Jun

11

Yoruba and English, Yoruba and French

Filed Under Experiences 

It is always interesting to speak Yoruba with Beninese Yoruba speakers. I – like most Nigerian Yoruba speakers – don’t speak Yoruba without code-mixing, and the other language in the mélange is almost always English. Therefore, when I am speaking with a Beninese Yoruba speaker, I am very careful not to add in English words. But since I cannot speak straight Yoruba without having to pause to think about how to express certain thoughts in Yoruba I find myself code-mixing with French. I end up adding words like eglise, ecole, l’argent, nettoyer etc. But then, the Beninese, knowing that I am a Nigerian, (even when they know that I understand French) add English words. The confusion is always interesting; while I say l’argent they say money, and while I say Lundi they say Monday.

Where did they pick up English words? For the traders, it is simply part of their trading strategies. Most Nigerian traders who come from Nigeria to shop in the market don’t speak any word of French so the Beninese Yorubas had to learn some English words for dealing with Nigerian traders. Other Beninese Yoruba speakers told me that they picked up English words from Nigerian Yoruba movies. More power to Nollywood, non?

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Comments

3 Responses to “Yoruba and English, Yoruba and French”

  1. Chris on June 11th, 2008 11:57 am

    This Nollywood sef!

  2. Szavanna on June 25th, 2008 1:27 pm

    Hey thanks for this post - it’d be great to read more language related posts - I’d love to find out more the melange spoken in West Africa : )

  3. Tauratinzwe on June 27th, 2008 12:10 pm

    Fascinating observations, Loomnie. The way we deal with language is interesting. I had a dog in Tanzania that I called “Mbwa” (Swahili for dog). All the neighbour children called it “Puppy.” Why did they translate the name? I guess for the same reason the Beninese Yoruba mixed English with the Yoruba when speaking with you. Someone should research this phenomena.

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