West African Pidgin as a tool for socio-economic development
This paper highlights the important role of Pidgin in economic development in West Africa. We use a unificationist
model of dependence relations to explain the nexus between West African Pidgin (WAP) and the region’s socio-economic development.
The study draws on the formidable role that Pidgin plays as the language of communication in the thriving informal cross-border
markets along the Nigerian-Cameroonian border. The use of Pidgin is a special case of the general phenomenon of indigenous
languages that serve as vehicular languages of the informal economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper argues that the existence of
WAP as a language of informal economic activities in this region fosters cooperation and social cohesion that plays a role in the
expansion of informal cross-border trade, which is a primary source of household income for the people. The research reveals a
sociolinguistic dimension to the expansion of informal economic activities that are a prerequisite to wealth creation and poverty
elimination. This finding also suggests that Pidgin can be harnessed for an efficient transition from the informal to the formal
economy. Therefore, the paper advocates a region-wide language policy that recognizes Pidgin as a factor in the region’s economic
growth and development.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.History and present sociolinguistic status of WAP
- 3.Language policy model: Nigeria and Cameroon
- 4.Linguistic and socio-economic realities
- 4.1West African Pidgin (WAP) and informal cross-border markets: The case of the Nigeria-Cameroon southern border
- 5.A case for formal recognition of Pidgin in language policies
- 6.Conclusion
- Notes
-
References
References (77)
References
Abdullahi-Idiagbon, M. S. (2010). The
sociolinguistics of Nigerian pidgin (English) on University Campus. Ife Studies in English
Language,
8
(1), 50–60.
Adegbija, E. (1994). Language
attitudes in sub-Saharan Africa : a sociolinguistic overview. Clevedon, Philadelphia: Multilingual Matters, Ltd.
Afeadie, P. A. (2015). Language
of Power: Pidgin in the colonial Governance of Northern Nigeria. Legon Journal of
Humanities,
26
1, 19–37. 

Ajagbe, S. (2021 (Forthc.)). Knowledge
Production and the Linguistic Market Place: the case of
Nigeria. In M.-J. Lavallée (Ed.), The
End of Western Hegemonies? Wilmington, Delaware: Vernon Press.
Akande, A. T., & Salami, L. O. (2010). Use
and Attitudes towards Nigerian. Pidgin English among Nigerian University
Students. In R. M. Millar (Ed.), Marginal
Dialects: Scotland, Ireland and
Beyond (pp. 70–89). Aberdeen: Forum for Research on the Languages of Scotland and Ulster.
Akande, A. T., & Salami, O. (2021). Non-state
actors, language practices, language policy and Nigerian Pidgin
promotion. In A. T. Akande, & O. Salami (Eds.), Current
Trends in Nigerian Pidgin English: A Sociolinguistic
Perspective. Boston/Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Inc. 

Anchimbe, E. A. (2005). Anglophonism
and francophonism: The stakes of (official) language identity in Cameroon. Revue Angliciste de
la
Réunion,
25/26
1, 7–26.
Ayafor, M. (2006). Kamtok
(Pidgin) is gaining ground in Cameroon. In E. N. Chia (Ed.), African
Linguistics and the Development of African
Communities (pp. 191–199). Dakar: Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa.
Aziza, R. O. (2006). The Pidgin factor in the development of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. In E. N. Chia (Ed.), African linguistics and development of African communities. (pp. 184–190). Dakar Senegal: CODESRIA.
Balogun, T. A. (2013, July). In
defense of Nigerian pidgin. Journal of Languages and
Culture,
4
(5), 90–98. 

Bearth, T. (2008). Language and Sustainability. In R. M. Beck (Ed.), Language and Development (Vol. Frankfurter Afrikanistische Blätter 20, pp. 15–60). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
Bearth, T. (2013). Language
and Sustainability. In R. M. Beck (Ed.), The
Role of Languages for Development in Africa: Micro and Macro
Perspectives (pp. 15–61). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
Bonchuk, M. O. (2011). Cross-Border
Trade: An Analysis of Trade and Market Integration along the Nigeria-Cameroon
Borderlands. Annals of Humanities and Development
Studies,
2
(1), 51–66.
Bobda, S. A. (2010). Which language, when and why? In A. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of World Englishes (pp. 653–670). London and New York: Routledge.
Bunyi, G. (1999). Rethinking
the place of African indigenous languages in African education. International Journal of
Educational
Development,
19
1, 337–350. Retrieved
from [URL]. 
Buzasi, K. (2015). Languages,
communication potential and generalized trusting Sub-Saharan Africa. Social Science
Research,
49
1, 141–155. Retrieved
from 

Charmes, J. (2019). Trends
and Characteristics of the Informal Economy and Its
Components. In Dimensions of Resilience in Developing
Countries (Vol. 101, pp. 37–92). Springer, Charm. 

Davis, K. A., & Phyak, P. (2015). In
the Face of Neoliberal Adversity: Engaging Language Education Policy and Practices. L2
Journal,
7
(3), 146–166. Retrieved
from [URL]. 
DeLancey, M. D., Mbuh, R. N., & DeLancey, M. W. (1990). Historical
Dictionary of the Republic of Cameroon (5th
ed.). Maryland: The Rowmman & Littlefield Group.
Deuber, D. (2005). Nigerian
Pidgin in Lagos: language contact, variation and change in an African urban
setting. London: Battle Bridge Publications.
Djité, P. G. (2008). The
Nexus between Education, Learning, and Language. UNESCO/UNU 2008 Conference on “Globalization
and Languages: Building on our Rich Heritage”. Tokyo, Japan: United Nations University.
Djité, P. G. (2020). Economy
and Language in Africa. In C. B. Vigouroux, & S. S. Mufwene (Eds.), Bridging
Linguistics and
Economics (pp. 182–202). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

Durodola, F. –T. (2013). The Rising Popularity of
Pidgin English Radio Stations in Nigeria: An Audience Study of Wazobia Fm, Lagos (Master’s
Thesis, Rhodes Univeristy Grahamstown). Retrieved October
2020, from [URL]
Eberhard, D. M., & Gary F. Simons, a.
C. (Eds.). (2018). Ethnologue: Languages of the World
Dallas (Twenty-fourth
ed.). Texas: SIL International.
Echu, G. (2004). The
Language Question in Cameroon. Linguistik
Online,
18
(1), 19–33. 

European Commission. Directorate-General for
Translation. (1/2011). Lingua Franca: Chimera or
Reality. Publication Office of the European Union: Dictus.
Faraclas, N. (2004). Nigerian
Pidgin English: Morphology and syntax. In B. Kortmann, R. M. Kate Burridge, & C. Upton (Eds.), A
Handbook of Varieties: Volume 2: Morphology and
Synta (pp. 828–853). New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
Faraclas, N. (2021). Naija:
A Language of the Future. In A. T. Akande, & O. Salami (Eds.), Current
Trends in Nigerian Pidgin English: A Sociolinguistic
Perspective. Boston/Berlin: Walter de Gruyter Inc. 

Freire, P. (2005). Pedagogy
of the oppressed: 30th anniversary edition. New York: Continuum.
Ginsburgh, V., & Weber, S. (2016). Introduction. In V. Ginsburgh, & S. Weber (Eds.), The
Palgrave Handbook of Economics and
Language (pp. 1–16). London: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Grin, F. (2003). Language planning and economics. Current Issues in Language Planning, 4(1), 1–66. 

Huber, M. (2004). Ghanaian
Pidgin English: Phonology. In B. Kortmann, & E. W. Schneider (Eds.), A
Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multi-Media Reference
Tool (Vol. 11, pp. 866–873). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Igboanusi, H. (2008). Empowering Nigerian Pidgin: A Challenge for Status Planning? World Englishes, 27(1), 68–82. 

Igboanusi, H. (2009). Language
shift in West Africa: an introduction. Social Linguistics
Studies,
3
(3), 299–306.
Igboanusi, H. (2014). The
role of language policy in poverty alleviation in West Africa. International Journal of the
Sociology of
Language, 2014(225), 75–90. 

Kaplan, R. B., & Baldauf, R. B. (1997). Language Planning from Practice to Theory. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
Kazeem, Y. (2018, September 6). Make
we talk: How pidgin English became the voice of international media in West
Africa. Retrieved October
2020, from Quartz Africa: [URL]
Kindzeka, M. E. (2020, August 27). Cameroon
Bans Cereal Exports to Nigeria. Retrieved March 25, 2021, from VOA News: [URL]
Kitcher, P. (1989). Explanatory Unification and the Causal Structure of the World. In P. Kitcher, & W. C. Salmon (Eds.), Scientific Explanation (pp. 410–505). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lesser, C., & Moisé-Leeman, E. (2009). Informal
Cross-Border Trade and Trade Facilitation Reform in Sub-Saharan. OECD publishing, © OECD. 

Löbel, K. (2010). Book
Review: The Sociolinguistics of Development. Journal of Multicultural
Discourse,
5
(1), 75–80. 

Makoni, S. B. (2021). Framing
Economies of Language Using System D and Spontaneous Order. In K. Blewett, T. Donahue, & C. Monroe (Eds.), The
Expanding Universe of Writing Studies: Higher Education Writing
Research (pp. 219–231). New York, Bern, Berlin: Peter Lang.
Mbangwana, P. (1991, March). Invigorative
and hermetic innovations in English in Yaoundé. World
Englishes,
10
(1), 53–63. 

McArthur, T. (1998). The
English Languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 

McCain, K. (2016). The
Nature of Scientific Knowledge: An Explanatory
Approach. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. 

Medina, L., Jonelis, A., & Cangul, M. (2017). The
Informal Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Size and
Determinants. Washington: The International Monetary Fund. Retrieved October 8,
2020, from [URL]
Melitz, J. (2008). Language
and foreign trade. European Economic
Review,
52
(4), 667–699. 

Michaelis, Susanne, Philippe Maurer, Martin Haspelmath, and Magnus Huber, eds. (2013). Atlas
of Pidgin and Creole Language
Structures. 41 vols. Oxford: OUP.
Neba, A. N., Chibaka, E. F., & Atindogbe, G. (2006). Cameroon
Pidgin English (CPE) as a tool for empowerment and national development. African Study
Monographs,
27
(2), 39–61.
Ngefac, A. (2011). Globalizing
a Local Language and Localizing a Global Language: The Case of Kamtok and English in
Cameroon. Englsih
Today,
27
(1), 16–21. 

Nordquist, R. (2019, January 30). West
African Pidgin English (WAPE). Retrieved October 2020, from ThoughtCo.: [URL]
Obilade, T. (1993). The Stylistic Function of Pidgin English in African Literature: Achebe and Soyinka. In J. Gibbs, & B. Lindfors (Eds.), Research on Wole Soyinka (pp. 13–24). Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Ofulue, C. I. (2012). Nigerian
Pidgin and West African pidgins: A sociolinguistic perspective. Legon Journal of the
Humanities, 1–42.
Ogunmodimu, M. (2015, September). Language
Policy in Nigeria: Problems, Prospects and Perspectives. International Journal of Humanities
and Social
Science,
5
(9), 154–160.
Ojo, O., & Ogunjimi, F. T. (2020). The
Nigerian Pidgin English: A tool for National Integration. Research Journal in Modern Languages
and
Literatures,
1
(1), 40–49. Retrieved
from [URL]
Omoniyi, T. (2014). Indigenous
language capital and development. International Journal of the Sociology of
Language, 2014(225), 7–28. Retrieved
from 

Peter, L., & Wolf, H.-G. (2007, February). A
comparison of the varieties of West African Pidgin English. World
Englishes,
26
(1), 3–21. 

Pool, J. (1972). National
Development and Language Diversity. In J. A. Fishman (Ed.), Advances
in the Sociology of Language, Volume
II (pp. 213–230). The Hague: Mouton de Gruyter. 

Rupp, L. (2013). The
function of Student Pidgin in Ghana. English
Today,
29
(4), 13–22. 

Schiffman, H. (1996). Linguistic
Culture and Language Policy. London and New York: Routledge. 

Schroedler, T. (2018). The
Value of Foreign Language Learning: A Study on Linguistic Capital and the Economic Value of Language
Skills. Wiesbaden: Springer VS. 

Siegel, J. (2008). The
Emergence of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Oxford: Oxford Linguistics.
Simons, G. F., & Fennig, C. D. (Eds.). (2018). Ethnologue: Languages of the World (Twenty-first ed.). Dallas, Texas: SIL International.
Sneyd, L. Q. (2014). Zoning
in: The contributions of buyam–sellams to constructing Cameroon’s wild food
zone. Geoforum,
59
1, 78–86.
Storch, A. (2018). Ruination
and amusement – dialect, youth and revolution in Naija. In R. Bassiouney (Ed.), Identity
and Dialect
Performance (pp. 303–320). Oxon & New York: Routledge.
Todd, L. (1990). Pidgins
and
Creoles. London: Routledge.
Ubanako, V. N. (2015). Cameroon
Pidgin English at the Service of Local Culture, Science and Technology. International Journal
of Language and
Linguistics,
3
(6), 510–515. 

Uwaechia, J. F. (2016). A
Sociolinguistic Analysis of The Use of Nigerian Pidgin For Interactions In Zaria
Markets (Masters’ Thesis, Department Of English And Literary Studies, Faculty Of Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria). Retrieved October
2020, from [URL]
Wardhaugh, R. (2002). An
Introduction to Sociolinguistics (4th ed.). New York: Blackwell Publishers.
Woodward, J. (2021). Scientific
Explanation. (E. N. Zalta, Ed.) The
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Spring Edition. Retrieved from [URL]
Yakpo, K. (2016). The
only language we speak really well”. The English creoles of Equatorial Guinea and West Africa at the intersection of language
ideologies and language policies. International Journal of the Sociology of
Language, 2016(239), 211–233. 

Yang, B., & Wang, R. (2017). Language
Policy: A Systemic Functional Linguistic Approach. London and New York: Routledge.
Cited by (1)
Cited by one other publication
Yakpo, Kofi
2024.
West African Pidgin: World Language Against the Grain.
Africa Spectrum 59:2
► pp. 180 ff.

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.