A Study of Patterns of Code-Mixing and Code-Switching Among Nupe-English Bilinguals in Mokwa Town, Niger State, Nigeria
- March 8, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue II, February 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186
YOOSUF, Fatima
Niger state College of Agriculture Mokwa, Niger State, Nigeria
Abstract: – Language contact has been identified as the prime cause of bilingualism or multilingualism, hence many societies and individuals have become bilinguals. Bilingualism results to or give birth to code-mixing and Code switching. The Nupe people engage in the practice of the phenomena consciously and subconsciously. Hence, the study investigated the patterns of code mixing and Code switching among Nupe-English bilinguals. To achieve this aim, the data used for the analysis were collected in Mokwa town through the use of tape-recording and the process of interview. The methodology employed for data collection is that of structural analysis of utterances produced in different sociolinguistic contexts of natural conversation. The research employs simple random sampling technique and spontaneously recorded speeches from sixty (60) respondents. Then, the tape recorded data were transcribed and the extracts from the transcribed texts were analyzed based on the matrix language frame model which holds that in bilingual code mixing one of the speaker’s two languages can be considered his or her first or dominant language in relation to the other. The study concluded that switching in Nupe-English Code switching grammars are possible along morphemes, words phrases, clauses, and sentence boundaries. The paper recommended among other things that, The English language and the indigenous languages like Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba & Nupe should be put on equal footing and their roles should be explicitly stated so as to ensure that indigenous languages are no more de-emphasized.
I. INTRODUCTION
English is an official language in Nigeria, as is the case in other English-speaking countries in the West African coast like Ghana, Liberia and Gambia (Banjo, 1989). Many scholars have undertaken studies on language in contact and their significance in Nigeria. Such studies have addressed the issue of forms or varieties of English that have emerged in Nigeria. Many bilinguals and multi-linguals in Nigeria often code-switch and code-mix their indigenous languages with the English Language in their conversation. This is a typical example of what happens in language contact situation, especially since the point of contact in such cases is the bilingual individual who usually engages in language switching and mixing (Amuda 1986, Ofuya 1978 &Scotton 1982).
