Language Change: Discursive Strategies in The Guardian and Vanguard Newspapers Reportage of 2023 General Election in Nigeria

Abstract

The 2023 Nigerian general election reportage in print media discourse generated coinages and other linguistic variants that are non-existent in the current English lexicon. The investigation of these coinages and discursive strategies is worthy of scholarly attention. Previous linguistic studies examined the discursive patterns of campaign songs, slogans, hate speech, and propaganda, with scant attention to language. Therefore, this study explored language change and the discursive strategies in the newsprint media reportage of the 2023 general elections. Norman Fairclough's Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) theory and Robert Entman's framing concept served as the theoretical frameworks. A qualitative research method approach was employed, and data was extracted from the e-copies of two widely circulated Nigerian newspapers: The Guardian and Vanguard. Key findings revealed an extensive use of rhetorical devices, including the emergence of neologisms such as "Atikulated," "Obidient," "BAT," and "Jagaban," which have evolved into political ideologies. These findings align with Norman Fairclough’s CDA, using rhetorical devices as analytical tools. The study concluded that linguistic changes occurred in media reportage of the 2023 Nigerian general election, marked by the creation and recreation of new concepts and lexical items to express emerging ideologies. Furthermore, the study contributed to the linguistic inventory of Nigerian political discourse, thereby gaining global prominence.