Years ago, when West Africans began to interact with the whites through slave trades etc, there was a need to bridge the gap between native languages, and correct English language. Therefore, natives began to break English into a simpler, and easier language which could also be understood - to some degree - by the whites.
Broken English is made up of words broken from English, French, and various native languages. For instance, the broken English word 'sabi' which means 'to know' actually originated from the French word 'savi', which also means to know.
The fundamental of NBE (Nigerian Broken English) is that it does not conform to the English laws of grammar. Words and phrases usually do not follow a sequence as demanded by English grammatical laws; this is the reason why it is easier to learn and speak. However, regardless of the fact that there are no laws in NBE, there exist norms which need to be followed in order to get someone to understand you.
I will be teaching you the Nigerian broken english.
FUNDAMENTALS OF NBE (NIGERIAN BROKEN ENGLISH)
In NBE, present, past, and future tenses don't change the way verbs appear. Whether in English it's 'came' or 'coming', in NBE it all appears as 'come'. However, the verbs must be preceded by the word 'dey'. For example:
'I am coming' to NBE would be 'I dey come'.
'I am going' would be 'I dey go'
'I came yesterday' would be 'I come yesterday'
There is also a second norm when talking about a past event. Using the word 'bin' before the verb is also widely employed. For example:
'I came yesterday' could be 'I bin come yesterday'
To describe a future event, NBE doesn't say 'I will come', it says 'I go come'. Virtually every future tense is described with 'go'. Another example:
'I will run today' to NBE would be 'I go run today.'
Even English sentences with 'go' aren't exempted from this norm. So, 'I will go tomorrow' would be 'I go go tomorrow'. Don't worry about sounding like a retard when you repeat 'go'.
PREPOSITIONS 'TO' AND 'AT' AREN'T USED
In NBE, the prepositions 'to' and 'at' are rarely used in sentences that it's almost a principle not to use them. For example:
'I am going to the store' would be 'I dey go store'
'I am at the store' would be 'I dey store'
'WANT' IS REPLACED BY 'WAN'
The English word 'want' becomes 'wan' (pronounced without 't') in NBE. For example:
'I want to eat fish' becomes 'I wan (remove 'to') eat fish'
NEGATIVE STATEMENTS
What I mean by negative statements are statements like 'I will not come'. With such statements, the word 'no' is used. For example:
'I will not come' to NBE would be 'I no go come'
'I don't like her' would be 'I no like her'
'I don't eat fish' would be 'I no dey eat fish'
'I won't eat fish' would be 'I no go eat fish'
'I want to go home' would be 'I wan go house' ('home' is converted to 'house' in NBE.)
PRONOUNS (he, she, him, her)
'He' becomes 'hin' in NBE; 'she' remains the same. For example:
'He came to my home' becomes 'hin come my house'
'Him' and 'her' are replaced with 'am' For example:
'I like him' would be 'I like am'
'I don't like her' would be 'I no like am'
'IT IS' and 'IT WAS' ARE REPLACED BY 'NA'
'na' is used to describe objects and people. For example:
'It is Peter' would be 'na Peter'
'It was her time' would be 'na her time'
'KNOW' AND 'CAN' ARE REPLACED BY 'SABI'
This isn't always the case. Some people prefer to stick with 'know' instead of 'sabi'.
For example:
'I know him' would be 'I sabi am'. Alternatively, it could be 'I know am.'
'I can do it' would be 'I sabi'
'EAT' IS REPLACED BY 'CHOP'
For example:
'I will eat rice' would be 'I go chop rice'
'WALK' is REPLACED BY 'WALKA'
For example:
'I walked home' would be 'I walka go house'
I should stop here for now, this should be enough to assimilate for today. In the next lesson, I shall teach you how to greet and ask questions in NBE. Perhaps, if my lazy level lowers, I might post a short lecture video on youtube.
Here's an online NBE dictionary that you can refer to: http://naijalingo.com/
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