A LINGUISTIC STUDY OF LOAN WORDS IN NIGERIAN PIDGIN

ABSTRACT

The tittle of this work is A Linguistic Study of Loan Words in Nigerian Pidgin. Researches have shown that Nigerian Pidgin (NP) is a Nigerian language and clearly different from other varieties of West African Pidgins. Pidgins are known to have small vocabularies which continue to expand to fulfill the linguistic needs of their users. Nigerian Pidgin is no exception. This work sets out to identify the sources of the words that came into NP. Data for this research were got from two sources – a book ―Sozaboy‖ (1985), which is a relatively earlier variety of NP, and news scripts from three NP using radio stations (2015): the latter is a relatively current variety. A questionnaire listing words got from our data was administered to NP speaking ABU students, and the respondents were required to provide or confirm the sources and meanings of the words. The responses were analyzed using Serjeanston and Erik Bjokman‘s models. The findings reveal that specific languages have contributed to the vocabulary of NP, and that a difficulty exists in identifying the real provenance of every linguistic item. The findings, while maintaining that English is the initial lexifier language, show that words from other languages have come into NP. This research goes further to prove that NP is like any other natural language in active use, in that it has borrowed and continues to borrow to swell its initially small vocabulary

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1         Background to the Study

With respect to the emergence of loanwords, Platt et al. (1984) observe that linguistic contacts between languages result in the incorporation of some words coming from other tongues. Thus, the process of adopting foreign words is not strange or unusual. It happens in all languages and dialects in varying degrees and ways because speech communities do not function in isolation. The intermingling of people of different cultures and languages brings about borrowing, and through it, languages accommodate foreign elements, words and ideas geared towards expanding their vocabularies. Again, languages come into contact through bilingual speakers. Banjo (1983), Madaki (1983) and Pariola (1983) in Olaoye (1991) posit that when languages come into contact, a variety of phenomena such as bilingualism, borrowing, relexification, code-switching, code-mixing and perhaps language death take place. However, Scotton (1988) opines that the use of a borrowed item in a language is code-switching until enough speakers use it and the item is accepted by native speakers into their dictionary.

Lexical borrowings are by far the most commonly attested language contact phenomenon, and it is therefore not an aberration in the world of languages as languages come in contact at different points. Nigerian Pidgin is a product of such contact and it relies on other languages for survival. Just like human beings, languages (including Nigerian Pidgin) borrow linguistic items and expressions from one another to complement, improve and develop their vocabularies. No wonder Haspelmath and Tadmor (2009:1) state that ―no language in the sample and probably no language in the world is entirely devoid of loanwords. Nigerian Pidgin (NP), like other living languages has borrowed extensively intranationally and internationally. The vocabulary of a pidgin language is usually small compared to that of other languages, but it continues to grow and acquire more linguistic items when in active use. It is often described as a marginal language used by people who need to communicate for certain restricted purposes. For this reason, pidgins tend to arise on trade routes, for example, along the coast of West Africa. The more languages a pidgin comes in contact with, the more the words it borrows from the languages, and it adopts the words in various situations. With time and with increased use, a pidgin when it becomes an ―expanded pidgin‖ is able to satisfy all the linguistic needs of the immediate community in which it is used. Where an expanded pidgin co-exists with a host language, as for example Nigerian Pidgin does with the English Language in Nigeria, research has shown that it is not an appendage of that host language, It is a language of its own with a distinct linguistic system (Elugbe and Omamor 1991, Gani Ikilama 1993).

Ken Saro Wiwa‘s book ―Sozaboy‖ is a post independence novel which describes the fortunes of a young naive recruit (in the Nigerian Army during the Nigerian Civil War) who entered the army proud but eventually faced confusion, disillusionment and horror. Mene is totally naive, and remains so till the end of the novel. Despite his limited knowledge, Mene always manages to survive while the others — who started out with him — quickly die.

Saro-Wiwa gives a sub-title to his novel, “a novel in rotten English.” This is an anti-war novel, which is real and experimental in its constant, but sustained use of pidgin English. Other authors, such as Achebe and Soyinka have used Pidgin English in their dialogues, but Saro-Wiwa has utilised the language of the novel in order to reflect the reality of the context around his story as he indiscriminately borrows lexical items from different languages. The writer sets out to actually write, hence the tag ‗rotten English‘. According to his words in his preface to the novel: Sozaboy’s language is what I call ‘rotten English,’ a mixture of Nigerian pidgin English, broken English and occasional flashes of good, even idiomatic English. This language is disordered and disorderly. Born of a mediocre education and severely limited opportunities, it borrows words, patterns and images freely from the mother-tongue and finds expression in a very limited English vocabulary. To its speakers, it has the advantage of having no rules and no syntax. It thrives on lawlessness, and is part of the dislocated and discordant society in which Sozaboy must live, move and have not his being.

In society today, differences exist among people of different social and economic classes. It is this class distinction that Saro Wiwa demonstrates by employing and combining different tongues. Through the introduction of broken English, Pidgin English and indigenous

languages, Saro Wiwa showcases the disorderliness in the novel. There is anarchy, but it also constitutes a source of comic relief and sustains the interest of the reader. This necessitates the indiscriminate borrowing of so many words from different languages to buttress the writer‘s control of the language.

The major goal of radio and television stations is to disseminate information at the grassroot level. This is why there is an increasing number of radio stations that broadcast in

Nigerian Pidgin today, since according to research, NP is the language of widest outreach in Nigeria. Gani-Ikilama (1996:314) confirms this thus:

when   asked   through   which   language   the

largest number of Nigerians can be reached,

59% responded that it is pidgin, while 28%

said it is Hausa, 4% responded in favour of

Yoruba,   2%   in   favour   of   Igbo   and   the

remaining 7% responded in favour of other

languages. The choice of this language in the media is to accommodate both the educated and the uneducated. These stations that broadcast in NP have indeed taken the freedom of expression very far, for with Nigerian Pidgin, many listeners feel very free. Liberty FM, Supreme FM and Freedom FM are some of the radio stations that broadcast in Pidgin in Kaduna. Kaduna is therefore a multilingual city for it represents the Nigerian character. Supreme FM is known for its popular programme ‗Oga Driver‘ which attracts many listeners and Wazobia FM is widely known as a station that broadcasts exclusively in NP.

1.2         Statement of Research Problem

Linguistic borrowing is an already established fact among languages of the world. Borrowing is a feature of all living languages, as distinct from a language like Latin, which is referred to as a ―dead‖ language, as it cannot accommodate new words. Considering the situation that brought NP into existence, a host of Nigerians and linguists would rightly expect it to borrow from any language around and especially from languages around the delta areas of Nigeria where NP thrives most: indeed, in such areas, it is considered a creole, that is, a pidgin that has become the mother tongue of its users. Many Nigerians today dislike to be associated with NP because they see it as derogatory or as a language meant for illiterates or semi educated people. Particularly some educated Nigerians have always stigmatized NP. Owing to its relationship with the English Language from which the bulk of its initial vocabulary was derived, NP is often seen as an inferior language. It is also regarded as an exoglossic language, yet all things considered, this language NP has its roots in Nigeria and it is used within Nigeria.

Olabode (2008:1) presents the situation in the following way

The Nigerian Pidgin has an ironic stigma that even language experts find it difficult to understand. It is the most widely spoken language, the only unbiased langua franca with interjection of many indigenous languages across the country and it is the language often used by politicians to attract the attention and votes of the masses, yet it is the most maligned language dismissed as the language of the uneducated.

The general attitude against Nigerian Pidgin is what Mafeni (1971) tags ―traditional attitudes of disapproval‖. However, linguistic research continues to bring NP out  of this negative situation. Elugbe and Omamor (1991) say that NP is like the errand boy whom everybody uses but disowns. NP like any living language in active use has borrowed many words  to swell its originally  small   vocabulary,   and  it  is   therefore  important   to   know  the   sources   of  the borrowings considering the fact that most of the countries where these donor languages are

spoken  share   no   demographic   boundaries   with   Nigeria.   In   addition,  finding   the   real provenance of linguistic items or determining the true avenue of loaning is a difficult matter

that is often neglected in the study of loanwords

1.3         Research Questions

Our research questions are as follows

1. What are the loan words found in NP?
2. How intelligible are those loaned linguistic items to users of NP?
3. How are the loaned items adopted and integrated in NP?
4. What type or nature of borrowing exists in NP?

1.4         Aim and Objectives

The aim of the study is to find the sources of NP‘s vocabulary items collected from our sources, given that the initial bulk is from the English Language. The objectives include:

1. to Identify the loan words that are found in NP.
2. to determine how intelligible the borrowed items are to Nigerian users of pidgin.
3. to explain the linguistic adjustments that accompany the adoption and adaptation of loaned lexical items into NP.
4. to determine the nature/type of borrowing that exists when lexical items are loaned from other languages into NP.

1.5         Significance of the Study

So many literature and works exist in the field of linguistic borrowing. It has been established that all languages borrow irrespective of the status and according to Garba (1979), no language in any society which has come in contact with any other society or societies is entirely pure. All such languages have adopted some loan words from one another. Again, all languages borrow irrespective of where they are spoken, the population of the users and their status. Nigeria Pidgin also borrows, so it is important to know the sources of these words found in the language since it is a distinct language. The knowledge of many Nigerians on the properties of NP is relatively poor. It is hoped that this research will increase knowledge in this field.

This work therefore aims at describing the existing link between NP and other languages within and outside Nigeria. In addition, we hope to re-establish that NP is a language of its own with a developed and stable grammar and a vocabulary that satisfies the linguistic needs of its users in particular situations or communities. Furthermore, a work of this nature is carried out in Zaria, a northern Nigerian town because researches have proved that NP is used all over Nigeria. Moreover, Ahmadu Bello University is a multilingual setting; a federal university with federal character.

1.6         Scope and Delimitation

This study investigates borrowings in NP with a focus on Ken Saro Wiwa‘s Sozaboy (1985) and relatively current (2015) news scripts from three NP using radio stations. Emphasis will be laid mainly on lexical items. Words from different sources will be analyzed. The choice of this literary text is that it depicts an earlier version of pidgin and it is also a codified form too. The author calls his work ―rotten English‖, not by accident but by choice. On the other hand, Kaduna is a cosmopolitan city, hence the use of NP in broadcasting stations is a deliberate practice. News scripts from three NP using radio stations in Kaduna have been considered in this work.

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