If you go to Nigeria and ask about the language, there are many ways it might be referred to: Pijin, Naija, and Brokun (from the English ‘broken’) are just a few of its names. The context of a conversation can also determine how speakers are using Nigerian Pidgin it is considered a more legitimate language in the present day, but has historically been seen as ‘ the language of the uneducated’. Depending on the context, it can be used as a pidgin or lingua franca, or as a creole, as there are many people now who have grown up speaking the language, especially in the Niger Delta. Nigerian Pidgin is an English-based pidgin and creole language which is spoken as a lingua franca across Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. A pidgin can become a creole once it is used as a stable lingua franca for some time, or if the next generation of speakers begin using it as their native language. The major languages are often English, French, or Portuguese as these were countries that were colonial powers but there are also a number of pidgins based on Spanish and Dutch.Īlthough Nigerian Pidgin has the word ‘pidgin’ in its name, it is likely that it is now closer to a creole than a true pidgin language. Pidgin languages are usually a blend of vocabulary from one major language with the grammar of at least one other (but sometimes more). This has typically involved trade the term ‘pidgin’ was in fact coined when the British began to trade with China-it is derived from a Chinese pronunciation of the English word ‘business.’ Historically, pidgin languages have come into being when there are two or more communities forced to interact who don’t have a language in common. But that raises an important question: what exactly is a pidgin language, and what is Nigerian Pidgin, specifically? What is a pidgin language? Nigerian Pidgin is a lingua franca in Nigeria, which means it helps unite a population who speak so many different languages. It also makes sense that some of these added words would be derived from Nigerian Pidgin, a language spoken by approximately 30 million people across West Africa. It makes sense, then, to add those terms that have come into popular use in Nigerian English, so they can be shared with other English speakers and understood as important in their own right. An example of this would be a danfo, which is a yellow minibus that carries paying passengers as part of an informal transport system in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.Īs we have found after adding seven varieties of English to our app, each one adds its own richness and complexity to the language think, for example, of the Scottish ‘haud yer wheesht’, which means ‘to be quiet,’ or the Australian ‘have a Captain Cook’ (have a look). Most of the terms are borrowed from different languages-such as the word buka, which refers to a roadside restaurant or street stall and has been borrowed from Hausa and Yoruba-or are unique Nigerian words that, for the most part, only started being used regularly in English from the 1970s and 1980s. Out of all of the additions to the OED this January, Nigeria has contributed 29 of them, all words that are influenced in different ways by the multitude of languages spoken across the country. In this post, we’re going to take a look at an unofficial but widely-spoken language in Nigeria-Nigerian Pidgin-and see how it has influenced English spoken there.
English is the official language of Nigeria but is only one of 500 spoken in the country. Last month, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) announced a list of words it was adding to its ranks-including many from Nigerian Standard English for the first time.
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