Nigerian Pidgin English

© Francesco Goglia

Nigerian Pidgin English and English are widespread linguae francae in Nigeria where more than 300 languages are spoken.

The origins of Nigerian Pidgin English lie historically in trade contact between the British and local people in the seventeenth century. It is part of a continuum of English Pidgins and Creoles spoken other West-African countries such as Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Ghana. In recent years, Nigerian Pidgin English development has been particularly evident in the big cities and ports in the south of Nigeria, where it is used among people belonging to different ethnic groups; the use of Nigerian Pidgin English is strictly linked to the urbanization process.

In the past the use of Nigerian Pidgin English was linked to non-educated people and perceived by the educated ones with negative attitude. Nowadays the use of Nigerian Pidgin English is more widespread even among educated people and perceived as more Nigerian than English. Indeed, using Nigerian Pidgin English is increasingly popular among young people, many writers, politicians and musicians. The fact that it is not attached to any ethnic group makes it a very good candidate as an official lingua franca in the Federation. The use of Nigerian Pidgin English can also function, in some contexts, as an act of identity when speakers need to stress their 'Nigerianness', as opposed to their ethnic group identity. In other words, Nigerian Pidgin English can express a belonging to Nigeria, which English, the language of the ex-colonial power, cannot. This is very similar to other multiethnic postcolonial situations. Compare the linguistic situation of Mauritius Islands where English and French are the official languages, but they coexist with other very powerful community languages (Chinese, Hindi, Urdu, etc.) and Mauritian French Creole. The latter, although lacking official status, is the only language which can express a neutral Mauritian identity.

No official status has been granted to Nigerian Pidgin English in Nigeria, although some Nigerians have suggested that it would be a good candidate for national language status, since it retains the above-mentioned characteristics of solidarity and neutrality. However, Nigerian Pidgin English is not yet sufficiently well-developed to fulfill all the duties of a national language. There is no standard orthography, little or no written use, and above all no active movement favouring its development and propagation. One of the obstacles to standardization is the perception of Nigerian Pidgin English as a variety of English, rather than a separate language; Nigerians often refer to Nigerian Pidgin English as 'broken English'. See the examples below:

EXAMPLE 1

Below is a conversation in Pidgin English mixed with English between two Nigerians. The topic of the conversation is the singer and human rights activist Fela Kuti who used to use himself Nigerian Pidgin English in his songs to reach all Nigerians. The excerpt shows some linguistic features of Nigerian Pidgin English. The particle dey (< English there) is used to mark verbs for present tense and progressive aspect. In line 2 dey appears before the verb ple 'play' and marks it for present tense. In line 9, dey appears as a copula. Another copula is na in line 12. The same stands for dey use 'use' in line 3 and 5. In line 8, note the use of the particle go to express future. In line 2 and 7 note the use of we (< English where) as a relativizer. In line 11 and 13, the verb sabi 'know' (< Portuguese saber) is a typical feature of most Pidgins and Creoles. In lines 12 and 13 note the use of the multifunctional preposition fo (< English for).

Example 1

Fela is a very nice musician

2	B:	Di	tin	we	mì	no	laik	is when	de	man
		the	thing	that	I	NEG	like		the	man

		dey	ple	im	music,
		PROG	play	his

3		de	man	too	dey	use Yoruba dialect when	im
		the	man	also	PROG		he

		dey	tok
		PROG	talk

4		im	own	Pidgin English.
		his	own

5	A:	But dialect	we	im	dey	use	no	matter. But it is
			that	he	PROG		NEG

		a dialect...

6		No matter,	de	tin	yu	si...
			the	thing	you	see

7	B:	Don't make me laugh, o boy, because Fela...

		im	suppose to use dialect			we
		he				that

8		every Nigerian	go	understand, even if			im	dey
			will				he	PROG

		speak Pidgin English.

9		You	no	si	ì	dey	difficult to see a young person
				see	it	is

		we	no	understand
		who	NEG

10		Pidgin English.

11	A:	The person	we	dey	speak Pidgin	no	mean
			who	PROG		NEG

		se	dì	person	no	sabi	at all,
		that	the		NEG	know

12		a person to speak Pidgin... Pidgin	na	for everybody...
			is

		even fo my mama

13		fo,	we	dey	village	sabi	speak
		at	who	is		know

		Pidgin English.

EXAMPLE 2

In the following excerpt the speaker is talking about pepper sup, a traditional Nigerian dish. In lines 1 and 2, note the Pidgin verb chop 'eat'. In line 3, the use of the particle go to express future tense. In lines 3 and 4 the object pronoun im 'it/her/him'. In line 6, the verb sabi 'know, and the copula na.

Example 2

1	B:	Na	pepper sup	A	dey	chop.
		It is		I	PROG	eat

2		Di one	if	yu	want drink when	yu	chop	em
		this one		you		you	eat	it

		because	i	dey	put	em	pepper,
			it	COP		it

3	when	yu	chop	em	yu	go	drink more.
		you	eat	it	you	will
	because, be-, because dey put pepper, because dey put pepper inside.

4		De-	A	dey	enjoy	em.	You no	si,	watch	mi.
			I	PROG	it			see		me

		Na	like	dis	we	dey	chop	em,
		it is		this	that	COP	eat	it

5		When	we	dey	chop	em,	we	dey	drink, like
				PROG	eat	it		PROG

		dis, we, like	dis one	li-, like	dis one	we	dey
			this one		this one		PROG

drink my Guinnes,

6		Yu	sabi	Guinnes, no? Guinnes	na	popular beer
		You	know		it is

EXAMPLE 3

Example 3 [Idiom]

Monkey	dey	wok,	babun	dey	chop.
	ASP	work	baboon	ASP	eat
'The wise works while the stupid eats'