The major aim of this paper is to demonstrate through the grammar of the verb phrase in Standard English (StdE) and Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE) that NPE is a distinct language. The paper draws on data collected from 30 Nigerian University Graduates from three ethnolinguistic regions. Although many scholars have pointed out that NPE is a language (Agheyisi 1971; Elugbe and Omamor 1991), not many of them have examined the verb phrase in NPE with a view to showing that its grammar is distinctive. It has been shown in this paper that the NPE verb phrase is sharply different from StdE verb phrase, and because the verb is at the centre of the clause and can determine its argument, it can be argued that NPE whose verbal grammar is radically different from that of English is a separate language. The pattern of clustering of NPE verb phrases with other NPE verb phrases or other crieterial features of NPE is also a demonstration that NPE is a distinct language. Finally, the subjects made sharp switches from StdE to NPE, speaking in blocks of first one code and then the other: this is like the behaviour of bilinguals moving from one language to another. Akinmade T. Akande 4A bin kam, kariam go. A kam, kariam go. A kam, kariam awe A kem an kari it awe. I came and carried it away. Bickerton (1975), citing Guyana and Nigeria as examples, notes that there were no intermediate varieties between StdE and NPE before independence but that after independence, a continuum which is apparent in the novels of Achebe developed. Brosnahan (1958) classifies NPE as the lowest form of English in Nigeria and this suggests that, contrary to Bickerton's (1975) view, a continuum had existed between NPE and StdE even before independence. Peter and Wolf (2007: 5) also note that there is no strict barrier between varieties of West African English and their pidgins and creoles.Agheyisi is one of the scholars who have argued that NPE is a separate language (Agheyisi 1971(Agheyisi , 1984(Agheyisi , 1988. Agheyisi (1984: 230) argues that we can have educated speakers learner varieties of NPE with English interference but states, as quoted in Deuber (2005: 23), that

The present paper deals with multilingual practices as they have emerged in Nigeria's vibrant hip hop community. Apart from English, the most important strand in the multilingual fabric of Nigerian hip hop lyrics is Nigerian Pidgin. In addition, several more indigenous languages are used regularly. The focus of the present study, however, is on the use of two foreign varieties, namely African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Jamaican Creole or Patois (JC). Borrowing from AAVE and JC is a useful strategy for Nigerian artists to authenticate their performances by international standards. In principle, multilingual practices, including use of dialects and languages which are not natively spoken in a community, fits in well with the hip hop aesthetic. However, as will be shown, some AAVE and JC elements are borrowed without a full understanding of their linguistic and cultural context or transformed in an effort to adapt them to a new local context, which also runs the risk of undermining authenticity. Borrowing from AAVE and JC proves most problematical on the level of grammar.Brought to you by | Carleton University OCUL Authenticated Download Date | 6/25/15 12:08 PM

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Dative alternation is that sort of construction which requires a choice from two available choices; the double object (DOC) (i. e. Please give Mary the book) and the preposition construction (TOC) (i. e. Please give the book to Mary). Empirical evidence detailing the characteristics and motivations of dative choices in different varieties have been put forward in the literature. Albeit, nothing is known about the nature and motivations of this phenomenon in Nigerian variety of English, an important source of empirical evidence in the English-world-wide paradigm. With 739 sentences extracted from International Corpus of English, we examined the effects of 16 predictors on this construction in the Nigerian variety; showing how the behavior of these predictors compares with findings reported in other varieties. Among other findings, we found that overall Nigerian variety is closer to American variety than Indian variety, and pronominality as the strongest predictor, outweighing register as a reputable predictor.

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