The Impact of Indigenous Languages on Nigerian English Pronunciation: A Focus on Hausa Speakers

Abstract

Nigerian English exists as a unique language variation draws its principles from Nigerian indigenous languages, Hausa inclusive. This research evaluates how Hausa speakers pronounce Nigerian English while studying both pronunciation and social linguistic aspects and speech mismatch problems. A descriptive method was used to evaluate recorded speech samples from Hausa-English bilinguals which demonstrated vowel lengthening while showing how interdental fricatives get substituted and tones impact pronunciation. The results show that Hausa phonological interference reduces Nigerians' speech clarity but simultaneously creates distinct features for the English dialect in Nigeria. The research supports special phonetic instruction along with media participation and pronunciation guides to achieve better clarity in speech along with diversity maintenance. The research results help advance the understanding of Nigerian pronunciation of English and its position in worldwide English diversity.