Nativization of English in African Literary Texts: A Lexico-semantic Study of Transliteration in Gabriel Okara’s the Voice Ebi Yeibo
Chapter One
Preamble of the Study
This debate which has dominated Africa literature in the past fifty years (Osundare, 2004), stems from the recognition among African scholars/writers of the centrality of language to literature, and the close connection between political independence and cultural emancipation. As literary works are cultural artifacts, the basic thinking is that, the use of colonial languages in African literature is a willing perpetuation of imperialism. Significantly, there has been a sustained polarity of opinion about the appropriate attitude the African writer should adopt to this phenomenon. These range from the fervidly nationalist to the stridently compromising. Osundare (2004) identifies three “attitudes” viz: (i) accomodationist, (ii) gradualist, and (iii) radicalist.
According to this scholar, the first group (i.e. accommodationist), which has as its chief promoter, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, favours an outright use of imperialist languages; while the “gradualists” are “the dwellers of the middle of the road”, prominent among whom is Ali Mazrui who advocates a de-Anglicization and re- Africanization of the English language, to authentically convey Africa’s literary sensibilities. The third group, on the other hand, is the “radicalist” composed of writers who call for an immediate adoption of indigenous African languages as the media of literary expression. Obi Wali and Ngugi Wa Thiongo are proponents and exponents of this attitude. Instructively, majority of African writers belong to the “gradualist” group identified above (i.e. indigenizing the colonial language).
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Ngugi Wa Thiongo and Immeh Ikiddeh. b) Those who have followed the sophisticated formal English expression e.g. Okigbo, Soyinka, Dennis
Brutus, J.P. Clark-Bekederemo, e.t.c. c) Those who, following Janheiz Jahn, have suggested that European languages, for instance, English, be used in such a way that languages bear the African cultural experience while remaining intelligible internationally. Chinua Achebe‟s novels, especially Things Fall Apart and Arrow of God, and the poetry of Okot P „Bitek and Kofi Awoonor illustrate this category. d) Those who advocate transliteration as a way of keeping intact African cultural heritage while using
foreign words, e.g. Gabriel Okara, AS illustrated in his novel, The Voice e) Those who may be described as following a plural code e.g. Ken Saro Wiwa (whose literary oeuvre is a pot-pourri of linguistic codes with which he has experimented in his work. His novel, Sozaboy, for instance, comes in Nigerian pidgin English; his poetry collection Songs in a Time of war, is in both Nigerian “Standard” English and in Nigerian pidgin English; while several of his biographical works are in sophisticated Nigerian English, just as his posthumously published novel.
Generally, it is germane to note that African scholars who advocate the use of indigenous languages are goaded on by nationalist sentiments, while their counterparts who favour colonial languages place a high premium on the global intelligibility and outreach of a work of art.
Bilingualism and African Literature
We have established Gabriel Okara’s text as a bilingual text. It is, therefore, pertinent to shed some light on the term “bilingualism”, in relation to African literature. Bloomfield (1933) defines the term as “the native-like control of two languages”. Lambert (1977) sees it as “the existence of two languages in the repertoire of an individual or a speech community”. The significant thread that runs through both definitions is that the term reflects a situation where two languages are used side by side, whether by an individual or a given society.
Bilingualism is a product of language contact. Appel and Muystan (1987:1) confirm inter alia: “Language contact inevitably leads to bilingualism.” The inference of this is that, at least, two different languages with distinctive features (i.e. lexical, semantic, phonological and syntactic) must come into contact for bilingualism to occur or manifest. Akindele and Adegbite (1992) identify factors such as colonialism, commerce, conquest, annexation and war, etc, as having the potentials to precipitate such language contacts.
The bilingual situation in Africa is traceable to the historical accident of colonialism, which was a by-product of the Berlin conference of 1885, where African nations were balkanized among imperial powers (i.e. Britain, France, Portugal), for administrative purposes. The corollary is that African countries are either Anglophone or Francophone, etc. in addition to the sundry local languages spoken by the compatriots. As literature is an expressive art, the consequent complex linguistic situation is reflected in the literature of these African countries, as explored above.
Alo (1998) has outlined some devices used by African writers to reflect local or indigenous nuances in their styles viz:
Coinages, borrowing, etc. ii. The use of native similes and metaphors iii. The transfer of rhetorical devices from native languages iv. The translation of native proverbs, idioms, etc. v. The use of culturally dependent speech styles vi. The use of syntactic devices and deviation vii. Code-switching and code-mixing viii. Transliteration.
Chapter Three
Research Design and Methodology
Borrowings with L2 or S.B.E. Equivalents
S/N Source Language (LI) S.B.E. Equivalent (L2)
1 One whose head is not correct (p. 22) A lunatic 2 Search with all his inside (p. 23) Zealously; committedly 3 Fall from our jobs (p. 25) Lose our jobs 4 Search with all his shadow (p. 23) Spiritedly 5 His eyes were not right (p. 23) Insane 6 Okolo has no chest (p. 23) Lacks courage 7 Day’s eye (p. 61) Weather 8 Take the canoe to the ground (p. 53 ) Ashore 9 Hunger held him (p. 52) He was hungry 10 Tell me the bottom of it (p. 40) Meaning; reason; rationale 11 Entered our ears (p. 51) Heard 12 Put a law (p. 51) Make or enact a law 13 Bad head (p. 68) Unlucky; ill-fated 14 When Okolo came to know himself (p.80) Regained consciousness 15 From this standing moment (p. 53) From this moment
As earlier stated, the linguistic items in the foregoing table have L2 (SBE) equivalents, which are shown on the right-hand side. The critical point is that, the author ignores the S.B.E form, and uses the source language (L1) form, in line with the technique of transliteration adopted in the text. Semantic Shift/Extension In this situation, the meaning of standard English words are extended to accommodate local sentiments or concepts. It is pertinent to observe that, in Okara’s The Voice, semantic extension is a product of transliteration. Let us illustrate this phenomenon with the following two examples: i. What I do with my money does not touch you (p.92) ii. Did he no part of your body touch? (p. 65)
In S.B.E., “to touch” suggests physical contact. Hornby (2000) defines it as “to be or come so close together that there is no space between”. In the context of (i) above, Okara has extended it to mean “concern” i.e. “what I do with my money is not your business”. In the context of (ii) above, on the other hand, the term has been extended to mean “a deliberate, sensual or lustful contact”. In the LI of the author, the term could also suggest copulation or sexual intercourse i.e. “have you touched her?” The major point here is that, the term carries semantic properties of the LI of the author which extend beyond their native English uses. Contextual meaning of Lexical Transliteration Having delineated aspects of lexical transliteration in the text, our next task is to show that these lexical items are only meaningful within the context of the author’s native cultural values and environment. The contextual theory of meaning is associated with systemic linguists and constructs can only be decoded against the background of the pattern of signification in the source language. According to Brumfit and Carter (1986:145):
…the more culture-bound the style becomes, the more distance is created between the native varieties of English and the non-native varieties. The fact is that, apart from culture-bound lexical constructs such as “spoilt world” (which means corrupt world); ‘surface-water things’ (hypocrisy) “search with all his inside” (spiritedly); “had no chest” (lacks courage); “day’s eye” (weather), etc, Okara’s transliteration in his The Voice is foregrounded by his use of forms for which options are readily available. For illustration, let us examine the table below:
S\N L1 Transliteration Options in the L2 I Teme 0) Spirit (ii) Shadow Ii Gomu iye Straight thing\true, honest, genuine Lii Gesi iye True \ honest thing
The table above shows that (i) teme which is the LI form, is an ambiguous word. The two meanings are shown in the L2 code.
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