Effects of Nigerian R&B Music on the Use of English

EFFECTS OF NIGERIAN R&B MUSIC ON THE USE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA

ODESANMI ABIOLA AYOBAMI

07/15CD-122

AN ESSAY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS) IN ENGLISH

THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN, NIGERIA

MAY, 2011

CERTIFICATION

This project has been read and approved as meeting part of the requirement for the award of Bachelor of Arts Degree in the Department of English of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin.

……………………………… ………………………………

DR. T. A. ALABI Date

(Supervisor)

……………………………… ………………………………

DR. S. T. BABATUNDE Date

(Head of Department)

……………………………… ………………………………

EXTERNAL EXAMINER Date

DEDICATION

This research work is dedicated to my family.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The best of all thanks goes to Almighty God, alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, whom by His grace and mercy, I have been able to experience my first degree programme. Through it all, He has given me cause to be a living testimony of His goodness and kindness.

I appreciate my supervisor Dr. T. A. Alabi for his efforts, and disciplined supervision which has gone a long way in making this research work a success. I am very grateful.

Special thanks to my parents for the love, prayer, care, and support they have showered on me. I love you. To my lovely sisters, Adeola, Abimbola, and Jesudunsin, I am proud to be a brother to you.

I also want to say a big thank you to Mr. Famakinwa, and Dr. Arowolo for their fatherly support.

I also want to acknowledge my brothers from another mother, Joseph, Tunde and Femi, whom through the tough moments helped in completing this degree programme. You guys are the experiences of life I will never forget.

ABSTRACT

Due to the fact that English language is the official language of Nigeria, and Nigerian is a multilingual country, English language continues to grow popular every day. The Nigerian R&B with its high level of spread lately has contributed a great deal in influencing English usage. This research work has aimed to enlighten people on how Nigerian R&B music penetrates and affect their usage of English language. This research work has examined the various ways in which the Nigerian R&B music affects the use of English language using four randomly selected Nigerian R&B tracks. The result of the analysis shows that Nigerian R&B music introduces and changes a lot in English vocabulary.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page i

Certification ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgements iv

Abstract v

Table of contents vi

CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA 2

1.2 RHYTHM AND BLUES MUSIC 3

1.3 MUSIC IN NIGERIA 3

1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY 4

1.5 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY 4

1.6 SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH 5

1.7 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 5

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION 6

2.1 LEXICO-GRAMMAR 6

2.1.1 LEXIS 6

2.2 GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE AND PERFORMANCE 7

2.3 SOCIOLINGUITICS 8

2.4 INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN ENGLISH 10

2.5 WORD FORMATION 11

2.5.1 IDIOM 12

2.5.2 NEOLOGISM 13

2.5.3 AGGLUTINATING 14

2.5.4 CONTRATION 14

2.6 SLANG 15

CHAPTER THREE: DATA ANALYSIS

3.0 INTRODUCTION 16

3.1 ANALYSIS OF DATA 16

3.1.1 SLANGS 16

3.1.2 WORD FORMATION 20

3.1.2.1 IDIOMATICITY 20

3.1.2.2 NEOLOGISM 23

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3.1.2.3 AGGLUTINATING 25

3.1.2.4 CONTRATION 26

3.1.3 INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN ENGLISH 28

CHAPTER FOUR: SUMMARY AND FINDINGS

4.0 INTRODUCTION 33

4.1 SUMMARY 33

4.2 FINDINGS 34

4.3 CONCLUSION 35

BIBIOLOGRAPHY

APPENDIX

viii

CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 INTRODUCTION

English language is the official language in Nigeria as a tool that facilitates cultural and linguistic unity in the country. Part of the area in which

English language is used peculiarly in the country is music. R&B music originated from traditional Rhythm and Blues music. Today, the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of Africa American music originating after the demise of disco in the 1980s. Nigerian R&B culture started spreading in the 1990s with the likes of Plantashun Boiz, The Remedies etc. When the country witnessed proliferation of computer and cheap music editing software in the 21th century, Nigeria R&B artistes started achieving higher quality recordings that rapidly won over the Nigerian audience.

English language has been adopted as the language of the Nigerian

R&B music. In spite of the fact that most Nigerian R&B singers use English language, they still try to identify with their indigenous languages. Nigerian

R&B singers use their music as a medium of informing their listeners of the current event and liberation strategies, using alternate language understood only by those within the cultural network. Through the years, many of the words and phrases become integrated and used by listeners who had figured out the context and definitions of these words.

1.1 ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN NIGERIA

English is a heritage left behind in Nigeria by the British at the end of the colonial administration. However, it is now the language of government, business, commerce, education, literature, arts, the mass media, internal and external communication in Nigeria. In practice therefore, English is the only effective medium of communication among Nigerians from different linguistic backgrounds. Although English is the official language of Nigeria, it has not succeeded in replacing any of the indigenous languages. Three of the hundreds of Nigerian local languages (Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo) are often referred to as the major languages of the country; but few people speak more than one of the local languages.

The multilingual nature of the Nigerian society leads to many regional variations in their use of English because local languages have their accents directly or indirectly transferred to English language. So, we have the majority speaking the Nigerian English (NE) as it can be tagged, with different accents.

The term “Nigerian English” has come to be recognised and accepted is referring to the legitimate subtype of English, which is peculiar to Nigeria.

1.2 RHYTHM AND BLUES MUSIC

Rhythm and Blues music or R&B is a variety of different, but related types popular music produced and supported primarily by African American beginning in the early 1940s. R&B was first coined in 1949 by Jerry Wexler, who became prominent with Atlantic Records. The term R&B was used as a

x synonym for black rock and roll in the early and mid-1950s. R&B music embraces such genres as jump blues, club blues, black rock and roll, doo wop, soul, Motown, funk, disco and rap.

Today’s contemporary R&B music has a distinctly different sound than its forebears, focusing on pop beats and culture rather than the blues, gospel and jazz sounds of previous the generations. In the late 1940s and into the 50s, R&B groups consisted brass instruments and woodwinds, as well as drums, piano and vocals.

1.3 MUSIC IN NIGERIA

Nigerian music is extremely vibrant and lively. The popular music of

Nigeria are highlife, afrobeat, juju, apala, hip hop (which includes R&B) and a lot more. As Nigeria culture is completely multi-ethnic, the music in Nigeria is influenced by a lot of traditions of different tribes. Hip hop which has gained worldwide popularity in the recent years is the most popular music among Nigerians today especially the Nigerian youths.

1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This research intends to show the relationship between language and the society by investigating the lyrics of the Nigerian R&B music. With the continues growth of the English language among the people of Nigeria, and language learning being highly influenced by the socio-environment, the music industry in Nigeria is one of the greatest influence on language acquisition in the country.

Therefore, it is the aim of this research work to review the social effects of

Nigerian R&B music on English language, so that at the end of this research, readers of this work will be able to have a visible assessment of the effect of the Nigerian R&B music on the standardization of English language in the country.

1.5 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

This study is being embarked upon because no study of this nature to the researcher has focused on the complexity of the effect of the Nigerian R&B on the use of English language in Nigerian R&B on the use of English language in Nigeria. A similar research work which the researcher came across is Babalola and Taiwo (2009), which focuses on code-switching in contemporary Nigerian hip hop songs. This research work will not only look into code-switching but will examine the ideological background of Nigerian

R&B songs and relating it to the linguistic constructions employed as the medium.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

In the research work, the researcher intends to place more emphasis on the analysis of pervasive lexico-grammatical properties of R&B music on the use of English language. The study is limited to the Nigerian environment alone.

Because of space constraint and for explicit discussion, a maximum of four

Nigerian R&B tracks will be selected and used as the data in this research work.

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1.7 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The method intended will incorporate the following components of linguistics/language in layers:

(i) Sampling and listening to some randomly selected Nigerian

R&B tracks.

(ii) Selection and analysis of some R&B musical lyrics.

(iii) Evaluation of common expressions, grammatical construction,

and lexical items in Nigerian R&B music.

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CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 INTRODUCTION

This chapter will be focusing on the literature review of the relevant concepts of sociolinguistics, lexico-grammar, influence of American English, and code-switching which are central to this study.

2.1 LEXICO-GRAMMAR

Lexico-grammar is a terminology that combines lexis and grammar together. According to Bussman (1996 p.22), “lexical meaning is that aspect of meaning which is codified in a lexicon or dictionary, can be semantically analyzed, and, together with the grammatical elements of meanings yields the whole meaning of a linguistic expression”. In the light of this, it means that lexico-grammar is a term which intended to be comprehensive for the make- up of an utterance.

2.1.1 LEXIS

Crystal (2008 p.279) describes the term lexis as “a term used in linguistics to refer to the vocabulary of language, used adjectivally in a variety of technical phrase”. He further explains 12that “a unit of vocabulary is generally referred to as a lexical item or lexeme”. In their definition,

Hancock& Todd (1989 p.269) says it is used to mean:

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1. An alphabetically-arranged inventory of the words of a language

together with their definitions.

2. The vocabulary of a language.

3. The vocabulary of a speaker or group of speakers.

4. The vocabulary employed in a text.

5. The inventory of morphemes in a language.

We can infer that lexis is an entire stock of words in a language with their definitions.

2.2 GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE AND PERFORMANCE

Foder& Garrett (1966), cited in Ayojare (1995 p.158) defines competence as “the general ability or capability to do something, as opposed to actual performance which may be subject to fluctuations”. Horrocks (1987 p.2) describes grammatical competence “as the speaker’s internalized grammar of his language, his tacit or unconscious knowledge of study of the system of rules and principles which underlies his capacity to speak and understand the language of his speech community”. Foder& Garrett (1966), cited in Ayojare (1995 p.158) describe grammatical competence as “the knowledge an individual has about the structure of his language”.

From the above definitions, we do understand that competence has to do with an individual and his knowledge of his language. Performance on the other hand is defined by Horrocks (1987 p.2) as the speaker’s actual use of language on particular occasions and includes not only directly observable utterance, but also the speaker’s use of language to clarity his thoughts, and other phenomena ‘observable’ only by introspection. Benati& VanPatten

(2010 p.124) says performance is “what people do with language when community”. These two definitions tell us how language is used by individuals in a communicating.

2.3 SOCIOLINGUITICS

Sociolinguistics is a branch of linguistics that as to do with the use of language in line with social parameters like context, sex, social, age, religion, geographical location and so on. Ayodapo (1999 p.99) reported that “the term

‘sociolinguistic’ began to gain currency about a decade ago”. He further says it started “through the research efforts scholars like Labov, Gumperz,

Franklin, Hymes, Macnamcra, Fishman, Ferguson etc.”

However, various linguists have given various definitions of sociolinguistics.

Chambers (2010 p.2) posits that “sociolinguistics theory presents a critical synthesis of language variation and change”. Crystal (2008 p.440) defines sociolinguistics as the identity of social groups, social attitude to language, standard and non-standard forms of language, the pattern and needs of national language use, social varsities and levels of language, the social basis

xvi of multilingualism and so on. Also writing on sociolinguistics, Wisniewski

(2007 p.1) reports thus:

Sociolinguistics is a quick developing branch of linguistics which

investigates language. Just as regional variations of language can give

a lot of information about the place the speaker is from, social

variation tells about the roles fulfilled by a given speaker within one

community, or country…

All the above definitions of sociolinguistics hang over the same neck.

That is, it is a branch of linguistics, which studies language variation and the factors responsible for such variations.

Sociolinguistics according to Sotiloye (1992 p.2) is a field of study which relates societal problems to linguistic/language problems. Societal problems like “how do our social and cultural background affect use of language are answers in term of who says what to whom, when, where, how, and why”. Olaoye (1998 p.98) defines sociolinguistics as “collective term applied to research techniques and findings from linguistics and various social science to the study of language in society”.

There is belief that linguistics is regarded as social science because the concept of the language and society are closely related. The misunderstanding of sociolinguistics as the field, which simply describe the variable in language use for different sexes, classes, genres, occupation etc. is a tempting one to adherence to, because it focuses on real distinction in language use. Among

xvii other variables that can be seen within the sociolinguistic landscape include code-mixing, code-switching, language variation etc.

2.4 INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN ENGLISH

American English is now extending its tentacle all over the world with

Nigeria including just like British English did. Recently, economic, political, educational, and cultural co-operation and interaction between Nigeria and the

United States of America has increased the rate of use of the American

English in Nigeria. Awonusi (1994 p.16) reports thus:

The British variety is accepted, as a model by many non-native

speakers of English but the American variety is fast becoming

an acceptable and visible alternative. The American variety is

clearly linked to the increasing role of the USA as a

superpower in the affairs of the world…Nigeria abandoned the

former West-minister model of political organization and

governance and opted for the American-style presidential

system…The Nigerian press also caught the American fever as

lexical items commonly become freely used in Nigeria.

Kachru (1982 p.42) also talked about the American Hollywood movies being a major contributor to the influence of American English. Babalola&

Taiwo (2009) accused Nigerian musicians of “trying, unsuccessfully to fake an American accent and rehash lyrics that have been recorded and performed by artists from overseas”.

xviii

From the above, it is clear that both American English and British

English now enjoy universal intelligibility and acceptability. Even American

English is gaining upper hand. This will result into lots of American English featuring in Nigerian R&B music.

2.5 WORD FORMATION

Word formation as the term suggests, deals with the formation of words. Crystal (2008 p. 523) refers to it has “the whole process of morphological variation in the constitution of words”. In another definition,

Bussman (1996 p.522) defines word formation as the “investigation and description of processes and rule-governed formation of new complex words on the basis of already existing linguistic resources”. Wikipedia encyclopedia

(2011) refers to it has the “creation of a new word”. It further says that;

Word formation is sometimes contrasted with semantic

change, which is a change in a single word's meaning.

The line between word formation and semantic change

is sometimes a bit blurry; what one person views as a

new use of an old word, another person might view as a

new word derived from an old one and identical to it in

form.

Word formation according to these definitions is basically the ability to form new words which extends to establishing criteria based on the structure of the existing words for creating new words.

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2.5.1 IDIOM

Crystal (2008 p.237) defines idiom as a term used in grammar and lexicology to refer to a sequence of words which is semantically and often syntactically restricted, so that they function as a single word. Pie (1966 p.119) says idiom is a group of words having a special meaning which is not inherent to or determinable from its component parts. Wikipedia encyclopedia

(2011) describes it as;

an expression, word, or phrase that has a

figurativemeaning that is comprehended in regard to a

common use of that expression that is separate from the

literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is

made.

These explain that idioms are expressions with meaning that do not add up to the meaning of the individual words but are equal to the meaning of a single word.

2.5.2 NEOLOGISM

According to Pie (1966 p.179) neologism is refers to “a newly coined word or expression; a use of an old word in a new sense. Wikipedia encyclopedia (2011) say neologism is;

a newly coined term, word or phrase, that may be in the

process of entering common use, but has not yet been

accepted into mainstream language. Neologisms are

often directly attributable to a specific person,

publication, period, or event.

From these two definitions we can infer that neologisms are words that are coined to express some new phenomena.

2.5.3 AGGLUTINATING

According to Pie (1966 p.9) agglutinating is a “process of addition of suffixes to a word root”. Wikipedia encyclopedia (2011) defines it has the process of forming new words from existing ones by adding affixes to them”.

There is a slit difference between the two sources, but the two still points at the fact that morphemes are added to an existing word.

2.5.4 CONTRATION

Crystal (2008 p.111) defines contraction as;

a linguistics to refer to the process or result of

phonologically reducing a linguistic form so that it

comes to be attached to an adjacent linguistic form, or

fusing a sequence of forms that they appear as a single

form.

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Wikipedia encyclopedia (2011) describes it has the “the shortening of a word, syllable, or word group by omission of internal letters”. It further explains that “an informal type of contraction occurs frequently in speech and writing, in which a syllable is substituted by an apostrophe and/or other mode of elision”. All of these explain that contraction is the shortening of a word or phrase.

2.6 SLANG

Pie (1966 p.179) in his view defines slang as;

Non-standard vocabulary of characterized by extreme

informality, whose currency is not limited to a religion,

composed of coinages or arbitrarily changed words,

clipped forms, extravagant, forced or facetious figures

of speech, verbal novelties and subject to rapid decline

into disuse.

Tema-Abah (2010,p.86) corroborates this assertion by defining slang as “an ever changing and fashionable set of vocabulary of sociability used to establish or reinforce identity cohesiveness within a group with a trend or fashion in a society at large”.

In other words, slang is an informal kind of language in which words and phrases are used in new or unusual ways.

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CHAPTER THREE

DATA ANALYSIS

3.0 INTRODUCTION

This research will focus on the analysis of data in this chapter. In the chapter, areas in which the Nigerian R&B music affects the use of English language will be examined. Slangs, word formation, and influence of the

American English will be analysed using four randomly selected Nigerian

R&B tracks.

3.1 ANALYSIS OF DATA

3.1.1 SLANGS

Slangs used in the Nigerian R&B music influence the use of English language a lot. Slang expression may be a new word or it may be an old word with new meaning. R&B musicians introduce these slangs into English language through their lyrics. These slang expressions spread so quickly that many people have difficulty determining what is slang and what is not.

Instances of slangs that were cited in the selected Nigerian R&B songs are stated as follow:

ORUKA by Sunny Nneji

“wifey”

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This is an American slang which means wife or girlfriend. This has morphological effect on English language whereby it influences a change from the use of “wife”/ “girlfriend” to “wifey”

“hussy”

This is an American slang which means husband or boyfriend. This has morphological effect on English usage whereby it influences a change from the use of “husband”/ “boyfriend” to “hussy”.

MY KELE by Banky W

“kele”

It is a Nigerian slang which means a beautiful girl. This has morphological effect on the use of English language. It influences a change from the use of “damsel” to “kele”.

“shepe”

This is a Nigerian slang which refers to local liquors. This has morphological effect on the use of English language whereby a Nigerian slang added to the vocabulary of the R&B listeners.

“shayo”

This lexical item is a Nigerian slang which refers to alcoholic drinks.

This has morphological effect on the use of English language whereby a

Nigerian slang added to the vocabulary of the R&B listeners.

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“semsem”

This lexical item is a Nigerian slang which refers to the state of being drunk. This has morphological effect on English language whereby “semsem” will be used synonymously to “drunk”.

“agro”

This lexical item is a Nigerian slang which means to be sexually aroused. This has morphological effect on the use of English in a situation where “agro” will be use added to the vocabulary of English from a Nigerian slang.

“groupie”

This is an American slang which refers to three or more people involved in a romantic relationship. This will constitute a morphological effect on English usage in Nigeria in a situation where an American slang will be added to Nigeria’s English language usage.

MR. ENDOWED by D’banji

“live it up”

It is an American slang which means to live or celebrate in an extravagant way. This affects English language usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

xxv

“break it down”

This idiomatic expression is an American slang which means to calm something or someone down. This affects English language usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English language and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

“take a buzz”

This idiomatic expression is an American slang which means to hear a latest gossip. This affects English language usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

“feeling grand”

This idiomatic expression is an American slang which means to have a feel of lots of money or cash. This affects English language usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

“mill in hand”

This idiomatic expression is an American slang which means gaining control of lots of money. This affects English language usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

xxvi

“fly”

This lexical item is an American slang which means to be stylish and fashionable. This shows a morphological change in English usage. “fly” is used synonymously to “flamboyant”.

3.1.2 WORD FORMATION

Various mechanisms of word formation which affect the use of

English language in Nigeria will be examined using the selected Nigerian

R&B tracks.

3.1.2.1 IDIOMATICITY

New idiomatic expressions are established and introduced into English usage through the Nigerian R&B music. Instances of these idiomatic expressions are stated below.

MY KELE by Banky W

“step up in the club”

This idiomatic expression is an American slang which means to enter into a dance club. This affects English language usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause for people that are unaware of it. The internal structure can affect syntactic rules.

xxvii

MR. ENDOWED by D’banji

“break the bank”

This is an American slang which means to gamble to win more money than available. This affects English usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

“live it up”

It is a slang which means to live or celebrate in an extravagant way.

This affects English usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it. The internal structure can affect syntactic rules.

“break it down”

This idiomatic expression is a slang which means to calm something or someone down. This affects English usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

“take a buzz”

This idiomatic expression is an American slang which means to hear a latest gossip. This affects English usage in Nigeria morphologically and

xxviii semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

“feeling grand”

The lexical item “grand” in the idiom is an American word for a thousand dollars. The whole idiom is an American slang which means to have a feel of lots of money or cash. This affects English usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

The internal structure can affect syntactic rules.

“mill in hand”

The lexical item “mill” is an American word for a monetary unit equal to one thousandth of a U.S. dollar. The whole idiomatic expression is an

American slang which means gaining control of lots of money. The introduction of this idiom has a morphological and semantic change on the use of English language in Nigeria. This could result in a change in the nature of some individual words that made-up the idiom.

“roll with me”

This idiomatic expression is an American slang which means to spend time regularly with someone. This affects English usage in Nigeria morphologically and semantically. It adds more to the idioms of English and it can be confused for a clause instead of idiom for people that are unaware of it.

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3.1.2.2 NEOLOGISM

Already existing words are been coined to have another

meaning by the Nigerian R&B singer. Instances of this are sited

below.

MY KELE by Banky W

“sweet”

This word has been coined to express another meaning. The word

“sweet” has been used in the lyrics to be a verbal entity and it means to like or prefer. This has a morphological and grammatical effect on English language usage. Another meaning has been added to the lexical item and it can be syntactically confusing.

“chick”

This lexical item which originally means a baby bird is now coined to refer to a young lady. This has morphological effect on the use of English language in Nigeria. It has extended the meaning of “chick” making it synonymous to a word like “damsel”.

“V.I.P.”

This abbreviation means Very Important Person but it has been coined to mean the section of a dance club where the VIPs sit. This has a morphological effect on the use of English in Nigeria. It has extended the meaning of “VIP” making it the place at the same time the person.

xxx

MR. ENDOWED by D’banji

“upgrade”

This lexical item which originally means to improve the performance of a computer or other machine by installing better components in now coined to mean increase in social status. This has morphological effect on the use of

English language in Nigeria. It has extended the meaning of the word.

“roll”

This lexical item which originally means to move by turning over like a wheel or ball, is now coined to mean being around someone. This has morphological effect on the use of English language in Nigeria. It has extended the meaning of “roll”.

“fly”

This lexical item has been coined to mean being stylish and fashionable. This has morphological effect on the use of English language in

Nigeria. It has extended the meaning of “fly” making it synonymous to

“flamboyant”.

3.1.2.3 AGGLUTINATING

The Nigerian R&B music introduces new words into English usage by adding affixes to the existing words. Instances of this are below.

xxxi

MY KELE by Banky W

“groupie” (group+ie)

Suffix has been added to the word “group” to mean three or more people engaging in a romantic relationship. This constitutes a morphological effect on English language usage in Nigeria. The addition of suffix is adding more vocabulary to English language usage in Nigeria.

ORUKA by Sunny Nneji

“wifey” (wife+y)

Suffix has been added to the word “wife” to mean a girlfriend or wife.

This constitutes a morphological effect on English language usage in Nigeria.

The addition of suffix is adding more vocabulary to English language usage in

Nigeria.

“hussy”

Suffix has been added to the word “husband” to mean a boyfriend or husband. This constitutes a morphological effect on English language usage in

Nigeria. The addition of suffix is adding more vocabulary to English language usage in Nigeria.

xxxii

3.1.2.4 CONTRATION

The Nigerian R&B singers due to carelessness in speech and conservation of space in rhythm introduce contraction into their songs. On the long run, these contractions are established in English usage. Instance of this are below:

MY KELE by Banky W

“kinda”

This is a contraction of “kind of”. This has morphological and grammatical effect on English language usage in Nigeria. A whole phrase has been contracted to make a single word.

“aint”

This is an informal contraction associated with careless speech. It is otherwise known as “are not”. This has morphological and grammatical effect on

English language usage in Nigeria. A whole phrase has been contracted to make a single word.

MR. ENDOWED by D’banji

“wannabe”

This is a contraction of “want to be”. This has morphological and grammatical effect on English language usage in Nigeria. A whole clause has been contracted to make a single word.

xxxiii

MORE by Dare

“imma”

This is an informal contraction. It is otherwise known as “I am going to”. This has morphological and grammatical effect on English language usage in Nigeria. A whole clause has been contracted to make a single word.

3.1.3 INFLUENCE OF THE AMERICAN ENGLISH

Due to the fact R&B music originated from the United States of

America, most of the Nigerian R&B artists try to copy their American counterparts. This results into the use of American English in the Nigerian

R&B music and the transfer of it into the Nigerian usage of English language.

Instances of this are cited below.

ORUKA by Sunny Nneji

“wifey”

This is an American slang which means girlfriend or wife. This affects the use of standardized English language in Nigeria because the word “wifey” is informal.

“hussy”

xxxiv

This is an American slang which means husband or boyfriend. This results into a change from the use of standard British English to informal

American English.

MORE by Dare

“aint”

This is an American contraction of “am not”. This is an informal contraction resulting into informal American English dominating Nigerian usage of English language.

“gonna”

This is an American contraction of “going to”. This is an informal contraction resulting into informal American English dominating Nigerian usage of English language

“gat”

This lexical item is an archaic American word which is the same thing as “got”. This affects the use of British English in nigeria, making American lexicons more used.

“wanna”

This is an American contraction of “want to be”.This is an informal contraction resulting into informal American English dominating Nigerian usage of English language.

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“Imma”

This is an American contraction of “I am going to”.This is an informal contraction resulting into informal American English dominating Nigerian usage of English language

“girlfriends”

This is an American lexicon which means a lady’s female friends. This shows that there is a switch from the use of British English to American

English in Nigeria.

MY KELE by Banky W

“step up in the club”

This is an example of the interference of American English and it means to enter into a dance club. This is an American slang. It is part of the switch from the use of British English to American English in Nigeria.

“Yeaa”

This lexical item is an influence of American English. An informal way of saying “yes”. This affects the standardization of English language in

Nigeria.

“kinda”

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This is an informal contraction of “kind of”. It is an influence of the informal American English. This contributes to the change in variety of

English used in Nigeria.

“groupie”

This is an American slang for three or more people involved in a romantic relationship. This affects the standardization of English language in

Nigeria.

MR. ENDOWED by D’banji

“brother”

This lexical item is an American English word used mostly by the

African Americans to refer to a fellow Blackman. This contributes to the change in the variety of English used in Nigeria.

“nah”

This is an informal American English which is the same as “no”. This affects the standardization of English language in Nigeria.

“break the bank”

This is an American idiomatic expression which means to gamble to win more money than available. This contributes to a change in the use of

British English to American English in Nigeria.

“live it up”

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It is an American slang which means to live or celebrate in an extravagant way. This slangy expression contributes to the switch from British

English to American English in Nigeria.

“take a buzz”

This is an American slang which means to hear a latest gossip. This

American slang makes American English more established in Nigerian usage.

“feeling grand”

The lexical item “grand” in the idiom is an American word for a thousand dollars. The whole idiom is an American slang which means to have a feel of lots of money or cash. This affects the use of British English in

Nigeria, making informal American English more popularly used.

“mill in hand”

The lexical item “mill” is an American word for a monetary unit equal to one thousandth of a U.S. dollar. The whole idiomatic expression is an

American slang which means gaining control of lots of money.This affects the use of British English in Nigeria, making informal American English more popularly used.

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CHAPTER FOUR

SUMMARY AND FINDINGS

4.0 INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, the researcher intends to summarize all that has been done from chapter one to four. Attempts will be made to bring out findings, and a reasonable conclusion will be offered for the research work.

4.1. SUMMARY

Chapter one begins with the general introduction, English language in

Nigeria, R&B music, and also talks about music in Nigeria. This chapter also defines the purpose, the scope, the justification of the research as well as the research methodology.

Chapter two carries out the review of related literature works which serve as the bedrock of the study. Areas of study in this chapter include sociolinguistic, lexico-grammar, influence of the American English, word formation etc.

Chapter three carries out the analysis of areas where English language is being affected by the Nigerian R&B music use four randomly selected

Nigerian R&B songs.

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Finally, chapter four gives the summary, the findings and the conclusion of the study.

4.2 FINDINGS

From the analysis of this research work, different findings have been made. Due to the proliferation of computer and cheap music editing software in the 21th century, Nigeria R&B artistes started achieving higher quality recordings that rapidly won over the Nigerian audience. High population of the Nigerian youth constituted the majority fans of the R&B music.

It was discovered during the course of this research work that listening to the Nigerian R&B music can have a great deal of change in the listener’s chose of lexicon when using English language. Nigerian R&B music causes the nature of the vocabularies of English language to be twisted. For instance, the lexical item “chick” has been coined to mean another thing entirely instead of its conventional meaning which is a young bird. This will carelessly be transferred to the vocabulary of an R&B listener if care is not taken.

Due to the fact that R&B music originated from the United States of

America, the Nigerian R&B singers try to copy their foreign counterparts in every aspect of their music. They (Nigerian R&B artists) mostly make use of

American English in their lyrics than British English, which can indirectly have a great deal in the change of the variety of English language used in

Nigeria. The Nigerian R&B artists use more of the informal American English which can damage the standardized use of English language in Nigeria.

Furthermore, in order to have a piece of information rendered in a single space, or targeting a rhythmic timeline, utterances rendered in the

Nigerian R&B songs are sometimes ungrammatical, informal and contracted.

For instance a whole clause can be contracted into a word like “Imma” which is same has “I am going to”.

Finally, most of the Nigerian R&B audience are the Nigerian youths, and owning to the fact that technological gargets continue to become popular and cheap results into them listening to Nigerian R&B all day. In reference to the analysis, these mean that the informal English used in the Nigerian R&B music will be turned into standardized usage in Nigeria.

4.3 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, this research work has been able to analysis the areas where the Nigerian R&B affects the use of English in Nigeria. This has enabled us to figure out how the Nigerian R&B music penetrates into English language usage in Nigeria.

This analysis has shown that the more we have R&B music in the

Nigerian society, the more Nigerian nature of English usage changes.

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