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- Language Family: Other Benue-Congo
- Topic #1: Sociolinguistics
Yorùbá based Nigerian English in the drama of Ola Rotimi and Femi Osofisan
This paper discusses the issue of ethnic influence on English language with a particular focus on the Yoruba language and its interference on the Nigerian English variety. Data for the study are drawn from the plays of Ola Rotimi and Femi Osofisan, two Nigerian playwrights of Yoruba extraction. In a descriptive approach, the data evince the fact that while it can be readily deduced that many of the characters speak a variety generally referred to as Nigerian English, evidences of a Yoruba linguistic background are equally quickly noticeable in the semantic and phonetic contents of the utterances. The speeches of the lead characters especially are fraught with various usages of Yoruba language which manifest as code mixing, code switching, coinage of new words, literal translations and Yoruba proverbs among others. The study discovers that, contrary to earlier claims that ethnic difference in Nigerian English usage is noticeable mostly in pronunciation, the influence of tribal background on regional English extends beyond the issue of articulation.
Cet article met en exergue la question de l’influence ethnique sur l’anglais en se focalisant sur le yoruba et son interférence sur la variété de l’anglais nigérian. Cette étude a comme source les données issues des pièces dramatiques de Ola Rotimi et de Femi Osofisan, deux dramaturges Nigérians de souche Yoruba. L’analyse descriptive des données montre que le substrat linguistique yoruba est remarquable dans le contenu sémantique et phonétique des énoncés même si beaucoup de personnages parlent apparemment une variété connue généralement sous le nom de l’anglais nigérian. Les échanges des personnages principaux sont pleins d’usages multiples de la langue yoruba qui se manifestent sous forme de mélange codique, de changement de code, de création de nouveaux mots, de traductions littérales et de proverbes Yoruba pour ne citer que ceux-là. L’étude met à nu le fait que, à l’opposé des déclarations précédentes que la différence ethnique dans l’usage de l’anglais nigérian se remarque surtout dans la prononciation, l’influence du substrat tribal sur l’anglais régional va au-delà de la simple question d’articulation.