A Quantitative Study of Phonological and Morphological Variants in the Evolving Spoken Standard Igbo Variety

Abstract

The evolution of Spoken Standard Igbo used by the Igbo people in public space in Nigeria, has undergone significant developments. However, this occurrence has received limited empirical attention. This paper examines five phonological and two morphological variables in the evolving spoken Standard Igbo variety. This study aims to establish the variants with the highest rate of occurrence. Data was extracted from the available corpus of Igbo language news from seven purposively sampled radio stations in South-Western and South-Eastern Nigeria, covering the period of 2021-2022. The data was analyzed using frequency count and simple percentage values of variants. The findings from the analysis of data established a higher frequency of occurrence of the variants: ‘r’ over ‘l’, ‘r’ over ‘y’, ‘h’ over ‘f’, ‘h’ over ‘r’, ‘l’ over ‘n’, the negative morphemes ‘ghi’ over ‘ro’, ‘hu’ and ‘gi’, and the aspectual morphemes ‘la’ over ‘na’, ‘le’, and ‘go’. This study recommends that the variants with a wider spread and higher frequency of occurrence should be prioritized for Spoken Standard Igbo. The adoption of this recommendation would minimize pronunciation variation in Spoken Standard Igbo.