Lexical Innovation and Mainstreaming in Igbo Indigenous Music

Abstract

New lexical items have entered the Igbo lexicon through the indigenous music of the Igbo people. This study aims to explicate how cultural and linguistic resources are harnessed by Igbo indigenous musicians in creating new expressions to convey new ideas, and how these expressions diffuse into the mainstream lexicon of the language. A total of 19 innovated words from 10 musicians both from former and contemporary periods were used in the study. The results show that the Igbo belief system was the main basis of the created words. Such words include ákáńcháwá, bùnyém̄ úchè, élétéàghàrá, òtím̄ kpū, òkóǹgwù, and èkpèrìmà. The study also found that factors such as innovations and communication channels were responsible for the rapid diffusion of the terms and expressions into the lexicon of the language. I randomly used AntConc search and Igwe's (2001) Igbo–English dictionary to confirm that these words have diffused and become permanent additions to the mainstream lexicon.