Deviations in popular Nigerian English syntax

Abstract

Nigerian English has been recognized as a distinctive variety of world English. However, documentation of what constitutes Standard and non- standard forms of Nigerian English has so far been insufficient to establish a comprehensive grammar of Nigerian English. This study undertook to analyze syntactic deviations in Popular Nigerian English (PNE). Our aim was to identify peculiar syntactic features that characterize Popular Nigerian English and to examine factors responsible for the peculiarities. Three hundred Nigerian English speakers who have undergone studies in the English language were selected through a Stratified Random Sampling (SRS) technique from different Federal Institutions of learning and at various levels of educated usage in Nigeria. A quantitative approach using frequency count and percentages was adopted in the analysis. The peculiar PNE forms that have high frequency of occurrence and wide distribution in the corpus were analyzed and compared with Standard British English to determine the nature of deviations. The study revealed that popular written Nigerian English slightly deviates from Standard British English. The deviations are widespread and regular and the structures are intelligible both nationally and internationally. The forms emerged mainly as a result of new socio-cultural realities in the Nigerian environment. The study urges that PNE general deviations should be accepted both nationally and internationally.

Keywords: Popular Nigerian English, Syntax, Standard British English, Lexicon, Phonology