An old saying has it that
“When you go to Rome, you behave like the Romans.” This is, as matter of
certainty, true because no entity (person or organisation) remains the same
having broken forth into a new and an unfamiliar environment or atmosphere. The
English language, as a linguistic medium or tool, is a living entity; it is an
animate constituent. And from the stables of the native speakers of English,
the Britons, English has evolved and has travelled from region to region and
around the world.
However, English hasn't
remained unchanged in the course of her journey. She has actually bowed to the
insurmountable law and demands of nativisation at different points in time and
at different locations. What then is nativisation as a process that the English
language must undergo?
Nativisation is the
domestication or indigenization of a foreign language to reflect the cultural,
political, psychological and socioeconomic demands and provisions of the
linguistic environment where it is found. In simpler terms, it is the bending
of an alien language which is not indigenous to the linguistic situation in
order to suit the linguistic demands of the users within the particular space.
The nativisation process
is one that is seen around the world, both on English and other international
languages too. In the context of English, the term “nativisation” refers to the
changes which English has undergone as a result of its contact with various
languages in diverse cultural and geographical settings in the Outer Circle of
English which includes South Asia, South East Asia, West Africa, Malaysia etc.
Such contact with the Outer Circle has given rise to many varieties, which
differ from the “standard” to “nonstandard” varieties. These new varieties are
Nigerian English (henceforth NE), Ghanaian English, Indian English, Cameroonian
English etc.
In this article, however,
we shall look at the nativisation of English in Nigeria – that is, how the
English language has been adapted by Nigerians for home use and made applicable
to our numerous conveniences, experiences, nuances and sensibilities. As such,
we can no longer talk about British or Queens English in Nigeria, but rather
the nativisation of English language in Nigeria, which is the use of English
language in Nigeria to portray our world’s views, social life, culture and
religious life. (Bamgbose 1995 p. 26) asserts that the English language has
been pidginised, nativised, acculturated and twisted to express unfamiliar
concepts and modes of interaction. Such nativisation, pidginisation and
acculturation will be discussed under three broad headings: grammar, syntax and
phonology.
GRAMMAR
Grammar deals with how a
language is internally structured or organised to make meaning. It is the rule
governing correct usage in a particular language. It is a known fact that every
language is governed by rules which users must strictly adhere to as violation
(of any of these rules) results in error. However, in order to portray the
Nigerian experience which the English language cannot adequately capture,
Nigerian English speakers pay little or no attention to correct use of
determiners, articles, prepositions, noun markers and have also resorted to the
use of coinages.
Wrong Use of Prepositions
Nigerian English (NE): He
requested for his book.
Standard English (SE): He
requested his book.
NE: Tammy contested for an
election.
SE: Tammy contested an
election.
NE: Tammy always heeds to his parents' advice
SE: Tammy always heeds his parents' advice.
Omission of Articles
NE: I gave him money.
SE: I gave him some
money.
NE: He bought coke and
biscuit for his younger brother.
SE: He bought a bottle of
coke and some biscuits for his younger brother.
NE: Give me water.
SE: Give me some/a glass
of water.
NE: Stop making noise.
SE: Stop making a noise.
The Use of Demonstrative
Pronouns together with Determiners (Possessive Adjectives)
NE: This your child
is cute.
SE: This child of
yours/This child/Your child is cute.
NE: I met that
your friend last week.
SE: I met your friend
last week.
NE: That my uncle is
wicked.
SE: My uncle/That uncle
of mine is wicked.
The Use of Prepositions as Verbs
NE: Off the
light.
SE: Switch off the
light.
NE: On the
generator.
SE: Turn on the
generator.
The Duplication of Adjectives, Adverbs and Adjuncts
Nigerian English speakers
duplicate certain adjectives, adverbs and adjuncts in sentences for emphasis or
to show greater intensity, especially when they want to sound more essential or
urgent than it would otherwise have been.
Examples:
The use of smartphones in
this era is very very necessary.
Could you please
come now now?
Tammy likes big
big shorts. (Oversize shorts)
Please remove it fast
fast.
My mum bought fine fine things for me.
The Use of
Exclamations
For purpose of emphasis,
Nigerian English speakers use exclamations the same way they are used in their
indigenous languages.
Examples:
I can't do it o
It is not fair o
You don't know me o
I'm not joking o
Leave it e
If I beat you ehn, you
will hate yourself.
Coinages
These are expressions or
words that are invented to reflect the Nigerian experience. These expressions
are used in contexts where the English language lacks the ability to project
the desired effect.
Below are instance of
coinages in Nigerian English. Take note of the italicized words or group of
words.
My uncle bought five
crates of minerals for his wedding ceremony. (Soft drink).
Most of them live
in face-me-I-face-you (A public yard).
You are a four-one-nine/r (trickster).
My aunty sells okrika (fairly
used clothes).
He is a woman-wrapper (a
derogatory term for a man who behaves like a woman or is assumed to work in
accordance with his wife's instructions).
She is a woman with bottom
power (a term used to describe a woman who gets whatever she wants
through s3x).
To get a job in an oil
company in Nigeria is based on man-know-man (personal
connection).
Her father is a juju
priest (witch doctor).
My father is a big
man (wealthy man).
He is building an upstair in
his father's compound. (A storey building)
I don't like I-pass-my-neighbour (a
low capacity generator).
I hate mago-mago (manipulation).
Nigerian politicians are
only interested in the national cake (collective wealth of
the people).
When is the traditional
wedding coming up? (A wedding approved by the customs and traditions
of the people)
I dislike people who
have big eye (a coinage for “greed”). The standard form is “I
dislike greedy people.”
You should be here before cock
crows (very early in the morning).
Yesterday, my friend and
her fiancé did their introduction (formal presentation of the
bridegroom and his relatives to the bride and her relatives).
SYNTAX
Syntax deals with how
words are combined to form phrases and sentences. The dichotomy between the
syntactic structure of the English language and Nigerian indigenous languages results
in ‘wrong ordering’ of English sentences by Nigerian English speakers. This
usually occurs when there is a direct transfer of mother tongue to the English
language. In Standard English, determiners usually precede nouns, but in
Nigerian English, they are often placed after nouns due to direct
transfers from mother tongue. There is also the duplication of determiners in
Nigerian English. Below are some illustrative examples:
NE: Tammy gave the
children five five naira each.
SE: Tammy gave the
children five naira each.
NE: He sells fine
fine things.
SE: He sells
quality/beautiful things.
NE: Your car does not
have a plate number.
SE: Your car does not
have a number/licence plate.
NE: Give me bread two
loaves.
SE: Give me two loaves of
bread.
Other nativised
expressions in Nigerian English are:
NE: I was in the
bus when he called me. This expression is used when travelling by bus.
SE: I was on the bus when
he called me.
NE: My brother's
son is here.
SE: My nephew is here.
NE: He is a watch
night.
SE: He is a watchman.
NE: Tammy is my junior brother.
SE: Tammy is my younger
brother.
NE: My oga at
the top/big oga will sack me if I let you in.
SE: My boss will sack me
if I let you in.
NE: We have sent for
the medicine man.
SE: We have sent for the
herbalist/diviner.
NE: He died on
top of her.
SE: He died while making
love to her/He died while having sex with her.
NE: Have you experienced
Lagos' go-slow?
SE: Have you experienced
Lagos' traffic jam?
NE: I get my clothes from
a bend down boutique.
SE: I get my clothes from
a flea market.
NE: Gone are the days
when girls rushed handsome boys.
SE: Gone are the days
when girls chase after/woo handsome boys.
The expressions above
show that the syntax of Nigerian English does not violate the rules of English;
it is only different from the Standard English in terms of structure.
And this is because Nigerians transfer the nuances of their local languages to
the English language.
PHONOLOGY
The absence of certain
English sounds in Nigerian indigenous languages has made it difficult for
Nigerian English speakers to correctly pronounce certain English words.
Many Nigerian languages do not have the dental fricatives /θ, ð, z/ and the
affricates /tʃ and dʒ/. As a result, the production of these sounds in certain
English words becomes a major challenge for Nigerians. For example, thee dental
sound /θ/ in ‘truth’, ‘thank’, ‘thrust’ is pronounced /t/ by Nigerians. The
affricate /tʃ/ in ‘church’, ‘cheat’ and the palato alveolar fricative
/ʒ/ in ‘pleasure’, measure etc. is realized as /ʃ/ by Nigerians.
Nigerians also have a way
of shortening almost all long vowels of English. For example, the long /i:/ in
‘seat’ is pronounced /ɪ/, so you hear ‘sit’ instead of ‘seat’. In the same
vein, the long vowels in ‘part’, ‘pool’, ‘port’ and ‘bird’ are usually
shortened, so you hear ‘pat’, ‘pull’, ‘pot’ and ‘bed’ respectively.
The foregoing validates
the claim that Nigerian English exists and is a variety of English used by
Nigerians to communicate across sociocultural boundaries. Though it is a
variety that is distinct from that of the native speaker, we still
try to keep certain rules in order to maintain international communication and
intelligibility in cross-cultural communication, without necessarily sounding
like a native speaker.
