Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
International Journal of Language and Linguistics 2020; 8(5): 192-204 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/ijll doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12 ISSN: 2330-0205 (Print); ISSN: 2330-0221 (Online) Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach Willie Mushing Tamfuh Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences, Adamawa Region, Ngaoundere, Cameroon Email address: To cite this article: Willie Mushing Tamfuh. Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach. International Journal of Language and Linguistics . Vol. 8, No. 5, 2020, pp. 192-204. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12 Received : August 10, 2020; Accepted : September 3, 2020; Published : September 19, 2020 Abstract: Contemporary Cameroon English is a reflection of many decades of its historical, political, social and linguistic development. The aim of this investigation, as descriptive linguistics, is to observe what, how and why the common Cameroonian citizen creates, coins and form new words in English speech, collect and analyse this as naturally occurring sociolinguistic data, characteristic of contemporary Cameroon English speech. The objective is to highlight on the linguistic and cultural diversity of Cameroon as a leit motive to create and introduce new words into the vocabulary system, thus, enriching contemporary Cameroon English. Both quantitative and qualitative research was carried to obtain valid data typical of Cameroon society based on the sociolinguistic and ethnographic methods of inquiry and analyses using a combination of the critical discourse analysis, semantico-pragmatic and speech act theories. After the analysis, contemporary Cameroon English is enhanced through different linguistic techniques such as dialectal and cultural borrowing, self-explained compounds, neologisms, eponym, and inflections, among others, which is of great interest to English language learners and teachers of today. These linguistic techniques have enriched Cameroon English vocabulary as a variety of speech typical of Cameroon English. Keywords: Neologism, Media, Contemporary English, Cameroon, Sociopragmatics of neologism as a dynamic linguistic process and cultural 1. Introduction diversity is worthy of scientific attention. The reason why Over several decades, many scholars have claimed that the different languages can lead people to create new words and art of invention is the sole propriety of scientific research in carry out different actions is because language filters our pure science, chemistry, physics, and not in arts, letters and perception, behaiour, and the way our experiences are social sciences. Everyone would agree with me that categorized. Each one of us uses an infinite number of contemporary English speech is characterized by the different speech sounds as communicative acts whenever we tendency for speakers to create new words, borrow others or speak. One way to understand this is to examine the process make new meaning from old words. The English language is of neologism or word formation, and how new words enter the universal language used by millions of speakers. The contemporary Cameroon English speech. This preoccupying observation is that pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary of linguistic phenomenon, par excellence, focuses on the recent the English language have undergone structural and semantic and innovative research on languages nationally and changes to the extent that the indigenization of Cameroon internationally. Its empirical and theoretical aspects of is English is of particular interest to many linguists and responsible for enacting new words into the everyday English sociolinguists. There is, however, a dynamic but unnoticed speech of Cameroonians, providing new word forms and linguistic process exercised by erudite language users to giving new meanings to the existing words in the language. enrich contemporary Cameroon English; that is, create new So intimate is the relationship between a language and the words or use old words with new meanings, and borrow from people who speak it that the two can scarcely be thought of other co-existing languages to express new concepts and apart. When people live in society and interact among experiences characteristic of the Cameroon society. A study themselves, language use becomes an indispensable International Journal of Language and Linguistics 2020; 8(5): 192-204 193 instrument to express new ideas, beliefs, feelings and and devising wholly original words. Few sociolinguists can emotions. Language is, therefore. a tool employed by its refute the claim that the language we use affects and users as a reflection of the social values, attitudes and culture influences the hearers’ thought, action and perception, and of that society as well as a manifestation of social behavior. potential social behavior. Utterances are communicative acts The invention of new words, how they are formed, their produced as individual self-expression of social reality variation and the meanings attached to these are fundamental referred to as the instrument of society. The concept that concepts that has enriched the vocabulary of a language. A language is a means of communicating thoughts, feelings and sociolinguistic description of typical neologisms, used and emotions is nowadays held to be a partial truth, more accepted as mutually intelligible in the corpus on Cameroon misleading than illuminating to readers. contemporary English, requires an in-depth scientific According to Widdowson (1979) [1], ‘parole’ is the investigation from a sociopragmatic perspective. individual’s use of language and ‘langue’ or usage the system Located on the Gulf of Guinea, and considered the world's guiding the way language operates including the norms, 54th largest country in Central Africa, the Republic of formal rules, structures, and limitations of language. A more Cameroon, triangular in shape, has a population of enlightening concept, echoed in sociolinguistics, is that approximately 25 million people (according to the 2007 language is a form of social behaviour, interested in the national census) and occupies an area surface of about underlying structures and claims that language is a 475,442 km 2 (183, 570 sq. mi). It is bordered to the northeast manifestation of our thoughts and social behavior. This view, by Chad, to the east by the Central African Republic, to the to an extent, is shared by linguistic philosophers, who claim southeast by the Republic of the Congo, to the south by that speech acts encapsulate a speaker’s ideas and feelings. Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and to the southwest by the This shift in focus affected not only how we view the Atlantic Ocean. Cameroon is endowed with a varied relief, structure of language, but more so of its functions and how flora and fauna, reminiscent of Africa in miniature, with its these might be learned as well. The observation is that there variety of culture and an amazing multilingual setting. is a profuse upsurge of new words which have entered Curiously, after the German defeat in World War I, contemporary Cameroon English speech. Cameroon was mandated to Britain and France on 28 th June, Due to controversial research using the critical discourse 1919. Under the League of Nations, French Cameroon awareness, the imperialist expansion of the English language achieved independence in 1960 as La Republic du Cameroun has been at the cost of local languages in many countries and and the Southern Cameroons obtained theirs on the 1st Cameroon is not an exemption. Not surprisingly though, his October 1961. As a result, these two territories with two views have been contested by those who regard the different cultures attempted to unite as a United Republic. development of a wide variety of Englishes around the world Thereafter, English and French were adopted as official as evidence that English no longer belongs to the English in languages in Cameroon with equal status and inscribed in the England-nor even to the Americans. English today belongs to constitution 1 and later in favour of a “United Republic of the various communities of speakers all over the world 2 interested in its civilization and culture. When speakers of Cameroon. At the same time, the history of its indigenous different languages interact closely, their languages influence population over hundreds of years has paved the way to its each other, notably in word formation and vocabulary as complex linguistic diversity and cultural identity, sources that speakers find themselves creating new words or borrowing have greatly impacted the development of new words into the from other languages. This dynamic feature has given rise to Cameroon English speech. Despite this, it has equally been such varieties of English as British English, American considered the source of an uncomfortable political union English, Australian English, Nigerian English, Ghanaian that has engendered the present seeds of political, social, English and similarly, the label Cameroonian English. The linguistic and cultural discord. study of neologism is a multidisciplinary domain of interest Descriptive studies in the linguistic and cultural diversity relating to other fields of language as a social behavior of Cameroon are concern with the analysis of linguistic and intersecting with intercultural studies, language didactics, social patterns, how new words develop and bring in new anthropology, sociology, literature, and psychology. meanings continue