Prosodic Transfer in the Speech of Nigerian L1 Speakers of English: An Optimality Theory Analysis

The prosodic properties of Nigerian English, including stress placement, rhythm, and intonation, have been described impressionistically in Schneider's variety development model and in descriptive accounts of Nigerian English phonology, but a formal theoretical analysis of prosodic transfer within a constraint-based generative phonological framework has not been developed for this variety. This dissertation presents an Optimality Theory analysis of prosodic transfer in the English of Nigerian L1 speakers, making original theoretical contributions to the formal phonology of contact-conditioned prosodic systems. The empirical programme provides acoustic and production evidence for prosodic feature patterns in the speech of ninety speakers representing three L1 backgrounds, Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo, collected through a battery of tasks targeting stress placement, rhythmic structure, and nuclear tone distribution. Acoustic measurements of duration, intensity, and fundamental frequency provide the empirical basis for characterizing the prosodic features of each L1 group's English and for identifying the systematic patterns that distinguish them from Standard Southern British English targets. The Optimality Theory analysis models observed patterns through differential constraint ranking inherited from L1 phonological grammars, generating a formally specified account of the constraint ranking modifications required to produce Standard English prosody. The dissertation extends the Optimality Theory analysis of L2 phonology literature by demonstrating the applicability of the framework to the suprasegmental domain and by showing how constraint re-ranking pathways predict the observed differential prosodic transfer patterns across the three L1 groups. Keywords: Optimality Theory, prosodic transfer, Nigerian English, phonological analysis, L2 phonology.