A comparative study of the pronunciation features of Igbo English and Yoruba English speakers of Nigeria

Several notable studies exist which investigate the phonologies of West African varieties of English. Studies also exist which have adopted a comparative approach in investigating the phonological/phonetic features of English in West Africa, in particular, and Africa in general. Also, a few studies have made contrastive statements on the phonetic features of Nigerian English (NE). However, works that comprehensively compare the pronunciation features of two or more varieties of NE are scarce. The present study attempts a preliminary comparison of the pronunciation features of Igbo English (IE) and Yoruba English (YE) speakers. Much of the data for this study is drawn from previous studies. I have also provided fresh data based on my observations through fieldwork and daily interactions both as a university teacher and as a competent bilingual in the larger Nigerian society. Recent research has established as features of West African English (WAE) the realization of the NURSE vowel with 5or, ur, our4 as [ ] as in work, word, world, workshop, church, turn, burnt, return (which contrast with East African /e, a/, and Southern African /e/). Similarly, Simo Bobda has also noted as a feature of WAE the