Variation and language engineering in Yoruba-English code-switching

Abstract

This study deals with the identification and characterization of the variable features of code-switching as used by Yoruba-English bilinguals in Lagos, Nigeria. Against the background of the domestication of English in Nigeria and the reality of language variation across individual, social and generational perspectives, we explore the unique linguistic strategies with which the Yoruba-English speaker reinvents urban speech to meet the challenges of contemporary dynamics of communication in a fast changing world.