ASPECTS OF LEXICAL FEATURES OF NIGERIAN ENGLISH BASED PIDGIN IN THE SOUTH – SOUTH REGION

Abstract
Pidgin-English has become a common linguistic code of communication in the South-South region of Nigeria. Like many other languages, the lexicon of Pidgin-English has expanded to express new ideas, concepts, objects and new realities. It is indeed, evident that innumerable new words are needed in Pidgin-English in the South-South region to handle ever increasing linguistic needs of the speakers/users of the language. The paper examines some aspects of lexical features in Pidgin-English. Content Analysis model (CA) is used in examining textual information and utterances recorded in Pidgin-English with the aim to ascertain the processes of lexical formation of Pidgin-English in the South-South region. The paper identifies that borrowing, creativity, calquing, reduplication among other factors are processes through which Pidgin-English lexicon in the South-South is formed. The paper observes that Pidgin-English has developed a large number of lexical items to help its speakers/users communicate effectively in whatever sphere of discourse. It therefore concludes that Pidgin-English has become a medium by which socio-cultural thoughts can be transmitted from one generation to the other in the South-South region because of its vast lexical items.