A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY OF NIGERIAN PIDGIN IN ZARIA
A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY OF NIGERIAN PIDGIN IN ZARIA
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Date
1992-12
Authors
GANl-IKILAMA, TAIWO OLUFUNTO
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Abstract
Much of what is currently known about Nigerian
Pidgin (NP) has been provided by researches into
NP in southern Nigeria as it exists especially in
Edo, Delta and Rivers States. There is even a
general assumption that MP is a phenomenon of
southern Nigeria alone, and the use of NP in the
northern part of Nigeria is often denied by many,
probably because of the presence, in the north, of
the strong lingua franca, Hausa.
The need for documented material on the
existence and use of NP in the northern part of
Nigeria is the motivation for this research. A
typical northern Nigeria town, Zaria, was used
for the research, with the assumption on the part
of the researcher that whatever insight is gained
into NP in Zaria will be by and large applicable
in other northern Nigeria towns.
In a brief background to the study which is
given in Chapter One, the relationship of NP to
West African Pidgin, and the relationship of the
latter to the English language in West Africa are
discussed. A short overview of the earlier spread
of MP is also given in this section.
Chapter two is a review of literature on
pidgins (and Creoles) with particular focus on NP its
status in Nigeria, its lexicon, syntax and
phonology. A second part of this chapter reviews
various frameworks for the study of language and
ends with a proposed framework for this study.
Chapter three presents the method used for this
research as the Rapid Rural Appraisal (R.R.A.)
technique, which is a combination of . data
collection methods through the primary and secondary
sources. Questionnaires were administered, and
three recordings made of samples of NP in Zaria.
The data gathered are analysed in Chapter Four,
and the same chapter discusses the findings. This
analysis provided answers to the questions the
researcher started out with,namely who uses NP, with
whom, where ard for what purpose. Deviations from
NP in the recorded samples are highlighted, and
"echoes'' of NP are also pointed out.
Chapter five corcludes that NP is spoken in
Zaria by various people in various walks of life
and in every section of the town even if rot
every single person uses it. It also concludes
that the NP used in Zaria is a variety of the NP
in Warri/Sapele which we have used as norm.
The implication of the existence ard use of
MP in the north is of great importance for
Nigeria, as far as a unifying national larguage
is concerned. The researcher recommends that the
government of Nigeria give official status to
NP, approve an orthography and possibly adopt a
new name for it, in order to liberate it from the
stigma of low status that is often attached to it.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE POSTGRADUATE
SCHOOL, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF
PHILOSOPHY IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
FACULTY OF ARTS & SOCIAL SCIENCES
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY
ZARIA
Keywords
SOCIOLINGUISTIC,, NIGERIAN,, PIDGIN,, ZARIA.