A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF SWEARING AND CODE CHOICE IN ANAMBRA STATE MOTOR PARKS

Abstract

Swearing in multilingual urban transit hubs constitutes a layered sociolinguistic phenomenon that bridges affect, identity, language choice, and social stratification. This study explores the use of bad language in major motor parks in Anambra State, Nigeria, focusing on the interplay of Igbo, Nigerian Pidgin, and English. Data were collected from Eke Awka, Aroma, and Ukwu-Oji motor parks. Drawing on the framework of variationist sociolinguistics (Labov, 1972), the article identifies forms of bad language and analyzes how gender, age, and socioeconomic status influence their usage. The data were obtained through observation and elicitation methods. The findings reveal that motor parks function as heteroglossic arenas where code-switching, audience design, and social indexing govern profanity. Men, younger individuals, and lower-income participants tend to use more frequent and overt swearing, while older and higher-status individuals moderate or euphemize their expressions. The study underscores the need to view profanity not merely as deviance but as a communicative resource and offers implications for urban language planning and public civility campaigns.