Referencing the popular Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her words, “My English-speaking is rooted in a Nigerian experience and not in a British or American or Australian one. I have taken ownership of English”, the Oxford English Dictionary announced the addition of some Nigerian words and expressions in the January updates.
According to OED in its Blog post, 29 Nigerian words and expressions were updated into the dictionary.
“By taking ownership of English and using it as their own medium of expression, Nigerians have made, and are continuing to make, a unique and distinctive contribution to English as a global language. We highlight their contributions in this month’s update of the Oxford English Dictionary, as a number of Nigerian English words made it into the dictionary for the first time”, OED stated.
“The majority of these new additions are either borrowings from Nigerian languages, or unique Nigerian coinages that have only begun to be used in English in the second half of the twentieth century, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s”, OED added.
Some of the words and expressions that made surprise entry into the English Oxford Dictionary were Buka, Okada, Danfo, guber and next tomorrow among others.
“By focusing on contemporary language in this update, and adding words and phrases that form part of the everyday vocabulary of today’s Nigerians, we hope to give a flavour of English-speaking which, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie put it, is rooted in a Nigerian experience”, OED further stated.
List of the words and expressions that were included in the January updates of the English Oxford Dictionary were:
agric, adj. & n.
barbing salon, n.
buka, n.
bukateria, n.
chop, v./6
chop-chop, n./2
danfo, n.
to eat money, in eat, v.
ember months, n.
flag-off, n.
to flag off in flag, v.
gist, n./3
gist, v./2
guber, adj.
Kannywood, n.
K-leg, n.
mama put, n.
next tomorrow, n. & adv.
non-indigene, adj. & n.
okada, n.
to put to bed, in put, v.
qualitative, adj.
to rub minds (together) in rub, v./1
sef, adv.
send-forth, n.
severally, adv.
tokunbo, adj.
zone, v.
zoning, n.
