english_africa · Nigeria
Nigerian English
Nigeria · General Nigerian (supraregional)
Nigerian English is modelled here as a single supraregional preset over what is, in reality, substantial internal variation shaped by which of Nigeria's major indigenous languages (Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and many others) most influences a given speaker's English -- not represented separately here. The single most-cited defining feature across the literature is syllable-timed rhythm: unlike the stress-timed rhythm of RP or General American, Nigerian English gives each syllable roughly equal weight, a direct carry-over from the syllable-timed indigenous languages most speakers also speak (Gut 2004, in *A Handbook of Varieties of English*). FACE and GOAT are realized as monophthongs rather than diphthongs, another widely documented feature. Non-rhotic, following the British-colonial-education norm most Nigerian English descends from.
Live example
Transformed live against this preset's phonetic matrix.
Hear it
A/B where you're starting from against this accent, for the same sentence. That first clip is your own accent when you've said how you speak, and your language's reference variety when you haven't — the player says which.
Compare — Where you're starting from vs. the accent you're building
Active features
Every phonetic parameter that deviates from this schema’s diffing anchor, with a plain-English gloss.
| Feature | Value | Meaning | Drill |
|---|---|---|---|
| Languagelanguage | en | Drill | |
| Mixed Languagesmixed_languages | — | Drill | |
| S Treatments_treatment | standard | Drill | |
| D Intervocalicd_intervocalic | standard | Drill | |
| D Finald_final | standard | Drill | |
| R Infinitiver_infinitive | standard | Drill | |
| R Initialr_initial | approximant | Drill | |
| N Final Velarizationn_final_velarization | No | Drill | |
| Final Consonant Dropfinal_consonant_drop | none | Drill | |
| Vowel Reductionvowel_reduction | crisp_open | Drill |