POLYSEMY AND MEANING EXTENSION IN NIGERIAN ENGLISH

Abstract

Polysemy and meaning extension are vital processes in the evolution of New Englishes, especially in multilingual and postcolonial contexts where English adapts to reflect local realities. Nigerian English (NigE), one of the most vibrant African varieties of English, demonstrates semantic innovations that go beyond the norms of Standard British or American English. This study investigates how polysemy—the coexistence of multiple related senses in a word—and meaning extension operates in Nigerian English. Drawing on data from Nigerian newspapers, social media discourse, and spoken interactions, the study identifies and categorizes words that have acquired extended meanings in everyday Nigerian usage.The analysis reveals that Nigerian English employs polysemy across four major domains: cultural extensions (e.g., chop meaning “eat” or “embezzle”), pragmatic extensions (e.g., sorry used to express empathy; go-slow for “traffic jam”), institutional extensions (e.g., defend meaning “to present a thesis”), and metaphorical extensions (e.g., scatter meaning “destroy” or “excite”). These findings underscore that semantic extensions in Nigerian English are not random deviations but systematic adaptations that arise from the need to encode cultural practices, accommodate indigenous linguistic influences, and enhance communicative efficiency. The study adopts a descriptive approach in analyzing the data. It concludes that polysemy and meaning extension enrich the expressive capacity of Nigerian English, affirm its sociolinguistic legitimacy, and highlight the creativity of Nigerian speakers in localizing a global language.