Nigerian English: phonology

Linguistic situation and status of English in Nigeria

In Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa with a surface area of 923,768 km2 and a population of about 130 million, an estimated 505 languages are spoken (Grimes and Grimes 2000). Of the indigenous Nigerian languages, Igbo (spoken in the South-East), Yoruba (spoken in the South-West) and Hausa (spoken in the North) are the major languages with about 18 million speakers each. Many Nigerians are bilingual or multilingual with a command of several Nigerian and non-indigenous languages. The non-indigenous languages spoken in Nigeria include English, spoken throughout the country; Arabic, mainly spoken in the North in Islamic schools and in inter-ethnic communication; and French. English has often been called “the official language of the country” although there is no government statute or decree specifying this. No reliable numbers being available, estimates of how many Nigerians speak and use English vary from 4% to 20% (Jowitt 1997). It seems realistic to assume that currently about 20% of the population have at least some command of English and use it regularly in at least some aspects of their daily lives and that this number is increasing rapidly. Schaefer and Egbokhare (1999) found for the Emai speaking region of rural southern Nigeria that, especially in the younger generations, the use of English is on the increase. Whereas adults report a multi-language strategy of speaking both Emai and English independent of place (home, market, church…), teenagers report a single-language strategy with Emai spoken at home and English used in all other contexts. This is also true for children, who, in addition, increasingly speak English to their siblings and parents.

In contrast to any of the indigenous languages, which serve as either native language or second language in the different regions of Nigeria, English has a geographical spread throughout the country. One reason why English is often regarded as the official language in Nigeria is probably because it is used in predominantly formal contexts such as government, education, literature, business, commerce and as a lingua franca in social interaction among the educated élite. For example, government records, administrative instructions and minutes, legislation, court records and proceedings, most advertisements, business transactions and political manifestos and other documents are all in English. Furthermore, the majority of the national newspapers are published in English, as well as most radio and television programmes. Only a few of the Nigerian languages, mainly the majority languages, are used in official contexts. For example, the 1999 Constitution stipulates that “the business of the National Assembly shall be conducted in English, and in Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba when adequate arrangements have been made therefore”. Equally, the language of the business of the House of Assembly in each State is English, “but the House may in addition to English conduct the business […] in one or more other languages spoken in the State as the House may by resolution approve”. Some Nigerian languages, mainly the majority languages, are used in primary education and, to some extent, in official transactions, newspapers, television broadcasts and advertisements. The main role of the Nigerian languages is intra-ethnic and occasionally inter-ethnic communication (mainly Hausa in the North).

Attitudes towards English in Nigeria are mixed: on the one hand, it is seen as ethnopolitically neutral and therefore preferable over any indigenous language in the country’s decision-making processes; on the other hand, however, English is considered the language of the élite (Jowitt 1997). Furthermore it is regarded by some as the language of colonialism, which alienates Nigerians from their roots, with only the Nigerian languages being associated with cultural identity. At the same time, English is valued highly by many Nigerians as a potential for material and social gain. It is considered a symbol of modernization and a means of success and mobility as it is used in international communication and is the language of science and technology, literature and art.

English was introduced in Nigeria with the establishment of trading contacts on the West African coast by the British in the sixteenth century. It served as a language of trade for communication between Englishmen and Nigerians in the various forts along the Nigerian coast. This contact resulted in a form of Nigerian Pidgin, which, in all probability, is the predecessor of present-day Nigerian English Pidgin (Bamgbose 1997), which developed and stabilized in the period between the sixteenth and the nineteenth century. Nigerian Pidgin English is most commonly used for inter-ethnic communication and, to a limited extent, in literature and art, official transactions and international communication.

The English took over power in Southern Nigeria in the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1861, Lagos became a British Crown Colony, and in 1900, the area controlled by the British Niger company was proclaimed a British Protectorate. In 1842 and 1846 the first missionary stations were established in Badagry (near Lagos in the Southwest) and Calabar (in the Southeast) respectively. The missionaries were mainly interested in spreading Christianity but also taught agriculture, crafts and hygiene. In order to easily reach the population, the language of instruction was usually the mother tongue of the natives. English began to be formally studied in Nigeria from the middle of the nineteenth century on. When the British government increasingly felt the need for Africans who were literate in English and would serve British colonial and trade interests (for instance as teachers, interpreters, minor government officials and clerks for local courts and the trading companies), in the 1880s, the missionary stations were ordered to teach English in their schools. Since the missionary schools were increasingly unable to meet the demands for educated Nigerians, the colonial government began to establish state schools. The first state school was in fact founded as a result of pressure from Muslims in Lagos in 1899, who had no access to missionary schools and felt they were at a disadvantage. Equally, in Northern Nigeria, Christian mission schools were not allowed in the Muslim areas, and government schools were established. The first European school opened in the North in Kano in 1909. In 1914, Lagos, the British Protectorate and the Northern parts of today’s Nigeria was declared the British “Colony of Nigeria”. Nigeria became independent in 1960 and declared herself a Republic in 1963.

In Nigerian education today, English plays a key role. The education system in Nigeria is structured in the 6-3-3-4 model with 6 years primary education, 3 years junior secondary level, 3 years senior secondary level and 4 years tertiary education at Universities. The 1998 National Policy on Education specifies that “the medium of instruction in the primary school shall be the language of the environment for the first three years. During this period, English shall be taught as a subject. From the fourth year, English shall progressively be used as a medium of instruction and the language of immediate environment and French shall be taught as subjects”. Only in a few private schools in some urban areas are children taught in English from kindergarten. For the majority of Nigerian pupils, all subjects are taught in English from the fourth year of primary education on. This includes subjects such as English, mathematics, a major Nigerian language, science subjects, arts subjects and vocational subjects. All higher level students’ written assignments and examinations are in English. A good pass in English is required for transition from primary to Junior Secondary School, to Senior Secondary School and to University.

Received Pronunciation (RP) was for a long time the model held up in Nigerian schools and the model for examinations. The majority of the British who resided in Nigeria for a length of time and who filled the government posts created after the establishment of British rule in 1900 came from the upper or middle classes of British society, speaking RP. Their presence helped to ensure that RP had some predominance and prestige in Nigeria. When, after independence, Nigerians took over the senior civil service posts from the British, Standard British English, spoken by the former rulers, was retained as the prestigious standard dialect. This attitude was shared by many politicians, academics, lawyers, journalists and other members of the élite who had close ties with the British and Britain. Recently, with increasing numbers of Nigerians returning from studies in the United States of America, American English is gaining prestige in Nigeria (Jowitt 1991).

There is no uniform accent of English spoken throughout Nigeria. In fact, the diversity of the different kinds of English in the country is so great that Nigerian English (NigE) is usually divided into several sub-varieties. Based on the observation that the native language of Nigerian speakers of English characteristically influences their accent in English, NigE sub-varieties corresponding to the different ethnic groups have been proposed (e.g. Jibril 1986; Jowitt 1991). The three major Nigerian languages have very different phonological systems: Hausa, for example, has five vowels which all have phonemic length contrast and a number of realizations that include centralized vowels. Igbo has eight vowels and a set of vowel harmony rules, whereas Yoruba has seven vowels with phonemic vowel length contrast. These differences are claimed to become apparent in the Hausa English, Igbo English and Yoruba English varieties of NigE (Jowitt 1991).

Since a continuum of degrees of competence in English is a characteristic of any country where the language functions as a second language, most descriptions of the sub-varieties of English spoken in Nigeria correlate levels of competence with the speaker’s educational background. Banjo (1971) proposed four varieties with distinct linguistic features:

– Variety I is used by those Nigerians who picked up English as a result of the requirements of their occupation. They are possibly semi-literate people with only elementary school education. It is characterized by a high transfer-rate of phonological features from the mother tongue and is unacceptable even nationally.

– Variety II speakers are likely to have had at least primary school education. It features some transfer from the mother tongue and does not make ‘vital phonemic distinctions’. This variety of English is accepted and understood nationally and internationally.

– Variety III is associated with University education and is recommended as the model for Nigerian Standard English. It is most widely accepted in Nigeria.

– Variety IV is equal to British English and is less accepted in Nigeria than Variety III as it sounds affected.

Udofot (2003) claims that Banjo’s Variety IV is not a variety of NigE and that spoken NigE in the 1990s can be divided into at least three sub-varieties. These sub-varieties collectively show phonological differences from British Standard English in both segmental and prosodic terms and, in many cases, the speaker’s education is correlated with the degree of proficiency.

– The Non-Standard variety has distinct segmental and non-segmental features such as a lack of fluency, an abundance of pauses, a restricted intonation system, a distinct speech rhythm and accent placement. It is spoken by primary and secondary school leavers, holders of NCE (Nigerian Certificate of Education), OND (Ordinary National Diploma) and some University graduates. It is the variety used by primary school teachers.

– The Standard variety has a distinct phoneme inventory and characteristic prosodic features in terms of speech rhythm, intonation and accent. It is spoken by university graduates and lecturers and other professionals as well as final-year undergraduates of English, secondary school teachers and holders of Higher National Diplomas.

– The Sophisticated variety is spoken by university lecturers in English and Linguistics, by graduates of English, the Humanities and Mass Communication, speakers who had some additional training in English phonology and those who spent some time in English native-speaking areas. It is different from British English in some phonemes and some aspects of speech rhythm, intonation and accentuation.

There is also a small minority of Nigerians who speak English with a (mostly British) native-like accent due to being born in Britain or a long period of residence there or special speech training, which is given to e.g. news readers. The native-like accent, however, does not have a high social prestige in Nigeria and is ridiculed as affected and arrogant. Jibril (1986) claims that the closeness of the various accents to RP is less correlated with social class or education and ethnicity than with speech training, as can be found with some newsreaders and journalists. Equally, Jowitt (1991) points out that education and ethnic background are less reliable indicators of the proficiency of a speaker than his or her opportunity to use the language.

Apart from differences in education, many reasons have been put forward for the varieties of English spoken throughout Nigeria, including historical, geographical and sociolinguistic ones. According to Awonusi (1986), the different paths of Western, Eastern and Northern Nigeria in terms of colonization, administration and education resulted in diverse accents. In Yorubaland in the West, the missionaries first employed Englishmen speaking RP as teachers in their schools. When they left as a result of the World War, Nigerians took over, who had to rely on text books as a guide for English pronunciation. In Igboland in the East, schools recruited missionaries from Scotland and Ireland, and features of these accents can be traced in today’s Igbo English. In general, movement between school teachers in the South was great. In the government schools of the North native speakers educated at English public schools were employed as teachers, bringing their RP background to Nigeria. Since there was little interaction between Northern and Southern Nigerians educated in English before the All-Nigeria Legislative Assembly in 1947, two divergent accents of English developed in those parts. However, not only through teachers have Nigerians been exposed to a rich variety of English accents. From the outset, there were traders and businessmen with Cockney, Yorkshire, Birmingham accents and hundreds of American Peace Corps volunteers in the 1960s (Jowitt 1991). Furthermore, various groups of non-native speakers such as German, Danish, Dutch and French missionaries and Indians, Japanese, Greek, Lebanese and Chinese businessmen, technicians and doctors lived in Nigeria for considerable amounts of time.

Jibril (1986: 51) describes NigE as “a cluster of regional and social varieties which interact sufficiently in a sociolinguistic continuum to qualify for a common cover term”. It is undisputed now that a process of indigenization has made NigE a recognizable and highly distinctive variety of English (e.g. Bamgbose 1982, 1997; Jowitt 1997). However, no uniform and universally accepted description of the NigE Standard exists yet.

The lack of a clear-cut policy on the English language in Nigeria has been widely criticized, with some critics arguing that an effective language policy in Nigeria will have as an output the cultivation and use of an endonormative, standard, bilingual-bicultural variety of the English language in Nigeria. This is usually proposed to be the variety broadly associated with a certain level of education and with all “Nigerianisms” most Nigerians conform to (e.g. Bamgbose 1997). The problem of codifying a Standard Nigerian variety of English includes deciding which variations are deviant and which are acceptable. Systematic divergences from British English may result from errors and it is difficult to decide which are accepted usage and which constitute individual mistakes. One of the questions to be solved is: When does an erstwhile error become a legitimate variant? Jowitt (1991) proposes that “Standard NigE” should be the sum of all non-standard English forms occurring in all types of NigE, the stable part which consists of accepted, indigenized errors and variants and calls this standard “Popular NigE”.

Due to the lack of a well-defined NigE standard, in the following, the phonological properties of the main accents in NigE will be described. These accents are Hausa English, Yoruba English and Igbo English, which represent the major varieties and the only ones to have been researched in some detail. The description will be restricted to the respective educated varieties as the nationally accepted ones with only occasional reference to less educated varieties.