Some words – such as Brexit – are relatively young but were included quickly because of the huge social impact they had in a short space of time. But there’s no exact time-span and frequency threshold. Other factors that are considered include the time period over which words have been used, as well as their frequency and distribution. Once there is a list of candidates, a team of expert editors at the Oxford English Dictionary looks closely at the databases to ensure that there are several independent instances of the words being used. In the case of Nigerian English and other World English varieties, for instance, suggestions of new words and senses come from the corpus, reading books and magazines written in the English varieties in question as well as looking at previous studies, and the review of existing dictionaries, if any. This is an electronic database of different types of written and spoken texts specifically designed for linguistic research. The Oxford English Dictionary has a wide variety of resources to track the emergence of new words and new senses of already existing words. These include the rationale for adding them, and the enormous significance the inclusion holds for the English language. I think the English, indeed the English-speaking world, should be thankful to Nigeria for this historic gift.Īs the Nigerian consultant to the project which saw the inclusion of the words, I have insights into the process the team underwent in adding them. In other words, that Nigerian English is adding to the norms of English. This avers that the ‘outer-circle’ varieties of English (where Nigerian English belongs) is ‘norm-developing’. They also validate the concentric circle model developed by Professor Braj Kachru, the father of world Englishes research. These developments indicate that Nigerian English has indeed come of age. This has included four published dictionaries of Nigerian English. by David Graddol, Dick Leith, and Joan Swann.The inclusion of Nigerian English words in the Oxford English Dictionary is, in a sense, a recognition of the tremendous efforts by scholars of Nigerian English many of whom have produced discipline-shaping research. For example, when 'travel' is used in the sense 'to be away,' as in My father has traveled (= My father is away), it is not a transfer of a first-language expression into English, but a modification of the verb 'to travel.'' (Ayo Bamgbose, 'Identifying Nigerian Uses in Nigerian English.' English: History, Diversity, and Change, ed. Most such usages cut across all first-language backgrounds. It is quite easy to show that while some usages can be so attributed, the vast majority, at least in Educated Nigerian English, arise from the normal process of language development involving a narrowing or extension of meaning or the creation of new idioms.
(Tom McArthur, The Oxford Guide to World English.
Pidgin has been used in prose by many writers, including Chinua Achebe, as a vehicle for poetry by Frank Aig-Imoukhuede, and for drama by Ola Rotimi.' Although a number of Pidgin dictionaries have been compiled, it has not yet been standardized. Its many forms reflect both mother tongue and WAPE influence.
