FACULTY OF ARTS

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://repository.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/259

Browse

Has files: YesSubject: search.filters.subject.Speech acts

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    SOCIOLINGUISTIC DIMENSIONS OF SPOUSAL COMMUNICATION IN BUCHI EMECHETA’S SECOND-CLASS CITIZEN AND AKACHI ADIMORAEZEIGBO’S THE LAST OF THE STRONG ONES
    (2017-05) OYEDOKUN, ADE AYANBOLA
    Spousal communication, a feature of language, which unravels certain sociolinguistic characteristics of a husband and his wife, is a dominant feature of African novels by female writers. Previous studies on Emecheta and Adimora-Ezeigbo were theme-based, with little attention paid to spousal communication in their novels. This study investigated the dimensions of husband-wife linguistic and paralinguistic practices in two select novels of Emecheta and Adimora-Ezeigbo, with a view to identifying the influences of indigenous culture on spousal communication. Hymes‟ Ethnography of Communication, and Hudson-Weems‟ Womanism, which explores the relationship between social and cultural meanings, and the natural contributions of women to society, were adopted accordingly. Emecheta‟s Second-Class Citizen (SCC) and Adimora-Ezeigbo‟s The Last of the Strong Ones (LSO) were purposively sampled because of their thematic preoccupation with spousal communication. Data were subjected to sociolinguistic analysis. Spouses‟ linguistic and paralinguistic behaviour portray the influence of the African culture. Spousal communication takes place among seven couples: Francis and Adah in SCC; Obiatu and Ejimnaka, Omeozo and Onyeka, Okorie and Ngbeke, Iheme and Chibuka, Iwuchukwu and Chieme, and Aziagba and Okoroji in LSO. Among the dimensions of interaction common to the two novels are solidarity, dispute, respect, reconciliation, disregard, intimacy, family planning, identification, criticism and abusive remarks. While financial dispute appeared in SCC, it is not present in LSO. Both authors use personal pronouns to describe the solidarity between the spouses, and explore the use of first and second person singular to demonstrate how a husband influences his wife into submission. Expressions of affection in the use of possessive pronouns, such as, “my” in “my wife”, “my mother” and “oyoyo M” (my beauty) are used for reconciliation in both novels. While Ezeigbo uses Obiatu‟s “look of great affection” and Ejimnaka‟s “gaze without blinking” as part of paralinguistic features to demonstrate intimacy between the couples in LSO, Emecheta uses “disregard” as a conventional paralinguistic feature, which spouses use to deny, insult, question or challenge each other in SCC. Periphrasis, which is a non-hostile verbal communication, is used in the expression of family planning dispute in SCC. Gender roles are well defined for spouses in LSO. Emecheta employs respect to depict the social roles of a wife as a mother to both husband and children. The husbands assume an air of superiority and power, and create for their wives inferior status in SCC and LSO, thereby displaying the influence of patriarchal African culture. Aziagba‟s leading role in her relationship with Okoroji is an exception in LSO. The presence of Christianity, education and other forms of foreign culture reversed the roles assigned to spouses in SCC as reflected in Adah. Rhetorical devices, such as lexical borrowing, codemixing and code-switching permeate the novels to foreground the use of the English Language in an African society. Spousal communication portrays patriarchal domination and plays a significant role in showcasing salient aspects of African culture in Second-Class Citizen and The Last of the Strong Ones. There is the need to acknowledge African worldviews from which spouses draw their communicative practices. Keywords: Spousal communication, Emecheta and Adimora-Ezeigbo‟s novels, African Culture, Speech acts, Linguistic and paralinguistic behaviour. Word count: 498
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Contexts and Functions of Proverbs in Selected Plays of Ola Rotimi
    (2013) Sonde, S. O.
    Proverbs describe, classify and judge a given situation with emphasis on moral/ethical recommendations. They also point to the life patterns of the society from which they are derived. Many studies have been undertaken on classification and definition of proverbs from various cultures and disciplines. Much attention has also been drawn to Ola Rotimi‘s proverbs from the point of view of pragmatics and sociolinguistics, but enough scholarly attention has not been given to the contexts in which the proverbs have been used to develop characters. Therefore, this study investigates the contexts in which proverbs have been used and how they have helped to develop dramatic characters in selected plays of Ola Rotimi. Aspects of Troike‘s Ethnography of Communication served as the theoretical framework. Three plays of Ola Rotimi which have abundant proverbs and which exhibit thematic and stylistic similarities were purposively selected. These are The Gods Are Not to Blame, Kurunmi, and Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again. One hundred and fifty-six proverbs were identified and selected from the three texts. The proverbs were subjected to content analysis and percentages. Proverbs in the selected plays of Ola Rotimi are used in psychological and socio-cultural contexts. The psychological contexts are characterised by philosophical, religious and crisis-induced proverbs while the socio-cultural contexts are marked by political, moral/ethical and ideological proverbs. Philosophical proverbs are peculiar to major characters in the three texts while minor characters use more of moral/ethical proverbs. Philosophical and crisis-induced proverbs point out the major characters‘ submission to fate in the face of grave socio-political challenges. Ideological proverbs point to predestination and asymmetrical relations reflected in the Yoruba social structure and gender perspectives. Moral/ethical proverbs describe minor characters‘ submission to the influence and manipulation of major characters over social, physical and psychosomatic conditions. In all the three texts, the major characters employ more proverbs than any of the other characters. Traditional title holders, warlords, and political leaders (major characters) employ more proverbs than women, servants and ordinary citizens (minor characters). Out of the 67 proverbs in The Gods Are not to Blame, 38 (56.7%) are cited by Odewale, the king of Kutuje land. Kurunmi cites 36 (53.7%) out of the 67 proverbs used in Kurunmi, while Lejoka Brown alone cites 10 (45.5%) out of the 22 proverbs used in Our Husband Has Gone Mad Again. The predominant speech acts of proverbs include promising, acknowledging (in socio-cultural contexts); denying, criticising and advising (in psychological contexts), respectively performed by major characters and minor characters. Proverbs, used in psychological and socio-cultural contexts, serve to delineate characters in the selected plays of Ola Rotimi. They, thus, add profound meanings to the texts and define their socio-cultural settings. Future studies could compare the character-development potential of proverbs as demonstrated in this study with that of other major Nigerian playwrights in their major plays.