The social and functional power of Nigerian English

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2268583
AutoresEdmund O Bamiro (University of Maiduguri, autor de correspondencia)
Año1991
Volumen10
Número3
Páginas275-286
Fecha de publicación1991-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaWorld Englishes (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0883-2919 • E-ISSN: 1467-971X
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1467-971x.1991.tb00161.x
OpenAlexW2056068283
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas8

This paper employs the frameworks of sociolinguistics and social psychology to explore the social and functional power of Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE) as it is featured in the novels of two prominent Nigerian authors, Wole Soyinka and Chinua Achebe. It is argued that, although NPE has not risen to the position of the acrolect or the prestige variety, its social and functional power as an interpreter of the Nigerian social structure cannot be discounted. Thus, the analyses undertaken in this study not only demonstrate how NPE exposes the tension and conflict between the dominant and dominated groups in Nigeria, but also how it reveals the contempt and anger the dominated have for the dominant. NPE thus becomes a code that symbolizes the solidarity of the dominated class in Nigeria. Furthermore, the analyses not only demonstrate how the dominant class use NPE as an accommodation strategy, but also how some privileged members of the dominated groups employ NPE to maintain their communicative and social distance, thereby enforcing power relations and neutralizing cultural norms. The analyses also show how the codes of the dominated groups in Nigeria become the vehicle by which they are further exploited and subjugated by the dominant class

Linguistics · Pidgin · Politeness · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Prestige · Social distance · Sociolinguistics · Sociology · Solidarity · Variety (cybernetics · EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning · Gender Studies · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Social Psychology