Are Nigerians Bilingual

[seen]

Just curious, how many on this board are bilingual, and by bilingual I do not mean a native language and English and/or pidgin but a native language and another native language ( i..e Hausa/Yoruba or Yoruba/Igbo,etc). My
Nigerian friends often act perplexed that most Ghanaians speak twi but native twi speakers make up only 40 per cent of the population. Another Nigerian explained to me that pidgin acts as the lingua franca so there is no need to learn another native language.

How many of you find this true, and,if so, what are the benefits of this compared to the situation in places like Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Ivory Coast where one language predominates; forcing a kind of bilingual system where those who do not belong to the dominant language are forced to become bilingual. Mind you, Nigeria is not alone in this regard, I find that Liberia and Sierra Leone are kind of the same way.

[Boss]

Depends on where/how u grew up.

If u are an igbo boy who grew up in lagos...u'd probably understand and speak both...take someone like Festacman or ND...

and I personally dont think being fluent in pidgin should be an excuse not to learn one's native languages

[seen]

Originally Posted by Boss

Depends on where/how u grew up.

If u are an igbo boy who grew up in lagos...u'd probably understand and speak both...take someone like Festacman or ND...

and I personally dont think being fluent in pidgin should be an excuse not to learn one's native languages

I understand your example, but that applies to any situation-i.e. a person of Igbo ancestry raised in Lagos would understand Yoruba because it predominates.The same way a Ghana man living in Lagos will also speak Yoruba because it predominates.


I am talking about the likelihood of someone of Igbo heritage, growing up in Calabar will know Yoruba or Hausa. For example, in Ghana, someone of Hausa origin growing up in a predominant Hausa area (i.e. Upper West) will also, likely, know Twi or someone growing up in Volta (an Ewe enclave ) will also understande Twi. Vice versa, My Ga and Ewe friends know and speak twi despite growing up in regions where another language predominated. Now this is not to say everyone will, but I would wager that 60 per cent of Ghanaians are bilingual (i.e. speak two native languages or more). This is what I mean by forced bilingualism. In Ivory Coast, Duala is the lingua Franca despite where one grows up.

[Boss]

I see where you coming from..and the answer is no.

See, I dont exactly know how multicultural Ghana is, but nigeria is a VERY multicultural society...VERY.

http://www.onlinenigeria.com/tribes/

Those are all the tribes in nigeria...all 300+ of them...speaking about 200 dialects...My anioma brothers speak a different dialect from my owerri folks, who speak differently from my River state igbos etc etc

There's no way one nigerian can learn another nigerian language without growing up in the same environs as another tribe, or having a heritage from another tribe...it's nearly impossible

I guess the pidgin english is then a plausible excuse in the context of ur question.

[seen]

Originally Posted by Boss

I see where you coming from..and the answer is no.

See, I dont exactly know how multicultural Ghana is, but nigeria is a VERY multicultural society...VERY.

http://www.onlinenigeria.com/tribes/

Those are all the tribes in nigeria...all 300+ of them...speaking about 200 dialects...My anioma brothers speak a different dialect from my owerri folks, who speak differently from my River state igbos etc etc

There's no way one nigerian can learn another nigerian language without growing up in the same environs as another tribe, or having a heritage from another tribe...it's nearly impossible

I guess the pidgin english is then a plausible excuse in the context of ur question.

Well Ghana has about 30 languages ( for a population of 20 + million) and Ivory Coast has about 60 ( for a population of 16 million). So I guess we are talking about the major languages, which I would assume to be Igbo,Yoruba and Hausa ( likewise Akan, Ewe, Ga and Hausa in Ghana or Akan, Duala and Kru in Ivory Coast).

I think the development of Pidgin is very interesting; it makes one wonder, in the absence of pidgin, could a native language have arisen to predominate (let say spoken by 70 per cent of the population). Also, what impact, politically and socially, could this have had on the Nigerian landscape. I kind of prefer the Nigerian scenario (likewise Liberia and Sierra Leone); I will explain why later!

[tomapep]

I think we are. But not quite the way you might expect. For example, I speak my people's dialect (not too well) and central Igbo. It is the same language but it isn't. If you aren't used to one, it might take you years even to understand certain terms/usages.

[anddar]

I think Hausa serves that purpose in many northern areas...so I've heard. But it is politically impossible for one native language to dominate in Naija.

I've also heard of (Non-Akan) Ghanaians complaining that people expect them to speak/understand Twi

[Clockwatcher]

Originally Posted by tomapep

I think we are. But not quite the way you might expect. For example, I speak my people's dialect (not too well) and central Igbo. It is the same language but it isn't. If you aren't used to one, it might take you years even to understand certain terms/usages.

Yeah, not the same thing since she's not talking about being able to speak different dialects. Even though they might differ, there are still the same language.

Seen, my mother speaks Igbo, Hausa, Isoko, Urhobo and Yoruba. Plus French and English.

She was born in Isokoland, for a while, her family resided in the north (Hausaland) and she later on lived in Yorubaland. She picked up Igbo just from hanging around those people and Urhobo because for a while, Urhobo dominated both Isoko and Urhoboland (the British grouped them as one). She's just one of those people who picks up languages really quickly.

A lot of Northerners speak Hausa and their native language because it dominates. Now, as to how people who don't live near Twi-speaking regions also speaking it, it's similar to Hindi in India. Even though it's technically the language of the Northern Indians, it's spoken through out as somewhat defacto official language.

Now, in a country like Ghana, Twi/Akan is that largest ethnic group, right? Generally, when one single ethnic group dominates be it by population or politically, they end up dominating the entire region. Just like the Hausa in the North. Many Northerners and people from the middle belt region who aren't Hausa are bilingual in the sense you speak. People of Plateau State aren't Hausa but the language is spoken widely there.

Something like that could have happened for the entire country if we didn't have 3 very large ethnic groups of similar size. If there was only one, then maybe.

[seen]

Originally Posted by Clockwatcher

Yeah, not the same thing since she's not talking about being able to speak different dialects. Even though they might differ, there are still the same language.

Seen, my mother speaks Igbo, Hausa, Isoko, Urhobo and Yoruba. Plus French and English.

She was born in Isokoland, for a while, her family resided in the north (Hausaland) and she later on lived in Yorubaland. She picked up Igbo just from hanging around those people and Urhobo because for a while, Urhobo dominated both Isoko and Urhoboland (the British grouped them as one). She's just one of those people who picks up languages really quickly.

A lot of Northerners speak Hausa and their native language because it dominates. Now, as to how people who don't live near Twi-speaking regions also speaking it, it's similar to Hindi in India. Even though it's technically the language of the Northern Indians, it's spoken through out as somewhat defacto official language.

Now, in a country like Ghana, Twi/Akan is that largest ethnic group, right? Generally, when one single ethnic group dominates be it by population or politically, they end up dominating the entire region. Just like the Hausa in the North. Many Northerners and people from the middle belt region who aren't Hausa are bilingual in the sense you speak. People of Plateau State aren't Hausa but the language is spoken widely there.

Something like that could have happened for the entire country if we didn't have 3 very large ethnic groups of similar size. If there was only one, then maybe.

Interesting perspective! I guess if one is to break down Nigeria into South and North, one could argue that bilingualism does exist in certain parts(as you showed with the Hausa example).

As Anddar pointed out, alot of non-Akans express anger (even if they can speak twi) that people assume they should or can. I think in the long run, the Nigerian model (i.e. I choose to adopt the language) is better for nation building rather than " I have to adopt the language" that operates in other areas.

So when Nigerians meet each other, do they automatically speak pidgin ( or does this happen only during informal settings) and can everyone basically understand (I hear there are variations in pidgin depending on the region)?


Your mom needs to be crowned superwoman!

[tomapep]

Not all Nigerians can speak pidgin. My naija born and bred mother cannot, whereas I can, even though I spent less than half my life there.
In the east we speak Igbo or English. When I was growing up there, pidgin was sort of seen as being for the less well-educated person or riffraff types. You might also speak it to the out of towner in the market. Students spoke it to seem street, but amongst themselves, not to older people.

So, no I wouldn't say pidgin is Nigeria's lingua franca.

[Chxta]

Originally Posted by tomapep

Not all Nigerians can speak pidgin. My naija born and bred mother cannot, whereas I can, even though I spent less than half my life there.
In the east we speak Igbo or English. When I was growing up there, pidgin was sort of seen as being for the less well-educated person or riffraff types. You might also speak it to the out of towner in the market. Students spoke it to seem street, but amongst themselves, not to older people.

So, no I wouldn't say pidgin is Nigeria's lingua franca.

Times have changed.

[Wendydoks]

plz speak 4 ya damn sef. isabella(the nollywood old skul actress) spoke about 12 diff languages . dat was wat i heard. and dey r mostly naija linguas and other foreign lingua.


i met a bendelite dat speaks igbo and yoruba fluently altho he was born and raised in yoruba.


as far as u have @least one person dat speaks the language fluently, u can learn it w/o living in their environment. the person is already an environmental influence. so yes, u will always have to have an influencial factor. just becos u live in kotunu dnt mean u can never be fluent in anoda native language.

Originally Posted by Boss

I see where you coming from..and the answer is no.

See, I dont exactly know how multicultural Ghana is, but nigeria is a VERY multicultural society...VERY.

http://www.onlinenigeria.com/tribes/

Those are all the tribes in nigeria...all 300+ of them...speaking about 200 dialects...My anioma brothers speak a different dialect from my owerri folks, who speak differently from my River state igbos etc etc

There's no way one nigerian can learn another nigerian language without growing up in the same environs as another tribe, or having a heritage from another tribe...it's nearly impossible
I guess the pidgin english is then a plausible excuse in the context of ur question.

[Bende]

Momsi speaks Eket, Ibibio, Etche, Igbo, Yoruba and understands some Hausa and Itsekiri

[swazi]

no

[tomapep]

Originally Posted by Chxta

Times have changed.

Cross the Niger and see for yourself.
Having said that, I should point out that pidgin is more in use in the urban areas than the rural ones.