Male Chauvinism in Cameroon Pidgin English: The Case of the Collocates of Man

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to assess the creative and dynamic uses of the collocates of man in Cameroon Pidgin English as it has picked up chauvinistic connotations in a strict and increasingly patriarchal Cameroon. Cameroon Pidgin English has been analyzed from different perspectives by different scholars, but the area of collocation has seldom been tackled. Word associations like ‘speak like a man’, ‘drive like a man’, ‘man-boy’, ‘my man’ (penis),’ he is a real man’ ‘man hand’ etc. abound in the repertoire of Cameroonian users of English. This paper thus brings out the different possible collocations with the word man as well as semantic degradations and ameliorations in the Cameroonian context and investigates if the continuous dominance of (the) man in the Cameroonian society could be a subtle case of linguistic rights violation. This study uses participant observation, interviews and questionnaires to obtain data from 100 speakers of Cameroon Pidgin English in Cameroon.This study employs the social identity theory propounded by Henri Tajfel and John Turner (1979; 1986) which explains intergroup behaviours and status differences. Results show that the domains of use cut across the domains of the traditional ruling system, titles and kinship terms, professions, traditional economic system and foodstuffs and drinks. Also, man is used in Cameroon Pidgin English for self -expression and self- identification. Most of the collocates of man reflect the sociolinguistic background of the country with most of the terms having come from background languages like French, Cameroon Pidgin English and Camfranglais.