₦airaland Forum

holatin:
if ur cognitive domain is really working, it should be able to know dat inability to read dat could also be a reason for my unsanitized comment.
nonsensical dembelu of towerish level

hehe...see wht ah mean?? Make una no cari 9ja play o

Edwardhead:
celebrant or celebrator?

which is preferable to use?

According to Dictionary.com, both terms are correct. They are in fact synonyms. They both mean “a participant in any celebration.” One can be used for the other, and it would mean the same thing.

However, celebrant also connotes “the officiating priest in the celebration of the Eucharist.” Methinks this connotation is what prompted well-meaning English professors and word mavens in Nigeria to preach that the correct term is celebrator.

Well, it may be the more correct term as far as nuance is concerned, but its sound grates the ears of ordinary citizens in Nigeria who are not used to hearing it, let alone using it.

That being the case, my advice is for you to use the more common word “celebrant.” It is still correct usage, and it is soothing to the ears of audiences in Nigeria.

The best option, however, is to avoid both words. If you ask native English speakers, celebrant and celebrator are formal words. Their use can be awkward in non-formal occasions like in a birthday party.

So that you won’t split hair and get a headache deciding which usage is more appropriate, follow my example. Use “birthday boy” or “birthday girl” instead of “celebrant” or “celebrator“. Say, “Let’s all clap our hands for the birthday boy,” instead of saying “Let’s all clap our hands for the birthday celebrator.” The first proposition to clap sounds soothing to the ears; the second does not.

"You is beautiful"
"you is intelligent"

Expressions lyk dis once upon a time were perfectly correct so leave 9ja out of dis

btw buhari na cattle rearer...jona na cattle herder

She matriculated today.


She is the matriculant.


Na who be dey matriculator here sef??

kalufelix:
hehe...see wht ah mean?? Make una no cari 9ja play o

what do u mean sir

holatin:
if ur cognitive domain is really working, it should be able to know dat inability to read dat could also be a reason for my unsanitized comment.
nonsensical dembelu of towerish level

I wasn't referring 2 ur inability to read his post but ur use of TWO past tenses in dat context which is wrong.

kenex4ever:
I wasn't referring 2 ur inability to read his post but ur use of TWO past tenses in dat context which is wrong.

and if u read my post well, u should see i wrote unsanitized, what does dat figure of speech ve with dat same post you complaning about.
i typed in hurry dat d reason of my unsanitized post (bad composition)

Very educating. Thanks Op

holatin:
and if u read my post well, u should see i wrote unsanitized, what does dat figure of speech ve with dat same post you complaning about.
i typed in hurry dat d reason of my unsanitized post (bad composition)

OK dear, sorry, I should have known dat because me too I make a lot of errors when in a hurry.

Same with the Word 'severally' it's been molested by Nigerians for decades. This word has been given a completly different meaning by Nigerians.

This Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D, can someone let me know how many research papers he've published on one Nigerian language?. What research papers do he have on our own Hausa language?. How many reseach publication do he have on our own Yoruba language?. How about Igbo, Igala, Efik, Kanuri, Fulani, Tiv, Ibibio, Ijaw, Urhobo, Bini?. e.t.c. Where are his research work on his own language?.

Should we stop using these words because they're made in Nigeria?.

Look, Americans do have their own brand of English as well, and it's not due to ignorance as the article suggests but convenience. Jamaicans do have their own brand of English as well. Language itself evolves. English Evolved from languages such as Greek and Latin. Once upon a time English language was once considered jargon by the Greeks and Latinos!. Same way the Brits today think Americans speak jargon, but Americans don't give a fu*k what you think.

Africans, we must resist Neo-colonialism with all our might in any place or form we find it. Go ahead and use those Nigerian made words. If possible speak and write Pidgin English and be proud doing it.

The excuse given by colonial christian and islamic missionaries to Africa was that our languages were tongue twisting and primitive, so they taught us their languages; English, French, Portuguise, Spanish, instead. English is not our first language, no!. Do not be shy making a mistake writing or speaking it.

Now, the missionaries are gone but our own African elites now act as conduits for implementation of western neo-colonial rule.
Don't be shy, don't be afriad, Go ahead and use those words in Nigeria.

NB: Looking at the big picture.

Your point is very right, my native language particularly is going extinct because ofthe English language and is worrisome.

Emyben:
Abegii, leave matter for Mathias. btw..Must we speak like the British or Americans?
If English is trully a global language, then no one has the monopoly over it.
We have
American English
British English
Australian English

Why not Nigerian English?

Thank you.

As big as Nigeria is, if we must continue to use English as our lingua franca, then we must customize it and make it unique and independent of what is applicable in Britain. A Nigerian English dictionary should have been made available by now, if truly Nigeria were a nation.

Some student politicians would use the word "conscientize."

SaintRobs:
Top 10 Outdated and/Or Made-up Words in Nigerian English
By Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D.

http://m.allafrica.com/stories/201212160073.html/

Nigerian English has a wide variety of words that have either run out of fashion in the contemporary English of native speakers of the language or that are entirely peculiarly Nigerian, that is, can’t be found in any English dictionary. In what follows, I identify and discuss top 10 such words:

1. “Rearer.”In Nigerian English this word almost always collocates with “cattle,” as in: “cattle rearer.” I have never heard anyone referred to as a “goat rearer” or a “sheep rearer” in Nigeria, perhaps because Nigerians don’t raise goats and sheep in as large numbers as they raise cattle. The first hint that “rearer” is an unusual word came from Microsoft Word, which disfigures the word with its cheeky red underline to indicate that it's is not in its internal dictionary. But Microsoft doesn't always offer a reliable guide of a word’s acceptability. First, its word bank is severely limited, especially for academics like me who use “big,” unusual, and sesquipedalian vocabularies in our academic writing. Second, it has a notoriously pro-American bias in its linguistic idiosyncrasies, especially if your computer is bought in America.
It turns, however, that “rearer” is actually an old-fashioned or obsolescent British English word. When I searched for it on Google, I found that it appeared only on Nigerian, Indian, and British Guyanese themed websites. I found no contemporary use of the term in British newspapers. Nor did I find it in American, Canadian, Australian or New Zealand websites. So I searched for “herder,” the term I’ve heard native speakers use for what we call “rearer” in Nigerian English and found millions of contemporary uses of the term in British and American news media websites. I modified the search to “cattle herder,” and my keywords yielded over 3 million matches. But a search for “cattle rearer” turned up only a little over 66,000 matches, mostly on the websites of former British colonies.
It is obvious, based on the foregoing, that “rearer” is an archaic British English word that has been replaced with “herder.” However, as is often the case, people on the periphery of the development of a language (such as Nigerian English speakers) are usually the last to catch on to new vocabularies, semantic shifts, and novel usage patterns that occur in the center of development of a language.

2. “Disvirgin.”As I’ve pointed out in previous articles, there is no such word as “disvirgin” in the English language. It is an entirely Nigerian English fabrication. No other variety of English in the world, except perhaps Ghanaian English, uses the word. Native English speakers use “deflower” to express the sense Nigerian English speakers seek to convey when they say “disvirgin.” A rarely used alternative to “deflower” is “devirginate.” The word is so rare that many reputable English dictionaries don’t have an entry for it. For instance, it doesn’t appear in the the most current edition of the Oxford Dictionary of English.

3. “Opportuned.”Like “disvirgin,” this word does not exist in any English dictionary. It is an entirely Nigerian English word that was formed in ignorance. What exists in English dictionaries is “opportune,” without “d” at the end. Opportune means “timely” or “well-timed.” E.g. “Wait for an opportune moment to tell him how you really feel.” In Nigerian English we use “opportuned” where “privileged” is the appropriate word to use. Where we would say “I am opportuned to speak to this august gathering,” other speakers of the English language would say “I am privileged to speak to this august gathering.”

very interestin i need more

kenex4ever:
OK dear, sorry, I should have known dat because me too I make a lot of errors when in a hurry.

morning to u

holatin:
morning to u

tnx. merry xmas 2 u

tianshie:
Interesting read. It would help, though, if the author toned down his contempt of Nigerians' appropriation of English language. What he terms 'ignorance' is merely inventiveness, colourful assimilation and reproduction of what is after all a foreign language. In Queen Elizabeth's day, phrases such as 'Cold blooded murder,' 'broken heart,' and 'boiling blood,' were not figures of speech but were a function of that society's understanding of physiology, the different humours that composed the human body and how those humours affected individual action. Not even American Early-Modern literary scholars refer to that time with scorn. It is possible to give knowledge without looking down on your interlocutors. Only a fool laughs at his own people.

Thanks for speaking my mind.

Is there a pidgin dictionary
Is there a Nigerian english dictionary
I think it's time we had one.

Very educative

Clueless.

@ SaintRobs, you did a nice job on this thread,so as other posters. Please I'll like it,if you can name Dictionaries (I mean latest versions) which people can buy to improve the use of vocabularies with [b]Word[b/] usage examples. Also list of texts that someone can buy or download to study and improve English.

musicwriter:
This Farooq A. Kperogi, Ph.D, can someone let me know how many research papers he've published on one Nigerian language?. What research papers do he have on our own Hausa language?. How many reseach publication do he have on our own Yoruba language?. How about Igbo, Igala, Efik, Kanuri, Fulani, Tiv, Ibibio, Ijaw, Urhobo, Bini?. e.t.c. Where are his research work on his own language?.

Should we stop using these words because they're made in Nigeria?.

Look, Americans do have their own brand of English as well, and it's not due to ignorance as the article suggests but convenience. Jamaicans do have their own brand of English as well. Language itself evolves. English Evolved from languages such as Greek and Latin. Once upon a time English language was once considered jargon by the Greeks and Latinos!. Same way the Brits today think Americans speak jargon, but Americans don't give a fu*k what you think.

Africans, we must resist Neo-colonialism with all our might in any place or form we find it. Go ahead and use those Nigerian made words. If possible speak and write Pidgin English and be proud doing it.

The excuse given by colonial christian and islamic missionaries to Africa was that our languages were tongue twisting and primitive, so they taught us their languages; English, French, Portuguise, Spanish, instead. English is not our first language, no!. Do not be shy making a mistake writing or speaking it.

Now, the missionaries are gone but our own African elites now act as conduits for implimentation of western neo-colonial rule.
Don't be shy, don't be afriad, Go ahead and use those words in Nigeria.

NB: Looking at the big picture.

Good post....but the missionaries too also got many of our languages written down....and in some instances, even learned to speak the local languages.

Also, while I agree with you on the need to develop our languages...the reason why we use foreign languages is because of the need to communicate across a wide swathe of tribes and tongues.I guess with the development of translator technology....we could get to a point where we could wear a 'Star Trek' type Universal Translator in our ear....and be able to follow conversations in other languages...and even answer in said language.

Sadly, that's years in the future...but still...good post.

P.S--Dr Kperoogi is a Professor of English...so Nigerian Languages are not his forte per se.

bushdoc9919:
Good post....but the missionaries too also got many of our languages written down....and in some instances, even learned to speak the local languages.

Also, while I agree with you on the need to develop our languages...the reason why we use foreign languages is because of the need to communicate across a wide swathe of tribes and tongues.I guess with the development of translator technology....we could get to a point where we could wear a 'Star Trek' type Universal Translator in our ear....and be able to follow conversations in other languages...and even answer in said language.

Sadly, that's years in the future...but still...good post.

P.S--Dr Kperoogi is a Professor of English...so Nigerian Languages are not his forte per se.

Nice response as well, though you have misconception of the whole.

The reason we speak English wasn't because the whiteman wanted us to understand across many tribes. This's a bourgeois explanation meant to prey on elitist minds like yourself. This excuse is designed to make slavery and colonialism sound cool, so you could preach this to your people. Fortunately, not people like me. You can fool some people sometimes, but you cannot fool all the people all the time........Bob Marley.

Listen:

The original reason they taught us their language was for them to be able to communicate us. Language have fully evolved in Africa and rest of the world by the 15th century and we didn't have any difficulties communicating ourselves. Inshort, western education was introduced only to recruit few African elites who will act as conduits between the colonialists and African communities. This was to maximize human capital for further exploitation of Africa and it's resources. Don't go with explanations of some bourgeois scholars, if you want to know the truth. Check out books from people like Walter Rodney's how Europe underdeveloped Africa and you'll find the truth.

Now, based on your explanation, I'll like to ask you.

1. Were Yorubas unable to communicate with Bini's before colonization of Africa?.
2. Were Fulani's unable to communicate Hausa's before colonialism?.
3. Before colonialism, were Ijaws, Igbo e.t.c unable to trade across the river Niger and Benue river because of language restriction?.

In Europe today:

1. Don't the Dutch communicate with Spanish people?.
2. Don't the French communicate the Brits today?.
3. Don't English people talk to French people today?.

You see, slavery & colonialism means everybody is a blind victim including you...... Emir of Kano, HRH. Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

Wait, I'm coming. Hope to have support soon and you'll hear about me. God's willing I'll end this nonsense Africawide!.