{"title":"A Tale of Many Tongues: Towards Conceptualising Nigerian Youth Languages","authors":"A. Isiaka","doi":"10.1080/10228195.2020.1740298","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The Nigerian youth language phenomenon has often been labelled, albeit reductively, as Pidgin or Pidgin-based—to the exclusion of other varieties which co-constitute the ecology of youth argots in the country. Drawing on the notion of indexicality, this article presents a range of Pidgin and non-Pidgin exemplars and illuminates their linguistic as well as discursive strategies. Though ostensibly diverse and sphere-specific, they consist of syntax drawn from the informal varieties of existing languages and the insertion of mainly lexical features, including slang, neologism, borrowing, relexicalisation, and metaphorisation. Rather than labelling them, this article defines them as a cluster of linguistic (and paralinguistic) practices with indexical links to youthfulness, conviviality, in-groupness, camaraderie, etc., and draws attention to the changing demographics of their user communities.","PeriodicalId":43882,"journal":{"name":"Language Matters","volume":"51 1","pages":"68 - 89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2020-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10228195.2020.1740298","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Language Matters","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2020.1740298","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"LANGUAGE & LINGUISTICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract The Nigerian youth language phenomenon has often been labelled, albeit reductively, as Pidgin or Pidgin-based—to the exclusion of other varieties which co-constitute the ecology of youth argots in the country. Drawing on the notion of indexicality, this article presents a range of Pidgin and non-Pidgin exemplars and illuminates their linguistic as well as discursive strategies. Though ostensibly diverse and sphere-specific, they consist of syntax drawn from the informal varieties of existing languages and the insertion of mainly lexical features, including slang, neologism, borrowing, relexicalisation, and metaphorisation. Rather than labelling them, this article defines them as a cluster of linguistic (and paralinguistic) practices with indexical links to youthfulness, conviviality, in-groupness, camaraderie, etc., and draws attention to the changing demographics of their user communities.
期刊介绍：
The purpose of Language Matters is to provide a journal of international standing with a unique African flavour focusing on multilingualism in Africa. Although the journal contributes to the language debate on all African languages, sub-Saharan Africa and issues related to multilingualism in the southern African context are the journal’s specific domains. The journal seeks to promote the dissemination of ideas, points of view, teaching strategies and research on different aspects of African languages, providing a forum for discussion on the whole spectrum of language usage and debate in Africa. The journal endorses a multidisciplinary approach to the study of language and welcomes contributions not only from sociolinguists, psycholinguists and the like, but also from educationalists, language practitioners, computer analysts, engineers or scholars with a genuine interest in and contribution to the study of language. All contributions are critically reviewed by at least two referees. Although the general focus remains on multilingualism and related issues, one of the three issues of Language Matters published each year is a special thematic edition on Language Politics in Africa. These special issues embrace a wide spectrum of language matters of current relevance in Southern Africa.
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