1

A FUNCTIONAL STUDY OF A SELECTED NIGERIAN NOVEL

BY

ADEJO ATABO
PG/APP/24/PHD/758023

COURSE CODE: ENG 811

COURSE TITLE: LANGUAGE AND STYLISTICS

A SEMINAL PAPER PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH

AND LITERARY STUDIES, FACULTY ARTS AND HUMANITIES, IN
PARTIAL FULFILMENT FOR THE REQUIREMENTS OF PHD ENGLISH
AND LITERARY STUDIES

COURSE LECTURER: PROFESSOR M.B.S. JIBRIN

 2

Abstract
This paper attempts a functional study of a seven-part and fifty-five-chapter text, Americanah, by
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. The analysis is based on the framework of a systemic functional
linguist Oluwole Adejare which presupposes that every second order text has a message. Against
this backdrop, the analysis begins with the identification of the message of the prose narrative.
The various devices and modes used in the projection of the message of the novel are classified
into three different levels of text linguistic analysis. These levels are primitive order level,
second order level and prime order level. Out of these, the second order is used. This study also
investigates the fictional atmosphere of the text whilst deciphering not only the linguistic
parameters but also the metaphors of characters as well as that of the work of art as a whole. The
study shows that Adichie employs varieties of language and manipulates them to project her
message of racism in Britain and in the US and also project societal problems peculiar to Nigeria
and other African countries.

Keywords: prime order, primitive order, second order, Systemic Functional Grammar, Systemic
Functional Linguistics
 3

Introduction
The word “style” etymologically is derived from the Latin word stilus which means a
pointed object used for writing and much later as a manner of writing. In medieval period, style
was connected to rhetoric. Thus, it was regarded not just as a manner of writing, but as a way of
persuading that is, a way of saying things to please the audience (Lewis and Charles). Then in
the renaissance, style was seen as the dress of thought, some kind of adornment or “covering” of
thought or meaning. Traditionally, style created an intimate connection with an author’s
personality. That is why each time we use language, we necessarily adopt a style of some sort,
and we make a selection from a range of syntactic and lexical possibilities according to the
purpose of communication. The most specific domain of style, and in many ways the most
valuable starting point of stylistics, is the individual text or text extract.
Furthermore, the “stylistic variant” (John Lyons 290) view of style supports the dualist’s
conviction that style can be distinguished from message which can lead to a more precise
understanding of what it means for a writer to choose this rather than that way of putting things.
Language specifies a repertoire or code or possibilities if we define style in terms of stylistic
variants and the writer is constrained and exercises preferences within the limits of that code. But
we have to note that creative users of language often overstep these limits to produce original
meaning and effects; and that the limits of the code are uncertain, even in grammar, where we
might expect to find them determined by clear-cut rules.
This means that the use of style is obtainable in all texts through the use of language and its
features. MH Abrams (303) holds that traditionally, “style is the manner of linguistic expression
in prose and verse as to how speakers or writers say whatever it is that they say”. Abrams also
states that style is a way a writer expresses his views or ideas in writing, speech or prose.
According to French Stylisticians, Charles Bally and Michael Riffaterre, (in Leech and Short
(18) “style is that expressive or emotive element of language which is added to the neutral
presentation of the messages itself‟. As a matter of terminological decision, one can say that
style is a property of all texts.
In writing, hence in style, the primary consideration is comprehensibility, therefore clarity;
one’s first duty is to make oneself understood. The second is to be adequate to one’s theme: the
style should be thoroughly suitable to the subject. The third, which is partly implied in the
second, is to write well: forcibly when force is required; beautifully when loveliness is being
described or conveyed; concisely when concision is necessary or, at the least advisable. For this
novel, however, the textual function is utilized as a tool for interpretation of the divergent ways
 4

in which people use language to the establish relations between sentences, the internal
organization of sentences in order to project the target message. It is deducible that the textual
function of a work of art has both ideational and interpersonal undertone that pave the way for
linguistic analysis and semantic interpretation.
This paper concentrates on the functional study of Adichie’s novel Americanah. The study
involves an exact analysis of the features of stylistic sphere that are in the text and examines how
meaning is realized through the scrutiny of the different levels of style. To cut/untie the Gordian
knot, the researcher employs the three meta-levels methodology of primitive order, prime order
and second order as proposed by Oluwole Adejare (6).
This study uses a select prose narrative as a primary source of data to explicate Standard
British, American English, Nigerian English, and Nigerian Pidgin in Nigerian fictional writing as
well as the ways in which literary texts can be interpreted for effective communication. This has
been employed to demonstrate literary and linguistic features in the novel aimed at depicting the
fate of migrants and Africans in the diaspora exploited as a framework and as parameters to
analyse style in the novel, Americanah. Relevant excerpts and passages are extracted for in depth
discussion and sound argumentation.

Synopsis
Ifemelu grows up in Nigeria, middle class but, as a scholarship girl, not as wealthy as her
friends. She meets Obinze towards the end of her time at school, and they become seriously
involved. After strikes shut down the Nigerian universities, lots of their friends try to leave to
finish their studies elsewhere, and Ifemelu eventually gets a visa to study in Philadelphia just as
the strike has ended. America is an eye-opening experience for Ifemelu in so many ways, not
least because of the poverty she finds herself in once arrived. After a few years she gets a
fellowship at Princeton and starts a blog called Raceteenth, on which she posts observations
about race, from the point of view of a non-American black. The blog is a great way for Adichie
to make some of her more pointed remarks, and the way she combines Ifemelu’s scathing
commentary on hypocrisy and intolerance in both America and Nigeria with the broader novel’s
sharp yet deferential critique of society is very successful.
Ifemelu’s reasons for returning to Nigeria are murky, even to her, and must grapple with its
repercussion. She is leaving behind her long-term boyfriend, Blaine, and possibly thinking a little
too much about Obinze, her first boyfriend, and seeks a relationship with him though he is
currently married and has a child, and much romanticised by distance. She leaves an academic
 5

career and her blog for an uncertain future. Ultimately, she leaves somewhere that has never
quite felt like home for somewhere that she thinks will, despite its many and obvious flaws, at
least be home—only to find that both she and Nigeria have changed. Ifemelu’s return provokes
as much soul-searching as her departure as she starts over.
The thematic preoccupations of Adichie’s Americanah are racism, identity, romantic love,
separation and connection, cultural criticism, identity, hair, marriage, language, religion, books
and education, and honesty.

Theoretical Framework
Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) is a functional system of implicature that merges
both linguistic approach and semiotic approach to the study of text and meaning. Nowadays, the
SFL approach is used world-wide, especially in language education, and for a number of
purposes like discourse analysis. It has continued to be closely associated with sociology even
when a good number of linguistic theories deal with language in the form of mental practice. The
Halliday's tradition, as an illustration, is more interested in the manner by which language is
utilised in social settings so as to attain a specific target (O’Donnell 2). SFL, with regards to data,
does not tackle the manner of language representation or process in the human brain, but would
rather try to see discourses produced in the form of written or oral language and what is
contained in the tests that are produced. Because of the concern of SFL with the use of language,
great importance is placed on the function of language, such as what language is used for, rather
than what language structure is all about and the manner by which it is composed (Matthiessen &
Halliday, 1997). In SFL, a text is analyzed in four ways. They are as follows: Context,
Semantics, Lexico-grammar, and Phonology.
In the recent years, SFL has been useful and helpful in fields such as linguistics language
education (Frances Christie & James R Martin 1997), child language development (Claire
Painter 1999), media discourse (Rick Iedema 2003), history (Rick Iedema 2003), educational
linguistics (Frances Christie & James R Martin 1997), critical discourse analysis (Thomas Bloor
& Meriel Bloor 2007), and administrative language (Rick Iedema 2003). Furthermore, SFL has
also been applied to interpret the grammar of other semiotic modes, such as art (Ballantyre 1996)
and visuals (Gunther R Kress & Theo van Leeuwen 2001). Consequently, SFL tradition is
considered as a sensational international one, since it can be seen by the number of publications
and conferences in SFL around the world. Briefly, it is clear that SFL can be applicable in
unlimited fields.
 6

Here, it is very important to note that Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG) is only one
offshoot of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). The Systemic Functional Grammar (SFG),
put forward by Halliday (Halliday 1994; Halliday & Matthiessen 2004), pays great attention to
how the speakers generate utterances and texts to convey their intended meanings. According to
SFG, language has three metafunctions, namely, the ideational, interpersonal, and textual
metafunctions. All the three metafunctions are reflected in a huge system network, which
specifies all the meaning potentials. The system network consists of several sub-networks, such
as the Transitivity network, the Thing network, and the Quality network. A network is made up
by a number of the so-called ‘systems’, each consisting of a set of semantic features. To generate
an utterance, the system network is traversed, certain semantic features are selected, and the
relevant realization rules are fired (Robin P Fawcett, Gordon H Tucker & Jincheng Lin 1993;
William C Mann & Christian MIM Matthiessen 1985).
Systemic Functional Grammar refers to a new approach to the study of grammar that is
radically different from the traditional view in which language is a set of rules for specifying
grammatical structures. In this view, language is a resource for making meanings and hence
grammar is a resource for creating meaning by means of wording. Halliday and Matthiessen (3)
clarify their position with respect to SFL as follows:

For the task of constructing such a meaning base, we shall use a systemic grammar. A
systemic grammar is one of the class of functional grammars, which means (among other
things) that it is semantically motivated, or ‘natural’, In contradistinction to formal
grammars, which are autonomous, and therefore semantically arbitrary, in a systemic
grammar every category (and ‘category’ is used here in the general sense of an organizing
theoretical concept, not in the narrower sense of ‘class’ as in formal grammar) is based on
meaning: it has a semantic as well as a formal, lexico-grammatical reactance.

Unlike the ‘grammar as rule’ type of theory, SFL takes the resource perspective rather than
the rule perspective, and it is designed to display the overall system of grammar rather than only
fragments. A Systemic Grammar, on the other hand, focuses on the paradigm: systemic
grammars basically set out the choices available in a particular language context. The grammar
also describes the possible syntagms (sequences of elements) that could be produced. However,
this description is broken up into smaller descriptions (realization statements), each associated
with the particular structural choice that it realizes
The theoretical framework deployed in this study is that of Systemic Functional Linguistics
(SFL), which is based on three different strands of meaning. The theory is appropriate for this
study as to x-raying the properties of the target novel, which according to Oluwole Adejare (6) is
 7

often done by choosing from possible alternatives. The theory among other things, postulates
three functional levels of meaning in a text via systemic textlinguistic approach to literary text
analysis. These are the primitive order, the second order and the prime order levels.

Primitive Level
The primitive level of meaning according to Adejare (6) is the component of the text
wherein primitive linguistic meaning is interpreted. These meanings are derived from
phonological, syntactic and lexical components of the text. Such meanings in this level are
universal within a particular language’s semiotic universe which serves as a common set of
connections of all the speakers of such a language. He also emphasises that primitive meanings
are not text meanings as they do not project branded instance of reality (Adejare 7). A number
of semiotic variation are worthy of note in the interpretation of second language varieties which
may pave the way for generating distinct meanings contrary to the mother tongue variety because
of the sociolinguistic milieu of the author in decoding of this message. This may generate a
strikingly different meaning in a native speaker variety. It is against this backdrop that
Americanah is interpreted in terms of their social meanings its author intends.
Consequently, to Adejare (8) distortion of reality is evident or paramount in a second order
text in which syntax, lexis, grammar and phonology are discussed in this level. A dislocation of
sequence as in the use of flashback technique where events are presented in an order different
from their natural order of occurrence are explained with the aim view of unknotting the message
of the text.

Second Order Level

The second order level of interpretation of the message according to Adejare (9) is a
fictionalized situation because it is a situation within situation resulting in complex situation. The
fictionalized situation that is specified in this level interposes between the primitive order level
and prime order level wherein the meanings derived from it have to be re-interpreted based on
the writer-audience situation.
The primitive meanings of the text are reinterpreted on the basis that “the elements of this
level are derived from character metaphors: names, dialogue and actions (9)”. All these elements
were perceptible in the projection of the messages of the select novel. Adichie manipulates these
three elements to project the message of Americanah. This, in no mean degree, reflects the
writer’s idiosyncratic principles, intellectual property, intercultural and intra-cultural variations
and catachrestic patois resulting in the definition of semiotic variation.
 8

Prime Order Level

The integration of prime order level and the primitive level structures the simple situation.
Adejare (9) affirms that dialogues at this level is nothing but distortions of the writer’s idiolect.
This is usually schemed through language manipulation and mode to project the writer’s
intentionality and informativity matrix which is a network of situations in the text. Here
characters are termed special metaphors because they are fundamentally semiotic signs,
signifying ideas through which the message of the text in which they occur is projected. The fact
that characters do not live in reality render them no more than the linguistic signs used to
represent them. Thus, the attributes into which they are translatable are the only things that are of
interest in systemic text linguistics.
Imagery, metaphors and descriptions are the basic prime order elements. These elements
often translate into the message of the text. In order to qualify as an image, for instance, a feature
is repeated in several episodes in the text.

TEXT: Americanah
Second Order Level
Names, dialogues, actions and other linguistic devices are the aspect through which the
message of Americanah is projected at this level, taking into cognizance of naming and the
effects on characters.

Names
The names in the novel constitute an important aspect of text interpretation. The text is
produced by a writer, a Nigerian and Igbo woman, whose mother tongue culture attaches a great
significance to names. Names here have both deep meaning and undertone. The names that are
discussed here are proper names.

Proper Names
Within the context of Americanah, proper names serve the purpose of expanding the
novel’s fictionalized setting, as names of the different characters indicate the nationalities, racial
origins and ethnic groups of such characters, their religions and their social status. Names such
as Akunne, Amara, Aunt Uju (Obianuju), Aunty Chinelo, Aunty Onenu, Bianca Onoh, Buchi,
Chetachi, Chidi, Chijioke, Chika, Chikodili, Chioma, Dike, Emeka, Emenike, Ifemelu or
Ifemelunamma (69), Ijeoma, Isioma, Kosi[sochukwu], Ndudi, Nkechi, Nosa, Nneoma, Obinze
Maduewesi, Ojiugo, Okwudiba, Ranyinudo and Uche show that the characters are Igbo by
 9

origin. Besides, in the text Ifemelu herself gives the explanation about the meaning of her Igbo
name, which is “leave us in peace” (Adichie 32) while Kosisochukwu means “God’s will” or
“As It Pleases God” (Adichie 413). The name Ifemelu which must take on - Ngozi - is even more
significant in that it is one of the given names of the author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Ahmed, Aisha (Senegalese), Halima (Malian), Mariama (Malian), Mohammed, Omar,
Zainab, to mention few aside from their racial origin, their names show that they are Muslims.
Likewise names like Bartholomew, Christiana (nanny, 21), Doris, Esther, Gideon, Grace,
Hannah, Jonathan, Phillip, tell us the characters are Christians. Adesuwa, Bisi, Bose, Dapo,
Iyabo, Kayode DaSilva, Kemi, Mofe, Mrs Funmi King, Mofe, Morenike, Mrs Ojo, Olu, Olujimi,
Sola, Yemi, Yinka and some others are Yoruba names – another major ethnic group in Nigeria,
and an indication that these characters are Yoruba by origin. Names such as Abe, Alexa, Athena,
Blaine, Claire, Cristina Tomas, Curt, Derek Walcott, Kimberly, Laura, Morgan, Robb, Roy Snell
and Shan that feature in the novel indicate that they are white or Americans. Yet there are others
depicting status like Chief, Dr. and The General (Oga). Others are Ginika, Inyang, Marie
(housegirl, Benin Republic 21), Min (Chinese 332), Olga (Russian), Tendai (Zimbabwean 258),
Wambui (Kenyan 138), Zemaye.
Nicknames
Names, nicknames and naming in Americanah are signifiers and the signified of both
material and immaterial, opaque and transparent, perfect and imperfect, latent and glaring
attitudinal behaviours, aside from foibles, inclinations, attachment and affiliations which serve as
image projectors and carriers of personality. To be specific, in the novel there are many Nigerian
nicknames for most of Nigerian characters such as Ifemelu or Obinze or Okwudiba. In the
nostalgic sections of Part 1 wherein Ifemelu focuses on her teenage friend group and romance
with Obinze, the focus is on not given names but nicknames. Obinze is called one nickname by
most of their friends - The Zed - but when he and Ifemelu become romantically intimate, she
begins to call him the suggestive name “Ceiling.” The use of a special nickname shows others
that they have a relationship they cannot be a part of and keeps a playful sensuality even in their
public lives. Throughout the novel, even after the couple has broken up, Ifemelu will continue to
use this nickname for Obinze at certain times in a way that shows she has not fully gotten over
their relationship. Other nicknames evident in the prose narrative are ‘Iloba Jump Up’ and ‘Loba
Jay You’ because his trousers are too short (248), Ifemsco, Edusco (456), Morg, Okwu, Tochi,
etc.
Toponyms
 10

Toponyms are placenames. A number of geographical and historical places in Nigeria,

Britain, America and other Africa countries abound in the novel to connect and project the
different matrix of settings and tie the plot of the story together. The settings uphold and lay bare
the various linguistic tools, attitude, idiosyncrasy, norms, mores and moral standard peculiar to
them. Toponyms in Americanah are aimed at depicting the fate and plight of Africans
(Congolese, Ghanaians, Guineans, Kenyans, Nigerians, South Africans, Tanzanians, and
Zimbabweans), African-Americans living abroad, especially in the US (Baltimore, Boston,
Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kensington, New Haven, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Virginia,
Warrington) and Britain (British Isles, London, Essex, United Kingdom). This is also tied to the
cultural evils that beset these countries. The toponyms contribute in no mean degree to the
varieties of Englishes, accent and vernacular that are used in the novel.
Trademark Names
Trademark names, otherwise known as brand names, are specialised kind of names that
often originated from the company, manufacturer or producer of certain products. Some of the
trademark names employed in the novel are: Google™ (and its derived verb google which means
to type words into a search engine Google in order to find information about
somebody/something), Bentley™ (235), BMW™ (258), Datsun™ (441), Honda™ (441), Ping-
Pong™ (332), Range Rover™ (441), Mazda™ (45), Nescafe™ (414), PayPal™ (303), Sprite™
(414), Stella Artois™ (), Styrofoam™ (48), Volkswagen™ [Beetle] (238), Volvo™ (122),
Ziploc [bag]™ (39).

Titles
Dr and Professor
“Dr” and “Professor” are titles in the academic world. They indicate a high level of
erudition. The Doctors here referred are the university men among whom are Dr Bingham and
Dr Hoffman. We never meet them in their professional capacities that pave the way for bearing
such official titles. Dr Achufusi, however, is a medical doctor and we see him examine Ifemelu
when it is suspected that she is pregnant. The professors mentioned in the text are Professor
Moore, Professor Hunk (a Jew), Professor Chinelo and Ginika’s parents. A doctoral degree and
professorship are worthy in themselves but some bearers of the titles are not good ambassadors.
Chief
 11

“Chief” is supposedly an indigenous title that commands reverence in Nigerian societies.

But for a character like Chief Omenka, the title is woven in haughtiness, and which is his
passport for defrauding and intimidating people.

Names of Printed Matter

Adichie employs a number of local and foreign book titles the characters read and enjoy to
provide useful information about their personalities and goals. Some of these books are Jean
Toomer’s Cane (11), Huckleberry Finn (67), James Hadley Chase novels (53), Miss Shumway
Waves a Wand (60), Want to Stay Alive? (60), Graham Greene’s The Heart of the Matter (70)
The Fire Next Time (135), Vintage People (79), Prime People (79), Lagos People (79), The Fire
Next Time (135), New York Times (178), Things Fall Apart (189), A Bend in the River (189)
Brideshead (269), The End of the Affair (269), Traveling While Black (334), Monk Memoirs
(336), Dreams from My Father (352), and Praying Your Way to Prosperity (401).

Dialogue
There are three regional serviceable varieties of English used in the novel – Nigerian,
American, and British. There are also two functional varieties: the Internet register and beauty
salon register. The other linguistic tools that are employed in the work are two idiolects found
the dialogue of characters, aside from speaking in pidgin and Igbo, all aimed at broadcasting the
message of the novel.

Functional Varieties
The author shows his capability of varying her language to suit the various contexts that are
put together to make up the novel, in order to project his philosophical stance.

Registers
Samash Wyss (362) describes a register as a form language associated with a particular
social situation or subject matter, such as obscene slang, legal language, or journalese. Here the
term ‘register’ thus refers to a functional variety of language (e.g. Halliday, 1978; Hasan, 1973;
Matthiessen, 1993b; Ghadessy, 1993; Lukin et al., 2008). It has also been used in a related, but
different way, to refer to the contextual values associated with such a functional variety (evident
in Martin, 1992, and other contributions to the ‘genre model’ within systemic functional
linguistics; cf. Matthiessen, 1993b).
Lucidly, MAK Halliday and Ruqaiya Hassan give a picturesque description of the concept
of register thus:
 12

“A register is ... a configuration of meanings that are typically associated with a

particular situational configuration of field, mode, and tenor. But since it is a
configuration of meanings, a register must also, of course, include the expressions,
the lexico-grammatical and phonological features, that typically accompany or
REALISE these meanings.” Halliday and Hasan (1989:38-39)

Adichie uses field, tenor and mode registers in her writing which include:

Internet Register
One of the important linguistic features used in projecting the message of the text is the
Internet register. The whole text is full of the Internet register as in the examples below:

 She scoured Nigerian websites, Nigerian profiles on Facebook, Nigerian blogs, and each
click brought yet another story of a young person who had recently moved back home,
clothed in American or British degrees…. (Adichie 9)
 She ate some melted chocolate, sent Dike a text to call her when he was finished with
basketball practice, and fanned herself. (Adichie 13)
 “Haba! I don’t text and drive o. I text when I’m no driving,” she said. (Adichie 386)

To send a text means to send a message through the phone. Other related Internet words are in
the prose narrative are BlackBerry™ (35), blog (4), blogpost (5), cybercafés (14), e-mail (19),
YouTube™ (15), etc. The deployment of the Internet registers is aimed at bridging the gap
between the olden days and the modern days.

Beauty Salon Register

One of the linguistic devices used by the author to project the message of the text is register
as earlier mentioned. Aside from the Internet register, the beauty salon register is equally well
exploited in this novel. She uses this to emphasise the issue of the hair and how it brings out the
issue of racial discrimination in the US, which is a good quality of a writer. This enables her to
give the text the flow and to match the topic with the language. This she does using several
character metaphors. The following excerpt shows the usage:

She thought of buying a wig, but wigs brought anxiety, the always-present
possibility of flying off your head. She thought of a texturizer to loosen her hair’s
springy coils, stretch out the kinkiness a little, but a texturizer was really a relaxer,
only milder, and she would still have to avoid the rain. (208-209)

Euphemistic Taboo Words

 13

There is the use euphemism to make taboo words mild rather than serious. The following are few
of the euphemistic words:

Ifemelu tells her Aunty:

 “He is happy to know that he can still score a goal at his age, old man like him.” That
meant that he is not too old to impregnate a woman or have children by her (Adichie 84)
 Ifemelu said “We ate the food a week ago” She tells Aunty Uju this because she suspects
that she is pregnant. (Adichie 95)

Discourse Particles
These include words that are used at the end of statements to qualify or modify them. They
include: ‘o’ (281), ‘abi’ (65), ‘chai’ (80), ‘haba’ (386) and ‘shay’ (123). The first is Igbo
discourse particles, the second and fifth are Yoruba and the third one is Hausa.

 “God should bless the man o. me I hope I will be a mentor when I graduate,” Chetachi
said. (Adichie 45)
 “Your mother is an American, abi? (Adichie 65)
 “Haba! I don’t text and drive o. I text when I’m no driving,” she said. (Adichie 386)
 One perfume and four books! I was shocked. Chai. (80)
 But to get up and say you have no problem with your wife but you are leaving for another
woman? Haba. (472)
 “We’re entering University City, and that’s where Wellson campus is, shay you know?

Nigerian Variety of English

Spoken language, dialect, and accent are crucial to the reading of Adichie's Americanah.
This is especially true when the main character Ifemelu observes the language choices made by
Africans in the United States, especially Nigerians, and those made by her family and friends
living in Nigeria. In the novel, this variety is used largely by characters that have tertiary
education. The following instances are taken from some of the aforementioned:

 Then there was the man from Ohio, who was squeezed [sandwiched] next to her on a flight.
(Adichie 4)
 ‘How [are] you doing?’ the man asked. (Adichie 9)
 … the new housegirl [housekeeper or housemaid] , Marie, who had been brought from
Benin Republic… (Adichie 21)
 “Will you follow [come with/accompany] us?” (Adichie 49)
 “So both of you are book people [academics/bookworms],” Kayode said. (Adichie 56)
 “We’re entering University City, and that’s where Wellson campus is, shay you know? We
can go for you to see the school first and then we can go to my place, out in the suburbs,
and after we can go to my friend’s place in the evening. She’s doing a get together.”
(Adichie 123)
 “Let me tell you, there are many people in your situation [in your shoes].” (Adichie 250)
 14

 “No light for the past week.” [There’s no electricity/electric power] Ranyinudo said,
shouting to be heard above the generators.’ (Adichie 388, See also 159)
 Ijeoma, very yellow [fair complected] girl. (Adichie 386)
 The gateman [gatekeeper] had hurried over to help with the suitcases. (Adichie 388)
 Her hair was covered in black hair net [snood]. (Adichie 462)

Some Grammatical Blunders

 “Me and my sister Halima [My sister Halima and I] are from Mali. Aisha is from Senegal”
(Adichie 11)
 “My sister say[s] it is true. Igbo marry Igbo always,” she said.
“How does your sister know?”
“She know[s] many Igbo people in Africa. She sell[s] cloth.” (Adichie 15)
 Unless your father is big [a wealthy/rich] man. [Unless your father is a phenomenon]
(Adichie 17)
 “You have [a] boyfriend?” [Are] You marry? [Are you married or going to get married?]
(Adichie 17)
 First I [will] call Chijioke. He work cab driver. [He works as a cab driver/He is a cab
driver] Then Emeka. He work security. [He works as a security guard/He works in Security
Service] (Adichie 17)
 “Lagos is now full of American returnees, so you [had] better come back with them.”
(Adichie 14)
 “Tell Chijioke Igbo can marry not Igbo.” (Adichie 40)
 “They want [to] marry me. But I am not Igbo!” (Adichie 40)
 “You talk [speak] Igbo to Chijioke. He [will] listen [to] you,” Aisha said. “You talk [speak]
Igbo?” (Adichie 40)
 “Chief Omenka is a 419 and everybody knows it,” she said. (Adichie 51)
 Finally, one of them, Adesuwa or Uche, said, “This your orange juice [This orange juice of
yours] is the cheap brand o! (Adichie 82)
 “What about akara [bean cake], aunty?” (Adichie 443)
 … he sat on the couch while she sat on [in] her armchair, as far from him as possible.
(Adichie 445)

Users of these expressions like Mariama and Aisha lack good education.

Pidgin
Pidgin is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two
or more groups that do not have a language in common: typically, a mixture of simplified
languages or a simplified primary language with other languages’ elements included.

 “Na for work wey they get me o. (Adichie 281)

 “Your mother is an American, abi? [right?] So you have an American passport”
Emenike asked. (Adichie 65)
 “Yori Yori”—Your love dey make my heart do yori yori. Nobody can love you the way I
do(Adichie 441)
 But to get up and say you have no problem with your wife but you are leaving for another
woman? Haba. [No] (Adichie 472).
 15

As these various examples show that the aim of Adichie’s strategy could be interpreted as the
method of manifestation of identity and useful device for articulation of sense of belonging.
These in no mean degree paves the way for expression of specific aesthetics, putting emphasis on
the literary composition, communication of cultural ideas and the life patterns of the Nigerian
people, or simply willingness to reach readers more widely.

Colloquialism
This is a word or phrase appropriate to conversation and other informal situation. The
deployment of colloquialism makes the novel conversational. For instance:

 … to size up new furniture or new electronics – This, more like phrasal verb, is used in
informal situations to form a judgment or an opinion about somebody or something.
(Adichie 45).
 Aren’t you hot in that jacket? - The word “hot” has been used informally to refer to
smartness. (Adichie 57).
 “Coz, this was the bestest day ever with you.” (Adichie 120) - The word “bestest” which
is in the superlative degree is coined from the adjective best.
 “Yo, Coz, how you gonna treat me like that?” he said, with an exaggerated funny face
that made her laugh. (Adichie 332)

This is lexicology and the choice of the vocabulary is motivated by the informality of the
conversations.

American Slang
Adichie skillfully uses the North American variety of slang in the text for effect thus:

 “Amma like, oh Gad, Az someh.” [I’m like, Oh God, I was so mad] (Adichie 9)
 Pooh-reet-back [Put it back]. (Adichie 108)
 You shouldn’t of done that. There is three things. I had a apple. A couple days. I want to
lay down. (Adichie 135)
 Ahn-ahn! All of us were waiting! (Adichie 223)
 “Who the fuck is he?” Curt asked. (Adichie 288)
 “Yo, Coz, how you gonna treat me like that?” (Adichie 332)

Proverbs
Proverb is a short, memorable and often highly condensed saying embodying, especially
with bold imagery, some commonplace fact or experience. The frequency with which Adichie
 16

employs proverbs in Americanah, may partly be interpreted as significant influence of Igbo oral
traditions that are continued largely through literature of Igbo speaking writers. They are
common statements that enable speakers to display not only their wisdom and intelligence, but
also distinctive ability to use language for manipulation.

 Yes. The basic one everybody knows. A frog does not run in the afternoon for nothing.
(Adichie 61)
 No. I know serious proverbs. Akota ife ka ubi, e lee oba. If something bigger than the
farm is dig up, the barn is sold. (Adichie 61)

Code Switching and Code Mixing

Code-switching is a process whereby a person selects a particular code whenever they
choose to speak, and also decide to switch from one code to another or to mix codes, even within
sometimes very short utterance and thereby create a new code. Code-switching (also called code-
mixing) can occur in conversation between speakers’ turns or within a single speaker’s turn. In
the latter case it can occur between sentences (inter-sententially) or within a single sentence
(intra-sententially). Code-switching can arise from individual choice or be used as a major
identity marker for a group of speakers who must deal with more than one language in their
common pursuit (Ronald Wardhaugh 101). As Gal (247) says, ‘codeswitching is a conversational
strategy used to establish, cross or destroy group boundaries, to create, evoke or change
interpersonal relations with their rights and obligations.’ Code switching is the practice of
changing between languages when you are speaking. Code-mixing involves a situation, where a
fluent bilingual talking to another bilingual changes code without any change at all in situation.
Adichie deploys both situational and metaphorical code switching in Americanah to
redefine the situation from formal to informal, official to personal, serious to humorous, and
politeness to solidarity. Through code-switching, Adichie reveals that Igbo meaning has been
transferred not only to fill lexical gap, but also to capture the Igbo cultural worldview as the
means of identification. This also suggests and reinforces the contextual meaning, giving it more
germinal vim and emphasis while reflecting the habits of thought and speech patterns of many
Igbo speakers from United States, who use code-switching or code-mixing in no small measure.
The meaning of the items is provided in square brackets.

 “Darling, kedu ebe I no? Where are you?” [Where are you?] (Adichie 21)
 “Ahn ahn! [an exclamatory remark] O gini? [What?]” (Adichie 23)
 “Ha, o di egwu, [it is wonderful] for where?” (Adichie 24)
 “It is rumpled. Ngwa [quick], go and iron it”. (Adichie 49)
 17

 “Ifem, I don't know what got into me. Ndo.” [I am sorry] (Adichie 83)
 “But calm down first. It will be okay, inugo?” [take my words, okay?] (Adichie 95)
 “What? Gini? Ifemelu asked.” [What?] (Adichie119)
 “Ngwa, scrub between your legs very well, very well”. [Quick] (Adichie 128)

Italicisation
Adichie uses italics for various reasons. The main character is a blogger and has various
blog posts and all these posts have been italicized for foregrounding purposes. The blog posts
majorly talks about height of racial discrimination which is a central issue in America. Ifemelu
will say vaguely about what she does:

“I write an anonymous blog called Raceteenth or various observations About

American Blacks (Those Formerly known as Negroes) by a Non-American Black”
(Adichie 6)

Ifemelu once imagines how possible Obama would win the elections yet he is black. This
thought is italicized to represent her world view:

How can a monkey be president? Somebody do us a favor and put a bullet in this
guy. Send him back to the African jungle. A black man will never be in the white
house, dude, it’s called the white house for a reason. (Adichie 353)

All these words are used in informal situations.

Use of Acronyms
Acronyms are used in the prose narrative to indicate levels of informality. In the text,
acronyms widely used are as follows: AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome 23), BBC
(338), CD (compact disc 19, 35), CNN (Cable News Network 21), CV (curriculum vitae 23),
DVD (digital video disc or digital versatile disc 102), eBay™ (a website for auctioning goods
326), FM (frequency modulation 19), MC (Master of Ceremonies 466), NGO (non-governmental
organisation 169), NTA (Nigeria Television Authority 388), TV (television 102), VC (vice
chancellor 91) and UK (United Kingdom 253).

Short Forms and Clipped Version

Short forms of words can also be captured graphologically to indicate the informal
situation. Adichie is fond of such a kind of language to draw the attention of her audience and
the use of such words is a characteristic of digital discourse. The following are short forms of
words used: Coz (cousin 8), grad (graduate 178), the hall rep (the hall representative 91), ID
(Identity cards), Ifem (64), locs (dreadlocks 208), Kim (147), Morg (194), Okwu (472), Nne (),
 18

Paper ad (paper advertisement 145), SATs (certificates 99), special ed (special edition 171),
Tochi (65), etc.

Intended/Premeditated Misspellings
This refers to the violation of rules regarding acceptable spellings which is done
deliberately by the author. The words are deployed to represent untutored pronunciation. These
two examples include: Afrique, Africanness, sah, etc.

“When a girl is thirteen already she knows all the positions. Never in Afrique [for
Africa]!” (Adichie 103)

They expected it, in this shared space of their Africanness, but Ifemelu said nothing
and turned a page of her novel. (Adichie 103)

I hope everything is fine, sah (sir). It is very good to see you again, sah. (sir) How
is work, sah (sir)? (Adichie 442)

Accent
The term accent, when used technically, is restricted to the description of aspects of
pronunciation which identify where an individual speaker is from, regionally or socially (George
Yule 227). Adichie deploys variants of accents to differentiate between Americans and Africans,
in pronunciation, grammar and other linguistic features. A number of regional accents appear in
the novels some of which are evident in the expressions of Aisha (a Senegalese) and Mariama.

“Igbo men take care of women real good,” Aisha repeated. “I want [to] marry. They
love me but they say the family want Igbo woman. Because Igbo marry Igbo
always.” (Adichie 15)

Aisha clucked. “You don’t know America. You say Senegal and American people,
they say, Where is that? My friend from Burkina Faso, they ask her, your country in
Latin America?” (Adichie 15)

Findings
Whatever stylistic virtues we find in Adichie are not subject to simple imitation. The
virtues of any writer arise from the intelligent application of acquired skill to his own particular
purpose. Adichie’s sentence moves easily and pleasantly with a melodious rhythm. Certain
internal elements are balance; but the balance sometimes appears too natural to attract attention.
The diction has an Anglo-Saxon flavour and there is obvious colloquialism, but the words are
those of good standard usage – words that an educated man would use in conversation. Finally,
there is evident a scrupulous care for exactness and detail; each idea is stated precisely and fully.
 19

Adichie’s prose is serviceable and clear and completely adequate for presenting a factual
situation. Adichie has been able to creatively amalgamate different extralinguistic features to
project the message of the text. Adichie writes both like the native and non-native users of the
English language. This she does by manipulating the language in different ways in order to
creatively encode her experiences in English. She blends historical materials with creative
writing skills to carve out a niche for herself and thereby attain a literary height.

Conclusion
In the preceding pages, the paper has shown how different levels of meaning in the text are
deployed to project the message which its language transmits to the reader and from what is
evident so far, Americanah is an explicable and graspable text. Indeed, it is a text in which
almost every available linguistic resource is marshalled to project the message.
At the second order level, aspects of the character metaphors such as names, nicknames,
toponyms, printed matter, dialogue, and language varieties are employed to restate the text’s
message. After the analysis of all the levels, it is unravelled that like many other Nigerian
authors, Adichie has deconstructed particular matters by expressing her artistic thoughts using
Igbo vocabulary, translates proverbs, idioms, cultural phrases from Igbo into English and
manipulates particular linguistic and extra-linguistic features to attain the thematic concerns. The
language Adichie uses is a clear indicator of her status mingling within two worlds, not only one.
Transliteration, transference and translation are also employed as rhetorical tools for infusing
ethos.
From the foregoing, it can be concluded that Americanah is a text of an exceptionally high
aesthetic quality, and not a literary curio. Once the reader has learnt the idiolect, its language
becomes excitingly easy to assimilate and the art with which it is crafted and woven is a
stimulating intellectual exploration. Hence, we can say that Americanah is a deeply felt book,
written with equal parts lyricism and erudition, and that it defies philistinic strictures and
nihilistic mood as catachrestic and anachronistic patterning are least employed in the thematic
preoccupation.

Works Cited
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. Americanah. Nigeria: Kachifo Limited, 2013. Print
 20

Adejare, Oluwole. Language and Style in Soyinka: A Systemic Textlinguistic Study of a Literary
Idiolect. Ibadan: Heinemann, 1992. Print

Ballantyre, A. The Language of Displayed Art: Michael O'Toole. 1996. Print

Beikoff, K.. How functional grammar works. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved December 12,
2016from http://minerva.ling.mq.edu.au/network/debates/DailyTelegraph.html. 1996

Bloor, Thomas & Bloor, Meriel. The functional analysis of English (2nd ed.). London: Edward
Arnold, 2007. Print

Christie, Frances & Martin, James R. Genre and institutions: social processes in the workplace
and school. London & New York: Continuum, 1997. Print

Eggins, Suzanne. An introduction to systemic functional linguistics (2nd ed.). London:

Bloomsbury Academic, 2004. Print

Fowler, Roger. Essays on Style and Language: A Critical Approach to Literary Style. London:
Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966. Print

Fowler, Roger. Style and Structure in Literature: Essays in the New Stylistics. Oxford: Basil
Blackwell, 1975. Print

Halliday, MAK. Introduction to Systemic Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold, 1994.
Print

Halliday, MAK and Matthiessen, Christian, M.I.M. Systemic functional grammar: A first
step into the theory In: Current approaches to syntax. International Language Sciences
Publishers, Tokyo, 1999

Halliday, Michael, and Matthiessen, Christian M.I.M. An introduction to functional grammar

(2nd ed.). London: Arnold, 2004. Print

Halliday, Michael. Complementarities in Language (1st ed.). Beijing Shi: Commercial Press,
2008. Print
Iedema, Rick. Discourses of post-bureaucratic organization (1st ed.). Amsterdam: John
Benjamins Publishing Company, 2003. Print
 21

Jing, C. An Empirical Study of Applying Functional Grammar to College English Teaching

Foreign Languages in China, 7(3), 59-64. 2010

Kress, Gunther. & Leeuwen, Theo van. Reading images (2nd ed). London: Routledge, 2001.
Print

Lyons, John. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977. Print

Matthiessen, Christian MIM. Systemic Functional Linguistics Developing. Annual Review of

Functional Linguistics, 2, 8-63. 2010

Matthiessen, Christian MIM. & Halliday, MAK.. Systemic functional grammar (1st ed.) 1997.
Print

O’Donnell, Michael. Introduction to Systemic Functional Linguistics for Discourse Analysis.

Language, Function and Cognition. 2012. Print

Wardhaugh, Ronald. An Introduction to Sociolinguistics (5th ed). USA: Blackwell Publishing,

2007. Print

Wyss, Samash. A Book of Registers. Mogolo: Eritrea: Mogolo Prints and Publishers, 2014. Print

Yule, George. The Study of Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Print

Sentential Structural Analysis

S
Ifemelu V laughed. (Adichie 73)
 22

S
The Zed V is C a serious gentleman.” (Adichie 470)

S
I V know O Abba. (Adichie 61)

S
“The wealthy V don’t really care about O tribe.” (Adichie 467)

S
“Somebody V called A yesterday.” (Adichie 261)

S
You V see O them A in the British Airways lounge. (Adichie 471)

S
Ifemelu V joined O the taxi line A outside the station. (Adichie 8)

S
“You’V re A so C beautiful.” (Adichie 169)

A
Here S we V are. (Adichie 9)

S
“People V treat O you A differently.” (Adichie 431)