The Communicative Implications Of Nigerian English Usage

Loan translation or loan creation is a clear evidence of interference factor which in turn is the aftermath of language in contact. (Anyadiegwu - 61 - (89), Akindele and Adegbite (146) semantic contrast, outright word invention, loan creation etc, no doubt, constitute gross linguistic barriers. A native speaker or other users of English outside Nigerian environment are bound to be cut off from communication whenever these lexical items are used in the above senses. Nevertheless concerted efforts should be made by Nigerian users of English so as to avoid what Spencer, cited in Baldeh (18) calls “rule bending creativity”. In any language whatsoever, once the rules of use are bent, a linguistic anomaly is created and comprehensibility is automatically hampered. This is the obvious implication of some deviant Nigerian English lexis.

4.3. Implication of Nigerian English Phonology

We observe from the peculiar phonology of Nigerian English that differences occur in virtually all aspects of phonological processes. At the phonemic level, there is variation in both the vowels and consonants of the English language and those of the indigenous languages. Many sound segments are in English speech sounds that are non-existent in the Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba languages. The Igbo Language, for example, lacks the impure vowels (diphthongs) including of course the schwa /􀀀/. Long vowels are also non-existent in Igbo hence, some Igbo speakers of English find it very difficult to pronounce words containing the following vowels correctly. /I:/. /u:/, / 􀀀:/ and /a:/. On the other hand, certain important consonants of English are conspicuously absent in the consonant inventory of Nigerian languages. For instance the interdental fricative sounds /θ/ and /δ/ have no equivalent sounds in Nigerian languages. Writing on the implications of the above, Williams (80) states that “many Nigerian …. Speakers have difficulty in articulating diphthongs in words like “tear” and “heir”. They also have problems with initial and final /u:/ in the words “ooze” “zoo” and “true”. To circumvent these difficulties, such Nigerian speakers delete and subsequently substitute these segments with those available in the native languages. We also notice some Nigerian users epenthetic insertion of vowels in their attempt to produce consonant clusters. Williams also confirms that “English consonant clusters present a problem for those whose mother tongues have different syllabic structure. There is a tendency among many of such speakers to introduce a vowel between the consonants” (80). This creates serious problems as words are pronounced wrongly. At the suprasegmental level, that is at the level of stress and intonation, Nigerian English speaker stands out differently from other speakers following his ineptitude in stress placement and the correct use of intonation. Wrong stress placement like the following characterize the English of many Nigerian users.

The intonation pattern of English equally causes some difficulty for some Nigerian speakers. Their inability to differentiate between rising and falling intonation culminates in a certain speech problem which makes comprehensibility sometimes very difficult. Intonation gives the English language its characteristic accent. Many scholars including even the apostles of Nigerian. English agree that this creates the inherent disparity between, Nigerian English and the standard variety.

4.4 Implication of Nigerian English Slang

Nigerian English slang words and expressions are mainly neologisms. Neologisms are words and expression oftentimes invented based on the situational demands. Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English defines neologism as “a new word or expression or a word used with a new meaning” Predominant socio-economic and political experiences or developments usually give rise to the coining of most slangy words and expressions. For instance, the slangy word “abiola” is a neologism based on the socio-economic analogy Late M.K.O. Abiola was a very wealthy Nigerian who purportedly won the botched 1993 presidential election in Nigeria. Ever since then, slang users now compliment every wealthy person as “abiola” (Oluikpe and Anasiudu 1) similarly, the epidemic eye infection, “appollo” is a neologism based on analogy. The epidemic coincided with the landing of Appollo II spacecraft on the moon. Since the epidemic coincided with this world event, the disease has thus taken up the name, appollo by Nigerian slang users.

       We agree with Oluikpe and Anasiudu who define slang as “an informal expression, usually spoken, newly coined and transient” they also believe that slangy expressions are “creations of slang users to reflect the things which fascinate them, the things they consider novel, and things which they satirize” (viii) what is, however, worrisome is the common use of slang by some educated Nigerians even in formal situations. Some slang users use it even in strictly formal situations thus, making it relatively difficult for intelligible communication. For instance anybody outside Nigerian’s ethno linguistic environment may find it difficult to make meaning out of the following slangy words or expression.

Gistology                   -           study of history

Public bin/public dog -           a harlot

Freak/swim                -           to make love to a woman

Equator                     -           an extremely obese woman

Gazump                    -            to sell a piece of land to two different persons

These words are esoteric, mutually exclusive and so may lead to what Banjo regards as “mass ex-communication” (132). To categorize Nigerian English slang as part of the creative ingenuity of Nigerian users of English, is to say the least, a public exhibition of ignorance. It is tantamount to complacent disregard to simple linguistic rules that should otherwise be learned and used for effective meaningful communication.

4.5. Implication of Nigerian English Semantics

Semantics deals with meaning. Evidence show that this aspect of linguistic analysis is strategically at the bottom of the linguistic hierarchy. For this reason, if deviation occurs at the level of the word structure and use (morphological level), or at the syntactic level (sentence level), semantics invariably loses its luster. In other words, communication, like a stream, could get contaminated at the top (word level), polluted at the syntactic level and ultimately distorted at the level of semantics. Simply put, distortions at the levels of lexis and syntax invariably affect meaning (semantics) in the communicative process. The peculiar features of some Nigerian English usage constitute this problem. Semantic shift or extension is one of such disturbing features of some Nigerian English expressions. Worried by this, Kujore (374) poses the all important question about the semantic incongruity of Nigerian English.

He asks:

How easy or even feasible is it to shift, as the occasion demands, from, for example, employing the word “troubleshooter” now to signify “one that ensures that there is no trouble”, to using it the next minute to mean “one that ensures that there is trouble?”

      In the same vein, one cannot but wonder how the meaning of such words as “academician” “escort”, “lean”, “Light” etc should keep changing like a pendulum from some Nigerian users’ context to the world standard contexts. Or how do we explain to other world users of English that the expression. “don’t take me in” has ceased to mean “don’t pull a wool over my eyes” (don’t deceive me) but should rather be “don’t conceive me” as found in certain Nigerian users’ expression. “she has taken in” (She has conceived)? Usages such as these, no doubt, will further complicate the linguistic barrier arising from some Nigerians’ attempt to “domesticate” the English language. In other words the incongruity of Nigerian English semantics impedes effective communication .