Good day my brethren of Nairaland. I really need your candid advice on this issue. I am currently writing a book in English, and I plan to subsequently write a Yoruba version of the book. I intend on writing a Yoruba version because I want to reach many Yoruba readers who can neither read nor understand English. Last night, though, I had an epiphany about writing a pidgin English version of the same book. I thought that writing the book in pidgin English would help me reach an audience that is not literate enough to easily read and comprehend English but can easily read Pidgin English. My rationale was that the many Pidgin English readers are ignored, and that I haven't seen many books written in Pidgin English. In addition, I want to communicate to them.

Now to the question: would you buy a book completely written in Pidgin English? Do you think that there is a huge market for a book written in Pidgin English, considering Pidgin English is technically not an official language? Consider also that although Pidgin English is technically not an official language, it is steadily gaining popularity and is the primary language spoken by many West Africans, i.e., Ghanaians, Sierra Leonians, Cameroonians, and, of course, Nigerians, among others.

Please be candid with your advise, as I am taking this seriously. You guys should consider that my primary goal of writing the book is communication, so I don't need any advise as to whether writing a book in Pidgin English will encourage the disregard for proper English; and that I want a book that people will buy, for it is imprudent to write a book in Pidgin that will not be welcomed by even Pidgin English speakers. Thank you all and have a blessed day.

Yes I would buy a book written in pidgin . . . doesn't mean I'd buy your book though

Amos Tutuola wrote the Palm Wine Drinkard in pidgin and garnered much acclaim in the West for that book so as long as your story is good no language will dilute it's success.

Me for one o, I got buy the book. It's better to read and understand. One understands better in the language that one use to think. I think in Pingin, so i go buy am.

sincerely i wouldnt subscribe to that, though im very gud and fluent in pidgen but i wouldnt even read a book that was was presented to me as a birthday gift much more buying one,
Pls dont mind my typo im currently eating pounded yam with gbegiri soup coupled with bugg bugg meat.
See ya!

I will buy a book written in pidgin English so far it's interesting to read. BTW, I want to sharpen my pidgin English skill

why not do research n write a pidgin english dictionary first, pidgin in nigeria is in a wide range just like d english its sef. warri pidgin is quite diffrnt from d west, some words are borrowed in d pidgin language. think of it!

chances are, a nigerian who can't read english can't read yoruba, pidgin or any other nigerian language.

Unless it's an audio book or they're supposed to get someone to read it to them.

emofine:

Yes I would buy a book written in pidgin . . . doesn't mean I'd buy your book though

Amos Tutuola wrote the Palm Wine Drinkard in pidgin and garnered much acclaim in the West for that book so as long as your story is good no language will dilute it's success.

you beat me to it

great book

i cant

Nice idea. Wazobia fm right now is the most listened radio station in Lagos,
they broadcast in Pigin language. people like it alot. (both literate and illiterate).
your concept is a good one.

I will buy

Why not? hope its as ingenious as SOZABOY by Ken Saro-Wiwa

some-girl:

chances are, a nigerian who can't read english can't read yoruba, pidgin or any other nigerian language.

Unless it's an audio book or they're supposed to get someone to read it to them.

Wrong!

some-girl:

chances are, a nigerian who can't read english can't read yoruba, pidgin or any other nigerian language.

Unless it's an audio book or they're supposed to get someone to read it to them.

Rgp92:

Wrong!

take note of the use of the highlighted bit. Means there cld be exceptions and I'm certain there aren't many

I ll buy

Most people buy dictionary and mags written in french, spanish, italian , and catholic hyms written in latin.
Why cant we buy and be proud of our pidgin english material?

I don't read books but I will under these conditions

1. If it has a good story line and not BORING, then you have my audience  

2. if it's audio no problem , we're good


I want to learn pidgin, me thinks it's a nice flexed language.

you shuld have written this post in pidgin,

emofine:

Yes I would buy a book written in pidgin . . . doesn't mean I'd buy your book though

Amos Tutuola wrote the Palm Wine Drinkard in pidgin and garnered much acclaim in the West for that book so as long as your story is good no language will dilute it's success.

I would hope that you will give my book a chance once it is completed. You may end up liking it. I think you will actually like it, so please don't write me off yet.

I take God beg you.

gaffer:

Nice idea. Wazobia fm right now is the most listened radio station in Lagos,
they broadcast in Pigin language. people like it alot. (both literate and illiterate).
your concept is a good one.

Interesting. I didn't know that Wazobia FM is the most listened to radio station. That is a good sign that a book in pidgin will sell.

Chuck D:

wont be easy reading an entire book in pidgin besides, the language is yet to be stndardized. spellings differ from person to person. how do you know your version will be easily undestood? thats a difficult road.

Admittedly, Pidgin English is yet to be standardized, but I think that there are many commonalities among all the variants of Pidgin English that it will not be that difficult for the different Pidgin English speakers to understand a book written in Pidgin English.

As to whether my version would be easily understood, I would hope that the different Pidgin English speakers can understand or make sense of the words even if they are spelled differently from their own version of Pidgin English. You have a good point.

Av you ever met an Englishman who can't write or read Englisg before? Well i av, literacy is not the ability to speak and understand a language.as much as i love pingdin. its difficult to read and comprehend.

chances are, a nigerian who can't read english can't read yoruba, pidgin or any other nigerian language.

Unless it's an audio book or they're supposed to get someone to read it to them.

You make sense. Reading and comprehension is education of its own. Many people understand a language but they cannot read it.

@OP  

Write am, me I go read well well.  But pay attention to what [b]Some-girl [/b]said. She has a point.   We need more thinkers like you to revive our languages and make it language of instruction instead of all this big grammatology(Queen's English) many Naijans find hard to comprehend becos it does not come natural to them.

Are you a Linquist? What is the theme of your book about? If you don't mind giving us a clue.

Olodostein:

You make sense. Reading and comprehension is education of its own. Many people understand a language but they cannot read it. 

@OP  

Write am, me I go read well well.  But pay attention to what [b]Some-girl [/b]said. She has a point.   We need more thinkers like you to revive our languages and make it language of instruction instead of all this big grammatology(Queen's English) many Naijans find hard to comprehend becos it does not come natural to them.

Are you a Linquist?  What is the theme of your book about? If you don't mind giving us a clue.

I am not a linguist by trade, but I do love languages. I am actually a patent lawyer in America, but I am fascinated by languages. One of my biggest role model is Bishop Samuel Ajayi Crowther, who was a linguist and translated the English Bible to Yoruba. A book titled "Good out of Evil" tells a story of how he was captured as slave and shipped to Sierra Leone, where he converted to Christianity. He eventually received a PhD in divinity from Oxford University. Bibeli Mimo, the Yoruba Bible, has been read by millions of Yorubas who cannot read English. In that same spirit, many market traders are denied the benefit of reading stories simply because they can't read regular English.

My book is what I call a legal romance thriller, capturing the experience and situations that many Africans who seek greener pastures in Western countries face.
It is fiction, and involves a lot of international law and conflict of laws, although it is broken down in comprehensible form for the lay reader. My book is about a Nigerian guy who was married in Nigeria but won the green card lottery, paving the way for him to emigrate to the United States. Once he arrived in the United States, he struggled to fit in the American way of life. He lived a double life and eventually got married to another Nigerian lady in America who did not know of the wife in Nigeria. Likewise, the wife in Nigeria did not know of her husband's wife in America. He lived this double life for ten years, during which time the wife in Nigeria was constantly pressuring her husband to file her paperwork for her to come to the United States. He had children with both of his wives, who did not know of each other.
Frustrated and understandably impatient, the wife in Nigeria, without getting a divorce, married another man, and she did not tell her new husband that she has not obtained a divorce from her previous marriage, nor did she tell her legal husband that she married another man. The husband in America now becomes exceedingly rich, owning multimillion dollar properties. He eventually dies, and the legal question was how his property would be distributed: whether the wife in America could inherit it or whether the wife in Nigeria could fight to have her husband’s wedding judicially annulled on grounds of bigamy. Questions of fairness also arise. They were also issues of whether one of the Nigerian-born children of the American husband (now deceased) was fathered by the new husband. As you might expect, the children also lay claim to the man’s estate.

I can't give every detail for copyright reasons, but it is one legal thriller you don't want to miss.

yes i would

Princek12:

Admittedly, Pidgin English is yet to be standardized, but I think that there are many commonalities among all the variants of Pidgin English that it will not be that difficult for the different Pidgin English speakers to understand a book written in Pidgin English.

As to whether my version would be easily understood, I would hope that the different Pidgin English speakers can understand or make sense of the words even if they are spelled differently from their own version of Pidgin English. You have a good point.

Princek12:

Admittedly, Pidgin English is yet to be standardized, but I think that there are many commonalities among all the variants of Pidgin English that it will not be that difficult for the different Pidgin English speakers to understand a book written in Pidgin English.

As to whether my version would be easily understood, I would hope that the different Pidgin English speakers can understand or make sense of the words even if they are spelled differently from their own version of Pidgin English. You have a good point.

[tr][/tr]have you tried reading a long writeup in a language you can't read fluently? have you seen someone trying to read a book but "counts" the words? it is a difficult task and uninspiring. you'll easily give up. it's an "ordeal".

Quote from: emofine on Today at 02:24:49 PM
Yes I would buy a book written in pidgin . . . doesn't mean I'd buy your book though

Amos Tutuola wrote the Palm Wine Drinkard in pidgin and garnered much acclaim in the West for that book so as long as your story is good no language will dilute it's success.

I thought Amos Tutuola wrote in the best English he could muster but had many construction and grammar issues, I didnt think it was pidgin English - was it really? My first contact with pidgin English was in Jagua Nana written by Cyperian Ekwensi, The main character -Jagua Nana and a number of other characters  communicated entirely in pidgin English.
I think Ekwensi was a great writer - far greater than many celebrated ones , I just loved his books, - African Nights entertainment, the passport of mallam Iliya,[i][b]Drummer boy, Loko Town, People of the City, The Burning Grass among others. May his Soul Rest In Peace.[/i]

Princek12:

I would hope that you will give my book a chance once it is completed. You may end up liking it. I think you will actually like it, so please don't write me off yet.

I take God beg you.

Prince na be joke before no be serious. . . yes I might like it, it would be nice if you could post a small sample here if you're so willing.

By the way what's your book about?

nagoma:

I thought Amos Tutuola wrote in the best English he could muster but had many construction and grammar issues, I didnt think it was pidgin English - was it really? My first contact with pidgin English was in Jagua Nana written by Cyperian Ekwensi, The main character -Jagua Nana and a number of other characters  communicated entirely in pidgin English.
I think Ekwensi was a great writer - far greater than many celebrated ones , I just loved his books, - African Nights entertainment, the passport of mallam Iliya,[i][b]Drummer boy, Loko Town, People of the City, The Burning Grass among others. May his Soul Rest In Peace.[/i]

Okay, I know he never wrote in standardized English. . . I've never heard of Jagua Nana - but now it's on my list of novels to read.

That you speak and understand spoken pidgin does not mean you would be good at reading it, the language is not standardised yet and with so much variants. You would need to also note that pidgin is more of a spoken language for now.

[size=15pt]People listen to music in pidgin English so a book shouldn't be an exception[/size]

Yeske!:

That you speak and understand spoken pidgin does not mean you would be good at reading it, the language is not standardised yet and with so much variants. You would need to also note that pidgin is more of a spoken language for now.

The fact that Pidgin English is not yet standardized is the very reason I intend to write this book. I believe that a thousand-mile journey begins with a step, and I might well be one of the people who starts the journey towards standardizing Pidgin English. I believe many authors would follow once they realize the market potential, if any, of Pidgin English books. You have to also realize that Pidgin English may not be standardized because it has been ignored by many authors.