Syllable Isochrony in Selected Nigerian Hip-Hops: Implication for Nigerian English Pedagogy

Abstract

Scholarly attention, especially in the context of rhythmic patterns of Nigerian Hip-hop and implication for Nigerian English pedagogy has been very rare. Hence, the study inquires into whether or not Nigeria Hip-Hop could be an alternative medium to teaching English rhythm in Nigerian schools, especially due to its influx on Nigerian youths, and thereby improve on the pronunciation of L2 learners/speakers. The study sampled four songs from two artists’ rhythmic patterns - Temilade Openiyi (TEMS) and Adedamola Adefolahan (Fireboy DML). The lyrical lines of the selected songs were analysed using metrical grid; an aspect of metrical phonology) to establish the isochronic patterns in the sampled Nigerian Hip-hop songs through segmentation of selected lines of the lyrics in order to establish whether or not divergence or convergence exist in the rhythm patterns of selected Nigerian Hip-hop as noticed in Standard English songs. Boersma and Weenink (2010), software tool for speech signal editing and labeling, this was evident in the following instances://aɪ////keɪm// //ˈsɔːdɪnlɪ:// realised at equal timing of 0.2886 milliseconds (ms). //aɪ həv bɪn kɪlɪŋ// //ˈɛvriˌθɪŋ// at 0.1904ms. //aɪ/ //əm// //ə////kɪŋ// at 0.2251ms; //juː// //dəʊnt// //fiːl// at 0.2901ms; //aɪ// //wɪʃ// //aɪ// //kʊd// //fiːl// //jɔː// //peɪn// at 0.210ms; //aɪ// //traɪd// //tu// //tiːtʃ// //ˈjuː// at 0.3071ms; //aɪ// //wɪl/ /maɪnd/ //maɪ// //mænəs// at 0.310ms; //fɪə// //ɪn// // mai// //maɪnd// /ɪz/ //ə// //ˈwɔːnɪŋ// at 0.215ms; //aɪ// //sɛd// //faɪv// //ɪn ðiː// //ˈmɔrnɪŋ// at 0.234ms; //fɪə// //ɪn// // mai// //maɪnd// /ɪz/ //ə// //ˈwɔːnɪŋ// at 0.3092ms; //aɪ ˈtraɪ tu// //ˈgɛt baɪ// //bʌt aɪm ˈbɜːnɪŋ// at 0.2967ms; //sɛnd// //miː// //a// //lʌv// //ðæt// //juː// //kænɒt// //mɪz// at 0.214ms; //aɪ// //wɪl/ /maɪnd/ //maɪ// //mænəs// realised at 0.221ms; //wəʊnt// //teɪk// //ədˈvɑːntɪdʒ// at 0.318; and //nəʊ// //mɔ// //dæmeidʒɪs// //naʊ// realised at 0.2011ms. This means the syllables were realised at relatively equal timing. The study concludes that there is a divergence in the rhythm patterns of Nigerian Hip-hop which makes it significantly different from Standard British English rhythm structure. This implies that the Nigerian Hip-hop rhythm tilts more towards syllable-timing than stress-timing as earlier posited by Nigerian linguists hence may not be appropriate to teach rhythm in Nigerian schools due to its inability to meet national, international and social acceptability standard.