Is the Nigerian Pidgin Bread Being Buttered or Battered in Linguistics, Teaching and Use Worldwide?

Abstract

(Nigerian) Pidgin is the number one lingua franca in Nigeria and West Africa, but determining its status and family is not straightforward, often controversial. This paper sets out to establish the status and descriptive labels of Nigerian Pidgin in use, teaching and linguistics to show that the real identity and status of the language is yet beclouded by nebulous typology and terminology of Nigerian English and world Englishes. The paper critically examines the sociolinguistic factors that constrain some linguists and laypeople worldwide to treat Naija as a nonstandard variety of Nigerian English, hence Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE) or Pidgin English (PE), and why it should be treated as a language different from English though English is its major lexifier. The paper used observation, usage/use examples and data from secondary sources and concluded that the language is not a variety of Nigerian English or world Englishes, thus proposing a new typology of Afro-Anglo or Afro-Euro-Asian Family of languages for world Pidgins and Creoles. The paper recommends that (i) users and teachers of the language should treat it as a language of its own and avoid using labels such as Pidgin English, Broken English, etc., which are derogatory, (ii) spell the word “Pidgin” or “Creole” always beginning with a capital letter, as is the rule for spelling the name of any language, (iii) universities in Nigeria as a matter of urgency should establish the department of Nigerian Pidgin and Literature to give full attention to its study, as in the case of Department of English and Literature in Nigerian Universities and (iv) it should be used in teaching.