Spelling Pronunciation in Nigerian Variety of English
Keywords:
Pronunciation, Spelling, Nigerian English, Phonemic Sound, OrthographyAbstract
This research examines the spelling pronunciation of Nigerian version of English. A stratified random sampling technique was used to select twenty (20) participants who fall into the sophisticated variety lll of Udofot’s classification of Nigerian Speakers of English. The theoretical framework for this research is Error Analysis. A questionnaire with prepared single words of monosyllabic, disyllabic and multisyllabic was given to the participants to read, while their pronunciations were recorded for proper analysis. The audio recorded words were listened to and transcribed appropriately using the Daniel Jones’ English pronouncing dictionary as a yardstick. Perceptual method of data analysis was used to analyse the data collected from the participants. The analysis revealed that the participants pronounced English words using orthography instead of the phonemic sounds. It was discovered that silent graphemes such as /b/ in “bomb” /bɒm/, /l/ in “calf” /ka:f/, /w/ in “sword” /sɔ:d/ were made audible during pronunciations. Also, word like “Peugeot” /pɜ:ʒәʊ/ was realized as /pɜ:ʒәʊt/. The analysis shows insertion and deletion of phonemic sounds.
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