Phonological Analysis of the English Spoken by Hausa Newscasters in Broadcasting Media in Nigeria
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Date
2018
Authors
Usman, Abdulmalik
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kenyatta University
Abstract
The study examines the English pronunciation patterns of Hausa broadcasters.
The research was carried out based on the presupposition that the English spoken
by Hausa broadcasters is different from RP English and is likely to mislead or
distort the communication process. The study was guided by three objectives
which centred on an examination and analysis of the way Hausa broadcasters
articulate RP English consonants, vowels and consonant clusters. The research
used Optimality Theory and adopted the descriptive research design. The study
was carried out in Bauchi State Northeast Nigeria and data were obtained through
production test and recording of news broadcasts from four public broadcasting
stations in Bauchi. These include two radio stations and two television stations.
Moreover, twenty-two Hausa broadcasters from the four media outlets were
selected as respondents. The findings revealed that the speech by the majority of
the respondents does not conform to RP English because it is characterized by
semantic alteration which changes the meaning of words where words like pull
are rendered full, heal as hill, upper as offer, raid as red and exact as exert. The
speech is also marked by the Hausa English accent but this does not interfere
with meaning. These problems were caused by phonological processes such as:
substitution, frication, stopping, affrication, long vowel reduction,
monophthongization of diphthongs, epenthesis and deletion. The majority of the
respondents English language Markedness constraints outranked Faithfulness
constraints.
Description
A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English and Linguistics in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Kenyatta University, December 2018