LINGUISTIC BURDEN OF COVID-19: NEW LANGUAGE SITUATIONS AND SCENARIOS IN NIGERIAN ENGLISH
Keywords:
COVID-19, Nigerian English, Functionalist Approach, new words, morphemic coinages, phrasal restructuring, semantic broadening, acronymic coinages.Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant changes in language use and expression.
This study examines the impact of the pandemic on Nigerian English language, utilizing a Functionalist
Approach that explores meaning beyond structure. Data were collected from an online forum, Nairaland, to
identify new Nigerian English expressions related to COVID-19. The findings reveal that the pandemic has
spurred the creation of new words, morphemic coinages, phrasal restructuring, semantic broadening, and
acronymic coinages in Nigerian English. The study demonstrates how COVID-19 has created new language
situations and scenarios, which Nigerians have responded to via their use of English to communicate about
the pandemic. This study emphasizes the dynamic and functional potential of languages and how users
creatively deploy language to meet their needs and reflect shifting concerns and realities.
