NAIJAPIDGIN HANGOUT: RECITING PIDGIN VERSES
Yesterday evening, @itoroarchibong dragged me from my peaceful meditation on the state of my pocket to a radio show on naijapidgin discord server. She had been made the host for the first ever radio show on the server and she was roaring to go.
The naijapidgin community is a community on discord that celebrates the Nigerian pidgin, a creole or pidgin which is a blend of Portuguese, English and indigenous Nigerian languages. It is the second largest means of interaction after the English language in Nigeria but it is not recognized as a language. This may change as time goes on.
The Nigerian pidgin is a beautiful thing whose sentence meanings can be derived from inflection as well as understanding of the slangs that evolve around it.
For example;
You dey road? - a question. The sentence is in a rising tone.
Youdey road. - a statement. The sentence is in a falling tone.
The slangs change with the community within which it is used. For example,
'palaver' meaning 'trouble' was used in old pidgin but it is not commonly used anymore, instead words like 'wahala', 'yawa', 'gbese', etc have now replaced it.
The Nigerian pidgin is popularly spoken in Warri, Delta state, and that Warri dialect is noted for its unique singsong tone, speed of expression and slangs. The inigenes of the town pride themselves on their ability to use the pidgin perfectly. From little kids to old women, everyone speaks it.
The Naijapidgin community has made it their priority to encourage the preservation and expansion of this lovely creole use among Nigerian steemit users. Anyone making use of the tag, Naijapidgin, gets the attention of the community and could get an upvote as a result.
At the hangout, people were asked to present a song. Since I know that my voice is terrible and I didn't want to make anyone have nightmares, I decided to recite a verse. I will not call it poetry because it sounds more like rap. Maybe the translation will sound like poetry, hopefully.
Like electric pole wey catch fire,
Wey dem don too tie tie.
We be don dey high for we area,
Dey site like saiti saiti
Until kporkpor burst enter we yard,
Cast everywhere like small pikin shit.
We gat to discharge like say
We dey play war-start;
Kpo! Kpo!! People dey fall aniya
As dem dey gbes dey leave slippers
But I swear, the film never start.
Climb their small fence,
I nearly fall inside their ring well
But baba God dey watch me,
I dey see well.
Dey buy rizla,
Take dey run am normally.
I come kak like say na my papa
Na be the area doctor.
Na for there na omila burst with ak47,
Bullet dey fall for zinc
Like say rainy season don set.
I spy kporkpor wey be dey pursue me
Too dey beg.
I vex, curse am,
E turn eye me, throway face.
He don hide him uniform and him gun;
Wear boxers and singlet,
Hold tomtom and cigar
Dey claim mental patient.
Like an electric pole that is on fire
Because it is overloaded.
we were already getting high in our area,
Itching all over as if bitten by bugs
Until police rushed into our premises,
Spoilt the place like baby poop.
We had to move fast like
We were playing war-start;
Kpo! Kpo!! People were falling anyhow
As they ran away leaving slippers
But I swear, the film is yet to start.
Climbed their small fence.
I nearly fell inside their ring well
But God was watching over me,
I was seeing well.
Buy rizla,
To arrange weed normally.
I sat down as if my father
Was the doctor in the area.
It was in that place that thieves
Appeared with ak47.
Bullets was falling on the zinc
As if the rainy season had arrived.
I saw the policeman who was chasing me begging too.
I grew angry and insulted him,
He turned and eyed me;
He had hidden his uniform and gun,
Was wearing boxers and singlet,
Holding tomtom sweet and cigarettes,
Claiming to be a mental patient.
If you are curious or you are a lover of this language, you can join the Naija pidgin server here.
You see why you be boss? After you na you.
Beautiful poem. Poetry is in your blood. Baba ride on! 😍😍😘😘
@Warpedpoetic, thank you for using the naijapidgin tag.
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Very beautiful words, love the images, keep it up great work, in my youth in school, my english teacher always pushed me in this direction, i went another path, seems the heart know in time were to bring you back to what you love...thank you
Thank you bro @johnskotts. Well you can start writing again.
This concept came up in a recent Poetry Class @d-pend hosted, interesting, thank you!
Oh that's cool. I am all about Nigerian pidgin. I am glad that it is coming up and growing here on steemit. You are welcome.
Boss, I don't quite agree with the above mention.
I think Pidgin English is the First largest means of interaction in Nigeria. In markets, corporate offices, churches, public places etc, Pidgin english is the lingua franca.
As per recogniction, I think google's recognition is enough. Google now offers Pidgin English translation.
Anybody dey with me? Who else agrees with me?
When you have it as the official means of communication, then I will agree. When it is spoken all over northern nigeria as well as western nigeria, I will agree. When it has books published using its lingo, a dictionary of meanings, then it will be the first means of communication until then it is the second.
You have also not considered that it is not taught anywhere and it is not even considered to be a language but a pidgin.
Finally Latin can be found on Google but does that make Latin the first means of communication in Italy or even the Vatican?
@steemnignaija, English Language is not spoken all over northern and western Nigeria, but Pidgin english is spoken all over Nigeria. Same applies to it's understanding.
Effective communication demands the use of a language generally understood by the people.
Means of interaction is not about written books. It is about how you are able to effectively communicate with one another.
Most of our mother tongues (dialects) are not taught anywhere, yet we learn and internalize them via socialization.
For Latin, I don't think it falls into this context. When we talk about communication, we talk about the people and the language they understand the most. So when we talk about means of interacting in Nigeria, in my unshakable opinion, our lingua franca - Pidgin English not only wears the crown in Nigeria, it owns it. Virtually everyone speaks it (including people without formal education) because we have learnt and internalized it.
Note:
Officially, English is our first language and French is the second. Pidgin does not even come into the picture.
However, unofficially, Pidgin English is our most popular means of interaction in Nigeria and in my unshakable opinion our First means of interaction while the official one (English) comes second.
@nicewoody69, first of all, i am a proponent of making the Nigeria pidgin a more socially welcome means of communication. I love the creole. I speak it more than i speak the English language.
I have spent some time in the west, I am presently in the north, I have visited the east and I grew up in the south. I have lived in a community where different ethnic groups lived together and I will tell you categorically that the Naija pidgin is not spoken by everybody in Nigeria.
In the west, the popular form of communication is Yoruba and English, in the north it is Hausa, in the east it is Ibo and English. It is in the south where languages are many and dialects are more that you find the common means of communication to be English and pidgin.
Let me ask you this, what do most persons from the western, northern or eastern part of Nigeria speak mostly. Is it not their indigenous language?
If you go to a government office, in the aforementioned parts of the country which language do they use mostly?
How many aged men and women speak pidgin fluently in those parts of the country?
In a average market in the north, east or west of Nigeria, which language do you hear the most?
I do not say that pidgin is not spoken all over nigeria. I say that compared to the English language, it is second. You have to consider fluency in speaking, ratio of people speaking the language, etc.
Indigenous languages are the first language most parents teach their children. In the south, in Warri to be precise, the first language most children learn is pidgin. Which part of the country does that? So how is pidgin the lingua franca of Nigeria?
The lingua Franca of Nigeria are three languages and a pidgin; Ibo, Yoruba, Hausa and pidgin. English remains the official language.
The other languages are taught in schools, pidgin is not. The other languages have written alphabet, pidgin is slowly evolving a writing system and it makes use of the English language. So please what is your argument?
@warpedpoetic, it's okay if you do not agree with me.
Well, I still do not agree with pidgin being the second largest means of interaction and english language being the first.
I have also gone round the country, north, east, south and west and to a large extent I know what is obtainable.
Well, take it as my personal opinion. English to me is the second and Pidgin English is the first largest means of interaction in Nigeria.
Maybe you should do some digging on the internet. So many blogs handled a similar topic. I know the internet is a dumping ground for filtered and unfiltered info but you can filter.
Thanks for the argument all the same it was an interesting one.
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