![]() ![]() "Prince Charles spoke pidgin English in Lagos, so what!" tweeted one person. Some Nigerians wondered why it made international headlines. Today, the language is widespread among all social classes and is increasingly popular among young people, writers, politicians and musicians. In the past, Nigerian pidgin English was seen as a language for uneducated people. In this hub for business and trade, people spoke "business English" to get by - often spelled as "pigeon English," reflecting local pronunciation of the word "business," according to Salikoko Sangol Mufwene, a professor of linguistics at the University of Chicago. The term "pidgin" was first recorded in English in 1807 in Canton, China. More than 75 million people are believed to speak pidgin across Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. ![]() A hybrid of English and local languages, it traces its roots to the Atlantic slave trade in the 17th century. ![]() Pidgin English is the lingua franca in Nigeria, where more than 300 languages are spoken, according to Francesco Goglia, a researcher at the University of Manchester. cjnoLeW6Im- BBC News Africa November 8, 2018 I know it’s a lingua Franca, but is it common to see people prefer to speak it over their native language?ĭo modern Nigerians view NPE as the de facto official language or do y’all see it becoming its own language in the future?ĭo Nigerians see NPE bringing ethnic groups together? Or is it’s impact on society mostly minimal.Prince Charles tried out some choice phrases in Pidgin as he addressed Nigerians in Lagos at the end of his nine-day tour of West Africa. Given the fact that pidgin is so widespread, is it sort of the de facto language of Nigeria?ĭo people commonly speak it in the diaspora? I recently learned that it was super common for people of different ethnic groups to speak in pidgin, and I was even more surprised to see that it was the native language of > 60 million people in Nigeria. Hello, I’m an African (□□) from the US and I was curious about NPE. ![]()
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