PATTERNS OF LANGUAGE VARIATION AMONG NNEWI NORTH DIALECT SPEAKERS

Abstract

The obligatory role of language in the man’s daily social interaction can be likened to food that fuels the energy tank of man. The way one uses language tells who, what and where he from. Several sociolinguistic scholarly articles reviewed for this study indicated that some social factors motivate diverse forms of language use among speakers of a language. Nonetheless, patterns of language variation among Nnewi North dialect speakers have not received much scholarly contribution. This study examines the patterns of language variation in the speech of the Nnewi North dialect speakers of Igbo language. The objectives of the study are to: (i) determine the patterns of language variation among the speakers of Nnewi North dialect of Igbo; and (ii) factors that influence the patterns of the variation in the speech of the Nnewi North dialect speakers. Purposive sampling was used to select twenty (20) respondents, who are Nnewi North indigenes. Ibadan 400 wordlist of basic items, audio recording device (Sony Digital Dictation Machine –ICD-PX 470), unstructured interview and direct observation were instruments used in gathering data for the study. Communication Accommodation Theory was adopted for the analysis of the data. The recorded data were transcribed and subjected to Communication Accommodation method of analysis to determine how dialect speakers of Igbo language from Nnewi North navigate their language use during their interpersonal social interaction, as well as the factors that instigate such pattern of language use. The findings of the study show that: (i) manner of language use of Nnewi North dialect speakers of Igbo are influenced by a number of sociolinguistic factors; (ii) the sociolinguistic status of education, migration, language contact, age, place of birth, and place of residence are the factors that prompt patterns of language use of Nnewi North dialect speakers; (iii) mutual intelligibility among Nnewi North speech community is not tempered with in spite of the diverse pattern of language use among its speakers; and (iv) the variants of Igbo language found in the study provided evidence of synonymy in Igbo language.