Available via license: CC BY-NC-ND 3.0
Content may be subject to copyright.
ISSN 2335-2019 (Print), ISSN 2335-2027 (Online)
Darnioji daugiakalbystė | Sustainable Multilingualism | 10/2017
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/sm-2017-0005
-98-
Jean Paul Kouega
University of Yaounde I, Cameroon
Mildred Aseh
University of Yaounde I, Cameroon
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN
CAMEROON
Summary. This study, which deals with code-switching and language choice in
multilingual contexts, describes the use of Pidgin in creative works in English in Cameroon,
with the focus on the forms that this language takes in the works, the types of characters
who are made to speak this language, and the functions that this language plays in these
works. The data comprise three plays and two novels, all published between 2000 and 2006
by experienced writers who have a good command of English and yet make their characters
speak in Pidgin. The analysis shows that Pidgin in the corpus takes the form of individual
lexemes like salaka (libation, sacrifice) and relatively short utterances like This sun fit kill
man (This sun is so hot that it can kill someone.). The characters who speak Pidgin in these
literary works are generally low-ranking and rural people, illiterates and other people who
are hardly looked up to in the Cameroonian society. Finally, Pidgin helps writers to realise
some stylistic effects such as variations on the scale of formality, with English being used
when addressing a superior person and Pidgin when addressing an inferior person. Most
importantly, creative writers reproduce in their works what is observed in the Cameroonian
society and this can be regarded as a formal way of enhancing their readers’ plurilingual
competence.
Keywords: Cameroon Pidgin English; creative works; code switching; attitude; language
choice.
Introduction
In Cameroon, Pidgin is reported to be used in many domains of language use:
home, neighbourhood, work place, school, religion, court, official correspondence,
media and public places. Unfortunately, very little is known about how it is
actually used in each domain. This study takes up one domain, i.e. the media,
and focuses on one type of print media, i.e. creative writing. Although Pidgin is
hardly used to produce creative works in Cameroon, this language does occur in
creative writing in other languages, notably works in English and French. This
study examines Pidgin in creative works in English in Cameroon. The questions
underlying the investigation are:
- what form does Pidgin take in creative works in Cameroon?
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-99-
- which characters are made to speak Pidgin in the works?
- what functions does Pidgin play in the works?
The frame adopted for the research is an aspect of Gumperz’s (1982)
“contextualization cue” and of Myers-Scotton’s (1993) markedness theory, this
aspect being language choice in bilingual and multilingual contexts. Language
choice is a feature that generally surfaces in studies of bilingualism and
multilingualism; it refers to the factors which determine the choice of one
language rather than the other(s) in the bilingual or multilingual speaker’s
language repertoire. Strangely enough, no specific frame for the description of
this phenomenon has been developed. In his “contextualization cue”, Gumperz
observes that code-switching and code-mixing signal a change in topic, attitude,
or interest since each one of the various languages within multilingual societies
has its specific identity and function. In her markedness theory, Myers-Scotton
examines the rationale behind interlocutors’ linguistic choices. According to this
theory, in any bilingual speech event, there are unmarked linguistic choices and
marked choices. The unmarked linguistic choice is that which is accepted by the
particular linguistic community as the norm in any given speech event. On the
other hand, the marked linguistic choice is what is customarily regarded as
unacceptable in any given speech event. In multilingual communities, the
switched variety is the unmarked choice. The answers to the research questions
outlined above will shed light on the overall attitude of Cameroonians to Pidgin.
The work is divided into three sections titled background to the study,
methodology, results and discussion. These are considered in turn.
Background to the Study
The language situation in Cameroon, the place of Pidgin in the country’s linguistic
landscape and creative works in English in this country are overviewed below.
Cameroon is a country where some 20 million inhabitants speak several
languages. First, over 250 different ancestral languages (Ethnologue, 2005;
Kouega, 2007a; Lewis, Simons & Fennig, 2014) are used by various communities
in the country. Second, four major non-localised lingua francas, i.e. Beti,
Camfranglais, Fulfulde, and Pidgin co-exist; they have in common that they
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-100-
straddle two or more of the ten regions of the country. Lastly, there are two
imported languages that jointly serve official functions, i.e. French and English.
Fulfulde is dominant in three northern regions of Cameroon,
i.e. Adamawa, North and Far North. It is the language of the Muslim Fulbes who
conquered the northern half of Cameroon before colonisation. Originally, this
territory was inhabited by various Sudanese communities. Then groups of Fulbe
people, also known as Fulani, came from Senegal, passed through northern
Nigeria and Cameroon and went as far as Chad and Sudan. Characteristically,
they were Muslims on a crusade aimed at evangelising the Kirdis, or pagans. The
first groups of Fulbe to arrive, though converted to Islam, were not strong
believers in this religion. Their major occupation was animal husbandry, and they
successfully integrated themselves among the Sudanese communities they met.
The next groups of Fulbe immigrants came from Nigeria, purposely to teach the
Koran and to convert, by will or by force, all pagans they encountered. They
succeeded in conquering the whole of northern Cameroon, from Lake Chad to the
Adamawa plateau, seizing all fertile lands, thus forcing non-believers (i.e. the
Sudanese), to seek refuge in inaccessible high lands. The native speakers of
Fulfulde are estimated at around 700,000 and the total number of its users within
the country may be over five million out of the country’s population of 15 million
people in 2003. Speakers of its variants are found in the area stretching from
Senegal through Cameroon to Sudan, and are estimated at around 13 million
(Ethnologue, 2005). Ideally, one can operate in northern Cameroon (Far North,
North, and Adamawa and even part of the north of the East region) with a
rudimentary knowledge of Fulfulde. However, the language is associated in the
minds of most people with Islam, since its speakers tend to be Muslims who
occasionally use it to teach the Koran (Abdkrm, 2000).
Beti is spoken in the south of Cameroon (Centre and South regions as
well as the southern part of the East region) and in the north of three
neighbouring countries, i.e. Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo. It is the group
name of a cluster of mutually intelligible ancestral languages spoken in this
region. These languages include Bebele, Bulu, Eton, Ewondo, Fang and Mangisa,
to cite only the most dominant ones in Cameroon. Together, Beti speakers, found
in Cameroon in the forest zone in the southern half of the country, are estimated
at around two million (Ethnologue, 2005). Second language users of Beti, who are
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-101-
mainly immigrants who reside in – or people who usually visit – the East and
South regions, speak a simplified variety of the language commonly referred to as
Petite Ewondo or Mongo Ewondo (Koenig, 1983). Although the languages of this
group share a high proportion of linguistic features, their speakers view
themselves as sharing a common culture but not a common language. This may
be one of the reasons why Ethnologue (2005) regards these languages as
separate entities rather than dialects of the same language, as Dieu and Renaud
(1983) did.
Camfranglais is a language variety spoken throughout the national
territory by most educated youths who have attained secondary education. It is a
created mixed language variety whose syntax follows the French language
pattern and whose lexical elements are drawn from French, English, Pidgin and
other widespread languages in Cameroon. Consider, for example, the following
speaking turn extracted from a conversation:
Moi, je ne lap pas avec lui, mais il est came me tell son anniv.
[Me, I not laugh – with him, but he came me tell his birthday]
(Me, I do not chat with him, but he came to tell me about his birthday.)
In this utterance, the English lexical words lap (from “to laugh”), came (from
“to come”), and tell (“to tell”) are inserted into a French-based structure.
Functionally, Camfranglais resembles a slang, which youngsters use to
communicate among themselves to the exclusion of non-group members. Fluent
users are secondary school students, who eventually leave school and become
soldiers and policemen, thieves and prisoners, gamblers and conmen, musicians
and comedians, prostitutes and vagabonds, hair stylists and barbers, peddlers
and labourers and, in a few cases, high-ranking civil servants and businessmen.
This language form seems to be preferred by youngsters when they discuss
issues of importance to them such as food and drink, money, sex, physical
appearance, states of mind, reference to kin and other people, to name only a
few domains. A look at its origin shows that it emerged in the early eighties,
when the decision to promote bilingualism in education by teaching English as a
subject in French-medium secondary schools in the country was fully
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-102-
implemented, as a later section below will show. Various aspects of this language
variety have been examined in the last three decades by such researchers as Ze
Amvela (1989), Biloa (1999, 2003), Echu (2001), Kouega (2003a, 2003b, 2013).
These studies clearly show that this language form is a variant of Cameroon
French.
Pidgin is spoken mainly in the two Anglophone regions of Cameroon and
the two francophone regions adjacent to these ones, i.e. Littoral and West
regions. Elsewhere other languages of wider communication are dominant.
Ethnologue (2005) estimated the number of its speakers, who are mainly second
language users, to be around two million people when the country’s population
was around 15 million. According to some researchers (e.g. Todd & Hancock,
1986, p. 90), it is spoken by ‘50% of the population’ and it is ‘becoming a mother
tongue in some urban communities’. In a study carried out in 1983, Mbangwana
found that this language was different from the others spoken in the country in
that it was a ‘non-ethnic language’; besides, it was spoken throughout the
country for out-group communication between people of all levels. Mbangwana
also observed that Pidgin was used in the media especially in advertisements, in
music production among stars such as Nico Barga (a very popular musician in the
1970s), in political rallies especially in the two anglophone regions and the two
neighbouring Francophone regions. It was said to be the language of religion as
well as the commonest code for buying and selling and for story-telling. In a more
recent study, Kouega (2001) found that Pidgin was spoken by educated people in
various settings: in the home with their household helps, in the neighbourhood in
interactions with friends, neighbours and traders and in the work place, especially
when giving instructions to subordinates or interacting with equals. Today, it is
used in the spoken media, especially radio stations such as Mount Cameroon in
Buea, Radio Siantou in Yaounde, FM 105 in Douala, the Northwest Regional radio
station (CRTV) in Bamenda.
Some researchers have attempted to examine the relationship that exists
between Pidgin and the other languages spoken in the country. To Dieu and
Renaud (1983), Pidgin does not belong to any of the language families identified
in Cameroon. As Ethnologue (2005) points out, it does not have adult mother
tongue speakers, although a few cases of young L1 speakers are occasionally
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-103-
found in the country, especially in mixed marriage homes. Just as the various
languages spoken in Cameroon have affected Pidgin – as will be shown later – so
too has Pidgin affected Cameroon languages. Actually, Pidgin has been the main
lexifier of the indigenous languages spoken in the southern half of the country.
During the years 1885–1915 when the Germans settled in Cameroon, Pidgin was
already a fully-grown language, and it was used in interactions between the
colonizers and the indigenes. The Germans had to construct roads, railways and
bridges to cart away agricultural and mining products. To carry out these
development projects, the German administrators needed large numbers of
labourers, who were available in the hinterland. These labourers, who spoke
different indigenous languages, were forced to live together. As the only out-
group language available was Pidgin, the labourers picked it up, thus increasing
the number of its speakers. When these unpaid labourers managed to escape,
they took the Pidgin words they had acquired to their hometowns. When the
Germans finally left the country after the First World War, most labourers went
back to their hometowns, taking along the Pidgin words they had been using.
Today Pidgin is the main lexifier of most Cameroonian languages spoken in both
anglophone Cameroon and the southern half of francophone Cameroon. The
Cameroonian languages for which some information on how they were affected by
Pidgin is available include, among others, Bakweri (Todd, 1982, p. 89), Shu
Pemem (Njoya, 1988), Medumba (Kachin, 1990), Ewondo, i.e. Beti (Fouda, 1991)
and Ngyemboong (Fasse-Mbouya, 2000).
Creative works in English in Cameroon fall into the three common
literature genres, i.e. poetry, drama and prose. Poetry, the least popular of these
three, is the genre chosen by writers like Atemkeng Achanga (“Heart to heart”,
1982), Mbella Sonne Dipoko (“Black and White in love”, 1972) and Mesack Takere
(“Kingfisher poetry: The tortoise”, 1983). Drama made some writers famous, like:
Bate Besong (“Beasts of no nation”, 1990), Bole Butake (“Lake God”, 1986),
Sankie Maimo (“Succession in Sarkov”, 1986). Prose is by far the mode of
expression most frequently chosen by writers, including: Asong Linus (“The crown
of thorns”, 1990), Nsanda Eba (“The good foot”, 1977), Kenjo Jumban (“The
whiteman of God”, 1980), Ngongwikuo (“Taboo love”, 1980). Examining some 27
Cameroonian novels in English, Ambanassom (2007) observed they can be
grouped on the basis of the “what” and “how” of each novel, into five classes,
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-104-
which he labelled as follows: encounter with Europe (Kenjo Jumban, “The White
man of God”, 1980), anti-heroes and societal crooks (Linus Asong, “No way to
die”, 1991), women and sexuality (Mbella Sonne Dipoko, “A few nights and days”,
1966), opposing visions of feminism (Margaret Afuh, “Born before her time”,
2003) and, lastly, alternative ideological visions (Alobwed’Epie, “The death
certificate”, 2004). The present study examines the use of Pidgin in a sample of
literary works.
Methodology
This section describes the period of the study, the informants, the material
collected and the method of data analysis. The period of the study was the years
2000-2006, which is when the attitude of Cameroonians to Pidgin was first
expressed in quantifiable terms (Kouega, 2001). It was felt that creative works
published around that period will support these findings. The creative works of
that period were published by: Anne Tanyi-Tang, Bate Besong, Bole Butake,
Charles Alobwed’Epie, John Nkemngong Nkengasong. These are seasoned
university lecturers who are at the same time, creative writers. As has been
proven elsewhere, they are competent English users and fluent Pidgin speakers
who know how to keep the two languages apart. These writers make their
characters (old men and women, friends, boys and girls, village dwellers to name
only these) speak Pidgin. These characters are the real informants of this study
but since they cannot be described, the profile of the writers who created them is
provided here.
Anne Tanyi-Tang is a playwright and a producer and play director. She
obtained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English at the University of Yaounde,
Cameroon in 1985. Then in 1987, she enrolled in the Department of Drama and
Theatre Studies, Faculty of Humanities University of Kent at Canterbury, England,
where she obtained a Master of Arts (MA). Later on, in 1994, she enrolled in the
Department of Social Anthropology, Faculty of Arts, University of St. Andrews,
Scotland, where she obtained the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Drama,
Theatre and Social Anthropology in July 1994. Bate Besong was educated in
St. Bede’s College Ashing, Hope Waddell Institute Calabar, the University of
Ibadan and at the University of Calabar. His works include Requiem for the last
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-105-
Kaiser (1991), The Banquet (1994) and Just above Cameroon (1998). He was the
winner of the 1992 ANA Literature Drama Prize.
Bole Butake is a writer, critic and theatre director and has organised
workshops throughout the country on various issues using the technique of
Theatre for Development. He was born in Nkor, Noni Subdivision in the North-
West Region of Cameroon. His major publications include Lake God (1986), And
Palm-wine Will Flow (1990), Zintgraff and the Battle of Mankon (2002) and Family
Saga (2005). Charles Alobwed’Epie is a poet, novelist and critic. He studied at the
Universities of Yaounde and Leeds. He attained the grade of Associate Professor
at the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. His major works include The Death
Certificate (2004), The Day God Blinked (2008), The Bad Samaritan (2009), and
The Lady with the Sting (2010). John Nkemngong Nkengasong is a Cameroonian
poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He was educated at the University of
Yaounde 1 where he obtained a PhD. His major publications include Black Caps
and Red Feathers (2001), W. B. Yeats and T.S Eliot: Myths and Poetics of
Modernism (2005), Letters to Marion and several scholarly essays published in
national and international journals. He has been a Fulbright scholar at New York
University, guest writer at the University of Oxford, visiting academic at the
University of Ragenburg, Germany and recently a participant in the International
Writing Program at the University of Iowa, USA.
The corpus collected comprises three plays and two novels. The plays are:
“Beasts of no nation”, “Betrothal without libation” and “My bundle of joy” and the
novels are “The lady with the beard” and “The widow’s might”. Bate Besong’s
“Beasts of no nation” is a piece of drama published in 2003. It is a sixty-one-page
play made up of three parts, labelled: The Parabasis, Beasts of no Nation and
Aadingingin, and the Night-Soil-Men. Bole Butake’s “Betrothal without libation”
was published in 2005. It is a seventy-six-page play made up of three Acts with
Act One having five scenes and Acts Two and Three having four scenes each.
Anne Tanyi-Tang’s “My bundle of joy” was published in 2000. It is a twenty-three-
page play made up of Two Acts with Act 1 having eleven scenes and Act 2 seven
scenes. “The widow’s might”, a novel published in 2006 by John Nkemngong
Nkengasong, is a 152-page book divided into of eight chapters. Alowbwed’Epie’s
“The lady with a beard” which was published in 2005, is a 118-page novel made
up of eighteen chapters.
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-106-
Regarding the method of data analysis, these works were first read and instances
of Pidgin were identified and classified into ordinary words or lexemes and
sentences or utterances. Then the works were read again with the focus this time
on the indexical features of the characters who switched to Pidgin, and the reason
why the writers made these characters switch to Pidgin.
Results and Discussion
The analysis is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on the
linguistic form that Pidgin takes in the corpus. The second section deals with the
characters who are made to speak Pidgin by creative writers and the third section
considers the social factors underlying the choice of Pidgin in the corpus. These
are considered in turn.
Linguistic Forms of Pidgin in the Corpus
Items drawn from Pidgin in the corpus take two broad linguistic forms; they are
generally lexemes and utterances.
Lexemes
Pidgin lexemes are occasionally inserted in creative writing in English in
Cameroon. These lexemes may be direct loans or cases of loan translation. Direct
loans are considered first.
Take the following extract where the loan words Pa, nyongo and mama
are used. Note that italics are used here to highlight these words.
Wase: Pa Bonjo (Njanji’s paternal uncle) was killed by villagers
who claimed that he sold Njanji to nyongo.
Kechen: It’s unthinkable. Mum, does nyongo exist?
Wase: I can’t say precisely. People have talked about it until I
have started believing that it exists.
Kechen: What a world!
Wase: I wished you were there. It was such a pity.
Ketchen: I am sorry, very sorry indeed.
Wase: You see, I don’t want you to come to the village.
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-107-
Kechen: But mama, why must you insist on returning to the
village? You may die just like Njanji.
Wase: I will die when God calls.
Kechen: (Silence) Mama, I am sorry. Perhaps, if I had children
you would have stayed to look after them.
(Tanyi-Tang 2000, pp. 44–45)
In this text, the word Pa can be replaced by “mister”, nyongo by “witchcraft” and
mama by “mummy”; however, the use of their standard equivalents would not
have had the same stylistic effects as the direct loans.
Another set of illustrations is found in the extract below from Nkengasong
(2006, p. 134), where makara, buyam-sellam and okrika are used:
She thought of becoming a Born-Again Christian; she thought of
starting a small makara business, she thought of returning to
town after the burial, borrowing money and starting a chicken
parlour business. But she hated any thing that would bring her
very close to men. A hatred for men made her mind sour. She
thought of becoming a buyam-sellam; of trading in okrika, of
going back to school. She almost laughed at the thought of the
last alternative. She sighed, shook her head and continued to
watch people view the corpse and depart.
In the five-work corpus under study, some 26 direct loans are identified and they
are found to occur 204 times, as Table 1 below shows.
Table 1.
Direct loans in the corpus
CPE
words
Number of instances in the corpus
Total
The
widow’s
might
Betrothal
without
libation
The lady
with a
beard
My
bundle
of joy
Beasts
of no
nation
agbada
2
-
-
-
-
2
Akwara
2
-
-
-
-
2
Ashawo
1
-
-
-
-
1
Ashia
1
-
-
-
-
1
Ashuobi
2
-
-
-
-
2
Bamis
4
-
-
-
-
4
Bonga
1
-
-
-
-
1
buyam-
sellam
1
-
-
-
-
1
come-
no-go
2
-
-
-
-
2
Garri
1
-
-
-
-
1
Graffis
4
1
-
-
-
5
Juju
1
1
-
-
-
2
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-108-
CPE
words
Number of instances in the corpus
Total
The
widow’s
might
Betrothal
without
libation
The lady
with a
beard
My
bundle
of joy
Beasts
of no
nation
Ma
112
3
-
-
-
115
makara
1
-
-
-
-
1
Mama
3
3
2
8
-
16
Mami
4
-
1
1
-
6
Muyo
-
-
7
-
-
7
ngrimba
2
-
-
-
-
2
Njangi
1
-
-
-
-
1
Nyango
1
-
2
-
-
3
Nyongo
-
-
-
2
-
2
Okrika
1
-
-
-
-
1
Okro
1
-
-
-
-
1
Pa
5
3
-
1
-
9
Papa
6
-
-
-
-
6
Potopoto
3
-
-
-
-
3
Sah
-
3
-
-
3
6
Salaka
1
-
-
-
-
1
Total
163
14
12
12
3
204
79.9%
6.86%
5.88%
5.88%
1.47%
100%
The bulk of these loans (79.9% of 204 occurrences) is found in Nkengasong’s
“The widow’s might”, a 152-page novel. The main characters of this eight-chapter
novel are:
Honourable Makata Mbutuku:
Akwenoh (Mami Makata):
Ma Eseke:
Chief Ekwe:
Emade:
Mama:
Madam Opote:
Honourable Malingo:
Member of Parliament for the town of Bakomba
Honourable Mbutuku’s wife
Honourable Mbutuku’s sister
Honourable Mbutuku’s brother
Akwenoh’s friend
Akwenoh’s mother
Widow of a former parliamentarian
The parliamentary group leader
The novel begins with Honourable Makata Mbutuku returning home late with good
news: he was consulted for an appointment to a ministerial post. He shared the
good news with his wife who was very happy and started pondering over how she
would be behaving when she becomes a minister’s wife. Unfortunately, that very
night, Honourable Mbutuku kicked the bucket. From the characters and the story
line of the novel, there is no justification for the high proportion of occurrence of
Pidgin loans in this work.
In the list above, two words seem to stand out; these are Ma, which is
used 115 times out of 204 occurrences of loans in the corpus, i.e. 57.21% and
mama which is used in four of the five-work corpus. These two words mean
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-109-
“mummy” or “mother”. In Table 2, these 26 loans are listed in the corpus and
their meanings as outlined in the dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English (Kouega
2008, 2015):
Table 2.
Meaning of loan words in the corpus
Spelling
in the
corpus
Spelling in
the
dictionary
Meaning
Agbada
abada
a type of gown usually worn by people from the northern
provinces (of Cameroon)
Akwara
akwara
a prostitute
Ashawo
ashawo
a prostitute
Ashia
ashia
a term performing at least three communicative functions:
1. A universal expression of greeting; 2. expression of
compassion addressed to someone who is, say, in pains; 3.
expression of gut and defiance
Ashuobi
ashwabi
A uniform for a ceremony
Bamis
Bami
short for Bamileke, one of the major tribes in Cameroon
Bonga
bonga, buga
or mbonga
dried herring, smoked fish
buyam-
sellam
bayam selam
1. a retailer of food crops, 2. to retail food crops
come-
no-go
kam-no-go
1. a type of skin disease that causes the body to itch and
does not respond to common drugs; 2. a tribalistic label
used by politicians to describe Cameroonians living in the
Southwest province who are not native to the area;
settlement in a place. 3. to go native, to settle in a place
Garri
gari
flour or powder obtained by grating cassava tubers and
then frying the resulting paste
Graffis
Grafi
an indigene of the Grass fields or Bamileke tribes of
Cameroon
Juju
juju
1. medicine man, witch-doctor; 2. something frightful
Ma
Ma
a polite form used in addressing a woman to whom one
wishes to show respect e.g. Ma Regina
makara
akara
(contracted form “akra”; plural: “makara”; plural
contracted: “makra”) small fried balls made out of a special
variety of beans
Mama
Mama
Mother
Mami
Mami
Mother
Mua
mua
to add, raise
Muyo
moyo
1. an in-law 2. any member of the in-law family, both male
and female
ngrimba
grimba
Witchcraft
Njangi
njangi
(money obtained from) a traditional loan system
Nyango
niango
a beautiful girl
Nyongo
niongo
Witchcraft, evil sect or society
Okrika
okrika
second hand clothes imported from Europe and sold in flea
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-110-
Spelling
in the
corpus
Spelling in
the
dictionary
Meaning
markets
Okro
okro
Okra
Pa
Pa
a polite form used in addressing a man to whom one wishes
to show respect e.g. Pa Atabong
Papa
Papa
Father
Potopoto
potopoto
mud, mud house, muddy road
Sah
Sa
Sir
Salaka
saraka
libation, sacrifice
Regarding cases of loan translation, these are Pidgin words or expressions which
are translated into English. An example is book people:
Is that true? And she is your wife? Stop deceiving me. You book
people are very daring. (Bole Butake, 2005, p. 35)
In this extract, “book people” is a translation into English of the Pidgin compound
“buk pipu” which means “people who are educated”. Here is another illustration:
I shall bear no person a grudge. But let me tell you mother-of-
the-sugarcane-grove, if a rat mole returns from an expedition and
meets a new clearing at the entrance of its burrow and does not
move house immediately, it becomes the broth of the next day
meal. I shall move Ntube immediately. I shall send her to the
Mission to live with teacher George and his wife. During the
wedding, they asked me to allow her be their house-girl.
(Alobwed’Epie 2005, p. 103)
The word “house-girl” here is the rendering in English of the Pidgin word “has gel”
i.e. a “house help”.
In the corpus, some nine instances are found (Table 3), the bulk of which
are in Bole Butake’s Betrothal without libation:
Table 3.
Loan translation terms in the corpus
CPE words
Number of instances in the data
Total
The
widow’s
might
Betrothal
without
libation
The lady
with a
beard
My
bundle
of joy
Beasts
of no
nation
book
-
1
-
-
-
1
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-111-
CPE words
Number of instances in the data
Total
The
widow’s
might
Betrothal
without
libation
The lady
with a
beard
My
bundle
of joy
Beasts
of no
nation
book people
-
2
-
-
-
2
country talk
-
1
-
-
-
1
cut corners
1
-
-
-
-
1
direct follower
-
-
1
-
-
1
house girl
-
-
1
-
-
1
medicine-pot
-
1
-
-
-
1
small man
1
-
-
-
-
1
Total
2
5
2
-
-
9
22.2
55.5
22.2
-
-
100%
These nine words express various meanings, as shown in Table 4:
Table 4.
Meaning of loan translation terms in the corpus
Spelling in
the corpus
Spelling in the
dictionary
Meaning
book
Buk
a book, note
book people
buk pipu
educated people
country talk
kontri tok
an indigenous language
cut corners
of a woman, to develop a flirtatious behaviour
(this word failed the tests for integration into
both Cameroon English – Kouega, 2007 – and
Cameroon Pidgin – Kouega, 2008)
direct follower
darek folowa
in a family, a child that comes next to another
child with no other child in between i.e. a junior
brother or sister
house girl
has gel
a house maid, a house help
medicine-pot
merisin, pot
a pot said to be used to make charm (it does
not occur as a compound word)
small man
smol man
a poor man
It should be noted that some of these words, which are good cases of lexical
interference, have entered Cameroon English (Kouega, 2007).
Utterances
By utterance here is meant what a given speaker says during his or her turn of
speaking in a conversation. In the corpus, utterances in Pidgin take two forms:
bilingual dialogue and direct speech.
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-112-
Bilingual dialogue, a term coined by Ze Amvela (1989), is a kind of code-
switching in which one speaker uses one language when addressing some
speakers and another language when addressing other speakers in the same
conversation. Take for example this extract from Bole Butake (2005, p. 23),
where four characters are conversing; these are: Tita, one of Paulina’s customers,
Paulina, a strong traditional liquor bar owner, Fointam, a final year student in a
High Institute of education and Sama, a friend and classmate of Fointam:
Tita: Pass ma two bottles for here.
Paulina: Two bottro?
Tita: Yes, two. And bringam quick. This sun fit kill man.
Fointam: Sama, do you want another bottle?
Sama: Sure, Fointam, sure. The wine is first class. When I taste
this kind of wine I never want to stop.
Fointam: Paulina?
Paulina: Sah?
Fointam: Four bottles-eh?
Paulina: Yes sah.
As can be seen, Tita and Paulina interact in Pidgin and so do Fointam and Paulina
while Foimtam and Sama interact in English.
Here is another illustration where Kechen, Mallam and Boy are
interacting. Kechen is McOkete’s wife, Mallam is a herbalist and Boy is Mallam’s
servant:
Boy: (touching Ketchen) Madam, masa sey make you wait small.
Kechen: Okay. Thank you. (to herself). If the renowned
gynaecologist had succeeded, I
would not have been sitting here and listening to
“madam, masa sey make you wait
small”.
Mallam: (to boy) Tell madam Kechen make ee come inside.
Boy: Madam, mallam sey make you come inside. No forget for
remove your shoes.
Kechen: I don hear. Thank you.
Mallam: Madam. I think sey you don forget we. Wuna dey fine?
Kechen: Yes, but…
Mallam: I know. I bee tell you say make you come back. But you
nobi come. So I be thinks
sey all thing fine. Wait make I finam. (Throws cowries on
the floor and examines
them very carefully. Turning to Kechen). Madam, your
papa ye people dem dee vex
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-113-
with you for sika sey since you married, your masa no di
give them money. (Examines
the cowries a second time). Dey wan one swine, one bag
rice, mukanjo, salt and
tobacco. No forget strong mimbo. Tell ya masa. After you
give dem all these things,
come back for me and I go give you medicine. After three
months, you go carry bele.
My fee na only one thousand francs.
Kechen: So na so ngambe talk?
Mallam: (Irritated). Na so ngambe talk. Last time I ask dee ask
me whether na so ngambe
talk. I no think seyyou wan carry bele .
Kechen: Mallam no vex. I just ask. I go do as you tell me. (Opens
her handbag and hands over
a note of one thousand frs to Mallam). Okay I go see you
next month.
Mallam: Madam waka fine. God go help.
Kechen: Thank you.(Exits. To herself.) How many times must I
placate my father’s relations?
I will do as mallam says. But I will not tell McOkete. He
does not believe in
traditional doctors. I will tell him that I want to visit my
grandmother. He will accept.
(Tanyi-Tang, 2000, pp. 46-47).
Kechen speaks to herself in English and to the other two interlocutors in Pidgin. In
the corpus, six instances are identified (see Table 5), with five occurring in Bole
Butake’s play “Betrothal without libation”.
Table 5.
Instances of bilingual dialogue in the corpus
Title of
books
The
widow’s
might
Betrothal
without
libation
The lady
with the
beard
My
bundle
of joy
Beasts of
no nation
Total
Occurrences
of bilingual
dialogue
-
5
-
1
-
6
%
-
83.3%
-
16.6%
-
100%
Direct speech, on the other hand, refers to the quoting of a speaker’s words
exactly as they were said. Graphologically, these words are placed within
quotation marks. Here is an example:
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-114-
Presently Ntube saw a woman in over flowing Igbo gowns
dragging two huge bags towards the hut. “My pikin, com helep
me,” the stranger entreated. Ntube ran to her and helped tug one
of the bags into the hut. (Alobwed’Epie, 2005, p. 32)
Another example drawn from “The widow’s might” runs thus:
“Na dem government no de fix road.” He said. “dem don chop all
money for country, but dem no de member say dem go waka for
road time whe dem go die.” (Nkengasong, 2006, p. 146)
In the corpus, some eight cases are identified (see Table 6), with five of them
occurring in Alobwed’Epie’s “The lady with the beard”.
Table 6.
Instances of direct speech in the corpus
Books
The
widow’s
might
Betrothal
without
libation
The lady
with the
beard
My
bundle
of joy
Beasts
of no
nation
Total
Occurrences
of direct
speech
2
1
5
-
-
8
%
25%
12.5%
62.5%
-
-
100%
In short, when Pidgin is used in the corpus, it takes the form of an ordinary
lexeme or an utterance. This finding answers the first question underlying this
investigation.
Characters speaking Pidgin in the corpus
The characters who are made to speak Pidgin in the corpus and those who are
referred to in Pidgin terms fall into various categories. In “My bundle of joy”,
Kechen, an educated housewife, addresses Wase, her mother-in-law, in Pidgin;
she does the same when speaking with Mallam, a herbalist and Boy, the
herbalist’s assistant. Besides, she sings Pidgin songs when she is happy. In “The
widow’s might”, the writer gives one of his characters a name which is a
derogatory Pidgin word; actually the term “mbutuku” as noted above means
“idiot” and the character’s name is “Honourable Mbutuku”. He makes Akwenoh
speak Pidgin: she is the wife to the deceased parliamentarian and a housewife
with no education. This same Akweno is spoken to in Pidgin by Ebbi, one of her
former boyfriend who has just returned to the country after a long stay in Europe
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-115-
and by Honourable Malingo, the Parliamentary Group Leader. Old women like Ma
Eseke are referred to with Pidgin titles and they themselves usually speak in
Pidgin. The driver of the hearse carrying Honourable Mbutuku’s corpse speaks
Pidgin.
In “Betrothal without libation”, children address their mothers using
Pidgin titles. Petit traders and bar owners speak with their customers in Pidgin
and so do bus station touts; old people like Fointam’s father are spoken to in
Pidgin, and so are strangers. In “The lady with the beard” (see p. 24, p. 85), old
women speak and are spoken to in Pidgin and so are strangers and rural people.
The situation in “Beasts of no nation” is similar: grave diggers sing Pidgin songs
and interact in Pidgin.
This finding is presented on Table 7 below:
Table 7.
Indexical information on people speaking Pidgin in the corpus
Books
The widow’s
might
Betrothal
without
libation
The lady
with the
beard
My bundle
of joy
Beasts of
no nation
Characters
who speak
Pidgin
- idiots
- uneducated
house wife
- old people
-driver
- old people
- petit
traders
- bar owners
and
customers
- bus station
touts
strangers
- old people
- strangers
- rural
people
- old people
- herbalists
- servants
- grave
diggers
In short, characters who speak Pidgin or are spoken to in Pidgin in the corpus are
generally old people, housewives, drivers, petit traders, bar owners and their
customers, rural people, herbalists who handle traditional drugs and grave
diggers. These people have in common the fact that in Cameroon they are
generally uneducated and are hardly looked up to in the society. As can be
inferred, this finding answers the second research question underlying this
investigation.
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-116-
Social Factors Underlying the Switch from English to Pidgin in the
Corpus
Gumperz’s (1982) “contextualization cue” and Myers-Scotton’s (1993)
markedness theory outline some of the reasons that underlie the switch from one
language to another in bilingual and multilingual communities. In the corpus
under study, seven factors seem to determine the switches from English, the
unmarked linguistic choice, to Pidgin, the marked linguistic choice. These are: the
need to show solidarity, to mark respect, to criticise or be rude, to entertain, to
name people, places and objects, to use a common language, and to express
formality. These factors, which all contribute to the development of
multilingualism in literature on the one hand and in society on the other, are
considered in turn.
To show solidarity or compassion, characters in writings and people in the
community switch to Pidgin. For example, in “The widow’s might”, when
Honourable Malingo, the Parliamentary Group leader, approached the deceased’s
wife at the wake keeping ceremony, he said in Pidgin: “Madam, ashia”. As was
noted above, “ashia” is an expression of compassion addressed to someone who
is in pains. Respect is usually indicated by the use of Pidgin titles like “ma”, “pa”,
“mama”, “papa” whenever a young speaker is to refer to an older person. To
criticise government officials in “Beasts of no nation”, grave diggers use Pidgin,
the language they master. When characters are in good mood like Kechen in “My
bundle of joy”, they tune in Pidgin songs which they sing at the top of their voice
and dance as well. Occasionally, the need may arise to name characters in a
jocular way in which case writers tend to turn to Pidgin. This is the case with the
name Honourable Mbutuku, a Pidgin word which means “idiot” as was noted
above. Similarly by referring to a low class people’s meal made up of cassava
paste, okra soup and dried herring by the Pidgin name of this meal i.e. “garri,
okro soup and bonga”, the writer clearly shows how poor a potentially rich
character has become:
Thank God, she never set foot in that farm to incur rashes. Their
daily meal was garri and okro soup with bonga. The promises of a
youthful husband who was a civil servant could not be attained.
(Nkengasong, 2006, p. 37)
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-117-
In the contexts where the works in the corpus are set, a stranger generally
communicates in Pidgin first and in case Pidgin fails, then English is used. This
explains the use of direct speech in this extract: “My pikin come helep me” i.e.
“My child, can you give me a helping hand!”:
Presently, Ntube saw a woman in overflowing Igbo gowns
dragging two huge bags toward the hut. “My pikin, come helep
me,” the stranger entreated. Ntube ran to her and helped tug one
of the bags into the hut. (Alobwed’Epie, 2005, p. 32)
Finally, to vary the degree of formality of an interaction, writers usually switch
from English, the formal language to Pidgin, the informal language. A high
ranking person or an equal is spoken to in English, while a low-ranking person is
addressed in Pidgin. In “My bundle of joy” for example, Kechen addresses Mallam,
the herbalist in Pidgin. In “Betrothal without libation”, Foimtam addresses the bar
tender in Pidgin and converses with his colleague Sama in English. This confirms
the fact that English and Pidgin are in a diglossic situation in Cameroon, with
English being the high language and Pidgin, the low language.
In short, Pidgin is used in the corpus to play various stylistic functions
including signalling solidarity and formality. This finding therefore answers the
third research question guiding this work.
Conclusion
This study has dealt with Pidgin in creative works in English in Cameroon. The
works examined are two novels and three plays all published between 2000 and
2006, and the frame adopted draws from Gumperz’s contextualisation cue and
Myers-Scotton’s markedness theory. The research, which was guided by three
key questions, revealed amongst other things that Pidgin in the corpus takes the
form of individual lexemes like nyongo (witchcraft) and relatively short utterances
like Bringam quick! (Bring it fast!). The characters who speak it or are spoken to
in it are generally low-ranking people, rural dwellers, illiterates and other people
who are hardly looked up to in the Cameroonian society. Finally, the use of Pidgin
is found to help writers to realise some stylistic effects like solidarity and formality
which the English language might not be able to convey in a meaningful way.
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-118-
Most importantly, creative writers try to capture in their works the features of
Pidgin observed in the Cameroonian society. Similar studies need to be conducted
elsewhere so as to shed light on how competent writers manipulate two
languages operating in a somewhat diglossic way like English and Pidgin in
Cameroon.
References
The corpus
Alobwed’Epie, C. (2005). The lady with the beard. Yaounde: Editions CLE.
Bate Besong (2003). Beasts of no nation in three plays. Yaounde: Editions CLE.
Bole Butake (2005). Betrothal without libation. Yaounde: Editions CLE.
Nkengasong, N. J. (2006). The widow’s might. Yaounde: Editions CLE.
Tanyi-Tang, A. (2000). My bundle of joy. In Ewa and Other Plays (pp. 40–63).
Yaounde: Editions CLE.
Works
Abdkr, Abbo Yerima, (2000). The teaching of Arabic through fulfulde in North
Cameroon from 1960 to 1984 (DEA dissertation). University of King
Faysal, Sudan.
Ambanassom, S. (2008). Fifty years of anglophone Cameroon literature.
Retrieved from http://www.eduartinc.org or
http://www.eduartawards.org.
Biloa, E. (1999). Structure phrastique du Camfranglais: Etat de la question.
[Camfranglais Sentence Structure: The State of the Question].
In G. Echu & A. W. Grundstrom (Eds.) Official Bilingualism and Linguistic
Communication in Cameroon (pp. 147–176). New York: Peter Lang.
Biloa, E. (2003). La langue française au Cameroun [The French Language in
Cameroon] Bern: Peter Lang.
Dieu, M. & Renaud, P. (1983). L’Atlas linguistique du Cameroun. [The linguistic
atlas of Cameroon] Paris: CERDOTOLA – Agence de Coopération
Culturelle et Technique [Cultural and Technical Cooperation Agency].
Echu, G. (2001). Le camfranglais: L’aventure de l’anglais en contexte multilingue
camerounais. [Camfranglais: The adventure of English in the Multilingual
Context of Cameroon] (pp. 207–221). Ecritures VIII: L’Aventure.
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
PIDGIN IN CREATIVE WORKS IN ENGLISH IN CAMEROON
-119-
Ethnologue (2005). Cameroon. Retrieved from http://www.ethnologue.com/
show_country.asp?name= Cameroon.
Fasse-Mbouya, I. (2000). English and French Loans in Ngiemboon (Unpublished
MA dissertation). University of Yaounde I.
Fouda, H. (1991). An analysis of some European loans in Ewondo (Unpublished
DIPES II Dissertation). Higher Teacher Training School (ENS), Yaounde,
Cameroon.
Gumperz, J. (1982). Discourse strategies. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Kachin, B., (1990). The phonological adaptation of English loan words in
Medumba (Unpublished DIPES II Dissertation). Higher Teacher Training
School (ENS), Yaounde, Cameroon.
Koenig, E. L., (1983). A sociolinguistic profile of urban centers. In E. L. Koenig,
E. Chia & J. Povey (Eds.), A Sociolinguistic Profile of Urban Centers in
Cameroon (pp. 33–54). Los Angeles: Crossroads Press.
Kouega, J. P. (2001). Pidgin facing death in Cameroon. Terralingua. Retrieved
from: http://www.terralingua.org/DiscPapers/DiscPaper17.html.
Kouega, J. P. (2003a). Camfranglais: A novel slang in Cameroon schools. English
Today, 19(2), 23–29.
Kouega, J. P. (2003b). Word formative processes in Camfranglais. World
Englishes, 22(4), 511–538.
Kouega, J. P. (2007a). The language situation in Cameroon. Current Issues in
Language Planning (CILP), 1–94.
Kouega, J. P. (2007b). A dictionary of Cameroon English usage. Berne. Germany:
Peter Lang.
Kouega, J. P. (2013). Camfranglais: A glossary of common words, phrases and
usages. Lincom. Muenchen, Germany: Lincom Europa.
Kouega, J. P. (2015). A dictionary of Cameroon Pidgin English usage.
Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. Muenchen, Germany: Lincom
Europa.
Lewis, M. P., Simons, G. F. & Fennig, C. D. (Eds.) (2014). Ethnologue: Languages
of the World, 17th edn. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Retrieved from
http://www.ethnologue.com.
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
Jean Paul KOUEGA, Mildred ASEH
-120-
Mbangwana, P. N. (1983). The scope and role of Pidgin English in Cameroon. In
E. L. Koenig, E. Chia & J. Povey (Eds.). (1983). A Sociolinguistic Profile of
Urban Centers in Cameroon (pp. 79-92). Los Angeles: Crossroads Press.
Myers-Scotton, C. (1993). Common and uncommon ground: Social and structural
factors in code-switching. Language in Society, 22, 475–503.
Njoya, M. (1988). French and Pidgin English in Shy Pemen (Unpublished DIPES II
Dissertation). Higher Teacher Training School (ENS), Yaounde, Cameroon.
Todd, L. (1982). Varieties of English around the World T1: Cameroon. Heidelberg:
Julius Groos.
Todd, L. & Hancock, I. (1986). International English usage. Beckenham: Groom
Helm.
Ze Amvela, E. (1989). Reflexions on social implications of bilingualism. Epasa
Moto: A Journal of Language and Culture. The University of Buea, 5(2),
16–34.
Jean Paul Kouega
Jaundės I universitetas, Kamerūnas; jkouega@yahoo.co.uk
Mildred Aseh
Jaundės I universitetas, Kamerūnas; asehm@yahoo.fr
PIDŽINO – MAIŠYTOS ANGLŲ KALBOS – VARTOJIMAS ANGLŲ
KALBA PARAŠYTUOSE KŪRINIUOSE KAMERŪNE
Santrauka. Šiame darbe, kuriame tiriama kodų kaita ir kalbos pasirinkimas
daugiakalbiuose kontekstuose, aprašoma maišyta vietinė ir anglų kalba – pidžinas –
angliškuose kūriniuose Kamerūne, ypatingą dėmesį skiriant šios kalbos formoms,
randamoms kūriniuose, ir veikėjų tipams, kurie kalba tokia kalba, bei jos funkcijoms
kūriniuose. Tyrimo objektas – dvi pjesės ir trys romanai, išleisti patyrusių, puikiai anglų
kalbą mokančių rašytojų, tačiau savo veikėjus verčiančių kalbėti pidžinu. Tyrimas rodo, kad
pidžino atvejus šioje duomenų bazeje sudaro pavienės leksemos, pavyzdžiui, salaka
(aukojami gėrimai, auka), arba sąlyginai trumpos frazės, kaip This sun fit kill man (Saulė
tokia kaitri, kad gali ką nors pražudyti.). Veikėjai, kalbantys maišyta kalba, paprastai
vaizduojami kaip žemos klasės kaimo žmonės, neraštingi asmenys ir tokie, į kuriuos
kamerūniečiai paprastai nesilygiuoja. Be to, pidžinas rašytojams padeda atskleisti kai
kuriuos stiliaus bruožus, pavyzdžiui, formalumo lygio pokyčius, kai anglų kalba vartojama
kreipiantis į viršesnį asmenį, o pidžinu – kalbant su menkesniais už save. Svarbiausia, kad
savo darbuose rašytojai atspindi Kamerūno visuomenę, taip galbūt formaliai stiprindami
savo skaitytojų daugiakalbystės kompetenciją.
Raktažodžiai: Kamerūno pidžinas – maišyta anglų kalba, kūrybiniai darbai, kodų kaita,
požiūris, kalbos pasirinkimas.
Unauthenticated
Download Date | 2/10/18 2:32 PM
