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InnovationinNigerianEnglish
EdmundO.Bamiro
EnglishToday/Volume10/Issue03/July1994,pp1315 DOI:10.1017/S026607840000763X,Publishedonline:17October2008

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Innovation in Nigerian English

EDMUND O. BAMIRO
An examination of lexical innovation in the everyday English of the largest anglophone country in West Africa

ALTHOUGH Nigerian English is different from other varieties of English around the world in phonology, lexis, syntax, and usage, it has been generally acknowledged that "Most differences between Nigerian English and other forms of English are to be found in the innovations in lexical items and idioms and their meanings" (Bamgbose, 1983: 106). Consequently, based on some recent examples noted in the speeches, conversations, sport commentaries, and news broadcasts of Nigerian users of English, it is suggested in this paper that lexical innovations in Nigerian English are mainly classifiable under the following linguistic categories: loanshifts, ellipses, conversions, translation equivalents, analogical creations, and coinages. In the following discussion of each of these categories, Nigerian English is abbreviated as NE and British English as BE. The examples appear to cut across various social and educational strata in Nigeria.

textually redefined in the Nigerian sociolinguistic environment: Belgium (of a car) used or second-hand. The usage originates from the fact that most used or second-hand cars in Nigeria are imported from or via Belgium. Taiwan (of a motor-car spare part) fake or not genuine. The usage originates from the general belief among Nigerians, especially motor mechanics, that most fake motor-car spare parts have their origin in Taiwan. gas, mess, gas fart. "Fart" is one of those uncommon English words that most Nigerians never acquire in their contact with English. outing a visit to friends or relatives; a ceremony in honour of a dead person. heavy (of a woman) pregnant.
EDMUND BAMIRO holds the degrees ofB.A. in English (1982) of the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria, M.A. in English (1986) of the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and Ph.D. in Education (English Teaching/Linguistics) of the International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan (1990). He teaches at the Department of English, University of Maiduguri, and his research interests are stylistics, text linguistics/discourse analysis, socio-linguistics, pragmatics, and varieties of English in Nigeria. He is currently researching 'Language as social and cultural identity in Commonwealth Literature' at the Department of English, the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He has published articles on Nigerian English in the journal "World Englishes'.

Loanshifts
Grosjean (1982) has indicated that in loanshifts, the meaning of a word or group of words in the base language is extended to cover a new concept. Thus the French realiser not only has its original meaning of bringing into concrete existence ("making real") but now has taken on the English meaning "being aware of something". The following lexical items have been con-

English Today 39, Vol. 10, No. 3 (July 1994). Copyright 1994 Cambridge University Press

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material dress or garment. drop a taxi-cab charter service. attached affianced; engaged to be married. sound music. hometown one's birthplace. decision (verb) to defeat, especially in boxing. celebrant a person hosting a party or social function. Cf. BE, "priest leading a church service, especially the Eucharist" (OALD, p. 180). Usage also qualifies as 'analogical creation' as the Nigerian user of English inflects the verb 'celebrate' with the suffix '-ant' on the analogy of English words such as attendant, participant, etc. brown envelope a bribe. The usage originates from the practice among Nigerians to discreetly enclose bribe money in envelopes (not necessarily brown) rather than exposing it. designer a custom-made dress, designed to the specification and taste of the client. bush uncouth, countrified, uncivilised. lock to hold on tightly to shirt or trouser in a scuffle. yellow (of a person) fair or light in complexion. in state (of a woman) pregnant. vigilante to safeguard or protect somebody or something. casualty a road accident victim. village one's birthplace. refer to referee (a football match). upstairs a storeyed building. Ellipses Ellipsis as a means of lexical innovation in Nigerian English involves the deletion of the obligatory headword in the nominal group structure while the modifiers and qualifiers are retained to become the focus of the sentence. To help readers appreciate how ellipsis operates in Nigerian English, I supply below the contexts in which the examples occur; the ellipted elements are enclosed in parentheses: Next Saturday is environmental (i.e., environmental sanitation day). My husband has just bought a video (i.e., a video cassette recorder). She is wearing recommended (i.e., recommended glasses). I will travel to Eastern Nigeria by luxurious (i.e., luxurious bus). He is going for summer in New York next year (i.e., summer vacation).
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He is a mental (i.e., mental patient). My elder brother is an army (i.e., a soldier in the army). My friend would like to become a navy (i.e., a naval officer). Conversions In keeping with the law of economy of expression, Nigerian users of English sometimes convert nouns to verbs, as follows: to paste to brush the teeth with toothpaste. to flit to spray a room or surrounding with the Flit brand of insecticide. to stretcher to carry off somebody on a stretcher. to yellow-card to show a player the yellow card. to broker to act as or play the role of a broker. to source to find new sources of something. to impact on to have an impact on. Translation equivalents Owing to the 'interference' features of Nigerian languages on the English language, the constant relexification of the Nigerians' mother tongues (using English vocabulary but structures of indigenous languages), and the inadequate exposure of many Nigerians to the English language, many Nigerian users of English find it expedient to translate Nigerian expressions into English as follows (with examples from the Yoruba language): wash mouth (fo enu) to brush the teeth. draw soup (obe yo) soup prepared with vegetables such as okra. hot drink (oti gbigbona) hard drinks such as brandy, whisky, gin. month-end (ipari osu) pay day. sweet (of a story or film) (dun) interesting or captivating. morning meal (onje aro) breakfast. afternoon meal (onje osan) lunch. evening meal (onje ale) dinner. market people (ara oja) traders generally. market women (iya oja) female traders. learn book (ko iwe) to undergo formal education. know book (mo iwe) to be highly educated. next tomorrow (otun ola) day after tomorrow. big man (enia nla) important person. small festival (odun kekere) Christmas. big festival (odun nla) New Year's Day.
ENGLISH TODAY 39 July 1994

long legs (ese gigun) using undue influence, nepotism, favouritism. door-mouth (enu ona) doorway.

Analogical creations
Analogical creation in Nigerian English "describes the formation of new words on the basis of partial likeness or agreement in form or in sense with already existing words, either in the mother tongue or in English. Word formation processes in English such as suffixation and prefixation are very productive analogy models in Nigerian English" (Adegbija, 1989: 172). Some recent examples: manfriend a boyfriend. The analogy derives from non-reciprocal usage in seniority and age: a homespun Nigerian girl would consider it unethical to refer to a much older man as a 'boyfriend'. make-up test a supplementary test. The analogy derives from "to make up for a test". Cf. write-up, set-up. matriculant a matriculating student. Cf. attendant, participant. celebrant the host of a party or any other social function. academician an academic. Cf. electrician, politician. strategise to plan strategies. deproscribe to reverse a proscription order. Cf. depopulate, defuse. unban to lift a ban on. Cf. uncover, unpack.

homebreaker a woman who spoils the conjugal bliss of another by attempting to snatch her husband. area boy an erstwhile responsible and well-todo male citizen - especially of Lagos, the commercial capital - who has resorted to street begging as a result of drug addiction. Cf. area girl. baby lawyer a Nigerian called to the Bar at a relatively young age, especially below twenty-five. money politics politics whose rules are dictated by the wealth of the individual. charge-and-bail an unsuccessful lawyer who solicits for clients and cases in court premises. sufferhead a sufferer; a very poor and deprived Nigerian. woman wrapper a womanizer; a Nigerian man obsessed with women. long throat a greedy and avaricious person. bad mouth an extremely rude and malicious individual. Jambite a fresher in a Nigerian university admitted through entrance examinations conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB). sweet sixteen a female teenage lover, especially of a sugar daddy.

Conclusion
Most of the examples of lexical innovation furnished in this paper are novel in that they have not been documented in earlier researches into Nigerian English. The implication is that in the foreseeable future the lexicon of Nigerian English will continue to grow because as English continues to interact with local languages and to contribute to Nigeria's political, economic, and sociocultural development, every domain of use of English in Nigeria will continue to fashion words that will reflect its sociolinguistic experience. Lexicographic researchers cannot afford to ignore this trend. EO References
Adegbija, E. 1989. "Lexico-semantic variation in Nigerian English." World Englishes 8(2), 165-177. Bamgbose, A. 1983. "Standard Nigerian English: issues of identification." In B. B. Kachru (ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures, 99-111. Oxford: Pergamon Press. Grosjean, F. 1982. Life with two languages. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.

honoree a person being honoured. Cf.

employee, payee, absentee. allottee a person allotted a house, land, etc. designee a person appointed to an office or other important position. fast-fingered light-fingered. sleeping-room bed-room.

Coinages
Chiefly through the word-formation process of compounding, Nigerian users of English invent words or word groups that not only help in collapsing potentially longer expressions and structures but also aid in euphemisms. Such 'synoptic' words and word groups include the following: senior boy a rich middle-aged and elderly Nigerian man who likes the lifestyles of teenagers such as frequenting night-clubs, dating teenage girls, wearing clothes which are in vogue, etc. Cf. senior girl.
INNOVATION IN NIGERIAN ENGLISH

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