at Google ScholarTitle data
Anchimbe, Eric A.:
Lexical strategies in verbal linguistic victimisation in Cameroon.
In: English Today.
Vol. 28
(2012)
Issue 2
.
- pp. 39-46.
ISSN 0266-0784
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078412000144
Abstract in another language
The aim of this illustrative paper is to show how words and expressions are coined or changed in Cameroonian speech in English and French in order to insult or stereotype other groups of people. Taken along official language lines, ethnic boundaries and social divides, these lexical elements reproduce some aspect of the addressee's history, social stance, academic achievement, professional background, linguistic and political belonging, and even gender. The expressions are from four major sources: French, English, Pidgin English and various indigenous languages. Some of them capture common social phenomena in the society. For example, Pidgin English supplies a descriptive name for a woman who moves in with a man to whom she is not married, i.e. come-we-stay. This appellation focuses more on the woman and the relationship rather than on the man. Such coinages are also common elsewhere in Africa. For instance, Nigerian Pidgin English supplies the appellation face-me-I-face-you for cramped up residential apartments in which rooms face each other on the corridor. Lexical strategies for naming and derogation are common in these two societies where groups compete with each other for their voices to be heard and respected.
Further data
| Item Type: | Article in a journal |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Institutions of the University: | Faculties Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature > Chair English Linguistics > Chair English Linguistics - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Susanne Mühleisen Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature Faculties > Faculty of Languages and Literature > Chair English Linguistics |
| Result of work at the UBT: | Yes |
| DDC Subjects: | 400 Language 400 Language > 410 Linguistics 400 Language > 420 English, Old English languages |
| Date Deposited: | 12 Nov 2019 09:06 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Nov 2019 09:06 |
| URI: | https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/53169 |