| Abstract: |
This study investigates the patterns of phonological variation in Ezaa., a dialect of the Igbo language
predominantly spoken in Ezza North and Ezza South Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Anchored on Labov’s (1961) Variationist Theory, the research adopts a descriptive survey design to
examine how social variables including age, social class, and geographical location, shape phonological
differences among speakers. Data were elicited through structured oral interviews, intuitive introspection,
and retrospective observation. Analysis reveals that Ezaa exhibits systematic variation in pronunciation that
correlates with sociolinguistic variables. Younger speakers tend to substitute or delete certain phonemes in
an attempt to approximate Standard Igbo pronunciation, while older speakers retain conservative
phonological patterns that reflect traditional norms. Similarly, members of the educated and urban classes
display innovative pronunciations influenced by contact with English, Nigerian Pidgin and Standard Igbo,
unlike rural speakers who preserve the dialect’s conservative features. Geographical proximity to other
dialect areas also contributes to diffusion effects at the phonological level. The study concludes that
phonological variation in Ezaa reflects both linguistic change and social differentiation, underscoring the
dynamic relationship between language, identity and social structure. These findings have implications for
Igbo dialectology, socio-phonetics and language preservation in multilingual Nigeria. |
EBONYI JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE
