Nigerian languages in foreign countries

[Richard Akindele]

Question 1:
Is the Igbo language spoken in any country other than Nigeria?

Hausa for example is the official language of the country of Niger, and it's also spoken in the northern parts of Nigeria. It is also spoken by by muslim populations in other West African countries such as Benin, Togo, Ghana.

Same is true of Yoruba language spoken in Bening, Togo, and as far away as Brazil and Cuba.

Question 2:
Since Nigerian languages have many dialects, do speakers of these dialects understand each other?

For example, does a Lagos Yorubaman understand an Ijebu Yorubaman? Does an Onitsha Igboman understand the Owerri Igboman? Does the Sokoto Hausaman understand the Makurdi hausaman?

[drrionelli]

I'm wondering...how many languages are spoken in Nigeria?

Which of those are "official?"

[fw12]

Interesting topic.

Nigeria has almost 600 languages. The official language being English. Some may argue that English is a foreign language, hence cannot be classified as Nigerian. But that is poor reasoning, since most languages were imported in a country at some time.

There are many dialects of the Igbo language, up to 30.

A particular dialect can be unintelligible to speakers of other dialects.

A standard literary form is developing based on the dialects of Owerri and Umuahia, but not strongly welcomed by the Igbo, who would rather preserve the orignal forms.

Igbo is rarely spoken outside of Nigeria. The fact is that many Igbos these days speak more in Pidgin English than in Igbo. Igbo is mostly spoken, with very little written down.

[drrionelli]

WOW! I'm impressed! I'm also very appreciative! Thank you for the information, fw12. It's good to know there is still so much for me to learn. I know I'll have enough to keep me busy!

Might I ask you to explain the uses and basic form(s) of Pidgin English? Is it used mostly in colloquial speaking and/or writing? Does it have formal usages? Similarities and/or differences between Pidgin and Standard English?

[fw12]

[quote]Might I ask you to explain the uses and basic form(s) of Pidgin English? Is it used mostly in colloquial speaking and/or writing? Does it have formal usages? Similarities and/or differences between Pidgin and Standard English?[/quote]

Pidgin English is simply referred to as Pidgin. I don't know how it came to be, but it unifies all Nigerians, particularly those who don't speak proper English, and can't communicate in any other language besides their native tongue. So in a way, Pidgin is more popular than proper English.

Pidgin (pronounced peajean) is a funny jumble of words with a smattering of French to establish a communcation line.

Examples:

English: I want to eat
Pidgin: I wan chop

English: There's adequate supply of cars.
Pidgin: Moto boku.

What the hell is [b]boku[/b]?
Well, I believe that derives from French: merci beaucoup. But I could be wrong.

Englsih: I don't quite understand your point.
Pidgin: Me I no know wetin you dey talk.

Anyway, you get the idea.

Ghanians, Sierra Leonians, etc have their own variations. But just as a Bulgarian can understand a Russian and vice versa, pidgin in different African countries share a common root.

[drrionelli]

First of all, fw12, as a French-Canadian by birth, allow me to say "merci beaucoup" to you for your information.

Does Pidgin have its own fairly structured set of rules and vocabulary, or is it a fairly flexible arrangement?

[Richard Akindele]

Pidgin is generally a spoken language. It's not written down much.

The arrangement of words in a sentence is pretty much rigid. I happen to speak Russian, which allows flexible shuffling of words to create the same meaning.

For example, the russian equivalent of [b]I'm going home [/b] will be:
[b]Ya idu damoi[/b].

The same sentence can be written as follows with exactly the same meaning:

Idu ya damoi
Idu damoi ya
Damoi ya idu
Ya damoi idu

You would sound ridiculous to say:

Home going I'm

Same thing applies in Pidgin.