LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF CODE MIXING AND CODE-SWITCHING AMONG THE EDUCATED IGBO BILINGUALS

Uduma, Eke O.

Department of English

Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun-State, Nigeria

Email Address: eminentrefound@yahoo.co.uk

ABSTRACT

English as the official language in Nigeria has continued to play diverse roles. It is the language of education, government, administration, commerce, journalism, legislative and international deliberations; it lives alongside other Nigerian languages, interacts with them and adapts itself to the Nigerian environment. This interaction with Nigerian languages; Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba led to pidginization, nativization and acculturation of English. Igbo language and culture has also influenced the English language. The thrust of this paper is examination of speech behavior of the educated Igbo -bilinguals who may not be able to speak Igbo language without code switching or mixing of English language. This paper used texts of interviews and responses to questionnaire administered in previous works. It examined corpuses to identify linguistic features of code-switching in the speech behavior of the educated Igbo bilinguals. It analyzed the simple sentences and WH-clause structures of Engligbo using Chomsky’s Transformational Generative Grammar Theory.

Keywords: Educated-Igbo bilinguals, nativization, Igbo language and Engligbo.

THE ISSUES OF ACCESSIBILITY: A LEXICO-SEMANTIC READING OF CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’S Half of A Yellow Sun

Rotimi Jegede

Department of Languages

 Federal Polytechnic, Idah Kogi State

ABSTRACT

Scholars in Stylistics believe in the assertion that style is the man.  That is, we do not all write the same way. Studies have equally shown that part of what that goes to determine originality in a writer’s work(s) derives strongly from the unique way he/she expresses himself/herself.  The question therefore, is, to which extent could a writer’s style of expression open or block the gateway of meaning and accessibility in their works? If communication is the main preoccupation of a writer, how does he set to achieve this by the manner in which he expresses himself?  The questions in the foregoing will be our guide as we attempt to do a lexico-semantic reading of Chimamonda N. Adichie’s Half Of A Yellow Sun.

KEYWORDS: Style, Expressions, Meaning, Accessibility, Communication