SYNTACTIC INNOVATION PROCESSES IN NIGERIAN ENGLISH
ABSTRACT
This study investigates the syntactic features of Nigerian English which have been created
through the following processes – the use of subjectless sentences, reduplication, double subjects,
Pidgin-influenced structures, discourse particles, verbless sentences, and substitution. It observes that the fact that some features of Nigerian English syntax are shared by other new Englishes is a
healthy development for the identity of non-native varieties around the world. It finally recommends
the codification of the new norms into variety-specific grammars and a common grammar
of new Englishes.
1. Introduction
The documentation of the various features of world Englishes has continued to
attract the attention of the linguistic scholar. Like other varieties of non-native
Englishes, West African English (WAE) has received considerable attention (see, for example, Spencer 1971; Sey 1973; Bamgbose – Banjo – Thomas 1995;
Wolf 2001; Igboanusi 2002a). However, not much has been published on the
syntax of WAE in general and that of Nigerian English (NE) in particular. The
general belief is that grammatical features of national varieties of WAE are not
exclusive, and can also be found in other varieties of New Englishes (cf. Peter –
Wolf – Simo Bobda 2003: 44). For example, some scholars (notably Todd
1982; Bamgbose 1992; Bamiro 1995) observe that most of the syntactic patterns
in educated WAE are similar to those of other new Englishes. However, Todd identifies the following syntactic variations of WAE: the indiscriminate use of
the tag questions isn’t it/not so? as in it doesn’t matter, not so/isn’t it?; differences
in the use of some phrasal verbs, e.g. cope up with for ‘cope with’; failure
to sometimes distinguish between countable and non-countable nouns (e.g. an
394 H. Igboanusi
advice, firewoods, behaviors). Bamiro’s (1995) study on the syntactic variation
of WAE was a more comprehensive investigation than earlier studies on the
subject matter. Using data from creative literature, Bamiro identifies the following
variations: subjectless sentences, e.g. Is because she’s a street walker for ‘It
is because…?’; deletion of -ly morpheme in manner adjuncts, e.g. Send patrol
van to pick her up quick (quickly); omission of function words, e.g. You say
truth (‘… the truth’); reduplication, e.g. Slowly, slowly the canoe moved like the
walk of an old man (gradually); formation of interrogatives without changing
the position of subject and auxiliary items, e.g. You’ve decided finally then?
(‘Have you finally decided then?’); tag questions, e.g. You are writing a paper
about our organization, not so? (‘Isn’t it?’); the use of the progressive aspect
with mental processes, e.g. Do you know what I am hearing? (‘Do you know
what I hear these days?’); non-distinctive use of reciprocal pronouns, e.g. The
captains (seven of them) looked at each other somewhat perplexed (‘one another’);
substitution of preposition in idiomatic usage, e.g. That is why they have
dragged the good name of my father, Joshua, son of Fagbola in the mud
(‘through’); focus constructions, e.g. You are a funny man, you this man.
With regard to NE, Banjo (1995: 217) observes that “empirical contrastive study of the syntax of Nigerian and British English goes back to the era of error
analysis and contrastive linguistics” (e.g. the works of Tomori 1967; Banjo
1969; Odumuh 1981; Kujore 1985). Further works on the syntax of NE are
found in Odumuh (1987); Jowitt (1991); Bamgbose (1992); Kujore (1995) and
Banjo (1995). For example, Odumuh (1987: 60-65) identifies some “typical
variations between British English and Nigerian English as spoken by tertiary
educated informants”. Some of his examples include:
1) They enjoyed for BE ‘They enjoyed themselves’ (enjoyed occurs intransitively
in NE structure while it is usually transitive in BE);
2) He pregnanted her for BE ‘He made her pregnant’ (while NE structure uses
pregnanted as a verb, the word pregnant occurs in BE as an adjective);
3) You like that, isn’t it? for BE ‘You like that, don’t you?’ (in BE, while the
negative question tag is always determined by the verb, it is often represented
in NE by isn’t it?);
4) Give me meat for BE ‘Give me some meat’ (omission of article in NE
structure but not in BE structure);
5) I am having your book for BE ‘I have your book’ (NE structure uses the
ing as a stative marker);
6) He has been there since for BE ‘He has been there for some time’ (NE
structure uses an adverbial adjunct while BE structure has a preposition
followed by an adjunct).
Syntactic innovation processes ... 395
Jowitt (1991) provides the following examples:
7) He offed the light for BE ‘He put off the light’ (1991: 112 – functional
derivation);
8) After the referee might have arrived the match will begin for BE ‘After the
referee has arrived the match will begin’ (1991: 120 – illustrates the use of
modals in NE);
9) My father he works under NEPA for ‘My father works in NEPA’ (1991:
121 – subject copying).
A further example is:
10) I have filled the application form for BE ‘I have filled in the application
form’ (Kujore 1995: 371 – illustrates the use of the verb fill in NE where
the preposition in is deleted);
It has to be pointed out here that some of the syntactic features illustrated as characterizing
WAE or NE by existing studies are in fact shared by other varieties of English.
For instance, Kachru (1982, 1983, etc.) has noted the following syntactic features
in South Asian English – reduplication, formation of interrogatives without
changing the position of subject and auxiliary items, tag questions, differences associated
with the use of articles, etc. Similarly, Skandera (2002: 98-99) identifies
some of the grammatical features of all ESL varieties which do not occur in Standard
English to include missing verb inflections, missing noun inflections, pluralisation
of uncountable nouns, use of adjectives as adverbs, avoidance of complex
tenses, different use of articles, flexible position of adverbs, lack of inversion in
indirect questions, lack of inversion and do-support in wh-questions, and invariant
question tags. The fact that many of the features of NE or WAE syntax identified in
earlier studies are also shared by other new Englishes is an indication that new Englishes
around the world now have identifiable linguistic characteristics. What needs
to be done is to intensify research on comparisons of these features across national
and regional varieties of non-native Englishes with a view to separating exclusive
features of these varieties from general or universal markers.
2. Syntactic innovation processes
The present study is an attempt to account for innovations in the syntax of NE
resulting from the sociolinguistic context of Nigeria, namely Nigerian Pidgin
English and the indigenous languages. How is “innovation” to be perceived? To
this question, Bamgbose (1998: 2) states that an innovation is to be seen as “an
acceptable variant”. The problem here is to determine whether a usage or struc396
H. Igboanusi
ture is an innovation or an error. What is seen as an innovation in a non-native
variety of English may be perceived as an error by most native speakers of English.
This problem is resolved the very moment we recognize the roles of social
convention as well as the relationship between social structure and linguistic form
in the use of new Englishes (cf. Banda 1996: 68). As Skandera (2002: 99) has
rightly observed, “if the characteristic features of an ESL variety come to be used
with a certain degree of consistency by educated speakers, and are no longer perceived
as ‘mistakes’ by the speech community, then that ESL variety becomes
endonormative (or endocentric), i.e. it sets its own norms”. Most of the examples
provided in the present investigation are so frequently heard in the speech of
many educated users of NE that they have ceased to be regarded as errors.
3. The data
The data for this study is based on my observations through recordings and field
investigations over the past five years. The recordings involve mainly the formal
and informal conversations of educated speakers of NE at different social
events, conferences and seminars, and students’ conversation as well as the
conversations of less educated NE speakers. The informal recordings reflect
different settings, sexes, ages, and ethnic and educational backgrounds. Some of
the data used in this work are also drawn from radio and television discussions.
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