Identity Pt3: Language and Accents

A-Z Meme and My Fair Lady
In reading blogs of the Nigerian Community in the last couple of weeks I've come across quite a few A-Z Meme articles. From what I understand its one line questions A to Z which the respondent has to reply to in order to get some insight into their likes, dislikes and nature. Apparently when you have written yours you also need to 'tag' someone else (and no I'm not going to whinge right now about how I haven't been tagged and am feeling unloved, sob). The first item on the list is Accent. What I've found interesting is the amount of people who have either described their accent as 'Nigerian/British' or 'None' (how can you have no accent? none at all?).

An important element of personal identity is the way we speak, what language we speak in, any dialects and our accent. Anyone who has watched 'My Fair Lady' will know that most of us have regional inflections in our speech that may not be obvious to the 'neutral' observer but a trained professional would be able to pick out. It is argued that the 'Upper-class' have regionless accents but my counter arguement would be class in addition to region is another element of accent.Some of us are able to change the way we speak, especially we have had reason to move around from one region or country to the next, but most of us carry at least some trace of our accent and dialect origins with us all of our lives (some of us more than others).

On Faking the funk, Switching and Conc Naija Accents
On my first visit to New York in 1998, I stayed with a friend who had just moved to the states two years earlier. One of the things I noticed was how in speaking to me he would adopt a 'Naija' mode and when we went to shops etc and he had to interact with Americans he would 'switch' to an American accent that I couldn't distinguish from that of a native New Yorker. I asked him why he did this and his answer was he wanted to 'blend' and not stick out. Hmn.

I'm sure we have all come across 'Broda Kenny' who arrived in London last month for the first time and has already started spicing his every statement with 'init though' and 'yer know what I mean'. Why Broda Kenny is trying to 'blend' I have no idea as the Ibadan tribal marks on his face will always ensure that we know where he comes from. I call the Broda Kenny example 'faking the funk'.

In the last year I've taken to Naija Hip-Hop in a big way mainly on the back of the influence of my two favorite Nigerian bands Styl-Plus and PSquare. I must admit howver to prefering the music of PSquare as they are unpretentious and don't feel the need to 'blow Fhonee' on their songs (this is obviously my main gripe with some of the new naija hip-hop bands but thats another story).

I once worked for three months for the Employment agency and I worked with a guy called 'Ade'. This guy had one of the strongest Yoruba Accents I've heard on this side of the Atlantic. What impressed me about this dude is that he stuck to his guns and refused to fake the funk. Only ignorant people chose to act like they couldn't understand his English, but I found it no more convoluted than that of a 'Scouser' or a Mancunian. Fortunately he didn't do the Oyo thing where they stick the H in where there wasn't one and take it out where there was one, as in the "Enry, 'elp me 'ook my bra. 'Ook it. Ook it" fashion. Anyway Egbon Ade reminds me of the MC Lyte lyrics "...you can't be what you're not, so you better start living with what you got..." Nuff Respect!