Contemporary Nigerian English

This Element focuses on the phonetic, phonological, lexico-semantic, morphosyntactic, and pragmatic aspects of Nigerian English.

Contemporary Nigerian English is an exploration of Nigerian English in the 21st century, highlighting its historical development, current usage and emerging linguistic features. Using a mix of real-life and online corpus data, social media and surveys, it examines the influence of multilingualism, cultural diversity and digital communication.Contemporary Nigerian English offers an engaging empirical exploration of Nigerian English in the twenty-first century, highlighting its historical development, present-day usage, and emerging linguistic features. Drawing on multiple sources of evidence, including naturally occurring language data, online corpora, social media discourse, and survey findings, the Element investigates how multilingualism, cultural diversity, and digital communication continue to shape the variety. It analyses salient features of Nigerian English across lexico-semantic, phonological, morpho-syntactic, and pragmatic domains, while also considering the language ideologies and attitudes that inform its perception and use. By integrating structural linguistic analysis and sociolinguistic perspectives, the Element reveals how Nigerian English reflects the cultural identities, communicative practices, and cognitive worlds of its speakers. In doing so, it advances scholarship on World Englishes and contributes to broader discussions of linguistic variation and change in contemporary global contexts.