Phonological Variation in Nigerian English
Phonological Variation in Nigerian English
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Date
1992-06
Authors
Jibril, Muhammad Munzali
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Abstract
The study is based on tape recordings of the English
of forty-five Nigerians, fifteen each from the three
major ethnic groups - Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba. This corpus
was transcribed phonetically and analyzed both phonologically
and socilinguistically.
Chapter One is introductory and offers a general overview
of the literature and then places the study and its
methodology in this context. The next three chapters
focus on the range of phonological systems used by speakers
of each mother-tongue and variation within these
systems at the levels of consonants, vowels and the syllable
in that order.
A pyramid-shaped continuum with R.P. at its top, Hausa
English at its left base and Southern Nigerian English
at its right base is proposed to account for the complex
interaction of phonological systems in the Nigerian
English continuum.In Chapter Five, an attempt is made to
measure the relative proximity of various groups of
speakers to R.P. and to explore the possible determinants
of this proximity.
In Chapter Six, the melody and intonation systems of
Nigerian English - which are very different from those
of R.P. - are investigated and the two systems compared.
The Conclusion relates the findings of the study to the
teaching of oral English in Nigeria.
Description
Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy,
University of Lancaster,
June 1982
Keywords
Phonological,, Variation,, Nigerian,, English