Igbo Language Development: Exploring the use of lexical borrowing

Abstract

As languages grow they acquire new terms to help them meet up with needs and issues related to globalization. Lexical borrowing is a global issue since languages borrow from one another in order to enrich their lexicon. Languages are not only important but also a relevant tool for human communication, cultural transmission and preservation. Language transmits our values; there is always need for a new lexical item to help us transmit the development we meet in our everyday lives as new inventions and developments happen. This study discusses the motivations behind lexical borrowing and its implications. It explores the various strategies of Igbo lexical borrowing in form of calque, naturalization, adaptation, external and internal borrowing from fields such as Agriculture, Education, Science, ICT and Technological needs. It also examines how borrowing could be helpful to the development of the Igbo language in terms of enriching its vocabulary to cope with the new terminologies arising from rapid advancement in science and technology. In this paper, emphasis is laid on the factors responsible for borrowing, the adaptation of these borrowings in Igbo and how these borrowings have affected the Igbo language development. The data for this study are obtained from primary and secondary sources. The paper recommends that inasmuch as lexical borrowing is a veritable means of enriching one’s own language’s lexicon, Igbo language users should standardize and popularize these borrowed lexical items that are hitherto not standard.