THE USE OF IGBO ACCENTS IN SELECTED RADIO STATIONS IN LAGOS STATE

Abstract

This paper examines various Igbo accents from the radio stations that broadcast in the Igbo language in Lagos State. Extant studies on this aspect of studies have paid little attention to radio stations in Lagos that broadcast in the Igbo language. This study is designed to investigate the various Igbo accents in Bond FM, Voice of Nigeria (VON) and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio. Allen Bell’s Audience Design Theory was adopted for this study. Data from both male and female broadcasters were collected through recordings of news from these three radio stations mentioned above. The duration of the data from all the stations used in this research is approximately three hours. Findings show that in BBC, /l/ is used over /r/, /e/ is used over /o/, .u. is used over /i/. In Von, /f/ is used over /h/, /?/ is used over /t/, /w/, /l/, /r/, /f/ and /o/ are used over /b/, /r/, /d/, /h/ and /e/ respectively. In Bond FM, /l/, /s/, /w/, /r/, /a/, /o/, /t/, /e/ and /r/ are used over /gh/, /ch/, /b/, /h/, /a/ /p/, /a/ and /r/ respectively. BBC employed few phonological variables, followed by VON and then Bond FM. The use of these phonological variables shows how various accents manifest in Igbo radio programmes and also how various accents have been affecting the use of a unified spoken Standardised Igbo in the broadcast media.