The Role of Nigerian Pidgin English as Communication Device

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2018 in the subject Speech Science / Linguistics, grade: 4.28, , course: ENGLISH EDUCATION, language: English, abstract: Pidgin generally is a simplified means of communication between or among individuals of different cultures or ethnicities. Nigerian pidgin English described as a combination of indigenous language and English. It is a language derived from tile mix of various languages such as Igbo, Edo, Yoruba, Effik etc.

In Africa, pidgins found include; Nigerian pidgin, Cameroonian pidgin, Serria Leone Krio etc. Pidgins are mostly inventionist and innovative in nature and because of their spontaneous adaptability, they can be as structured or as unstructured as needed unlike other languages. This is to say that in pidgin, there are no strict rules given in utterances.

There are several assumptions by Akande and Salami which say that the urban characters of the university environments are strong factors influencing the students' use and attitudes to Nigerian Pidgin English. They insist that apart from their education, living within the university communities, the students are likely to enact more urban networks that are usually made up of multilingual and multi-cultural contents.

Akande argues that Pidgin English could be regarded as a marker of identity and solidarity. It is an inter-ethnic code available to Nigerians, who have no other common language.