Essays on Language in Societal Transformation
Essays on Language in Societal Transformation

Author: Tunde Opeibi

Publisher: Cuvillier Verlag

Published: 2015-01-30

Total Pages: 330

ISBN-13: 3736949219

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This paper generally lends support to the arguments advanced by Awonusi (1989, 1990, 2004) and others in favour of an endornormative as opposed to an exonormative standard for English pronunciation in Nigeria. They include the fact that the existing, exonormative standard, British Received Pronunciation (RP), has undergone and is still undergoing changes in its homeland, and is not homogeneous. The heightened social mobility of today’s world perhaps works against the demarcation and homogenization of language varieties, and this is all the more true of the varieties or lects that have been proposed for Nigerian English when these are related, more or less explicitly, to educational attainment. Major attention is given in the paper to a schema of basilect, mesolect, and acrolect presented by Ugorji (2010), with a focus on his account of vowels and his presentation of a mechanism derived from optimality theory for evaluating vowels in contention. The basilect and the mesolect are found to be so close to each other that they might be combined. There would then be just two varieties. In contrast, the acrolect is close to British RP, albeit with many variants due to the conflict of two standardising forces, i.e. British RP and the basilect-mesolect. The vowel system of an officially adopted endonormative standard – ‘Nigerian RP’ – would mainly be the same as that of British RP, but the optimality mechanism could be employed to give preference to some of the Nigerian variants for inclusion in it.

Nigerian English
Nigerian English

Author: David Jowitt

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2018-11-05

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1501504509

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Although the past few decades have witnessed growing interest in varieties of English around the world, no study of the Nigerian variety intended for the international market has yet been published. Making use of well-known paradigms, the book will relate Nigerian English, as a ‘Second Language’ variety, to other World Englishes. Its chief overall concern, however, is to provide a detailed descriptive account of the variety, seeking to show what is distinctive about it and also, in this perspective, distinguishing between more educated and less educated usage. After giving a sociolinguistic profile of Nigeria, where English today enjoys a more prominent role than ever before, it will examine in turn the phonology, morpho-syntax, and lexico-semantics of Nigerian English, with samples of written texts from the eighteenth century to the present. It will also give a comprehensive summary of academic research carried out in the field over the past fifty years. In this way the book will provide an introduction to the subject for the benefit of scholars and students in universities in many countries, and will serve as a useful companion to other books in De Gruyter Mouton's Dialects of English series.

Focus on Nigeria
Focus on Nigeria

Author: Gordon Collier

Publisher: Rodopi

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 485

ISBN-13: 9401208476

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This issue of Matatu offers cutting-edge studies of contemporary Nigerian literature, a selection of short fiction and poetry, and a range of essays on various themes of political, artistic, socio-linguistic, and sociological interest. Contributions on theatre focus on the fool as dramatic character and on the feminist theatre of exclusion (Tracie Uto-Ezeajugh). Several essays examine the poetry of Hope Eghagha and the Delta writer Tanure Ojaide. Studies of the prose fiction of Chinua Achebe, Tayo Olafioye, Uwem Akpan, and Chimamanda Adichie are complemented by a searching exposé of the exploitation of Ayi Kwei Armah on the part of the metropolitan publishing world and by a recent interview with the poet Jumoko Verissimo. Traditional culture is considered in articles on historical sites in Ile-Ife, witchcraft in Etsako warfare, and the Awonmili women’s collective in Awka. Linguistically oriented studies consider political speeches, drug advertising, and Yoruba anthroponyms. Performance-focused essays focus on Emirate court spectacle (durbar), Yoruba drum poetry in contemporary media, gospel music, indigenization and islamization of military music, and the role of the filmmaker. Contributions of broader relevance deal with Islamic components of Nigerian culture, the decline of the educational system, and the socio-economic impact of acquisitive culture.

Language Pedagogy and Language Use in Africa
Language Pedagogy and Language Use in Africa

Author: Lioba Moshi

Publisher: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd

Published: 2009-10-23

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1912234076

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The study of African language pedagogy and use in the Diaspora was initiated in the 1960s as African countries attained independence from colonial powers. In the continent, the enthusiasm for the use of indigenous languages and scholarship has remained relatively moderate as scholars are conflicted in their loyalty to imperial languages. The attitude towards the use of African languages by African leaders has also hampered scholars' efforts to create and sustain the needed visibility for African languages around the world. Needless to say, the study of African languages is not only critical to the study of language theories but also important in changing Africa's overwhelming reliance on European languages to communicate with each other. The reliance has not only affected the politics of the continent but also its economic wellbeing. An analysis of the enormous developmental challenges facing the African continent will reveal that many of the economic, social, political and cultural challenges have major language components. It can actually be said that the challenges of development in Africa are either outright language challenges or are language- based. More significantly, at the social level in many parts of the continent, African languages are now perceived as inadequate means of communication. Language Pedagogy and Language Use in Africa discusses the importance of teaching and using of African languages in the African continent and beyond and provides illustrations of both their direct and indirect use a result of historical and contemporary contacts, language planning policies and pedagogical concerns. The book contributes to the on-going discussion on the pedagogy, promotion, and use of African languages both on the continent and in the Diaspora.

From Excellence to Distinction
From Excellence to Distinction

Author: Simeon Olajire Olanlokun

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2012-12-19

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 978843147X

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This book is a collection of presentations made during the tenure of Professor Oyewusi Ibidapo-Ope as Vice Chancellor (2000-2007) at the University of Lagos. Included are Matriculation and Convocations speeches delivered by Professor Oyewusi Ibidapo-Ope himself as well as Inaugural Lectures delivered by various faculty members and guests on a wide range of topics from Biochemistry, Botany, Physiotherapy, Development, Medicine. A brief chapter takes stock of the current state of the University generally while other chapters detail some of the government lobbying carried out by the Vice-Chancellor and his team. A chapter entitled "Town and Gown" record Professor Ibidapo-Ope's addresses to various organisations in Lagos while another records speeches at workshops and seminars such as the Nigerian Sociological Society.

Language, Literature and Style in Africa
Language, Literature and Style in Africa

Author: Taiwo Abioye

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2014-11-24

Total Pages: 185

ISBN-13: 1443871737

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This book brings together the seminal contributions of scholars interested in the study of language, literature and style in Africa. It marks a response to the longstanding neglect of stylistic analysis of canonical and emergent fictional and non-fictional African prose and discourse. As a reaction to this neglect of African literary artefacts, the book provides a welcome and timely deviation from the norm. The contributions to this volume include discussions that are both analytical and theoretical; analyses of style at the levels of lexis and semantics; newer and more innovative analyses that highlight the relationship between style, pedagogy and technology-mediated discourse; and a final discussion that provides an appropriate background against which issues related to language, literature and style can be understood. In terms of the volumes representation of diverse geographical contexts, the papers included here bridge the North-South divide in Africa, and there are contributions from Libya, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe. As such, the book is an interesting collection of papers that illuminate the study of literary style in Africa and highlight the need for a greater revival of it on a larger scale.

Four Decades in the Study of Nigerian Languages and Linguistics
Four Decades in the Study of Nigerian Languages and Linguistics

Author: Ndimele, Ozo-mekuri

Publisher: M & J Grand Orbit Communications

Published: 2019-03-31

Total Pages: 935

ISBN-13: 9785644006

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This volume is produced in commemoration of the official retirement of Professor Kay Williamson from the Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The contributing essayists cover five main generations of Nigerian linguists. The collection is divided into six sections: Language, history and Society; Applied Linguistics and Orthography Design; Gender and Communication Studies; Stylistics and Literature; Pragmatics, Discourse Analysis and Translation; and Formal Linguistics. Some of the contributors include: Ayo Bamgbose, Okon Essie, Ben Elugbe, P.A. Nwachukwu, E.N. Emenanjo, P. Anagbogu, Chinyere Ohiri-Aniche, O.M. Ndimele, O.G. Harry, Levi Igwe, C.U. Omego, O. Ojukwu, A.U. Weje, O.N. Anyanwu and A. Idafuro.

Focus on Egypt
Focus on Egypt

Author: Ernest Emenyo̲nu

Publisher: Boydell & Brewer

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 340

ISBN-13: 1847011713

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As well as a rare examination of Egyptian literature, this volume includes a non-themed section of Featured Articles and a Literary Supplement.

Emerging Perspectives on Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo
Emerging Perspectives on Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo

Author: Rose A. Sackeyfio

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2017-11-08

Total Pages: 249

ISBN-13: 1498559336

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Emerging Perspectives on Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo is a collection of 15 critical essays that highlights the literary contributions of Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo as one of Nigeria’s leading female writers. The book includes a literary biography, professional profile, and an interview with professor Adimora-Ezeigbo that offers valuable insight into her life and works. Contributing scholars provide critical and theoretical perspectives on Adimora-Ezeigbo’s ouvre that represents a postcolonial lens to interpret the African world. Emerging Perspectives contextualizes Adimora-Ezeigbo’s works of fiction, poetry, and drama within African, Nigerian, and Women’s literary tradition. This collection builds upon critical and theoretical scholarship on leading African writers whose works comprise a dynamic and compelling genre of African writing that spans the post-independence era into the 21st century. The essays examine themes from Adimora-Ezeigbo’s writing such as patriarchy, feminism, war, cultural traditions, and contemporary issues in Nigerian society such as trafficking, and many of the social, economic, and political challenges to Nigeria’s development as a modern nation state.