NIGERIAN ENGLISH USAGE AND THE TYRANNY OF FAULTY ANALOGY

Abstract

Faulty analogy and the resulting errors have persisted because the majority of Nigerian users of English are not overtly aware of the inappropriateness of applying its inherent logic to something as illogical as (the English) language. And on this account, matters are not at all helped by the fact that – to the best of our knowledge – faulty analogy is not listed formally as a topic in any classroom curriculum at any level of teaching in Nigeria. Therefore, it hardly receives any mention, and thus continues to operate as an unacknowledged – even unrecognized – source of error at all levels of language use among Nigerians.