By Abdussalam Amoo
Back in secondary school, particularly in our French class, we were taught that "Good afternoon" means "Bonne aprés midi". However, I learnt from a French teacher yesterday that the concept of "Good afternoon " is nonexistent in native French. Shall we now call the injection of such an expression, among others into French a case of the existence of a variety of French called English French?
In other words, the expression "Bonne aprés midi" was just to satisfy the conception of afternoon greeting among non-French speakers with an afternoon greeting. Then, the "bonjour" we interpret as "good morning" simply means "Good day", according to the teacher.
Then, while waiting on one oga this morning, I remember seeing the end credit of TVC's Your View. They sacrificed Nigerian native speakers' conception of "Good morning" to satisfy the English expression. Thank God only Yoruba was saved from this calculated damage (most members of the production team are Yoruba). Kàárọ is Yoruba people's "Good morning". It would have been a misnomer to say something else. But 'otutu oma" and "tsafe yana mai kyau" as presented on the show do not reflect the Igbo or Hausa worldview of morning greeting. The Igbo would say "Ibọlachi/Isala chi" while the Hausa say "Ina kwana/Antashi lafiya" while greeting in the morning. Would this TV show style if found replicated give rise to the varieties called English Igbo and English Hausa if such a language "murder" continues?
Another language related experience this afternoon was at the mosque where I observed the Jumah. It's quite unusual to find the Imam delivering the sermon beyond using Arabic and Yoruba (in Yoruba dominated areas), Arabic and Hausa (in Hausa dominated areas), Arabic and Igbo (in Igbo dominated areas) or Arabic and English (in multilingual dominated areas). The unusual thing in this case was the use of Arabic and Yoruba by the Imam, with an interpreter using Hausa. I've prayed in mosques dominated by either indigenous language speakers but I've found this case uncommon.
As poor as my proficiency in Hausa is, I was able to spot some possible errors on the part of the Hausa interpreter. Mallam was using Imam's Yoruba concepts literarily in his translation. e.g. When Yoruba people pray for "Àwọn tí ń wojú Ọlọ́hun", they don't mean "those looking into the eyes of God". Rather, they mean "those looking to God's help/those seeking God's help". There may have been quite a number of influences on the Hausa of Hausa people who don't visit 'home' for long. Shall we classify these influences as leading to the variety called Yoruba Hausa or Hausa Yoruba?
It's understood that while one is translating a concept from one language to another, one has to look out for linguistic and cultural approximates in the target language while not sacrificing the intended meaning in the source language. The lack of the concept in the target language leads to various morphological transformations. Part of this is where varieties of a native language may emerge. This may also be related to giving cultural connotations of the new environment the language is being used.
The Englishmen had no concept called iroko or mirror but had to adopt each (from Yoruba and Arabic) into their language to convey the concepts as they existed in the language from which they were borrowed. Then, you wouldn't translate "ata (sá) pá mi lórí" as "pepper ran to bald my head" but "I choked on sth". What about calling a group of women your mothers? That would not be understood by a native speaker of English who sees the concept of mother to be applicable to one person. There is a thin line between error in expressions and varieties of usage.
I'm aware that the existence of the variety called Nigerian English is still being debated by linguists. Isn't it time we started debating these changing natures of our indigenous languages owing to influences from within and without too?
Abdussalam Amoo
Editor and Content Developer, EduCeleb.com
PS: Originally posted 2-3-2018
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