ABSTRACT
This essay is going to examine the use or Nigerian Pidgin in Ipodo and Alade markets. Chapter one treats the background study, hypotheses, aim of the study, objectives scope of study, and limitations of study, while the second chapter will treat in detail the review of related literature in Nigerian pidgin English the role of pidgin English in Nigeria, the growth of Nigerian pidgin, the role or the government attributed status, attitudes towards Nigerian pidgin English – society, tense and aspect or Nigerian pidgin.
Chapter three looks into the presentation of data while chapter four treats the data analysis.
The fifth chapter concludes this essay by re-emphaising the importance and use of pidgin English in trade in Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
A pidgin is a reduced language that results from extended contact between groups of people with no language in common. It evolves when they need some verbal communication, perhaps for trade but no group learns the native language of any other group for social reasons that may include lack of trust or of close contact.
A typical definition of any pidgin is invariably in two parts: a reference to its nature/function and a reference to the situations that give rise to it. Thus, Reinecke [1964:534] tells us that “a minimum or makeshift language [arises] when men of different speech are thrown into contact and must reach an understanding … ” and Todd [1974:1] defines a pidgin as “a marginal language which arises to fulfill certain restricted communication needs among people who have no common language.”
In these two definitions, a pidgin is described as minimal, makeshift or marginal, which suggests that it is not a full language, does not have a long history and is not central to the communicative codes available to its users. It is also claimed in each definition that the kind of situation that gives rise to a pidgin is one in which the people in contact have no language in common.