Semantic Shift: Insight from Nigerian Selected Afro Pop

Abstract

The thrust of this paper focuses on the changes that occur to lexical items in terms of changes in the words that co-occur with it over time. Thus, the focus of the paper tries to ascertain the semantic shift in Nigerian pop music. The data was collected through listening to pop music of Flavour, Phyno, Zoro, etc. where instances of meaning shift were used in free flowing utterances. Adopting the Frame semantics approach, this paper observes that words can take on different meanings from earlier meanings as a result of use in a different context. Whereas the original sense is dropped, a new meaning is used instead depending on the frequencies of its use by the speakers in various contexts. Meaning-shifts can be neutral or it can shift from positive to negative or vice versa. For instance; the phrase ‘gbàra àn??’ which literally means ’buy land’ then shifts to become ’have sex’, ’Adàzi nnukwù’ which is a name of a town shift to become ‘woman’s buttock’, gbachal? af??’ which literally means ‘peeling market’ shifts to ‘smoke weed (Indian hemp)’, etc. It is observed that through this study that semantic shift occurs as a result of consistent use of certain words in various contexts. In conclusion, it is noteworthy that context is a key factor in studying semantic shift.