Nigerian Pidgin
Encyclopedia
Nigerian Pidgin is an English
-based pidgin and a creole language spoken as a lingua franca
across Nigeria
. The language is commonly referred to as "Pidgin
" or "Brokin". It is often not considered a creole language
since most speakers are not native speaker
s, although many children do learn it early. Nonetheless it can be spoken as a pidgin, a creole, or a decreolised
acrolect by different speakers, who may switch between these forms depending on the social setting. Faraclas, Nicholas C., Nigerian Pidgin, Descriptive Grammar, 1996, Introduction. Ihemere (2006) reports that Nigerian Pidgin is the native language of approximately 3 to 5 million people and is a second language
for at least another 75 million. Variations of Pidgin are also spoken across West Africa
, in countries such as Equatorial Guinea
and Cameroon
. Pidgin English, despite its common use throughout the country, has no official status.
use the words Şe and Abi when speaking Pidgin. These are often used at the start or end of an intonated sentence or question. For example, "You are coming, right?" becomes Şe you dey come? or You dey come abi? Another example, the Igbos
added the word, Nna also used at the beginning of some sentences to add effect. For example, man! that test was hard becomes Nna, that test hard no be small.
Nigerian Pidgin also varies from place to place. Dialects of Nigerian Pidgin may include the Warri, Sapele, Benin, Port-Harcourt, Lagos especially in Ajegunle, Onitsha varieties.
Nigerian Pidgin is most widely spoken in the oil rich Niger-Delta where most of its population speak it as their first language.
share similarities to the various dialects of English found in the Caribbean. Some of the returning descendants of slaves taken to the New World of West African origin brought back many words and phrases to West Africa from the Jamaican Creole
(also known as Jamaican Patois or simply Patois
) and the other creole languages of the West Indies which are components of Nigerian Pidgin. The pronunciation and accents often differ a great deal, mainly due to the extremely heterogeneous mix of African languages present in the West Indies, but if written on paper or spoken slowly, the creole languages of West Africa are for the most part mutually intelligible with the creole languages of the Caribbean. The presence of repetitious phrases in Jamaican Creole
such as "su-su" (gossip) and "pyaa-pyaa" (sickly) mirror the presence of such phrases in West African languages such as "bam-bam", which means "complete" in the Yoruba language. Repetitious phrases are also present in Nigerian Pidgin, such as, "koro-koro", meaning "clear vision", "yama-yama", meaning "disgusting", and "doti-doti", meaning "garbage". Furthermore, the use of the words of West African origin in Jamaican Patois, such as "boasie" (meaning proud, a word that comes from the Yoruba
word "bosi" also meaning "proud") and "Unu" - Jamaican Patois or "Wuna" - West African Pidgin (meaning "you people", a word that comes from the Igbo
word "unu" also meaning "you people") display some of the interesting similarities between the English pidgins and creoles of West Africa and the English pidgins and creoles of the West Indies, as does the presence of words and phrases that are identical in the languages on both sides of the Atlantic, such as "Me a go tell dem" (I'm going to tell them) and "make we" (let us). Use of the word "deh" or "dey" is found in both Jamaican Patois and Nigerian Pidgin English, and is used in place of the English word "is" or "are". The phrase "We dey foh London" would be understood by both a speaker of Patois and a speaker of Nigerian Pidgin to mean "We are in London". Other similarities, such as "pikin" (Nigerian Pidgin for "child") and "pikney" (or "pikiny"--Jamaican Patois for "child") and "chook" (Nigerian Pidgin for "poke" or "stab") which corresponds with the Jamaican Patois word "jook" further demonstrate the linguistic relationship.
"Sabi" means "to know" or "to know how to" just as "to know" is "saber" in Portuguese and Spanish.
is used in politics, the Internet and some television programs.
This produces a lot of homophones, like thin, thing and tin which are all three pronounced like /tin/.
This circumstance gives a high importance to the context, the tone, the body language and any other ways of communication for the distinction of the homophones.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-based pidgin and a creole language spoken as a lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
across Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. The language is commonly referred to as "Pidgin
Pidgin
A pidgin , or pidgin language, is a simplified language that develops as a means of communication between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the...
" or "Brokin". It is often not considered a creole language
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
since most speakers are not native speaker
Native Speaker
Native Speaker is Chang-Rae Lee’s first novel. In Native Speaker, he creates a man named Henry Park who tries to assimilate into American society and become a “native speaker.”-Plot summary:...
s, although many children do learn it early. Nonetheless it can be spoken as a pidgin, a creole, or a decreolised
Decreolization
Decreolization is a hypothetical phenomenon whereby over time a creole language reconverges with one of the standard languages from which it originally derived...
acrolect by different speakers, who may switch between these forms depending on the social setting. Faraclas, Nicholas C., Nigerian Pidgin, Descriptive Grammar, 1996, Introduction. Ihemere (2006) reports that Nigerian Pidgin is the native language of approximately 3 to 5 million people and is a second language
Second language
A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas ....
for at least another 75 million. Variations of Pidgin are also spoken across West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
, in countries such as Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea where the capital Malabo is situated.Annobón is the southernmost island of Equatorial Guinea and is situated just south of the equator. Bioko island is the northernmost point of Equatorial Guinea. Between the two islands and to the...
and Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
. Pidgin English, despite its common use throughout the country, has no official status.
Variations
Each of the 250 or more ethnic groups in Nigeria can converse in this language, though they usually have their own additional words. For example, the YorùbásYoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
use the words Şe and Abi when speaking Pidgin. These are often used at the start or end of an intonated sentence or question. For example, "You are coming, right?" becomes Şe you dey come? or You dey come abi? Another example, the Igbos
Igbo people
Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...
added the word, Nna also used at the beginning of some sentences to add effect. For example, man! that test was hard becomes Nna, that test hard no be small.
Nigerian Pidgin also varies from place to place. Dialects of Nigerian Pidgin may include the Warri, Sapele, Benin, Port-Harcourt, Lagos especially in Ajegunle, Onitsha varieties.
Nigerian Pidgin is most widely spoken in the oil rich Niger-Delta where most of its population speak it as their first language.
Similarity to Caribbean dialects
Nigerian Pidgin, along with the various pidgin and creole languages of West AfricaWest Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
share similarities to the various dialects of English found in the Caribbean. Some of the returning descendants of slaves taken to the New World of West African origin brought back many words and phrases to West Africa from the Jamaican Creole
Jamaican Creole
Jamaican Patois, known locally as Patois or Jamaican, and called Jamaican Creole by linguists, is an English-lexified creole language with West African influences spoken primarily in Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora. It is not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of...
(also known as Jamaican Patois or simply Patois
Patois
Patois is any language that is considered nonstandard, although the term is not formally defined in linguistics. It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant...
) and the other creole languages of the West Indies which are components of Nigerian Pidgin. The pronunciation and accents often differ a great deal, mainly due to the extremely heterogeneous mix of African languages present in the West Indies, but if written on paper or spoken slowly, the creole languages of West Africa are for the most part mutually intelligible with the creole languages of the Caribbean. The presence of repetitious phrases in Jamaican Creole
Jamaican Creole
Jamaican Patois, known locally as Patois or Jamaican, and called Jamaican Creole by linguists, is an English-lexified creole language with West African influences spoken primarily in Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora. It is not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of...
such as "su-su" (gossip) and "pyaa-pyaa" (sickly) mirror the presence of such phrases in West African languages such as "bam-bam", which means "complete" in the Yoruba language. Repetitious phrases are also present in Nigerian Pidgin, such as, "koro-koro", meaning "clear vision", "yama-yama", meaning "disgusting", and "doti-doti", meaning "garbage". Furthermore, the use of the words of West African origin in Jamaican Patois, such as "boasie" (meaning proud, a word that comes from the Yoruba
Yoruba language
Yorùbá is a Niger–Congo language spoken in West Africa by approximately 20 million speakers. The native tongue of the Yoruba people, it is spoken, among other languages, in Nigeria, Benin, and Togo and in communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and the Americas...
word "bosi" also meaning "proud") and "Unu" - Jamaican Patois or "Wuna" - West African Pidgin (meaning "you people", a word that comes from the Igbo
Igbo language
Igbo , or Igbo proper, is a native language of the Igbo people, an ethnic group primarily located in southeastern Nigeria. There are approximately 20 million speakers that are mostly in Nigeria and are primarily of Igbo descent. Igbo is a national language of Nigeria. It is written in the Latin...
word "unu" also meaning "you people") display some of the interesting similarities between the English pidgins and creoles of West Africa and the English pidgins and creoles of the West Indies, as does the presence of words and phrases that are identical in the languages on both sides of the Atlantic, such as "Me a go tell dem" (I'm going to tell them) and "make we" (let us). Use of the word "deh" or "dey" is found in both Jamaican Patois and Nigerian Pidgin English, and is used in place of the English word "is" or "are". The phrase "We dey foh London" would be understood by both a speaker of Patois and a speaker of Nigerian Pidgin to mean "We are in London". Other similarities, such as "pikin" (Nigerian Pidgin for "child") and "pikney" (or "pikiny"--Jamaican Patois for "child") and "chook" (Nigerian Pidgin for "poke" or "stab") which corresponds with the Jamaican Patois word "jook" further demonstrate the linguistic relationship.
Connection to Portuguese and Spanish languages
Being derived partly from the present day Edo/Delta area of Nigeria, there are still some leftover words from the Portuguese and Spanish languages in pidgin English (Portuguese and Spanish trade ships traded slaves from the Bight of Benin). For example, "you sabi do am?" means "do you know how to do it?""Sabi" means "to know" or "to know how to" just as "to know" is "saber" in Portuguese and Spanish.
Nigerian Standard English
Similar to the Jamaican Patois situation, Nigerian Pidgin is mostly used in informal conversations. However, Nigerian Pidgin has no status as a official language. Nigerian Standard EnglishNigerian Standard English
Nigerian Standard English, or simply Nigerian English is a form of English spoken in Nigeria. It is most commonly spoken in urban areas, particularly in Lagos. It is based on British English. Although, in recent years because of increasing contact between the United States, some words of American...
is used in politics, the Internet and some television programs.
Homophones
The most important differences to other types of English is that there are only some consonants, vowels (6) and diphthongs (3) used.This produces a lot of homophones, like thin, thing and tin which are all three pronounced like /tin/.
This circumstance gives a high importance to the context, the tone, the body language and any other ways of communication for the distinction of the homophones.
Related topics
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- Creole languageCreole languageA creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
- Jamaican CreoleJamaican CreoleJamaican Patois, known locally as Patois or Jamaican, and called Jamaican Creole by linguists, is an English-lexified creole language with West African influences spoken primarily in Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora. It is not to be confused with Jamaican English nor with the Rastafarian use of...
- NaijalingoNaijalingoNaijalingo.com is an online Nigerian pidgin English and slang dictionaryNaijalingo provides definitions to Nigerian words and phrases and its contents are written by its users and moderated by the sites administrators, which also includes some of its top users...
External links
- Ethnologue report for Nigerian Pidgin
- A Dictionary of Nigerian English; Blench, Roger. 2005. (circulation draft)
- Nigerian Pidgin/Broken English Dictionary Naija Lingo also contains Nigerian Slangs
- Online Nigerian Pidgin
- Pijjin.com A discussion forum run only in Pidgin
- Pidginguide.com Nigerian Pidgin English dictionary, translator, and community