When news broke out recently that 29 Nigerian words were
added to the updated version of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), there was
palpable excitement across the country.
However, little — if any — made effort to find out how the
feat was achieved.
The OED had taken to its Twitter page on Tuesday to
appreciate Kingsley Ugwuanyi, a researcher in socio-linguistics at Northumbria
University; and Kolatu Tubosun, a writer, and cultural activist — both
Nigerians — for their valuable contributions to the recent addition of local
words to the prominent dictionary.
Nigerian English Words in Oxford Dictionaries: My Role as the Consultant— Kingsley Ugwuanyi (@KingsUgwuanyi) January 26, 2020
Short #thread
I’m extremely pleased to be part of the project which saw the inclusion of 29 Nigerian English words in Oxford Dictionaries. I’m all the more pleased with the reception, especially in Nigeria
We would like to thank our Nigerian consultants who have made valuable contributions to our recent addition of Nigerian English words to the OED: @KingsUgwuanyi and @kolatubosun.— The OED (@OED) January 28, 2020
But in a chat with TheCable Lifestyle, Ugwuanyi — who
teaches English at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu state — talked
about how the project came about and its significance to the country.
How did the recent addition of 29 Nigerian English words to
Oxford Dictionary come about?
That’s a very broad question. The OED recognises that
English is now a global language, so it compiles English words from around the
world. On the Nigerian English project, I was officially contacted to join the
project team as their Nigerian consultant in April 2018. Actually, as I said
earlier, my first project with the OED was on their English-Igbo Dictionary,
where I served as one of the translators for the Igbo language. While on this
project, I met one of the Oxford editors who took interest in my research and
linked me up with the World English(es) team at Oxford. OED uses an in-house
corpus (a digital database of written and spoken samples of language) to
record/track new words emerging from the English-speaking world. So they had
already prepared a long list of potential words for inclusion for Nigerian
English, generated from the corpus. I was sent this list for my input. Based on
frequency of use, widespread use and other criteria, this set of 29 words were
selected for initial inclusion. These words have been included in the OED
because we have found sufficient evidence of their use in English for a
reasonable amount of time. We worked on these words (their definitions,
history, examples, pronunciations, and nuances) till late last year.
What role did you play in achieving that?
As I said, I provided the Nigerian context drawing from my
training and research experience as a linguist. However, the Oxford editors
provide(d) most of the lexicographical expertise. Although I just obtained a
certification in lexicography, I’m not really a lexicographer in the strict
sense of it. Being a Nigerian-trained linguist researching Nigerian English was
useful in providing context to how some of the words are used in Nigeria. I
give you an instance. There was a lot of going back and forth between the
editors and me about defining ‘egusi’. The first definition had something like
“a West African stew made with ground melon seeds…”. I told them no, egusi is
not stew, it’s soup. I fully understand why the editors thought it was stew:
the English soup is rather watery. So because egusi is usually thick, they
thought it to be stew. The discussion dragged on until one of the editors had
to order egusi soup from an African restaurant to see/taste it. That was the
kind of role I provided.
Nigerian English Words in Oxford Dictionaries: My Role as the Consultant— Kingsley Ugwuanyi (@KingsUgwuanyi) January 26, 2020
Short #thread
I’m extremely pleased to be part of the project which saw the inclusion of 29 Nigerian English words in Oxford Dictionaries. I’m all the more pleased with the reception, especially in Nigeria
What do you think is the significance of such to Nigerian
languages and the country generally?
I think this is really significant for Nigeria as a country
and for indigenous Nigerian languages. First, I believe this has put Nigeria in
the map of English-speaking world. It has further given credibility to Nigerian
English. As a researcher and advocate of Nigerian English, I’ve had to explain
my heart out to people whenever I mention to them that I’m studying Nigerian
English. Granted, this is not going to be an automatic end to people asking
‘doubting questions’. But I think it will help. Also being that most of these
words come from Nigerian languages (e.g., ‘tokunbo’, ‘egusi’, ‘buka’), it is
also, in a sense, promoting the languages from where they come.
Where do you see Nigerian English in the coming years on the
global scene?
Well, I see Nigerian English continuing to grow. But it must
be pointed out that there are many factors that contribute to the growth of a
language (variety). The inclusion of words in a prestigious dictionary like
Oxford is just one of them. Another, which I consider extremely important, is
people actually using these words in a range of domains. And also what
speakers’ attitudes towards the language are – and this is the focus of my
research. As you know that language grows, I anticipate that Nigerian English
will continue to develop, perhaps to the point that most people, the world
over, feels at home with it.
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Whoever wants to take glory for this can take. However, what will this contribute to the Nigerian economy or the average man's life?
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