International Journal of Language and Linguistics

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Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach

Received: 10 August 2020    Accepted: 03 September 2020    Published: 19 September 2020
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Abstract

Contemporary Cameroon English is a reflection of many decades of its historical, political, social and linguistic development. The aim of this investigation, as descriptive linguistics, is to observe what, how and why the common Cameroonian citizen creates, coins and form new words in English speech, collect and analyse this as naturally occurring sociolinguistic data, characteristic of contemporary Cameroon English speech. The objective is to highlight on the linguistic and cultural diversity of Cameroon as a leit motive to create and introduce new words into the vocabulary system, thus, enriching contemporary Cameroon English. Both quantitative and qualitative research was carried to obtain valid data typical of Cameroon society based on the sociolinguistic and ethnographic methods of inquiry and analyses using a combination of the critical discourse analysis, semantico-pragmatic and speech act theories. After the analysis, contemporary Cameroon English is enhanced through different linguistic techniques such as dialectal and cultural borrowing, self-explained compounds, neologisms, eponym, and inflections, among others, which is of great interest to English language learners and teachers of today. These linguistic techniques have enriched Cameroon English vocabulary as a variety of speech typical of Cameroon English.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12
Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 8, Issue 5, September 2020)
Page(s) 192-204
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Neologism, Media, Contemporary English, Cameroon, Sociopragmatics

References
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[5] Ethnologue (2002) Languages of the World; Cameroon, published by the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International, www.ethnologue.com.
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[9] Biloa, Edmond (1999): "Bilingual Education in the University of Yaounde I: The Teaching of French to English Speaking Students" in Echu, George/Grundstrom, Allan W. (eds.): Bilinguisme officiel et communication linguistique au Cameroun. New York: 53-74.
[10] Chumbow, Sammy Beban (1996): "The Role of National Languages within a Comprehensive Language Policy for Cameroon". Academic Discourse presented at the University of Buea.
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[19] Hilbert, Richard, (1992), The Classical Roots of Ethnomethodology; Durkheim, Weber, and Garfinkel, p. 13, Chapel Hill, NC; The University of North Carolina Press.
[20] Ritzer, George (2011) “Ethnomethodology.” Pp. 301-415 in Sociological Theory, 8th Ed. New York, NY, McGraw Hill.
[21] Garfinkel H. (2017) published in Jacobson, Micheal Hviid; The Interactionist Imagination studying Meaning, Situation and Micro-Social Order, London, Palgrave-Macmillian, PP. 233-261.
[22] Skinner B. F. (1957) Verbal Behaviour Appleton Century, New York, USA.
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Author Information
  • Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Letters and Social Sciences, Adamawa Region, Ngaoundere, Cameroon

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  • APA Style

    Willie Mushing Tamfuh. (2020). Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 8(5), 192-204. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12

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    Willie Mushing Tamfuh. Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2020, 8(5), 192-204. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12

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    AMA Style

    Willie Mushing Tamfuh. Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach. Int J Lang Linguist. 2020;8(5):192-204. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12,
      author = {Willie Mushing Tamfuh},
      title = {Neologism and the Media in Contemporary Cameroon English; a Sociopragmatic Approach},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {8},
      number = {5},
      pages = {192-204},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20200805.12},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20200805.12},
      abstract = {Contemporary Cameroon English is a reflection of many decades of its historical, political, social and linguistic development. The aim of this investigation, as descriptive linguistics, is to observe what, how and why the common Cameroonian citizen creates, coins and form new words in English speech, collect and analyse this as naturally occurring sociolinguistic data, characteristic of contemporary Cameroon English speech. The objective is to highlight on the linguistic and cultural diversity of Cameroon as a leit motive to create and introduce new words into the vocabulary system, thus, enriching contemporary Cameroon English. Both quantitative and qualitative research was carried to obtain valid data typical of Cameroon society based on the sociolinguistic and ethnographic methods of inquiry and analyses using a combination of the critical discourse analysis, semantico-pragmatic and speech act theories. After the analysis, contemporary Cameroon English is enhanced through different linguistic techniques such as dialectal and cultural borrowing, self-explained compounds, neologisms, eponym, and inflections, among others, which is of great interest to English language learners and teachers of today. These linguistic techniques have enriched Cameroon English vocabulary as a variety of speech typical of Cameroon English.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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    AB  - Contemporary Cameroon English is a reflection of many decades of its historical, political, social and linguistic development. The aim of this investigation, as descriptive linguistics, is to observe what, how and why the common Cameroonian citizen creates, coins and form new words in English speech, collect and analyse this as naturally occurring sociolinguistic data, characteristic of contemporary Cameroon English speech. The objective is to highlight on the linguistic and cultural diversity of Cameroon as a leit motive to create and introduce new words into the vocabulary system, thus, enriching contemporary Cameroon English. Both quantitative and qualitative research was carried to obtain valid data typical of Cameroon society based on the sociolinguistic and ethnographic methods of inquiry and analyses using a combination of the critical discourse analysis, semantico-pragmatic and speech act theories. After the analysis, contemporary Cameroon English is enhanced through different linguistic techniques such as dialectal and cultural borrowing, self-explained compounds, neologisms, eponym, and inflections, among others, which is of great interest to English language learners and teachers of today. These linguistic techniques have enriched Cameroon English vocabulary as a variety of speech typical of Cameroon English.
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