Stress and Vowel Peculiarity in Yoruba/English Bilingual Educated Speakers

The concern of this study is the investigation of stress placement on English words by Yoruba Nigerian English Speakers (YNES). Not only this, it examines their vowel production in typically unstressed syllables of English words which must require a shift of stress and a consequent reduction of vowels. For example, electricity from electric, and personality from personal. A text comprising five different exercises was read by twenty Yoruba English Speakers. The data was analyzed and subjects production converted to percentages, the higher percentages were regarded as the norm. The result reaffirms scholars’ assertion that syllables that are supposed to be unstressed, have their vowels reduced and at times syllabic consonants are realized as strong and full by the YNES.

Keywords: Yoruba/English Bilinguals, Stress and Vowel peculiarity, Educated speakers, Standard English, Syllatic Consonants