By English For Today (September 4, 2018) By Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (GAB)
Be reminded: Constantly Mispronounced words in Nigerian English
1. Covenant: This is erroneously pronounced as ‘convenant’ by some Christians to keep the rythmic appeal in songs like ‘ Covenant-keeping God’.
2. Expatiate: Many think this word is derived from ‘expand’; hence, ‘expantiate’.
3. Augment: Because most Nigerian languages are syllable-timed, many Nigerians find it more convenient to say ‘augument’.
4. Pronunciation: This is wrongly pronounced by many as pronounciation because of the verb pronounce.
5. Faithful (noun): Many say faithfuls given their knowledge of plurality.
6. Uplift: People tend to naturally say upliftment just to make this sound like conventional nouns.
6. Forty: Many spell this as fourty as a generalisation from the word four.
7. Separate: Many Nigerians tend to spell this as pronounced and so they spell it as seperate.
GAB
Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose
Academic Advisor, Distance Learning Centre, University of Ibadan;
&
Doctoral Student of English, University of Ibadan.
