Abstract
This study examines the realisation of English vowel sounds by native speakers of Kanuri and Ngizim, with emphasis on short and long monophthongs and selected diphthongs. Data were collected from fifteen native speakers of Kanuri in Bama, Borno State, and another set of fifteen native speakers of Ngizim in Potiskum, Yobe State,through controlled speech tasks involving wordlists and reading passages. The respondents’ pronunciations were analysed in comparison with Received Pronunciation (RP). The findings show systematic vowel substitutions in both varieties, largely influenced by first language phonological structure and English orthography. The English KIT vowel /ɪ/ was realised as [iː], [e], and [ə] in Kanuri-English, while Ngizim speakers produced mainly [iː] and [e]. Respondents from both groups showed difficulty indistinguishing vowel length contrasts, frequently shortening long vowels such as /iː/ to [i]. The schwa /ə/ was highly variable, with Kanuri speakers producing [ɔ], [e], [a], [aː], and [u], and Ngizim speakers producing [e], [a], [aː], [ɔ], and [u], often depending on spelling. The STRUT vowel /ʌ/ was consistently realised as [ɔ] in both varieties. Long vowels such as /ɜː/ and /ɔː/ were also replaced with more familiar vowel qualities, while /uː/ was frequently shortened. Diphthongs were identified as the most problematic category, with both groups reducing /eɪ/ and /əʊ/ to monophthongs, particularly in Ngizim-English where diphthong inventory is limited. Overall, the study demonstrates that vowel deviations in Kanuri and Ngizim English are shaped by phonological transfer, vowel length neutralisation and orthographic influence.
Keywords: Kanuri, Ngizim, L1 influence, Spelling influence, L2 learning, Vowels
DOI: 10.36349/sojolics.2026.v02i01.044
author/Yusuf, S. A., & Muhammad-Gombe, U.
journal/Sokoto JOLICS 2(1) | June 2026 |
