Borrowing and Integration of English Words into Kanuri: A Study of Maiduguri Speakers

This study examines the patterns of borrowing and phonological integration of English words into the Kanuri language as spoken by residents of Maiduguri, Borno State, North East Nigeria. Extended English contact through colonial administration, formal education, and media exposure has introduced a substantial stratum of English-origin vocabulary into everyday Kanuri speech, yet the phonological adaptation processes through which English words are integrated into the Kanuri phonological system have not been comprehensively documented. The study adopts a descriptive contact linguistics methodology informed by Phonological Adaptation Theory. Data were collected from 50 bilingual Kanuri-English speakers through sociolinguistic interviews and word elicitation tasks involving 200 targeted English loanword items across semantic domains including technology, education, commerce, and governance. The collected data were transcribed phonetically and analysed for patterns of vowel epenthesis, consonant substitution, syllable restructuring, and tonal reassignment. Findings reveal systematic phonological adaptation processes that bring English borrowings into conformity with Kanuri syllable structure constraints and consonant inventory norms. The study also identifies a stratified lexical layer of older colonial-era borrowings that show greater integration compared to recent technology-related borrowings. The research contributes to the linguistic documentation of Kanuri and adds to the comparative literature on phonological adaptation in West African language contact situations. Keywords: lexical borrowing, Kanuri, phonological adaptation, Maiduguri, language contact.