Wázóbìá: A Comparative Study of the Linguistic Structure of Nigeria's National Languages. Issue 3 (2nd September 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Babarinde, Olusanmi; Waya, David
• Is Part Of: Language matters. Volume 48:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 98
• Page End: 129
• Publication Date: 2017-09-02
• Subjects: Hausa -- Igbo -- morphology -- national languages -- orthographies -- phonology -- wázóbìá -- Yoruba; Africa -- Languages -- Periodicals; 496.05
• DOI: 10.1080/10228195.2017.1376702
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1022-8195

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article describes the structures of the three Nigerian national languages at the morphophonological level with a view to showing the aspects of convergence and divergence in them. This will help determine the possibility of evolving a pocket of pronounceable words, as a stepping stone towards a national language formed from the three languages to foster national unity like wá, zó and bìá, meaning 'come' in Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo respectively as widely suggested. Using descriptive analysis of data collected from Hausa and Igbo students at the National Institute for Nigerian Languages, we discovered that coinage is easier between Igbo and Yoruba (Niger-Congo/Kwa) than it is between these two languages and Hausa (Chadic). This article suggests the use of Nigerian Pidgin English (a natural language) which is English-based with widest acceptability.