Local Colouration in Mobile Text Messsaging in Nigeria: A Sociolinguistic Study

Abstract

Mobile phone text messaging in Nigeria brought with it a variety of English that is orthographically unique, circumstantially distinct and context sensitive. This study tries to examine how Nigerian youths employed their innovative and innate abilities in mobile phone text messaging to exhibit local colouration. Out of the 160 mobile phone text message samples collected in Lagos and Ibadan areas of southwest Nigeria, and Nsukka area of southeast Nigeria, 17 text messages were randomly selected for analysis. These data were classified under the following types of text messages: religious, inspirational, romantic and humorous, and analysed with Ethnography of Speaking propounded by Hymes (1962). The analyses focused on how the contents of these text messages manifest Nigeria socio-linguistic and cultural features through creative and innovative English usage. The result shows that Nigerian youths use innovative expressions in text messaging, which are Nigerian specific, to compose prayer, words of encouragement, critique of government and some of its agencies, affection and laughter. Analysis also shows how figures of speech such as metaphor, hyperbole, pun and symbolism are employed by Nigerian youths to convey mobile phone text messages that manifest local colouration of Nigerian socio-linguistic and cultural context.

Keywords: mobile phone, text messaging, SMS, texters, language use, sociolinguistics, culture, innovation, local colouration.