A tri-generational study of language choice and language shift in Port Harcourt City Nigeria

This study seeks to investigate and present a systematic and coherent synchronic account of the language choice patterns by Ikwerre-Nigerian Pidgin English bilinguals in Port Harcourt City, Nigeria. The Ikwerre people are a little known minority ethnic group whose social history and current linguistic behaviours have before now not been systematically explored. The research is undertaken by means of a variety of methods including ethnographic participant observation, paying particular attention to relevant features of the Ikwerre culture and social organisation. Moreover, information obtained from the anthropological approach is supplemented by data gathered through face-to-face language use in the form of oral interviews and questionnaires. The rationale in this case is to explore methodological issues in the field of language shift more generally - particularly, the harmonisation between self-reported data and ethnographic techniques. The areas covered in the thesis are: i. The extent and patterning of Ikwerre/Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE) bilingualism within the Ikwerre community. ii. The means by which people in this community utilise two different languages in their routine communicative interactions. iii. The social and attitudinal motivations for language choice at both the group (community) and individual level. Further, this study is unique in that it will explore ab initio which languages are preferred in interactions within and across three generations namely: grandparents, parents and children (hereafter referred to as the younger generation). It will utilise the concepts of social network and language attitudes analyses to account for the interrelationship between code-switching and language choice by individual speakers, and for the association of both to the wider socio-economic and macro-sociological peculiarities of this community. In addition, I plan to discover which social groups (older versus younger speakers and males versus females) are leading the change towards permanent language shift to monolingual NPE. Finally, based on the observations and findings from the study, I propose an account of the language choice patterns attested in my Port Harcourt Ikwerre community data that is based on establishing a broad typology which can be directly related to the bilingualism continuum. This framework should be equally applicable to similar bilingual settings around the world and the next phase in the research will be to test its efficacy in different communities, particularly in other non-western communities which, like Port Harcourt, have experienced rapid metropolitan growth as a result of radical socio-economic change in their recent history.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceNewcastle UniversityGBUnited Kingdo

A tri-generational study of language choice and language shift in Port Harcourt City Nigeria

This study seeks to investigate and present a systematic and coherent synchronic account of the language choice patterns by Ikwerre-Nigerian Pidgin English bilinguals in Port Harcourt City, Nigeria. The Ikwerre people are a little known minority ethnic group whose social history and current linguistic behaviours have before now not been systematically explored. The research is undertaken by means of a variety of methods including ethnographic participant observation, paying particular attention to relevant features of the Ikwerre culture and social organisation. Moreover, information obtained from the anthropological approach is supplemented by data gathered through face-to-face language use in the form of oral interviews and questionnaires. The rationale in this case is to explore methodological issues in the field of language shift more generally - particularly, the harmonisation between self-reported data and ethnographic techniques. The areas covered in the thesis are: i. The extent and patterning of Ikwerre/Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE) bilingualism within the Ikwerre community. ii. The means by which people in this community utilise two different languages in their routine communicative interactions. iii. The social and attitudinal motivations for language choice at both the group (community) and individual level. Further, this study is unique in that it will explore ab initio which languages are preferred in interactions within and across three generations namely: grandparents, parents and children (hereafter referred to as the younger generation). It will utilise the concepts of social network and language attitudes analyses to account for the interrelationship between code-switching and language choice by individual speakers, and for the association of both to the wider socio-economic and macro-sociological peculiarities of this community. In addition, I plan to discover which social groups (older versus younger speakers and males versus females) are leading the change towards permanent language shift to monolingual NPE. Finally, based on the observations and findings from the study, I propose an account of the language choice patterns attested in my Port Harcourt Ikwerre community data that is based on establishing a broad typology which can be directly related to the bilingualism continuum. This framework should be equally applicable to similar bilingual settings around the world and the next phase in the research will be to test its efficacy in different communities, particularly in other non-western communities which, like Port Harcourt, have experienced rapid metropolitan growth as a result of radical socio-economic change in their recent history.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceNewcastle UniversityGBUnited Kingdo

In Support of the Matrix Language Frame Model: Evidence from Igbo-English Intrasentential Codeswitching

This paper explores the morphosyntactic features of mixed nominal expressions in a sample of empirical Igbo-English intrasentential codeswitching data (i.e. codeswitching within a bilingual clause) in terms of the Matrix Language Frame (MLF) model. Since both Igbo and English differ in the relative order of head and complement within the nominal argument phrase, the analysed data seem appropriate for testing the veracity of the principal assumption underpinning the MLF model: the notion that the two languages (in our case Igbo and English) participating in codeswitching do not both contribute equally to the morphosyntactic frame of a mixed constituent. As it turns out, the findings provide both empirical and quantitative support for the basic theoretical view that there is a Matrix Language (ML) versus Embedded Language (EL) hierarchy in classic codeswitching as predicted by the MLF model because both Igbo and English do not simultaneously satisfy the roles of the ML in Igbo-English codeswitching

Diversity in African languages: Selected papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

Diversity in African Languages contains a selection of revised papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Oregon. Most chapters focus on single languages, addressing diverse aspects of their phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, information structure, or historical development. These chapters represent nine different genera: Mande, Gur, Kwa, Edoid, Bantu, Nilotic, Gumuzic, Cushitic, and Omotic. Other chapters investigate a mix of languages and families, moving from typological issues to sociolinguistic and inter-ethnic factors that affect language and accent switching. Some chapters are primarily descriptive, while others push forward the theoretical understanding of tone, semantic problems, discourse related structures, and other linguistic systems. The papers on Bantu languages reflect something of the internal richness and continued fascination of the family for linguists, as well as maturation of research on the family. The distribution of other papers highlights the need for intensified research into all the language families of Africa, including basic documentation, in order to comprehend linguistic diversities and convergences across the continent. In this regard, the chapter on Daats’íin (Gumuzic) stands out as the first-ever published article on this hitherto unknown and endangered language found in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border lands

Diversity in African languages: Selected papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

Diversity in African Languages contains a selection of revised papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Oregon. Most chapters focus on single languages, addressing diverse aspects of their phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, information structure, or historical development. These chapters represent nine different genera: Mande, Gur, Kwa, Edoid, Bantu, Nilotic, Gumuzic, Cushitic, and Omotic. Other chapters investigate a mix of languages and families, moving from typological issues to sociolinguistic and inter-ethnic factors that affect language and accent switching. Some chapters are primarily descriptive, while others push forward the theoretical understanding of tone, semantic problems, discourse related structures, and other linguistic systems. The papers on Bantu languages reflect something of the internal richness and continued fascination of the family for linguists, as well as maturation of research on the family. The distribution of other papers highlights the need for intensified research into all the language families of Africa, including basic documentation, in order to comprehend linguistic diversities and convergences across the continent. In this regard, the chapter on Daats’íin (Gumuzic) stands out as the first-ever published article on this hitherto unknown and endangered language found in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border lands

Diversity in African languages: Selected papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

Diversity in African Languages contains a selection of revised papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Oregon. Most chapters focus on single languages, addressing diverse aspects of their phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, information structure, or historical development. These chapters represent nine different genera: Mande, Gur, Kwa, Edoid, Bantu, Nilotic, Gumuzic, Cushitic, and Omotic. Other chapters investigate a mix of languages and families, moving from typological issues to sociolinguistic and inter-ethnic factors that affect language and accent switching. Some chapters are primarily descriptive, while others push forward the theoretical understanding of tone, semantic problems, discourse related structures, and other linguistic systems. The papers on Bantu languages reflect something of the internal richness and continued fascination of the family for linguists, as well as maturation of research on the family. The distribution of other papers highlights the need for intensified research into all the language families of Africa, including basic documentation, in order to comprehend linguistic diversities and convergences across the continent. In this regard, the chapter on Daats’íin (Gumuzic) stands out as the first-ever published article on this hitherto unknown and endangered language found in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border lands

Diversity in African languages: Selected papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

Diversity in African Languages contains a selection of revised papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Oregon. Most chapters focus on single languages, addressing diverse aspects of their phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, information structure, or historical development. These chapters represent nine different genera: Mande, Gur, Kwa, Edoid, Bantu, Nilotic, Gumuzic, Cushitic, and Omotic. Other chapters investigate a mix of languages and families, moving from typological issues to sociolinguistic and inter-ethnic factors that affect language and accent switching. Some chapters are primarily descriptive, while others push forward the theoretical understanding of tone, semantic problems, discourse related structures, and other linguistic systems. The papers on Bantu languages reflect something of the internal richness and continued fascination of the family for linguists, as well as maturation of research on the family. The distribution of other papers highlights the need for intensified research into all the language families of Africa, including basic documentation, in order to comprehend linguistic diversities and convergences across the continent. In this regard, the chapter on Daats’íin (Gumuzic) stands out as the first-ever published article on this hitherto unknown and endangered language found in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border lands

Diversity in African languages: Selected papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

Diversity in African Languages contains a selection of revised papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Oregon. Most chapters focus on single languages, addressing diverse aspects of their phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, information structure, or historical development. These chapters represent nine different genera: Mande, Gur, Kwa, Edoid, Bantu, Nilotic, Gumuzic, Cushitic, and Omotic. Other chapters investigate a mix of languages and families, moving from typological issues to sociolinguistic and inter-ethnic factors that affect language and accent switching. Some chapters are primarily descriptive, while others push forward the theoretical understanding of tone, semantic problems, discourse related structures, and other linguistic systems. The papers on Bantu languages reflect something of the internal richness and continued fascination of the family for linguists, as well as maturation of research on the family. The distribution of other papers highlights the need for intensified research into all the language families of Africa, including basic documentation, in order to comprehend linguistic diversities and convergences across the continent. In this regard, the chapter on Daats’íin (Gumuzic) stands out as the first-ever published article on this hitherto unknown and endangered language found in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border lands

Diversity in African languages: Selected papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

Diversity in African Languages contains a selection of revised papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Oregon. Most chapters focus on single languages, addressing diverse aspects of their phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, information structure, or historical development. These chapters represent nine different genera: Mande, Gur, Kwa, Edoid, Bantu, Nilotic, Gumuzic, Cushitic, and Omotic. Other chapters investigate a mix of languages and families, moving from typological issues to sociolinguistic and inter-ethnic factors that affect language and accent switching. Some chapters are primarily descriptive, while others push forward the theoretical understanding of tone, semantic problems, discourse related structures, and other linguistic systems. The papers on Bantu languages reflect something of the internal richness and continued fascination of the family for linguists, as well as maturation of research on the family. The distribution of other papers highlights the need for intensified research into all the language families of Africa, including basic documentation, in order to comprehend linguistic diversities and convergences across the continent. In this regard, the chapter on Daats’íin (Gumuzic) stands out as the first-ever published article on this hitherto unknown and endangered language found in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border lands

Diversity in African languages: Selected papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics

Diversity in African Languages contains a selection of revised papers from the 46th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, held at the University of Oregon. Most chapters focus on single languages, addressing diverse aspects of their phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, information structure, or historical development. These chapters represent nine different genera: Mande, Gur, Kwa, Edoid, Bantu, Nilotic, Gumuzic, Cushitic, and Omotic. Other chapters investigate a mix of languages and families, moving from typological issues to sociolinguistic and inter-ethnic factors that affect language and accent switching. Some chapters are primarily descriptive, while others push forward the theoretical understanding of tone, semantic problems, discourse related structures, and other linguistic systems. The papers on Bantu languages reflect something of the internal richness and continued fascination of the family for linguists, as well as maturation of research on the family. The distribution of other papers highlights the need for intensified research into all the language families of Africa, including basic documentation, in order to comprehend linguistic diversities and convergences across the continent. In this regard, the chapter on Daats’íin (Gumuzic) stands out as the first-ever published article on this hitherto unknown and endangered language found in the Ethiopian-Sudanese border lands