IDIOMATIC VARIATION IN NIGERIAN ENGLISH : IMPLICATIONS FOR STANDARDIZATION IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALIZATION

A global phenomenon that involves language use, which has not been given sufficient attention by researchers, is idiomatic variation. In this study, we provide a classification of idioms in Nigerian English based on factors of stability in both formal and colloquial usage, length of usage, and international intelligibility. We also examine the implications of idiomatic variation for standardization in the context of globalization. Against the backdrop of the debate on whether or not the native speakers’ English should be the sole medium of international communication, this study attempts to explain the reasons why different varieties of English should be accorded recognition and allowed to function as media of international communication provided they meet the condition of international intelligibility. In addition to a general discussion of idiomatic variation in Nigerian English, the study provides real examples of idioms in different contexts of communicative performance targeted at global/transnational audience with a view to addressing the subject of “contending with globalization in World Englishes”.


INTRODUCTION
This study attempts to examine the implications of Nigerian English idioms for standardization in the context of globalization.The study focuses on idiomatic variation -an aspect of Nigerian English that has not been exhaustively addressed by researchers.Idiomatic variation merits a careful study as it poses serious pedagogical problems for teachers and learners in an ESL context.The meaning of an idiom is both figurative and unpredictable.Unless efforts are made to determine idiomatic expressions in Nigerian English that merit standardization, users of other varieties will continue to experience difficulties in understanding our variety of English.This does not augur well for mutual intelligibility in the age of globalization.Problems associated with lack of mutual intelligibility among speakers of World Englishes could be tackled with conscious efforts to codify and standardize each variety.In doing this, considerable attention should be paid to idiomatic variation with a view to checkmating its negative influence on mutual intelligibility.
Considering the active participation of Nigerians in sub-regional activities and the growth in the number of foreigners participating in Nigerian economy, it is imperative that Nigerian English be standardized to cope with the demands of globalization.The issue of standardization of Nigerian English has remained problematic without a consensus among scholars as to what should be accepted as standards and what should not.The problem has higher stakes attached to it in the context of globalization with the dominant role of English in global information dissemination.
Using idiomatic variation as an illustration, the present study seeks to bring to the fore the Nigerian/West African perspective which concurs with the World Englishes (WE) paradigm.An idiom, according to Adegbija (2003: 41), is "any word or group of words whose meaning cannot be guessed or deduced from the meanings of the component parts".The phenomenon of idiom, though universal, has its peculiarities in different sociolinguistic environments.In other words, it varies from one society to another owing to factors of culture, influence of the mother tongue and peculiarity of usage.It is also pertinent to note that idiomatic variation is not the same as lexicosemantic variation.As rightly stated by Adegbija (2003: 41), several scholars who have written on lexico-semantic variation in Nigerian English such as Adegbija (1989) and Bamiro (1994) "have tended to lump up lexical variation with idiomatic variation" without making any conscious attempt "to make the necessary distinction between lexical items and idioms".In an effort to distinguish between lexico-semantic variation and idiomatic variation, Adegbija (2003: 41) opines, "[…] whereas the meaning of the lexical items houseboy and house girl in Nigerian English can be easily deduced from the component parts, the meaning of the idiom, small boy in the sense of 'someone who is immature or inexperienced' […] cannot be easily deduced".We may also add that in Nigerian English, while the meanings of the lexical items, bush-meat, go-slow can easily be deduced from the component parts, the meaning of the idiomatic expression, khaki boys in the sense of military men and long throat in the sense of greed cannot be easily deduced.

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
Kachru's Three Circles Theory on the spread of English talks of the inner circle, the outer circle and the expanding circle (Kachru 1986).The inner circle, according to the theory, refers to countries where English is used as L1, e.g.U.K., U.S.A., Australia, etc.The inner circle is largely endonormative as speakers find among themselves the norms of correctness and appropriateness to be propagated through language education (Bruthiaux 2003).Thus, the inner circle's English is norm providing.The ELT prescriptivists would want the entire English-speaking world to stick to this norm as the medium of international communication.The outer circle consists of countries where English is used as L2, especially former British colonial territories, e.g.Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, India, etc.In such countries, English is not only a medium of inter ethnic communication and collaboration; proficiency in it is seen as a ticket for rising up on the socio-economic ladder.This circle of English users is said to be norm developing.There is therefore a gradual shift from exonormative to endonormative in quest of linguistic selfreliance.In spite of this gradual shift, there exists among English users in this circle, a perception that Anglo-American norms are somehow superior to their own variants (Bruthiaux 2003: 2).The expanding circle consists of users of English as a foreign language (FL).These are countries that are neither in the inner nor in the outer circles, notably Brazil, Italy, Morocco, etc.Such foreign users of English have the tendency to be exonormative as they look unto L1 users for linguistic norms.Since this circle is norm dependent, the idea of seeking for linguistic self-reliance (which characterizes the outer circle) has not arisen.Although Kachru's theory has been criticized on grounds of being "descriptively and analytically inconsistent" and failing to account for dialectal variation within each variety of English (Bruthiaux 2003: 3), the theory remains a handy tool for explaining the spread of English even in the context of globalization, as it accords hitherto denigrated varieties the needed recognition.The English-speaking world would have suffered the loss of the innovative capability and communicative potentials of non-native Englishes if not for Kachru's Three Circles Theory.
The dominant role of English in the era of globalization remains unquestionable but it does not have to be a single global English as no language can be used exactly the same way all over the world and adequately express the socio-cultural heritage of all its users.
Globalization, according to Fairclough (2000: 165), is "the tendency for economic, social, political and cultural processes to take place on a global scale rather than within the confines of particular countries or regions".This implies "the universalization of concepts, movements, technology, markets, etc. in the context of a compressed world" (Awonusi 2004: 85).This however does not imply the neutralization of cultural peculiarities of different linguistic entities.Since language is an expression of culture, it becomes unavoidable for L2 users of English to bring in innovations that give expression to their cultural heritage.As rightly opined by Bamgbose (1998: 1), "a non-native English situation is basically an innovative situation involving certain well-known processes of Nativization".Adegbija (2004: 23-29) explicates different levels of domestication (Nativization) of English in Nigeria.They include lexical domestication, idiomatic domestication, phonological domestication, grammatical/syntactic domestication, pragmatic/ cultural domestication and semantic domestication.The present study focuses on idiomatic domestication as seen in the following data.
3. DATA PRESENTATION Adegbija (2003: 42-46) presents an inventory of one hundred and two Nigerian English idioms.Although the list is by no means exhaustive of all idioms in the repertoire of Nigerian English, it contains most of the well known idioms whose usage cuts across different geo-political zones of the country.The present study utilizes this list but provides additionally a classification of the idioms in the list based on stability in both formal and colloquial usage and restriction to colloquial usage.Another classification done is on the basis of age (length of usage), and international intelligibility.In addition we present real examples in communicative performance targeted at global/transnational audience.Thus we have illustrations I to VI as follows:

DATA ANALYSIS
Illustration I above presents examples of idioms that are fairly stable in both formal and colloquial usage.Idioms such as "public dog", "kola", "to take in", "to put to bed", "to escort a guest", etc. are commonly used in both formal and informal contexts in Nigeria.Their usage also cuts across different geo-political zones of the country.Their usage across different contexts and geo-political zones for a long time is a testimony to their social acceptability.Most idioms in this category may stand the test of time if considered as candidates for standard Nigerian English idioms.
Illustration II presents examples of Nigerian English idioms whose usage is restricted mainly to colloquial contexts.Thus we have in this category, pidgin expressions such as "I dey kampe" (attributed to former President Obasanjo); "siddon look" (attributed to the late Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige); "wetin you carry" (attributed to policemen at check points); and other expressions such as "a man of timber and caliber" (attributed to the late Dr K. O. Mbadiwe); "to step aside" (attributed to former military ruler, General Babangida); "to wet the ground" (derived from Yoruba idiom (d'omi si'le ko tele tutu) etc. Idioms in this category are hardly used in formal contexts.Although their usage cuts across different geo-political zones, their restriction to colloquial usage may limit their chances of being admitted into the candidacy of standard Nigerian English idioms.
Illustration III presents examples of idioms that have been consistently used for a very long time in Nigerian English.Such idioms as "son of the soil", "bottom power", "to take in", "tokunbo", "to put hands together", "to be stinkingly rich", etc. have not only existed for long in Nigerian English, their usage cuts across different geo-political zones as well as contexts of usage.The age-old existence of the idioms in this category implies their stability in Nigerian English and subsequently, the likelihood of their being accepted as candidates of standard Nigerian English idioms.
Illustration IV presents more or less the opposite of Illustration III in terms of age or length of usage.The existence of this class of idioms is fairly recent and their stability in Nigerian English cannot be guaranteed for now as some of them remain unpopular with the vast majority of the Nigerian elite.Thus, idioms such as "to be kudied" (attributed to the assassination of Mrs. Kudirat Abiola); "Toronto" (attributed to the fake certificate of Third Republic Speaker of the House of Representative, Alhaji Buhari who claimed (falsely) to have graduated from the University of Toronto); "Maradona" (referring to a dribbler or one who mystifies others by virtue of his deceptive and wily skills), etc. may be confined to colloquial usage and as such, not be admitted into the candidacy of standard Nigerian English idioms until they have gained more popularity among the elite.
Illustration V presents examples of idioms referred to by Adegbija (2003: 46) as sharing: the same semantic sense with similar idioms in native English contexts but are structurally or lexically different from their exact native equivalents, sometimes by the use of a different verbal particle or a different lexical item.Thus expressions such as "to cope up with" (instead of to cope with); "to round up" (instead of to round off); "to voice out" (instead of to voice) etc. which are probably derived from their native English equivalents but structurally modified to reflect Nigerian usage have not only existed for long in Nigerian English, they are very popular among the Nigerian elite of different geo-political zones.Idioms in this category have an additional advantage of mutual intelligibility with speakers of English in other nations due to their similarity with native English idioms.They therefore stand the chance of being accepted as good candidates of standard Nigerian English idioms.
Illustration VI presents different contexts of communicative performance in which Nigerian English idioms feature.Such contexts include interviews on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Voice of America (VOA) as well as speeches involving prominent Nigerians targeted at global/transnational audience.Such idiomatic expressions as "dancing round the well and not daring to jump" (by M.K.O.Abiola); "should have his head examined" (by Gani Fawehinmi); "the shining light in Africa" (by Yeni Anikulapo-Kuti); "never worship sudden, unexplained wealth" (by Ikedi Ohakim), etc. might be problematic for users of other varieties of English if no efforts are made to standardize Nigerian English.

IMPLICATIONS OF IDIOMATIC VARIATION IN NIGERIAN ENGLISH
In the past, several scholars queried the authenticity of Nigerian English as a legitimate dialect of the English language, but over the years, such scholars realized the existence of regional variations of English usage.This realization has invariably doused the controversy over the acceptability or otherwise of Nigerian English.However, the problem that remains unsolved till date is the question of standardization of Nigerian English.We cannot talk of standard Nigerian English if no efforts are made to standardize the idiomatic expressions peculiar to it.Idiomatic variation in Nigerian English has implications for formal usage, age (length of usage) social acceptability and international intelligibility particularly in the context of globalization.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NORMAL USE
Idioms that are used not just as colloquial expressions but in formal contexts could be considered standard while those whose usage is restricted to informal contexts cannot be accepted as standard.The reason for this is that such idioms that are used in formal contexts such as in literary works and official documents have the tendency to be permanently entrenched in the language due to their apparent acceptance by the elite and their expanded role (employed for both formal and colloquial usage) while the idioms that are restricted to colloquial usage may not remain permanent in the language due to their restricted usage.Illustration I of our data is therefore proposed as representing a class of standard Nigerian English idioms while Illustration II represents a class of idioms that cannot be accepted as standard.

IMPLICATIONS FOR AGE OR LENGTH OF USAGE
Idioms that are as old as Nigerian English cannot be divorced from our variety of English.They have been able to stand the test of time and their stability remains unquestionable.Such idioms as we have in Illustration III should therefore be considered standard, while idioms that are recent in Nigerian English such as we have in Illustration IV cannot be considered standard as no one knows how stable they will be in Nigerian English.

IMPLICATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL INTELLIGIBILITY
Idioms that share the same semantic sense with native English idioms as exemplified in Illustration V should be considered standard as their usage enhances international intelligibility -a most crucial factor of English usage in the age of globalization.Communicating with international economic partners such as China, ECOWAS and OPEC member nations makes international intelligibility mandatory.In fact, any idiom impedes effective communication with nationals of other countries should not be accepted as standard Nigerian English idioms.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL ACCEPTABILITY
Idioms that have not enjoyed social acceptability across cultures and geo-political zones should not be accepted as standard Nigerian English idioms.Examples such as "to hit", "to shack oneself dry", "black assurance" (Illustration II), "to be kudied", "Toronto" (Illustration IV), etc. have not enjoyed a reasonable degree of social acceptability especially among the Nigerian elite.They should therefore not be accepted as standard Nigerian English idioms.

CONCLUSION
In this study, efforts have been made to classify the idioms in Nigerian English into different classes with a view to determining which of them could be recommended as standard and which could not.The study observes that idioms that are stable in formal usage and those that satisfy the condition of international intelligibility are suitable for inclusion in standard Nigerian English idioms.The same applies to idioms that have the same semantic sense with native English idioms but structurally different from their exact native English equivalents.The study also reveals that in the context of globalization, idiomatic variation has implications for standardization in the areas of age (length of usage), degree of formal usage, social acceptability and international intelligibility.