Nigerian English / David Jowitt.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Jowitt, David, author.

Series:

Dialects of English ; volume 18.

Dialects of English ; volume 18

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--Nigeria.

English language.

Nigeria--Social life and customs.

Nigeria.

Manners and customs.

English language--Nigeria--Usage.

Physical Description:

ix, 242 pages : illustrations, color maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Boston : Walter de Gruyter, Inc., [2019]

Summary:

This volume provides a comprehensive and lucid introduction to all the main aspects of the variety of English spoken in Africa?s biggest country. While English pervades all areas of life in Nigeria today, and Nigerians writing in English have achieved widespread recognition, this is the first scholarly study of Nigerian English to be published outside the country.

Contents:

1.2 The geographical, demographic and historical background p. 2

1.2.1 Geography and demography p. 2

1.2.2 Ethnic groups and indigenous languages p. 3

1.2.3 The North and the South, and political developments p. 7

1.3 English, Pidgin, and other languages p. 9

1.3.1 English: numbers p. 9

1.3.2 Pidgin: numbers p. 10

1.3.3 The status of English and other languages p. 11

1.3.4 Linguistic repertoires and language functions p. 14

1.4 English as the language of education, the media, and literature p. 17

1.4.1 The teaching and learning of English p. 17

1.4.2 English in the Nigerian media p. 18

1.4.3 Nigerian literature in English p. 20

1.4.4 Nigeria's complaint tradition p. 22

1.5 Nigerian English p. 24

1.5.1 General perceptions and attitudes p. 24

1.5.2 Errors and variants p. 27

1.5.3 Sub-varieties p. 28

1.5.4 The influence of American English p. 33

1.5.5 West African Englishes p. 34

1.5.6 Nigerian English research p. 34

2 Phonetics and Phonology p. 37

2.1 Some preliminaries p. 37

2.1.1 The phonologies of English and Nigerian languages compared p. 37

2.1.2 Received Pronunciation (RP) as the norm in Nigeria: history and current attitudes p. 38

2.2 Varieties of spoken English in Nigeria p. 40

2.3 The Nigerian English Accent (NEA) p. 43

2.3.1 The NEA: segmental sounds p. 43

2.3.2 The NEA: suprasegmental sounds p. 58

3 Morphosyntax p. 74

3.1.1 The neglect of morphosyntax p. 74

3.1.2 The question of morphosyntactic errors p. 74

3.1.3 Morphosyntax and sub-varieties p. 77

3.1.4 Nigerian English morphsyntax and eWAVE p. 78

3.2 Nigerian English non-Standard forms: a summary p. 79

3.2.1 Nouns p. 79

3.2.2 Adjectives p. 82

3.2.3 Determiners and pronouns p. 83

3.2.4 Verbs p. 87

3.2.5 Adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions p. 92

3.2.6 Punctuation and spelling p. 93

3.3 Nigerian English morphosyntax in selected texts p. 94

3.4 American influences on Nigerian English grammar p. 99

3.5 The grammar of Nigerian Pidgin (NP) p. 101

4 Lexis and discourse p. 106

4.2 Categories of Nigerian English lexis p. 107

4.2.1 Major categories p. 109

4.2.2 Minor categories p. 130

4.3 Further aspects of NigE lexis p. 135

4.3.1 Idioms, proverbs, clichés p. 135

4.3.2 Slang p. 136

4.3.3 Occupational usage p. 138

4.4 Further aspects of Nigerian English discourse p. 139

4.4.1 Interjections and discourse particles p. 139

4.4.2 Kinship terms, modes of address, and greetings p. 141

4.4.3 Politeness p. 142

4.4.4 Formal and informal style p. 144

4.4.5 Religiosity p. 145

4.5 The Nigerian linguistic landscape p. 146

5 History and changes in progress p. 148

5.1 The pre-colonial era p. 148

5.1.1 The slave trade and its abolition p. 148

5.1.2 The coming of Christian missionaries p. 151

5.2 The colonial era p. 154

5.2.1 The Lagos colony p. 154

5.2.2 The creation of Nigeria, 1900 p. 157

5.2.3 The growth of schools p. 161

5.2.4 The elite in the inter-war era p. 163

5.2.5 The colonial government and education p. 165

5.2.6 The development of non-Standard English p. 167

5.2.7 The nationalist movement p. 170

5.3 The post-independence era and current developments p. 177

5.3.1 General developments since 1960 and the further growth of English p. 177

5.3.2 A summary of current trends p. 181

6 Survey of Previous Work and Annotated Bibliography p. 182

6.1 General works p. 183

6.2 Phonetics and phonology p. 194

6.3 Morphosyntax p. 197

6.4 Lexis and discourse p. 199

Doctoral dissertations p. 203

7 Samples of texts p. 204

7.1 Diaries, memoirs p. 204

7.3 Journalism p. 208

7.4 Academic writing p. 213

7.5 Public addresses p. 216

7.6 Religious writing p. 219

7.7 Formal resolutions p. 220.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-238) and index.

ISBN:

9781501512728

1501512722

OCLC:

1028605819