Argot and In-Group Language Among Secondary School Students in Maiduguri

This study investigates the development and use of argot and in-group language among secondary school students in Maiduguri, Borno State, North East Nigeria. Youth language in urban Nigerian contexts constitutes a dynamic site of linguistic creativity, identity negotiation, and social boundary construction, yet the argot of secondary school students in the North East zone has attracted minimal formal linguistic study. The research adopts a qualitative ethnographic methodology guided by the theoretical framework of youth language and social identity theory. Data were collected over five weeks through participant observation in three government secondary schools in Maiduguri, supplemented by focus group discussions involving 45 students from JSS3 and SS2 classes. The analysis documents the lexical stock, morphological processes, and social functions of student argot, including items derived from Hausa, Kanuri, Nigerian Pidgin, and English. Findings reveal a productive system of lexical innovation using blending, clipping, semantic relexification, and phonological distortion as the primary word-formation strategies. The argot serves to demarcate in-group membership, evade adult surveillance, and express adolescent solidarity and creativity. The study also notes the rapid turnover of argot items, with new expressions replacing older ones within months. The research contributes to the documentation of Nigerian youth language and recommends longitudinal tracking of argot change in post-conflict northern Nigerian communities. Keywords: argot, youth language, secondary school, Maiduguri, sociolinguistics.