Abstract--Lokoja, Nigeria is arguably one of the most multilingual communities in the world. The multilingual situation of Lokoja, North Central Nigeria is intriguingly much for its complexity and Lokoja which connects the broad geographical regions of Nigeria as a result of its centrality is resident to people of diverse multilingual backgrounds, such that a typical inhabitant can speak as many as nine Nigerian languages. In the midst of this multilingualism arises the problem of domain of influence and functions of the respective languages which the inhabitants speak and the different functions which the respective languages serve are dependent on a variety of factors which range from formality, familiarity to strict informality. However, there is sometimes role conflict as a result of multi-lingual complexity. The goal of this paper is to examine the sociolinguistic motivational differentials in the functions of the languages in contact in Lokoja, Kogi State, Nigeria.

Index Terms--functional roles, domain influence, role conflict, motivational differentials, code switching and code mixing, language conflict, domain-speaker conflict, multilingual complexities

I. INTRODUCTION

Multilingualism is a prevalent linguistic phenomenon in Lokoja, Nigeria. This is as a result of the convergence of various people with different linguistic backgrounds in the domain. An average language user in this domain speaks a minimum of four to nine languages, some of which are used simultaneously.

The definition of multilingualism is a subject of debate. Some linguists see it as complete competence and mastery in more than two languages. They assume that a multilingual person will have complete knowledge and control over the language before he/she can pass for a multilingual, while some others consider it as being less than native-like, but still able to communicate in two or more languages.

Trudgill (1995) sees multilingualism as 'the use of different languages within the given recognized geographical entity' (P.53). In his definition of multilingualism, he is not definite, as 'different languages' means assorted languages without a specific number. Therefore, there is no clear-cut number of languages a speaker will have competence in before he or she can be considered a multilingual.

Mulitilingualism is the linguistic phenomenon in which the member of a speech community is fluent in more than two languages. Multilingual speakers have acquired at least one language from birth, the mother tongue. There are different conditions under which users of language become multilingual: some people grew up in a multilingual home, some married a partner who is multilingual in nature or who speaks a different language from their partner's, some learn new languages from school, others learn it in a multilingual society.

Lokoja is a speech community where diverse languages and cultures ranging from Yoruba, Ebira (Okene), Ebira (Koto), Bassa (Nge), Bassa (Komu), Igala, Pidgin, Hausa, Nupe, Igbo, English, etc. co-habit. The languages are used in varying degrees for interactional, transactional, and governmental communication in their respective domains of operation. The residents of Lokoja characteristically speak several languages, perhaps one or more at home, another in the town, another at work, still another for purposes of trade...