New York City is known to have the most legendary rappers. Nicki Minaj, whose real name is Onika Tanya Maraj, was born in Trinidad and raised in Queens. Nicki Minaj, the queen of rap, is one of the most popular Hip-hop artists of all time. I strongly believe her title is well deserved because she earned it. Some people may dispute this simply because they do not want to be labeled as a Barb. Unlike other rappers, not only does she write her own rhymes, but she is also a singer and songwriter. That is, in my opinion, the way it should be, although many artists nowadays use a ghostwriter. Therefore, Nicki Minaj is frequently recognized for paving the way for newer artists. As a result, I have been inspired to analyze some of her songs and figure out the reason behind what makes her so influential. Why is her pen game so immaculate? What is it about her style that makes other female rappers want to copy? Despite the fact that I am presenting this strong argument, my paper is meant to be linguistically informative. Although slang is a common theme utilized, she also incorporates a variety of literary elements into her raps. Looking at her lyrics, I will be finding examples of blending, word coining, derivation, compounding, clipping, and more. She does word play in this way, which may seem confusing or nonsensical to others. Therefore, my intention is to help clueless individuals understand her logic because she is a lyrical genius. While my goal is to inform others about what she is saying, the main purpose is to define each one of those properties and provide examples. 

 

Islami, Khoirunisak Nur, and Viqi Ardaniah. Phonological and Morphological Processes of African American Vernacular English in the Nicki Minaj’s Lyrics . Feb. 2017, http://journal.unair.ac.id/download-fullpapers-anglicist430d7baf00full.pdf.

Tyas, Kadek Indah Wulanningtyas. “The Study of Slang by Nicki Minaj in Pink Friday Album.” Journal of Humanities, Social Science, Public Administration and Management (HUSOCPUMENT), July 2021, https://www.publication.idsolutions.co.id/journals/index.php/husocpument/article/view/21.

 

    We all know that Nicki Minaj is the best female rapper of all time. Therefore, for the final paper I feel inspired to analyze some of her songs. Some people have a hard time understanding her word play in her lyrics. I want to look at her lyrics to find examples of slang, blending, word coining, and clipping. I would define those properties and then inform others of what she is saying. For example, a pattern she frequently goes with is starting off her verse with the word ‘ayo’ which combines aye and yo. I also know in her song ‘Bust down Barbiana’ there is a lot of blending throughout the song to rhyme with ‘barbiana’. My only concern is I’m not sure if my paper will be long enough. If that is the case then I think I also want to mention the fact that many artists including Nicki herself say the phrase “gimme the loot” and where that originates from. I also noticed how Ariana Grande and Doja Cat say ‘yuh’ in their songs a lot. I’m not exactly sure where that word originated but I have a feeling it came from Nicki Minaj as well. My paper is intended to be informative but I also have the urge to make an argument about something at the same time. I think I will be strongly expressing how I believe how Nicki Minaj’s writing paved the way for other artists. I just need to figure out how to organize the essay with certain ideas I mentioned. Otherwise, this paper will be very enjoyable for me to work on. 

1. popcorn- Exocentric, [[pop]V [corn]N]N
2. blackberry – Endocentric, [[black]A [berry]N]N
3. peanut – Endocentric, [[pea]N [nut]N]N
4. meatball – Exocentric, [[meat]N [ball]N]N
5. marshmallow – Exocentric, [[marsh]N [mallow]N]N

1) verb to noun: -ism

-ism, [[X]V ism]N

Plagiarize -> plagiarism, baptize → baptism, criticize → criticism

2) noun-to-verb: -ify

-ify, [[X]N ify]V

Beauty → beautify, test→ testify, glory → glorify 

3) Output words in (1) as the inputs in (2)

Plagiarism → Plagiarismify, Baptism→ Baptismify, Criticism → Criticismify

The words plagiarismify, baptismify, and criticismify are clearly not well-formed and are not already-existing words. It is possible to have words that contain a double suffix such as “recklessness” and “intuitively”. However, in this case, the outcome of forming these new words doesn’t seem to work because it’s too overbearing. The following words are examples of constraints because the ordering of affixes is too complex. Every language has rules about which combinations of sounds are allowed. These rules don’t seem to violate English phonotactics, but create a lexical gap. Therefore, I think its possible that these words could exist in a language but happen not to.

      I think the English words forbid, forget, forgive, forgo, forswear are all examples of complex verbs.  This is due to the fact that complex words can be broken down into more than one morpheme. We know that a morpheme contains both form and meaning. These words share the same prefix for- which means to have and this shows it can stand alone. It attaches to words that also portray meaning alone: “bid”, “get”, “give”, “go”, and “swear”. An example of what a simplex word would be is the word “forum”. This word only has one morpheme and can not be simplified any smaller. Although this word shares the same prefix for- it still differs because ‘um’ does not have significant meaning. However, I was still confused as to whether these verbs are systematically related. I don’t think these words relate systematically because they all contain different endings. Can you please clarify?