Exploring Hybridity in Ivorian French and Nouchi

Nouchi is studied from a formal point of view as hybrid or mixed speech. From a sociolinguistic point of view, it is seen as slang or youth language. Hybridity is interpreted as a symbol of the coming together of all the languages of Côte d’Ivoire, like a combination of all the ethnic groups of the nation itself. However, hybridity is mostly approached from a lexical point of view, wherein the authors attempt to analyse the heterogeneous lexicon of Nouchi. Regarding the lexicon, the big distinction with Ivorian French is the massive incorporation of words, or morphemes in the case of hybrid words, of the Niger–Congo languages of the Ivory Coast and others. The questions posed in this chapter are (1) whether Nouchi also employs hybridity in syntax, phonology or spelling; and (2) whether Ivorian French, which acts as the base language, is not already largely hybrid. My hypothesis is that a hybrid language like Nouchi emerges in a social context where the process of hybridisation has already begun by pooling various social resources to build a space welcoming diversity.