Influence of Cameroon Pidgin English on the linguistic and cultural development of the French language
Main Article Content
Abstract
In multilingual Cameroon, where 247 indigenous languages co-exist side by side with Cameroon Pidgin English and the two official languages (English and French) of the country, the languages in place mutually influence one another. In this multilingual context, Cameroon Pidgin English (CPE) stands out prominently in view of its status as a lingua franca that transcends ethnic and regional boundaries. And though prohibited by educational authorities at different levels and very often relegated to the background, its impact continues to be felt nation-wide. Today, CPE exerts considerable linguistic influence on both English and French, be it in the area of borrowing, interference, loan translation or code switching. This paper focuses on the influence of CPE on the linguistic and cultural development of the French language. It is observed that the French language is enriched linguistically and culturally by CPE through loans which bring some vitality to the language by enabling it to express more vividly certain realities, feelings and emotions proper to the Cameroonian way of life. Thus, through the use of CPE words and expressions, new shades of meaning are brought into the French language. Consequently, CPE contributes significantly to the shaping and development of a regional variety of French peculiar to the Cameroonian context. This variety brings into the French language a lot of dynamism both on the linguistic and cultural plane in terms of vitality, lexical and semantic enrichment, semantic precision, communicative accuracy, and cultural awareness.
Downloads
Article Details
The Indiana University Linguistics Club Working Papers (the "Publisher") and Author(s) agree as follows.
1. Publication and Promotion: In consideration of the Publisher's agreement to publish the Work, Author hereby grants and assigns to Publisher the non-exclusive right to print, publish, reproduce, or distribute the Work throughout the world in all means of expression by any method known or hereafter developed, including electronic format. Author further grants Publisher the right to use Author's name in association with the Work in published form and in advertising and promotional materials.
2. Copyright: Copyright of the Work remains in the Author's name.
3. Prior Publication and Attribution: Author agrees not to publish the Work in print form prior to publication of the Work by the Publisher. Author agrees to notify IULCWP before publishing the Work elsewhere.
4. Author Representations: The Author represents and warrants that the Work: (a) is the Author's original Work and that the Author has full power to enter into this Agreement; (b) does not infringe the copyright or property of another; (c) contains no material that is obscene, libelous, or defamatory. Author shall indemnify and hold Publisher harmless against loss of expenses arising from breach of any such warranties.
5. Licensing and Reuse: Reuse of the published Work will be governed by a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ ). This lets others remix, tweak, and build upon the Work non-commercially; although new works must acknowledge the original IULCWP publication and be non-commercial, they do not have to be licensed on the same terms.