Nigerian English

Nigerian English is a nativized form of English. Like South African English, its nativization and development as a New World English corresponds roughly with the period of colonization and post-colonization by Britain.[3] Nigerian English became a nativized language that functions uniquely within its own cultural context.[4]

Nigerian English has long been a controversial idea, in that the idea of a "Standard Nigerian English" (SNE) is difficult to establish,[5] considering the fossilization that has occurred in the formal instruction of English in many regions of Nigeria, due largely to a variety of factors including "interference, lack of facilities, and crowded classrooms."[6] Due to the contact between British Standard English and Nigerian English, which have two very different sets of grammatical, pronunciation, and spelling rules, there has arisen a predominant occurrence of "faulty analogy" (the assumption that because one grammatical feature resembles another in usage, the rules applying to the former also apply to the latter) in what Okoro refers to as "substandard" varieties of Nigerian English.[6]

However, there are a few features that have united across NE communities that bridge the differences between different varieties even within NE, all pertaining to cultural values that are expressed uniquely in English terms. Two prevalent examples are "sorry" and "sir."[4] The literal meaning of sorry usually indicates some sort of responsibility on the part of the person saying it; however, for all of the varieties of NE, it is used to express sympathy in a unique way, or to show empathy to whoever has experienced misfortune. "Sir," or the replacement of names with titles, indicates respect and a high value for politeness. The tacking on of "sir" to another title (i.e. "Professor sir")[4] illustrates a greater level of prestige than normal, or an instance of being more polite than the norm.

Though the exact levels of Nigerian English usage are contested, one suggestion indicates there are 4 levels of usage within this nativized (but not indigenous) English:[6]

• Level 1: Pidgin, spoken as the casual language
• Level 2: A step above, and the most spoken. Spoken by those with elementary education[6]
• Level 3: Marked by more expansive lexicon, fluency, and using features of Level 1 speakers are "avoided," spoken by those with "secondary education"[6]
• Level 4: Proposed as the NSE as its features are very similar (but still characteristically Nigerian) "to Standard English," spoken by those with a college education[6]

These levels are only one proposed differentiation of the pragmatic realizations of Nigerian English. Because of the nature of its presence in Nigeria, English has been a point of contention among Nigerian residents who strive for a more nativisitic lifestyle (i.e. returning to the predominant speech of indigenous languages of the country).[7] However, due to the nature of English's introduction and role in exerting the values of colonization on a post-colonial Nigeria, some would call English inseparable from the nature of language in the region.

As the literature currently stands, most phonological studies have analyzed a plethora of Nigerian English speakers from a wide range of backgrounds (region of origin, current profession, social class, etc.). There has been special focus on such regions as Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.[5] Nigerian English can be thought of in a similar way to American English in this approach: just as in American English, Nigerian English varies from region to region, and as such, phonological variables are realized in different ways in different regions.[5]

Some common features across Nigerian Englishes include:

• Voiced -z sounds in which the "s" is present in spelling become voiceless, i.e. "boys" is pronounced /ˈbɔɪs/.[13]
• Backing of /ɪ/ vowels into /e/, exhibited in words such as "expect", pronounced /ekˈspekt/ in NE.[13]
• Because voiced palato-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ is not present in most Nigerian varieties, any words including this phoneme are converted into the -sh /ʃ/ sound, such as in the word "conclusion", pronounced /kənˈkluːʃən/ in NE.[13]

In July 2019, Google announced its new Nigerian English accented voice for Maps, Google Assistant, and other Google products.[15][16][17] It is based on work of speech synthesis created by a team at Google led by Nigerian linguist Kola Tubosun.[18][19][20][21] In January 2020, Oxford English Dictionary added over two dozen new words of Nigerian English into the Oxford Dictionary.[22][23]

•  Nigeria portal
•  Language portal

• Kortmann, Bernd (2004). A Handbook of Varieties of English: Morphology and syntax. 2. Walter de Gruyter. p. 813. ISBN 3110175320.
• Cheshire, Jenny (1991). English around the world - Sociolinguistic perspectives. Cambridge University Press. p. 514. ISBN 0521330807.
• Faraclas, Nicholas G. (1996). Nigerian Pidgin. Routledge. p. 2. ISBN 0415022916.
• Ngefac, Aloysius (2008). Social differentiation in Cameroon English. Peter Lang. p. 19. ISBN 9781433103902.
• Ihemere, Kelechukwu U. (2007). A Tri-Generational Study of Language Choice & Shift in Port Harcourt. p. xvi. ISBN 978-1581129588.
• Farooq Kperogi: Glocal English: The Changing Face and Form of Nigerian English in Global World. New York: Peter Lang, 2015. ISBN 978-1433129261