CULTURAL-LINGUISTIC HYBRIDISATION OF ETUNO IN IGARA, AKOKO-EDO

This article examines a hybrid influence of colonial renaissance, contact of Yoruba, Akoko and Edoid languages, and the overriding influence of Nigerian Pidgin – a sort of lingua franca in the South-south geopolitical zone in Nigeria and a language of street communication – on Etuno, a dialect of Ebira in Akoko-Edo area of Edo state. The study examines 56 sentences collected from social interaction and less formal discourse usually in beer parlours, street talks, relaxation joints, motor parks, chit-chat talk among peers and among neighbours within a compound setting and in market interactions. Out of a total sixty (60) items that are infused into the 56 Ẹtunọ sentences by the various subjects, forty-five (45) of them are from English while fifteen (13) are from NP and we have two (2) items borrowed from Yoruba. These two (2) items actually are place names; “Ibadan” and “Eko”, which had to be loaned directly and used as such without any structural influence from Ẹtunọ. It is observed that code-mixing (switch at word/phrasal level) and loaning dominates the speech form of the subjects especially in a more relaxed setting. It is also observed that the infusion of English items is more prominent than NP. The finding shows a mix in the cultural pattern which reflects hybridisation of way of life, dressing, building, cultural values and beliefs.