Towards the Standardisation of Naijá: Vocabulary Development and Lexical Expansion processes
Keywords:
Naija languej, vocabulary, expansion, standardisation, morphological processAbstract
Like other pidgins and creoles, the development of Naija languej (NL) (aka Naija Languej) from a contact variety into a creole has been characterised by lexical expansion for expressing new concepts and technical terms. NL derives its vocabulary largely from English and Nigerian languages lexical sources. However, the processes involved in deriving lexical terms in NL, and their application, are yet to be standardised. This study examines the morphological processes utilised in expanding NL’s lexicon within the larger context of basic techniques for lexical expansion in languages in general. The aim is to provide guidelines for the application of these processes for the creation of new lexical items in NL.
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