Sociolinguistic-cum-pedagogic Implications of Anglicisation: Evidence from Igbo Toponyms

Naturally, a group’s urge to protect all aspects of its language against negative sociolinguistic influences is a task carried out with all dedication because a group’s language identifies them, tells their story and showcases their cultural heritage. Presently, Igbo toponyms are seriously threatene...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Theory and practice in language studies 2019-04, Vol.9 (4), p.371-381
Main Authors: Obitube, Kelvin Francis, Okeke, Chukwuma Onyebuchi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
African Languages
Analysis
Anglicisms
Cultural Background
Cultural groups
Cultural heritage
Cultural identity
Culture
Definitions
Dialect Studies
Encyclopedias
English
English language
Geographical names
Geography
Igbo (African people)
Igbo language
Language
Language contact
Language Minorities
Morphology
Names
Old English
Philosophy
Phonology
Qualitative research
Research Methodology
Semantics
Social aspects
Sociolinguistics
Spelling
Topography
Toponymy
Translations and translating
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Naturally, a group’s urge to protect all aspects of its language against negative sociolinguistic influences is a task carried out with all dedication because a group’s language identifies them, tells their story and showcases their cultural heritage. Presently, Igbo toponyms are seriously threatened by anglicisation. The paper’s main objectives are to highlight the various forms of anglicisation observed in Igbo toponyms, their negative influences on the Igbo language, and how to overcome this negative sociolinguistic phenomenon. The paper adopts a qualitative analysis approach; and observes that Igbo toponyms are actually anglicised, following the trend left by the British by adding ‘r’, ‘h’, ‘aw’, etc., with negative effects such as wrong spelling and meanings of Igbo toponyms, loss of history and cultural heritage of the Igbo etc. If this negative sociolinguistic phenomenon is left unchecked, potential loss of some letters of the Igbo alphabet and the Igbo language endangerment, are imminent.
ISSN:1799-2591
2053-0692
DOI:10.17507/tpls.0904.03