THE LEXICO-SEMANTIC FEATURES OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH IN NEWSPAPERS: A STUDY OF VANGUARD, PUNCH AND DAILY TRUST (ENGLISH AND LINGUISTIC PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
ABSTRACT
The study focuses on the Lexico-Semantic features of Nigerian English in Daily Times, Punch and Vanguard Newspapers. This is an attempt to investigate the extent to which Nigerian columnists and editorials use the Lexico-semantic features of Nigerian English for their reportings. Anchored on the theoretical premise of the contextual theory of meaning, the data for the study was arrived at through a random sampling technique which enabled the researcher to select at random Newspapers from the months of January to December in the year 2012 to 2016. The identified Lexico-Semantic features of Nigerian English which were found in these dailies were analyzed using the Lexico-Semantic variation of Nigerian English as identified by Adegbija (2004). It is evident from the findings that the socio-cultural background of the Nigerian people is captured by Nigerian English. Nigerian speakers find it preferable to use NigerianEnglish, with all its local flavours because most of them are incompetent in the use of English language and also because of the socio-cultural context of the Nigerian society.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0Â Â Â Â Â Background of the Study
           English language in Nigeria is not the same corpora in native settings. The exact date that English language usage started in Nigeria is not certain. However it is believed that the first contact between British and some ethnic groups in Nigeria was in southern Nigeria. This must have been some period before the Atlantic slave trade. English language in Nigeria is a second language. It is a second language because Nigerians already had their first language or Mother tongue (L1) before the incursion of this foreign language called ‘English’ into the country. In this instance a foreign language (English) left its native environment and met with other languages (Nigerian indigenous languages). It is true that the culture and values of the people are embedded in the language we speak. As such, it is said that ‘language is culture’ and none can be separated from another.
           This situation is informed by multiple socio-cultural variables that determine what the Nigerian variety parades at different areas of linguistic analysis: phonology, morpho-syntax lexico-semantics, and pragmatics, among others. Every country in the world has people who make use of languages which help to perform several functions. Nigeria is not an exception.
