PIDGIN ENGLISH IS THE REAL USURPER
As more languages become endangered, Chinedum Art Michael looks at how Nigeria’s indigenous languages could be affected.
A hundred years from today, cars will fly in the sky. Money will be spent via a microchip implanted in the human body. Space travel will take us beyond our galaxy. Also, AI machines will gain independence from humans and probably go to war with us.
Okay, some of these are just science fiction theories for now.
3000 LANGUAGES ON THE BRINK
However, the following statement is not fiction: a hundred years from today, half of the world’s over 6000 existing languages will have become extinct. Dead. Forgotten. This is according to a research programme entitled Birth and Death: The Life Cycle of Language, by some of the world’s leading authorities on language (including the revered Noam Chomsky).
While this might seem a tall claim, many languages (about 40 percent of languages) spoken today are currently considered endangered languages. Hence, speakers of Nigerian indigenous languages need to find out if their beloved languages are part of this 40 percent.
According to Global LTS, a language is considered endangered if it has only about 1000 speakers or less using it in their daily lives. Following this definition, we can conclude that many Nigerian languages (especially the popular ones, as we really don’t know how many languages are spoken in the country) cannot be considered to be endangered.
Indeed, while English has long reigned as Nigeria’s official language, the vast majority of Nigerians still use their indigenous languages on a daily basis. Hence, you can say that Nigerians are at least bilingual.
DIGLOSSIA
The coexistence of English and the myriad indigenous languages in Nigeria is made possible by a phenomenon called diglossia. It describes a situation where more than one language is used within the same society but in different contexts.
For instance, in formal contexts, such as in corporate settings, schools, government etc., Nigerians use English. In informal contexts, such as at home, among friends, etc., Nigerians generally use their indigenous languages.
In these settings, there is also the use of Nigerian pidgin, a creole based on English.
AMERICA THE DOMINANT
However, we don’t need to jump to the conclusion that Nigerian indigenous languages are entirely safe.
The English language is a highly pervasive language; so pervasive in fact, that the Chinese government is exploring ways to protect Mandarin Chinese (the language with the most indigenous speakers in the world) from the intrusion of English.
English is by far the most widely spoken language, being spoken in over 140 nations of the world.
Plus, it doesn’t help that while the UK (the originators) formerly exercised political dominance over 50 percent of the world, the US (current frontliners) presently exercise political, economic, and sociocultural dominance over most of the world today.
ENGLIGBO AND OTHERS
Recently, I came to realise that there are very few Igbo speakers who can communicate entirely in Igbo without mixing in some English at any point. Even I have better mastery of English than I do of my own language.
Many “modern” Nigerian parents insist on raising their kids in English as they believe it to be “posh”. These children are left having to learn their indigenous languages from their society. It gets worse in diaspora, where the children of Nigerian parents often identify more with their host countries than with their indigenous land.
If this trend continues, then in the next century many Nigerian languages will become endangered languages, as most of their speakers would be long gone. This will be an unfortunate outcome because the loss of a language can also mean the loss of cultural identity.
Apparently, in an increasingly globalised world, this will not pose much of a problem. Who knows? The languages themselves might not even be missed. English (or whatever language will be dominant then) might probably suffice for the whole world, and there might be very little room for cultural diversity in the scheme of things.
What would be left are memorials, records, and museum artefacts showing the glories of once respected languages and cultures; or a few intellectuals striving to bring back a niche or irrelevant language (I totally see myself doing this).
We’d have other idle intellectuals contemplating the beautiful lexis and structure of historical languages (to which many Nigerian languages might be included), and how their extinction should serve as a warning sign and a reason to preserve whatever languages would be endangered then.
But that’s all speculation. It’s all in the future, so we don’t need to worry about these problems.
Not when we have more pressing issues, and currently even a bigger threat to the existence of Nigerian indigenous languages. But what could be a greater threat to Nigerian languages than the English language?
PIDGIN RISES
Take a journey to the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Walk in the streets of Warri, enter the busy markets of Port Harcourt, or visit the local areas of Yenogoa and Tombia. In these informal settings, you shouldn’t expect to hear much of English from the people around.
And indeed you won’t hear much English — at least not the kind of English that the British bequeathed to us. What you’ll instead hear is pidgin English. A lot of pidgin English. The kind of English that has developed in Nigeria out of the Nigerian experience, making it assume the position of an indigenous language.
You see, Nigerian pidgin has some unique characteristics that make it appealing to the Nigerian speaker.
Firstly, it belongs to no particular ethnic group. And in a nation torn by ethnocentrism and tribal sentiments, this language becomes a unifier of sorts. It doesn’t belong to the British either, so it does not come across as a colonial heritage.
Secondly, the loose grammatical structure of the language makes it easy to learn and speak, which is a plus in a country with a 60 percent literacy rate.
Furthermore, as Nigeria becomes more cosmopolitan, Nigerians need a mutually intelligible language that can serve all interlocutors regardless of their ethnicity. English already serves that purpose in formal contexts, so pidgin English becomes the ideal language for informal use.
Lastly, pidgin English is hugely popular among young Nigerians, which is highly significant as Nigeria’s population is predominantly youth.
What does this tell us? Well, it tells us that because Nigerian pidgin has assumed the position of an indigenous language, and is only usable in informal contexts, the language has a great capacity to displace or even replace the bonafide indigenous languages in Nigeria, which are also used in informal contexts.
So, while English is a threat to the long term existence of our Nigerian languages, this is possible only if all Nigerians decide to travel out of Nigeria to other countries.
But if they remain in the country, it is our very own Nigerian pidgin that becomes the enemy within. Already, there are many young people in Nigeria who see no real need to learn their indigenous languages, as they can perfectly converse in Nigerian pidgin in informal contexts.
Not only the youth: many folks of the older generation have started conversing with their children in pidgin English, especially in the South-South.
If this goes on and we continue to give pidgin English the position of our indigenous languages, Nigerian indigenous languages might become endangered languages sooner than expected. But then, wetin concern me.
Chinedum Art Michael is an academic consultant and educational researcher. You can inquire about his services here.
