Table Of ContentAJLISZ1
GHANAIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH: IN SEARCH OF
DIACHRONIC, SYNCHRONIC, AND SOCIOLINGUISTIC EVIDENCE
By
JOE K. Y. B. AMOAKO
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
1992
Copyright 1992
by
Joe K. Y. B. Amoako
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to
Professor John Lipski, the cochair for this dissertation,
who spent a lot of his time in helping me with his very good
suggestions especially on the theoretical aspects.
Professor Allan Burns, the chair for this dissertation, gave
me a lot of encouragement as well as guidance, especially on
the socioliguistics part of this work and he deserves my
gratefulness. Special thanks go to the other members of the
dissertation committee, Professors Chauncey Chu, Norman
Markel, and Goran Hyden, for suggestions that have brought
about the completion of this work. I owe thanks to
Professor Florence Dolphyne of the Department of Linguistics
at the University of Ghana, who brought my attention to the
fact that no formal studies had been done on the pidgin
English situation in Ghana. It was through Professor Kofi
Anyidoho of the University of Ghana, who was also one of my
informants, that I corresponded with Professor Ian Hancook
of the University of Texas who directed me on how to do the
research on the pidgin English in Ghana. I am indebted to
both of them for their assistance. I must express my thanks
to Joyce Adjorlolo and Amoako-Atta for their asssistance in
the distribution and collection of the questionnaire. I
thank the following informants for their time and
information: Mr. Akweyena and George Danyare of Institute of
Adult Education; Dan Amakye-Dede, leader of Apollo High King
iii
Band of Ghana; Georgina Amankwah and Anthony Pegah of Kumasi
Polytechnic; Asiedu-Yirenkyi, first P.N.D.C. secretary for
Culture and Tourism and a lecturer at the University of
Ghana; Mr. Ayeh, managing director of CEREDEC; Nana-Benyin
and Ernest Sarfo-Baidoo of Third Eye Band; Kofi Sammy of
Okukuseku International Band; Gustav Baidoo and Agnes
Ewusiamah of Achimota Primary School; Mr. Torkonoo of the
"Ghanaian Times"; Job Enning of the Ghana Atomic Energy
Commission Primary School; Ms. Salamatu; Ms. Serwah-Awuku;
Monica Addo and Rebecca Djadu; Kofi Ntiamoah of Homotta
comics; H.T.K. Bobobee; Alhassan of Commonwealth Hall at
Legon; and the other numerous informants without whose help
this work would not be successful. Special thanks should go
to Ms. Hellen Odamtten, a former worker of the Ghana
Broadcasting Corporation and a senior research fellow at the
University of Ghana for contributing to the history and
syntax parts of this work. I wish to express my thanks to
Mr. Simbo Odunaiya for his computer guidance that enabled me
make the beautiful graphics in this work. Finally, I thank
my wife, Doris Boateng, for her patience and encouragement.
Needless to say, I am solely responsible for any errors or
imperfections in this work. All I can say is "Na Gz>d go
tank de pipul wey dem help mi. Wey de m^mn k=>k de krow mek
yu sabi sey i bi Joe de tank yu 3z>." ("It is God who will
thank the people who helped me. When the morning rooster
crows, you should know that it is Joe thanking you all.").
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS iii
ABSTRACT V
CHAPTERS
1 DEFINITION OF PIDGIN 1
Introduction 1
Social and Structural Criteria 1
Nonnative Speaker Criterion 3
Definition of Creole 4
Etymology of "Pidgin" 5
Etymology of Creole 6
Summary 7
2 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW OF PIDGIN ENGLISH IN WEST
AFRICA AND ITS CURRENT STATUS 9
Introduction 9
A Step-by-Step History of Pidgin English in
West Africa 9
The Portuguese 10
The Dutch 13
The British 15
Principal Pidgin English Varieties in West
Africa 18
Nigeria 21
Sierra Leone 23
Liberia 28
Cameroon 31
Summary 33
3 GHANAIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH: IN SEARCH OF CURRENT
AND HISTORICAL EVIDENCE 35
Research Background 35
HisMteotrhyodoolfogGyhanaian Pidgin English 3396
Colonial Settlement 39
Second World War 43
News Media 44
Current Emergence of Ghanaian Pidgin English. 46
Contact with other West African States 48
The Nigerian Influence 48
Other Factors 51
Summary 52
A PHONOLOGICAL, MORPHOLOGICAL, SYNTACTIC, AND
SEMANTIC SURVEY OF GHANAIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH... 54
Introduction 54
Phonology 57
Vowels of GPE 57
Consonants of GPE 58
Syllable Structure of GPE 59
Tone 60
Vowel Harmony 61
Morphology 64
Reduplication 64
Word Compounding in GPE 70
Syntax 71
The Basic Sentence Structure 71
Tense-Modal-Aspect 71
Negation 76
Imperative 78
Interrogative 78
Exclamations and Emphasis 80
Personal Pronouns 81
Possessives 81
The Articles 82
Prepositions and Postpositions 83
Complementizer "sey" 84
Comparative / Superlative Expression 84
Semantics of Some G.P.E. Words 86
Words from other Languages 96
Orthography 96
Summary 97
SOCIOLINGUISTICS OF GHANAIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH.. 99
Introduction 99
Speakers and Places of GPE 100
Age Groups 106
Male and Female Speakers 106
Teachers 108
Family Members and Friends 109
Traders and Farmers 109
Ordinary Workers 110
Government Officials no
Drivers Ill
Priests HI
Students 112
vi
Others 113
Uses of Ghanaian Pidgin English 114
Written Usage 114
Literature 115
Entertainment 118
Newspapers 119
Spoken Usage 121
Communication 122
Simplicity of GPE 123
Socialization and Fun 124
Politics 125
Entertainment 126
People s Attitudes Toward GPE 129
Summary 142
6 CONCLUSIONS 147
APPENDICES
A RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE 151
B LANGUAGE MAP OF GHANA 155
C SOME GPE COMMON CONSTRUCTIONS/EXPRESSIONS 156
D SOME GPE CONVERSATIONS AND SONGS 158
A Conversation Between Two Students About a
Future Date 158
A Song by Okukuseku International Band 160
Interview with Kofi Sammy 161
A Song by Apollo King International Band 162
E GHANAIAN COMICS IN PIDGIN ENGLISH 164
Gyato Magani 164
Baba Dogo 176
Super Mugu Yaro 186
REFERENCES 199
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 204
Vll
Abstract of Dissertation Presented to the Graduate School
of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
GHANAIAN PIDGIN ENGLISH: IN SEARCH OF
DIACHRONIC, SYNCHRONIC, AND SOCIOLINGUISTIC EVIDENCE
By
Joe K. Y. B. Amoako
December 1992
Chairperson: Allan Burns
Major Department: Linguistics
Considerable misinformation has been circulated about
Ghanaian Pidgin English (GPE). Some Ghanaians attribute the
worsening of standard English to the emergence of GPE. But
GPE is serving a very important purpose which many critics
overlook. It serves as an important medium of
communication. It is used on a wide scale at many places,
in popular songs, on political platforms, and on many
occasions. It is used by both literate and illiterate
people. Most importantly, pidgin English is becoming the
lingua franca in English speaking West Africa countries.
There has not been much formal attempt to study the
pidgin English situation in Ghana, and because of this, some
linguists do not believe that there is a pidgin in the
country. In a personal letter to me, Professor Ian Hancock,
a creolist at the University of Texas, expressed the need
for a research on Ghanaian Pidgin English: "It is
heartening to learn that serious scholarly attention is
viii
being given to Pidgin in Ghana, the one West African nation
for which least information is available on the local pidgin
English." The above observations, among other things,
prompted me to do a research on the language so that it will
open the way for other linguists to know that there is a
pidgin in Ghana.
The study consists of six chapters which deal with the
definitions and etymologies of pidgin and Creole, the
history of West African Pidgin English, the methodology of
the research, history of GPE, a detailed linguistic analysis
of GPE, the sociolinguistics of GPE, as well as conclusions
on the survey.
Data were collected on GPE over a period of nine
months. Out of the 400 copies of questionnaire distributed,
304 were retrieved. This period was also used in tape-
recording interviews, conversations, and songs, as well as
collecting magazines and newspapers. The informants who
consisted of both sexes ranged from school children to a
secretary of state.
The survey shows that there is a pidgin English in
Ghana, and that it has been influenced by the substrate
languages. It is spreading fast, especially among the
youths because it is being used not only as a means of
communication but also as a means of solidarity.
ix
CHAPTER 1
DEFINITION OF PIDGIN
Introduction
This chapter is devoted to a literature review on the
definition and etymology of pidgin and Creole. I will cite
some of these definitions to acquaint ourselves with these
two concepts are. This will help decide whether what is
being discussed in this work is a pidgin or Creole, or it is
none of them.
Social and Structural Criteria
"Pidgin" has been defined with different criteria by
various authors. Two of these are social and structural.
The social criterion states the need for a language as a
means of communication when people who do not have a common
language come together; and the structural criterion is the
reduced structure of such a language that would evolve to
serve as a means of communication.
John Lyons defines pidgin languages as:
Specialized languages used for trade or similar
purposes by those who have no other common language.
It is characteristic of pidgin that they have a
simplified grammar and a highly restricted vocabulary
in comparison to the language or languages, upon which
they are based. (Lyons 1981:30-31)
