international journal · 2018-12-20 · 2 international journal of teaching & learning...
TRANSCRIPT
Published by:
TAI SOLARIN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
(TASUED), Hosted by the College of Humanities,
Ijagun, Ijebu – Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Vol. 1, N°09 – December 2016, ISSN 2012 - 5527
Edited by:
Prof. KUKOYI, Adebola
& Dr. OKUNOWO, Yomi
Theokos Publications
Arewa Joint, Off Thaa Jeremiah Junction,
N° 5, Awosika close, Torikoh, Badagry,
Lagos State, Nigeria.
December 2016
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF TEACHING & LEARNING
(INJOTEL)
2
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF TEACHING & LEARNING
(INJOTEL)
Published by:
TAI SOLARIN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
(TASUED),
Hosted by the College of Humanities,
Ijagun, Ijebu – Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria.
Vol. 1, N°09 – December 2016, ISSN 2012 - 5527
Edited by:
Prof. KUKOYI, Adebola
& Dr. OKUNOWO, Yomi
Theokos Publications
Arewa Joint, Off Thaa Jeremiah Junction,
N° 5, Awosika close, Torikoh, Badagry,
Lagos State, Nigeria.
December 2016
3
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL
OF TEACHING & LEARNING
(INJOTEL)
Copyright: TASUED & Theokos Publications
No part of this journal may be reproduced in any from,
by print, photo-print, microfilm or any other, without
written permission from the publisher.
Tous droits de reproduction, de traduction et
d’adaptation réservés pour tous les pays.
ISSN 2012 - 5527
Theokos Publications
Arewa Joint, Off Thaa Jeremiah Junction,
N° 5, Awosika close, Torikoh, Badagry,
Lagos State, Nigeria.
December 2016
4
1. Board of Publication
N° Full name Addresses Functions
1 Prof. KUKOYI,
Adebola
French Department,
College of
Humanities, Tai
Solarin University of
Education (TASUED)
Editor-in-Chief
2 Dr. Yomi
OKUNOWO
English Department,
College of
Humanities, Tai
Solarin University of
Education (TASUED)
Deputy Editor-
in-Chief
3 Dr. Olufadekemi
ADAGBADA
Department of
Nigerian and Foreign
Languages
and Literatures,
Faculty of Arts,
Olabisi Onabanjo
University,
Ago-Iwoye, Ogun
State, Nigeria
Editorial
Secretary
4 Dr. Tunde
AKUBODE
Department of
Nigerian and Foreign
Languages
and Literatures,
Faculty of Arts,
Olabisi Onabanjo
University,
Ago-Iwoye, Ogun
State, Nigeria
Documentation
Secretary
5 Dr. Adeniyi O.
ADEFALA
Yoruba Department,
College of
Humanities, Tai
Solarin University of
Education (TASUED)
Public
Relations
Secretary
5
2. Editorial Consultants
N° Full name Addresses Functions
1 Prof. SERIKI,
Alani
Dean, College of
Humanities, Tai
Solarin University of
Education
(TASUED)
Chairman
2 Prof.
ADEBAJO, Sola
Former Dean,
College of
Humanities, Tai
Solarin University of
Education
(TASUED),
Member
3 Prof. AGAGU,
Alaba A.
Ekiti State
University, Ado -
Ekiti, Niegria.
Member
4 Prof.
FOLORUNSO,
Kizito A.
Department of
Languages and
Linguistics, College
of Humanities and
Cultures, Osun State
University, Ikere
Campus, Nigeria.
Member
5 Prof.
ONABAJO,
Femi
Vice-Chancellor,
Lead City
University, Ibadan,
Nigeria.
Member
6 Prof. IHOM,
Cletus I.
Benue State
University, Makurdi,
Nigeria.
Member
7 Dr. ILUKPEJU,
Akanbi M.
University of Lagos,
Lagos, Nigeria.
Member
6
MODÈLES D’ORGANISATIONS DES ASSOCIATIONS
3. Articles Contributors
N° Full Name Articles
contributed Adresses
1
Dr.
MOUSTAPHA-
BABALOLA,
Rissikatou
Translating
pidgins: a study
based on Yemi
Alade’s Jonnhy
Département
d’Anglais,
Faculté des
Lettres, Arts et
Sciences
Humaines
(FLASH),
Université
d’Abomey-
Calavi, Bénin.
2
Dr. KOTTIN,
Evariste
Assogba
Parents’
responsibilities in
TEFL in beninese
secondary
schools: the case
study of Porto-
Novo.
Faculté des
Lettres, Arts et
Sciences
Humaines
(FLASH),
Université
d’Abomey-
Calavi, Bénin
3
Dr.
MAMADOU,
Layessi A. B.
La déforestation
dans la commune
de Djidja au
Bénin : causes
Département de
Sociologie
Anthropologie
(DSA)
7
anthropiques et
approches de
solutions.
Faculté des
lettres Arts et
Sciences
Humaines
(FLASH)
Université
d’Abomey-
Calavi (UAC)
4 Dr. KODJO
SONOU,
Théophile
Gbègninou
Technics of
school
administration
and management
Département
d’Anglais, Institut
Universitaire
Panafricain (IUP),
Porto-Novo, Rép.
du Bénin
5
Pr. MOYE,
Austin
Stephen
Le sémantisme
des titres des
romans d’Alain
ROBBE-
GRILLET et de
Michel BUTOR
Department of
Foreign
Languages
University of
Benin, Benin
City, Nigeria
6
Dr. FALL,
Astou
Between
motherhood and
professional
career: an african
reception of
Margaret
Oliphant’s
Laboratoire
d’Etudes et de
Recherches
Anglophones,
Université Check
Anta Diop de
Dakar, Sénégal.
8
autobiography
(1899)
7 Dr.
YEBOU, Elie
L’expression de
la solitude à
travers les
chansons
funéraires dans
l’aire culturel
Adja Tado
Département des
Sciences du
Langage et de la
Communication,
Faculté des
Lettres, Arts et
Sciences
Humaines
(FLASH),
Université
d’Abomey-
Calavi, Bénin.
8 Mr.
AFOLABI,
Oladiran
Federalism in
India: an
assessment of
critical issues and
innovative
mechanisms
Department of
Political Science,
Houdegbe North
American
University,
Republic of
Benin.
9 Mr.
OLANIYI,
An assessment of
the national
interest
Crawford
Univeristy,
9
Oladele
Sunday &
Dr.
IDACHABA,
Enemaku U.
of Nigeria.
issues, problems
and prospect
Igbesa, Ogun
State.
&
University Of
Ibadan. Oyo State
Nigeria
10
Mr
ATINDEHOU,
Aimé
Ferdinand
&
CODO,
Carole Nelly
Le mariage
précoce au nord-
est du Bénin à
l’épreuve de la
foi, la tradition et
la modernité
Doctorants en
Sociologie de
Développement,
Ecole doctorale,
Faculté des
Lettres, Arts et
Sciences
Humaines
(FLASH),
Université
d’Abomey-
Calavi, Bénin
10
TRANSLATING PIDGINS: A STUDY BASED ON YEMI
ALADE’S JONNHY
Dr. MOUSTAPHA-BABALOLA, Rissikatou
Département d’Anglais, Faculté des Lettres, Arts et Sciences
Humaines (FLASH), Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin.
Abstract
It is well known that when people live together, they
cannot avoid communicating whether they have a language in
common or not. When they do not share a language, they feel
obliged to create a language that can be understood by all the
members of the community. This new language called “pidgin”.
Pidgin is commonly created by using the vocabulary of the
European language and the local language. It is this language
that Yemi Alade, a Nigerian singer has used in her song untitled
“Jonnhy” existing in the French and English. This paper intends
then to deal with some of the problems of translating pidgins in
Yemi Alade’s Jonnhy. The paper concludes by highlighting the
reasons for the translation difficulties that are not only linguistic
but also historical and ideological.
Keywords: Pidginisation, translation, culture, French language,
English language.
11
Résumé
La vie en communauté oblige les membres à
communiquer, qu’ils aient une langue en commun ou non.
Quand ils ne partagent pas de langue en commun, de nouvelles
langues faites de combinaison des langues en présence se créent.
Cette langue hybride créée à partir des langues occidentales et
des vernaculaires africains est appelée « pidgin. » C’est cette
langue que Yemi Alade, une artiste nigériane de renom a utilisé
pour véhiculer le message dans sa chanson populaire « Jonnhy»
existant en anglais et en français. Cet article à pour objectif
principal d’étudier les deux versions de « Jonnhy» et de faire
ressortir les liés à la traduction du pidgin. L’article conclut en
mettant en évidence les raisons des difficultés de traduction qui
sont non seulement linguistiques mais aussi historiques et
idéologiques.
Mots-clés: Pidginisation, traduction, culture, langue française,
langue anglaise.
Introduction
From the early days of African literature, the writers have
been accustomed with different ways of using language to
express their thought. The mixing of African culture and the
European languages have pushed african novelists to find a
12
manner to paint African realities-that was typically oral- in
European languages. This is the reason why most of them such
as Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Ousmane Sembene, Jean
Pliya, Olympe Bhêly Quenum- just to quote some- have decided
to mix african languages and European ones in writing their
novels. This language mixing is used differently in a novel. The
first way of language mixing is to use african words in sentences
that are written in English or French because these words are
difficult to contextualise in the European language. This feature
is linguistically called code mixing. Sometimes, the author feels
obliged to write a full passage in African language and then
come back to the European one. It is code switching. Finally, a
whole passage can be written in a language that seems to be
European but in which we have some African words and the
grammatical structure is the one of the used African language.
This hybrid language is called pidginisation.
These linguistic features (code switching, code mixing and
pidginisation) are also used by African singers. This allows them
to reach the majority of African society citizen that are
uneducated or semi-literate. Pidginisation has been the one
chosen by Yemi Alade, a Nigerian singer to convey her message
in her popular song Johnny. This song, originally produced in an
English-based pidgin, has also a French version sung by Yemi
13
Alade herself. My concern here is to discuss the problems that
such a language poses to translation. But for the sake of the
work, it is important to point out what pidginisation is and what
are the different types of pidgin we have in Africa.
1. Theoretical framework and literature review
1.1. Definition of pidgin
Pidgin can be defined as a reduced language used by groups
with no language in common who need to communicate for trade
or other purposes. It is a simplified form of speech formed out
of existing languages in order to facilitate communication to
persons who have problems to understand one another’s
languages. As R. L. Trask and P. Stockwell (2007) said it, “a
pidgin is nobody’s mother tongue because it is not a real
language. In addition, it has no elaborate grammar, it is very
limited in what it can convey and different people speak it
differently.” As far as R. Wardhaugh (2010) is concerned, he
thinks that a pidgin is “a language with no native speakers… It
is a ‘reduced’ variety of a ‘normal’ language. Whatever be the
case, it is undeniable that pidgin has become a kind of ‘lingua
franca’ in many African communities. This leads to the
existence of many types of pidgin including English-based
14
pidgin and French-based pidgin that are the main concern of this
paper.
1.2. English-based pidgin
West African Pidgin English is the result of a combination
of several African languages and some European languages
(English, French, Portuguese, German, etc.) (Todd 1982, 1984;
Schneider, 1966). The grammar, and particularly the syntax, of
this "language" is influenced, to some extent, by the grammar of
the African languages with which the European languages have
come in contact. Aspects of African oral tradition can also be
found in pidgin. Indeed, one might say that such pidgins are a
classic case of what can happen when two or more mutually
alien languages and cultures are in contact. The use of pidgin
spread fairly rapidly among Africans, particularly because of the
numerous peculiarities of the indigenous languages and cultures
it had absorbed. For a long time pidgin has thrived as the contact
language used by the uneducated or semi-literate urban dwellers
from various ethnic backgrounds. Most of these urban dwellers
were from the working-class and often characterized by their
low level of formal education and low economic and social
status (Obiechina, 1975).
15
However, today pidgin is used by Africans of all social and
economic backgrounds. Well-educated West Africans use
pidgin in their verbal interaction with uneducated West Africans
from different ethnic groups, and also to talk among themselves
in certain informal contexts. In fact, West Africans of all
backgrounds use pidgin as a means to ensure group solidarity,
and to reinforce a sense of integration, the use of language
Malinowski refers to as “phatic communion” Ogden and
Richards (1923:315).
Furthermore, one might say that pidgin flourished not
only because the traditional African initially found it difficult to
communicate fluently in European languages, but also because
given the nature of pidgin (a blend of African and European
languages), most Africans found it to be a better medium than
European languages for expressing certain ideas and concepts of
African sociocultural reality.
1.3.French-based pidgin
Some French-speaking African writers have also sought to
represent the various sociolinguistic groups that make up the
fabric of West African society in their novels, by depicting the
varieties of French used. Ferdinand Oyono, in Une vie de boy,
for instance, has tried to reproduce the variety of French for his
16
illiterate or village characters would use in interacting verbally
with their European bosses.
However, the French-speaking writers have not always been
as successful as their English-speaking counterparts in
reproducing the “language” of semi-literate Africans in their
works for several reasons. Although today some scholars point
to some form of “pidgin French” in some West African
countries, it can safely be said that a pidgin has not evolved from
the French language in West Africa to the same degree as it has
from English. Some of the reasons can be found in the
differences between the British and French colonial policies in
Africa, whereby, through the French policy of assimilation,
French-speaking West Africans strove to speak like Frenchmen,
whereas in English-speaking West Africa, the policy of indirect
rule instituted by the British gave English speaking Africans the
relative freedom to experiment with the English language.
The consequence is that French-based pidgin does not have
a clear status in French-speaking West African countries. Wald
(1973:123) thinks that there is a kind “discontinuité
interlinguistique” between the French language and any
emerging form of “pidgin French” In his study of the
sociolinguistic situation of the French language in West Africa,
WaId proposes two possible scenarios:
17
(a) French as an official language exists side by side with the
lingua franca of the community;
(b) French is both the official language and the lingua franca of
the community.
Given scenario (a), there is “discontinuité
interlinguistique,” that is, French is reserved for the educated
elite and will thus remain standard with little or no chance of
becoming pidginised. In the (b) scenario, on the contrary, French
tends to get closer and closer to the African vernaculars and at
some point, it is difficult to know exactly where the people draw
a line between speaking a French-based pidgin and the French
language proper.
In these countries, there seems to be a situation whereby
standard French exists side-by-side with the African
vernaculars, but where there is a variety of French spoken by
mostly the uneducated mass of the people. This variety of French
does not fit the definition of a “pidgin” for several reasons.
First, unlike pidgin English, the variety is spoken almost
exclusively by the illiterate population, since educated
francophones would rather speak standard French; secondly, the
grammar and structure of the variety is highly idiolectal and
idiosyncratic, since it is very likely that the village farmer will
not use the same grammar and structure as his blacksmith
18
neighbour; and thirdly, it is used in very limited circumstances,
such as verbal communication between illiterates from different
ethnic groups, or between an educated francophone and a non-
educated interlocutor and in this situation, the variety is used
only by the non-educated speaker. Another significant
difference between pidgin English and this variety of French is
that speakers of the former are not often trying to speak standard
English (called also grammar English), while speakers of the
latter, for the most part, think they are speaking standard French.
This variety of French has been derogatorily referred to as
“français petit nègre” (Alexandre, 1972:59), or “broken
French.” Furthermore, the use of pidgin English in a West
African novel written in English does not automatically convey
any sociolinguistic information about the speaker as it would for
a speaker of “français petit nègre” in a West African creative
works in French.
2. Yemi Alade and her Johnny
2.1. Who is Yemi Alade?
Yemi Eberechi Alade, simply known as Yemi Alade, is a
Nigerian afro pop singer. Born on 13 March, 1989 at Abia State
in Nigeria, she began her musical career in an all-girl group
called Noty Spices in 2005. She gained her prominence in 2009
19
after winning the Peak Talent and her best known hit is Johnny
released in October 2013. Yemi Alade is a ‘yoruba-igbo’ woman
from Ondo State since her father James Alade is of Yoruba
origin, while her mother Helen Uzuoma is of Igbo origin. This
biculturalism has greatly influenced Yemi and this is clearly
perceptible through her songs. Yemi Alade has won many prizes
including the “Female artist of the year 2012” in Nigeria, the
“best african act” and the “female musician of the year” in 2014.
In 2015, she has been nominated as the “best international act:
Africa” by the BET Awards and the “best female artist” by MTV
African Music Awards. Her more recent hit, Ferrari, has been
released in March 2016.
2.2. Johnny
Johnny was released on October 14, 2013 after Uche face
(2013) and before Tangerine (2014). All of these hits are part of
the album King of Queens produced by Selebobo, a nigerian
producer. Johnny is the story of a man who cheats and lies about
his relationship with several women.
The music video was uploaded on March 4, 2014 onto Yemi
Alade’s official Vevo account. Johnny’s role has been played by
a well-known Nigerian actor, Alex Ekubo. The song was an
international smash hit in many countries including Benin. In
20
2014, “The Headies Awards” nominated Johnny as the ‘best pop
single’ and ‘the music of the year.’ To satisfy her francophone
fans, Yemi Alade recorded on March 2014 the French version
of the song and becomes then the first Nigerian artiste to release
a song entirely performed in French.
3. Translating pidgin
Before dealing with the translation of Johnny, it is important
to discuss the language used by Yemi Alade in the original
version of her song.
3.1 Language in Johnny
When listening to the original version of Yemi Alade’s
Johnny, one can notice an artistic work that is perfectly mixed
with a beautiful language. This language tells a lot about the
linguistic background of the singer. The main languages used in
Johnny are English and Igbo but we can notice some Yoruba
words. Even though the dominant linguistic feature in Johnny is
pidgin, some other features such as code switching, figures of
speech and figures sound has also been used by Yemi Alade.
3.1.1. Code switching in Johnny
Code switching can be defined as the existence of more
than one language, variety, or style by a speaker within an
21
utterance or discourse, or between different interlocutors or
situations (Romaine, 1992:110). Some examples of code
switching can be found in Johnny. Let’s consider the following
passage:
Johnny give Uche bele
He say he wan marry Nene
Nwokem ke di fe neme
In this passage from the lyrics of the song, the two first
lines are in pidgin but the last one is in Igbo. Yemi Alade begins
singing this passage in an English-based pidgin and switches
from pidgin to Igbo through the sentence “Nwokem ke di fe
neme” that means “my guy, what’s happening.”
A similar phenomenon can be found in the passage: “if I no see
my Johnny, fefe geme” to mean, “if I don’t see my Johnny,
something will happen.” Apart from code switching, I have
noticed the usage of some figures of speech in Yemi Alade’s
Johnny.
3.1.2. Figures of speech
A figure of speech is an expression in which the words
do not express their literal meaning. A figure of speech is
designed to portray an idea more clearly or more interestingly.
Yemi Alade has used some figures of speech mainly, allusion
and some figures of repetition.
22
3.1.2.1. Allusion
Allusion means to make indirect reference. It is a figure
of speech that quickly stimulates different idea and associations
only using a couple of words. This figure of speech clearly
appears in the phrase “na lie na lie na Pinocchio.” Through this
passage, Yemi Alade is comparing Johnny to Pinocchio, a
fictional character and the protagonist in the The adventures of
Pinocchio, a children’s book published in 1883 By Carlo
Collodi, an Italian writer.
In fact, Pinnocchio has been painted in this book as
character who is an expert in telling lies and fabricating stories
for various reasons. Then Yemi Alade is drawing her song’s
listeners on Johnny’s lies by comparing him to Pinocchio, the
lies teller. The following passage sheds light on a kind of person
that Yemi Alade’s Johnny is:
He go Canada
He go Tokyo
And today he say he dey Morrocco
She continues by adding “he dance disco, he sing Awilo.” And
she ends this passage by saying “see me see wahala eh” to mean
“I am in trouble.”
23
3.1.2.2. Figures of repetition used in Johnny
A figure of repetition is defined as a rhetorical strategy one
uses to produce emphasis, clarity, amplification or emotional
effect. Four different figures of repetition has been found in
Johnny.
Anaphora
It is the deliberate repetition of a word or a phrase at the
beginning of successive verses, clauses or paragraphs. The
following passages are some examples of anaphora I have
noticed in Johnny.
1. Johnny leave me follow Cynthia
And I don’t know what to do
And he talk say I no do am
Like the way Cynthia dey do
2. You telling me this
You telling me that
I say this is not for me
3. He’s doing me this
He’s doing me that
But I no go tell mummy
4. He go Canada
24
He go Tokyo
And today he say he dey Morocco
5. He dance disco
He sing Awilo
Na lie, na lie, na Pinocchio
6. He get dollar
He get hummer
7. He dey drink palmi with patience and Jonah
He dey Toronto
He dey Sokoto
Epiphora
In opposition to anaphora, ephiphora or epistroph can be
defined as the deliberate repetition of a word or a phrase at the
end of successive verses, clauses or paragraphs as it is shown
through the underlined words in the following passages of the
song.
1. I’m looking for my Johnny
Where is my Johnny?
Do you know Johnny
If I no see my Johnny
25
2. This one na gobe
Original gobe
Epizeuxis
Also called epilogia, this figure of speech is completed by
repetiting the same word or phrase without any words between.
Some examples of epizeuxis are shown in the following
passages drawn from Johnny.
1. Selebobo on the beat
Selebobo on the beat
2. Johnny do me corny
Johnny do me corny
3. Johnny oh
Johnny oh
4. Na lie na lie na Pinocchio
5. The lie the lie he dey shokoto
Assonance
This figure of speech is defined as a linguistic device through
which one can notice the repetition of vowel sounds. The
underlined letters in some words in the passages below are
26
pronounced similarly in Johnny even though they are not written
the same way as in the third example.
1. Johnny give Uche bele
He talk say he wan marry Nene
Nwokem ke fi neme
2. He go Tokyo
Yesterday he say he dey Morocco
He dance disco
He sing Awilo
Na lie na lie na Pinocchio
3. He get dollar
He get hummer
He dey drink palmi with Patience and Jonah
4. He dey Toronto
He dey Sokoto
Na lie na lie he dey sokoto
From all these analyses, I can conclude that Johnny is a well-
rhymed song. What about the French version?
3.2. Johnny: the French version
27
From the first listening of the French version of Yemi Alade’
Johnny, one can easily notice that the music is the same as the
English version. The problem relies on the fact that many words
of the original version are repeated in the translated version even
if they mean nothing neither in French nor in French-based
pidgin. This leads to some linguistic lost in the translated version
of Johnny.
3.2.1. Linguistic lost in the French version of Johnny
The expression “linguistic lost” should be understood here
as the different mistakes or errors that have finally hindered the
language quality of the French version of Johnny. These
mistakes can cover many domains of the language such as
grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
3.2.1.1. Unchanged words and expressions
Many of the words used in the original version of Johnny
have not changed in the French version. The song starts by the
interjection “oh ah!” which remains the same from English to
French. This is not a problem for many interjections are shared
by English and French languages.
Then we have “abokoto bokoto eh” which is an igbo
expression that is used to appreciate. Yemi Alade used this
28
expression to mean that the story she is going to tell is a very
interesting one.
We also have “selebobo on the beat.” This expression is
repeated in the original version of Johnny. In the French version
Yemi has tried a translation and then repeated the English
version words. In the English version of the song, we have
“Selebobo on the beat, Selebobo on the beat” whereas in the
French she said “Selebobo sous le temps, selebobo on the beat.”
This choice of Yemi Alade to not repeat the translation of this
expression in the French version of the song draws the attention
of the researcher on its meaning. In fact, “selebobo” is an igbo
word that means “handsome guy” and it is this word that Yemi
Alade’s sound engineer Udoka Chigozie Oku has chosen as
artiste name. Through the French version of the song, I
understand that the first “selebobo on the beat” is used to qualify
Johnny that Yemi Alade is describing has a handsome person.
This is surely one of the reasons why many women are after him.
But the second is used to ask her sound engineer, Selebobo to let
the music flow.
The word “effizy” in the phrase “la bébé du effizy” which
original version is “it’s effizy baby” also remained unchanged.
“Effizy is the name of Yemi Alade’s musical group.
29
We also have the word “bele” in the clause “Johnny donne
Uche bele.” “bele” is an igbo word that means “pregnant.”
The igbo word “nwokem” meaning “my husband” has been
preserved in the clause “nwokem ce qui se passé”
There is also the Yoruba word “wahala” in “regarder
moi voir wahala eh!” that has not changed from English to
French version of the song. In fact, “wahala” is a Yoruba word
that means “trouble.” The sentence “see me see wahala” can then
be understood as “in a what a trouble am I?”
Apart from these words, if we consider the proper nouns,
only “Morocco” has been replaced by its French equivalent
“Maroc.” The others i.e. Johnny, Cynthia, Uche, Nene, Tokyo,
Awilo, Pinocchio, Patient, Jonah, Toronto, Sokoto, Canada have
not changed.
It is clearly noticeable that the non-adaptation of these words
and expressions to French-based pidgin have prevented the
listeners of the French version of Johnny from understanding
thoroughly Yemi Alade’s message. The following aspect I want
to deal with is the translation errors.
3.2.1.2. Translation errors in the French version of
Johnny
1. La bébé du Effizy
30
In this first example drawn from the lyrics of the song, we
have two errors. In French, the word “bébé” is masculine even
if it is used for a female person; we say “le bébé” not “la bébé.”
In this phrase, the group of words “du Effizy” should normally
be “d’Effizy” because in French grammar, when a word begins
with a vowel as in “Effizy”, the articles “le, la, de, du” are
contracted and replaced by “l’ or d’”
2. Il dit qu’il veut marie Nene
In this sentence, my concern is about the word “marie”
which should be “marier.” In French, when a verb follows
another verb, the second verb is put in the infinitive form.
3. Savez-vous Johnny ?
This clause is the translation of “do you know Johnny?” In
fact, this clause has been translated literally and has not taken
into account the context in which the verb “know” is used. The
verb “know” can be rendered by “savoir” or “connaître” in
French according to the context. For example, “do you know
where Johnny is?” can be translated as “Savez-vous où est
Johnny?” whereas “do you know Johnny” should be translated
as “Connaissez-vous Johnny?”
31
4. Si je ne vois mon Johnny
Here, we have a negative sentence without “pas.” In French,
only sentences in subjunctive can use the negative without “pas”
and “si je ne vois mon Johnny” is not in subjunctive but in
conditional.
5. Je recherche mon miel
In the original version of the song, Yemi Alade said “I’m
looking for my honey.” In English, the word “honey” is used to
address somebody you love. For this representation in French
language, we use words such as “amour”, “chéri” and so one but
never “miel.”
6. Je dis ce n’est pas pour moi
This example is literally translated from “I say this is not for
me.” In this passage, Yemi Alade is addressing persons who tell
her about Johnny’s love affairs and she does not want to take
into account their viewpoints. In other words, Yemi tells them
that she does not care about all this, she only wants her Johnny
to come back. The French translation can then be “je dis que je
m’en fous de tout ça.”
32
7. Hier il dit qu’il est à Maroc
In French, to localise somebody in a country, we use “en” if
the name of the country is feminine and “au” if it is masculine.
For example, we say “je vais en France” or “je vis au Bénin”
because we say “la France” and “le Bénin.” Then for this
sentence we can say “hier il dit qu’il est au Maroc”, “Maroc”
being a masculine word.
8. Le mensonge ment dans le son pantalon
In this clause, there are two errors. The first one is “le
mensonge ment” in which the noun “mensonge” and the verb
“ment” are words of the same family. Yemi should have said “le
mensonge est” to avoid redundancy. The second error is the use
of two articles (“le” and “son”) for only a noun (“pantalon”).
The article “le” is superfluous here.
9. Il a dit que je ne fais comme le façon de faire Cynthia
The word “façon” is a feminine word; we then say “la
façon.”
33
3.2.1.3. Mispronunciations in the French version of
Johnny
Some mispronunciations have been observed through the
listening of Johnny in French as it is shown through the
following examples from the lyrics of the song.
1. La bébé dou Effizy
2. Il a dit que je ne fais comme le façon de faire Cynthia
3. Johnny me fait rangard
In the first example, Yemi Alade said “dou” instead of “du.”
In the second example; the ‘ç’ of the word “façon” is normally
pronounced [s] not [k] as Yemi Alade did. As far as the last
example is concerned, we say “rancard”, not “rangard.”
3.2.2. Rhyme in the French version of Johnny
The original version of Yemi Alade’s Johnny is a well-
rhymed song through the different figures of repetition used. The
majority of this rhyme has been preserved in the French
interpretation of the song and new rhymes occurred. For
example, let’s take the following passages from the song.
Examples English version French version
1. Oh ah!
Abokoto bokoto eh!
Oh ah!
Abokoto bokoto eh!
2. Selebobo on the beat
Selebobo on the beat
Selebobo sous le
temps
34
Selebobo on the beat
3.
Johnny leave follow
Cynthia
And I don’t know what
to do
And he talk say I no do
am
Like the way Cynthia
dey do
Johnny laisse-moi
suive Cynthia
Et je ne sais pas quoi
faire
Et il dit que je ne fais
comme
Le façon de faire
Cynthia
4.
Johnny give Uche bele
He talk say he wanna
marry Nene
Nwokem ke di fe ne me
Johnny donne Uche
bele
Il dit qu’il veut marie
Nene
Nwokem ce qui se
passer
5.
Johnny oh, Johnny oh
I’m looking for my
Johnny Where is my Johnny?
Johnny oh oh
Do you know Johnny?
Question…
If I no see my Johnny
Johnny oh, Johnny oh
Je recherche mon
Johnny Où est mon Johnny ?
Johnny oh oh
Savez-vous Johnny ?
Question…
Si je ne vois mon
Johnny
6.
I’m looking for my
Johnny
I’m looking for my
honey
Je recherche mon
Johnny
Je recherche mon miel
7. You telling me this
You telling me that
Vous me dit ceci
Vous me dit cela
8.
Johnny do me corny
Johnny do me corny
Johnny me fait
rangard
Johnny me fait
rangard
35
9. He’s doing me this
He’s doing me that
Il me fait ceci
Il me fait cela
10.
He go Tokyo
Yesterday he say he dey
Morocco
He dance disco
He sing Awilo
Na lie na lie na
Pinocchio
Il est à Tokyo
Hier il dit qu’il est à
Maroc
Il danse disco
Il chante Awilo
Na mensonge
mensonge na
Pinocchio
11.
He get dollar
He get hummer
He drink palmi with
Patience and Jonah
Il a les dollars
Il a les hummers
Il boit palmi avec
Patient et Jonah
12.
He dey Toronto
He dey Sokoto
Na lie na lie he dey
sokoto
Il est à Toronto
Il est à Sokoto
Le mensonge ment
dans le son pantalon
A look at the examples above draws our attention on the
fact that only the first example has been repeated word after
word by Yemi Alade in the French version of Johnny. As far as
example 2 is concerned, in the second part of the example, Yemi
Alade has repeated the words of the English version (selebobo
on the beat) after a French translation of the first part. This has
prevented from having the rhyme in this example. In the
examples 4, 6, 10 and 12, Yemi Alade has preserved the rhyme
on the same words as in English but due to the translation, she
has lost a part of this rhyme. In example 4, the translation of
36
“Nwokem ke di fe neme” by “Nwokem ce qui se passer” leads to
the lost of the sound [] we have in [bl], [Nn] and [nm] in
the original version. For example 6, the translation of “honey”
rhyming with Johnny by “miel” in French makes this part of
song unrhymed. If Yemi Alade has chosen to render “honey” by
“chéri” for instance, she could have preserved the rhyme. In the
example 10, we have a final rhyme on [o] that has been
alliterated by the translation of “Morocco.” As far as the last
example of this section is concerned, i.e. example 12, we have a
rhyme in [to] in “Toronto”, “Sokoto” and “sokoto.” The
translation of the last word (sokoto) by “pantalon” in the French
version of Johnny has a bit alterated the rhyme. The question
here should be “why Yemi Alade has chosen to translate the
second “sokoto” and not the first. In fact, the first is the name of
a city in Nigeria while the second is a Yoruba word that means
“trousers” in English. The two words seem to be the same but
they are phonologically different. Only the intonation can help
the listener to infer the differentiation between these words. The
city is pronounced [sokoto] whereas “trousers” in Yoruba is
pronounced [okoto]. Yemi Alade has surely been inspired by
the Yoruba proverb “Nkan to n wa lɔ Sokoto n b ni akpo sokoto
r.” A literal translation of this proverb can be “what you are
looking for in Sokoto is in your trouser’s pocket”; to mean that
37
“we don’t need to look far away something because all we need
is near.”
The examples 3, 7, 8 et 9 are perfectly rhymed. In
example 3, we have a figure of repetition that is different from
the one of the original song whereas the examples 7, 8 and 9
follow the same rhyming rule of the original song. In the English
version of song, the example 3 is an anaphora (repetition of the
same words or phrases at the beginning of a phrase) whereas in
the French version it is a combination of anaphora and
ephiphora, leading to a symploce which is defined as a figure of
repetition in which the first and last word (s) in a phrase, clause
or sentence are repeated in one or more successive phrases,
clauses or sentences. In this example that contains four clauses,
the first and last clauses end with “Cynthia” whereas the second
and the third one begins with the word “et.”
The examples 7 and 9 are anaphora (repetition of the
same words or phrases at the beginning of a phrase) and example
8 is an epizeuxis (repetition of the same phrase without any
words between). One can clearly notice that Yemi Alade has
tried her best to preserve the rhyme in the French version of
Johnny.
38
Conclusion
Pidgin languages, apart from filling gaps of European
languages are used in African creative works to paint African
sociolinguistic background and to impact European languages
with the African oral tradition simplicity. This makes the
translation of pidgin a very difficult exercise. This difficulty is
due to the fact that unlike English-based pidgins which has using
rules, the French-based pidgin is a kind of “broken language”
with ill-defined characteristics. This difference in status between
WAPE and "broken French," coupled with the difference in
linguistic attitudes towards the two hybrid languages, accounts
for a great deal of the difficulties encountered by translators.
As far as Yemi Alade’s Johnny is concerned, I think that
the main difficulty resides in the fact that she has done an
automatic translation instead of asking for a professional
assistance. The implication of a professional translator would
have limited the translation errors. Yemi Alade has taken into
account the criticism of her fans about the quality of the
language in the French version of Johnny. This is surely why,
she has tried a French interpretation of another song which title
is “kissing” in featuring with Jeff Marvin, a well-known franco-
ivorian singer. Here, the quality of the language is acceptable
39
even if Yemi Alade has to make a great effort to improve her
French pronunciation.
References
Alexandre, P. (1972). Languages and Language in Black Africa.
Trans, by F. A. Leary. Evanston, Northwestern
University Press.
Bickerton, D. (1975). Dynamics of a Creole System. Cambridge,
U.K., Cambridge University Press.
Chinweizu, J. O. and Ihechukwu, M. (1980). Toward the
Decolonization of African Literature: African Fiction
and Poetry and their Critics. London, Routledge.
Catford, J. C. (1965). A Linguistic Theory of Translation.
Oxford, Oxford University Press.
d'Almeida, I. A. (1981). "Literary Translation: the Experience of
Translating Chinua Achebe's Arrow of God into
French," Babel XXVII (1), pp. 24-28.
Gérard, A. S., ed. (1986). European Language Writing in Sub-
Saharan Africa, vol. I and II. Budapest, Akadémiai
Kiado.
Gilman, C. (1979). “Cameroonian Pidgin English; a neo-African
Language,” Readings in Creole Studies, I. Hancock ed.
Ghent, EStory- Scientia, pp. 269-280.
40
Holm, J. (1988). Pidgins and Creoles (vol. I): Theory and
Structure. Cambridge University Press.
Mufwene, S. (1988a). “English Pidgins: Form and Function,”
World Englishes VII(3), pp. 255-267. (1988b). “Why
study Pidgins and Creoles?” Journal of Pidgin and
Creole Languages 111(2), pp. 265-276.
Nida, E. (1976). “A Framework for the Analysis and Evaluation
of Theories of Translation,” Translation: Applications
and Research, R. W. Brislin ed. New York, Gardner,
pp. 47-91.
Obiechina, E. N. (1975). Culture, Tradition and Society in the
West African Novel Cambridge, U.K., Cambridge
University Press.
Schneider, G. D. (1966). West African Pidgin English. Ph.D.
Dissertation. Athens, Ohio.
Todd, L. (1982). Varieties of English Around the World:
Cameroon. Heidelberg, Julius Groos Verlag. (1984).
Modern Englishes: Pidgins and Creoles. Oxford,
Blackwell.
Wald, P., J. Chesny, M.-A. HiIy and P. Poutignant, eds. (1973).
Continuité et discontinuité sociolinguistiques:
Hypothèses pour une recherche en Afrique noire. Nice,
IDERIC, Université de Nice.
41
Yemi Alade (2013) Johnny, lyrics retrieved on Yemi Alade’s
official Vevo account on October, 24th 2015