A Generative Phonological Approach to the Analysis of Selected Undergraduates’ Utterances

Abstract

Language variation is facilitated by language contacts. Nigerian Scholars have over the years embarked on the description of the taxonomy of Nigerian English at the level of phonology and three major varieties have been identified by scholars over the years— the yet to be codified acrolect, the Standard Nigerian English (SNE); the mesolect, which is the intermediate variety, Popular Nigerian English (PNE) the basilect, and Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE), which is the substrate variety. The aim of this study is to identify the phonological features of Nigerian English in selected undergraduates’ utterances. Particularly, the study sets out to investigate whether the university undergraduates are representatives of the acrolect or mesolect based on their level of educational attainment. The utterances of ten (10) 400 level undergraduates of Kwara State University were analysed using a juxtapositional approach. Fifty randomly selected words from the utterances were analysed using the Distinctive Feature Approach. The study revealed that most of the deviant phonemes are syllabic in nature because they are mostly vowels. Also, there are instances of substitution of the SNE diphthongs with the Speakers’ Variety SV monophthongs as a result of the disparities in the phonemic components of the SNE and the speakers’ first language. The study concluded that the attainment of the SNE in the Nigerian context is feasible if the codification of the SNE can be attained to aid the syllabus design for English language pedagogy in a  non-native context as Nigeria.