SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: English Language & Literature

CONTRIBUTORS:

Ifechelobi, C;
Ekpunobi, D;

ABSTRACT:

Language is used to construct every literary text. Some African writers that must use English model the language to reflect their African experiences. This study was carried out to examine the use of the nativised variety in four literary texts by Nigerian authors. Most prescriptive linguists and some language users believe that the nativised variety is a debased form of Standard English, so the research was carried out to see if the nativised variety can add aesthetics to a literary text. Some of the highlights of this study include language contact, bilingualism, pidginization and nativisation. The study derived its theoretical frameworks from Coupland and Giles’ Communication Accommodation Theory and Grice’s Co-operative Principles. The population of the study comprised a deliberate selection of four literary texts namely_ Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, Unigwe’s On Black Sisters’ Street, Agary’s Yellow-Yellow and Imasuen’s Fine Boys. Data for the study comprised excerpts from the literary texts that contain the nativised variety. These excerpts were randomly selected. Textual analysis was employed to evaluate the data and answer the research questions. The result of the analysis indicated that these writers use the nativised variety to situate their works in their correct socio-cultural and sociolinguistic context. It was also discovered that these writers altered and indigenised English to give it some local flavour while projecting their linguistic identities and cultures. The nativised variety was also assigned to educated characters as a code choice in order to highlight the fact that the nativised variety is not a debased form of English.