COINAGES IN NIGERIAN ENGLISH: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC PERSPECTIVE ENGLISH AND LINGUISTIC PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS
Abstract
Nigerian English coinages have been widely investigated in different literatures ranging from studies in Sociolinguistics, Semantics, Pragmatics, and Syntax to Metaphors and Cognitive linguistic studies. This present paper is a re-visitation of the Nigerian English lexicon, taking cue from the lexicographic efforts of Igboanusi (2002). We have sociolinguistically x-rayed some common usages among Nigerians in different socio-political cum cultural and metaphorical course contents. Gumperz‟s diffusionist theory was borrowed to strengthen our theoretical base. Gumperz (1968) proposes a diffusionist theory of the speech community. The theory postulates the spread of linguistic change/transfer in intersecting waves that emanate from different centres of innovation.
Word coinage, compounding and acronyms surfaced as the characteristic features of Nigerian English coinages. The first feature refers to the process of creating words to fit particular purposes while compounding on the other end is the process whereby two or more words are brought together to form a single lexical item, hyphenated or not. Acronyms are also identified as means of deriving peculiarly Nigerian nomenclatures of certain phenomena as words derive from the initials of several words. Borrowing on its part, was identified in Nigerian English as many words evolving from cultural and religious backgrounds of Nigerians. These are referred to as loan or foreign words. These features among others are recognized as very prominent in the varieties of English being spoken in Nigeria. Nigerian English lexical forms, therefore find expression in linguistic perspectives to language change, shift, transfer and dialectology.
Introduction
When a word or an idiom is employed to express a meaning which it does not hitherto convey, the meaning and referent are said to have been expanded. In other words, a change in the sense of a word causes a modification in the mental content that constitutes the meaning of such lexical item. A word can be given a new meaning by an individual or by the general public At times, a coinage receives public acceptance if it is considered the most appropriate word to capture a concept among a speech community. This is because the meaning ascribed to a word by its use in particular context will take precedence over its etymological derivation. In a nutshell, what this implies is that it is the use of the words that determines the meanings of words in a sentence (Allan 1986:77-78). This paper will analyze how word derivations and coinages in Nigeria generate meaning. The words will be discussed from the perspective of factors leading to their emergence and use. First, to be discussed in this essay is the „Nigerianess‟ in English.
