Code-alternation in Strengthening Indigenous Cultures and Languages: A Feminist Reading

Abstract

It is a known fact that English language was imposed on indigenous language speakers, and because of its world influence, English is dominant over other indigenous languages in Nigeria. However, when English migrates to foreign countries, it adapts and indigenises. The new users absorb and liberate it to embody the energies of their respective sensibilities. This paper identifies a feminist reading of the use of code alternation in strengthening indigenous cultures and languages in literary text. It uses Chimamada Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun as a sample. Few extracts of code switched items; the switch to and from different varieties of Nigerian English, Pidgin or an L1, depending on change in addressee or even the status or age of different addressees, were selected from the novel and analysed using insights from Myers-Scotton & Bolonyai (2001) revised Markedness Model theory of code-switching. It observes that the linguistic, social and cultural contexts of a feminist writer necessitate and propel the growth of code varieties and these serve as acts of identity.

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