A TRANSFORMATIONAL GENERATIVE ACCOUNT OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE IN RIVERS STATE PIDGIN
A TRANSFORMATIONAL GENERATIVE ACCOUNT OF SENTENCE STRUCTURE IN RIVERS STATE PIDGIN
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Date
1985-06
Authors
AZUMA, IKEAGUNWA,
NNADOZIEM
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Abstract
A B S T R A C T
What is commonly known as "Nigerian Pidgin"
has i t s majority of speakers in the Rivers,
Bendel and Lagos States. As Bernard Mafeni (1971)
observed, Nigerian pidgin has developed various
forms, varying mostly according to geographical
provenances.
This work is about the sentence structure of
a ' d i a l e c t ' of Nigerian Pidgin which will be callc 1
"Rivers State Pidgin" (RSP, for short),, The pidgi:!
has already been established as a local language
in the Rivers State, and is used not only in
informal but also in formal situations„ it might
be described as a semi or second o f f i c i a l language
in view of i t s importance as a language of wider
communication in the s t a t e , (English is the
o f f i c i a l language of the s t a t e ).
However, the importance of the present study
l i e s largely in i t s "analytical formalization" of
the sentence structure of Nigerian Pidgin,
encouched in a Transformational Generative model.
The study is s o c i o l i n g u i s t i c , seeing the pidgin
as a language in i t s own r i g h t.
There are six chapters. Chapter One attempt
to place the pidgin in its perspective in the
state* Factors that led to its wider range of
functions arc examined briefly,, Some previous
studies on pidgins and Creoles, particularly those
on syntax, are reviewed in the same chapter.
Chapter Two deals with the theoretical framework
used in the analysis. Sources of data and
research procedure are discussed in Chapter Three.
In Chapter Four the phrase Structure Rule
format of English as it is formulated in
Transformational Generative Grammar is used in
rewriting the sentence structure of the pidgin.
This is based on the assumption that all human
languages share a common deep structure (linguistic
universalism). Chapter Five deals with the
surface structure characteristics of RSP. Attempts
are made in the chapter to formalize the various
transformational rules whose application gives rise
to these surface structure differences. Lastly,
the basic points of the study are summarized in
Chapter Six. A conclusion is also drawn and areas
of further research suggested in this last chapter.
There are at the end a list of appendices and
a Bibliography.
Description
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY
ZARIA - NIGERIA
Keywords
TRANSFORMATIONAL,, GENERATIVE,, ACCOUNT,, SENTENCE,, STRUCTURE,, RIVERS,, STATE,, PIDGIN