“So you know ehn … ” The use of bilingual interjections in Nigerian English

Abstract

Abstract This paper investigates four bilingual interjections: na wa, shikena, ehn, and ehen, with the objective of exploring their sources, meanings, frequencies, spelling stability, positions, collocational patterns and discourse-pragmatic functions in Nigerian English. The data which were obtained from the Nigerian component of the Global Web-based English corpus were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively, using the theory of pragmatic borrowing. The results indicate that na wa, which is loaned from Nigerian Pidgin, is actually a modified form of a Hausa expression, na wahala, shikena is borrowed from Hausa, while ehn and ehen are loaned from Yoruba. Na wa is an emotive interjection, shikena and ehen are cognitive interjections, while ehn can function both as phatic and as emotive interjections. Both ehn and ehen also function as pragmatic markers. The study thus extends research on the discourse-pragmatic features of Nigerian English.