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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Pronoun Choice and Social Semantics in a Bilingual Situation with Specific Reference to Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba |
Author: | Obilade, Anthony |
Year: | 1979 |
Periodical: | Africana Marburgensia |
Volume: | 12 |
Issue: | 1-2 |
Pages: | 3-19 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | sociolinguistics Pidgin English Yoruba language Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
Abstract: | If one adopts the widely-held belief that the social system is essentially a semiotic system (a system of meaningful signals) then it would be logical to expect the social structure to be reflected in the linguistic system. The linguistic category that has had most attention is the Pronoun. Pronoun choice in bilingual situations has not received much attention since Rubin (1963) used the Brown-Gilman format in her study of Spanish/Guarani choice in Paraquay. One aspect that has not been examined in recent studies is whether a bilingual consistently chooses V (vous) or T (tu), regardless of which languages he is using, in identical situations. This question is considered in some detail and the languages used in this investigation are Nigerian Pidgin and Yoruba. Ref., tab sum. |