ABSTRACT
This study has set out to find the influence of Yoruba Language on the sound system of spoken English Language among the indigenous Ilorin Yoruba undergraduate students. It was to find out the features that distinguish Ilorin Yoruba accent from the Received Pronunciation. The Recorded speech of fifty selected undergraduate students from three universities within Ilorin was used. Students who were native of Ilorin and who have spent at least two academic years in higher institution were sampled. Phonological approach was used using snowball sampling technique. It was discovered that phonological features of Nigerian English such as substitution, under-differentiation, spelling pronunciation, epenthesis and simplification, of consonant cluster were the common features found in the oral English of the samples. The English of the samples has been affected by their L1.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract vi
Table of contents vii
CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Statement of the Research Problem 3
1.2 Purpose of the Study 3
1.3 Justification 4
1.4 Scope of the Study 4
1.5 Methodology 5
1.6 Data Description 6
1.7 Conclusion 6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction 7
2.1 Phonetics 7
2.2 Phonology 10
2.2.1 Levels of Phonology 12
2.3 Phonological Theories 13
2.3.1 Phonemic Theory 13
2.3.2 Generative Phonology 14
2.3.3 Metrical Phonology 14
2.3.4 Dependency Phonology 15
2.3.5 Autosegmental 16
2.3.6 Optimality Theory 17
2.4 English Phonemes 17
2.4.4 Pure Vowel Sounds 18
2.4 Diphthong Sounds 20
2.4 Consonant Sounds 21
2.5 Yoruba Pohonemes 24
2.5.1 Vowel Sounds 24
2.5.2 Consonant Sounds 25
2.6 Diffrences Between English And Yoruba Phonenes 27
2.6.1 Consonant Sounds 27
2.6.2 Vowel Sounds 28
2.7 Status of the Language Under Study 28
2.7.1 English Language 28
2.7.2 Yoruba Language 29
2.8 Nigerian English 29
2.9 Features of the Phonology of Nigerian English 33
2.9.1 Segmental Features 33
2.9.2 Suprasegmental Features 36
2.10 Interference 39
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Introduction 42
3.1 Data Analysis 43
3.1.1 Substitution 43
3.1.2 Under – Differentiation 52
3.1.3 Spelling Pronunciation 57
3.1.4 Epenthesis 59
3.1.5 Simplification of Consonant Cluster 63
3.2 Discussion 66
3.3 Summary of the Chapter 69
CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 Summary 70
4.2 Findings 71
4.3 Conclusion 72
4.4 Recommendation 72
Bibliography 73
Appendix 1 78
INTRODUCTION
To correct the wrong pronunciation of English words in many Nigerian students, particularly among the Ilorin indigenous Yoruba students demands extra effort and great attention. This is because, it is observed that this problem is the result of the features found in their indigenous languages which are transferred to the sound system of the English language. Their English phonetics reflects the structure of the sound system of their mother tongue (Osisanwo, 2009). With respect to this, we shall discuss the term phonology.
Phonology is the study of the sound system of a Language. It is the study of the properties of the sound system of a given language. It is the systematic study of how the speech sounds function and are organized in human languages. Hyman (1975, P1) cited by Osisanwo (2009,P3) says that, the goal of phonology is to study the properties of the sound system which speakers must learn and internalize in order to use their language for the purpose of communication. To Oyebade (1998, p2) ‘phonology is the scientific study of the arbitrary vocal symbol used in human speech and the pattern into which these symbols produce intelligent, meaningful utterances’. To summit up, Akmajian et al (2008, p109) said: ‘phonology is the subfield of linguistics that studies the structure and patterning of sound in human language’.
Speakers of Nigerian English are still facing a lot of pronunciation problems as a result of their L1 influence on their spoken English (Alabi, 2007). So many works have been done on the segmental features of the phonology of Nigerian English such as Utin (2009) based on the Anang accent of English language. Jowith (1991) studied the phonology of Nigeria English used Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba languages but this work will pay attention to Ilorin Yoruba accent of English.
