THE IMPACT OF YORUBA LANGUAGE ON THE
SPOKEN ENGLISH OF STUDENTS
(INDIGENES) OF ILORIN (TOWNSHIP)
AHMED RAMATU
07/15CD028
AN ESSAY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE
DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS) IN
ENGLISH
TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF
ARTS UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN
JUNE 2011
Certification
This essay has been read and approved as meeting part
of the requirements for the award of a Bachelor of Arts Degree
(Hons) in the Department of English, Faculty of Arts
university of Ilorin.
__________________
Supervisor
_________________
Date
____________________
Head of Department
_________________
Date
___________________
External examiner
__________________
Date
i
Dedication
This research work is dedicated to Almighty God who saw me
through this programme.
ii
Acknowledgements
I give glory to Almighty Allah, the most beneficent, the most
merciful; the beginning and the end who led me graciously from
the beginning of this programme to the end. All praise is due to
Him.
My profound gratitude goes to my ever understanding
supervisor Dr. O.C. Medubi who has been providing me with
valuable suggestions and support. May God be your strength and
may he reward you abundantly. I say a big thank to you ma.
How will I scale through without the love and support of my
loving husband (Mr. I.A. Gidado) both financially and spiritually,
whose
understanding
and
sacrifice
led
to
the
successful
completion of my first degree. I will always be grateful for your
support and encouragement. All my love to you darling. You are a
wonderful husband. May Allah in His infinite mercies continue to
guide and enrich your faith and pocket.
To my loving and caring mother who struggled in all her life
to lay the foundation of this success. I say Jazakumullahu
Khairah. May Allah gives you long and life good health to eat from
iii
the fruit of the seed you sow. (Ameen).
I
also
appreciate
my
loving father Mr. Busairi Akolade Ahmed.
I will never forget to appreciate the sacrifice of my loving
children: Asia, Mohammad Ali and Maryam who lacked my care
and attention during the running of this programme.
My sincere appreciation to all my lecturers in the department
of English starting from the H.O.D Dr, S.T. Babatunde, Dr. Mrs.
V.A. Alabi, Dr. M.A. Adedimeji, Dr. A.S. Idiagbon Dr. T.A. Alabi,
Mrs. T.M. Olujide and others.
My gratitude also go to my friends who assisted in one way
or the other towards the success of this programme. Among them
are Hanafi Abdul'Afeez, Saka Muda, Khadija, Sulyman from AliHikmah,
Rukayat
Adegboyega,
Rashidat
Adebayo,
(Mummy
Hamidat), Kehinde Hamidat, (Umu Aisha) and others.
I owe my roommates a lot of appreciation for their
understanding and the inconvenienct I may have cause them
during my analysis. My special thanks also go to
my Brothers,
and Sisters- in- law: Mr. S.O. Gidado, Daddy Yinka, Mummy
Agunbiade, Mummy Tosho, Mummy Popo, Mummy Shina, my
iv
uncles, Daddy Wasiu, Daddy Balikis, my siblings and others who I
can not mention.
Lastly to my entire classmates, MSSN unilorin members, my
minoring department (department of Linguistics), it has been a
tasking period, yet worth it after all. May Almighty Allah be with
you all.
v
Abstract
This study has set out to find the influence of Yoruba
Language on the sound system of spoken English Language among
the indigenous Ilorin Yoruba undergraduate students. It was to
find out the features that distinguish Ilorin Yoruba accent from the
Received Pronunciation. The Recorded speech of fifty selected
undergraduate students from three universities within Ilorin was
used. Students who were native of Ilorin and who have spent at
least two academic years in higher institution were sampled.
Phonological
approach
was
used
using
snowball
sampling
technique. It was discovered that phonological features of Nigerian
English
such
as
substitution,
under-differentiation,
spelling
pronunciation, epenthesis and simplification, of consonant cluster
were the common features found in the oral English of the
samples. The English of the samples has been affected by their L1.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgement
iv
Abstract
vi
Table of contents
vii
CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0
Introduction
1
1.1
Statement of the Research Problem
3
1.2
Purpose of the Study
3
1.3
Justification
4
1.4
Scope of the Study
4
1.5
Methodology
5
1.6
Data Description
6
1.7
Conclusion
6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0
Introduction
7
2.1
Phonetics
7
2.2
Phonology
10
2.2.1 Levels of Phonology
12
2.3
13
Phonological Theories
vii
2.3.1 Phonemic Theory
13
2.3.2 Generative Phonology
14
2.3.3 Metrical Phonology
14
2.3.4 Dependency Phonology
15
2.3.5 Autosegmental
16
2.3.6 Optimality Theory
17
2.4
17
English Phonemes
2.4.4 Pure Vowel Sounds
18
2.4
Diphthong Sounds
20
2.4
Consonant Sounds
21
2.5
Yoruba Pohonemes
24
2.5.1 Vowel Sounds
24
2.5.2 Consonant Sounds
25
2.6
27
Diffrences Between English And Yoruba Phonenes
2.6.1 Consonant Sounds
27
2.6.2 Vowel Sounds
28
2.7
28
Status of the Language Under Study
2.7.1 English Language
28
2.7.2 Yoruba Language
29
2.8
29
Nigerian English
viii
2.9 Features of the Phonology of Nigerian English
33
2.9.1 Segmental Features
33
2.9.2 Suprasegmental Features
36
2.10 Interference
39
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Introduction
42
3.1
43
Data Analysis
3.1.1 Substitution
43
3.1.2: Under – Differentiation
52
3.1.3 Spelling Pronunciation
57
3.1.4. Epenthesis
59
3.1.5: Simplification of Consonant Cluster
63
3.2: Discussion
66
3.3 Summary of the Chapter
69
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 Summary
70
4.2
Findings
71
4.3.
Conclusion
72
4.4
Recommendation
72
Bibliography
73
Appendix 1
78
ix
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0
INTRODUCTION
To correct the wrong pronunciation of English words in
many Nigerian students, particularly among the Ilorin indigenous
Yoruba students demands extra effort and great attention. This is
because, it is observed that this problem is
the result of the
features found in their indigenous languages which are transferred
to the sound system of the English language. Their English
phonetics reflects the structure of the sound system of their
mother tongue (Osisanwo, 2009).
With respect to this, we shall
discuss the term phonology.
Phonology is the study of the sound system of a Language. It
is the study of the properties of the sound system of a given
language. It is the systematic study of how the speech sounds
function and are organized in human languages. Hyman (1975, P1)
cited by Osisanwo (2009,P3) says that, the goal of phonology is to
study the properties of the sound system which speakers must
learn and internalize in order to use their language for the purpose
1
of communication. To Oyebade (1998, p2) ‘phonology is the
scientific study of the arbitrary vocal symbol used in human
speech and the pattern into which these symbols produce
intelligent, meaningful utterances’. To summit up, Akmajian et al
(2008, p109) said: ‘phonology is the subfield of linguistics that
studies the structure and patterning of sound in human language’.
Speakers of Nigerian English are still facing a lot of
pronunciation problems as a result of their L1 influence on their
spoken English (Alabi, 2007). So many works have been done on
the segmental features of the phonology of Nigerian English such
as Utin (2009) based on the Anang accent of English language.
Jowith (1991) studied the phonology of Nigeria English used
Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba languages but this work will pay attention
to Ilorin Yoruba accent of English.
2
1.4
STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
This work is set out to find the impact of Yoruba language
particularly the Ilorin Yoruba dialect on the phonology of English
language. That is, it is to check the influence of the Ilorin Yoruba
dialect on the sound system of English language at the segmental
level. In other worlds, this work will find out the English phonemes
which are mispronounced by the Ilorin indigenous Yoruba
students.
1.5
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The aim of this study is to find out the influence of Ilorin
Yoruba dialect (a variety of Yoruba language) on the phonology of
standard British English (RP). That is, the changes that may likely
occur as a result of the contact of the Ilorin Yoruba dialect and
English language. In other words, this work is to search for the
features that distinguish the phonology of Nigeria English variety
from the Received Pronunciation. These features shall be identified
from the recorded speech collected and analyzed.
provide solution to bridge the gap in the differences.
3
We hope to
1.6
JUSTIFICATION
A lot of research works have been done on phonological
interference. This work is to add to the efforts that have been
made. Our concentration is on this topic because much has not
been done particularly on the phonological interference of Ilorin
indigenous Yoruba dialect and English language. Also the
cosmopolitan nature of Ilorin Yoruba draws our interest. This work
shall help the Ilorin indigenous Yoruba students and other readers
on their spoken English.
1.4
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Phonology
can
be
handled
from
different
angles.
Its
segmental aspect can be treated, attention can be paid to only
suprasegmental aspect and the two levels can be jointly discussed.
This research work shall direct its focus on the segmental
phonology. Due to time, financial constraints and for effective
result we shall limit our study domain to three universities within
Ilorin. These are: university of Ado-Ekit (Ilorin chapter), AlHikman University and University of Ilorin. Fifteen students shall
be selected all together from these Universities.
4
1.5
METHODOLOGY
This word shall make use of recorded speech of fifty selected
undergraduates from three universities in Ilorin. These are; AdoEkit University (Ilorin chapter), Al- Hikman University and
university of Ilorin. Samples are selected using snowball sampling
techniques as a result of the limited number of accessible
students. Only students that are native of Ilorin and have spent at
least two academic sections in higher institution are sampled.
A theoretical application shall be phonemic theory, a
phonological approach will be explored to analyze the samples. In
this regard, elements such as substitution, under-differentiation,
spelling pronunciation, epenthesis and simplification of consonant
cluster that constitution the phonological features of Nigerian
English will be deplored.
Each of these elements will be applied across the data and
any deviation from the RP will be under lined. Tabular form shall
be used for the comparison.
5
1.6
DATA DESCRIPTION
Ilorin town is in the south western part of
Nigeria. It lies
along Lagos to Kaduna high way Kaduna (Oloru, 1998). In the past
Ilorin town comprised different linguistic groups who spoke
different language such as Fulfulde, Hausa, Nupe, and Yoruba as
their first language. But today, all these linguistic group speak
Yoruba as their first language. This
means Yoruba language
because a dominant language in Ilorin town. As a of this process of
language shift, the Ilorin Yoruba dialect is different from other
Yoruba dialect such as Ekiti, Ijebu Ondo, Oyo dialect etc (Jimoh,
1994)
1.8
CONCLUSION
Finally the sound system of English and Yoruba language
shall be treated. This will enable us to know the differences
between the sound systems. Also it will assist us to determine the
causes of the influence of which may likely occur in the spoken
English of indigenous Ilorin Yoruba students as pL2 learners.
Phonology of Nigerian English, phonetics and phonology shall be
discussed in their next chapter.
6
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter we shall begin with the different scholar
views on the term phonetics and phonology. It will be followed by
the theories of phonology. The phonemes and the status of English
and Yoruba language shall be explained. We will move on to
Nigerian English where we shall discuss the meaning of Nigerian
English. Features of phonology of Nigerian English and various
scholars’ works shall be reviewed. We shall explain the concept of
interference and conclude by stating the elements to be used in
analyzing our data.
2.4
PHONETICS
Traugh and Pratt (1980, p51) quoted by Osisanwo (2009, p1)
phonetics is ‘the branch of linguistics concerned with the
physiological and acoustic bases in speech, and with such
question as how speech are produced and perceived’. According to
Crittenden(2001, p6) phonetics of a language concerns the
concrete characteristic (articulatory acoustic and auditory) of the
7
sounds used in language.
Ofuya (2007, p14) simply defined
phonetics as ‘the description of the purely physical features of
sounds in English. Akmajian et al (2008, p65-66) said; ‘Phonetics
is concerned with how speech sounds are produced (articulated) in
the vocal tract (a field of study known as articulatory phonetics) as
well as with the physical properties of the speech sound waves
generated by the larynx vocal tract (a field known as acoustic
phonetics)’.
In describing phonetics, there are three approaches: the
speaker (articulatory phonetics) the hearer (auditory phonetics)
and what happen between the speaker and the hearer (acoustic
phonetics) (Lodge, 2009). In the same view, Osisanwo (2009, p1)
said:
‘phonetics
is
the
study
(description
classification,
transcription) of the actual speech sound that occur in human
language wherever they are used or spoken.’
Therefore phonetics is divided into three: Articulatory
acoustic and auditory. Ofuya (2007, p14) believes articulatory
phonetics is the way in which English speech sounds are produced
by the vocal mechanizing.’ To Osisanwo
8
(2009, p1) Articulator
phonetics examines the production of the speech sounds with a
special focus on the specific function of
the various organs of
speech.’
Acoustic phonetics according to Ofuga (2007, p14) is ‘the
physical properties of the sound waves during the transmission
phase, i.e. the nature of the sound we hear. In the view of
Akmajian et al (2008, p66) acoustic phonetics is the ‘physical
properties of the speech sound waves generate by the larynx vocal
tract’. Osisanwo (2009, p2) said acoustic phonetics as 'A branch of
phonetics involves a laboratory study of speech with the aid of
specialized machine which are used to register the properties of the
given sound. Some of the machines are sound spectrograph (which
records the physical feature of sound), electro-aero meter (which is
used in the recording of the movement of the air to and from the
cavities-buccal and nasal-during speech), intensity meter (which
measures intensity during speech), pitch meter (used in speech
pitch).
Auditory phonetics to Kreidler (1989,p5) is the effects these
(sound waves) have on the ear of the hearer (and on the ear of the
9
speakers, for that mater). 'Otuya (2007, p14) opined that auditory
phonetics has to do with 'the way in which the sounds are
perceived in the ear of the listener and speaker.' In the word of
Osisanwo (2009, p3)' auditory phonetics involves the training of
the brain and the ear in practical phonetics in order o learn to
make much precise and reliable discriminations among speech
sounds.' In conclusion auditory phonetics has to do with the study
of how the sound waves are perceived and differentiated from one
another.
2.5
PHONOLOGY
To Hyman (1975, p1) cited by Osisanwo (2009, p3)' the goal
of phonology is to study the properties of the sound system which
speaker must learn or internalize in order to use their language for
purpose of communication. According to Oyebade (1998, pg2)
‘phonology is the scientific study of arbitrary vocal symbols used in
human speech and the pattern into which these symbols produce
intelligent, meaningful utterances’. Roach (2000, p44) explained
that ‘when we talk about how phonemes function in language, and
the relationships among the different phonemes, when in other
10
words, we study the abstract side of the sound of the language, we
are studying a related but different subject that we call phonology’.
Kundayo et al (2002, p82) believes that "Phonology is the study of
the sound patterns of languages’. In the view of Clark et al (2007,
p2) Phonology is the study of the systems and patterns of sounds
that occur in particular languages. Osisanwo (2009, p3) Sums it
up thus: ‘From the foregoing, it can be deduced that every
language has sounds or a sound system. The sounds in this
system are not without their properties and it becomes willy-nilly
for every speaker to learn, master and internalize them to
communicate better’.
This is to say that phonology is concerned with the study of
the properties of the abstract side of the sound system of any
human language. It is the study of the abstract side of the sounds.
It is the study of how speech sounds are organized and function in
a language. It is the study of the theoretical aspect of speech
sounds.
11
2.5.1 LEVELS OF PHONOLOGY
Phonology
can
be
broadly
classified
into
two
levels:
segmental and suprasegmental phonology. Segmental phonology is
the study of the sounds segments and how they come together to
form meaningful utterances. To make it clearer, Roach (2000, p44)
said: ‘it is sometimes helpful to think of the phonomic system as
similar to… set of pieces used in a chess… in a similar way, we
have a more or less fixed set of pieces (phonemes)with which to
play the game of speaking English’. This implies that the segmental
aspect has to do with a set of speech sounds units. Osisanwo
(2009, p4) also said that segmental phonology 'is the aspects of
phonology that studies individual, sound segments and how these
segments come together.
Suprasegmental phonology is an aspect that functions above
the individual sound units. This is supported by Hyman (1975,
p187) that suprasegmental is used to ‘refer to both phonological
and grammatical units larger than the segment.’ Roach (2000, p45)
believed that suprasegmental concerns those aspects ‘that extend
over several segments (phonemes) such as stress and intonation’.
12
Osisanwo (2009, p6) stated that 'suprasegmental phonology
include syllable, stress, pitch, length, intonation and rhythm.
2.6
PHONOLOGICAL THEORIES
The task of this work is on phonological analysis which will
employ phonological theory just as other levels of language and
phonology also has theories. These theories are: phonemic theory
generative phonology, metrical phonology, dependency phonology,
autosegmental phonology and optimality theory.
2.3.1 PHONEMIC THEORY
This
theory
is
used
to
address
differences
in
the
pronunciation of sound units which result to different words. It is
observed that in any language, some differences in pronunciation
are crucially distinctive. It is these distinctions and contrasts that
are recognized by the speakers of the language as making different
words and acknowledged by linguists as systemically functional.
The term is usually ascribed to boudouinde Courtenay (18451929). He was a polish linguist and he taught in Russian
universities from 1870. The concept of phoneme became important
not only for its relevance to problems such as how to represent the
13
pronunciation of dialects and
language that had never been
transcribed before but also as a keystone of modern phonological
theory. (Clark et al, 2007)
2.3.2 GENERATIVE PHONOLOGY
This is a phonological theory which state that plausible
general rules were better expressed in terms of feature. It talk
about
university
instead
of
specificality.
Its
states
that
phonological description should employ feature - based rules as a
proper means of reflecting the complexity of the description. It was
propounded by Chomsky and Halle in 1960s. (Clark et al, 2007).
2.3.3 METRICAL PHONOLOGY
Metrical theory is a phonology theory which is concerned
with stress patterns. It state that stress reflect an underlying
structure in which stronger and weaker syllables are juxtaposed.
To determine a stress syllable is to judge the syllable's strength
and weakness. For instance a bisyllabic word, as shown in the tree
structure, it would be either.
s
w
or
w
s
14
This means a bisyllabic word will either display strong / weak
syllables or weak/ strong syllables, just as is being displayed in
these words; ‘father’ and ‘a gain’.
The first syllable of ‘father’ is a strong syllable therefore, it is
stressed and the second syllable is a weak syllable and it is not
stressed (unstressed syllable). Also in the word ‘a gain’ the first
syllable is weak; it is unstressed and the second syllable is strong
and it is stressed. 'w' and 's' (weak and strong) relation in some
version of this theory is a binary relation. This theory is known
with Lieberman (1985) Van der Hulst and Smith (1982) (clark et,
2007).
2.4.5 DEPENDENCY PHONOLOGY
This theory shows structural relationship by dependency
that is how a phoneme in a word is related to another phoneme in
the same word in term of dependence. For example, the word plant
as shown in the tree diagram below.
P
L
AN
T
15
The vowel in the word plant is the most prominent and the
consonants are subordinates or dependent. This theory extends
further than this. As shown in the diagram above the vowel is the
head of the syllable and rhyme /ant/. /l / is shown to be the head
of the initial consonant cluster. Conversely /p/ is depending on
/l/, /t/ depends on /n/ and the initial and the last consonant
clusters depend on nucleus vowel /a/ (Clark et al, 2007).
2.4.6 AUTOSEGMENTAL
The concern of this theory is on the tone, intonation and
stress. It was first published in 1976. It was used to address the
tonology of Igbo, a West African tonal language. It also paid
substantial attention to other tonal languages. Concentration was
later on stress and intonation of English language. The scholar of
this theory is Goldsmith. It was the title of his dissertation in 1976
which he also published in that year. The thesis about the
geometry of phonetic representations. It is also concerned with the
problem of classification of segments (Clark el al, 2007).
16
2.4.7
OPTIMALITY THEORY
Optimality theory emerged in 1990. It was published as
prince and McCarthy (1993) and prince and smolenky (2004). It
was a subset of generative phonology. It shows how prosodic
constituents align with (Clark et al, 2007). Its original goal was to
solve phonological problems. For instance, it proposed that using
re-write rule (which is an aspect of a theory in generative school)
used to solve a lot of problems but it does not explain how
phonological systems fit together (Mc Cathy 2008).
Among the phonogical theories discussed above, phonemic
theory and features of phonology of Nigerian English will be used
in the analysis of this study. This is because it is the only theory
and elements that best suit the aspect that this work embarks
upon. Since this work is on the analysis of the two languages
phonemic systems. The phonemes of these two languages (English
and Yoruba language) will be discussed.
2.5
ENGLISH PHONEMES
Phoneme is the smallest phonological unit that brings
about a change in meaning. Gimson (1998, p43) cited by Osisanwo
(2009, p134) stated that it is ‘an abstract linguistic unit which can
17
bring about a change in meaning’. Roach (2000, p40) viewed
phoneme as ‘an abstract set of units as the basis of our speech’.
English language has forty- four speech sound units.
They are divided into twenty four consonant
sounds and
twenty vowel sounds. The vowel sounds are further divided into
twelve pure vowels and eight diphthong sounds, and triphthongs.
2.4.1. PURE VOWEL SOUNDS
Vowel sounds are sounds which are produced without any
form of obstruction. Roach (2000, p10) said ‘vowels are sounds in
which there is no obstruction to the flow of air.’ There are five long
vowel sounds and seven short vowel sounds in English language.
They are /;I, ε, æ, α:,
, ‫כּ‬:,
u: Λ, 3:, ∂/. they can be represented
in the chart below in their various positions:
18
Back
Front
Fig. i English vowel chart (Ofuya, 2007)
The pure vowel sounds are lustrated in following words.
EXAMPLES
/i:/ as in /fi:l/ feel
/I/ as in /fIl/ fill
/ε/ as in /bεt/ bet
/ǽ/ as in / pæt/ pat
/з:/ as in /bз:θ/ birth
/α:/ as in /pα:t/ part
/ / as in /p t/ pot
/‫נ‬:/ as in /p‫כּ‬:t/ port
/u/ as in /ful/ full
/U:/ as in /fu:l/ fool
/λ/ as in /sΛn/ son
/∂/ as in /∂g∂u/ ago
19
2.4
DIPHTHONG SOUNDS
Diphthong vowel sounds are sounds produced with a glide
quality. That is, in the production of a diphthong sound there is a
movement from one vowel sound to another. The length of
diphthongs are like the long vowel sounds. Diphthong sounds
consist of two short pure vowel sounds. The first part is stronger
than the second part. They are divided into central and closing
diphthongs. Central diphthongs are:/I∂, ε∂,
∂/ and the decentral
or closing diphthongs are: /eI, aI, ‫כּ‬I, a , ∂ ,/ (Roach,200).
Fig. ii a. Central Diphthong Chart (Ofuya, 2007)
b. Closing Diphthong Chart (Ofuya, 2007)
20
The diphthong vowel sounds are shown as used in the following
words:
/I∂/ as in /bI∂/ beer
/ε∂/ as in /bε∂/ bare
/u∂/ as in /pu∂ / poor
/aI/ as in / baI/ buy
/‫כּ‬I/ as in /b‫כּ‬I/ boy
/αu/ as in /nαu/ now
/∂u/ as in /g∂u/ go
2.4
CONSONANT SOUNDS
Consonant sounds are sounds produced when there is
obstruction in the vocal tract. It may be total or partial
obstruction. Osisanwo (2009, p.47) said: ‘Consonant sounds are
speech sounds produced by blocking the flow of out flowing of air
through contact with some speech organs’. Consonant sounds can
be classified by place of articulation, manner of articulation and
state of glottis. There are twenty-four consonant sounds in English
Language. They are:/ p, b, f, v, t, d, k, g, θ, ∂, s, z, t∫, d , ∫, , , m, n, r,
21
h, w, j, /. The classification of consonant sounds is being represented in
the chart below.
t
f
v
m
âθ s
z
∫
r
w
j
Fig. iii English consonant chart (Ofuya, 2007)
The consonant sounds are illustrated in the following words:EXAMPLES
/p / as in /pæn/ pun
/t / as in /teIk/ take
/d / as in /dog/ dog
22
Glottal
h
n
Frictionless
Semi-vowel
d
l
Lateral
Velar
k g
t∫
Fricative
Palatal
d
Affricate
Nasal
Palato
alveolar
Post
Alveolar
Alveolar
P b
Dental
Bilabial
Plosive
Labiodental
Manner of
Articulation
PLACE OF ARTICULATION
/ k/ as in / ki:/ key
/g/ as in /gaut/ gout
/f/ as in /feIm/ fame
/ v / as in /væn/ van
/s / as in /sæt/ sat
/z / as in /zIp/ zip
/s / as in /sop/ shop
/ э/ as in /m£эa/ measure
/h/ as in /hpt/ hot
/m/ as in /mæn/ man
/ n/ as in /naus/ nose
/ / as in /s / song
/l / as in /leg/ Leg
/r / as in /run/ run
/ w/ as in / waif/ wife
/j/ as in /jєs/ yes
/θ/ as in / θI‫נ‬k/ think
/∂ / as in /∂eI/ they
/t∫ / as in /t∫eI / change
/d э/ as in /d Λd / judge
23
2.5
YORUBA POHONEMES
There are thirty phonemes in Yoruba Language. They are
grouped into eighteen consonant and twelve vowel sounds.
(Bamgbose, 2001).
2.5.1 VOWEL SOUNDS
Yoruba vowel sound system exhibits both oral and nasal
vowel sounds instead of the long and short vowel sounds that
exists in the English language. There are seven oral and five nasal
vowels. These are:/i, ε, e, o, u, a, an, en, in,
n,/. They are
represented in the diagram below:
Fig. IV Yoruba Vowel Chart (Bamgbose, 2002)
Yoruba vowel sounds are illustrated as used in the
following words.
/a / as in /baba/ 'father'
/ i/ as in /igi/ 'tree'
/e/ as in /e o/ 'snake'
/ε/ as in /εd3ε/ 'snake'
/o/ as in /od3u/ 'eye'
24
/D/ as in /Dsan/ 'orunge'
/u/ as in /isu/ 'yam'
/in/ as in /irin/ 'metal'
/an/ as in /itan/ 'lap'
/Dn/ as in /ibDn/ 'gun'
/εn/ as in /ijεn/ 'that'
/un/ as in /imun/ 'nose'.
2.5.2 CONSONANT SOUNDS
The eighteen Yoruba consonant sounds are: /b, t, d, k, g, kp,
gb, h, dэ, s, Ѕ, m, n, l, r, j, w/. Their classification which is based
on the place of articulation manner of articulation and state of the
glottis is displayed in the diagram below:
d
Affricative
d
25
k g
kp gb
Glottal
Palatal
Labio Velar
t
Palato
Alveolar
Alveolar
Labio dental
b
Velar
Plosive
Bilabila
Manner of
Articulation
PLACE OF ARTICULATION
Fricative
Nasals
f
m
s
h
∫
n
Tap
r
Lateral
l
Semivowel
j
w
Fig. V Yoruba Consonant Chart (Bamgbose, 2001)
These consonant sounds are used in the following words:
EXAMPLES
/b/ as in /baba/ 'father'
/t/ as in /ata/ 'pepper'
/d/ as in /ade/ 'crown'
/k/ as in /ikun/ 'stomach'
/g/ as in /gele/ 'head-tie'
/kp/ as in /akpa/ 'arm'
/gb/ as in /agba/ 'elder'
/dэ/ as in /adэa/ 'dog'
/∫/ as in /a∫a/ 'culture'
/f/ as in /afin/ 'palace'
/h/ as in /hu/ 'germinate'
/s/ as in /isu/ 'yam'
26
/m/ as in /omi/ 'water'
/n/ as in / nan/ 'road'
/r/ as in /ori/ 'head'
/l/ as in /ile/ 'house'
/j/ as in /iyan/ 'pounded-yaam'
/w/ as in /iw / 'poison'
2.6 DIFFRENCES BETWEEN ENGLISH AND YORUBA PHONENES
According to the above discussion as shown in between fig.I,
II and IV and fig. III and V, there are differences in the sound
systems of the two languages. This indicates the reason for the
phonological impact of Yoruba language on English language
phonology. There are some sounds which are present in the
sounds system of the English language but are not found in
Yoruba language and there are some sounds in Yoruba language
sound system which are absent in English language sound system.
These are shown below:
2.7.3 CONSONANT SOUNDS
ENGLISH
/p, v, θ, ∂, z, t∫, /
YORUBA
/kp, gb/
Data i
27
2.7.4 VOWEL SOUNDS
ENGLISH:
/i:, α:, з:, ‫כּ‬:, u:, a, Λ, aI, eI, ‫כּ‬I, au, I∂, ε∂, u∂, ∂u/
YORUBA:
/e, o, in, εn, an, dn, un/
Data ii
2.8
STATUS OF THE LANGUAGE UNDER STUDY
2.8.1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The English language has acquired an important status in
the Nigerian society. It serves as a second language, official
language, lingua franca and language of education. It has been the
country’s most crucial language because it is the language of
commerce,
media,
law,
governmental
activities
banking,
entertainment etc. Its origin in Nigeria can be traced back to the
coming of the British settlers in the sixteenth century, precisely
1559. During the period of colonialism, the colonial masters
imposed it on Nigerians because it was the only means through
which they could communicable with the native people (Ogu, 1992,
Medubi, 2007p.11).
28
2.8.2 YORUBA LANGUAGE
Yoruba language is one of the major languages spoken in
Nigeria. It is one of the languages of education in Nigerian
educational language policy.
It is the major language spoken in the south western part of
Nigeria. In this region, it is the language of the media and
literature. This is supported by Pulleyblank (1990, p265-266):
'The vast majority of the speakers of Yoruba
are found in Nigeria. (16 million), located
particularly in Oyo, Ogun, Ondo, and Kwara
State. It is studied up to the university level in
several Nigerian universities and serves as
the medium of instruction for courses in
Yoruba linguistics and literature. It is of course
well established as a broadcasting language
for both radio and television (Newspaper).
2.8
NIGERIAN ENGLISH
The usage of English language by many Nigerians reflects
the geographical impact of Nigerian context (language and culture)
on English language. In other words, as a result of the regional
distance and cultural differences of the English language from
29
Nigerian context. It wears a new look. This assertion is testified by
Adedimeji (2007, p166) quoted Soyinka (1988, p126):
And when we borrow an alien language to
sculpt or paint, we must begin by coopting the entire properties in our metric
of thought and expression.
We must stress such a language stretch it,
impact and compact it, fragment and
reassemble it with no apology, as require
to bear the burden of experiencing and of
experiences,
be
such
experiences
formulated or not in the conceptual of the
language.
Whether Nigerian English is a variation or deviation as it is
being argued by different schools is not the concern of this work.
But there is no doubt according to Soyinka above that English
language in Nigeria is a different variety spoken from the rest of the
world. This is what is tagged today as Nigerian English.
Nigerian English is a variety of English language which is
spoken and used by Nigerians in Nigeria which is coloured with
local flavours. It is derived as a result of the language contact
situation of English language and Nigerians indigenous languages
and cultures. Adeniyi (2006, p25) cited by Adedimeji (2007, p159)
30
says: ‘Nigerian English is the variety of English spoke and used by
Nigeria’. Also Osunsiji and Osunsina (2005) stated in Oken (2009,
p133) ‘Nigerian English is seen as English with a distinctive flavour
and English which as resulted from the contact between English
and Nigerian languages in social, cultural and political situations’.
According to Ahwefeada
and Ojaruega (2009,p73) quoted Alo
(2005, p166) said: ‘Nigerian English is a term we use to designate
the variety of English spoken and written in Nigeria. Nigerian
English is a domesticated variety of English functioning within
Nigerian linguistic and social cultural setting as a second
language’.
Nigerian English is different from SBE in all levels of
linguistics. But this work concentrates on the phonology of
Nigerian English. Jowit (1991) discussed phonological of features,
to using the three major Nigeria language: Hasusa, Igbo and
Yoruba. He explained the aspects at which each of the these
Nigerian languages influenced the phonology of English language.
At the segmental levels he identified these features to be:
nasalization, glottal stops, and spellings pronunciation. While, at
31
the suprasegmental level, he explained that Nigerian manner of
stress, timing duration and frequent falling tone of Nigerians.
Despite the fact that he made use of the three Nigerian languages
including Yoruba, his analysis still did not cover some aspects
such as dialects in each of these three language. This is the area
where this work intends to focus on.
Adedimeji (2007) addressed the phonological aspect of
Nigeria
English.
He
also
discussed
both
segmental
and
suprasegmental phonology. On the segmental aspect he trebled
phonological
interference
as:
over
differentiation
of
sound,
substitution, re-interpretation, hyper correction and spelling
pronunciation. And at the level of suprasegmental he examined
areas such as length, stress misplacement, tone and intonation.
Like Jowitt, Adedimeji discussed generally on the phonology of
Nigerian English features. He did not use any Nigeria language (s)
as a base of his discussion.
Unit (2009) whose work is similar to the focus of this work,
pays attention to the Anang accent of
English. She discussed the
segmental and suprasegmental features. She explains sound
32
substitution monophthongi sation of diphthong, simplification of
final consonant clusters, devoicing of voiced sound, shortening of
long vowel sound and spelling
pronunciation under segmental
feature. At the suprasegmental level, she paid attention to
intonation, shift in accentuation and rhythm.
2.9 FEATURES OF THE PHONOLOGY OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH
2.9.1 SEGMENTAL FEATURES
As it has been shown in data i and ii above, differences in
the phonemic systems of the two languages contribut to certain
features exhibited in the phonology of Nigerian English. Follow
Adedimeji (2007) and Utin (2009) these features can be classified
into six. They are substitution, under differentiation, hypercorrection, spelling pronunciation, epenthesis and simplification of
consonant clusters.
SUBTTUTION
According to Alabi (2007, p86) 'substitution is a major type
of
phonological
interference
triggered
by
language
contact
phenomenon’. It is a linguistic situation where a speaker found a
sound which is absent in the sound system of his or her first
33
language, but is present in the target language and replaces it with
a sound that is available in his or her. For example, the absence of
voiced alveolar fricative /z/ makes some Nigerians to substitute it
for the voiceless alveolar fricative counterpart /s/ which is present
in many Nigerian language also, the absence of dental fricative
/ө/and/∂/leads to the replacement of alveolar plosives /t/and
/d/.
UNDER-DIFFERENTIATION
It is a situation of phonological interference in which the
quality of a sound cannot be distinguished from its close
counterpart. For example, according to Alabi (2007, p.86) /∂/, /æ/,
/з:/ and /a:/ as in the words father, cat, birth and star may all be replaced with the
cardinal /a/ by the Nigerian speakers of English.
HYPER- CORRECTION
It occurs as a result of over sensitivity during the learning
process. It a rises in a situation whereby the learners are trying at
all cost to pronounce a word properly but ignorantly pronounce it
wrongly. For example most Nigerian pronounce smu: ∂/ as /
smuθ, θα:nk/ as /tenk/ etc. (Alabi, 2007, p.87).
SPELLING PRONUNCIATION
34
This is a situation whereby speakers pronounce words
according to the orthography. That is, pronunciation is based on
the way in which the words are written. This becomes a problem
for many Nigerian English speakers. This is because words in most
Nigerian languages are pronounced according to how they are
written. Hence, these words are pronounced as: /Listin/, /ftun/,
/risi;pt/, etc.
EPENTHESIS
According to Alabi (2007, p87) it is a ‘superfluous insertion
of vowel segments as a way of alleviating the complexity of
consonant clusters which characterize English. This unfamiliar
segmental patterning is indigenized by infiltrating it with the
phonemic peculiarities of the Nigerian languages’.
SIMPLICATIONS
Alibi (2007, p87) believes it ‘occurs when clusters with up
to three or four consecutive consonants are reduced to two or three
for ‘accommodations’ reasons, e.g. sixth’s /silksθs/ is reduced to
*/silks/ or */sikθ/; and twelfth (twefθ/’.
2.9.2 SUPRASEGMENTAL FEATURES
35
At the suprasegmental level, phonology of Nigerian English
is differentiated from Received Pronunciation in areas such as
stress, intonation and rhythm.
STRESS
The stress pattern of Nigerian English different from
Received Pronunciation (RP). SBE stress the initial syllable of the
following words while the speakers of Nigerian English tend to
stress them at the last syllable.
SBE
NE
'Firewood
fire'wood
'Madam
ma'dam
'Perfume
per'fame
'Plantain
plan'tain
'Salad
sa'lad 'Tribune
Also, it has been observed that speakers of Nigerian
English reverse the order of primary and secondary stress in
words. Hence, these words are being produced as:
NE
'Foundation
SBE
Foun'dation
36
'Education
Edu'cation
'Examination
Exami'nation
'Congratulate
Con'gratulate
'Investigate
in'vestigate
(Adedimeji, 2007; Osisanwo, 2009).
INTONATION
Another aspect that distinguishes Nigerian English from
standard British English is the intonation. Nigerian indigenous
language are tonal languages but English language is an into
national language.
Nigerian English users transfer the prosodic feature of
their mother tongue to English language, thereby stressing every
syllable of the tone group. Whereas, in Standard British English,
no matter the number of the syllables contained in the word or
tone group, it has only one strong stressed syllable (Osisanwo,
2009). This is supported by Jowitt (1991, p.100-104) that:
(a)
The rich intonational resources of standard British English
are neglected by most of the Nigerian users of English.
(b)
The falling tone in popular Nigerian English occurs more
frequently than SBE.
(c)
PNE more often assigns a rising tone to question than she
does.
37
(d)
PNE shows a steady avoidance of the one-syllable falling
raising tone is rarely used.
(e)
The rising falling tone, rare in SBE seems not feature at all in
PNE.
(f)
PNE seems to regard every utterance having and fixed
intonation pattern which for statement has a final falling
tone and for question a falling raising tone, and tends not to
vary this pattern for constructive purpose such as the
context of the utterance might require.
RHYTHM
Phonology of Nigerian English is described as syllable-timing
rhythm instead of stress-timing rhythm of Standard British
English. This is because most Nigerian indigenous languages have
syllable-timing rhythm as intonational languages. Syllable-timing
rhythm is a feature of phonology of Nigerian English because the
Nigerian speakers of English transferred the feature of their first
language to English language.
Stress-timing rhythm implies that the time to produce each
foot (from a stressed syllable to another excluding the next
stressed syllable) in a sentence is expected to be equal regardless
of the numbers of unstressed syllable in the foot. While syllabletiming rhythm is when the time to pronounce each syllable is the
same. In other words, in stress-timing rhythm, time is based on
38
each foot while in syllable-timing rhythm time is based on each
syllable. For examples, in the following sentences father has
bought a 'car’. The sentence has three feet. The first foot has three
syllables, the second has two syllables and the last foot has one
syllable. Despite the fact that the number of syllables in each foot
is unequal. (Roach, 2000; Adedimeji, 2007, and (Osisanwo, 2009).
2.10 INTERFERENCE
Interference is an effect of bilingualism or multilingualism.
It is a linguistic situation whereby the features of the first language
is being negatively transferred to the target language. It is a
process that occurs during the period of learning. According to
Adedimeji (2007,p.160). ‘Interference is the negative transfer of
what obtains in the source languages or Nigerian languages to the
target language English.’ Alabi (2007, p.85) says: 'The term implies
a re-arrangement of patterns that result from the introduction of
foreign elements into more highly structured domain of a language
such as (bulk of) phonology, syntax, as well as some areas of
vocabulary culture and discourse.’ In the view of Osisanwo (2009,
p.139) cited Egbokhare (2007, p.4) interference ‘has to do with the
39
carryover of the linguistic habits of an individual's first language to
the second language.’
Interference can be described as deviations in a learner’s
use of a foreign language which can be traced back to the learner’s
first language that has been acquired before. It is a transfer of
features from the first language of the learner to the target
language or second language due to differences between the
structures of both languages.
In conclusion, we have explained the terms phonology,
phonetics and their different aspects.
We have also discussed
the theories of phonology, phonemes of English and Yoruba
languages, their status and the difference between the phonemic
systems. We talked on the meaning of the concept Nigerian
English, its feature and the term interference. Finally, Nigerian
segmental phonological elements, which are: substitution, underdifferentiation, epenthesis, simplification of consonant cluster and
spelling pronunciation shall be used to analyze our data in the
next chapter.
40
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter will center on the phonological analysis of the
fifteen selected undergraduate Ilorin indigenous Yoruba students.
The transcribed version of the selected samples will be compared
with the Received Pronunciation (RP). Any phoneme that is
underlined depicts where the speakers deviate from the standard
pronunciation of the words contain in the selected passage. The
correct version of such sounds will be underlined under the RP
Column.
We shall make use of the phonological elements identified in
chapter two for the analysis and discussion shall be made on the
data. This chapter shall be concluded with the summary of what
has been done in this chapter and what has to be done in the next
chapter.
41
3.2
DATA ANALYSIS
This data is the recorded speech of the students of Ilorin
indigene. A passage was given to the fifteen selected students to
read and their voices were tape recorded.
3.1.1 SUBSTITUTION
GLOSS
1st SPEAKER’S
RP
INTERPRETATION
RENDITION
Stage
StedЗ
/steIdЗ/
/e/ is substituted for
/eI/
Was
/w∂z/
/s/ "
"
" /z/
Serve
/∂v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
/st∂urI/
/o/ " "
" / /
/mε∂d/
/t/ " "
" //
" /v /
Story
StorI
Method
Serve
Sa f
/Sз:v /
/f/ " "
Approach
Aprot∫
/∂pr∂ut∫/
/ / "
Tin
Tin
/Iŋ/
/t/
"
"
" / /
Because
bIkos
/bIkdz/
/s/
"
"
" /z /
That
Dat
/æt/
/d/
"
GLOSS
2nd
RP
" / /
"
"
" /ð /
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Stage
Was
StedЗ
/steIdЗ/
/e/ is substituted for /eI/
/waz/
/s/ "
42
"
" /z/
Of
/sz:v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
Story
StorI
/staurI/
/o/ "
"
" / /
Thin
Tin
/Iŋ/
/t/ "
"
" //
/Sλt∫ /
/S/ "
"
" /ts /
"
Such
Serve
Saf
/SB:V/
/F/ "
Approach
apros
/apraut∫/
//
Three
t ri
/ri;/
/t/
"
"
" / /
The
di
/i/
/d/
"
"
" / /
GLOSS
3rd
RP
" /V/
"
"
" /au/
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Stage
StedЗ
Was
/steIdЗ/
/e/ is substituted for /eI/
/waz/
/s/ "
"
" /z/
Story
StorI
/staucI/
/o/ "
Teaching
TisIŋ
/ti:t∫Iŋ/
/s/ "
Socio
Sosio
/sausIau/
/o/ "
"
" /au/
The
di
/i /
/d/ "
"
" / /
/s/ "
"
Because
Serve
"
" au/
"
" /ts/
" /z/
/sЗ:V/
/f/
"
"
" /v/
That
/at/
/d/
"
"
" / /
The
/V/
/f/
sЗ:f
43
"
"
" /V /
GLOSS
4th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Native
NetIf
/neItIv/
/e/ is substituted for /eI/
That
dat
/at/
/d/ "
"
" //
Arithmetic
arItmetik
/arImetIk/
/t/ "
"
" //
Serve
saf
/sЗ:V/
/f/ "
/waz/
/s/ "
"
" /z/
" / /
Was
"
" /V/
The
di
/i /
/d/ "
"
Approach
aprots
/aprauts/
/o/ "
"
Stage
StedЗ
/steIdЗ/
/e/
As
As
/z/
/s/
GLOSS
5th
RP
"
" /au/
"
"
"
" /eI/
" /z /
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Approach
apros
/aprauts/
/e/ is substituted for /au/
Serve
saf
/s3:v/
/f/ "
/av/
/f/ "
The
"
" /V/
"
" /V/
Socio
SoSio
/SauSIau/
/o/ "
Approach
a proS
/aprauts/
/S/ "
"
" /ts/
The
di
/i /
/d/ "
"
" / /
That
/at/
/d/ "
"
Was
/waz/
/s/
44
"
"
" /au/
" //
"
" /Z/
As
GLOSS
As
6st
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Was
/z/
/s/
RP
"
"
" /Z /
INTERPRETATION
\wz\
/s/ "
"
" /z/
Is
i:s
\i:z\
/s/ "
"
" /z/
Serve
Saf
/sε:v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
\∂v\
/f/ "
"
" /v/
Of
Only
onIj
\∂unli\
/o/ "
"
" /u/
Process
prosεs
\prusεs\
/o/ "
"
" /au/
Three
tri
\θri:\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
\mεθad\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
Method
The
di
\i\
/d/ "
"
" //
This
dis
\iz\
/d/ "
"
" //
GLOSS
Stage
7th
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Sted3
/steId3/
/e/ "
"
" /eI/
Aimed
emd
\eImd/
/e/ "
"
" /eI/
\wz\
/s/ "
"
" /z/
Was
RP
INTERPRETATION
Goals
Gols
/g∂ulz/
/o/ "
"
" /au/
Story
stori
/st∂uri /
/o/ "
"
" /au/
\mεθ∂d\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
/wIθ/
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
Method
With
Wit
45
Serve
Saf
Of
This
GLOSS
dis
8th
SPEAKER'S
Rendition
Was
/sз:v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
\∂v\
/f/ "
"
" /v/
\iz\
/d/ "
RP
"
" //
INTERPRETATION
\wz\
/s/ "
"
" /z/
Goals
Gols
/g∂ulz/
/o/ "
"
" /∂u/
Story
stori
/st∂uri /
/o/ "
"
" /∂u/
Serve
Saf
/sз:v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
Three
Tri
\θri:\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
\mεθad\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
/sλan/
/d/
\∂v\
/f/ "
"
" /v/
Method
Southern
saudan
Of
"
"
" //
Stage
Sted3
/steId3/
/e/ "
"
" /eI/
aimed
Emd
\eImd/
/e/ "
"
" /eI/
GLOSS
9th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Stage
Sted3
/steId3/
/e/ is substituted for /eI/
Aimed
Emd
/eImd/
/e/ "
As
As
/z/
/s/
\wz\
/s/ "
Was
46
"
"
" /eI/
"
"
" /z /
" /z/
Serve
Saf
Of
/sз:v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
\∂v\
/f/ "
"
" /v/
Goals
gols
/g∂ulz/
/o/ "
"
" /au/
Story
stori
/st∂uri /
/o/ "
"
" /au/
\mεθ∂d\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
\θri:\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
Method
three
tri
GLOSS
10th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
The
di
\i\
\d\ is substituted for \ \
That
dt
\Zt\
/d/ "
Serve
Sf
/S3:v/
/f/ "
\v\
/f/ "
"
" /v/
Of
"
"
" //
" /v/
Stage
Sted3
/steId3/
/e/ "
"
" /eI/
Aimed
emd
\eImd/
/e/ "
"
" /eI/
\wz\
/s/ "
"
" /z/
" \z \
Was
This
diz
\iz\
\s\ "
"
Tin
tin
/Iŋ/
/t/ "
"
\mεθ∂d\
/t/ "
"
Method
47
" //
" /θ/
GLOSS
11th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Was
\wz\
/s/ is substituted for /z/
Because
/bikds/
/s/ "
"
" /z/
/S3:v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
\i\
\d\ "
Serve
Sf
The
GLOSS
12th
RP
"
"
\ \
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Serve
sεf
/s3:v/
/f/ is substituted for /v/
Because
bikds
/bikdz/
/s/ "
"
" /z/
Business
bisnis
/bisniz/
/s/ "
"
" /z/
GLOSS
13th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Stage
Sted3
Was
/steId3/
/e/ is substituted for /eI/
\wz\
/s/ "
"
"
Goals
Gols
/g∂ulz/
/s/ "
only
onlI
/∂unli/
/o/
Serve
saf
/sз:v/
/f/ "
48
"
" /z/
" /z/
"
"
" /∂u/
" /v/
that
dt
Of
Three
Tri
Method
GLOSS
14th
/d/ "
"
\i\
\d\ "
"
"
\θri:\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
\mεθ∂d\
/t/ "
"
" /θ/
RP
" //
\ \
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Stage
Sted3
/steId3/
/e/ is substituted for /eI/
Gauge
Ged3
\geId3\
/e/ "
"
" /eI/
Process
prosεs
\prusεs\
/o/ "
"
" /au/
Goals
Gols
/g∂ulz/
/o/ "
"
\i\
/d/ "
"
" //
"
" //
The
" /∂u/
That
dt
\Zt\
/d/ "
Serve
Saf
/sε:v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
\av\
/f/ "
"
" /v/
\iz\
/s/ "
"
" /z/
\wz\
/s/ "
"
" /z/
Of
Is
Is
Was
GLOSS
15th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Stage
Sted3
/steId3/
/e/ is substituted for /eI/
Gauge
ged3
\geId3\
/e/ "
49
"
" /eI/
Serve
Saf
/sε:v/
Solve
/f/ "
"
" /v/
/f/ "
"
" /v/
Only
onlI
/aunli/
/o/
Approach
Aprots
/aprauts/
/o/ "
"
Three
tri
\θri:\
/t/ "
"
Southern
Saudan
/sλan/
/d/
\i\
/d/ "
The
"
"
" /∂u/
" /∂u/
" /θ/
"
"
"
" //
" //
3.1.2: UNDER – DIFFERENTIATION
GLOSS
1st
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Fast
Fast
/ faist /
/a/ is
not differentiated
from /a:/
Serve
Saf
/sз:v/
/a/ "
Interpreter
Intaprita
/Int3:prita/
/a/ "
Africa
Africa
/afric∂/
/a/ "
GLOSS
2nd
RP
"
" /3:/
"
"
" //
" /æ/
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Serve
Sąf
/s3:v/
/a/ is not differentiated from
/3:/
50
Fast
Fast
/fa:st/
/a/ "
Africa
afrIka
/æfrIka/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
After
Afta
/a:ft∂/
/a/ "
"
" //
GLOSS
3rd
"
" /a:/
RP
INTERPRETATION
/æfrIka/
/a/ is not differentiated from
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Africa
afrIka
/æ/
Fast
Fast
/fa:st/
/a/ "
Serve
Saf
/s3:v/
/a/ "
"
" /3:/
After
Afta
/a:fta/
/a/ "
"
" //
GLOSS
4th
RP
"
" /a:/
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Serve
Saf
/s3:v/
/a/ is not differentiated from
/3:/
Teacher
/ti:t∫∂/
/a/ "
"
" /∂/
After
Afta
/a:fta/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
Man
Man
/mæn/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
51
GLOSS
5th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER'S
RENDITION
Serve
Saf
/s3:v/
/a/ is not differentiated from
/3:/
Teacher
Titsa
/ti:tSa/
/a/ "
Africa
afrIka
/æfrIka/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
After
Afta
/a:fta/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
GLOSS
Serve
6th
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Saf
RP
/sЗ:v/
"
" /a/
INTERPRETATION
/a/ is not differentiated from
/З:/
Example
Εsampu
/Igza:mpl/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
Examine
εsampIn
/Igzæmln/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
Teacher
t:tЅa
/t:tЅ/
/a/ "
"
" /∂/
GLOSS
Fast
7nd
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Fast
RP
/fa:st/
INTERPRETATION
/a/ is not differentiated from
/a:/
Examine
εksamIn
/ Igzæmln/
52
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
Prefer
prIfa
/prIfЗ:r/
/a/ “ “
Approach
aprotЅ
/prautЅ/
/a/ "
GLOSS
Prefer
8rd
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
prIfa
/З:/
"
RP
/prIfЗ:r/
“
" /∂/
INTERPRETATION
/a/ is not differentiated from
/З:/
Man
Man
/ mæn/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
Example
εЅampul
/Igza:mpl/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
Approach
aprotS
/prautS/
/a/ "
GLOSS
Barrier
9th
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
barIa
RP
/bærI/
"
" /∂/
INTERPRETATION
/a/ is not differentiated from
/æ/
After
Afta
/a:ft/
/a/ ” “
Approach
aprotS
/prutS/
/a/ "
Serve
Saf
/S3:v/
/a/ “ “
GLOSS
10th
RP
“
/a:/
"
" /∂/
“
/3:/
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Serve
Saf
/a/ is not differentiated from
/SЗ:v/
/З:/
53
Man
Man
/mæn/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
After
∂fta
/:ft/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
Africa
afrIka
/æfrIk/
/a/ "
"
" /∂/
GLOSS
11th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Interpreter IntaprIta
/Int3:pIta/
/a/ is not differentiated from
/3:/
After
Afta
/a:ft/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
Africa
afrIka
/æfrIk/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
Either
aIda
/aIa/
/a/ "
"
" /∂/
GLOSS
After
12th
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Afta
RP
/a:ft/
INTERPRETATION
/a/ is not differentiated from
/a:/
Southern
Saudan
/sλan/
/a/ "
"
" /∂/
Fast
Fast
/fa:st/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
Barrier
barIa
/bærI/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
54
GLOSS
13th
RP
INTERPRETATION
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Barrier
barIa
/bærI/
/a/ is not differentiated from
/æ/
Serve
Saf
/s3:v/
/a/ "
"
" /3:/
Example
Εsampul
/Igza:mpl/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
After
Afta
/a:fta/
/a/ "
GLOSS
" /a/
Serve
14th
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Saf
/s3:v/
/a/ is not differentiated from /3:/
Approach
aprotS
/prutS/
/a/ "
"
" /∂/
After
Afta
/a:fta/
/a/ "
"
" /a:/
Barrier
barIa
/bærI/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
GLOSS
Serve
15th
SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Saf
RP
"
INTERPRETATION
RP
/s3:v/
INTERPRETATION
/a/ is not differentiated from
/3:/
After
Afta
/a:fta/
/a/ "
Approach
aprotЅ
/pr∂utЅ/
/a/ "
"
" /∂/
Man
Man
/mæn/
/a/ "
"
" /æ/
55
"
" /a:/
3.1.3 SPELLING PRONUCIATION
GLOSS
1st SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Formulated
f muletεd
Problem
Problεm
GLOSS
2nd SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Formulated
GLOSS
f muletεd
3rd SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Formulated
GLOSS
f muletεd
4th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Formulated
GLOSS
f muletεd
5th SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Formulated
f muletεd
Problem
Problεm
56
RP
GLOSS
6th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Problem
Problεm
Formulated
GLOSS
7th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Formulated
GLOSS
F muletεd
8th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Problem
Problεm
Formulated
GLOSS
9th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Problem
Problεm
Formulated
GLOSS
10th SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Problem
Problεm
Formulated
57
RP
GLOSS
11th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Problem
GLOSS
Problεm
12th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Problem
Problεm
Formulated
GLOSS
13th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Problem
GLOSS
Problεm
14th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Problem
Problεm
Formulated
GLOSS
15th SPEAKER’S
RENDITION
Problem
Problεm
58
RP
3.1.4.
GLOSS
EPENTHESIS
1st SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi:pl/
Example
εksampu
/igza:mpl/
Initial
InIsIal
/InIsaLI/
GLOSS
2nd SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi:pl/
Missionary
mI∫anarI
/mI∫nri/
GLOSS
3rd SPEAKER’S
RP
In fast speech
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi:pl/
Example
εsampu
/Igza:mpl/
Commercial Komasia
GLOSS
/komЗ:ЅI/
4th SPEAKER’S
RP
In fast speech
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi:pl/
Initial
Insia
/IniЅl
Example
εsampu
/Igza:mpl/
59
In fast speech
GLOSS
5th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi:pl/
Political
Example
GLOSS
In fast speech
εsampu
/Igza:mpl/
6th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi:pl/
Example
εsampu
/Igza:mpl/
Initial
Insia
GLOSS
7th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi:pl/
Example
εsampu
Igza:mpl/
Political
GLOSS
8th SPEAKER’S
RP
RENDITION
Initial
Inisia
People
Pipu
/pi;pl/
Example
εsampu
/igza;mpl/
60
COMMENT
GLOSS
9th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipul
/pi;pl/
Example
εsampu
/igza;mpl/
Initial
Inisia
/inisel/
GLOSS
10th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi;pl/
Example
εsampu
/igza;mpl/
Commercial
GLOSS
11th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipu
/pi;pL/
Example
εsampu
/igza;mpl/
Commercial KomaSia
GLOSS
/kamз;sal'/
12th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
Initial
/InI∫Ial/
/InI∫l/
Education
εdჳukeI∫an
εdჳukeI∫n
Commercial Koma∫iaL
/kamз;∫l/
61
In fast speech
GLOSS
13th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
Education
GLOSS
εdჳukeI∫an
εdჳukeI∫n
14th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
People
Pipul
/pi;pl/
Example
εksampul
/igza;mpl/
Initial
InI∫ia
/InI∫l/
GLOSS
15th SPEAKER’S
RP
COMMENT
RENDITION
Example
Igsampu
/Igza:mpL/
People
Pipu
/pi;pL/
Commercial komaSia
/kՁmჳ:SՁL
3.1.5: SIMPLIFICATION OF CONSONANT CLUSTER
GLOSS
1st SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Subject
s bdჳεt
/sΛbdჳIkt/
/k/
Example
εsampu
/Igza:mpl/
/g,l/
62
GLOSS
2nd
SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Subject
Objective
GLOSS
s bdჳεt
bdჳεtIf
3rd
/sΛbdჳIkt/
/k/
/obdჳεktIv/
/k/
SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Objective
Subject
GLOSS
bdჳεtIf
s bdჳεt
4th
/obdჳεktIv/
/k/
/sΛbdჳIkt/
/k/
SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Objective
Subject
GLOSS
bdჳεtIf
/obdჳεktIv/
/k/
s bdჳεt
/sΛbdჳIkt/
/k/
5th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Example
s bdჳεt
Objective
bdჳεtIf
GLOSS
/sΛbdჳIkt/
/k/
/obdჳεktIv/
/k/
6th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Subject
s bdჳεt
/sΛbdჳIkt/
63
/k/
GLOSS
7th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Example
εsampu
/Igzaimpl/
/g,l/
Subject
s bdჳεt
/sΛbdჳIkt/
/k/
GLOSS
8th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Example
εsampu
/Igzaimpl/
/g,l/
Examine
εsamIn
/IgzæmIn
/g/
GLOSS
9th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Subject
s bdჳεt
/sΛbdჳIkt/
/k/
Examine
εsampul
/Igzaimpl/
/g,l/
GLOSS
10th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Example
εsampu
/Igzaimpl/
/g,l/
People
Pipu
/pi:pl/
/l/
GLOSS
11th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Example
εsampul
/Igza:mpL/
64
/g/
Examine
GLOSS
εsamIn
/IgzæmIn/
12th SPEAKERS
/g/
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Example
εsampu
/Igza:mpl/
/g,l/
Examine
εsamIn
/IgzæmIn/
/g/
GLOSS
13th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Examine
GLOSS
εsamIn
/IgzæmIn/
14th SPEAKERS
/g/
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Example
εsamIn
/IgzæmIn/
/g/
Examine
εsampul
/Igza:mpl/
/g,l/
GLOSS
15th SPEAKERS
RP
SOUND(S)
RENDITION
Example
εsampu
/Igza:mpl/
/g,l/
Examine
εsamIn
/IgzæmIn/
/g/
3.2: DISCUSSION
From the analysis above, the samples substitute sounds
which are not present in their L1 such as dental fricative sounds
65
/θ,∂/ with alveolar plosive sounds /t,d/ in the words /θ,Iე/ as
/tIn/ and / æt/ as /dat/. The voiced alveolar fricative /z/ also
substituted with voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ in such word as
/i:z/ and voiceless labio-dental fricative /f/ for the voiced labiodental fricative /v/ in such words as /ЅЗ:v/. They also substitute
diphthong vowels /eI/ and /au/ with monopthong vowel sounds
/e/ and /o/ as they appeared in these words /au nlІ, gaul, steІdz
eimd/.
Again, the samples were unable to distinguish the vowel
sound /a/ from the following English vowel sounds: /æ, 3:, a:, ∂/
as they are in the following word [man, saf, aft∂, ∂prot∫] instead of /
mæn, Sз:v,a:ft∂, ∂preut∫/. They cannot differentiate between letters
and sounds. This makes them to pronounce according to the
orthography of a world like problem in the selected passage as
/problεm / instead of / probl∂ms.
In addition, Yoruba language does not consonant cluster
structure. This becomes a problem to the samples. Most of them
resolved this problem by simply deleting certain consonants where
there is consonant cluster. For instance, in the words: subject
/sΛbd Ikt/, example /Igza:mpl/ are simply pronounced /sobd εt/
and /εsampu/. They insert vowel sound especially where a
66
consonant ends a word or where there is consonant cluster as it
appears in the words /pipu/ and εsampul/.
SUBSTITUTION
Sound
/θ/with
/t∫/with
/v/ with /z/ with /eI/with
/∂u/with /∂/ with
substitute
/t/
/f/
/f/
/s/
/e/
/o/
/o/
3
15
15
13
13
13
20%
100%
100%
86.7%
86.7%
86.7%
d
No
of 10
speakers
Percentage
75%
UNDER DIFFERENTIATION
Sounds
under- /з:/
/æ/
/α:/
/∂/
differentiated
No of speakers
14
15
15
15
Percentage
93.3%
100%
100%
100%
SPELLING PRONUNCIATION
Words
Problem
Formulated
No of speakers
11
12
Percentage
73.3%
80%
67
EPENTHESIS
Words
Pipu
Εsampu
No of speakers
13
12
Percentage
86.7%
80%
SIMPLIFICATION
Words
Εsamin
εs∂mpu
s bdzεt
bdzεtdt
No of speakers
6
9
8
4
Percentage
40%
60
53.3%
24.7%
3.3 SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTER
It has been discussed in this chapter that the samples
substituted phonemes of English language with the one that were
available in their first language. They also pronounced different
vowel sounds with a vowel sound. They pronounced words
according to how the words were written. Also, they eliminated
some consonant sounds in the situation of consonant cluster and
they fixed in vowel sound in some words endings or in between
consonant cluster.
68
Chapter four
4.1 SUMMARY
We started with the general introduction to the study in
the first chapter. We stated the statements of the research
problem, scope of the study, the purpose, justification of the study,
methodology and data description. Chapter two contained the
review of related literature. We discussed the term phonetics and
phonology, phonological theories, we explained the concept of
Nigeria English and the phonological features of Nigerian English.
The concept of interference was discussed and the chapter was
concluded with the stating of the elements to be used in the next
chapter.
In the third chapter, we analyzed the data and we gave a
discussion on the data. The rest of this chapter four will be based
on findings resulting from our studies and recommendation shall
be made.
69
4.2
FINDINGS
It was discovered that our subjects have problems with
most of the sounds which were not available in their first language
and they replaced them with the ones that were found. They were
also unable to differentiate a sound from other related and
counterpart sounds. These sounds /v, z, ∂u, eI, ∂/ were more
substituted for /t∫, θ/.
More so, they pronounced sounds according to how the
words were written down. This is because in the students L1,
words are written as they were pronounced and vice versa. The
sample find consonant clusters problematic and they removed
certain e.g. consonants where there is a consonant cluster. In
some situations, they inserted vowel specifically at the end of the
words that end with consonant cluster.
Also, it was noticed that those students who have received
some training on the English language were a bit better than other
students. The level of exposure to English has a role to play in the
perfection of the spoken English of L2 learners.
4.3. CONCLUSION
70
As a result of the differences between the English language
sound system and the Yoruba language sound system, the
samples as second language learners of English language. This
situation indicates that the spoken English of the subjects has
been affected by the sound system of Yoruba language.
4.4
RECOMMENDATION
Students should try to learn and master the area of
differences between the sound system of their L1 and the sound
system of English language. They should also be conversant with
the proper usage of the English language sounds. They should try
to apply the proper pronunciation on English words whenever they
are speaking. They should be a companion of their Pronouncing
Dictionary.
71
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76
APPENDIX 1
At the initial stage, language was a big barrier to effective
communication between the white and the native people. However,
the schools which were established were meant to teach subjects
that will ease the problems of reading and writing. The indigenes
that were able to learn fast and who could read and write were
employed as teachers to either serve as interpreters of clerks. The
only identified problem during the colonial period at the initiate
stage was that the school subjects or curriculum used was not
uniform as each missionary teachers according to the belief of
objective that is considered as a priority by each denomination.
The three major subjects include the so called 3 R’s (Reading,
Writing and Arithmetic), while story telling, singing, handcraft,
recitation and memorization were the common method of learning.
Following the period of the Missionaries, the Colonial
Government came with a similar but different approach to
education. Their own kind of education was aimed at achieving
their political goals, such that by 1882 they formulated a
document tagged “The first educational Ordinance”. After 1882, a
i
Phelp stoke Commission was set up to critically examine the
process and problems facing education in Africa. This because it
was agreed that the education should not be a thing to satisfy the
white man’s interest but should be so planned to assist the African
youths to solve their socio-economic problems. For example, in the
Southern part of the country, the Chiefs prefer the missionaries to
teach their children how to gauge oil and transact commercial
business instead of teaching religion.
(Source:
Principles
of
Curriculum
Implementation. Ibrahim A.I Ph.D)
ii
Planning
and