monarchs) and loaned words such as Amala (a typical
food of the Yoruba people of Nigeria) agbada (a dress that signals affluence
among Nigerians). the intelligibility and acceptability of Nigerian English have
been argued over time, but with the semantic identifiers discuss above it has
become a consistent use by Nigerian English speakers.
Reference
Akindele, F. and Adegbite, W. (1992). The Sociology and
Politics of English Language in Nigeria:
An Introduction. Ile-ife: Debiyi-Iwa
Blench, Roger, and Dendo Mallam. 2006. A DICTIONARY
OF NIGERIAN. Cambridge: Cambridge.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/roger_blench/RBOP.htm.
Ekpe, Mfon Brownson. 2010. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN
NIGERIA. Lagos: National open university of nigeria.
Faniran, Abel O., Adetuyi Chris Ajibade, and Adetuyi
Adeolaadetomi. 2016. "An Insight Into The Grammaticaland Lexico-Semantic
Features Of Nigerian English In A Bilingual Speech Community." International
Journal of Advanced Academic Research | 1-11.
Theophilus, Kaan Aondover, Amase Emmanuel Lanior, and
Tsavmbu Alexis Aondover. 2013. "Nigerian English: Identifying Semantic
Features As Variety Markers." IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social
Science (IOSR-JHSS) PP 76-80.
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