Semantic Study of some Lexical Items in Nigerian English

Semantic Study of some Lexical Items in Nigerian English.

ABSTRACT

Nigerian English came into existence about four decades ago. It has been noted that some of the English language items have been attached different meanings by the Nigerian speakers of English.

This semantic deviation contributed greatly to the poor development of standard grammatical competence and communicative performance among speakers of English. This work therefore, examines some of the English lexical items whose meanings have been greatly adopted to suit the Nigerian context.

It focuses on the terms used in the professional fields of media such as print media, service media and electronic media as well as education. The terms used in these fields are compared with their Standard British English forms or meanings and the differences are established.

Some of the Nigerian English items in the area of clothing, food and kinship are also compared with those of Standard English forms and the differences are established.

The work is approached through questionnaire and library research. We found out that the deviation in the meanings of some English lexical items is caused by the speaker’s level of education, environment, background and culture.

The research is carried out at Port Harcourt and we discovered that the deviations in the meanings of some English lexical items are as a result of influence by several Nigerian context and culture.

Our findings are suggestive of the communication gap among speakers of English language. We recommend that more efforts should be made by linguist and writers to promote the acceptability of the Nigerian English.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page – – – – – – – – – – i
Approval Page – – – – – – – – – ii
Certification – – – – – – – – – iii
Dedication – – – – – – – – – – iv
Acknowledgement – – – – – – – – – v
Abstract – – – – – – – – – – vi
Table of Contents – – – – – – – – – vii

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 Introduction – – – – – – – – – 1
1.1 Background of the Study – – – – – – – 1
1.2 Statement of Problem – – – – – – – 7
1.3 Objective of the Study – – – – – – – 9
1.4 Relevance of the Study – – – – – – – 9
1.5 Scope of the Study – – – – – – – – 10

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Literature Review – – – – – – – – 11
2.1 Conceptual Issue – – – – – – – – 12
2.2 Theoretical Framework – – – – – – – 12
1.3 Nigerian English – – – – – – – – 17
2.4 Usages of Nigerian English – – – – – – 25
2.4.1 Common Core Features – – – – – – – 25
2.4.2 Peculiar Nigerianisms – – – – – – – 25
2.4.2.1 Loan Words – – – – – – – – 25
2.4.2.2 Coinage/Neologism – – – – – – – 26
2.4.2.3 Semantic Shift – – – – – – – – 26
2.4.2.4 Meaning Broadening Words – – – – – – 27
2.4.2.5 Local Idioms – – – – – – – – 27
2.4.3 Characteristic Breaches of Code – – – – – – 27
2..4.3.1 Omission of Determiners and Articles before Using Singular Nouns-28
2.4.3.2 Stative Verbs Used Dynamically – – – – – 28
2.4.3.3 Use of Redundant Prepositions- – – – – – 28
2.4.3.4 Use of Affirmative Answers to Negative Yes/No Questions- – 28
2.5 Factors Responsible for the Deviations in the English Language Usage in Nigeria -29
2.5.1 Level of Education/Environment – – – – – 29
2.5.2 Background – – – – – – – – – 29
2.5.3 Culture – – – – – – – – – 29
2.6 The Term Lexis – – – – – – – – 32
2.7 Register – – – – – – – – – 33

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 Methodology – – – – – – – – 35
3.1 Method of Data Collection – – – – – – 36
3.2 Population of the Study – – – – – – – 36
3.3 Sample Size – – – – – – – – – 37
3.4 Instrument for Data Collection – – – – – 37
3.5 Technique for Data Analysis – – – – – – 38

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0 Presentation and Analysis of Data – – – – – 38
4.1 Analysis of Variations between Nigerian and British English – 39
4.1.1 Lexical Variations – – – – – – – 40
4.1.2 Semantic Variations – – – – – – – 42
4.1.3 Syntactic Variations – – – – – – – 45
4.1.4 Morphological Variations – – – – – – 46
4.2 The Print Media – – – – – – – – 47
4.3 The Service Media – – – – – – – – 50
4.3.1 Public Relation Industry – – – – – – – 51
4.3.1.1 Terms in the Public Relations – – – – – – 51
4.3.2 Advertizing Industry – – – – – – – 53
4.3.2.1 Terms in Advertizing – – – – – – – 54
4.4 The Electronic Media – – – – – – – 55
4.4.1 The Television Industry – – – – – – – 56
4.5 Clothing and Kinship Terms – – – – – – 57
4.5.1 Clothing Terms – – – – – – – – 57
4.5.2 Kinship Terms – – – – – – – – 57

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0 Conclusion and recommendation – – – – – 62
5.1 Conclusion – – – – – – – – – 62
5.2 Recommendation – – – – – – – – 64
Works Cited- – – – – – – – – 66
Appendix – – – – – – – – – 67
Questionnaire – – – – – – – – 68

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The global spread of the English language led to the position that is now true: that there is no copyright in the use of English since the language no longer belongs numerically to speakers of English as a mother tongue. The effective ownership of any language in effect rests with the people who use it.

However multilingual they are, the major advances in sociolinguistic research over the past half century indicate clearly that languages are shaped by their use. And for English, the users number up to seven hundred million, living in every continent of which less than half are native speakers.

Statistically, native speakers are in a minority, and thus in practice for language change, for language maintenance, and for the ideologies and beliefs associated with the language in so far as non-native speakers use the language for a wide range of public and personal needs (Brumfit 2001:116).

This extract highlights the historically unique position of English in the world, the fact that non-native users of English now outnumber native speakers and the argument that the power to adapt and change the language rests with the people who use it.

REFERENCES

Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart. London: Heinemann, 1958.

Adegbija, E.’ Lexico-Semantic Variation in Nigeria English’ World Englishes. Vol.8, No.2, pp.165-177, 1989.

Adekunle, M.A. “The Standard Nigerian English” In Journal of the Nigerian English Studies Association (JNESA. Vol. 6, No. 1. 1974.

Ajani, Timothy T. “Whatever Happened To “Queen’s English”: Creativity And Innovation In Wole Soyinka’s Collected Plays,” West Africa Review: Issue 7, 1-23. 2005.

Bamgbose, A. Torn between the Norms: Innovations in World Englishes. World Englishes 17: 1-14. 1998.

Brumfit, C.J. (ed.) English for International Communication. Oxford: Pergamon, 1982.

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