The Simple Sentence Structures in Mandarin Chinese and Nigerian Pidgin English: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

This study undertakes a comparative analysis of simple sentence structures in Mandarin Chinese (MC) and Nigerian Pidgin English (NPE). Its aim is to analyse the syntactic patterns of simple sentences of both languages by identifying areas of similarities, differences and their implications for users of both languages. Comparative analysis was adopted to describe and examine corpus drawn from grammar texts of both languages as well as through native speaker elicitation. Findings indicate marked structural similarities, most notable a shared Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) word order and an analytic grammatical nature with minimal inflectional dependencies. These are indicated as robust causes of positive transfer, potentially simplifying the use of both languages. The study also indicates significant syntactic divergences. One of the strongest contrasts is placement of Tense Aspect Markers (TAM): MC uses post-verbal particles le, guo, while NPE utilizes invariant pre-verbal markers don, dey. Negation strategies varied as MC adopts multiple markers based on situation whereas NPE maintains invariant single pre-verbal no and different question formation strategies also contribute to structural contrasts. In conclusion, the differences identified are predicted as difficult areas and possible sources of negative transfer. The research provides practical recommendations for language users, with emphasis on focused interventions in areas of predicted difficulties.