Abstract
The investigation of ethnolects or ethnic varieties of languages has been around for a while now. While most previous studies have focused on immigrant ethnolects, the present work focuses on an indigenised variety of English, Cameroon English, and how the phonological (pronunciation) features of indigenous Cameroonian languages are represented in English. This study, therefore, lists and describes the major features of two ethnolects of Cameroon English: Nso’ English and Wimbum English. Using data collected from primary school children and university students and graduates, the chapter identifies and describes processes such as diphthong reduction or simplification, vowel lowering, and vowel shortening. Though these processes are common in most ethnolects, their realisation and the vowel phonemes affected are different and specific to each ethnolect.
Given that these vocalic processes resemble processes in the indigenous languages, a possible reason for their persistence in these ethnolects, this chapter illustrates, is substratum influence. Because the major ethnolectal features are also used by acrolectal speakers (i.e. university students and graduates), they are considered here authentic markers of these ethnolinguistic varieties, and pointers to the heterogeneity in (ethnic) accents in English in Cameroon.
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Notes
- 1.
Nso’ refers to the land and the people, and Lamnso’ is the language of the Nso’.
- 2.
Mbum refers to the land, Wimbum means people of Mbum, and Limbum is the language of the Wimbum.
- 3.
Yuyun (1996) and other previous researchers use the variant /e/, but in this chapter, I have used /ε/.
- 4.
The writer’s identity is withdrawn in respect of privacy. The message was posted online on 21-06-2012 at www.lesaglobal.org. The last part of the excerpt is in CPE.
- 5.
Even though Table 6.1 makes reference to gender, this was not found to be significant in the data. There were no clear trends identifiable with one gender or the other.
- 6.
This is an outlier and is not taken into account in the average. It could be said to have disappeared along the educational line or due to exposure to other varieties.
- 7.
However, lowering does not occur in all situations between nasals. For instance, when /eɪ/ and /ɛ/ occur between nasals, NsoE reduces /eɪ/ to [i], as in n[i]me for RP n[eɪ]me and CamE n[e]me; and raises /ɛ/ to [i] as in rem[i]mber for RP and CamE rem[ɛ]mber remember. The distinction is that while Nso’ English speakers lower the /eɪ/ and /e/ to [ɛ] after nasals, they also raise them to [i] between nasals.
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Fonyuy, E. (2014). Ethnolinguistic Heterogeneity in Cameroon English Pronunciation. In: Anchimbe, E. (eds) Structural and Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Indigenisation. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7881-8_6
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