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Foregrounding and Lexical Deviation: A CaseStudy of Loan Words in Yorùbá Newspapers

Olútọ́lá Ọ̀ṣunnúgà

Abstract

Most times, Yoruba newspaper writer is artistic in his writing. Onething that makes this possible is the use of language differentlyfrom language of everyday. Utilising language in this mannerresults in novelty and creativeness.This paper attempts a discussionof one form of lexical deviation often manipulated by Yorùbánewspaper writers, namely, loan words. The paper argues that thisform of lexical deviation is used by the writers to intensifyintention, and to capture and sustain reader's interest. The papersubmits that while the use of this feature in newspapers maysometimes be unconscious, its deployment constitutes a stylistictechnique employed by Yoruba newspaper writers for effective

dissemination of information.

Key word: Foregrounding, deviation, loan words, Yorùbánewspapers.

1 IntroductionIn contemporary linguistic and stylistic analysis, foregrounding hasbecome a prominent theory in the analysis of newspapers, literaryand non literary text. Davjotyle (1998, p. 134), contends that thefirst contact with literary work is primarily familiarization with thelinguistic and stylistic matter, which represents a part of the whole

and starts at the textual level. In his article, 'Standard language andpoetic language', Mukarovsky (1964) says 'The function of poeticlanguage consists in the maximum of foregrounding of theutterance... In poetic language, foregrounding achieves maximum of pushing communication into background as the objective of expression of being used for its own sake'. Mukarovsky, and severalother theoreticians, see deviation as a feature of foregrounding.

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Foregrounding and Lexical Deviation: A Case Study of … 119

When deviation occurs, it creates some effects such as hindrances tothe reading of the text, and it signals the writer's intensification of athought.

2 Theoretical Framework: ForegroundingOriginally, the notion of foregrounding stems from the pictorial

arts, which refers to some elements of an art work that stand out insome way from other components of the work. Foregroundingtheory is seen as a means of explaining the differences betweenpoetic and everyday language, and despite some criticisms over theyears, it has been widely accepted and indeed become one of thefoundations of Stylistics. The theory of foregrounding which hasbeen traced back to Aristotle's Poetics, has its roots in RussianFormalism, its elaboration in Prague Structuralism and its furtherdevelopment in British stylistics (Xu, 2006; Liu & Zhu, 2006). Thetheory has its roots in the school of Russian Formalists at thebeginning of the 20th century, Victor Shklovsky being the most

important representative.Deviation is one of the two divisions of foregrounding in Stylistics.According to Simpson (2004, p. 50), it occurs “either through anaspect of the text which deviates from a linguistic norm (called‘deviation) or, alternatively, where an aspect of text is brought tothe fore through repetition or parallelism” which is called‘parallelism. Deviation makes a writer’s expressions stand out andcreate aesthetic effects in various sections of the Yorubanewspapers. The aesthetic effects are realised through deviationfrom the norm of the language. Leech (1969) raises theconsciousness in writers when he says: 'as a general rule, anyone

who wishes to investigate the significance and value of a work mustconcentrate on the elements of interest and surprise, rather than theautomatic patterns. Deviations from linguistic or other socially

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120 Ihafa: A Journal of African Studies Vol. 6, No 1 (2013)

accepted norms are known as 'foregrounding'; a technique to invokethe analogy of a figure seen against background'.Thus, linguistic deviation is a creative use of language that differsfrom the norms of standard language or everyday speech. Leech(1969, p. 57) is of the opinion that such a deviation creates elementsof interest and surprise. Cook (1989, p. 74) sees deviation as a case

of non-conformity to the norms and regularities of standardlanguage which is expected of non-literary works. To Crystal(2003a, p. 134) deviation refers to a sentence, or another unit, whichviolates the grammatical rule and makes such a sentencegrammatically, phonologically, or even semantically ill formed. Insuch a case, deviation is considered as a disruption of the normalprocess of communication that sometimes leaves a gap in onescomprehension of the text. When it exists, the gap can be filled, andthe deviation renders significant, but only if the reader, throughimagination, understands some deeper connections of the words thatcompensate for the superficial oddity.

In his explanation of the process of foregrounding, Leech (1969)identifies and distinguishes two different types of foregrounding.He argues that there are two mechanisms of linguisticforegrounding, these are: linguistic deviation and extra-regularities.What he considers as extra-regularities are repetition of expression,figures such as alliteration, anaphora etc. On the other hand, Leechbelieves that linguistic deviation, being the core component of foregrounding, encompasses figures such as metaphor, irony andsynecdoche etc. Based on Leech (1969), Haghshenas (1995) arguesthat there are indeed eight types of linguistic deviations part of which have been identified by Leech (1969, p. 42). He posits that

the eight types can occur not only in prose poetry and drama but

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also in any non-literary work including newspapers. He lists theeight types of deviation as follows:

1. Lexical deviation2. Grammatical deviation

3. Phonological deviation4. Graphological deviation5. Semantic deviation6. Dialectical deviation7. Deviation of register8. Deviation of historical period.

In explaining deviation, Short (1996, p. 11) says it is a “linguisticphenomenon and has an important psychological effect on readers(and hearers). In any text, if a part is deviant, it becomes especiallynoticeable or perceptually prominent. This psychological effect iscalled foregrounding”. He adds that foregrounded elements in anygiven text are of vital importance for understanding the message(s)conveyed.

3 Lexical Deviation as a Stylistic Technique in YorubaNewspapers

Deviation, as a stylistic device of foregrounding affects the readeron psychological level. In Yoruba newspapers deviation isemployed by the writers in a number of ways which include lexicaldeviation, semantic deviation, grammatical and graphologicaldeviation. Employment of any of these deviations in Yorubanewspapers results in manifestation of poetic language. In Yorùbá

newspapers, there are two forms of lexical deviation that are verycommon. These are loan words and neologism. However, the scope

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of this paper covers one aspect of lexical deviation, that is, loanwords.

Loan words are a common feature of techniques of Yorùbánewspaper writers. That the writers write for a Yorùbá audience hasalready conditioned certain socio-linguistic choices of words, and it

is expected of them to present their thoughts and ideas in Yorùbálanguage. But this is not always the case because the writers gooutside the Yorùbá linguistic resources to borrow words andexpressions to communicate with the readers. There arepsychological and historical factors behind the employment of foreign words in Yorùbá newspapers. When Nigeria, especially, theYorùbá people came in contact with the British, the Yorùbá eliteassimilated both English language and culture. Some people evendropped their traditional names and took up English names. Samegoes for the employment of Arabic words. Islam is one of theprominent religions among the Yorùbá, it is therefore not

unexpected for the newspapers to use some Islamic words.Loan words commonly utilized in Yorùbá newspapers are of localor foreign origin. When they are local, they are taken from otherNigerian languages especially Hausa. And when such words are of foreign origin, they are basically either from Arabic or Englishlanguage. Either foreign or local, when non Yorùbá words are usedby the Yorùbá newspaper writers, it is a form of deviation becausesuch words are used to defamiliarize the readers. Shklovsky (1973)has argued that defamiliarization being a core principle of foregrounding includes the use of foreign words in a text. At thetime Shklovsky made this observation, there have been some

changes in the use of language both in literature and everydaylanguage among the Russians. Shklovsky (1973, p. 19) concedesthat ' Russian literary language, which was originally foreign to

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Russia, has so permeated the language of the people that it hasblended with their conversation. On the other hand, literature hasnow begun to show a tendency towards the use of dialects and/orbarbarisms'. Shklovsky's observation is still valid today becauseYorùbá newspaper writers employ non-Yorùbá words in theirwriting.

The use of loan-words by Yorùbá newspapers writers is largelydue to their exposure to English language. A large number of thewriters are products of formal education where the official languageof instruction is English. So, it is not surprising when they lace theirwriting with some appropriate English loan words. The employmentof loan words is not restricted to any particular segment of thenewspapers; however, they are more preponderant in entertainmentand sports sections. Below are some examples of loan words fromdifferent sections of the newspapers. Our first sets of examples aredrawn from the headlines:(1) Kọ́lá ṣíná fún Caleb, pásítọ̀ tó bá ìyá rẹ̀ sùn.

( Àjọrò, 29/12/2004:1)Kola hits hard on Caleb, pastor that slept with his mother(2) Ògùn amókóle gbé òṣèré tíátà dé ọ sibítù.

( Ìròyìn Yorùbá, 21-27/12/2004:1)Sex enhancement pill lands a theatre artiste in hospital(3) Ọwọ́ tẹ̀ wọ́n o!

Àwọn tí wọ́n ju bọ́ǹbù I'Ábujá ( Aláròyé , 02/11/2010:1)Arrested! Abuja bombers.

(4) Màmá faraya o bet wọn f ọ̀gíìfù mi.( Akéde Odùduwà, 27/02/2012:6)

Mama goes berserk but she has forgiven me.

(5) Ara mi ti kún, bet ẹ̀rù n bà mí láti jápo( Akede Àgbáye, 06/09/2001:7)

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I am sexually charged, but afraid to have sex

The loan words in italics in (1) - (5) are from English language. Thewriters use them for different stylistic effects. Pásít ọ̀ , tíátà ọsibítùand bọ́ǹbù are used to forestall ambiguity while bet is to createmelodic tune in the ears of the reader. The loan words could have

the following Yoruba words as their equivalents:Pásítọ̀ (olórí ìjọ, olùṣọ́ àgùtàn)Tíátà (eré orí ìtàgé)ọsibítù (ile iwosan)bọ́ǹbù (àdó olóró)bet{but} (ṣùgbọ́n)However, if any of the above equivalents or alternatives was used inthe context of the headlines, readers might read different meaningsto them. For instance, not every church uses the title - Pastor todenote the leader of the congregation, therefore olórí ìjọ or olù ṣọàgùtàn (head of the congregation or shepherd) would not be

appropriate to denote pastor. Besides, a pastor is not necessarily thehead of the church there could be higher officers such as Bishopand General Overseer; these could be appropriately called 'olórí ìjọ' .In example (2), eré orí ìtàgè is an aspect of theatre and does notdenote the profession of the referent therefore it is inadequate in thecontext. Also, using Ilé ìwòsàn as a Yorùbá equivalent of hospitalis not appropriate and could lead to ambiguity because there are twotypes of ilé ìwòsàn known to an average Yoruba person - traditionaland orthodox. To save readers from guessing and remove any formof ambiguity which could impede dissemination of the information,the writer settles for the loan-word, ọsibítù which is not strange to

the reader. We can offer similar explanation for (3) where bọ́ǹbù

isused. The nearest Yoruba equivalent of bọ́ǹbù is àdó olóró. butusing àdó olóró, may not be appropriate in this context going by the

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fact that there are other weapons that could be regarded as àdóolóró in Yoruba. Such include missiles, chemical explosives andother nuclear devices. It is appropriate therefore for the writer to usebọ́ǹbù in an attempt to differentiate the type of chemical weaponthat was used in the Abuja attack. Example (4) is however differentbecause there are appropriate Yoruba equivalents for the loan words

used: bet (but) and forgive. Ṣ ùgbọ́n and dáríjìmí could effectivelytake the places of the loan words. However, the writer deliberatelyuses them to create humour and enliven the story. More so, they aremore appropriate considering that they are used in an entertainmentstory that depicts a young undergraduate who is being paid forhaving sexual relationship with an older woman. The loan wordsare used to show the social and educational status of the youngundergraduate.Let's consider the next example to demonstrate the creativeness andappropriateness of the use of loan-words. The excerpt is taken froma story titled 'OBJ àti Tòkunbọ'. The story examines the effect of

importation of used cars on Nigeria's economy and the lack of different means of transportation. At a point, we read:

(6) Bí wọ́n kò wọ rélùweè, wọ́n yóò wọ taksi. Bọ́ọ̀sìsì wà nìbẹ̀ tó ń gbé wọn lọ síbi tí wọ́n bá f ẹ́ẹ́ lọ.

( Aláròyé , 23/10/2001:4)If they did not travel in train, they would use taxi.Buses are available to convey them to their destinations.

While each of the loan-words in (6) has its Yorùbá equivalent, theuse of taksí and bọ́ọ̀sì here is appropriate and quite necessary todifferentiate the several means of transportation in the Western

world. If ọk ọ̀ the Yorùbá generic word for vehicle was used, itwould ambiguate the meaning and would not effectively represent

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the writer's intention. Besides, the use of rélùweè instead of ọk ọ̀ ojú-irin, taksí instead of ọk ọ̀ akérò igboro and bọ́ọ̀sì instead of ọk ọ̀bọ̀gìnnì are economical and orally lighter resulting in quick deliveryof the message by the writer. The reader would also find such wordseasier and quicker to read.Entertainment in Yorùbá newspapers is so important because most

of the news stories revolve around celebrities in the music and filmindustry. The writers flavour their reports in this section with somuch loan words such that hardly did we find a paragraph withoutloan-words, especially of English origin. Let us examine thefollowing example, a full report on a fuji artiste, Sunny T.Adèṣọ̀kan.(7) Èmi ò mọ irú kúẹ́ṣàn táwọn èèyàn kan màa ń bèèrè lọ́ wọ́ mi

ṣá. Ẹ gbọ́ báwo ni mo ṣe f ẹ́ mọ̀ bóyá Idán Àmanì ti dé láti ìlúòyìnbó nígbà tí kì í ṣe pé ó dágbére fún mi nígbà tó ń lọ. Ẹwòó ẹ máà jẹ n sọ̀rọ̀ jù jàre. Bóyá ó ti dé bóyá kò tí ì dé èmiò lè sọ. Ha! Ẹ tún ń bèèrè lọ́wọ́ mi pé nígbàwo ló f ẹ́ gbé

kásẹ́tì àbọ̀dé ìlú òyìnbó jáde, ẹ wò ó èmi ò lè sọrọ̀ jù o, ẹnitó bá fé mọ ẹ́nítin nípa ọmọ ńna1 tó ń kọ fújì, ẹ lè bèère lọ́dọ̀àwọn ọmọ ẹgbẹ́ MAAN ní ọ̀dọ̀ pùròmótà tó n fi fóònu dàláàmu léríà Amúkokò, èríà yẹn lẹti lè gbọ́ lètẹ̀sìinf ọmèsàn nípa ẹ. ( Àjọrò, 14-20/02/2005:12)I don't understand what kinds of question peopleask me. Please, how do I know if Idan Amani hasreturned since he did not inform me while he was

1 The use of nna, meaning father, a term commonly used by the Igbo of SouthEast Nigeria in this context is to enable the readers know the writer's intention

which is aimed at claiming that fújì musicians are typically Yoruba unlike thisparticualr one who is of igbo origin.

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going? Please spare me. Whether he has returned ornot, I could not tell. What! You are still askingwhen he would release record of his London tour,please, l can't tell, whoever wants to know anythingabout the Ìgbò fújì musician should ask membersof MAAN or the promoter that he is harassing on

phone somewhere around Amúkokò, that is whereyou can get latest information about him.

The above report consists of 132 words of which 9 (underlined) areloan-words from English language. While the use of these loanwords deviated from standard Yorùbá yet they are for certaineffects. The writer is discussing a Fújì artiste who is rumoured tohave just returned from London. Since the language spoken inLondon is English, the writer uses words from English to suggestthat the Fújì artiste must have acquired some British accent which istypical of Nigerian British returnees. Two, the loan words are usedto enable the artiste's fans which cut across Yorùbá and Igbo to read

the report as the few English words will give the reader who mightnot be fluent at reading Yorùbá language some idea. Three, Fújìmusic repertoire is often embellished with English words so thewriter uses the loan words to mimic fújì music performance.Despite that each of the loan words has appropriate Yorùbáequivalent, the writer still goes ahead to spice the report withEnglish in order to entertain the readers and, to an, extent ridiculethe artist whose return must have been unnoticed by his fansprobably because his musical tour was not successful.

Apart from English, Yorùbá newspaper writers use loan-words of local origin especially Hausa language. In the following

are examples of local loan words from Hausa language.

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(8) Ọba lọ́la ṣe sàdáńkátà sí Gómìnà Tinubu.( Ì ṣọ̀kan, 01/05/2000:6)Heir apparent lauds Governor Tinubu

(9) Wàláhì, alàìlójútì làwọn ẹlòmí-ìn, àwọn oníjẹkújẹ.( Aláròyé , 25/04/2000:7)

Honestly, some people are shameless, gullibleEach of the above examples (8 and 9) has a loan word, sàdáńkátàand wàláhì both which are loaned from Hausa and Arabiclanguages respectively. While sàdáńkátà means praise, wàláhì means truly. The words have crept into the language of Yorùbánewspapers because some Yorùbá newspaper readers are bilingual(in Yorùbá and Hausa) and the writers see the employment of wordsfrom Hausa language as a means of attracting such bilingual readersand thereby increase patronage for the newspapers. Besides, thecontext in which the words are used motivated their usage. The firstexample is a headline reporting about a Hausa heir who on visitlauded developmental projects of governor Tinubu of Lagos state.The second example is taken from a news story that discusses howtwo former Nigeria's Heads of State who were of Hausa originplundered the nation's economy while they were in government.The loan words in the above examples are perhaps used to draw theattention of their kinsmen to the stories, and because they arecommonly used among Yoruba Moslems.Besides, some Hausa words and phrases have become so integratedinto Yorùbá language that the writers employ them freely becausethe readers have become used to them to the extent that so manypeople do not know such words are nonexistent in Yorùbálanguage. Let's look at this example, taken from a news story about

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the efforts and resources Yorùbá film production requires. Thewriter says:

(10) Ògbóǹtarìgì òṣèré onífíìmù kan ti gba gbogboàwọn ọ̀dọ́ tí wọ́n níf ẹ̀ẹ́ sí eré ṣí ṣe láti sán ṣòkòtòwọn kó le daindain nítorí pé irú iṣẹ́ bẹ́ẹ̀ kì í ṣe wàsá

rárá bí kò ṣe pé iṣẹ́ tò gba ọ̀pọ̀lọpọ̀ sùúrù, làákàyèàti ìfaradà. ( Ì ṣọ̀kan, 07/05/2000:6)

A film veteran has urged Youth who have interestin acting to be serious at it because such aprofession is not a joke but requires patience,intelligence and perseverance.

Also in a report about feud between two Yorùbá Fújì musicians, weread:(11) Àwọn kan lè máa sọ pé kò síjà láàrín wọn, ṣùgbọ́n ohun

tó dájú ṣáká ni pé bí àwọn òṣèré méjì yìí bá pàdé arawọn níta, ojú lásán ni wọ́n fi ń kíra wọn...àwọn méjèèjìti sọ̀rọ̀ ọ̀hún di saba de saba

( Akéde Odùduwà, 23/04/2007:11)

Some people might think the two musicians are notquarrelling, but what is certain is that both of themdo not exchange pleasantries in public; each goeshis separate way whenever they come in contact.

It requires sound knowledge of Yorùbá language to detect the use of loan words from excerpts (10) and (11) because each constituent of

the paragraphs is within the linguistic resources of the Yorubalanguage with appropriate tones. However, a closer look at the

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passages reveals wàsá and saba de saba to be loan words fromHausa language. In (10), wàsá is taken from a Hausa expression,'ba wasa' which means it is not a joke. What the writer intends toconvey is that film making is a serious business that requirescommitment. Despite the fact that there are Yoruba words (such asàwàdà and yẹ̀ yẹ́) which could still capture the writer's intention, he

resorted to using a Hausa word probably for two reasons. One, tointensify the seriousness of the film industry, and two, to use theword to slow down the reading with a view to calling attention tothe word and eventually the message of the report. In (11), saba desaba is a bastardised form of a phrase (ne ba sai aka ba) used inHausa language to show people that belong to the same age groupor social status in the society. It is used in (11) to explicate the twofeuding fújì artistes' disposition to each other, that is, they bothclaim to be superior to each other and as such could not associatetogether. This expression, saba de saba has crept into Yorùbálexicon as it is frequently used in music and day-to-day

communication. To conform to standard Yorùbá the relevantportion of the passage will read thus:...àwọn méjèèjì ti sọ̀rọ̀ ọ̀hún di kí ẹlẹ́gbẹ́ mọ ẹgbẹ́

The next example from sports section explicates the use of loan-words from both English and Hausa languages in the samesentence. While commenting on match fixing of some NigerianFootball League referees, the writer says:

(12) Ìwádìí Yorùbá Ronú fi hàn pé ọ̀pọ̀ àwọn ẹ̀rí tó fi ìwàmọ̀kàrúrù àwọn rẹfiirí ọ̀hún hàn ni àṣírí rẹ̀ tú sí

ìgbìmọ̀ àwọn rẹfiiri lọ́wọ́ nígbà tí wọn ṣe ìpàdé pẹ̀lúàjọ NFA (Yorùbá Ronú, 1/5/2000:15)

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Yoruba Ronu's findings reveal that there are severalevidence which show the referees' manipulationswhich have become known to the referee'sassociation during their meeting.

We observe that mọ̀kàrúrù and r ẹ fiirí are Hausa and English wordsrespectively. The two words have their equivalents in Yorùbá.

mọ̀kàrúrù (fraud) could be rendered as òjóró while r ẹ fiirí could be(atọ́kùn or olúdarí). If the Yorùbá equivalents were used, themessage would still be understood by the readers. However, thewriter deliberately uses mọ̀kàrúrù to generate surprise and r ẹ fiirí tosatisfy an immediate sport audience who is familiar with suchwords. As we have explained earlier, the Yorùbá newspaper writersuse loan-words in their writing to show their knowledge of otherlanguages. Another reason accountable for the preponderant use of Hausa and English words is the influence of English and Islam - thereligion of most Hausa people - on the writers.

Sometimes, in attempt to entertain readers and affect their

mood, the writers become notorious, and go to the extreme in theiruse of loan words. Let us take as our example an entertainmentstory titled:

(13) Àláájì Fọ̀ Mí Daago Méje Àárọ̀Lààwẹ̀ bá forí ṣánpọ́n. ( Ìròyìn Yorùbá, 9-15/11/2004:7).

Alhaji had sex with me till dawn during Ramadan and lost hisfasting

The story consists of sixteen paragraphs. Each paragraph (with theexception of 9) has an average of three loan-words from English

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and Arabic languages. Below is a table containing the loan wordsin each paragraph:

Paragraph Loan words1 Indomie, spàgẹ̀tì, sátidé, lámúláánà

2 ìǹfáàtì, sẹlibréètì. yọ́ǹgì Alhájì., àsọ́tẹ̀ẹ̀dì, bọt3 bikọs, lasti wiikì, Alhájì4 Diskọ́ọ̀sì, agro, ẹ́nítin, Sààrì, kùràánì, sààrì5 lasti wiikì, fláátì, pàf ọ́ọ̀mù, Alhájì, lasti

6 Baad, fóònù, Alhájì.

7 ẹ́f ọ̀ọ̀tì, ọ́pà wịìkì, wíǹnì, dúrọ̀sì, Alhájì

8 sóò, iǹfáatì, Alhaji9 -------------

10 Sánńdè, Mọ́ńdè, sreétì̀, ẹspẹẹtì, rìjẹ́ẹẹtiị ọ́fà, réèpù

11 dẹmọ, bọt, ẹ́nítin, dóo, pritẹẹndi

12 Alhájì, rọ́ọ̀bù

13 Alhájì, Alhájì, sẹ́ńtà

14 Alhaji

15 éèmù, Alhájì, iǹfáàtì, múùfù, spáàmù, Alhájì

16 Alhájì, fíńgà, sọọkì, stórì, rọọgì, Alhájì,

sitinrúùmù, rìlíìsì, spáàmù

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Granted, there are too many loan-words in the story, yet we shouldnot lose sight of the effect of their usage. The writer, here in thestory, describes what the Yoruba would regard as obscenity whichis not acceptable in the society. The Yoruba see sexual relationshipbetween man and woman as sacred which should be a private affair.But the writer is duty bound to narrate sexual escapade between a

young lady whose name is not mentioned and a man simply calledYoung Alhaji. The obscenity is aggravated to taboo because thesexual activity occurred during Ramadan - a period regarded asHoly by the Muslim faithfuls when even married men and womenare to refrain from sexual intercourse while fasting. Virtually allthe loan-words used in the story have their Yoruba equivalents, yetthe employment of English words such as 'agro', ' dúr ọ̀sì' , and'réèpù' is to ensure that readers do not experience the emotionalcharge that often accompanies the use of such words. Besides, thewriter is well aware of the sacredness of the month of Ramadan yethe has the duty to tell the story. To reduce the tension the story may

create among Muslims who may regard the reports as absurd andprofane the writer resorts to using so many loan-words which arecapable of diverting reader's attention from the context to findingmeaning to loan words employed in the story. This is in tandemwith one of the principles of foregrounding - strikingness; whichpostulates that striking and evocative passage increases thedifficulty and length of perception. That is, such passages wouldrequire longer time to process and understand. Though the use of evocative loan words in the above example slows down the readingbut it ultimately reduces the anger it might arouse.

4 ConclusionAlthough the use of loan words among the Yoruba is not a newphenomenon, their usage in Yoruba newspapers is least expected

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because the titles of the newspapers have necessitated a Yorubareading audience. However, this paper does not see the use of loanwords in Yoruba as a minus; it has rather argued that the writersconsciously employ loan words for effective communication. Wehave copiously demonstrated that loan words are contrived to attractand sustain reader's interest. While we believe there are Yoruba

equivalents for these loan words, we argued that the loan words aremore attractive and entertaining such that they naturally drawreaders' attention to the newspapers thus meeting one of the primaryobjectives of the writers. The theory around which our analysisrevolves has enabled us to appreciate that Yoruba newspaperwriters are to a very large extent, language artists; making use of both standard and literary language to perform the basic functionsof the newspaper: information dissemination and entertainment.

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