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ABSTRACT. It is evident from linguistic research that in many societies of the world, sex/gender is a linguistic variable. In some cases the differences are quite small and are not generally noticed or probably taken for granted. Past studies placed too much on the study of feminine versus masculine linguistic variety (in many languages) to the neglect of other factors such as regular use of each variety, domains of use, and the unconventional use of gender markers in a particular variety. Thus, this paper examines issue of gender-sensitive items in Nigerian English. Findings reveal that Nigerian English belongs to a culture which is male dominated, hence, the tendency to coin lexical items which are gender sensitive, especially when a female is now being made to perform a role that is traditionally reserved for men. Two lexical innovation processes deployed for use are inter- and intra-lingual compounding and suffixation. Thus, the study further confirms that variations occur among English language users in their speech habits. pp. 72–86

Keywords: Sex/gender, language and gender, Nigerian English, Standard English, lexical innovation

S. A. DADA
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Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
O. K. OWOEYE
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Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria

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