Language is an important vehicle of thought and culture and people’s cultural identity is embedded in their language. Nigeria is a multilingual nation and English which has become a global language serves various functions in the country. It enjoys dominance in different levels and it is employed in the media as a source of disseminating information to the people. The data for this research were derived from one edition of Alaroye newspaper and analysed using Labov’s variability concept which stresses how language systems affect one another within a speech community. A total number of 66 words were identified from the newspaper for analysis. The Alaroye is a weekly indigenous newspaper written in Yoruba language and it has been chosen for this study because of its use of the deviant form and style of writing. The study revealed that many English words have been incorporated into the Yoruba language and such expressions dominate the Alaroye newspaper as journalists modify English words to fit into Yoruba expressions. This paper investigates the usage of these words in preference to their natural equivalents in the Yoruba language to reveal the great influence of the English language; its dominance over the Yoruba language and the attendant effects on the Yoruba language and concludes that English influence on the Yoruba language has greatly affected its orthography as the incursion of these English words will likely, in the nearest future change the normal or natural way in which the Yoruba language is written and used.
Keywords: Alaroye newspaper, Culture, English, Yoruba, language change
