SOME FEATURES OF LANGUAGE USE IN YORUBA TRADITIONAL M EDI Cl NE BY A'DEWAIE BANDELE ADEGBITE B,A* (Hons) English ( I fe ) M,Ar ESE ( I fe ) A Thesis in the Department o f LINGUISTICS AND NIGER!a.N LANGUAGES Submitted to the Faculty o f Arts in Partia l Fulfilment o f the Requirements for the Degree o f DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY o f the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN Department o f English Language, Obafemi,Awolowo University, I le - I fe , Nigeria. 1991 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY i i abstract This study attempts to characterize some o f the significant features o f language form and content in texts which usually accompany the practice o f Yoruba Traditional Medicine (YTM). After collection o f samples o f texts from different Herbalist- Client (HCy encounters in the fie ld , some of these texts are analysed along the dimension o f register studies. Those signi­ ficant features which occur prominently In most o f the texts analyzed are then posited as characteristic features o f YTM texts. The content features o f YTM texts are identified In the work by relating the texts to extralinguistic experience via the level o f situation and the categories o f use, function, message and structure. And the formal features are described by observing their projection of the content via grammatical and lex ica l options in the lingu istic system. The features o f situation show that these texts are products o f speech events which involve human and non-human objects, Participant b e lie fs , actions, relations and behaviour. The texts, whose urimary mode Is conversational reveal especially that % participants in YTM interaction believe In magical medicine* rituals and in the power o f the spoken word. There are three major uses performed! by YTM texts, v iz . diagnosis, optional divination and medication. These uses derive UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY i i i fro* participants* in tu itive reaction to the functions and messages : f the texts. The message summarizes the thematic content o f each -.art pertaining to the identification o f a problem and finding the remedy for i t . And the functions provide mainly the in for­ mative and directive bases for the message content. The structure o f YTM texts reveals dialogical interactions in which herbalists and clients take turns in diagnostic and prescriptive transactions to make various initiation-response moves constituted nrainly by e lic it-rep ly and direct-accept acts. In some O'f the texts, however, the herbalist's turns may further extend into monological transactions o f divination, incantations and supplication, depending on the performance situations. Lastly, the forms ©f the texts show that the preponderance o f some cohesive features as well as the prominence o f unmarked themie and simple sentences enhance simplicity and easier comprehensibility o f the messages o f YTM texts. They also show that the material process and positive polarity are prominent because the texts represent a lo t o f physical a c tiv ities carried' out towards achieving a positive goal. Lastly, they show that the * t declarative mood marks the primary function of giving information % In YTM interaction. In a ll, the study contributes to both Yoruba studies and text analysis In the manner in which i t u tilize s an eclectic textual model t6 exp lic itly analyze some texts from a Yoruba register. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Glory be to God, the Father and the Almighty Who gave me l i f e , good health, the means, prime inspiration and fortitude 'd the good neople who assisted me in the course o f this study. First and foremost, T humbly express hearty thanks to Professor Ayo Bamgbose for his able and close supervision o f the work. No praises can be enough for this academic giant and father o f lingu istics in Nigeria for his personal involvement in the study. The manner in which he read through the various drafts o f the work page by page, making corrections, encouraging discussions and giving useful advice on i t in spite of his busy schedule gives credit to his deep sense o f hardwork. T am indeed very fortunate to have bene- fitted from his rich pool o f experience. My thanks also go to another academic giant, Professor Adebisi Afolayan, who has contributed immensely to my academic growth. Even in the course of this study I was always close to him to benefit from his rich experience. The following people contributed in no small measure to the successful completion of the work and they should be thanked. Dr. Afolabi Olabode co-supervised the work at the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY V foundation stage and helped to give the work a proper direction. Professor Akinwumi Iso la assisted me at the onset o f the study. The discussions I had with him propelled me to venture into this study of language use in a f ie ld that was re la tive ly unfamiliar to me. Chief Bayo Cgundijo, Messrs Awotidoye (Oyinho Orunmila) and Demola Oyewumi, among others, assisted me in the data collection process. Dr. Femi Akindele familiarized me with current litera tu re on Discourse Analysis and also gave useful suggestions and advice pertaining to this study. Professor Wole Adejare and Dr. N iyi Oladeji respectively made their works on text lingu istics and s ty lis t ic s available to me for reference. Messrs Arua E. Arua and Ayo Banji read the manuscripts and made comments and ed itoria l suggestions. Dr. Adekunle Adeniran expressly showed his good w ill for me, and so were my numerous friends and colleagues whose names I cannot fu lly mention here. And Mr. Akin* Williams typed the manuscripts. Finally I thank my relations - most especially, my wife Taiwo, my children Ronke, Tunde, Tunji and Bayo, my brothers and sisters - for their understanding, cooperation and supnort during the study. My mother was unrelenting in her good washes and prayers. And, obviously, my father has always been fu lly awake in heaven, monitoring my progress and success in li,/fe . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY CERTIFICATION I certify that this work was carried out by Mr. A. B. Adegbite in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. Professor in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY VII table of contents pages T it le P age .. . . . ........................ ......... ................. ............. ................... i Abstract. » » » . . . . . » » . . . . . . . . . .................................. .. • » » i i A c k n o w le d g e m e n t s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv C e rt if ic a t io n by Superv iso r.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v i Table o f Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi i l i s t o f Tables and D i a g r a m s . x £ i l i s t o f A bb rev ia t io n s ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x iv 1 .0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES i * 1*1 Studies on Yoruba Language and L ite ra tu re 3 1 .2 C la s s if ic a t io n and Description o f Yoruba Texts 5 , 1 .5 The Concept o f R egister and Yoruba Studies ^ 1.4 Yoruba R egister Studies and The In s t itu t io n o f Yoruba T rad itiona l Medicine ( YTM) i.[ 1 .5 Theoretical P re lim inaries o f R e se a rc h .... . . . . . . . .15 1.5*1 Research aims and assumptions.. . . . . . . . . . . 15 1 .5 .2 Data base of re sea rch .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .5 .5 Transcription o f d a ta .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 l 1 .5 .4 The orthography fo r tran scrip tion o f texts ’ 2 5 1 .5 .5 T ranslation o f texts into- E n g l i s h . . . . . . . . 2.5 % 1 .5 .6 Presentation o f texts fo r a n a ly s is . . . . . . . 2 k UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY viii 2.0 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF LANGUAGE DESCRIPTION 28 2.1. The P rin c ip les and Approaches to L ingu istic Description........................ 28 2.2 Approaches to Text Description.................... 37 2. 2.1 Formal text theories................... 38 2. 2.2 Contextual text th eories................. 43 2.2.3 Framework fo r Analysis o f Texts 49 3.0 AN ECLECTIC FRAMEWORK FOR YTM TEXTUAL ANALYSIS 30 3.1 Hie le v e ls and Categories o f E t f . .................. 54 3.1.1. The le v e l o f s itu ation ............................. 56 3.1.1.1 The category o f use.................. 62 3.1.1.2 The category o f function ... 66 3.1.1.3 The category o f message.. . . 70 3.1.1.4 The category o f structure.. 72 3 . 1 . 2. The le v e l o f form................................... 9.1" 3.1.3. The category o f s y s te m ... . . ................... .94 3.2. Some Categories o f Formal Description o f Yoruba................................................... ............ 97 3 . 2 . 1 . The system o f theme in Yomba............ 99 3.2.2, The tra n s it iv ity s y s t e m . • 100 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY ix PAGE 3 o2„3« The system of polarity...... . . . . . . I ll 3.2.4. The tense system . . . . ..»........ . 113 3.2.3. The mood and modality systems ...... XXI 3.2.6. Some expressive and rhetorica l categories ■ . tf . ̂ . 0 . 3.3, The Procedure o f Analysis o f YTM Texts . . . . . X34 3.3.1* Some fundamental issues in textual analysis.. * * ........ . ... 137 3.3.2. A schematic analysis o f a model YTM te x t . » » . ................... ............... .. 144 4.0. THE CONTENT FEATURES OF YTM TEXTS 163 4*1, The S ituational Features o f YTM Tex t s * . . ,*..163 4.1.1* The f ie ld o f YTM texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164 4.1.2. The tenor o f YTM texts . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 4.1*3. The mode of YTM texts ......................... .180* 4.1*4. Analyses o f situational features in sample texts............ 183 4.2. Aspects o f Language Use in YTM texts . . . . . . . . . 186 4.2.1* Aspects o f language in YTM texts . . . . . 188 4.2.2. The conditions fo r co-occurrence o f aspects in YTM texts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 4.2.3. The relevance o f aspects o f YTM te x ts ..201 4*2.4. Analysis o f aspects in sample t e x t s . . . 204. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY X 4.3 The Functions o f Texts in YTM . ............... 206 4.3- 1 The functions) o f a diagnostic text 206 4.3*2 The functions o f a divinatory text 207 4.3- 3 The functions of medicating texts 209 4.3- 4 The functions o f the minor aspects o f 211 YTM texts 4.3.5 The significant functions o f YTM texts 213 4.3- 6 Analysis o f functions in sample texts 215 4.4 The Message Content o f YTM Texts.. . . . . . . . . . . . 217 4.4*1 The modes and messages o f some YTM 218 texts 4.4*2 General observations from messages o f 225 texts 4.5 The Structure of YTTi T e x t s . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . . 226 4.5.1 The turn-taking channels in YTM 226 texts 4.5*2 The structure o f transactions in 229 YTM texts 4.5.3 Summary and Illu stra tion 248 5.0 SOME FORMAL FEATURES OF YTM TEXTS.................... 256 5.1 Gome Formal Features o f Text 1 (A Type-1 Teixt) 257 5.1.1 Theme and C ohesion ............... . 257 5.1.2 Some sign ificant lex ica l item s... 287 / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 3d 5.1.3 Tr.-i” si t i vx by,......... ............ 292 5.1.4 Po larity ..................................................... 306 5.1.5 Tense........................................................... 310 5.1.6 Mood and m od a lity ........................ 320 5.1.7 Sentence ty p e s .. . . . ............ 327 5.1.8 Recurrence of p a t t e r n s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331 5.7 Some Peculiar Formal Features o f Text 5 333 (A Type-7 Text) 5.7.1 Them e............................... 333 5.2.2 Unusual lex ica l items......... . 341 5.7.3 Lexico-structural and rhetorical 344 features 5.7.4 Vocatives................................................. 353 5.7 A Summary o f the Formal Features o f YTM Texts 354 5.3.1 Features of YTM Texts............................... 354 5.7.2 Features o f a YTM Text-type.................. 357 5.4 Conclusion.................................... 358 5.4.1 Research contribution(s) .................... 358 5.4.2 The application o f the study.. . . . . . . . . , 360 5.4.3 Limitations o f research.......... . 361 Bi blio graph y..................................... . 364 Appendices p _ Encouraging Traditional M ed ic in e ....... 387 IT - Some Intertexts in YTM In te ra c tion ..... 388 I I I - Asrects o f Some YTM In t e r t e x ts . . . . . . . . . 424 / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY x il LIST OF TABT.ES AND DIAGRAMS PAGES TABI.ES 3 .2 .Z .3 The Ergative Participant Roles in the Tran­ 109 s it iv ity System, 4.1 .4 Analysis of Situational Features in Some 184 YTM Texts. 4.2.4 Analysis o f Aspects o f Uses of Some YTM Texts. 205 4 .3 .6 Analysis of Functions in Some YTM Texts. 216 4.5.1 Illu stration of Herbalistr s Turns in YTM 228 Texts. 4 .5 .3 Analysis of Structural Features in a YTM 252. Text. 5.1.1 The Representation of Cohesive Features in 283 Some YTM Texts. 5.1.1 Options of Theme in Some YTM Texts. 2 8.5 5.1 .3 Options of Process in Some YTM Texts. 298. 5.1.3 The Participant options in Material Clauses 303 in Some YTM Texts. 5.1.3 The Circumstantial Options in Some YTM Texts. 305 * 5.1.4 Polarity Options in Some YTM Texts. 309 5 .1 .5 Tense Options in Some YTM Texts. 315 5.1.6 Options of Mood in Some YTM Texts. 325* 5.1.6 The Modality Options in Some YTM Texts. 326 5.1.7 The Occurrences of Sentence Types in Some 329 YTM Texts. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY x i i i DIAGRAMS 3.1.5.2-2 The Systemic Linkage of Form and Uses o f % Language. 3 .2.4 A Representation of the Yoruba Tense System, 115 3.2.5 A Representation of the Mood and Modality 119 Options o f Yoruba. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY XIV LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Bound opening move Challenging move Eclectic textual framework Herbalist-client In itia tion move Opening move Resnonse move Re-opening move Supporting move Yoruba Traditional Medicine UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY CHAPTER ONE 1,0 GENERAL INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES '•— There I s only one object o f study? sp e c ific acts o f speech, as h is to r ic ' events In th e ir behavioural se tt in g s , observable in part overtly and in a d iffe ren t part In tro spectlve ly— - Hockett (1975) The State o f the A rt, p.65 The f iv e chapters in th is study develop ideas which a r is e from s ix major p r in c ip le s , v iz , ( I ) that Yoruba stud ies stand to benefit from conscious research e ffo r t s on Yoruba text analysis in the d irection o f the re g is te rs o f the language? ( 2)' that the re g is te r i s a d isc ip lin e o f language study whose association with Yoruba stud ies can be recognized in the environment o f Yoruba soc ia l in s t itu t io n s , organ izations and p ra•c tices where language in te rac ts with some other pragmatic* ob jec ts , actions,, states and soc ia l b e l ie f s to achieve soc io - pragmatic goa ls ; (37 that a study o f Yoruba re g is te rs can best th rive on the co llec tion and analyses o f Yoruba texts front soeech events in order to examine the nature o f the in teraction between . language form and s itu ation a l facto rs o f experience; that YTM is a Yoruba in st itu t io n in which language, In the mode o f tex ts*, in te rac ts with soc lo -s itu a tlon a l fa c to rs In d iverse speech events to achieve goa ls which are fo r the ben e fit and w elfa re o f the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 2 people; C ?) that since the interaction o f language with social experience is reflected in texts and can be studied from texts, a lo t of insights can he gained into the diverse non- lingu istic and lingu istic acts performed in the Yl f̂ institu tion via the means o f ’ textual studies; (6) particularly, a proper study of texts from this institu tion w ill show how language is patterned in social situations to achieve social signi ficance. This f ir s t chapter introduces the work and gives in for­ mation about the theoretical preliminaries of the studvr these preliminaries include the necessity for the work, it s aims, assumptions and methodology,. Chapter Two basically discusses the issue of theoretical frameworks o f language description. After highlighting certain basic principles and approaches to language study, i t id en tifies the approach o f text lingu istics and explains i t s basic concerns. I t latdr selects the systemic textlingu istlcs model for the analysis o f texts In the study because o f the rich poten tia lities o f the ■" model for describing the form and content features o f texts. Deriving from the general theoretical framework selected in Chapter Two, Chapter Three presents and Illu strates the analytical tools o f texts in terms of six major categories: situation, use, function, message, structure and form.. f / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 3 These tools are then used in Chapter Four of the work to Identify the content features o f YTM texts and in Chapter Five to identify the formal features o f the texts. In the conclusion there is a summary of the contributions of this study and i t s lim itations, and there is also a discussion o f Its application 4 to Yoruba textual analysis and register studies, on the one hand, and to cross-llnguistico-cultural studies, on the other hand. 1,1 Studies on Yoruba Language and litera tu re The Yoruba language provides fe r t i le ground for research work. The language encapsulates a superabundance of the oral literature and history o f several generations of the Yoruba T people yet to be explored and recorded, having been in the written form for only one and a half centuries, A scholar . , researching into Yoruba thus has an open fie ld before him to inquire and explore the language for facts about human l i f e and thoughts to be recorded for posterity, * See Oladeji (1980r20) for Information about the homeland, " population and communities of the Yoruba people a ll over the v/orld. Discussions in this work refer specifica lly to the Yoruba ethnic group in Nigeria, although a lo t o f cultural s im ilarities permeate Yoruba societies a ll over the v/orld. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY k Explorations on Yoruba language and literature need not be limited to mere collection and recording o f types o f oral literature with notes explaining obscure expressions or with a preface giv ing mainly sociological information ( c f . Bamgbose, 1982a: 7) . Instead, researches ma.y involve detailed descriptions, analyses, expositions and criticisms o f any member o f the constituents o f Yoruba studies, v iz . Yoruba language, Yoruba litera tu re, Yoruba l i f e and thought and Yoruba 4 * practical criticism suggested by Babalola (1982:t13-19) * While a lo t o f work has been done jjn certain aspects of the above constituents, some areas have been consistently neglected. For instance, there is a dearth of scholarly materials on Yoruba language ‘ registers* and ‘ d ia lects*.1 And this writer * believes that this problem must be tackled in order to enrich,, develop and improve Yoruba studies. Any intensive work geared towards this goal is a right step in the direction o f * the enrichment, reinforcement and ultimate development o f Yoruba language and litera tu re. 1. Simply put, a dialect Is the name given to language variety o f a group of'users according to their location, period, age, education, etc; the'concept o f ‘ register* is explained under 1.3 below. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 1.2 C lassification and Description o f Yoruba Texts Attempts have been made by eminent scholars to describe the structure and vocabulary of Yoruba in descriptive and comparative lingu istic studies.1 Also, a wide range o f oral literatu re in the language has been researched into 2 and documented. Genuine lite ra ry works and their descrip­ tions are now available in the three lite ra ry genres o f Yoruba prose, poetry and drama while highly informative works on the social l i f e , customs and institutions o f the Yoruba people are also in existence.^ Work is s t i l l going on in these fie ld s as the Yoruba language is s t i l l under constant study through the medium o f at least four o f the major languages o f the world apart from Yoruba, v iz . English, French, Portuguese and Spanish ( c f. Abimbola, 1977b and O ladeji, 1980). l7 See Babalola ( 19&2:19-P.2) for a l i s t of some pivotal works in this respect. The present work, however, benefits most from the linguistifc descriptions o f Bamgbose (1965* 1966, 1972, 1976, e tc .), Afolayan (1968, 1970 and 1982)? from the comparative s ty lis t ic research of Oladeji (1980)? and from the sociolinguistic study o f the structure o f Yoruba texts by Akinnaso (1982, 1983 and 1985)*. 2. A lo t o f works exist in this fie ld , but the contributions most highly fe lt come from the description o f oral poetry in Yoruba folk lore. See, for example, Abimbola (1976 and 1977) Babalola (1966), Bascom (1969), I sola (1975), Olajubu (1970), Yemiitan (1963) among others. 3. See Babalola, 1982:- 19-22. W ib id . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 6 Much work seems to hove been done In Yoruba studies, yet much is s t i l l l e f t to be done.. For Instance, descriptive studies on Yoruba seem to have favoured either a purely sociological or formal lingu istic description, or the lite ra ry criticism^ of Yoruba lite ra ry texts, while the analysis and description of the * form-meaning-message-use' relationship in texts arrenr to have received l i t t l e attention from scholars. Yet while i t can be rightly said that the grammar of a language has to be understood for any study to take place at a ll in the language or, otherwise, that there have to be literature studies on which descriptive studies can rely for data, i t should at the same time be noted that an Integration of language and literature wilA also benefit Yoruba studies. The following statement by Afolayan (1982a: 27) shoNSthis clearly thusr Yoruba language studies, divorced from actual language--- would be abstract and li fe le s s and Yoruba studies not firmly rooted in the study of the lingu istic properties pertaining to the language of Yoruba l ite ra tu re --- would be at best a rseudo-study of Yoruba anthropology, sociology and relig ion .1 1. One actually wonders whether the approach o f some'works in . this f ie ld cannot be called 'l ite ra ry s ty lis t ic s ', since they sometimes'Introduce some lingu istic categories, however small, into their predominantly lite ra ry description of texts in order to properly explicate portions 6f such texts. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 7 One major e ffective way of Integrating language and literature in Yoruba studies Is to concentrate on s ty lis t ic and socio- lingu istic analyses of texts in order to observe the lingu istic , lite ra ry and socio-situational features in them. Some useful works are already available in this resrect. For example, Oladeji C1980) has done a comparative s ty lis t ic work on two poems from different cultures of English and Yoruba, v iz . The Passing of Arthur by Alfred Lord Tennyson and Adeblnipe 0 ,jedokun by Adebayo Falpti. The work is significant because o f the way it shows important thematic, lingu istic and cultural sim ilarities and differences between the poems from a systemic lingu istic viewpoint o f analysis. Also, Olabode (1981) has contributed to Yoruba s ty lis tics in his thesis on the semantic bases o f metaphors and related troupes in Yoruba. * Foll* owing • the three fundamental principles of structuralism, v iz . language, individual and situation, he has been able to describe the sources, forms and uses of these figures o f speech by the Yoruba. Akinnaso (198?, 1983 and 1985) has described Yoruba divlnatory speech from both soclolinguistic and comparative . meta-analytical points of view. His works identify several essential linguistico-cultural factors o f Yoruba divinatory speech and relate these factors to those of other kinds o f UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 8 ritual speeches from diverse cultures of the world. The findings in the work have also been used by the author to express disagreement with certain theoretical assumptions about the differences between spoken and written language. And lastly , Olatunji ( 1984) in what can be called a lite ra ry s ty lis t ic study has classified features o f Yoruba oral poetry. In this 4 work, he id en tifies certain features that are general for a ll Yoruba poetic types and also those characteristic of individual types lik e Orxkl ’ Praise Poetry’ , ffsp I fa ' I f a Di vi natory Poetry* 2J& ‘ Yoruba Incantations,* etc. This work benefits from the works above in terms o f their content and i t also has many a ffin it ie s with* them in terms of4 their stylistic/socio lingu istic orientation. However, i t proceeds along the dimension of register studies and re lies on facts, principles and procedures of diverse fie ld s such as s ty lis tics , sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, text lingu istics and systemic lingu istics in analyzing data collected from speech events in a Yoruba institution. Below we exaplain the concept o f ’ register* and mention the Yoruba register to be described in this study. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 9 1 .5 The Concept o f R egister and Yoruba Studies The notion * reg is te r* way have d iffe ren t connotations in language studies (s e e Leake 1985?276) , but i t e ssen tia lly denotes a *diatypica2* v a r ie ty o f language. Follow ing Gregory (1967) and H a llid ay (1978), a diatype c la s s if ic a t io n i s a two-way c la s s if ic a t io n of language use in terms o f the in te raction o f formal and s itu ation a l featu res. Two texts w il l belong to the same re g is te r i f they both have s im ila r featu res which co rre la te with the s itu ation a l components, e .g . H alliday* s components o f * f ie ld * r * tenor* and *mode* (s e e 5 .1 .1 )» In th is study, the term *re g is te r* i s conceived in a very s t r ic t sense in which i t defines texts which have s im ila r formal features in a g reater degree which co rre la te with a l l the three components above. I f r fo r instance, the formal featu res shared by two texts are few or the s itu ation a l components which they * » re la te to have majo■r d iffe ren ces , then such texts belong to* d iffe ren t re g is te r s . However, i f the two texts have a lo t o f s im ila r formal features and have no major d iffe ren ces in th e ir ’ s ituation a l components, then they belong to a s in g le re g is te r . Texts can be o f the same type within a re g is te r i f there are very few formal featu res d istingu ish ing them in d iv id u a lly in s im ila r UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 10 situational contexts, while those o f d ifferent types w ill have the few features differentiating them as a group from other texts in a register. The natural environment for reg ister studies is inevitably that of social institutions, organisations and practices. I t is this environment that has the two most essential ingredients for such studies, -viz, language and situation. In every social institution, organization or practice, there are usually sneech events involving partic i­ pants* interactions in specific situations according to some recognizable conventional patterns of language and social behaviour. An interaction in a social institution always - Involves the u tiliza tion of language (as texts), singularly or in accompaniment o f other pragmatic objects, within a particular situation to achieve certain pragmatic ends, * * And I t is possible within Yoruba studies, for example, to find out how particular texts are constituted and organized in the achievement of these ends by collecting their samples from speech events or Interactions in some Yoruba institutions and analysing them. Such analyses i f they fa ll within Yoruba * register studies should be based on an analytical framework that can e ffic ien tly account for both the formal features of the texts and the situational factors o f their production, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 11 l . k Yoruba Register Studies and The Instltution o f YTM Several registers of texts are bound to be present in diverse institutions o f Yoruba experience that can: be investigated for language and social development, for example, those o f medicine, law, journalism, relig ion , teaching, broadcasting, casual interaction, etc. In this study, however, our interest l ie s in finding out what features o f texts, text types and registers are noticeable in the Yoruba institu tion o f Traditional Medicine.- In Yortrbaland, and indeed in Nigeria as a whole, the practice o f traditional medicine is a social rea lity , the society being predominantly non-literate. For the non-literate ' and lite ra te members o f the community alike YTM provides at best an alternative to Western or ’ modem’ medicine and at worst a supplement to i t . Opinion surveys carried out by scholars (see Ladipo and Balogun, 1978) on some Yoruba people In v illages concerning the sources o f their medical care show that a greater percentage o f the v illagers claimed that, for various reasons, traditional medicine provided their major source o f medical care. The b e lie f in traditional medicine is also shared by lite ra te members o f the community as well, for another survey carried out on this group o f people (see / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 12 Dopamu, 1977:658) has shown that a substantial number o f them do confirm the efficacy o f the system. Speaking- in the most nationalistic terms, and in lin e with the recent favourable posture o f the World Health Organisation (WHO) on the practice, some lite ra te members o f the Nigerian community,, among whom are journalists and university scholars, have in the past one decade consistently challenged the colonially-induced sole o f f ic ia l recognition of modern medicine in the country (c f . Appendix 1) and have called for the recognition and consequent integration of traditional medicine with modern medical practice,. For, according to them, the continuous lack o f recognition o f the traditional healing system implies a gradual disintegration and eventual annihilation o f the wisdom, crea tiv ity and orig ina lity of the thoughts and experiences o f the Nigerian race, which could be an asset to the world. The tenacity o f the people's b e lie f in the system as well as their consistent pressures on the government has continued to y ie ld positive results as the Government o f N igeria have in recent times started to involve themselves in the development o f traditional medicine with great commitment to the programme. I t cannot thus be out of place to choose the Y1M institu tion as the area of our investigation o f Yoruba language in use, considering the very high p rio rity given to medicine f / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 13 among other social institutions* The Yoruba adage ‘ Ara l i l e lobgun (fry1 ( l i t e r a l ly , "health is wealth") is a pointer to the people’ s opinion that good health is the gateway to wealth, the societal symbol o f success* I f i t were possible for a ll Yoruba 1 earners,^ sers to select their p rio r ities o f the various uses they would lik e to learn and use the language to perform, no doubt, health and wealth would be very high on the scale o f choices. Yet, curiously, l i t t l e attention has been paid to language use for medical purposes - at least there has not been any systematic study o f the use o f Yoruba in YTM, Like modern medicine YTM practice has been widely investi­ gated by scholars in sociological (intracultural and cross- cultural) , socio-medical and medical studies and a lo t o f useful information about the respective sub-fields and their sim ilarities and ' differences ha• ve been iden• tified and n«oted (see Fadipe 1970, Maclean 1971, Idovra 1973, Dopamu 1977, Sanda 1978, Sofowora 1982, e tc , ). In these studies there seems to be some common ground in their focus on the description o f v ita l objects, actions, states, values, circumstances and events in the practice. Also, the investigations never fa i l to point out, even i f only cursorily, the major role which language plays as an object in the system. Of course, since the above scholars have not sought to describe YTM from the t / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Ik point of view, one cannot c r it ic ize them for their lack o f atten­ tion to its role in the system. Yet one cannot lose sight o f the importance of this object since i t is the vehicle for carrying out e ffec tive ly , preserving and exploring the practice. A systematic study o f language use in YTM from, especially, the textlinguiskiC and SO C to lingu istic point o f view should not only be useful for Yoruba studies, i t should also enhance cross-fertiliza tion o f ideas in cross-linguistico-cultural studies between this system and modern medicine. However, while some attention is being paid in recent times to the (applied) lingu istic description of language features in the la tte r (c f . Coulthard and Ashby 1976; Coleman and Burton 1985; van Haerssen 1985, e tc .), parallel studies are g laringly lacking on the former system. At present there is thus an imbalance o f facts and ideas about language in the two systems, which makes any comparative work impossible in this respect. In the ligh t o f the above needs, this work sets out to study and then present useful information about language use in YTM practice. The preliminary steps taken in the investigation are stated below, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 15 1.5 Theoretical Preliminaries o f Research 1.5.1 Per.o-vrch aim and assumpti one This study id en tifies and describes the significance and characteristics of features o f language content and form' in the practice o f YTM. Based on the analyses o f samples o f texts collected from different HC interactions, i t id en tifies the socio-situational and lingu istic norms underlying the socio- psychological behaviour o f participants in their various transactions in YTM practice. The study rests on five major assumptions stated thus:- 1. Some Yoruba texts serve certain essential pragmatic purposes - diagnostic, divinatory and medicating - in YTM in accompaniment o f other medicinal and magical objects employed for the diagnosis and treat­ ment o f diseases in the social institution* Z » These Yoruba texts (o r YTM texts) serve the purposes stated above because they have certain essential lingu istic and non-linguistic features suitable for such purposes. 3. Such significant features that YTM texts may have can be studied by analysing some samples o f the texts f / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 16 collected from speech events in different situations o f YTM practice in terras o f their individual forms, structures, messages, functions and uses, and by relating the forms to the other non-formal categories above. Zf. The characteristic features of the texts can be identified by observing the features shared by most or a ll o f the texts analyzed. 5. The features which different YTM texts share w ill also form the basis for LcfcovtCftjung "fcKe.ll* types and registers. It. can be said that the primary task of this study is to (a) iden tify the significant features o f YTM texts and (b) iden tify the characteristic features o f the texts. While the discussion o f significant features w ill give an insight into the nature o f language use in YTM practice, the presentation of characteristic features w ill suggest a norm for YTM texts so that individual texts can be seen as either achieving the norm or not achieving i t . Tn this direction, we shall formulate a hypothesis for this research thu st f / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 17 YTM texts have certain formal and non-fo ratal language features which they u t iliz e for social significance. Some o f these features characterize the texts to the extent that any text which has a ll or nearly a ll o f them w ill, most probably, be a YTM text while a text that has a few'or none is not l ik e ly to be regarded as one. 1,5.2 Data base o f study I t is a fact that a study o f the social functions o f language must be supported by adequate data o f language use. Grimshaw (1974:'471) id en tifies four broad types o f data that have been used in social studies o f language thusr a. natural speech observed in actual settings o f communicative events; b. fnaturalr speech observed in contrived settings o f communicative events; c, e lic ited speech and/or rules about that speech or other behaviour by informants to ethnographers in response to direct inquiry; and d, h istorical and/or lite ra ry materials. / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 18 Of these four types, he observes that the criter ia of observar tiernal adequacy are clearly most relevant in natural settings (see also Duranti, 1983)» But he also admits that researchers should’ not ignore the other types o f (representative) data that are produced in either contexted or e lic ita tion situations, or the purposes for which historical and lite ra ry materials were originally produced. Although a procedure whereby a substantial number of a ll o f the performance texts on which a research is based are representative instead of natural should be recognized as a lim itation of methodology, this recognition should not be so s tr ict as to hinder insightful investigations into; representations of performance texts in the face o f great odds against the collection o f natural data. The collection o f data in this f ie ld has really posed a big challenge to the * * i present researcher who, invariably, has to agree with an earlier remark by Dopamu (I977r5) about the manner in which practitioners tenaciously and jealously guard information concerning the practice of the art for fear o f losing their source o f livelihood. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 19 Of course, a good measure o f success can be achieved in the data collection i f the researcher has enough means and time to get as much information as possible from1 custodians o f traditional medicine. Another opportunity for greater success might be guaranteed with the analyst's possession of such highly sensitive and sophisticated recording equipment lik e the audio-video recorders or microphone pins and one-way mirrors ( c f. Gumperz, 19?2r?09) which can be most useful for surreptitious recordings of data from1 diverse areas o f the YTM fie ld . In a situation whereby a research has to be carried out within limited ' available materials and resources, both the natural and representative texts collected as data can combine to give sufficient and reliab le information about the characteristic features o f Yffl texts. The data for this study correspond to the four types observed by Grimshaw above* The f ir s t typer of data consists o f two instances o f recording of natural ’ speech. In one instance, an accomplished general, herbalist UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 20' (with over th irty years* professional experience) in Ibadan was approached. A fter paying several v is its to her and 4 becoming fam iliar with her, we were able to record some conversations between her and her clients without their • / attention. In the second instance, another popular her­ balist in I l e - I f e consented, a fter much persuasion and pay­ ment o f honorarium, to allow us co llect some data while he had clients. The second type of' data consists o f relevant recordings o f some Yoruba plays from the television service o f the Broadcasting Corporation o f Oyo State (BCOS) o f Nigeria mostly between January and March 1988. Prominent among the data collected on tape were those from the * Ifa OlcJlotn A - spr - 4 4 dayo*' series, arranged by Yemi El ebu-Ibon, ja popular I fa priest and a rtis t. The third type o f data represents e lic ita tion s and tape- UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 21 recording o f direct interviews o f some popular traditional medi­ cine practitioners on the subject o f language use in YTM. The last type o f data presents extracts o f relevant texts from two lite ra ry sources of information on I fa poetry, viz*. IrfjLnle Ohun Enu I fa ( Ap̂ t K̂ nnjL) and A won Oju Odu Merk^rindinlogun. published in 1968 and 1977 respectively. Wande Abimbola*S' works o ffe r by far the greatest sources o f sociological information on I fa divination today; they also provide the largest collections of I fa poems for reading and analytic purposes.'*' The texts taken from two o f his works cited above provide illustrations o f divinatory and medicating aspects o f YTM texts. 1.5*3 Transcription o f data The samples o f texts above were collected and transcribed between February 1987 and March 1988. Apart from the transcription done by Abimbola in the lite ra ry source book o f some o f the data, the transcription of the rest o f the recorded 17 A lo t of texts in the collections derive from primary oral performance sources, as claimed by the scholar himself in most o f his works. The extracts from the collections used in th is study thus come from such primary oral sources. f / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 22 texts was done personally and i t represents as accurately as possible the sound system in the oral material. Phonetic characteristics such as dialectal variation,^ syllable lengthening, pauses and tones are indicated by the appropriate standard orthographic features. Other essential in for­ mation about the orthographic representations o f certain features o f the texts is presented in the next three paragraphs. Conversations representing the diagnostic and part o f the medicating aspects o f YTM texts are transcribed in the conventional form o f dramatizations, with essential pragmatic information indicated by graphic symbols as stated belowr ( i ) pauses and hesitations are indicated by three dots * ; ( i i ) essential information about pragmatic actions or events is enclosed in round ' ( )* brackets; and C iii) interruptions or simultaneous moves, where possible, are indicated by square j * brackets. 3U Some of the texts used for this study reveal some dialectal variations in the speeches o f characters or participants. Since these dialectal features do not pose any special problems of in t e l l ig ib i l i t y to readers o f Standard Yoruba» we do not bother to transliterate them to the standard form. «* / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 23 Furthermore, in the conversations as well as the poetic texts o f this study, breath pauses are used as cues for the demarcation of thought units - short pauses are indicated by commas and longer pauses by semi-colons, colons, and even fu ll stops when such pauses mark the end o f complete sense units. Most illu strations o f the divinatory and medicating aspects o f YTM texts have the monological structure typical o f poetic texts. Because these aspects read lik e poems they are represented in the usual verse lines, with the ends o f lines dictated by pauses, and sometimes by lexico-structural and semantic considerations (c f . Olatunji, 198^rll-12). The procedure o f punctuating each verse is stated below as followsr ( i ) a comma represents a short breath pause, which indicates part o f a sense unit or statement; ( i i ) a semi-colon represents a longer pause than ( i ) above and i t demarcates two units that are related to one sense in a complex statement; ( i i i ) both the question and exclamation marks represent long breath pauses associated with questions and exclamations respectively (e .g . vocatives are often marked by exclamation marks in the , te x ts ); UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 24 ( iv ) quotation marks represent direct speech only* (v ) a fu ll stop marks a long breath pause at the end o f a complex sentence only;: (v i ) the ends o f most lines in the poetic texts are l e f t bare where there are no pauses at a ll between items that have lexico-structural or semantic (Significance, and also where there are long breath pauses which mark different sense units ( i t might be redundant here, for example, to put a fu ll stop a fter almost every lin e o f a verse); and (v i i ) the features of punctuation stated in ( iv ) - (v i ) above are extended to the texts extracted from Abimbola’ s works and these replace the earlier punctuation of the texts. I t is , however, important here to note the lim itation o f the transcription of certain features, lik e the musical qualities o f some songs in a few texts in th is study. The phonological features transcribed are in fact lim ited to the most essential ones among those that can be represented by the orthography, f / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 1.5.4 The orthography for transcription of texts The orthography used for transcribing the texts described in this study is that o f Standard Yoruba, as observed in previous descriptive works o f Yoruba scholars (c f . Abimbola, 1977b and Olatunji, 1984)* The writing system employed by these scholars derive from Bamgbose's (1965) Yoruba Orthography, with very few minor alterations lik e the non-use o f the assimilated low tone and the separation o f the habitual and/ or continuous tense marker from the verb. Some very useful information about the orthography o f Yoruba can also be seen in Orthography o f Nigerian Languages Manual 1. edited by Ayo Bamgbose. 1.5*5 Translation of YTM texts into English In order to make the ideas o f the Yoruba texts described t in this work accessible to non-Yoruba readers o f English* a •communicative' translation^" into English o f every Yoruba A 'communicative' translation, according to Peter Newmark ( 1981) , aims at providing the reader o f the target language (TE) with the ideas expressed in the source language (SL) text. This translation is usually biased towards the reader, and may be 'free* or 'idiom atic' depending on'the nature o f the SL being translated. On the other hand, a •semantic' translation is usually fa ith fu l to the form or style o f the SL text, employing very often the l i t e r a l or word-for-word translation technique* The translation of some Yoruba greetings'in our data may even sound awkward or colloquial in English, when attempts are made to preserve their local colour. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 26 utterance or text is normally done. But, occasionally, a semantic translation (ib id .) is employed when the style o f a text is so crucial to its meaning. Although the description in the study is based on the Yoruba utterances or texts, English trans­ lation equivalents are always provided for the items- referred to .* Items which present problems o f unt ran si s tab ility are explained either in the description in each chapter or in the notes at the p end o f the chapters. Finally, proper names are not translated in the work, unless such names connote meanings that can be translated, as some primordial names do in this description. 1.5.6 Presentation o f texts for analysis Over f i f t y larger YTM texts or * intertexts* and several ar\» smaller ones Hjere collected and^examined in this study. 123 1 . Note that the semantic features in Yoruba texts are not usually realized in English by the same syntactic categories or elements that do rea lize them in Yoruba. I t is , however, the realization o f features in Yoruba that is our concern in this study; and we are less bothered whether the Yoruba forms conform to English forms or not. 2. A ready reference book for most o f the explanations done in Yoruba is prodded by R.G. Abraham* s Dictionary o f Modern Yoruba. 3. A YTM intertext is a larger text made up o f two or more smaller continuous or discontinuous texts. The smaller texts within an intertext form parts of such intertext, but each o f these parts may be construed separately as a text because i t has i t s own separate con figuration 'of structural'units o f transactions and/or interactions (see 3-1-5-2.1 - 3*1.5.2.2)• Thus, when a YTM intertext is called a text in this study, i t is implied / as a macro-text within which are some micro-texts. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 27 After a close study o f the data, i t is observed that the in ter­ texts have very close sim ilarities and can be recognized as two broad typesr Type 1 and Type 2 texts* Seven in te r ­ texts (see Texts 1-7 in Appendix I I ) representative o f these two types, three from Type 1 and four from Type 2, are then subjected to detailed analyses and the observations presented in this work. Apart from these in tertexts, thirteen smaller texts representing prototypes o f d ifferent aspects'1 o f YTM intertexts - diagnostic 2 , divinatory 3 and medicating 8 - are presented in Appendix I I I (see Texts 8-20), There, the medicating aspect has the largest representation because i t consists of three sub-aspects which are a ll v ita l to YIM j * * practice, v iz , prescriptive, incantatory and supplicating sub-aspects. There are also 'residual* extracts from several other texts from our data which are not presented in this study but which se* rve to illu s tra te some categories in the * description. And las tly , there is a model 'Text M* presented in the body o f the description to demonstrate the analytical procedure o f the study. An 'aspect' is a category which id en tifies the use o f a text with the text content. I t is a parallel category to the 'genre* which here refers to the d istinctive recognizable form o f verbal strategies Used to accomplish’ a’ social purpose (c f . Martin, 1985r 250-251)- See also’ 3,1,2 and if,2 for further uses o f the term * aspect*, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 28 c h a p t e r two 2.0 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS OF L IN GUIST IC DESCRIPTION 2.1 The Principles and Anuroaches to Linguistic Description A sc ien tific study of language according to Martinet (i960) is founded on the observation o f facts and refrains from picking and choosing arb itrarily among the facts in the ligh t of certain aesthetic or moral principles. That lingu istics is 5 science and should, follow the sc ien tific procedure of iescription h'as never been in dispute among language scholars since de Saussure, the founding father of the subject. Instead, what has generated and s t i l l continues to generate constant debate in the fie ld can be identified with certain principles and approaches essential to linguistic, theory. A major agreement in principle Is that lingu istic theory # can be based on deductive or Inductive knowledge (c f . Lyons, * 1970r7-8). The linguists of the deductive school o f thought are concerned with the intrinsic, regular and log ica l patterns o f language. They strongly sunport the rationalists1 claim about innate Ideas, "which determine the form of the acquired knowle*dge UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 29 in what may he a rather restricted and highly organised way" (Chomsky, 1965^48), and have sought to describe the abstract innate capacity of the grammar o f a native speaker through the use o f highly formalized rules and symbols o f mathematics and deductive log ic . A general lingu istic theory, in the words o f Chomsky (I965r53), must therefore be regarded as, " . . .a specific hypothesis o f an essentially rationalist cast, as to the nature o f mental structures and processes.” Chomsky, lik e other deductive lingu ists, holds the view that inductive theories o f language exclude worlds o f in tu itive knowledge. Such theories are not always conclusive, and they have a low predictive power because there is no lim it to the number o f data that can ju stify them. In contrast to the inductive approach, however, the deductive approach puts a high premium on the formulation o f hypothesis based on introspection and not on empirical data. Deductive theories o f language are considered capable of testing themselves and they can detect any false note by the sheer harmony o f their internal lo g ic . g Critics o f the deductive approach of language have also noted the inadequacies of this approach in the high p riority UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 30 which Its adherents pay to theoretical formulations at the expense, of proper u tiliza tion o f data* Hockett (1975:35) comments on Harris, the progenitor of transformational grammarians, thus: " ---- he was quite prepared to doctor his data I f such d o c to re d r a w - m a t e r ia l was b e t t e r th a n the r e a l f a c t s of a la n g u a g e for some m e th o d o lo g ic a l d e m o n s t r a t io n s * " Charles Hockett stands out as a linguist highly crit ica l o f a deductive approach to lingu istic theory, especially o f Chomsky's Ideas about grammar. He contends that inductive linguists are concerned with theory as much a s deductive linguists* The difference is that unlike the la tte r , an Inductive linguist collects data on performance in order to make certain generalizations concerning language theory or use* I n o t h e r w o rds , he I s c o n ce rn ed w i t h th o s e s e t s o r systems o f habits that l i e behind the actual speech recorded. * % The linguist thus seeks theories, which are generalizations from observations, and are about speech (Hockett, 1975:65). They yield predictions and are corrected by subsequent observations. A n o th e r im p o r t a n t i s s u e I n l i n g u i s t i c s i s t h e d i f f e r e n t UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 31 approaches to lin gu is tic description. For the better part o f half a century o f lingu istics, language is handled as an autonomous subject independent o f other disciplines and o f ' 4 the extra-linguistic world.. Linguistic theory, according to Hjelmslev (1953'7) must be immanent; that is , i t must interpret language in i t s own terms not as a conglomerate o f non-linguistic phenomena, but as a se lf-su ffic ien t to ta lity , a structure sui generis. For him, being exclusively concerned with theory, the essential task o f linguists is to deviee an abstract system for understanding language, a calculus for language. Earlier, Sapir (19£lr58) has observed the re la tive independence o f form and function and suggested that "lin gu istic form should be studied as types o f patterning, apart from the associated functions." And even cig, SasjlSSUre. has noted much earlier in his Cours de Linguistique generale ( 1 9 1 6 )1* that linguists should study language r for i t s own sake*. The consequence o f the principle o f autonomy is that i t promotes overconcentration on formal analyses in different 1. Cours de linguistique generale was a posthumous compilation of cte Saussurer s insights by his pupils, C. Bally and A* Sechehaye in 1916. An English translation of the work has been made by W.4 Baskin (1)966), v iz . A Course in General Linguistics. McGraw-Hill, New York. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 32 ways from the in it ia l stage o f constituent analysis and parsing, following Bloomfield (1933) » to the la te r stage o f generative grammars. In opposition to formal linguists are also those linguists who see language as a representation o f rea lity and believe that lingu istic study must be correlated with other d isci­ plines which discuss the practical aspects o f human l i f e . The group and their adherents study the form o f language not as an end in i t s e l f , but as a means to an end. Now that lingu istics has established i t s e l f as a mature academic discipline with its own methodology and c r ite r ia o f relevance, they believe that there is no longer the same need to insist upon the principle o f autonomy in lingu istic description (cf. • i Lyons, 1970t9)* The description o f language in terms o f extra-linguistic and social rea lity has opened up lingu istics to scholars of diverse interests - anthropologists, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, p o lit ica l scientists and teachers among others - who now study language in order to have access to facts about human behaviour. I t is a fact that every description o f language should be grounded on theory, whether I t describes language form or language use (c f . Lamb, 1966). A study o f language may UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 33 be founded on an existing theory, or a modification o f such a theory, or the formulation o f a new one. An existing theory is modified or a new one proposed by identifying such a theory, stating i t s limitationC s) and modifying i t , or proposing a new theory which improves on the existing oneCs) in terms of i t s more adequate representation and application to a c tiv itie s in the fie ld o f study. Thus, in selecting a theory for analysis in this study, maybe one should f ir s t observe what goes on in the fie ld o f lingu istics (including the concern o f the present study), show how existing theories have tried or fa iled to cope with (some aspects of) i t and opt for a model that can cope more e ffec tive ly with i t . We shall begin the suggestion o f a theory for this work by recognising Holliday’ s (196lr2Zfl f f ) classification o f three kinds o f descriptive grammarr ( i ) TEXTUALjr a grammar that sets out to describe a fin ite text or "corpus";- ( i i ) EXEMPLI FT CATORYr a non-textually-based grammar that describes the potential structures o f a language, giving examples; UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 34 ( i i i ) GENERATIVE:- a non-textually-based grammar that provides a mechanism or set o f rules for specifying the sentences o f a language and their structure. I t is almost apparent from the classification above that the * f ir s t one w ill be appropriate for textual analysis, but for the fact that a further distinction can s t i l l be made between 'tex t grammar' which describes exclusively the formal features o f language use and 'tex t description' which accounts for both the formal and non-formal features in lingu istic investigation (see Adejare 19^1^50), In spite o f the useful observations made above, we do not find I t explanatory enough to categorise a ll the a c tiv it ie s in lingu istics into two or three types. Instead, we believe that a clearer view o f the fie ld can be given by observing four types o f procedures based on two sets o f dichotomies:: 'sentence' vs 'te x t ' and ’ form' vs 'con tex t'. The dichotomies above relate to the units and leve ls * * most relevant to lingu istics . The 'sentence*, for instance, has for a long time been the basic unit o f lingu istic description because i t used to be the largest independent grammatical unit ( c f , Bloomfield, 1933)* i t is a formal unit; t f UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 35 and for this reason, i t has continuously provided a basis for the formal analysis o f language in or out o f context o f use. Linguistics until the last two decades was predominated by description o f sentence grammars, and most notable theories o f language in this period had the sentence as their focus o f description (c f . Bloomfield, 1933; Chomsky, 1957 and 1965;- Halliday, 1961) . A 'te x t ' refers to a unit o f language larger than the sen­ tence. I t is a functional unit, thus i t incorporates language form with situation in language use. In recent times, the term has been employed to refer to individual or connected spoken or written utterances found in road signs and warnings, nursery rhymes, poems, news artic les , conversations, lectures and textbooks o f a ll kinds and purposes (c f . Beaugrande and Dressier, 1981). A text may be abstracted for study,, independent o f the situational context o f i t s production, in which case only the formal meaning is accounted for; or i t may be studied more fu lly by relating formal meaning to socio-cultural and situational meanings (c f . Ventola, 1987). •Form* is seen h>ere as the lingu istic leve l which accounts for the ’ syntax* (Chomsky, 1957 and 1965) or 'lex ico grammar* (Halliday, et. a l. 196**) o f language. When we study form, we are studying the interpenetration o f grammar and lexiS UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 36 which represent the meaningful internal patterns o f language (Halliday, 196^:21). Grammar and lex is are two categories which are connected, lik e the two sides o f a coin, but either o f o f them can be focused more than the other or discussed separately in a formal description.. Items o f grammar or lex is are called ‘ formal items* or ‘ forms’ , and these represent the surface realization o f meanings organized in the semantic system o f language (see 3*1*7) - ‘ Context* is an abstract category o f lingu istics which provides the link between formal items and the situational compo­ nents o f language use. Two kinds o f context"* have been iden tified with two domains in lingu istic description;- the 'context o f culture' which is iden tified with the domain o f culture, and the context of situation which is iden tified with the domain o f situation (c f . Malinowski, 1923 and fir th , 1962). The former kind o f context provides the environment and conditions for the meanings in a language, while the la tte r kind provides the environment and conditions for expressing messages in specific situations. The conditions o f meaning in a context o f culture (o r social context) specify the conventional1 1. We distinguish here, straightaway, between 'context' and 'co-tex t' which’ refer to the co-verbal occurrences o f formal items in a text. The former 'c o n tex t ''is either social or situational while the la tte r *co-text*, which many scholars also ca ll 'context*, is verbal. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY V 37 rules o f behaviour which participants must share before they can communicate successfully with each other, whereas the conditions o f message in a situational context must further specify relevant features o f the immediate and wider experiences o f the specific participants, in addition to the conventional rules*. The four terms explained above relate to one another across the dichotomies earlier-mentioned. Each of the two terms in the f irs t dichotomy relates to the two terms in the second, thus yielding four d ifferent viewpoints o f language studies? formal sentence, contextual sentence, formal text and contextual text. These viewpoints form the bases o f a ll major preoccupations o f linguists in the formulation and application o f theories in recent times. And they should inform the selection and presentation o f a model for the analysis o f texts in th is study. 2.2 Approaches to Text Description In. our optKvccmy the model most suitable for describing the formal and non-forma! features o f texts should be the contextual text approach. This already rules out the remaining three approaches as inadequate for this purpose. However, the description o f 't e x t ’ and 'context* in such an approach need not exclude the categories of 'sentence' and 'form' because the la tte r categories are necessarily included in the former. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 38 In other words, a text is naturally realized by a sentence or set of sentences, although i t means more than just a combina-r tion o f sentences, while a context mediates in the interaction cf form with situation. A contextual text theory is thus a framework o f analysis whose main objects are the ' textr and ‘ context1 and constituent products the 'sentence' and ‘ form’ . Below we present an overview of some formal and contextual models of text analysis and select an appropriate contextual text model for the analysis and description in this study. 2.2.1 Formal text theories (or Text grammar) Until re la tive ly recently, the sentence was generally considered the upper lim it of lingu istic investigation; but the structure of connected discourse is now receiving growing attention from various lingu ists. Gutwinski (1976:19) * observes that while thero is a growing interest in text grammar on the part o f linguists using the framework of transformational grammar, there are no major studies available in print, probably due to the fact that transformational grammarians set as their goal formulation o f rules for generating individual sentences only. Existing transformational text grammars are no more than elaborate forms o f formal sentence grammars (c f . Adejare, 1982:^), with their formulations based on abstract notions like UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY ' competence*, 'idea l native speaker-listener' inherited from Thomsky's (1965) central theory. Consider the respective views o f Harris (1951* reprinted 1964), van Dijk (1972) and r eto fi (1978) below which represent the general underlying principles o f transformational text grammars? (a) ...The method is formal, depending on the occu­ rrence o f morphemes as distinguishable elements? i t does not depend upon the analyst's knowledge o f the particular meaning o f each morpheme. - Harris, 1964:355 (b) "Our text grammar is supposed to be a formal model for the competence o f native speakers."'*' - van Dijk, 1972:132 t: In the standard theory o f Transformational grammar, Chomsky* ( 1965) claims that the theory is concerned with 'competence** the knowledge o f the ideal native speaker-heacer o f a language, not performance, which is an imperfect reflection o f competence. This distinction between competence and performance above is rejected outright by socio log ica lly- oriented linguists who suggest that both knowledge o f lingu istic rules and knowledge o f the underlying rules o f social behaviour represent the communicative competence o f speakers in a community, which according to Halliday'(1978?38) is "a potential which is objective, not a competence, which is subjective". Gumperzr (1982r209) defines 'eommunicative competence* in interactional terms as, "the knowledge o f lingu istic and related communicative conventions that speakers must have to create and sustain conver­ sational cooperation, and this involves both grammar and contextualization." UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY (c j "The object of description is the knowledge native speakers have about texts," - P e to fi, 1978r36 The ab* ove and othe' r r* elated formulations of te*xt grammars Csee Kurner, 1972;- Melrcuk, 1973; Petofi and RIeser, 1973) have consistently been inapplicable to the description o f textual behaviour/action because o f their usual exclusion from' the norm o f meaningful features o f texts which are context- dependent, In van Dijft^s (1972) work, for example, which is based on lite ra ry and poetic texts, lite ra ry metaphors are classified as unconventional features o f grammar and meaning. This is no doubt looking at metaphors from a culturally- detached psycho-cognitive point o f view. From a socio- cognitive/functlonal point of view, however, which is the perspective o f contextual text analysis, lite ra ry metaphors are normal features o f a text wh•i ch have their own grammars * recognized by societal norms. The growing dissatisfaction with the restriction o f transformational text grammars to notions o f T, G, sentence % grammar culminates in more promising descriptions and * * * formulations of text grammars. Dressier (1970), fo r example, considers such phenomena of texts as anaphora, substitution, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 41 r cross-reference and co-reference by extending the rules o f sentence grammars; he also camouflages in the description certain text s t regu larities under such notions as presuppositions, connectives, etc. And la ter Quirk, et. a l. (1972 and 1973) devote a whole chapter to * sentence connection' in which they observe four factors which enter into the connection o f sentences as semantic content, lex ica l equivalences, syntactic devices and prosodic features (Quirk, et. a l . , 1972r649ff) . The main focus o f the chapter is , however, on the syntactic devices such as 'time * 4 * re la te rs ', 'lo g ica l connecters,' 'substitu tion ', 'discourse reference' and 'e l l ip s is ' which are commented upon., Halliday's contribution to text grammar can be seen in the book Cohesion in English, which he co-authored with Hasan (see Halliday and Hasan, 1976). Cohesion refers to "the range o f p oss ib ilit ies that exist for linking sentences sequences" (Halliday and Hasan, 1976rlO). The concept accounts fo r the essential semantic relations whereby any passage o f speech or writing is enabled to function as text. Cohesive relations between formal items are indicated via a small number o f * * distinct categories suggested by Halliday and Hasan, v iz . reference, substitution, e llip s is , conjunction and lex ica l cohesion. Each o f these categories is represented in a text UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 42 by particular features - repetitions, omissions, occurrences o f certain words and constructions - which have in common the property o f signalling that the interpretation o f the text depends on something else. 4 In spite o f the e ffo rts o f text semanticists above, I t is observed that their analyses o f texts s t i l l do not look beyond the lim ited confines o f formal meaning. Yet i t is the opinion o f some scholars that no useful analysis o f a text can be done without taking into consideration the socio- si tuational structures expressed by i t . Birch (1989^147) puts his own view across in th is way -----An a n a l y s i s w h ich a im s a t o n l y o b j e c t i f i a b l e c o n t e n t s c u t s i t s t a s k s h o r t ; i t m ust even a p p e a r , a n d ' e s p e c i a l l y when i t h a s t e x t s as i t s o b j e c t s , a s n o th in g bu t a t e c h n i c a l i z e d c o n t i n u a t i o n o r r e p r o d u c t i o n o f th e qu as i- s c i e n t i f i c i n t e r p r e t i v e p r o c e d u r e s o f a l l l a n g u a g e - c e n t e r e d d i s c i p l i n e s ----- For i t to be referred to as a contextual text model, a theory has to sh ift attention from the study o f text forms to the study o f functions and messages which derive from the interaction of form and situation. Generally, contextual text models recognize the status and value o f forms in a text; but they see these only as a means to an end rather UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY than an end in i t s e l f . The major concerns of context text models are discussed below, followed by a survey of some notable models. 2,2*2 Contextual text/textllngutstlc theories The contextual text approach encompasses a ll descriptive theories that are concerned with investigations about the formal and non-formal features of language in texts. Part o f the aim o f such theories is to demonstrate in one form or the other whether and how the features of particular texts fu l f i l or fa l l short o f the standards of textuality; and their V * goal* depending on the theoretical orientation, is to either formulate rules and laws guiding the features o f texts or discover regu larities, strategies, motivations for and defaults in such features, % Beaugrande and Dressier (1981:3-11) l i s t seven standards of textuality which a text must satisfy in order to qualify as text* The standards, which act as ‘ constitutive* * i principles for texts, are specified below as follows: UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Mf • ( i ) C o h e s io n - T h i s c o n c e rn s th e ways i n w h ich th e f o rm a l i t e m s of a t e x t a r e m u t u a l l y c o n n e c te d w i t h i n a sequence , a s a r e f l e c t i o n o f th e u n d e r l y in g u n i t y o f th e t e x t u a l w o r ld . I n d e s c r i b in g th e fo rm s o f t e x t s , i t i s e s s e n t i a l t h a t c o h e s io n must be i n t e r - s e n t e n t i a l i n s t e a d o f i n t r a - s e n t e n t i a l . ( l i ) C ohe rence - T h i s c o n c e rn s th e way i n which th e com ponents o f th e t e x t u a l w o r ld a r e m u t u a l l y a c c e s s i b l e and r e l e v a n t . T hu s th e c o g n i t i v e c o n te n t o f a t e x t h a s to be e x p re s s e d i n a l o g i c a l m anner, w i th much u n i t y and c o n s i s t e n c y , a s a t r u e r e f l e c t i o n o f th e w o r ld o f r e a l i t y . . . % ( l i i ) I n t e n t i o n a l i t y - A t e x t i s n o rm a l l y p rod u ced to meet a s p e a k e r ' s i n t e n t i o n . A s p e a k e r ' s i n t e n t i o n i s d e f in e d I n te rm s of' p u rp o se o r c o m m un ica t iv e f u n c t i o n , e . g . to In fo rm d i r e c t , p ro m is e , e n t e r t a i n , h e a l , e t c . An i n t e n t i o n i s e x p re s s e d i n a t e x t a s a 'm e s sa g e ' w h ich in c o r p o r a t e s t e x t u a l form and s i t u a t i o n . N o t e UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY k5 ' that some other goals which are unintended may he achieved in the process, or instead, o f achieving the speaker's intention. ( i v ) A c c e p t a b i l i t y - This refers to the listener* s attitude that the set o f occurrences should constitute a cohesive and coherent text having some use or relevance for the receiver* This attitude is responsive to such factors as text type, soclo-cul tural setting and desirab ility o f goals* (v ) Informatlvi by - This concerns the extent to which the occurrences o f the presented text are expected versus unexpected or known versus unknown, etc. The processing o f highly informative occurrences is more demanding than otherwise, but correspondingly interesting as well* Caution must be exercised l « s t the receiver's processing be overloaded to the point o f endangering communication* Every text is at least somewhat informative, no matter how predictable form and content may be* UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY be ( vi) 8i tiin. bt on. n ifty - TMs concerns the factors which make a text relevant to a situation of experience, e.g. the topic, participants, environment, etc. ( v i i ) In tertextual!tv - This concerns the factors which make the u tiliza tion o f one text dependent upon knowledge o f one or more previously encountered texts. Intertextuality is in a general fashion, responsible for the evolution of text types as classes o f texts with typical patterns of characteristics. Following the constitutive principles specified above, there are three ’ regulative* principles which control textual communication mentioned by Beaugrande and Dressier. These are also specified as follower (i) Efficiency - The effic iency of a text depends on it s use in communicating with a minimum expenditure o f e ffo rt by the participants* Cii) Effectiveness - This depends on the text leaving a strong impression and creating favourable conditions for attaining a goal. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY b7 O i i i ) A n n r o p r la t e n e s s - The agreem ent between the s e t t i n g o f a t e x t and th e ways i n w h ich th e s t a n d a rd s o f t e x t u a l i t y a r e u p h e ld . C o n t e x t u a l t e x t m ode ls n o r m a l l y f o c u s on t e x t d e s c r i p t i o n b a sed on th e c o n d i t i o n s above , though they may d i f f e r i n t h e i r o r i e n t a t i o n s , p r o c e d u re s and i n t h e c a t e g o r i e s t h e y u t i l i z e a s t o o l s o f d e s c r i p t i o n . F o r example , th e t h e o r e t i c a l p u r s u i t o f s t y l i s t i c i a n s g e n e r a l l y , r e g a r d in g t e x t u a l s t u d i e s , i s to i n v e s t i g a t e v a r i e t i e s o f la n g u a g e u se b y i d e n t i f y i n g th e fo rm a l f e a t u r e s w h ich c o r r e l a t e w ith s i t u a t i o n a l f e a t u r e s to a ccou n t . * f o r th e p e c u l i a r i t i e s , s i m i l a r i t i e s o r u t i l i t a r i a n v a lu e s o f such v a r i e t i e s . N e v e r t h e le s s , the d i f f e r e n t p r o c e d u re s employed by i n d i v i d u a l s t y l i s t i c i a n s i n t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e s t u d i e s have p rom p ted d i f f e r e n t l a b e l s f o r s t y l i s t i c s , v i z . * s t y l e / s t y l i s t i e s ' ( C r y s t a l a nd Davy, 1969), ' l i t e r a r y s t y l i s t i c s ' ( C lu y s e n a a r , 1976) • l i n g u i s t i c s t y l i s t i c s ' ( H a l l i d a y , 1967), ' a f f e c t i v e s t y l i s t i c ^ ' ( F i s h , 1980), 'n ew s t y l i s t i c s ' ( F o w le r , 1975; Leech and S h o r t , 1981) and even ' l i t e r a r y l i n g u i s t i c s t y l i s t i c s ' ( S h o r t , 1982) . 4 ' A p a r t from s t y l i s t i c s , t h e r e a re a l s o o t h e r a p p ro a ch e s t o c o n t e x t u a l t e x t l i n g u i s t i c s w i th d i f f e r e n t o r i e n t a t i o n s . The_ a p p ro a ch e s o f ' S t r u c t u r a l i s m ' and ' P o e t i c s ' have t h e i r b a s i c UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY concerns in the aesthetics of the text and their objects o f study are language structure, individuality and situation ( cf# Piaget, 1971; Ribey, 1973; Stankiewicz, 197^; Jacobson, 1976; Mukarovsky, 1976). The 'Speech Acts' theory is noted for i t s identification and classification o f types and dimensions o f functions o f speech (c f . Austin, 1972; Sea.rle 1969 and 1976). Conversational Analysts are regarded for' the attention they pay to the principles, structure and functions o f conversation in diverse social encounters (c f . Sacks, et al* 197ki Sinclair and 4 4 * Coulthard/ , 1973; Burton, 1980; Cou*lthard and Montgomery, 1981;* • Akin dele, 1986; Ventola, 1987, e tc .). Ethno- and socio-linguists 4 lik e Dell Hymes, John Gumperz and William Labov study texts in order to know more about language behaviour, constraints and social rules of behaviour. Lastly, Transformational and Systemic text linguists have different orientations towards the study o f language form in social contexts. They d iffe r from each other in some principles and procedures which they apply to the analysis o f textual form, on the one hand, and in their conception of the relation between semantics and pragmatics, on the other hand. For example, Transformational text linguists .see semantics and pragmatics as two separate leve ls which should 4 be compl ementary to each other in textual'analysis (c f . van Dijk, 4 1977), whereas Systemic text linguists in line with the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY k9 tradition o f Systemic linguists (see Halil day, 1973* 1978 and 1985) conceive of a semantic structure that derives from the socio- situational context o f communication. 2,2*3 The Framework for Analysis o f Texts The d i s c u s s i o n o f ' a n a l y t i c a l f ram ew ork i s s e co n d a ry to t h i s work v/ho se m a in fo c u s i s th e a n a l y s i s o f YTM t e x t s . B ecau se th e s t u d y i s more com m itted to d a ta a n a l y s i s and d e s c r i p t i o n than to t h e o r y , th e c h o ic e o f a fram ework h e r e may be seen as a means ; t o an end, A s u i t a b l e framework f o r t h i s work i s t h e model or c o m b in a t io n o f m o de ls t h a t Can a n p ly to YTM t e x t s to y i e l d e x p l i c i t and com p rehen s iv e i n f o r m a t i o n abou t t h e t e x t s . C o n s id e r in g o u r m u l t i f a r i o u s c o n c e rn s abou t th e se t e x t s• m u l t i f a r i o u s ap *p ro a ch e s w i l l b e r e q u i r e d f o r t h e i r d e s c r i p t i o n . I n o t h e r w o rd s , an e c l e c t i c f ram ew ork i s r e q u i r e d to c a t e r f o r th e s i t u a t i o n a l , t e x t u a l and f o rm a l f e a t u r e s o f YTM t e x t s i n t h i s s t u d y , A b r i e f % p r e s e n t a t i o n o f t h i s fram ework i s done i n the n e x t c h a p t e r o f t h i s w o rk , I , . I n the Yo ruba u t t e r a n c e A)* sNn i f se 6 "He i s s ic k * ( l i t e r a l l y , " S i c k n e s s I s d o in g ( b e f a l l i n g ) ^him" a c o g n i t i v e se m an t ic , i n t e r p r e t a t i o n w i l l i n t e r p r e t A i san ' S i c k n e s s ' a s an a c t o r i n an a c t i o n p r o c e s s , w hereas a s y s te m ic s e m a n t ic i n t e r p r e t a t i o n w i l l see th e e x p r e s s io n a s an a c t o r ( In a n im a te ) i n an ' e v e n t ' -p ro cess . S i m i l a r l y , a c o n t e x t - f r e e c o g n i t i v e s e m a n t ic ^ inter­ p r e t a t i o n w i l l see Qmq nna 'T h e c h i l d ' a s a c t i n g on a ! s a n " s i c k n e s s ' i n Gmo nda n y h lsA n "The c h i l d i s s i c k * . ( L i t e r a l l y , "The c h i l d i s mak ing s i c k n e s s . " ) , w hereas a c o n t e x t s e n s i t i v e s y s t e m ic se m an t ic i n t e r p r e t a t i o n w i l l see th e verb+noun c o l l o c a t i o n ( ̂ax san "make s i c k n e s s " a s a f i x e d e x p r e s s io n i n a" c la u s e I n wh ich the a c t o r i s i n v o l v e d I n a n o n -e x te n d e d a c t i o n . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 50 CHAPTER THREE 3*0 AN ECLECTIC FRAMEWORK FOR YTM TEXTUAL ANALYSIS - I t is peculiarly Important that linguists who are often accused, and accused justly o f failure to look beyond the pretty patterns o f their subject matter, should become aware o f what their science may mean for the interpretation of human conduct in general - Edward Sapir,'"The Status o f Linguistics as a Science", I9*f9* The conception o f an Eclectic textual framework (E tf) Incorporates a body o f principles, assumptions and procedures o f systemic lingu istics ( c f. Halliday I970p 1973r 1985 and Berry 1975; 1977) with those o f other fie ld s - s ty lis tic s , socio-linguisties, discourse analysis, text- lingu istics, etc* - highlighted in 2*2*2 above. Sonre essential categories are derived from' the amalgamation o f principles above and used as tools of analysis o f YTM texts* A source o f useful theoretical information for this work is provided by Adejare Cl9Sl) in his description and application of systemic text lingu istics to the analysis o f African litera tu re, particularly Wole Soyinka* s L iterary UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 51 English id io le c t. Three major observations from the presentation are o f immediate relevance to this study. F irst, in his 4 description o f the model, Adejare id en tifies the major leve ls o f form and situation as v ita l to a systemic textlingu istic theory. At the centre o f these leve ls is the concept o f •message* which is defined as the product o f the interpretation o f formal features o f texts in the ligh t o f the situational contexts o f communication. The second observation is the recognition o f the text as a ‘ semiotic* unit, A text as a semiotic unit is a unit of experience produced within a situational environment, 4 Further in our own opinion, i t may not be necessary to distinguish the text from discourse by associating these units with written and spoken communication respectively* I t is important to see the text as an abstraction of written or speech event(s), i . e , a verbal record o f communicative * * . 4 act( s) fc f . Brown and Yule, 1983t6), Unlike the discourse, * the situation of a text is reconstructed in a way that several 4 o f i t s features may be irretrievab ly lost irr text description, e .g , .the kinesics o f discourse, distractions, noises, etc, * 4 ft Nevertheless, i t is both process and product oriented, thus i t can enable an account o f both the dynamics of interpretation UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 5? o f speech or writing events and the static cat ego r ia l objects 4 4 4 o f such interpretations lik e the situation, message, form, etc* (seeVentola, 1987) * The third observation is the recognitio< n of * three leve ls at* which meaning is expressed in a text, viz* the prim itive, prime-order and second- order levels*. Prim itive meanings operate at the primitive leve l as formal features o f language which manifest at the leve ls 4 o f grammar, lex is and phonology such categories as 4 4 * * 4 4 transitiv ity , mood, theme, tense, subject, predicator, conjunction, etc* Prime-order meanings operate at the prime-order leve l as direct communicative meanings which forms express in their interaction with components o f real communicative situations* And second-order meanings operate at the second-order level as imaginative or fic tiona l meanings which forms express in their interaction with components o f fictiona lized situations* In second-order interpretations, animals, birds, stones, trees, sp irits , 4 4 4 - 4 4 etc. may interact, laugh, sing, talk, warn, hold meetings, etc’, lik e human beings. However, i t is only human beings - 0 * that talk in prime-order interpretations, which reflect real l i f e experience. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 53 Further in our discussion o f theoretical framework, we need to point out our deliberate creation o f a number o f categories to c*a ter for the extralinguistic f*eatures o f YTM interaction* In extralingui stic studies, i t is common for scholars to consider the concepts o f use, function and message as part o f the components o f the situation category. Such considerations often underplay the significance o f these concepts, to the extent that features o f texts exemplifying them are blurred in textual description. Although they are related, each of these concepts has its own distinct status wfithin the situation level and can be supported extensively by relevant features from the data* We thus present the concepts as separate categories In order to make us focus on features o f texts from different viewpoints* 3*1 The le v e ls and Categories of Etf • E tf is based on the notion of a three-wa*y kind of 4 relationship between language and experience* F irst, I t is based on the notion that language is *part o f experience UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 5k As a part of' experience, language Can be seen as an object which co-occure with other pragmatic objects in speech events and interactions which take place in diverse environments o f l i f e , I t can also be seen as the spoken or written means employed in the various events and interactions* To be able to study the speech events and Interactions o f human beings, one invariably needs to have a good understanding o f the environments in which such events take place* The level that represents the cireum*- stantial components o f speech events is * situation1 * The situation of events is both a social and particular one. I t is social in that every event or interaction that takes place presupposes some kind o f cooperation between 4 participants, which derives from the knowledge o f certain factors of situational experience which they share pertaining to the fie ld , objects, participants* relationship 4 4 4 * and attitudes, purpose, medium, etc. o f such an event. And i t is particular because human beings attend to various needs in diverse situations o f experience and the ways o f attending to" such needs depend on the pecu liarities o f the needs in 4 0 their respective social situations. Meanwhile, the objects, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 55 actions, events and relations of experience do not just exist in situations just for the sake of i t . They can be communicated, projected and■represented via language. The lingu istic means of communicating and representing experience is explained In the next two paragraphs. Etf re lies on the notion that language communicates experience via the lingu istic tools, I .q . words and patterns, with which i t is naturally endowed. And in communicating experience, i t necessarily interacts with situational factors. In other words, the words and patterns of language communicate experience by interacting with situational factors o f experience. In th is kind of interaction the outcome cannot be said to be lingu istic nor situational. I t is both lingu istic and situational, or ’ llnguistico-pragmatic* , so to sneak. The point o f Interaction between language and situation is labelled ’ context', while the product of the Interaction is • recognized in terms of two categories - ’ message* and * functiop' . Both the message and function are communicative categorj es and they project, respectively, the content and Intentions o f speaker-hearer communication. * % Third and lastly , Etf re lies on the notion that language represents experience. Language has the capacity and essential tools for not only recording and preserving experience but also UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 56 for retrieving and revealing such experience. The lingu istic representation of experience involves the two processes o f codification and realization and u tilize s the category o f * system* and the leve l o f 'fo ra * . In the system, experience is codified as meanings in relevant formal lin ­ guistic sub-categories; and these meanings are la te r realized by formal items from those sub-categories. Mean- 4 while, some of the categories mentioned here are described below as they w ill la te r apply to the analysis o f texts In this study. 3.1.1 The leve l o f situation The leve l o f situation is a very v ita l one to text analysis and i t is essential for both the production and in ter- % pretation of texts. A text Is produced In a particular situation; so also are the message, functlon(s) and useCs)' derived from the interpretation of text form within a particular situation. I t is the components o f a text situation which enable the 'interpretant* of the text to- derive a message from the text meanings realized by the text UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 57 forms. The situation thus serves for a text to restric t the general experience o f a speaker represented by forms to an Individual experience relevant for a particular occasion, 4 Like language, the situation too has a structure recognized mainly in pragmatic terms. The structure o f situation is described in terms o f components which have been classified in various ways by linguists, Firth 4 4 (I962r9), for example, l is ts the components o f situation asr (a) the participants together with their verbal and non-verbal actions; (b) the relevant objects, the non-verbal and non­ personal events; and (c ) the effect o f verbal action. In a more precise manner, Berry (1975 and 1977), following 4 4 E llis (1966T, subdivides situation into three partsr thesis, immediate situation and wider situation. Crystal and Davy (1969) give a l is t o f what they call dimensions o f UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 58 situational constraint as individuality, dialect, time, 4 4 4 discourse medium and participation, province, status, modality and singularity. And Hymes (197?) gives a l is t o f situational components thus: setting and scene, 4 4 4 4 4 participants, ends, act sequence, key, instrumentalities, norms and genres* Lastly, Hallway* s (1978 r33» 62) sugges­ tion o f field/subject matter, tenor/style, and mode/dnedium presents three broad categories which contain detailed information about situational components* These categories have bu ilt-in mechanisms which enable them to co llec tive ly * predict the register o f texts* The fie ld component, which refers to the Institutional setting in which a piece o f language occurs, embraces the topic o f an interaction, the whole activ ity o f the participants in the setting and the particular purposes that the use o f language is erving within the context o f that activ ity . The tenor refers to the relationship between participants not only in terms o f formality but also In terms o f such questions as the permanence or otherwise of the relationship and the degree o f emotional charge in i t . Lastly, the mode refers to the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 59 channel o f communication adoptedr not only the choice between * spoken and written medium, but much more detailed choices such as that between monological and dialogical participation or that between chanting, singing and reciting, and other choices relating to the role of language in the situation* 4 For obvious reasons, we shall prefer Halliday*s 4 categories mentioned above to the others. F irst, the categories have an in-bu ilt mechanism with which they predict what is called the reg ister. They represent the situation in i t s generative asnect and, co llec tive ly , they determine the range within which meanings are selected and the forms which are used in their expression. And second, the three categories are easily relatable to the three categories o f meaning also suggested by Halliday ( see 3, 1 .2 ). For example, features of ideational meaning are relatable to f ie ld while those o f interpersonal meaning are relatable to tenor; and those of textual meaning are relatable to mode. Two kinds of situation are recognized in the users* conventional knowledge for expressing or interpreting experience. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 60 The f ir s t kind o f situation is the •'simple*' situation which provides the background for prime or second-order texts. Prime-order texts are those texts which are produced during * • * 4 normal communication, where participants, processes, events, and circumstances are real andthey represent real l i f e experience* The formal features of these texts thus interact with features o f ‘ real* situation in this communication. Examples o f prime-order texts are provided by non-literary sc ien tific texts and texts from casual: conversation. In 4 contrast, second-order texts are produced via an Interaction o f textual form with features o f the * fictionalized* situation. The fictionalized situation Is characterised by the distortion of rea lity and the use o f imagined or fictional characters as metaphors for symbolizing experience. Communication via the second-order situation is a common phenomenon employed mainly to add an aesthetic dimension to lite ra ry texts and also some religious texts which serve toe educate or moralize. The second kind' o f situation is the •complex* situation which is Illustrated by the co-occurrence o f features o f real UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 61 situation with features o f fictiona lized situation in a communication* The complex situation provides a back­ ground for complex discourse participation ( c f. Crystal and Davy, 1969r?0) and one of it s main features is text incorporation* Second-order texts may be incorpo- * * rated into prime-order tex' ts, and vi b. the 'd irective* function underlies calling the attention o f a hearer or requiring him to carry out a request or non-verbal action; c* the 'expressive' function underlies the expression o f emotions or attitudes O'f the speaker o f a text; d* the 'aesthetic* function is a function upgraded from the situational component o f 'key* , 4 (Hymes, 1972) or mode o f a text, and i t is relevant when the mode of presentation stands out in a text; * 4 e* the 'phatic* (o r 'r itu a lized ' - c f. Akinnaso, 1985) serves mainly to establish social contact or rapport between a speaker and hearer* The above categories provide the basic terms for describing the macro-functions, which project the macro-uses o f texts* UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 70 The features o f macro-functions are accounted for at the macro- structural levels o f ’ exchange* and ’ transaction* and not at the micro-level positions o f ’ moves’ and ’ acts’ , where acts refer to the micro-uses o f language. Categories o f functions can occur severally or together in texts;- when / 4 they occur together, they acquire statuses as primary, secondary and subsidiary functions according to the prominence and/or significance o f the individual functions. While the primary and secondary functions are central to 4 the goal(s) o f a text, a subsidiary function is peripheral to this goal. See 4*3*1 - 4-3*6 for the analysis o f functions in this study. • • 3*1-1*3 The category o f message The message o f a text, lik e i t s function, represents the product o f interaction between lingu istic form and situational experience. I t is the summary o f content o f the to ta lity o f communicative functions or sequences of speech acts performed * * • *• by a text. The message has a form and a content (c f . Hyrnes, 1972) but i t is the content side o f i t that is normally considered when a lis tener in tu itive ly reduces to i t s barest UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 71 minimum o f cen tra l idea a l l that a tex t i s saying. The category o f message i s a very important one in a textual study because the su ccessfu l or un successfu l performance o f a fu n ction and use by a tex t depends on whether o r not the in terp retan t has s u cce ss fu lly decoded the content o f the t e x t . 4 4 The tex t con tent, in terp re ted in t u it iv e ly as message, can be ’ * 4 s p e c if ie d f o r a te x t o r group o f te x ts (see however, i t s o b je c t iv e dem onstration in terms o f i t s organ iza tion and r e a liz a t io n w il l be done w ithin the ca te g o r ie s o f tex t stru ctu re and form la t e r below . A text d erives a message in three ways. A prim e-order tex t d erives i t s message v ia an in te ra c t io n o f formal item s 4 with components o f a rea l s itu a t io n . A lso , a secon d-order text d erives a message v ia an in te ra c t io n o f formal item s with 4 components of a f i c t io n a l iz e d s itu a t io n . And la s t ly , a second- order text may also ' derive messages at d if fe r e n t le v e ls v ia an in te ra c t io n o f formal items with fea tu res o f a secon d-order s itu a t io n and a fu rth er process o f id e n t i f ic a t io n and_correspondence o f f i c t io n a l iz e d s itu a tio n a l featu res with rea l s itu a t io n a l fea tu res . The relevant one( s) o f the three le v e ls of'm essage s p e c if ie d above can thus be in terp re ted in a te x t i f the resp ectiv e con d ition s o f s itu a t io n a l UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 72 fa c to r s are met. Under s im ila r co n d it io n s , i t i s natural fo r in te r te x ts to contain d iffe r e n t kinds o f message at the le v e ls o f th e ir con stitu en t te x ts or a sp e cts . In s p ite o f such con stitu en t messages that an in te r te x t may have, however, i t s t i l l must express a macro-message at i t s most g lob a l l e v e l , which w i l l be recogn ized u ltim a te ly as the te x t message in an a n a ly s is . 3 .1 .U - The ca tegory o f stru ctu re A major task o f an E"tf d escr ip tion o f te x ts i s to account for the coherence fea tu res o f such tex ts ( c f . 2 .2 .2 ) . Coherence may be accounted fo r in te x ts in two ways: f i r s t , by d escrib in g lon g-range coherence o f p ro p o s it io n s and sequences o f p ro p o s it io n s1 ( i . e . 'm o t i f s ’) ; and second, by d escrib in g l in e a r coherence at the lo c a l le v e l o f ad jo in in g p r o p o s it io n s . The terms 'm acro-structure* and 'm icro -s tru c tu re ' have been used by sch o la rs ( c f . D o leze l, 1976; van D ijk 1977) to d istin gu ish these two kinds o f g lob a l and lo c a l coherence r e s p e c t iv e ly . Sometimes, the term 's t r u c tu r e ' I s used in the sense o f m acro-stru ctu re , w hile 't e x tu r e ' o r 'c o h e s io n ' I s l7 The term 'p ro p o s it io n * i s used here as a semantic cover term fo r 's ta te m e n t ', 'q u e s t io n ' and 'command' which are pragm atic terms ( c f . Coulthard and Montgomery, 1 9 8 1 :1 1 ). H a llid ay (1985) has e a r l ie r used the term 'p r o p o s it io n ' fo r statement and qu estion , and 'p r o p o s a l ' fo r command. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 73 used in the sense o f m ic r o -s t r u c tu r e . I t i s custom ary f o r a d e s c r ip t io n o f t e x t s tr u c tu r e to c o n s id e r two th in g s : (a ) the l o g i c a l p re s e n ta t io n o f p r o p o s it io n s and m o t ifs in a t e x t ( i . e . s t r u c t u r e ) , and (b ) the sem antic r e la t io n s between item s in a t e x t ( i . e . c o h e s io n ) . W hile the form er c o n s id e rs the c o n s tr u c t io n o f t e x t s in terras o f t h e ir m odes, typ es and con ten t d e v e lo p ­ ment and o r g a n is a t io n , the l a t t e r c o n s id e rs how the item s which produce the con ten t o f in d iv id u a l sen ten ces c l in g to g e th e r in a t e x t . D esp ite the d i f f e r e n t d e s c r ip t iv e con cern s o f t e x t s tru c tu re and c o h e s io n , both con cern s are based on the assum ption th a t the r e la t io n s h ip between the p a rts o f a te x t i s a sem antic one w hich , in form al term s, i s in t e r s e n t e n t ia l . M eanw hile, we s h a l l lo o k at both ways o f d e s c r ib in g te x t s tr u c tu r e be low . . ' 3 .1 .1 » 4 .1 . The s tr u c tu r e o f con ten t and modes o f t e x ts The s tru c tu re o f t e x t c o n te n t , in l o g i c a l term s, r e fe r s to the p r e s e n ta t io n o f th e id e a s expressed in a t e x t in such a way th a t the id e a s are m utually a c c e s s ib le to the particljiancts u s in g the t e x t . The con ten t o f a t e x t i s p r im a r ily developed v ia t e x t m otifB and i t i s m utually a c c e s s ib le to p a r t ic ip a n ts UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 74 i f , among oth er fa c t o r s , i t s m otifs or sequences o f p rop os ition in d ic a te (a ) id e n t ic a l re fe re n ts and th e ir re la te d p ro p e r t ie s , Cb) ca u sa lly or se q u e n tia lly , s p a t ia l ly an d /or tem porally re la te d fa c t s , and ( c) id e n t ic a l world types ( c f . van D ijk , 1977) , The connection o f p rop os it ion s in te x ts i s fu rth er achieved by e ith e r certa in (a f in i t e set o f ) l o g i c a l connectors o r con n ectives which bind the p ro p o s it io n s togeth er o r , sometimes, by certa in shared exp erien ces and assumptions^ by the users*. The experien ces shared by p a r t ic ip a n ts , fo r example, enable them to understand connected p ro p o s it io n s about o b je c t s , s ta te s , events and circum stances in the past based on analogy and r e la t io n . Such experiences a lso c o n s t itu te th e ir background knowledge about the s tru ctu re s , con stru ction s and o r ie n ta t io n s » * * • o f te x ts such as n a rra tion , d e s c r ip t io n , e x p o s it io n , argument, e tc* For example, apart from being customary fo r a l l te x ts to have a beginning, middle and an end, an argumentative te x t i s expected to have m otifs o f prem ises and con clu s ion s ; a n arra tive ty p ic a l ly has m o tifs o f in trod u ction or s e t t in g , com p lica tion , re so lu t io n and re ca p itu la t io n among o th ers ; and an ex p os itory tex t has m otifs o f d e f in it io n , exp lan ation , e x em p lifica tion and C icourel ( 1969) suggests four in te rp re ta t iv e p r in c ip le s o r assumptions which in d iv id u a ls operate with du rin g 'speech , v iz , ( i ) that in te rp re ta t io n s o f experience are shared, ( i i ) that • there are p r in c ip le s o f s e le c t io n and organ isation o f meaning, ( i i i ) that there are p r in c ip le s o f re co n s titu t in g and supplemen­ t in g om issions, and Civ) that l in g u is t i c forms are re fe rre d id e n t ic a l ly to past experien ce . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 75 e x p re ss io n o f v ie w p o in ts . The con ten t o f t e x ts and t h e i r typ es are con s id ered w ith in the w id er framework o f t h e ir m odes. In our own v ie w , th e re are th ree d i f f e r e n t modes a v a ila b le in a language f o r p re se n tin g a t e x t : the c o n v e r s a t io n a l (o r d i a l o g i c a l ) , m o n o lo g ica l and p o l y l o g i c a l m odes. A d ia lo g u e re p re se n ts an exchange o f com m unication between two o r more p a r t ic ip a n ts ta k in g tu rn s , w h ile a monologue re p re se n ts a u n i -d ir e c t io n a l com m unication o f ex p er ien ce by a sp eaker; and a p o ly lo g u e r e fe r s to the c o -o c c u r r e n c e o f th ese two s tr u c tu r e s such th a t a d ia lo g u e e i t h e r o ccu rs as a sm a lle r s tr u c tu r e w ith in the la r g e r m o n o lo g ica l s t r u c tu r e o f a te x t• o r o c cu rs as a la r g e r s tr u c tu r e co n ta in in g a sm a lle r mono- l o g i c a l s t r u c t u r e . The term 'p o l y l o g u e 'i s a co in a ge by t h is w r it e r to p ro p e r ly c a te r f o r th a t s t r u c tu r e o f text-that cannot be s t r i c t l y c a te g o r iz e d as d i a l o g i c a l o r m o n o lo g ica l. i P o ly lo g ic a l t e x ts are much more common in com m unicative in t e r a c t io n than p eop le th in k . In f a c t , what many a n a ly sts very o ft e n re co g n iz e as m o n o lo g ica l o r d i a l o g i c a l * t e x t s are n oth in g sh ort o f p o ly lo g i c a l t e x t s . In e sse n ce , when co n v e rsa t io n s are in trod u ced in to m o n o lo g ica l n a r r a t iv e s , d e s c r ip t io n s , arguments o r e x p o s it io n s o r when UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 76 c e r t a in tu rn s o f speakers in c o n v e rs a t io n s are extended in t o m onologues, th e s tr u c tu r e o f such com m unication i s p o l y l o g i c a l . The p o l y l o g i c a l s tru c tu re o f t e x t s i s n ot d i f f i c u l t to p e r c e iv e , but i t i s d e s c r ib a b le on ly in terms o f i t s c o n s t itu e n t d i a l o g i c a l and m o n o lo g ica l s tr u c tu r e s - which presu p poses th a t a n a ly sts must c le a r ly understand the p r in c i ­ p le s o f c o n s tr u c t io n o f th ese l a t t e r s t r u c t u r e s . At t h is ju n c tu re , we w ish to r e c a l l some u s e fu l in fo rm a tio n from the l i t e r a t u r e about c o n v e r s a t io n a l and m o n o lo g ica l s tr u c tu r e s b e low . 3 ,1 * 1 .4 .1 .1 . The s tr u c tu r e o f co n v e rsa t io n s A l o t o f v a lu a b le su g g e stio n s about the p roced u res and c a te g o r ie s f o r d e s c r ib in g the s tr u c tu r e o f co n v e rsa t io n s have been made in the la s t two d e ca d e s . S acks, S c h e g lo f f and J e f fe r s o n (1974) ad dress the is s u e o f tu rn -ta k in g by p a r t ic ip a n ts in sp ea k in g . T u rn -tak in g in v o lv e s th e p r o v is io n s in a c o n v e rs a t io n f o r more than two p a r t ic ip a n ts to speak o r d e r ly and m ean in g fu lly w ith ou t any s p e c i f i c p o s i t io n f o r them. The p ro ce ss i s o f t e n gu ided by a s e t o f r u le s p e r ta in in g t o the t r a n s it io n o f sp ea k ers , u n derstanding checks and in v i t a t io n o f p a r t ic ip a n ts to take tu r n s 0 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 77 Follow ing Sacks, e t a l (1 9 7 4 ), Richardson (I9 8 lr5 2 ) sees a turn as a * syn ch ron ization ' u n it r e fe r r in g to e ith e r 1 an un interru ­ pted stre tch o f language produced hy one speaker in a con versa tion ' or an item o f a p a r t ic u la r kind co n stitu te d by the d iscou rse , v iz , 'c o n t r ib u t io n '. Her model o f tw o-party conversation recogn izes tv/o phases, p o s it iv e and n eg ative , which co n s titu te the ta lk /n o ta lk paradigm? a d iscou rse turn occu rs when a speaker i s e x e rc is in g the op tion 't a l k ' w h ilst a l is t e n in g p er iod occu rs when the op tion 'no ta lk ' i s being e x e rc ise d . While we accept R ichard son 's conception o f turn in the d iscu ssion above, we need to fu rth er recogn ize that there i s a lso the p o s s ib i l i t y for p a r a lle l o r overlapping turns in some con versation s when p a rt ic ip a n ts ta lk a t the same tim e. In accounting fo r the turns in tw o-party or m ulti­ party con versation s in th is study, we sh a ll g iv e in form ation about the number o r duration o f in d iv id u a l or groups o f speakers' turns as a measure o f th e ir p a r t ic ip a t io n in the conversations* Apart from the synchron ization u n it o f turn , con versation a l an alysts a lso concern themselves with u n its o f s tru ctu ra tion in con versa tion s . The seminal con tr ib u tion o f S in c la ir and Coulthard (1975) to the stru ctu ra l l in g u is t i c an a lysis o f UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 78 con versation , v ia th e ir h igh ly organ ized d e scr ip tio n o f the stru c­ ture o f classroom in te r a c t io n , continues to prov id e the base fo r fu rther stu d ies in th is d ir e c t io n . S in c la ir and Coulthard in th is study propose f iv e u n its o f classroom in te r a c t io n 4 arranged on a h ie ra rch ica l rank s c a le . The • le s s o n ', which stands fo r ' in t e r a c t i o n ', i s the h igh est u n it o f classroom conversation and i t i s made up o f ' t r a n s a c t io n s ', A tra n saction i s made up o f 'exchanges' w hile an exchange i s made up o f 'm o v e s '. Three kinds o f moves are recogn ized in the d e s cr ip t io n . The 'i n i t i a t i o n ' ( I ) move i s the f i r s t move in an exchange and i t se ts up an expectation fo r a response. A 're sp o n se ' (R) move fo llow s an in i t ia t io n and i t does not * / * p re d ic t any oth er move. L a s t ly , the 'feedback* ( F ) , a lso ca lle d ' fo llow -u p '* move supports an in i t ia t io n o r response but i t i s not p red icted by e ith er o f them. Moves and 'a c ts* form 4 the low est stru ctu ra l u n its o f con versation , the move being the sm allest fre e u n it described in terms o f a c t s . Although the u n its above were o r ig in a l ly conceived 4 in the con text o f d escr ib in g classroom con versation , they have been te ste d on conversations from other con texts and developed to fu rth er ca te r fo r a l l kinds o f conversation (s e e Coulthard and Montgomery, 1 9 8 1 ). The d e ta ile d form a liza tion o f the stru ctu ra l ca te g o r ie s o f con versation a l an a ly sis by UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 79 Burton (1981) i s e s p e c ia lly o f great in te r e s t to us (s e e a lso B utler 1985), and i t w il l be necessary to p o in t out below some s a lie n t ca te g o r ie s from her form ulation . In Burton’ s (1981:65-81) form ulation a l l the s tru ctu ra l u n its mentioned above are presented in terms o f th e ir c la sse s and system ic p o s it io n s o f the elements co n stitu tin g them. The in te r a c t io n i s the h ighest u n it and i t i s made up o f tra n sa ctio n s , A tran saction has an op tion a l e x p l i c i t ’ boundary’ exchange and an o b lig a to ry conversationa l exchange. The boundary exchange occu rs at the openings o f tra n sa ction s and i t has e ith e r a ’ frame' o r 'f o c u s ' move o r both moves p lus a 'su p p ortin g ' move* Both the frame (Fr) and focus (Fo) in v o lv e a cts that are e s s e n t ia l ly a tte n t io n -g e tt in g or p re to p ic item s? such a cts in clu d e marker, p re fa ce , s ta r te r , summons, g re e tin g , metastatement and co n c lu s io n ,* The conversa- « 4 , t ion a l exchange I s made up o f opening, ch a llen g in g , supporting, re ­ opening and bound-opening moves. An opening move (0 ) i s t r a n s a c t io n - in it ia l and i t makes no anaphoric re feren ce to a preceding u ttera n ce , A ch a llen g in g move (C) holds up the progress o f a to p ic or to p ic -in tr o d u ct io n v ia an unexpected response o r rea ction o r s i le n c e . A supporting move (S) f a c i l i t a t e s the to p ic presented in a prev iou s u ttera n ce . A re-open ing move (Fo) occu rs a f t e r a preceding T7 The ’ a c ts ' here r e fe r to th e 1m icro-u ses o f language, these uses are u su a lly , in e v ita b ly , present in the d escrip tion o f conversationa l stru ctu re by text an a lysts s in ce the minimal stru ctu ra l u n it ’ move' i s d escribab le in terms o f a use. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 80 opening or bound-opening move i s ch a llen ged . And a bound-opening move (Bo) o ccu rs a f te r a preceding opening o r re -open in g move has been supported; i t has no separate to p ic content but i s bound to the content o f an opening move. The move i t s e l f i s 4 4 accounted fo r in terms o f such a c ts as summoning, e l i c i t i n g , * 4 4 4 4 4 checking, accusing, d ir e c t in g , a ccep tin g , re p ly in g , r e a c t in g , in form in g , e t c . Burton’ s c la s s i f i c a t io n o f exchanges above d i f f e r s , though not in a fundamental way, from A k in d e le 's (I986rl58 ) suggestion o f three kinds o f exchange - p re fa to ry , in form atory and bound exchanges - in h is d e scr ip t io n o f fam ily conversations in E nglish . Both sch o la rs are seen to have used the terms ’ boundary’ and 'p re fa tory * in terchangeably sin ce the la t t e r term a lso r e fe r s to summons, g ree tin g s and oth er perm ission a c ts . We sh a ll however use p re fa tory in th is study in order to fo r e s t a l l a l i k e ly con fu sion o f 'boundary' with 'bound­ opening' which was mentioned e a r l ie r . A p re fa to ry exchange, accord ing to A kindele, p r im arily has no content in form ation as fa r as the business o f ta lk i s concerned; but i t provid es an opportun ity to make the p a rt ic ip a n ts a v a ila b le fo r more 4 ta lk in the d isco u rse . To accompany the p re fa to ry exchange, we p r e fe r B urton 's le s s d e l ic a te con versation a l exchange s in ce we are concentra ting on moves in stead o f exchanges in UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 81 th is study. M oreover, the mentioning o f hound-opening moves in our d e scr ip t io n should imply the presence o f hound exchanges. L a s t ly , in as much as B urton 's proposal i s a genera l framework o f con versation a l stru ctu re which does not preclude the e a r l ie r 4 framework o f t r a d it io n a l ca te g o r ie s - in i t ia t i o n , response 4 and fo llo w up, both se ts o f ca te g o r ie s are used here to illu m in a te each o th er in the d e s c r ip t io n o f moves in th is stu dy , 3 .1 .1 .U .Z The stru ctu re o f monologues Although s t i l l at a p r e -th e o r e t ic a l sta ge , the stru ctu re o f monologue has a lso been considered by s ch o la rs . The b r ie f d iscu ss ion which we present here i s based on the proposal by Coulthard and Montgomery (1981 :31 -39 )* The b a s ic u n its o f a monologue are th ree : tra n sa ction , sequence (which we have e a r l ie r c a lle d 'm o t i f ') and members. Transaction i s the stru ctu ra l u n it id e n t i f ie d by the focu sin g a c t iv i t y that occu rs at i t s boundaries; i t has a stru ctu re suggested by Coulthard and Montgomery ( ib id ) as: p rosp ectiv e . fo cu s , in form ing members, and r e tro s p e c t iv e fo c u s . M otifs represent sm a lle r -sca le to p ic u n its o f te x ts con stitu te d by one o r more in form ing members. In short "besets m o t ifs are is o la te d on p h on olog ica l c r i t e r ia in a language l ik e E nglish , but in Yoruba they are is o la te d on p h on olog ica l UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 82 c r i t e r i a su p ported by l e x i c o - s t r u c t u r a l and sem antic c o n s id e r a t io n s (s e e 1 * 5 .3 ) . Members in a t e x t b e lon g to th re e c la s s e s : fo c u s in g , main and s u b s id ia ry members. F ocu sin g members s ig n p o s t at in te r v a ls the p r io r o r subsequent d i r e c t io n o f a t e x t . Main members are inform ing' members ( o r 'in f o r m s ') which d ev e lop the m o t ifs o f a t e x t . These members e n te r in to v a r io u s r e la t io n s h ip s w ith one an oth er ; and such r e la t io n s h ip s , e .g . a d d it iv e , a d v e rsa tiv e and ca u s a l, are engendered by a wide range o f co n n e c t iv e s in a language (s e e Text 10 , 11* 1 - 5 ) . l a s t l y , s u b s id ia ry members are o f two c la s s e s : g lo s s e s and a s id e s . G lo s s in g members form the co re o f s u b s id ia ry members and th ey r e f l e c t back (a n a p h or ic ­ a l l y ) on the in form in g members, expanding, m od ify in g and ev a lu a tin g them v ia resta tem en ts o r r e p e t i t i o n s , q u a l i f i ­ c a t io n s and comments. A sid es m aintain a more tenuous r e la t io n s h ip w ith in form in g members than g lo s s e s . U nlike g lo s s e s which are t y p i c a l ly an a p h oric , a s id e s fu n c t io n © x o p h o r io a lly to c o n te x tu a lis e a t e x t in some way by l in k in g a b s tr a c t d e s c r ip t io n to co n cre te d e s c r ip t io n (See Text 20, 1 .8 ) o r r e la t in g the p ro ce ss o f d e s c r ip t io n to some fu r th e r a c t i v i t y to be undertaken by the au d ien ce o r to some p rev iou s in fo rm a tio n su p p lie d to them. T his d is c u s s io n shou ld perhaps end on a n ote th a t a lth ough the u n it o f in t e r a c t io n i s n o t re le v a n t to the d e s c r ip t io n o f 1 . S ee , f o r exam ple, Text 12, 11 . 11 -16 and 45-52 f o r r e p e t i t i o n s o f in fo rm in g members» UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 83 m o n o lo g ica l s t r u c tu r e , the m onologue i s n e v e rth e le s s d esign ed in t e r a c t iv e ly in fu n c t io n a l term s; the r e la t io n ­ sh ip between d i f f e r e n t members o f t r a n s a c t io n i s a t le a s t an in d ic a t io n o f t h is f a c t * 3 .1 .1 .4 * 2 . The co h e s iv e fe a tu re s o f Yoruba t e x ts C ohesion r e fe r s to the d e s c r ip t io n o f the sem antic r e la t io n s between form al item s in a te x t .. Here we s h a l l d e a cr ib e th ese r e la t io n s u s in g th e f i v e m ajor c a te g o r ie s su ggested by H allid& y and Hasan (s e e 2 .2 .1 ) , v i z , r e fe r e n c e , s u b s t i t u t io n , e l l i p s i s , c o n ju n c t io n and l e x i c a l c o h e s io n , th ese c a te g o r ie s are ex p la in ed below and i l lu s t r a t e d w ith sen ten ces from Yoruba t e x t s . 3 .1 .2 .1 . R eferen ce t i e s in io ru b a t e x ts A r e fe r e n c e item i s one which i s in te r p r e te d by r e fe r e n c e to som ething e ls e (H a liia a y and Hasan, 1976: 3 1 ) . Both the item and th e o th e r item i t r e fe r s to are co —r e f e r e n t ia l in the t e x t . Compare th e examples below * (w ith the r e fe r e n c e item s u n d e r lin e d ) : 2 . t i gb > UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 93 Hs yas I ltlei dmai n yc laic ( on c o u n t in fg. uHi satli c g tf o r t h e l i d a ye r m1 9s7, 0t fo r m a l f e a , h e1 9t7h5r, e e1 97s teumraens o f t e x t s i n i d e a t i o n a l , i n t e r p e r s o n a l and t e x t u a l 8c a at end t ic1 9c8a9t)e, g vo ri zi e. s o f oh af ntdhye. s pThe i d e a t i o n a l c a t e g o r y r e p r e s e n t s g tohrei e se x cpormees s iion n tt hh ee einxnper re e sw a k e r s ioornld ' s oo ef x p e r ie n c e o f t h e r e a l w o r ld , i n c l u d i n g ' a n d ' , ' o r ' , ' i f 'f ac se h ri st a ionw n e lceomn es nc itoa ruys n e s s » I t a l s o r e p r e s e n t s i t s e l f s u c h a s 'n a m e lwy e' , l l ' saas y tsh' o saend c r el o'ma g etae i c nd a s 'b l y r lealnagt iuoang es l i k e pp earrstoi cniapla nc at st e' g ionrvyo, lvienm ei tnst ionw nt, h er e ps pr ee es ec hn t s . The i n t e r ­ th e y t a k e on th e m s e lv e s and im p ose on o t hs iet tuh ea t ieoxnp ,r etshseio nr o ol efs rf ee pe rl iens ge ns ,t s a ttht iet ufdaecsi l iatnide sJu d g e m e n ts . r s , t h e i r w is h e s , • l i n k s w it h i t s e l f and w it h pfreoavtiud er de s i n Aand t ethx et ft oe xr t umaalk incagt e g o ry ^ - tt hh ee s er e af ad ec ri l ittoi e sd i setnianbglue i sthh e t es p e a o f th e t e x t s i t u a t i o n * u t t e r a n c e s . x t s k ferro mto a c orannsdtormu c st e tt e xo tfs and a r The ab ove c a t e g o r i e s t o g e t h e r r e l a t e to t h e m e a n in g s t h a t v i ae tohreg a fnoirzme da l i nc a tthe eg o srei emsa notfi c grsayms tme mar , anl edx ri se f laencdt,e dp earsh aopps ,t io.n s 1 , Md iasncyi x sf es eadt u ruensd eor f c ot hh iess iocna t eagboorvye . h a v e a lr e a d y been UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY p dfo h er o sm naollc r i ogy* T pct aiot ne g, o hreie sd ersecprripe st ith u s i t sh oe onn o fu ldt s beth t e x t u a l f e a t u r e s in term s o f c e r t a in form al c a t e g o r ie s o f t e x t d e s c ee sus letnimt iaa tl e toattem p t a t fo rm a l t e x t f o r th e a n a ly s is o f th e form o fr ipYTtMio nt e xth a t lo o k a t some m a jo r m eantim e, how ever, we s h a l l o b serv e th e t sr o iln w itlhl p ro v id e th e b a se 4 4 system i n so f a e o f i sth es tucdayte*g o Irny othfe r e a l i z a t i o n o f mr eaasn iintg si sin tha el acnegnutargee *f o r th e o r g a n iz a t io n and 3 ,1 * 5Th e Thr oe lec aotefg osyrsyt eomf *i i n two way n s ysat edme*s c r ip t io n o f t e x t s can be seen iann d theex t rdaels s* F i r s t , i t can be seen a s a • 'lin k -c a te g o r y * in t o n etw oin c rgiup it ieotni c olfe vthee in t e r r e l a t i ork s o f m eaningsl s idoefa st e xwthuicahl n s h i p betw een th e l i n g u i s t i c about la n g u a g e i t s e l f o r o u t s id e la n g u a s true deyx. p reSys ssetedm i nc olda ni fgiue as g e mtheea nfionrgm as voafi l alabnlgeu aing e thbee casuysstee mth, ew form as gree. hich a spa I t i s el iazkee r th ec oons e l e cp n te ct sio tneds owfit h Ititm Ie he s each th e sc oanltseo p ecaoknsn, eactt edth ew itcha t ethgeo rsie s x t o f c u lt u r e which s piet uc ia otfi ognra mo mf alra,n gl eu axgi se uansde vp hf i e s th e c o n d it io n s and i a o n o la g y . c o n t e x t s fo r s e l e c t i n g o p t io n s from th e s y ste m . The o p t io n s UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY sseemleacnt etidc rceapt er eg soerniet s o r g a n iz e d 9m5eanings b u n d e r lie in d iv id u a l u( isdees aot ifo lnaanlg, u aingtee*r pSe ercsaounsea l thaenyy d d e r iv e from th e l i n k between la n g u a g e form rise by f i rstsetm o trhguasn ip treoxvtiud ae sl) thweh ich Ta sh ims era a n d onlien gos f ansdy s then r e a l i z i n g th e s e m eanings a s fo zrimn ga l thitee muss*e s Doi^rr afmorm o avnedr luesaef , tecma n a sb e a dbemr idong est rbaetetwd eeinn laa ndgiaugargaem and e x p e r ie n c e , T.1he second ) . below ( s e e p ro c e d r o l e o f ’ system ' i n an m d e s c r ip t io n i s a lfirnomg uai s utra l one l iisc t anodf wn ohinch- rp o s s iIbin egquui ir e s t h a t th e fe a t u r e s o f t e x t s , both e x p e r ie n c e . Even thoulgeh c h s ot iic a re c o n s id e r e d a s o p t io n s s e le c t e d i d e n t i f i e d w ith th e form othfe c esyss taevma ihl aabs l em oirne olarn gla n g u a g e by s c h o la r sl e usa sg e , i t ib aenend on fe vteerxtth eales s sr eifml epcotri tnagn t intod ivr e c o g n iz e f e a t u r e s s from system com plexes ( c f . Hidaulal ild aoyr , r e1 l9a8t5e ad: 8s oe tf s thoef oo pthte r l e v e l s t e x t i t s e l f m ir r o r s e x p e r ie n c e and what i s l i )f .e Ai fttseerlaf l l i,o na s ocobmj epcletxs , naetcwtoi vrki t ioefs s, ims tualttaen e o u s and c o n s e bu t a grammar o f la n g u a g e r e p r e s es n, tcs i rtchuem ms toasnt cwe s c,u teivtec . c hBoeicceasu seo f th e owfe lal - tdeexf itn, e idt.s As nudb -bc eact eaug soer ieths e ans du e l bs-ycsatteemg so raier l-eo rtdoe r e d a s p e c t e x t r a l i n g u i s t i c l e v e l s o f t e x t d e s c r ip t io n dso on of lae xg ri se a at nde xotethnet r the w e ll-fo rm e d n e s s o f grammar ( c f . H o c k e t t , t e x1975) thhei boi tp t io n s UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Ho 3tHo > (HnDr - % ►03h 3fCx u l 3 30I1b 1 f3nHPt»)* 0 *00<11 3H* 3 infC3Dt rr rC(3D* o5 Dr! r0*• (DO01 (0 u/hL u u u O A- U U U o/h 3m3a (c01o0*D♦)» : * h t 3CPOi rXCOr (3HP0 Si r3Mr (P0i H3 'cP:> i3Q* *C(30TO> fH33Q -ro M. lO M 30) H CD 0 MP30 P»r I*3Pi 3 r t UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 97 Isny stthem e re not alw ays c l e a r l y - d e f i n e d . W h ile some o f th e s e Ienx ctl eum s a t d i f f e r e n t p o in t s have o p t io n s h es i va en,a lsyosmise oo tfh YeTrMs have n o n -m u tu a lly tehxactlu as irvee moupttuiaolnlys . t hoabvsee rvbeeden arsee lethc tuesd cofrnocme tiveexdt s aisn a t hr ei s s tu d y , a l l th e f e a t u r e s ' b ecau se o f th e c e n t r a l i f l e c t i o n o f o* p t io n s t h a t ✓ t h i s s tu d y , we s h a l l c otny c lo s e d and open s y s te m s . M e an w h ile , s y s te m ic c a t e g o r ie s a t t hs idoef r thi te d e s c r ip t io n o f t e x t u a l form i n p re s e n te d i n th e n e x t c h a pi st elre vaerel ebx peleodwie. n t Thtoe p l i s t e d a s fo lc raet es egnotr iesome lo w e r s ( i( (l iii i ) ) TThreamne s i t i v i t y C(iv ) P o l a r i t y ( vv ) i )) M Ten Soomod s e e 1a nedx imc oo-dsat rliutyc t u r a l and r h e t o r i c a l c a t e g o r ie s 3 .2 oSofm Ye oCruabtae g o r ie s o f Form al D e s c r ip t io n t h a t Ai slt hdoeusgighn ead g e n es h a re as w e ll a s ttoh oc raa tl e rt e x t u a l m o d el, Etf h a s a fo rm a l c a te g o r y A stu d y aimed a t o b sseer vpine cfuolri a rth eto feinadt uivr eids u wa lh ilcahn gaul la gleasn.g u a g e s g th e form al fe a t u r e s o f t e x t s i n a UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 98 tghueid et o th e a com porle hf o arn atlhyes ips r o f t e x tensive d e secsreipnttiaot uioanl form in th e s tu d y . In t h i s r e s p e c t , from- a s y s te m ic l i n g u i s t i c n v o fi sth es y sfotermm aic l i n g u i s t i c s . S in c e and th e few d e s c r ip t io n s a v aie w p o in t i s a l t fei l a b l e a re s c a t tp aret us erne st o f Yoe r e d in l aYcokrui n rugb*ba , a 4 isin t u adni eos u, th e onus thenn Yorubat l itnhea t foarrme) eas col is e nh eesre wt ia l ntt ith o ' d t Iets h .c irsip tsitound y otfo thper e sfoernmt a(l evpeant t ei rf n s scoamt ee g T po h rr e eie vs d io e s c uosf rYiportuiobn below th u s b r i e f l y exam ines some m a jo r d e s c r ip t io n o f sYt rouruc at u rfoarlm aanl d dseyssctreimp ticio lni n, gbueins et ifcl tst-ion g a l o t from d e s c r ip t io n s by Bambgab ofsoer m(1a9l 66fe,. a 1t u9r6e7s, -1 97p2a ratnidc u1l a99r0l ryi e tnhtoesde 4 • T( 1h9e6 8d’ easncdr ip19t i7o0) who are n o ta b le s c h o la r s o f th e la n g ) u aangde . A fo la y a n bthyo uBgehr riyt (1r 9e7l a5 n t ean adls o b e n e fits from e a r l i e r d ie s c r ip t io n s o f foirm f o r i l l u s t r a t i o n ss btô 19 Y77y Ho )r ubana l l ida d a rH ay a at h lel ind r d B atyeh a n(1 9E7n0g,l is1h9 73r r y . w hainchd 1i s9 8u5s)e,d % 1 . -TBdhoeetshyc r iao f th e s e s c h o la r s have In a number o f t h e i r worksIoTnnh tius w bge d Yoruba formi t i orrniete e wr o hnoe nb vvteihoryeur semly a nfrom an i s s u e . i sh y a sais sdtuo t he seta isag rka s ene y s te m ic l i n g u i s t i c v ie w p o in t . ed m a ethnsetta yn bded tiwsbaeagesenr de e th oneon s eh si sosm c hoewo. nl a r s UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 3 ,2 .1 The system o f n fo r The theme system r e thfeemr se itno Ythoeru bdai f f e r e n t o p tio n s a v a i l a b l e iotef mpsr aormr ainngenin g the b a s ic in g r e d ie n t s which ceo cc(ucpf y. Btheer riyn, i 1t i9a7l5 )p. o sTihe omf e a r emfeesrssa gteo inth an o rd e r t io n i n a c l a u s e . e Iitte m o r rteerpmr es s eonf ts th e mth e c la u s ea rrsatnr ug ecm osetn tp, roamp ainr te nftr oimte rta (s ) int u r e which n h e l a s th e unmarked c la u s e in f o c u s . B u t , som etim es, th e faotcuursa lol yf ca a cr tr l e x i c a l elem en t i n th e theme o f th e c la u s e in a ’ m arked' c l ala iue ss e thmeu s e . a y incfoonr mf l aatteio nw ith s•me laerck T teed h'e rea ndad by re th'u two en mp oa r p sk reidm*a. ry i t i v e oE o r i t pht ion eegr n s a toivfe i n th ce th l asue e Ytwoor uba s e . Tohep t i tohenms em sayys tbeem r pthoesmi tai tviec) o ra ndn eugnamt iavrek eda ( i . e . n o n -th e m a tic) “ c la u s e ms awrkheedt h(eir . e , oabc cseunr sce aof tfe rth eo neth eomf atthic r e itdemis t innig u*ibseh* e din btyh etmh e. p re se n c e o r em phasized i n th e markee d eclelma uesnets? wohfi lea n i tun mi sa rakbed T h is ite m rd unmarked c la u s e ."* The th e m a tiz a t io n o f c la u s e ss e cnlta ui ns e th e iasn di lnl ue gs at rt iavtee dfo rbmelso w( t hwei thth ae msaetnizteendc ee lei nm eboth i t s i np oYsoirtuba n ts a r e u n d e r liivnee d ) . 5"I oFof r maanr keedla bc ol arua st ee sd, issceue s Bs iaomng boons e th(1e 9 6th6erm3 6a,t ic5 6s)t.r u c t u r e UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 100 l a . MI o l os t owb . M i o so dm ne frm. onteUyn. m ark ed , P o s i t i v e ) 39 owo n u . (.Unm arked, N e g a t iv e ) Co 0I Mwo< d i d n5 eny i n ' t l o s ei smo S 9 any m o n ey . d . K l f ow ro »-* n r .’ 0 • 0 • • > X ’ H O ^ 7 J 03 ~ > *3» XJ t ’ J .*1' X* Pi ~ C D > v Q '- 'C D 3 r.i h ^ 3 W 3 Q CD ^ a o o H «o (D ID o 3 ^ m * o XI < H CD 3 »h ' — r t c CD M V) • !-*• 3 to r ) — t rO to to H* CD R> 3 t r 0) 0 • T » 2? n x i > M M P» »3 PJ H* ID n 00 - 4 r t 3* 3 »-*• o r t o Q O O CD CD •Q (D H* O o r : o © 3 0 3 i-3 CD 3 T J 3 • Ha * pi . . | p» H* t3r o r t H* M > n .. »-• ^ 3 H Pi XJ 3i -j ro:D VO (3 ^ 1 1 >-* 0 3 • »-* > 3 O . > Pi c t > •• (D n h * a \ n :? n a . i~* H* H* o (0 < O . 3 ■0) '~J w H XJ Pi H X3 to 3* r r ~ ( D (D H H - CD (D O l 3 3 O 3 x i 3 (D W < O n : o 3 (D P> a 3 ^ 3 w 3 M H l3}>CD CD ro 3 ro H O Q 3 3 K ;i» l\> ro o fs I jJ i j (D '0 to CO 01 !-'■ CD ^ C D CD X 3* » « 3* z r 0) ^ (L- pi >T3 < < < ' r co CD H - C CD► 1 3 U 0ro1 r . 2 • ^o 3roi tp-»* n 3 ►3 to ~s (<< tD H t-/*r t H X* f ^ 3 3 0>r •a y C (oDD ^ O l < O (D ID (D H<* *P 01 CDVO ^ 3 r o H* 3 CD N CD a C3D > r>t- f>t ^ >r t ^ O >flir t r t > r t O 3 r t X I r t 3 3 •r t H* H3 U ' t r r * otr t 3 Ht r ^Pi * 3 ! P3 3H* tor r c c 3 C 3 c r r t r t w> r t to (0 O 0 O H* CO 3 > U) to 3 CJ •T* •-ti*p<. r— 3| - - ...... ft) *v X I *3 ~ 0 ^ 0 •n to 0t i tn O w O D1 U1 to cd PI CD CD CO to (0 0 . r/1 ^ w v ' (D 3* a 03 O l ! 3̂ CD UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY I1I7I n o lR .. u r i n a t i o n s 9rY, / ^o9nu r yxcnh ri ln ✓d bd. ( D i r e c t , +S) You come. b, Han b̂ >. ( D i r e c t -C) Come. c . Kx o mna bo. ( I n d i r e c t ) L e t him come UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 122 The o v e r t 'S ' in 45a above i s r e a l i z e d by a p lu ra l pronoun which i s e i t h e r 'h o n o r i f i c ' ( r e f e r r i n g to a s in g u la r addressee) o r ' non-honori fi.c* ( r e f e r r i n g to a p lu ra l addressee)* An i n d i r e c t im perative f u r th e r chooses e i t h e r the i n c l u s i v e speaker' ( + speaker) o r ' e x c l u s i v e speaker' ( - sp eaker) option* The +speaker imperative c lause in c lu d e s the speaker among the persons to a c t , while the -sp e a k e r c lause excludes him. C o n tra s t : 46a* Ki w£n roo daadaa o* ( I n d i r e c t , -speaker) L e t them think c a r e f u l l y about i t * b* ̂ raaa I 9 , ( I n d i r e c t , -speaker) L e t him go. c* E je ka f^pf f '^ I^ ru n . ( I n d i r e c t , +speaker) L e t us give thanks to God, d. J e ki n d^ n^* ( I n d i r e c t , + speaker) L e t me come back f i r s t * L a s t l y , the i n d i r e c t imperative s e l e c t s between the expression o f ' v o l i t i v e ' command, which r e p re se n ts hopes, wishes and p ra y e rs , and t h a t o f ' o p t a t i v e ' command, which r e p re se n ts a d i r e c t i v e given to an unspecif ied individual o r group o f persons . C o n tra s t : UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 123 4 7 a . Ki y l^ ru n fun yfn ldl&k£f:£ko ( V o l i t i v e ) L e t (May)Qod g i v e .you good h e a l t h y . b . Kfnlkan gbdgbo y^n j£de fiin mi. ( O p t a t i v e ) L e t someone b r in g out t h a t c o n c o c t i o n f o r me. 3 . 2 . 6 . Some e x p r e s s i v e and r h e t o r i c a l c a t e g o r i e s Under t h i s s e c t i o n , we in te n d t o p r e s e n t some e x p r e s s i v e and r h e t o r i c a l c a t e g o r i e s t h a t a r e r e l e v a n t f o r a n a l y s i n g meaning i n Yoruba t e x t s . Unlike the c a t e g o r i e s d e s c r i b e d above which can be pinned down to th e l e v e l o f form, th e s e c a t e g o r i e s a r e o f a mixed g r i l l because they span both th e f o r a ( lex ico g ram m ar and phonology and s t r u c t u r e o f t h e t e x t . What they have i n common i s t h a t they c o n t r i b u t e to the s t y l i s t i c o r g a n i z a t i o n o f th e t e x t . Most o f the c a t e g o r i e s w i l l f i t i n th e i n t e r p e r s o n a l f u n c t i o n i n t h e t a b u l a t i o n by H a l l id a y ( 1 9 7 3 : 1 4 0 ) . The c a t e g o r i e s to d e s c r i b e in c l u d e p e c u l i a r l e x i c a l i t e m s , v o c a t i v e s , f i g u r a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n s , rhythm, e t c . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 12 4 3 . 2 . g . l P e c u l i a r l e x i c a l items I t i s p o ss ib le to dist ing uish r e g i s t e r s , genres o r Individual t e x t s by the p e c u l i a r items which they s e l e c t to' conform! with e i t h e r the s i t u a t i o n s of t h e i r expression o r uses which they serve* I n YTM t e x t s , i t i s expected th a t c e r t a i n l e x i c a l i tem s and c o l l o c a t i o n s w i l l conventionally d is t ing uish the p a r t i c i p a n t s , o b j e c t s , a c t io n s and events i n the f i e l d from t e x t s from o t h e r -fields ( s e e 5 . 3 . 1 . 4 ) . 3 . 2 . $ . 2 V ocatives A v o cat iv e r e f e r s to one or more words which o ccur i n a sentence as a nominal group o f address . Bamgbose ( 1 9 6 6 :1 4 ) describes i t s occurren ce in a sentence as a non-concordial one, s ince i t i s not in concord with the following f r e e c lause in the sentence* Sem antica l ly , a vo ca t ive may serve to i d e n t i f y a person o r an o b je c t in a p ro p o si t io n o r draw the a t t e n t i o n of the person o r o b j e c t , for example: 4 8 . ^jxgbede, gbfgbe ni o gbe mi. Ejigbede, i t i s support th a t you must give me*. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 125 3•2.fc.3# F i g u r a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n s Very many t e x t s i n io ru o a u t i l i z e f i g u r a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n s t o p r o j e c t t h e i r meanings* Such e x p r e s s i o n s in c l u d e s i m i l e s , m etaph ors , p e r s o n i f i c a t i o n , ideophones, e t c . Most e s p e c i a l l y , the metaphor p la y s a m ajor r o l e i n th e c r e a t i o n o f a e s t h e t i c s in Yoruba communication ( c f . Olabode, 1 9 8 1 ) * L e x i c a l i tem s s e r v e as metaphor to i n d i c a t e f i c t i o n a l i z a t i o n and symbolism which a r e a e s t h e t i c f e a t u r e s i n Yoruba t e x t s 0 The communication o f f i c t i o n , u n l ik e n o n - f i c t i o n i s based on m e ta p h o r i c a l e x p r e s s i o n s . Such e x p r e s s i o n s can i d e n t i f y s i x - i n c h men, t a l k i n g a n i m a l s , b i rd s ana s t o n e s , swimming l o g s , lan ghing a r t s , e t c , ( c f , A d e ja re , 1 9 8 1 ) . In T ext 11 i n the appendix o f t h i s work, l e x i c a l i tem s denote names and a c t i o n s t o r e p r e s e n t th e f i c t i o n a l world i n which b i r d s perform human a c t i o n s and e n t e r . i n t o t y p i c a l human r e l a t i o n s h i p s . M e ta p h o r ic a l i tem s can a l s o be used to denote o b j e c t s which s tand as symbols f o r o t h e r o b j e c t s f o l lo w in g a re co g n iz e d form o f a s s o c i a t i o n between them. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 126 F o r example, i n YTM, a s n a i l may be very r e l e v a n t f o r fwjperten- s i v e c u re because i t connotes g e n t l e n e s s . Language sym bolizes e x p e r i e n c e s by v i r t u e o f i t s lo ng a s s o c i a t i o n with the l a t t e r . So a l s o , fo rm al i tem s o f language a r e used t o symbolize i d e a s , o b j e c t s , a c t i o n s , s t a t e s o r q u a l i t i e s and c i r c u m s t a n c e s o f human e x p e r i e n c e . The use o f symbolism i s a n o t h e r r h e t o r i c a l d e v i c e used by a d d r e s s o r s t o c r e a t e a e s t h e t i c s i n t e x t s ? i t i s a common f e a t u r e o f f i c t i o n a l t e x t s . The metaphor and o t h e r f i g u r a t i v e e x p r e s s i o n s may combine t o c r e a t e imagery i n ¥oruba communication. A major d e v ic e f o r e x p r e s s i n g meanings i n Yoruba t e x t s i s th e use o f im ag ery . An image i s the p i o t u r e o f an o b j e c t c r e a t e d i n the mind ( c f . Longman D i c t i o n a r y , 1 9 7 6 ) o f an i n t e r p r e t a n t v i a the use o f a l i n g u i s t i c i te m o r group o f i t e m s . This p i c t u r e has t h r e e main p r o p e r t i e s i n the t e x t . F i r s t , i t r e p r e s e n t s an o b j e c t o r a s s o c i a t i o n between o b j e c t s in the r e a l world o f e x p e r i e n c e . Second, i t i s im prin ted on the mind o f the i n t e r p r e t a n t v i a one o r more o f t h e senses o f p e r c e p t i o n - * v i s u a l , a u r a l , t a c t i l e , a f f e c t i v e and v o c a l . And t h i r d , u s in g t h e r e l e v a n t s e n s e ( s ) as v e h i c l e f o r p e r c e i v i n g the image, an i n t e r p r e t a n t from ii is p e r c e p t i o n assigxxs meanings t o th e e x p r e s s i o n in t h e t e x t . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 127 An image i s u su a l ly c re a t e d in a t e x t v ia the r e p e t i t i o n o f l e x i c a l items and also v ia the use o f phonological and/or orthographic devices l i k e ideophones and s h i f t s i n type face and such f ig u res o f speech as s im ile , metaphor, p e r s o n i f i c a ­ t io n , e t c . A d e scr ip t io n o f these images may be made by simply observing and c l a s s i f y i n g them according to the senses which they s t im u la t e , a s i l l u s t r a t e d below: ^9 . Bo t i n \rb kqblkhbl b f i mkalu ryby. As s h e 's looking muddled l i k e a cow about to be slaughtered . 5 0 . Eja t { n dabu ru b ju gbongbo' bay l i 1 q. ------ 1 .......■ ■ mi B W W W M — 11111 ■ ' The f ish troubling the waters i s n ' t n e c e s s a r i l y a mighty one. . 51 . 'My de y x i, y y lyran an gbp o . 0 o loranan gbq o , 9 ? Ior^nnn gtxf o . This c h i l d , you do n 't l i s t e n to a d v ic e . You don't l i s t e n to adv ice . You do n 't l i s t e n to a d v ic e . 52. Ogu/ n 9 du/ n o\ nx/ o bke m by la ik u gboingbyin Gbyingbyin ni toke Twenty y ears from now A h i l l s t a y s undying unshakeably Unshakeably i s the h i l l UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 128 In Example 49 a v isual image i s c re a t e d via the use o f a s im ile which compares someone’ s looks with th a t o f a cow seeing the knife with which i t i s about to be s lau g h tered ; the meaning expressed here i s th a t o f a c l i e n t who i s confused. In Example 50 another visual image i s c r e a t e d , t h i s time via the use o f a metaphor. The ’ te n o r ’ o f the metaphor i s absent , while the ’ v e h ic le ' i n d i c a t e s a fish whose a c t i v i t y surpasses i t s s i z e ; the meaning expressed here shows the d e x t e r i t y o f * 4 an I fa p r i e s t , represented in absent ia as the te n o r , who i s humble o r simple in appearance. Example 51 i l l u s t r a t e s aural imagery c re a t e d via an a d d re s s o r ' s r e p e t i t i o n o f some l e x i c a l i te m s . And Example 52 shows a f f e c t i v e imagery p r o j e c t e d by the use o f an ideophone which suggests s trength and f irmness . The c r e a t i o n o f rhythm The i d e n t i f i c a t i o n of fe a tu re s o f Yoruba rhythm has been a very c o n t r o v e r s i a l i s s u e among s c h o l a r s s ince Slertsema (1959) who f i r s t i d e n t i f i e s the rhythm o f Yoruba with the English m e t r i c a l p a t te rn in g in which s t r e s s e d s y l l a b l e s o ccur a t re g u l a r i n t e r v a l s in r i g i d rhythm-units . Many s c h o la r s a f t e r him have e i t h e r r e g i s t e r e d t h e i r support, t o t a l o r p a r t i a l , o r p r o t e s t , mild or s t rong , a g a i n s t Siertsema ( c f , , * t 4 Babalola 1 9 6 6 , Oyelaran 1 9 7 5 , I s o la 1 9 7 5 , Oladeji 1 9 8 0 , UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 1 2 9 Afolayan 1982b and OlatunjI 198*0 r and they have in most cases suggested f e a tu r e s th a t ought to form the b a s is o f a discussion o f rhythm i n Yoruba t e x t s . Of co urse , there have been several suggest ions, o f which some are s t i l l controver­ s i a l while some are g e n e ra l ly acce p te d . I n order to describe f e a t u r e s of rhythm in Yoruba t e x t s , c e r t a i n f a c t s about rhythm are thus to be assumed. a . Most o f the sch o la rs mentioned above appear to be convinced o f the f a c t th a t s t r e s s cannot r i g h t l y be regarded as a basic fe a tu re o f Yoruba rhythm since the language i s s y l l a b l e - t i m e d . b. I t i s agreed th a t 'melody1 o r ' tu n e ' (Oyelaran, 1 9 7 5 )» o r prominence, tonal m o d if ic a t io n , modula­ t io n o f i n t e r v a l s between tones and s y l l a b l e lengthening ( O l a t u n j i , 1 9 8 4 ^ 6 1 ) , a re i r r e g u l a r and s u b j e c t iv e fe a tu re s o f performance o f t e x t s unlike rhythm which i s an o b j e c t i v e prop erty o f the t e x t . But there i s a lso some v a l i d i t y in I s o l a ' s (1975^781) claim t h a t i t may be e s s e n t i a l sometimes when describing performance t e x t s to account for prominence as well as the melodic p a t t e r n s (prominent s y l l a b l e s , duration o f breath pauses and length of an ornamental sequence o f UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 1 3 0 vowel s y l l a b l e s ) c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the t e x t s and the chanting modes to which they belong. However, since the f e a tu r e s o f melody are not r e a l l y varij iwaportarct in YTM t e x t s where the m ajo r i ty o f the t e x t s employ the modes of conversation and r e c i t a t i o n in s t e a d of the mode of chanting , such f e a tu r e s w ill not be considered in t h i s study, c . I t i s agreed th at the breath pauses In o r a l p o e t ry , which are conventionally marked on paper by l i n e - ends, are a major determinant o f rhythm in poems'^ C c f , I s o l a , 1 9 7 5 : 7 7 7 ) . d, 1 1 i s also agreed th a t s y n t a c t i c and sense p a r a l l e l i s m s are major determinants o f rhythm in Yoruba poetry ( c f , B abalo la , 1 9 6 6 ; Oyelaran, 1 9 7 5 ; O latunji 1 9 8 4 ) , Here we do not s in g le out any fe a tu re as the most important, n e i t h e r do we say t h a t only these two fe a tu re s determine the rhythm. Normally, a l l f e a tu r e s mentioned in *c* and ' d* above, including sometimes those in ' b» , c r e a t e rhythm in t e x t s . And many o f these f e a tu r e s can be accounted f o r by observing 1 , Mote th a t the p o e t ic form i s the usual mode employed in r e c i t a t i o n s in YTM divinatory and in c a n ta to ry t e x t s . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 131 the sentence patterns as w ell as the recurrences o f such patterns and oth er stru ctu res In the te x ts . p C ^ S ltlX K V o f 3•■?•&.& j sentence types in Yoruba te x ts fivery Yoruba sentence has a pattern which i s d escr ibab le in terms o f ( i ) the type o f the sentence, and ( i i ) the composition o f the sentence in terms o f grammatical and l e x i c a l item s. All the items in ' ( i i ) ' are, however, recognized with each sentence type in * ( ! ) ’ . Afolayan (1968) i d e n t i f i e s seven sentence types in Yoruba as fo l lo w s : the minor, simple, compound, complex, compound-complex, m u lt ip le and m ultip le-com plex sentences. . Apart from the minor sentence which does not have a p r e d ica to r , a l l the other s ix types have one or more p re d ica to rs . A simple sentence i s made up o f one main clause which has on ly one p re d ica to r , A compound sentence i s made up o f two main c la u ses , while a m ultip le sentence has three or more main c la u ses . A complex sentence has one main c lau se and a subordinate one attached to i t . A compound-complex sentence has two main c lau ses and one or more subordinate c la u ses , while a m ultip le-com plex sentence has three or more main clauses UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 132 and one o r more su b ord in a te c la u se s attached to them. A l e s s d e t a i l e d i d e n t i f i c a t i o n than the a b o v e ,ca n , however, c o n f l a t e the compound and m u lt ip le ty p es in to one 'compound' type and the th ree complex types in t o one broad 'c o m p le x ’ type ( c f . Bamgbose 1966 and 1967)• The compound sentence- w i l l then have two o r more main c la u s e s , w hile the complex sentence w i l l combine both main and su b ord in a te c la u s e s* In e s s e n ce , f o u r sentence ty p e s , v iz :, m inor, s im p le , compound and complex are re co g n ize d in t h i s s tu d y . Apart from in d ic a t in g the o r g a n is a t io n o f in fo r m a t io n in a t e x t the types o f sen ten ces may a f f e c t the rhythm o f the t e x t depending on how they are s e l e c t e d , repeated and ju x ta posed in i t . For example,, the rhythm o f a t e x t which i s dominated by a ju x t a p o s i t i o n o f s im i la r sentence o r c la u se types w i l l be more re g u la r than th at which has s e v e r a l t y p e s in i t . 3 . 2 » $ . Recurrence o f patterns in Yornba t e x ts P a tte rn s o f sen ten ces may re cu r in two ways in Yoruba t e x t s . In one way, recu rren ce may be t o t a l in the s e n s e .o f f u l l r e p e t i t i o n o f l e x i c a l and s t r u c t u r a l items in two or. more main c la u s e s o r s e n te n ce s . In another way, r e c u r r e n c e . may be p a r t i a l in the sense o f p a r t i a l r e p e t i t i o n o f l e x i c a l and s t r u c t u r a l item s in two o r more main c la u s e s o r s e n te n ce s . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 133 Both kinds o f recurrences enhance the rhythm in Yoruba t e x ts , thus they w i l l be elaborated upon b r i e f l y in the paragraphs below. As already stated above, r f u l l le x ic o - s t r u c tu r a l rep et it ion * in v o lv es a r e p e t i t io n o f the structure as well as the l e x i c a l items in sentences o f a tex t ( c f . Bamgbose, 1982br 8 8 ) . This r e p e t i t io n may occur in contiguous l in e s o r sentences in a t e x t , as can be observed in Text 1 (1 1 . 2*1-25) or Text 4 (1 1 . P.-h) ; o r i t may occur in a ltern a te l in e s /s e n te n c e s or fo l low in g an in te rv a l o f l in e s /s e n te n ce s as in Texts 12 and 18. Full l e x ic o - s t r u c tu r a l r e p e t i t io n serves mainly to emphasize or in te n s i fy the theme o f the repeated s tru ctu res in a t e x t . 'P a r t ia l l e x i c o - s t r u c tu r a l r e p e t i t i o n ' in v o lv es a r e p e t it io n o f the s tructure with a va r ia tion o f one or more l e x i c a l items (Bamgbose, 1982br88). A major featu re o f t h is kind o f re p e t it io n i s ' l e x i c a l matching*1 which i s a very usefu l concept as far as d escr ib in g rhythmic features in Yoruba tex ts i s concerned. According to Bamgbose ( i b i d ) , l e x i c a l matching i s characterized mainly by the ju x ta p os it ion o f l e x i c a l items in such a way as to exh ib it a semantic con trast or correspondence. A semantic contrast i s made, fo r example, in the matching o f the antonyms jake and ja l e Tl See Bamgbose (I982br 82-9A) for a f u l l e r d iscu ss ion o f these fea tu re . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 134 in Text IP (n ee 1 1 .1 5 -1 6 ) , whereas i t i s semantic correspondence that i s i l lu s t r a t e d by the matched synonyms lowo and l^ la (•have money' and 'have r i c h e s ' ) in Text 19, 11* 9 -10 . Items matched in a text very o ften belong to the same semantic range, fo r example, lowo and l y l a above are re la ted to the concept o f 'w ea lth ' in Yorubaland. I .ex ica l matching i s basic to three other fea tu res o f rhythm in Yoruba, v i z . tonal counterpoint, word p lay and 'p a r a l l e l i s m . ' Tonal counterpoint r e fe r s to "th e d e lib era te s e le c t io n o f contrastin g tones in id e n t ic a l p laces in a set s tructura l patterns where two or more l e x i c a l items are matched or a s in g le item i s played upon" (Bamgbose, 1 9 8 ?b :8 9 ). The items underlined in Example 53 below i l l u s t r a t e the features o f tonal counterpoint. 53» Mo jewee vov'b Mo jewee awpde (Text P1, 11. 17-18) I eat the roro l e a f I eat the nwede l e a f (The tonal con trast in the matched items can be represented as ML/MMM.)1 The type o f word play which always in v o lv e s l e x i c a l matching i s l e x i c a l word p lay in which two l e x i c a l items which d i f f e r in tone or in both vowel and tone are played upon. 77 The three tonal p o s s i b i l i t i e s for the Yoruba s y l la b le are the High (H) , Mid (M) and Low (L) r e s p e c t iv e ly . See O latunji (I984r32, 209) fo r some o f the co n tra st iv e p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f tonal counterpoin t. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 135 See, fo r example, the p lay on the underlined items in the i l l u s ­ tra t io n below, Wyn nxpe txitututu la a ba korfko gbakuq ^runnrtla n^ ar^ t i tu un bayi^ (Text 11, 11, 61-62) They said i t i s coo l freshness that we meet the grass in a swamp Orunmila said he now f e l t r e l iev ed P a ra lle lism " in v o lv e s a ju x ta p os it ion o f sentences with a s im ila r stru ctu re , a matching o f at l e a s t two l e x i c a l item s in each s tru ctu re , a comparison between the juxtaposed sentences, and a centra l idea expressed through complementary statements in the sentences" (Bamgboye, 1982br90), The feature can be i l lu s t r a t e d with an extra ct below, \ 5k* Iku i ^un l?Ca pa<4 ni A run x our l£ a m̂ a ye 4 Kgu i oun l^a m4a b^a ja Death said he would k i l l him Disease said he would be a f f l i c t i n g him Esu sa id he would be f ig h t in g him / \ V \ \ The items matched in the example above are Iku/Arun/Esu, on the one hand, and pa a /ye e/b^ a j k . on the other hand. The f i r s t group in d ic a te s the names o f the b e l l ig e r e n t enemies o f man (se e A,1 ,2 , 1 ) , while the second group in d ica te s the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 136 harmful in te n t io n s o f th ese enem ies. And th e c e n t r a l id e a i s that o f the agents causing problems f o r man. Th$ - e x p r e s s i v e and r h e t o r i c a l c a t e g o r ie s d e s c r ib e d above form a p a rt o f the p ro d u ct iv e t o o l s o f meaning in t e x t s ; most o f them are e s p e c i a l l y r e le v a n t in the d eterm in a tion o f modes and types o f t e x t s . 3 .3 . The Procedure o f A n a ly s is o f YTM Texts I t i s a lrea d y s ta te d in th is work that the co n te x tu a l t e x t framework employed in t h i s study in c o r p o r a t e s some p r in c i p l e s and methods o f s t y l i s t i c s in o r d e r to c a te r f o r th ose c h a r a c t e r i s t i c fe a tu r e s o f YTM t e x t s which are s t y l i s t i c s - o r ie n t e d . The procedure o f a n a ly s is o f YTM t e x t s i s s ta te d below f i r s t by h ig h l ig h t in g the p r e s u p p o s it io n s o f the a n a ly s is about some fundamental i s s u e s o f t e x t u a l a n a ly s is l i k e 'norm and d e v i a t i o n ' , 'p r o m in e n ce ' , ' f o r e g r o u n d in g ' , a t o m iz a t io n ' , ' in fe r e n c e * and ' s t a t i s t i c a l m eth od s ', and second by . p re s e n t in g a schem atic a n a ly s is o f a model YTM te x t v ia the l e v e l s and c a t e g o r ie s o f E t f e a r l i e r s ta te d above . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 3*5*1 Some fundamental issu es in textual an alysis ’ Norm and deviation* i s a p r in c ip le o f s t y l i s t i c comparison o f tex ts in which deviant or ’ marked’ features which g ive in d iv idu a l o r corporate tex ts th e ir p e c u l ia r i t y o r id e n t i t y are id e n t i f ie d and given sp ec ia l a tten tion against the normal ’ unmarked* featu res o f such texts ( c f . Leech, 1969)* But the concepts o f ’ norm’ and ’ d ev ia t ion ’ have been a thorny su b ject * o f d iscussion in s t y l i s t i c s for some time now*. For in sta n ce , while scholars l i k e Wellek (I960) and Adejare (1981) have both pointed out the danger o f id e n t i fy in g s t y l i s t i c s p r in c ip a l ly with the study o f featu res which are dev iations from and d is to r t io n s o f the l i n g u i s t i c norm, Adejare (198lr5 -47 ) has fu rther c r i t i c i z e d the a rb itra r in e ss and s u b je c t iv i ty which o fte n accompany the s e le c t io n o f norms in s t y l i s t i c analyses. Of course, some sch olars do agree that s ty le may not be deviation from but achievement o f a norm ( c f . Hymes, I960 ; H a llid ay , 1973a); they do not, however, dispute the fa c t that norm and deviation are v a lid concepts that cannot be d issoc ia ted from s t y l i s t i c s as O la d e ji ( I9 8 0 t l4 ) r ig h t ly observes? "S ty le i s inseparable from comparison^ whether ' i t i s conceived in terms o f d ev ia t ion , v a r ia t io n , ch o ice or foregrounding ." UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 13$ The issu e o f a rb itra r in ess o f norm s e le c t io n i s undoubtedly a problem: in norm and deviation based s t y l i s t i c stu d ies s in ce there i s no s in g le u n iv ersa lly relevant norm to which a l l sets o f expec­ ta n c ies may b e .r e fe r r e d . According to H aliiday ( l9 7 3 a r I1 4 ) , there are d i f fe re n ce s o f both p ersp ective and a tten t ion ; and, the expectancies may l i e *in the language as a whole, In a d ia typ ic v a r ie ty or r e g is t e r , genre, l i t e r a r y form, o r In some sp ec ia l in s t i t u t io n * . The tex t may thus be seen as th is in contrast to that , another poem or another novel and r e ith e r may b e taken as the point o f departure* - maybe I t i s even more h e lp fu l to lo o k at a given * instance o f prominence in one way rather than in another, sometimes as departure from a norm and sometimes as the attainment o f a norm. In th is study, we are not p a r t ic u la r ly concerned about devising a norm f o r YTM t e x t s . I t i s even premature to do so now. Until there are norms a v a ila b le f o r d i f fe r e n t texts with which YTM tex ts * can be compared, we sha ll be contented with our modest o b je c t iv e o f id e n t i fy in g fea tu res c h a r a c te r is t ic of these te x ts andhow some, o f these fea tu res s ig n i f i c a n t ly p r o je c t the messages o f the te x ts . Two concepts that are o f great importance in s t y l i s t i c an a lysis are ‘ prominence* and * foregrou n d in g ', H alliday Cl97.3arll3) conceives o f prominence as l in g u i s t i c h ig h lig h t in g , % a phenomenon whereby some features o f the language o f a text stand out in some way; whereas, he conceives o f 'foregrounding* as ’ motivated prominence* o r ’ l i t e r a r y relevance*. L in g u is t ic items are o f l i t e r a r y relevance i f they contribute to the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 139 message o f a tex t as a whole* such items need not he regular in order to he foregrounded, whereas i t i s p o s s ib le fo r a feature to be prominent l i n g u i s t i c a l l y in a text without being foregrounded. Since a comprehensive s t y l i s t i c d escr ip t ion i s e s s e n t ia l ly an in corp ora t ion o f language and l i t e r a t u r e , i t i s proper that both features o f l i n g u i s t i c prominence and l i t e r a r y relevance should serve as the basic parameters for assessing the s ig n i f i c a n c e o f formal features o f t e x ts . I t i s reasonable to expect that numerical data on language are normally s t y l i s t i c a l l y s ig n i f i c a n t during a n a ly s is , but th is fa c t i s s t i l l not always accepted by s t y l i s t ie ia n s * A major o b je c t io n to th is i s that s ince s ty le i s a m anifestation o f the in d iv id u a l , i t cannot be reduced to counting. Another o b je c t io n i s that the number o f occurrences must be ir re le v a n t to s ty le because we are not aware o f frequency in language and th ere fo re cannot respond to i t . These two o b je c t io n s , accord ing to H alliday (1973a:: 116-117), are not v a l id to the po in t at i s s u e . While he agrees that a d i s t in c t iv e frequency d is t r ib u t io n i s in i t s e l f no guarantee o f s t y l i s t i c re levan ce , he, n everth e less , b e l ie v e s that a rough s t a t i s t i c a l in d ica t io n o f frequencies would o ften be h e lp fu l to check the a n a ly s t 's a sser t ion s that some featu re / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 140 i s prominent in the t e x t . Leech and Short (I98 lr5 2 ) a lso concede that even though the id e a l o f a com pletely o b je c t iv e d escr ip t ion o f s ty le i s a myth, 'we can on ly aim at r e la t iv e ly r e l ia b le statements backed by s u f f i c i e n t evidence about what i s frequent or in frequent in a t e x t ' . Statements o f frequency, they however warned, must be made in some kind o f comparison ou ts ide the tex t or corpus, otherwise they w i l l be vacuous. 'A tom ization ' i s another concept that has a lso featured prominently in the c r i t i c is m o f s t y l i s t i c methods. One m anifestation o f t h is feature i s explained by Adejare (1981) as the use o f a fra c t ion o r an in s ig n i f i c a n t part o f a tex t to represent a tex t during a n a ly s is , as i s done by Ohmann (196^) who uses part o f a long passage from The Bear to id e n t i f y I Faulkner's s t y le , and a lso M il ic (1967) who uses passages to id e n t i f y Sxvift 's s t y le . Another kind o f ’ atomism can be observed in the use o f one l i n g u i s t i c l e v e l such as grammar, l e x i s ( e . g . S p itzer , 1962) or phonology, or even part o f i t * or a system such as t r a n s i t iv i t y ( c f . H a llid ay , 1973a) or mood or theme to derive a message. Although atomism i s a recogn ised l im ita t io n o f s t y l i s t i c s tu d ies , i t seems an unavoidable procedure in the p r a c t ic e in the face o f odds and apparent im p o s s ib i l i t i e s o f having a complete d escr ip t ion o f any t e x t . In such a circumstance, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY l h l the c r i t e r io n o f s u f f i c ie n c y should be met i f s tu d ies are predicated on proper data sampling methods as well as c le a r statements o f the p r in c ip le s o f s e le c t io n o f m aterials and a n a ly t ica l t o o l s . Apart from the issu es ra ised above, the way some s t y l i s t ! c i a n s make in feren ces from a d escr ip t ion o f form to id e n t i f i c a t i o n o f * • messages o f tex ts has come under severe attack ( s e e , e s p e c ia l ly , Fish 1980) • Fish (1980;207) claims that, normally, an alysis o f formal patterns are supposed to be products o f a p r io r in te r p r e t iv e act ( c f . a lso Hirsch 1976r2Zj) , which im p lies that id e n t i f i c a t i o n o f textual function ought to precede formal a n a ly s is , and not v ic e -v e rs a . So fa r , evidence abounds to show that the values which s t y l i s t i c ia n s assign to forms o f . tex ts are always premeditated even though such values are o ften delayed l ' ( o r , sometimes, neglected) u n t i l the end o f the d escr ip t ion in order to g ive p r i o r i t y to the forms which the analysts derive so much pleasure in d e scr ib in g . In a d escr ip t ion which focuses on textual fu n ction , however, forms are not assigned with messages or values but rather are observed in terms o f th e ir r o le s in tex ts in a s itu a t ion a l context o f communication. This l a t t e r viewpoint f o r e s t a l l s the l o g i c a l error that i s im p l i c i t in a s t y l i s t i c assumption that form c o r r e la te s with function or that s ty le compels message ( c f . H irsch, 1976). I t i s more reasonable to claim , in stead , that a p a r t icu la r UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 142 function determines the use o f certa in forms in texts and that such forms are to be descr ibed , i f need be, in respect o f the fu nctions which they perform. One important po in t that requires fu rther e laboration from the paragraph above i s the fa ct that some l i n g u i s t i c s t y l i s t ! c i a n s have o fte n been observed to pride themselves in the e laboration o f forms in textual an alysis at the expense o f the textual fu n c t io n . S t y l i s t i c c r i t i c s claim that un like l i t e r a r y c r i t i c s who use l i t e r a r y ca te g o r ie s to e x p l ica te values which they have assigned to te x ts , some l i n g u i s t i c s t y l i s t i c i a n s focus on an a lysis o f form to which they may or may not assign any fu nctional va lues . Each o f these two procedures has i t s l im ita t io n s i f applied for in stan ce , a l i t e r a r y approach which overconcentrates on textual values w i l l l o s e s igh t o f the relevant forms o f language in the study while a purely l i n g u i s t i c approach w i l l serve as a good academic e x e rc ise without b e n e f it t in g experience . But when j o i n t l y applied to textual a n a ly s is , the r e s u lt s o f the marriage o f the two procedures can be very encouraging to understanding the form and function o f t e x ts . Recent s t y l i s t i c stu d ies have fu rther emphasized the need for the in corp ora t ion o f l i n g u i s t i c and l i t e r a r y procedures in textual a n a ly s is ( c f . Fowler, 1971; Leech and Short, 198l) , UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 143 and th is trend cannot be d iss o c ia te d , e s p e c ia l ly , from observa­ t ion s that have been made by sch o la rs in th is re sp e ct . For example, Jacobson (I960r377) has e a r l i e r observed that, " , , . a l in g u is t deaf to the p o e t ic function o f language and a l i t e r a r y scholar in d i f fe r e n t to l i n g u i s t i c problems are . flagrant anachronisms” . And in a s im ilar vein , Fowler (1 9 7 1 r l l ) a lso has sta ted expressly thus: I t would not be surpris in g i f knowledge o f language in general did not enhance the understanding o f s p e c i f i c in stan ces o f language u se . There i s thus a p r io r argument in favour o f c r i t i c s and students knowing about language by knowing some general l i n g u i s t i c s , l a s t l y , Birch (1989:182) representing the views o f other sch olars l i k e Fowler, K ress, Bodge, e t c , has a lso sta ted that in in te rp re t in g te x ts as s o c i a l l y determined, language analysts * should be in volved in understanding the p rocesses , functions and meanings o f s o c ia l in te r a c t io n . There i s no doubt that such so c io -cu m -l i te ra ry l i n g u i s t i c views as are expressed above un derlie the presentation o f S tl and thus, consequently , r e f l e c t in the task o f an alysis below. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 144 3*3*2 A schismatic an a lysis o f a model TO! text The an a lysis o f Model Text A, presented b e l o w , i s done schem atica lly under two major c la s s i f ic a t io n s : - content an a lysis and formal analysis* The an a lysis o f the te x t content deals with the various in te rp re ta t io n s o f what i s sa id in the tex t under such ca te g o r ie s as s i tu a t io n , use , fu n ct ion , message and stru ctu re , while the an a lysis o f tex t form deals with the ab stract representation o f what i s sa id under the ca te g o r ie s d iscussed ex ten s ive ly under 3*2 above* The prelim inary an a lysis o f tex t done here i s expected to g ive the d ire c t ion o f our presentation and d iscussion o f the features o f TTM tex ts in Chapters four and five* 3*3*2.1 The an a lysis o f content o f Text A MODEL TEXT A Iya Qmqr ^ kaaar

u/< ̂ ' i t ' (11*26-27. 28, 2Q) E l l i p s i s £e k& s f /"nkan J ©? 'Hope th ere i s n ' t / " an yth in g/ wrong? (1 1 .4 ,5 ) kkkbri) n i £ 6 mu u / * ' I t i s an in fe c t io n / " th a t he has c o n ta c te d J7* (1 1 .6 ,7 ) S u b s titu tio n orrti »w a t e r ' e w e d u ' a v e g e t a b le ', e.1a tutu 'fr e s h f i s h ' , eran tu tu 'fr e s h m eat'y....... gbogbo kinnx y^n ' a l l those th in g s ' (1 1 .1 5 -1 9 , 237 Conjunction s i ' a l s o ' r c l . x i i i * —> c l . x iv L e x i c a l Cohesion 1 * L e x i c a l r e p e t it io n omp ' c h i l d ' (4 tim es): 1 1 .5 ,1 0 ,1 3 and l 8r kbkorb ' i n f e c t i o n ' (2 t im e s): 1 1 . 7 and. 32: agbo 'h erb a l m edicine' ( 2 - tim e s): 1 1 .1 0 ,2 7 ) : omi 'w a ter' (4 t im e s): 1 1 . 13-16 i. The symbol lo o k s forward, — ' . l o o k s backward lo o k s both forward and backward, and •O-* mediates* UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 154 Cohesive t i e s Item s and L o c a tio n 2 . L e x i c a l r e la t io n s h ip s a . hyponymy oogun ’ m edicine'r agbo 'h erb a l m edicine', epo 'palm o i l ' , cream (1 1 . 26- 33) ; . efo 'v e g e t a b l e ' : gbure (1 1 . 24- 25) . h . co-hyponyms omi 'w a t e r ' , ew£du, e.1a tutu ' f r e s h f is h ^ran tutu ' f r e s h m e a t ', i l a 'o k ro ' ( 1 1 .19-?4) c . antonymy 9_ia ttrtu 'f r e s h f is h '/ e .i a gbfgbe 'd r ie d f i s h ' 3* L e x i c a l c o l l o c a t i o n ngbo 'h erb a l medicine' r mu ' d r i n k ' , 'b a t h e ' : cream: pa ara 'rub the b o d y ': epo 'palm o i l ' s ra e t£ 'rub the ear' ,1e ' e a t ' : ew£d6 . . i l t< ' o k ^fo 'v e g e t a b l e s ' , e t c . , r o ' , ?ran 'm e a t ' , mu ' d r i n k ' : omi 'w a t e r 'r agbo 'h erb a l m e d ic in e '. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 155 -}---------------------- - Clause s Theme Eh eme S ta tu s 1 £ kaaaro moral. unmkd You (g r e e tin g ) morning madam ^ V X \ i i Et kaaartp o . unmkd You (g r ee tin g ) morning i i i . 5 pel^ o . unmkd You h e llo X T I I I nk£ o ? unmkd Home how i s i t ? T A dupnu 9----- unmkd L e t you a lso go and buy a b o t t l e ----- XV E1 ma jpmq yxn a mumx mq 0 . unmkd You don't allow your c h i ld to drink water again----- x vi Ko mmpd Compi ex _____&o____________________L 12.5% 3° 75% 2 „,5%..— _ J ___ 7.5% UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 162 c , L e x i c o - s t r u ctu ral fe a tu r e s (1) S tr u c t u r a l r e p e t it io n ( i ) ¥.6 m<$ mural. Ko my j ewedu (1,15) L e t hira not drink w ater. L e t him not eat ewedu soup, ( i i ) E 6 m£a mu u , ko n ta a .w ^ J (1 1 , 27- 28) L e t him be d r in k in g , l e t him be b athing with i t , (The two examples above have matched l e x i c a l item s in them, u n d erlin ed ,) (2) P e c u l ia r l e x i c a l item s Kokbro ' i n f e c t i o n ' (1 .7 ) * aye wo 'exam ination' (1 . 22) , oogun 'm edicine' (1 1 . 21 , 53)* agbo 'h erb a l m edicine' ( 1 3 .1 0 ,2 7 ) . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 163 CHAPTER POUR k.O THE CONTENT FEATURES OF YTM TEXTS /"What d is t in g u is h e s the sch o la r from the amateur c o l l e c t o r i s h i s a b i l i t y to open up the t e x t , to analyse i t in such a way as to bring out i t s l i t e r a r y and s t y l i s t i c m e rits— -Ayo Bamgbose (198?a) " C o n s titu e n ts o f Yoruba S t u d i e s " , p .7 h . l The S it u a t io n a l Features Follow ing the parameters o f f i e l d , tenor and mode sta te d e a r l i e r in t h i s work fo r d e scr ib in g the s i t u a t io n a l fe a tu r e s o f t e x t s (se e 3. 1 . 1 ) , the d iscu ssio n below i d e n t i f i e s some o f the fe a tu res o f s it u a t io n in YTM t e x t s under three major subheadings p lu s a summary, thus: the f i e l d o f YTM t e x t s , the tenor o f YTM t e x t s , the mode o f YTM t e x t s and a summary o f s i t u a t i o n a l f e a t u r e s . The d isc u ssio n a lso in co rp o ra te s r ele v a n t inform ation from the a v a i l a b l e l i t e r a t u r e on the su b je ct UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 164 4*1*1 The ^ ie ld o f YTH te x ts The f i e l d o f YTM can be described around the knowledge and b e l i e f s o f the Yoruba people about the i n s t i t u t i o n . S in ce i t i s perhaps s a fe r to employ the term ’ b e l i e f ' than 'knowledge' in d e scr ib in g p e o p le 's thoughts and experience about a f i e l d or i n s t i t u t i o n , we s h a ll adopt t h i s term here when we consider three major b e l i e f s o f the Yoruba i n YTM, v i z . the b e l i e f in the su p ern a tu ral, the b e l i e f in magic and medicine and the b e l i e f in the r o le o f language i n m edicine, 4*1.1*1 The b e l i e f in the supernatural The supernatural element in the Yoruba s o c i a l b e l i e f i s very s tr o n g . I n h i s a r t i c l e on "th e supernatural in the Yoruba f o l k t a l e " Olayemi (1975r958ff) claim s th at the Yoruba c u ltu r e cannot be said to be an u n d iff e r e n t i a t e d natural-cum - supernatural w orld. The people make a c le a r d i s t in c t io n between the two w orlds, although there i s constant i n t e r ­ p en etratio n between them in the Yoruba d ay-to -d ay exp erience. The m ysteries o f l i f e which defy natural e x p la n a tio n s, la c k o f adequate knowledge o f n atural phenomena and the fe a r o f the unknown, among other f a c t o r s , are resp o n sib le fo r t h i s b e l i e f o f t h e i r s in the world o f the su p ern a tu ral. From the depth UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 165 o f t h e i r experience, the Yoruba b e lie v e i n the in te r v e n tio n o f /rods, demi-gods and s p i r i t s i n the l i v e s o f human beings (Olayem i, 1975^960) , and also admit the f a c t about the c r e a tio n and con trol o f the u niverse by God. The e x is te n c e o f supernatural powers in the Yoruba world view, as i t p e r ta in s to the YTf-T f i e l d , may be i d e n t i f i e d i n three groups which are mentioned below. F i r s t i s O lorun, God, the supreme D e ity who e x i s t s in the psyche o f human beings and i s regarded as the f i n a l a r b i t e r in t h e i r a f f a i r s . The Yoruba b e lie v e in the ex iste n c e o f a supreme D e ity , but t h i s i s not in the con text o f u n q u a lif ie d monotheism ( c f . Idowu, 196? and O l a d e j i , 1980) . There are l e s s e r gods with varying powers and in flu e n c e over the a c t i v i t i e s o f human beings but subordinate to the supreme D e it y . These gods represent the second group o f supernatural powers i n YTT4 and they serve as in te r m e d ia r ie s between God and the people because they are considered c lo s e r to him by v ir tu e o f t h e i r supernatural q u a l i t y . The gods most d i r e c t l y connected with YTM are I f a , ^sanyin and F su , where the former two, e s p e c i a l l y the f i r s t , are c o n s ta n tly invoked as d i v i n i t i e s o f medicine and the l a t t e r invoked by h e r b a l i s t s during the appeasement o f the e v il s p i r i t s b e lie ve d to be resn o n sib le for human problems, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 166 who are messengers o f Esu (see below) . I fa i s noted among- the Yoruba as the most p o p u la r, though not the most s e n io r , among the d iv in it ie s * . He i s the o r a c le o f d i v i n i t y revered fo r h i s wisdom and f o r e s i g h t , thus nicknamed A-kere-finu-^ogbqm . (He who i s young but f u l l o f wisdom). Because he was believed to be present with God at the time o f c r e a tio n an at the sharing o f d e s t in ie s he i s p o p u la rly r e fe r r e d to as d E l^ r x i Ip-in (see Text 7 , 1 1 . 6 1 -6 2 ). And he i s a lso c a l l e d A-s^r^-dayo because he w i l l always o f f e r p o s i t i v e s o lu t io n s to even the most complex problems. I f a ' s younger brother i s (J)sanyin who i s a lso revered for h i s herbal experience and knowledge oT m edicine. The th ir d group o f supernatural powers are ’ s p i r i t s ' who share two major d i f f e r e n t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . . There are the Oku Orun (A n ce str a l s p i r i t s ) who are e s s e n t i a l l y benevolent to t h e i r p ro g en ies, but they need to be appeased from time to time to prevent th e ir p o s s ib le anger when t h i r s t y . There are a lso the e v i l s p i r i t s who are b e l l i g e r e n t enemies o f man and messengers o f E su , the Yoruba t r i c k s t e r god (Abimbola, 1 9 76rl52). Prominent among the e v i l s p i r i t s are Tku (D e a th ), resp o n sib le fo r taking man's l i f e ; - Arun ( D is e a s e ) , resp o n sib le for a f f l i c t i n g man with i l l n e s s ^ b fo ( L o s s ) , who destroys or c a r r ie s away man's p ro p erty- the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 167 V l*f (W itc h e s) , whom Idowu (1973:276) d escrib es as "unm itigated e v il i n i t s essence, m align an t, o b s t r u c t in g , s p o i l i n g and o u t-a n d -o u t d i a b o l i c a l " ! and the Abiku, the e v i l ch ild re n who derive p leasu re i n th e ir c y c l i c p a tte rn o f 'd y in g and being born a ga in ' fo r as many times as they may w ish , s u b je c tin g t h e ir mothers to endless m ise rie s and agonies o f g i v i n g b ir th to a c h i ld rep eated ly and watching the same d i e . The e v i l s p i r i t s are b elieved to be r e sp o n sib le fo r disea ses which have p r e te rn a tu ra l or m y stica l c a u s a tio n . And when they do t h i s , e f f o r t s are made to appease them v ia Esu or the benevolent gods and God. l t . 1 . 1 . 2 The b e l i e f in magic and medicine t: There i s no doubt th at for a lo n g time the p r a c t ic e o f YTM has been shrouded i n m ystery. But i t w i l l be too h a and un fortu n ate to i n f e r from t h i s th a t the system i s an sty unbridled m agical one without any em pirical procedure. The conception o f YTO might become c le a r e r i f one understands th a t i t i s a system i n which both the m aterial and s p i r i t u a l i n t e r r e l a t e i n the world o f 'm agic' and 'm e d ic in e ' . M agic and medicine are recognised as independent fe a tu r e s i n t h e i r own r i g h t , but they merge i n YTM. Dopanra (1977:34-93) UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 168 d escrib es magic as the re co g n itio n by man o f supernatural powers in the u n iverse as w e ll as unseen powers in h a b it in g c e r t a in o b j e c t s , and an attempt to u t i l i z e and con trol these fo r a ch ie v in g o n e 's ends. In f a c t , t h i s re co g n itio n o f magic 4 u n d e r lie s the very essence o f f a i t h h e a lin g i n g e n e r a l, as Servadio Cl965r?3/f) observes:- " . . . t h e y ( i . e . f a i t h h ealers) a s s e r t th a t the organisms o f c e r t a in in d iv id u a ls emit p h y s ic a l fo r c e s th at are s t i l l l i t t l e known, to which they g iv e variou s n a m e s .. . .T h e y claim th at these emanations can have th erap euti c valu e . . . " But in c o n tra st to m agic, Dopamu (1977) d efin es medicine as the a r t o f u s in g a v a i l a b l e resources o f nature fo r th era p eu tic and p r o p h y la c tic purposes. Medicine in the narrower sense may be used to t r e a t minor ailm ents l i k e cough, c o ld s , yaws, minor a ch es, veneral d i s e a s e s , e t c . which have n a tu ral or p h y s ic a l c a u s a tio n ' but when in c a n ta tio n s or e s o te r ic systems are adopted to heal or prevent d isea ses which have supernatural or m y stica l c a u s a tio n , then magic w i l l have been m anifested i n m edicine. M agical medicine can thus be described as a system which employs both em pirical and non-em pirical o b je c t s for the prevention and treatment o f d is e a s e s . M agic and medicine are in sep a ra b le w ith in the wider context o f oogun, m edicine, which may be p o s i t i v e ( c u r a t iv e and UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY .169 preventive) or n e g a tiv e (bod medicine) end personal o r communal; and i t i s d i f f i c u l t to know where one ends and the other b e g in s . However, in g e n e r a l, sch o la r s ( c f . Idowu, 1973:199) seem to reserve the use o f medicine fo r the m edicinal herbs o r drugs1 o f any kind whose p r o p e r tie s are assessed e m p ir ic a ll y , while they reserve magic for the symbolic and r i t u a l a sp ects accompanying the p rep aration or a p p lic a t io n o f the herbs and d ru g s. The observance o f r i t u a l magic i s very r e le v a n t to YTM as already observed by Idowu ( I 973r20) , thusr "»».And from the point o f view o f the p a t i e n t s , i t i s often d i f f i c u l t to know whether i t i s the a ctu a l medicine or the accompanying ceremonies, or both to g e th e r , th a t e f f e c t a c u r e ." M agical r i t u a l s are observed in the system in form o f b e l i e f s , o b je c t s and a c t i o n s . A few prominent ones among these are discussed in the next few paragraphs. O l a t u n ji (198/+) has already noted the Yoruba b e l i e f in sym pathies, l i k e other races which p r a c t i s e m agic; and t h i s b e l i e f m a n ife sts i t s e l f in four major forms in YTMr homeopathic m agic, con tagiou s m agic, the magic o f names and o r ig i n s and the magical power o f words. Tn homeopathic m agic, i t i s believed th a t an o b je c t can transm it some a sp e cts o f i t s nature to other bodies; fo r example, For i l l u s t r a t i o n s o f some Yoruba le a v e s and t h e i r herbal fu n c tio n s , see Verger (1967) and Abraham (1 95 8). See Dopamu (1977) for a l i s t - o f some p o s s ib le p reparations o f m edicine, th e ir purposes, in g r e d ie n ts and a p p l i c a t i o n . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 170 " - . . a n ir o n r o d . . . car make a c h i l d ' s lim bo stronger because i t i s hard and the sweet potato or honey can by i t s nature o f sweet­ ness m a k e 'l i fe sweet and more a b u n d a n t,* .” ( O l a t u n j i , 1984:141). Contagious m agic, i n co n tra st to t h i s , operates on the assumption th a t o b je c t s once r e la t e d or contiguous can s t i l l r e t a in t h e i r connection though they may be separated , and whatever happens 4 to one p a r t or o b je c t w i l l a f f e c t the other p a r t . Thus, a p e r so n 's n a i l p a i r i n g s , items o f c l o t h i n g , urine or menses may be used to harm or enchant him or her ( c f . O l a t u n j i , i b i d . , ) . . The magic o f names operates on the assumption th a t a l l th in g s , animate or in anim ate, and even d i v i n i t i e s , hav e se c r e t or prim ordial names the knowledge o f which enables the enchanter to co n tro l them and the powers immanent i n them. And the magic o f o r i g i n s r e s t on the b e l i e f th at i f one knows the o r ig i n s and primeval experiences o f the in c a n ta to r y a g e n ts , one would be able to co n tro l these agents? fo r example, i f one knows the o r ig i n s o f Ona (th e Way), one can walk anywhere by day or nigh t without fe a r ( O l a t u n j i , 1984). L a s t l y , the Yoruba people b e lie v e in the power o f the spoken word. A l o t has been s a id a lrea d y by sch o la r s on the power o f words and t h e i r magical e f f e c t s , but i t w i l l s u f f i c e here to quote the views o f three eminent s c h o la r s on t h i s aspectr UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 171 a . . . . I f there i s power in w ishes, t h r e a t s , commands u n u ttered , how much g r e a te r must be the power o f words which a ff ir m or d escribe what the magician wants to come to p a s s . . . (Webster, 1948r92) b. Words can be vulnerable as w ell as p o w e r f u l . ; . This a t t i t u d e towards w o r d s . . . in A f r i c a and, I b e lie v e , elsewhere, a p p lie s not o n ly to s u b sta n tiv e s but to verbal thought in ge n e ra l. Thus, such th oughts, e s p e c i a l l y when w is h fu l , are o f t e n regarded as having e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f a s im ila r Order to th a t o f any p h y s ic a l a c t i v i t y . . . ( C a r o th e r s , I959r 309) c . I t i s in d u b ita b le th a t words are'im pregnated with power. Throughout the a g e s , speech has been the convenient v e h ic le for the expression o f thought. That th ought, o f n e c e s s i t y , precedes a speech which i s the product o f thought Cannot be denied. Words then become the key th a t unlocks e v eryth in g , and we can say i n t h i s event th at verbal statem ents or expressions a n t ic ip a t e o b je c t iv e events - a promise a n t i c i p a t e s a c t io n ; th r e a ts a n t ic ip a t e punishment; r e q u e sts , e s p e c i a l l y put i n the r ig h t form" and with s e r io u s n e s s , a n t ic ip a t e genuine needs. (Dopamu, I977r551) The p a r tic ip a n t s * b e l i e f s i n YTM encourage the performance o f c e r t a in r i t u a l acficns in the f i e l d during the treatment o f d is e a s e s . I n d is c u s s in g r i t u a l events h e r e , the d e f i n i t i o n o f F i t z g e r a ld (1975r206-207) i s assumed as i t reader . . . a human undertaking in v o lv in g a complex o f words and a c tio n s aimed a t communication with s p i r i t u a l e n t i t i e s or m otivation o f cosmic p r i n c i p le s whose purpose i s transform ative and whose manner o f performance i s c u l t u r a l l y p r e s c r ib e d . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 172 Some r i t u a l events i n YTM p r a c t ic e in c lu d e the performance o f s a c r i­ f i c e s , r i t u a l communication, the ca rr y in g out o f c e r ta in p rescrib ed ge stu re s or a c tio n s in c e r ta in p o s tu r e s , s c a r i f i c a t i o n s , c h a n tin g , observing some r i t u a l dancing or ceremonies, e t c . The id ea o f s a c r i f i c e , e s p e c i a l l y , permeates the f i e l d i n the treatment o f p r e te r n n tu r a lly caused d is e a s e s . S a c r i f i c e s provide the fa v o u r ite meals for the gods; fo r example, amala, pounded yam and palm o i l represent the fa v o u r ite meal s o f Fsu; palm-wine i s the fa v o u r ite drink o f Ogun; other item s l i k e co c k s, g o a t s , beans, k o la n u ts , a l l i g a t o r pepper, b i t t e r k ola and c lo t h are a lso favoured by various other gods, some o f whom may p r e fe r p a r t i c u l a r co lo u rs o f ite m s . The importance o f s a c r i f i c e i s shown in Iro su n and Ose verses o f T fa by the quotation below ( c f . Abimbola, 1977arXXl)r"Rxru fbo n i l gbe ni X) ru k l {.' gbehyan'1 ( I t pays one to o f f e r s a c r i f i c e s F a ilu r e to do so doesn’ t pay) A ls o , a warning a g a in s t p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f s a c r i f i c i a l o b l i ­ g a tio n s a lso ensures t o t a l commitment on the p a r t o f the c l i e n t r "Apabpru kix ku v ^ugbyn b jb jb wqn 11 san b^rq" (One who o f f e r s p a r t i a l s a c r i f i c e does not die But h i s i l l n e s s w i l l not go i n tim e.) 1 1 . Mr. Ayo O p e f iy it i m i in the Department o f A fr ic a n Languages and L i t e r a t u r e s in Obafemi Awolowo U n i v e r s i t y , I l e - I f e made me aware o f t h i s dictum sometime i n 1988. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 173 R itu a l communication i s another major event c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f r i t u a l m agical p rocesses in YTM. This even t, as already im p lie d , i s a communicative one, a speech even t, which Akinnaso (1985033) observes r e f e r s to . - . t h e s e t o f communicative symbols used in conventional s p e c if ie d co n tex ts in which p a tte rn s o f in t e r a c t io n and communicative ch o ice s are r e s t r i c t e d or elaborated along c e r ta in d e fin e a b le d ir e c tio n s and se t apart from those o f ordin ary conversatio n* S o c i o l i n g u i s t s g e n e r a lly po rtra y r i t u a l events e s s e n t i a l l y as speech events ( c f . Gumperz and Hymes, 1964? Bauman and S h e rz e r, 1974? F i t z g e r a l d , 1975? I r v i n e , 1979?' Wagner, 1984 and Akinnaso, 1985)? hence i t would seem as i f no d is c u s s io n o f r i t u a l events can he complete w ithout a thorough con sid era tio n o f r i t u a l speeches c h a r a c te r iz in g them. Below we s h a ll b r i e f l y observe the s t a t u s o f language in YTM and d isc u ss i t s other fe a tu r e s l a t e r i n the stu d y. 4 . 1 . 1 . 3 The s t a t u s o f language in YTM As a lready s ta te d above, language rep resents one major featu re o f r i t u a l magic and i t p la y s a major r o le in the r e l a t i o n s between the m aterial and s p i r i t u a l world i n *YTM. I t p la y s d i s t i n c t i v e r o l e s as a means o f c o n s u lt a t io n , d iv in a tio n and m edication in YTM. Apart from se rv in g UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 174 these r o l e s , i t a lso provides the means o f coding a l l a v a ila b le sources o f knowledge and p r a c t ic e in the i n s t i t u t i o n . language i s a major c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f YTM p r a c t i c e . But i t » does not occur independently in the treatment o f d is e a s e s , which makes i t d i f f i c u l t to a s s e r t i t s e f f i c a c i o u s use i n the system independently o f other o b j e c t s . Because language u s u a lly occurs in accompaniment o f other pragm atic o b je c t s and a c tio n s in YTM, i t i s important th at these other fe a tu r e s should be mentioned while co n sid erin g i t s p a r t i c u l a r r o le in the p r a c t i c e . F o r tu n a te ly , many o f these fe a tu r e s are r e f l e c t e d through the medium o f language i t s e l f and th ey fu r th e r reveal the uniqueness o f t h i s p r a g m a t i c s - l i*n g u i s t i c endowment o f human b e in g s. Language i s r e a d ily an o b je c t i n the mainstream o f YTM whose study can y ie ld a l o t o f f a c t s about i t s e l f , the whole t r a d i t i o n a l medical system and the c u ltu r e o f the Yoruba p e o p le. The d e s c r ip tio n o f language i s the main concern t h i s stu d y, but before we go f u l l y in to i t s stu d y, l e t us o f look a t the remaining a sp e cts o f the s i t u a t i o n o f i t s u s e , i . e . i d e n t i f y the fe a tu r e s o f tenor and mode o f YTM t e x t s . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 4 * 1 . 2 The te n o r o f YTH t e x t s The human p a r t ic ip a n t s in YTM are the p r a c t i t i o n e r s i n the f i e l d and t h e i r c l i e n t s . The p r a c t it io n e r s g e n e r a lly belong to two broad groupsr the ad,e or oni^egun ( h e r b a lis t) which r e fe r s g e n e r a lly to a l l t r a d i t i o n a l doctors and which may a lso r e f e r e x c lu s iv e ly to those p r a c t i t i o n e r s who s p e c i a l i z e on ly i n the a rt o f diagnosing and recommending m edication based on the symptoms o f d ise a se s; and the babalawo (th e p r i e s t or diviner) who may combine the r o le o f h e r b a l i s t with those o f d iv in a tio n and p r ie sth o o d . 1 D iv in a tio n p r i e s t s in YTM are s p e c i a l l y noted for t h e i r a b i l i t y to t r e a t cases th at are b e lie ve d to have p re te rn a tu ra l causation* Henceforth in t h i s stu d y, the term ' h e r b a l i s t 1 w i l l be used in two sensesr ■ First, as a cover term for members o f the two groups above and second, as a term for members o f the f i r s t group o n l y . I n t h i s r e s p e c t , the term ' p r i e s t ' or ' d iv in e r ' w i l l be used fo r members o f the l a t t e r group. H e r b a l is t s deal i n various kinds o f medicines ranging from the d ia g n o sis and treatment of variou s kinds o f p h y s i c a l , mental and p s y c h o lo g ic a l i l l n e s s e s to evocation o f good fo r tu n e , ra in ~\Z 01 a tun j i ( 199) mentions the few systems o f d iv in a tio n which a Yoruba can choose from. He a lso observes the rep u ta tio n o f I fa as the most important and r e l i a b l e o f th ese system s. The i l l u s t r a t i o n o f d iv in a to r y t e x t s in t h is work d erives from I fa d iv i n a t i o n , which a lso have c lo s e s i m i l a r i t i e s with the fendrnlogun d iv in a tio n described by Akinnaso (1982 and 1983).' UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 176 and the making o f poisons and t h e i r s o l u t io n s 1 ( c f . V erger, 1967' A-5 and M aclean, 1971s98-99)► But areas o f s p e c i a l i t y p e r ta in in g to p o s i t i v e , personal ( r a th e r than communal) preven tive or c u r a tiv e medicine can be i d e n t i f i e d w ithin the d i f f e r e n t domains o f h e r b a l i s t s . There a r e , for in s ta n c e , the arqmq ( o b s t e t r i c i a n s and g y n a e c o lo g is t s ) ; the agbqmqla ( p a e d i a t r i c i a n s ) ; the I ya abxy'e ( t r a d i t i o n a l mid wives) ; do k i t a el^egun (orthopaedic d o c to r s ); the a wo we re ( p s y c h i a t r i s t s ) , e t c ; those who dispense medicines for a l l kinds o f i l l - h e a l t h are c a l le d onjfgbogbonqe (general h e r b a l i s t s ) . Whatever i s the area o f p r a c t i c e , h e r b a l i s t s , q u ite expectedly because o f t h e i r rigo ro u s t r a in in g p and p r a c t i c a l exp erience, ‘ u s u a l l y e x h ib it the mastery o f phenomena p e r ta in in g to m edicine. T heir p r a c t ic e may be based on rudimentary s c i e n t i f i c procedure o f c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f herbs as w ell as preparation and d isp ensation o f m edicine, but through 1 . Note th a t the samples of te x ts c o l l e c t e d for t h i s study a re , however, only r e p re se n ta tiv e o f medicine in p o s i t i v e c u r a tiv e or preven tive and personal terms, as opposed to such other co n sid era tio n s ns bbgiin I k V ( bad or e v i l medicine) and communal m edicines l i k e rainmaking, medicine fo r p l e n t i f u l h a r v e s t , e t c . ? . According to Dopamu (1977:63b-6AO), the c a l l to the p ro fessio n o f herbali sm may be by any o f four ways: (a) in v o lu n ta r y c a l l in a dream by the s p i r i t o f ^ san yin ; ( b) abduction and tr a in in g by A.iK (th e s p i r i t o f the Whirlwind) or Arbnx (th e o n e-legged s p i r i t th at l i v e s in the fo r e s t) , both o f whom are repu ie ci to possess very strong medication powers; ( c) in h e r it a n c e , a f t e r t r a in in g from c h i ld ­ hood; and ( d) apprenticeship to a senior oniT^egun. Although formal t r a in in g ends wi th the a sp ir a n t e s t a b lis h in g h im s e lf as onxsbgun, le a r n in g the a r t o f m edication i s an on-going • process and does not end u n t i l one’ s death. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 177 lo n g t o m experience they w il l have developed so much confidence in t h e ir own a b i l i t y and the medicine* Their b e l i e f in the e f f i c a c y o f t h e i r medicine i s never in doubt, and they are always quick to show t h i s to t h e i r c l i e n t s as the two i l l u s t r a t i o n s below in d i c a t e . 55. Onifjs^giinr Ab'fre b ranbaa. Agbo.Iaa ka ftfn 9, a t i agtfnmu (Text 2 , 1 1 . 13-U f) H o r b a l l s t f I n j e c t i o n does not cure f e v e r . I t I s herbs we s h a ll p r e scrib e fo r you, and herbal powder. 56. Onf.

' rHnO> b P y o ' V_̂ P> H O rott s: bcbOt do01 b P*O H> ro b ^ ct d c t P v H P - 01 O P* Op i P>H b r o - 'U '—- • n> *d P H> b < “t7) P* to h> ro oq ip » »d h P- Od Hrt\ eH(D> pi d d Np> h o b H' 5 ct O ' H Z P- p to B b b o -r p. pr'H- P ct n> P>,b Oq ct ct t r ^ p - b b s : dp ^ro b d ct pi p- P-d to ^ ^ ctP- d H pio i H P O P- o|rj . . o h bo rp 11 brp P- p a • Pi 01 ct ro VD pbi OqP- b o ct VO b <; to b b 1 on p- 3 ro 4-'i b rp oi ()q UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Table 2: Analysis of Situational Features In Some YTM Texts In mP leaectein go f sInh o tph e h e r b a l i s t ’ s hI ne rfbr oa nl its to’ sf thhuet ' !| I(nc otnhseu lpt irnige)s tr’oso ms i t t i n g I n f r o n t o f t h e O • XI iHn f\> PJ 2 y>i M t’s • O • • e H • 3 2 p S D' t - O' H po ft) 'Z 3 ft ft ft ft O g.1 c xj Xj a cj < ct*d H p. a ft fD P- < ft ^ ft rt w iM —' H> a- aa a h > 0 ft 0 0 p- 0 0 d XI tb x i a a h , H> (t ft) w rt to d a 0 V a h W to XI d ft d 0 ct ft) p- a d ft)X P- B P- d ct ft) ad 0 a O p- p- a P- O 0 o) p- a p p*x i a ^d a p- d to 0w p- ft) to XI P- p-a 0 O a a* w XI ct ft) d P- a a W ct w 'd d § P- toO toa ft) H, O in XI w d p.< A rtt/Wl BO> 3O XI a aa op - ao rftr , oa- ha wp. p**-j o d o o < h a pa * o a' p- p- a <;w H ft ct ft► 1 o o a> a a » •• ft) H- P- 4 a H c-sft> H a H ft> a W • 4W d P- d d ft) < o at l j ft ft w I ft >f1t d ft W ct o a aw h n> ft Q. P- •I{-“HO P- pfD- Oa' o*1' si Wo Oa wIM*H O P̂ p- a w w P- d .. a ha W O ct H H » P* P- H ct P- ro 3 o P- P- W fct)t Pw- t f OP a Hw i 1 ap oct H• ■* da OctB O fV) P- w d p- ct ft 1 Ch O - ft o)P» ft) ft) O 01 a d a ct 1 a d d0 p . - 0 1 u> a 1 s; p * o (/) in ^ p . tu in h « n cP+* 2c+ oa •d a ft w o o0 p - £p* 3 0 b a 0 0 a* o ap n p > a f\> W d 0 0 'wa oa po - p - ft ft) wh a p- a H T o p . O H(A t w . . a p-g H T B t? WP- n>r ttoo H n> w H 0 O dfct a to 0 rt aOct a dd •in P* HI •d ft a o < p- o o a ft a H fW fttI) B ft aa ft a P* to wfdt) aa a a 1 o o H a p* p. ft ft a a P* P* W $ in H O ft) < ^ v » IjP- HX* a 0 h 0 a 0 ' P- t r 0o p- B • 3 p- t*lw H> p Ca-a B P- VJI 3 O it ft in ah ft) XI M 9haip fot) -xit a a a ft) » oo aft ft I cn r. in a — o ' ••a H) _1 i a d ct in wa it ct ft) O h o a c+ R) Wo aft • a x i < a a a O O P . w a h > p . a a a p- iat ft p - B ~v ft) p.H ft) ft) to a a p -ft) w d a WP- p- p> 0 HI Wto to ct ft) a w p- w H p* ftft H «t a wd ft) 0 0 0 a a ct a o - a w B (t da s 0 a ctV ) O ct W ft) po* 0p* p . 0 a to a • t r y g Cy* wi fat)- a0 aa a0 o a a to#• C w a n d •• 1P- ft fat) inP- fpt. a 0 o (t p .O H, O 5 -C P H wf XI It &) 03 a w aa PK* d C p. a 0 tfot oB g - f\> » t HO p- o P- a £ Jcrt i i t i s p o s s ib le to reco gn ize the types mentioned above with a more s u i t a b le content c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f u ses represented i n YTM t e x t s . The term ’ a s p e c t ’ has a lrea d y been suggested to c a t e r for the a n a ly s is o f content fe a tu r e s o f te x tu a l u s e s . A broad c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f t e x t s i n YTM may be done i n re sp e c t o f c e r t a in major and minor pragm atic uses which language may ' serve i n the f i v e o p' era tio n a l s* ta g e s o f events4 i n the f i e l d , v i z . p r e -d ia g n o s is , d ia g n o s is , d iv in a tio n ,, m edication and p o st-m e d ic a tio n . Each o f these s ta g e s corresponds to one pragm atic use; and the f i v e sta g e s above w i l l correspond to the p r e - d ia g n o s t ic , d ia g n o s t ic , d iv in a t o r y , m edicating and p o st-m e d ica tin g uses r e s p e c t i v e l y . The in d i c a t io n o f these u ses i n YTM t e x t s by a sp e cts o f the t e x t s i s the focu s o f the d isc u ssio n below. /t UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 188 *f»2,l A sp ects o f language i n YTM t e x t s The a sp e c ts o f language in YTM can be seen i n two c a te g o r ie s the major and minor a s p e c t s . The minor a sp e cts are the pre­ d ia g n o s tic and p o st-m e d ica tin g aspects? these represent the use o f language fo r p h a t ic communion ( i . e . ex4change o f g r e e tin g s 4 * and p l e a s a n t r i e s , expression o f g o o d w ill , e xcla m a tio n s, prayers e t c .) which normally mark the openings and c lo s in g s o f most Yoruba communicative i n t e r a c t i o n , in c lu d in g communication i n YTM, I n s p i t e o f the high frequency o f occurrence o f these fe a tu r e s and th e ir s i g n i f i c a n c e i n YTM t e x t s , the two a sp ects are s t i l l not considered major because they are n o t t y p i c a l o f the t e x t s . A ls o , they are not in the mainstream o f recognized a c t i v i t i e s p e c u lia r to the YTM f i e l d * The pre­ d ia g n o s tic a sp ect o n ly rep resents the preparatory sta ge o f YTM speech performance while the p o st-m ed ica tio n a spect rep resents the c l o s in g s t a g e . The a sp e cts th a t are c e n tr a l to YTM t e x t s belong to the mainstream o f YH4 speech performances and are th e r e fo re c o n s i­ dered as m* ajor a sp e cts o f the t e x t s . These a sp e cts are4 * 4 th r e e , v i z , d i a g n o s t ic , d iv in a to r y and m e d ica tin g , and are b r i e f l y described below. / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 189 The d ia g n o s tic aspect r e f e r s to the l i n g u i s t i c means employed by a h e r b a l i s t - c l i e n t to d isco v er the nature o f the c l i e n t ' s i l l n e s s v ia i t s symptoms# I n essen ce, the main l i n g u i s t i c requirement o f a d ia g n o s tic e x e r c ise I s the h e r b a l i s t ' s a b i l i t y to ga th er as much in form ation as p o s s ib le v ia conversatio n about the nature o f the c l i e n t ' s problem. He attem pts to gath er t h i s In fo rm atio n by asking some qu estio n s about the nature o f such problems, and perhaps the tim e, the p l a c e , the s e v e r it y and causes o f the problems. 1 Compare the h e r b a l i s t ' s u tte r a n c e s i n the i l l u s t r a t i o n belowr 57a. Bawo l o se n ^e q ? (T ext 2 , 1 1 . 3—4) How do you f e e l ? b . 0 ' tcj> ̂ & pqn? (Text 2 , 1.7)' I s your u rin e any y e llo w ? Very o f t e n , c l i e n t s attempt to provide answers to the h e r b a l i s t s ' q u e s tio n s , as can be seen belowr 58a. 9kunrin: Baba, lyawo.rai n i l . Ara r \ o da. (Text 3 , 1 . 8) Manr Father, i t ' s my w i f e . S h e 's i l l . b . Oi kunrinr Ara rxro n i . Ko slhun ta a l o ta n . (Text 3, 1.10) 71 Note th a t the l i n g u i s t i c a c t i v i t y s ta te d here may be accompanied by the h e r b a l i s t ' s pragm atic examination o f the sick person. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 190 Man: S h e 's having p a in s a l l aver her body.. No' medicines we h a v e n 't used. Sometimes, however, c l i e n t s may not be able to provide answers to the q u estio n s when they are i n a confused s t a t e or when they do not know the exact nature o f t h e i r i l l n e s s ; on such o c c a s io n s , the h e r b a l i s t s w i l l attempt to f in d out the problems v ia pragm atic means. Compare the e x t r a c t below: 59* Babalawo: K i 1 <£ d6? K f 1 6 d S ? ■ - Okunrinr E gba mi ooo! ^ gbk mi ooo!‘. . . (Babalawo gba omo I 0W09 baba 9. 0 y^4 wo.) - Text 4 , 1 1 .2 -6 P r i e s t : What's wrong? W hat's wrong? Man: Help me! Help me!'------ ( P r i e s t r e c e iv e s c h i l d from h i s fa t h e r and observes him .) From the i l l u s t r a t i o n s made above, one can see th a t qu estion s asked by a h e r b a l i s t and the responses given by a c l i e n t p la y * 4 s i g n i f i c a n t r o le s i n the d iag n o sis o f an i l l n e s s . O f cou rse, there are o th er fe a tu r e s n o ticed in the communication here which are i d e n t i f i e d l a t e r i n t h i s study (see 4. 5. 2. 2) • The d iv in a to r y a spect o f YTM t e x t s r e f e r s to the language accompaniment o f the process o f d iv in a tio n in YTM, T his p rocess i t s e l f r e f e r s to the s p e c ia l (d iv in e ) means o f f in d in g out the s o u rce s , ca u se s , and almost always the remedy fo r / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 191 i l l n e s s e s th at are b e lie ve d to have p r e te rn a tu ra l c a u s a t i o n .1 The a spect o f d iv in a tio n in a YTM te x t i s c o n s titu t e d by three p a r ts ? ( i ) the r e c i t a t i o n or chanting o f names or p r a is e s o f some gods th a t should be invoked for the success o f the d iv in a tio n e x e r c is e , ( i i ) the r e n d itio n o f a m ytholo gical n a r r a tiv e which p r e d ic t s the present case from the r e p o s ito r y o f the d iv in a tio n system, and ( i i i ) the in te r p r e t a t io n o f the content o f the n a r r a tiv e by the p r i e s t . While the f i r s t two p a r ts s t a t e d above can be a s s o c ia te d with d iv in a tio n as a d ia g n o s tic device ( i . e . d ia g n o s tic d i v i n a t i o n ) , the th ir d p a r t , which i s always done with c l i e n t ’ s p a r t i c i p a t i o n , can be i d e n t i f i e d with the p r e s c r ip tio n based on d iv in a tio n ( i . e . a d iv in a to r y p r e s c r i p t i o n ) . I n t h i s p a r t , the in t e r p r e t a t io n o f the content o f the d iv in a to r y n a r r a tiv e merges with the recommendation o f s o lu t io n s to the problem. An i l l u s t r a t i o n o f th ese p a r ts i s provided by Text 7 according to the sketch below? TZ E x te n siv e in form a tion about the p r a c t ic e o f d iv in a tio n i n Yorubaland a lready abound in previous s t u d ie s which focus on the s u b je c t ( c f ; fo r example, Bascom, 1969' and 1980; Abimbola, 1976, 1977a and 1977b;- Akinnaso, 1982 and 1983; and O l a t u n j i , 1984) . The inform a presented about the f i e l d o f d iv in a tio n below i s tion th a t which has immediate relevan ce to the present stu d y . / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 192 ( i ) in v o c a tio n o f the gods - 1 1 . 61—78 ̂ 79-91 ( i i ) r e c i t a t i o n o f a n a r r a t iv e 1 - 1 1 , 92-100 C i i i ) in t e r p r e t a t io n o f the t e x t - 1 1 , 101-125 Note a lso th a t i t i s p o s s ib le fo r p r i e s t s to render the n a rr a tiv e part o f the d iv in a tio n in b i t s , in te r s p e r s e d with in t e r p r e t a t io n s o f the d i f f e r e n t b i t s ; so a l s o , i t i s p o s s ib le for them to render as many n a r r a tiv e precedents as may be r e la te d to a c a s e . Both o f these p o s s i b i l i t i e s are i l l u s t r a t e d by Text 5 (se e 1 1 , 1 1 — 16 26-29 and 35-^3). L a s t l y , the m edicating a sp ect r e f e r s to the l i n g u i s t i c accompaniment o f the process o f treatment or attem pts a t treatment o f i l l n e s s e s . T h is aspect i s the most elab o ra te o f the th ree a sp e cts o f Y1M t e x t s and i t c o n s is t s o f th ree su b -a sp ec ts - p r e s c r ip t io n s , in c a n ta tio n s and s u p p lic a tio n s - o f which two or a l l three Can co -o ccu r in a t e x t . I t i s o f course assumed th a t each o f th ese su b -a sp ects i s an aspect in i t s own r i g h t , l i k e the d ia g n o s tic and d iv in a to r y a sp e cts above. N e v e r th e le s s , f o r convenience, they are regarded as su b -a sp e c ts o f the ' su p ra -a sp ect' o f m edication i n t h i s stu dy. The language o f p r e s c r ip tio n i s the most common sub-asp ect o f m edication o f the three su b -asp ects mentioned above. P r e s c r ip ­ tio n s in YTM may come as i n s t r u c t i o n s which simply recommend the preparation and mode o f a p p lic a t io n o f c e r t a in drugs, h erbs, ointm ent, e t c , or the performance o f c e r ta in magi c o - r i t u a l a c t io n s ; or they may occur as advice or warnings a g a in s t doing c e r ta in th in g s or u sin g c e r t a in o b j e c t s . The four e x t r a c t s below i l l u s t r a t e the use o f p r e s c r ip t io n s In the three ways, which can co -o ccu r In YTM t e x t s , 77 Note th a t the d iv in a to ry te x t here in co r p o r a te s fe a tu r e s o f both the n a r r a tiv e and in ca n ta to r y t e x t s , D iv in a to ry t e x t s which in c lu d e in c a n ta tio n s o r , r a th e r , in c a n ta tio n s which d erive from d iv in a tio n sources are known as t e x t s (see 5 .3 * 1 ) . I essen ce, these t e x t s combine both d iv in a to r y and in c a n ta to r y n purposes whenever they are used. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 193 6r 0. Onx/ s\e guVnr ?99 rx kinnx y x x ? \ 9 f i sfnu xltoko. T£ f waa ge gbogbo kinnx yxx l e e l o r £ . f f e , Omi tom^p yxn 6 maa mu daya niy t / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 201 Text 4 11. 7-29) ; but where the d iv in a tory aspect i s present, . . 4 the medicating aspect fo l lo w s i t (s e e Text 5 11* 51-106, " i Text 6 11 .122-144, and Text 7 11. 149-163)* The d iv in a tory aspect always occu rs in the middle whenever i t ch a ra cter izes a t e x t . I t s usual p o s i t io n i s to begin a f t e r the i n i t i a l •question-answer' ( b r i e f or long) in d ic a to r o f the d iagn ost ic aspect ( s e e Text 5 11 . 11-49, Text 6 11 . 41-121 and Text 7 I I . 60- 109) and to terminate at the p o in t where medication beg ins. Most o f the time, the d iv in a tory aspect merges in to the medicating aspect and i t i s d i f f i c u l t to demarcate them. The merging o f these aspects occu rs when a medication i s based on the suggestion( s) in a d iv in a tory text being in terp re ted by a p r i e s t . 4 .2 .3 The relevance o f asr.ects o f YTM texts That the three aspects o f language above con tr ibu te to the o v e r a l l success o f YTM performance cannot be in doubt. At l e a s t , they play a major r o le in the system In resp ect o f the an a lysis and treatment o f d isea ses . The language o f d iagnosis p lays a major p sy ch o log ica l r o le in the i d e n t i f i ­ ca t ion o f a c l i e n t ' s problem, which i s always a major step in the medical treatment. P s y ch o lo g ica l ly , the Yoruba c l ie n t t i UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 202 i s well apt to con sider h is problem h a l f - s o lv e d once i t i s e f f e c ­ t iv e ly diagnosed. An e f f e c t iv e d iagn osis in YTM o ften in c lu d es the h e r b a l i s t ’ s d es ire to have a c l i e n t in a proper psycholo­ g ica l s ta te (s e e / f . 1 .2 ) . An extract from a d iagn ostic tex t in our c o l l e c t i o n (s e e Text 8) best i l l u s t r a t e s how a h e rb a l is t may con sider i t e ssen tia l to assure a pregnant woman that she i s in a normal ph ysica l s ta te , 1 thusr 66, Babalawor (f d f̂a, dide o f 6 oke le^m^ta fcf n wo 6 , (Text 8, 1 1 , 30-31) P r ie s tr A ll r ig h t , jump up three times and l e t me see . In another r e sp e ct , a d iv inatory text can achieve both psycho­ an a lysis and -psychotherapy on a p a tien t via the soothing e f f e c t o f P the a es th e t ic mode and theme o f i t s narration o f a h i s t o r i c a l myth. In th is myth the main character encounters ce rta in problems which he l a t e r re so lv e s o r f a i l s to r e s o lv e . And a l l the w hile , the c l i e n t puts h e r s e l f in the p ro ta g o n is t ’ s p o s i t io n , which i s s im ilar to her own, id e n t i fy in g with h is problems and in the 71 This observation i s on a par with the s ta te o f b e l i e f in modern orthodox m edicine, Myles (1 9 8 lr9 2 ) , f o r example, considers the emotional wel fare o f a pregnant woman as an important part o f her health and o b s t e t r i c w e l l -b e in g , 2 . The remark by Hayakawa (197^r103) that some people may care fo r what might be c a l le d the gen tle inward message that the sound o f words g ives them, comes r e a d i ly to mind h ere . There i s no doubt that verbal entertainment can be o f great help in the p sy ch o log ica l treatment o f a p a t ie n t . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 203 process seeking ways o f so lv in g her own problem . 1 The p o s i t iv e p sy ch o log ica l p re d isp o s it io n o f the c l i e n t to the d iv in a tion i t s e l f i s enhanced by three fa cto rs which in clude? (a ) the b e l i e f in the powers o f the god o f d iv in a tion (see ( b) the b e l i e f in the a b i l i t y o f the d iv ination p r ie s t h im se lf who i s revered for h is knowledge o f herbs and m edicine, h is show o f mastery o f natural and supernatural phenomena, h is a b i l i t y to converse d i r e c t ly ivith the gods (sometimes in e s o te r ic language) and, most im portantly , h i s a b i l i t y to perform divina­ t ion s s u c c e s s fu l ly most o f the time; ( c) the sp ec ia l nature o f the d iv in atory text i t s e l f which serves as a r e p o s ito ry o f knowledge and which can p re d ic t events c o r r e c t ly most o f the time. The essence o f the medicating aspect i s observed in two re sp e cts . In the f i r s t in sta n ce , the in s tr u c t io n s and warnings are instrumental to the e f f i c a c y o f the a p p lica tion o f drugs s in ce the end re su lt o f a proper m edication w il l depend on how well the necessary in s tr u c t io n s are fo l low ed and the warnings heeded. In the second in stan ce , the e f f e c t s o f language o f 77 Mote that th is s itu a t ion r e f l e c t s one main assumption o f psychotherapy in modern medicine which Shands, e t . a l . 1959- 290 s ta te thus? A p a tien t supported in a t o le r a b le adaptive s itu a t io n w i l l in s t i t u t e attempts to so lve h is immediate problems and w i l l tend to gen era lize the so lu t io n s to other problems; / the th e4rap ist a s s is t s by p o in t in g out the impediments in the pa tien t*s way. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 204 in ca n ta t ion s , in s p e l l s and su p p lica t ion s are both p sy ch o log ica l and m agical. Apart from the p sy ch o log ica l s a t is fa c t io n which the c i ta t io n o f precedents in I fa in ca n tat ion s and a l lu s io n s can have on c l i e n t s , the enchanting o f essence and o r ig in s o f o b je c t s , a c t io n s and events can a lso have magical e f f e c t s on them (p h y s ic a l ly and p s y ch o lo g ica lly ) based on the te n a c ity o f certa in b e l i e f s , the fo r ce or modes o f express ion s , the strength o f the enchanter 's wishes and the w i l l power o f the enchanter. The bases o f Yoruba p e o p le 's b e l i e f magical c i t a t io n s have already been recogn ized in th is study (s e e 4.1 . 1 . 2) . 4 .2 .4 Analysis o f aspects in samel es o f YTM tex ts A p r a c t ic a l i l l u s t r a t i o n o f the asnects o f YIM texts \ ' i d e n t i f i e d in the d iscu ss ion above and t h e i r patterns o f occurrence can be seen in the tab le below (s e e Table 3) which summarizes the aspects o f pragmatic uses o f four o f the sample tex ts (T exts 1 , 4, 6 and 7) on which th is study i s based* / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Table 3: Analysis of Aspects of Uses of Some YTM Ta: symbolism, and oth er features o f the p o e t ic structure li fce s tru ctu ra l p a ra lle l ism and r e p e t i t io n , tonal pattern in g , imagery and re g u la r ity o f rhythm. A d iscu ssion o f some o f these fea tu res can be seen in 5. 2*3 - 5*2 . 4. The expressive function u n d er lies the use o f language in voca t ives and in voca tion s which o fte n ch a ra cter ize the openings o f d iv in a tory t e x t s . The represen tation o f th is UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 209 fu n ction may be very b r i e f , as in a p r ie s t merely expressing h is a t t itu d e during the performance o f d iv in a tion (s e e ' " * * Text 5, 1 .1 1 ; Text 7, 11. 79-80 and 1 1 .8 6 -8 7 ) , o r ex ten sive , as in the p r ie s t invoking the names and q u a l i t i e s o f d i v in i t i e s and o b je c t s (s e e Text 7, I I . 61-77 and 8 8 -9 1 ) . The extent o f these represen tations are further determined by other fa c to r s ranging from the circumstances o f the d iv in a tion to the nature o f the Odu that appears on the d iv in a tion board o r chain and a lso the a tt itu d e o f the d iv in er . L a s t ly , the d ir e c t iv e function may be performed by d iv in a tory te x ts that do have an in ca n tatory content in them (s e e Text 7, 11. 61 -10 0 ). The exponent o f th is function i s an utterance which expresses a wish (Text 7, 1.100) based on a s e r ie s o f f o r c e fu l a ssert ion s (s e e Text 7 , 11 .94 -99 ) from which i t derives I t s potency. 4 .3 .3 The functions o f medicating tex ts The functions o f language in the three sub-aspects o f medication observed e a r l i e r in th is study (s e e 4*2 . 1 ) are recognized along two d ir e c t io n s . In the p r e s c r ip t iv e sub­ aspect, two fu nctions - the in form ative and d ir e c t iv e - are -rod u ct ive and considered primary because they are emphasized UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 210 by the t e x t s . P r e s c r ip t iv e sub-aspects o f TW tex ts always require the c l i e n t s o f h e r b a l is t s to carry out certa in d ir e c t iv e s that are given by the h e r b a l is ts in order to fin d remedy to a health problem. Such d ir e c t iv e s as are given by h e r b a l is t s should normally inform the c l i e n t s about what a c t ion s to perform o r d e s is t from performing and * * * 4 what o b je c t s (h erb s , powder, ointment, e tc) to seek f o r , prepare and drink or bathe with or rub on the body, e t c . (See Examples 60, 61 and 62) . In the in can tatory and su p p lica tory sub-aspects', however, * / about fou r functions - in form ative , d i r e c t iv e , a e s th e t ic and expressive - are productive at the primary and secondary l e v e l s . At the primary le v e l o f the te x ts are the d ir e c t iv e and Inform ative fu nctions which u n derlie the mild and subtle requests in su p p lica t ion s (s e e Example 65r and also- Texts 19 and 20) or the o ften fo r ce fu l and aggressive expression o f wishes In in ca n ta t ion s , which are backed by strong a ssert ion s o f known, observed or assumed truth and b e l i e f s about the o r ig in and order o f the universe and c o r r e la t io n o f o b je c t s , a c t ion s and events (s e e Examples 63 and 6*f; and Texts 15—18) . In both types o f te x ts re levan t agents are summoned and d irected or requested to help carry out the enchanter 's wish o f f ind ing so lu t io n to a problem. The / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 211 a e s th e t ic and express ive functions ch a ra cter iz in g I ’M in ca n ta t ion s at the secondary le v e l can be liken ed to the c h a r a c te r is t ic o f these two fu nctions in d iv in a tory te x ts . L ike d iv inatory te x ts , a es th e t ic and express ive features are inherent p ro p e r t ie s o f in ca n tatory te x ts and they m anifest themselves in the non- stru ctu ra l and stru ctu ra l devices o f f i c t i o n a l i z e d n arration , p o e t ic s tructure and use o f voca tives in the t e x ts . Jf.3.4 The fu nctions o f the minor asnects o f YTM texts Not a l l the fu nctions that ch a ra cter iz• e aspects o f YT Analysis o f functions in some YTO tex ts A p r a c t ic a l i l lu s t r a t i o n o f the fu nctions o f YTM texts id e n t i f i e d in the d iscu ss ion above can be seen in the tab le below (s e e Table 4) which represents a summary o f an alysis o f the fu nctions in some sample tex ts (T exts 2, 4 , 5 and 7) in th is study. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 21b ft OM'n> f3> 1*7 and Text 9» 1*8)'* This e lic ita tion may also recur in consequent exchanges in the transaction in opening, bound-opening or re-opening moves (see e*g. Text 2 , 11* 3-*f and 7 ), Following this opening In itia tion is a response move supporting i t by providing a reply to i t . I f the reply is a satisfactory one, the herbalist makes a follow-up supporting move, accenting the reply and/or reacting to i t - by going in search of objects o f remedy (Text 9 , 1.10). But i f the reply is unsatisfactory, the herbalist either reopens the e lic ita tion (see Text 8 , 1.11) or reacts to the reply by using pragmatic means to find out the problem (see Text Zf, 1.5) or even reacts and e lic it s at the same time (Text 6, 1.10). The herbalist's follow-up move to a satisfactory response by a clien t, sometimes, may serve as an incentive for the la tte r to in it ia te a bound-opening move where she provides more Information to c la r ify her previous reply to the herbalist (Text 3, 1*10; Text 8, 11. 15-16 and 11. 18-20) ; and the herbalist very often supports her by confirming such c larification and assuring her that a ll w ill be well. Occasionally, however, a client may check her understanding o f what the herbalist says in the interaction (see Text 1 , I I .9 1 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 234 and 1?). Such a checkins may require the herbalist to repeat or restate his earlier proposition or i t may just require the her­ b a lis t 's confirmation o f the proposition. The former checking can be said to realise a challenge while the la tte r rea lizes a move. The challenging move predicts a herbalist's re-opening move in which he repeats his earlier proposition while the muvc, pnidicts a support which confirms the c lien t 's echoic proposition. Other essential acts performed by herbalists in diagnostic transactions include giving appropriate directives or information, or both, that are relevant to the consequent transaction o f either divination or medication (see Text A, 11.10-11; Text 1 , 11. 1 Zf— 17 and Text 3» 1.13) • These acts most often rea lize a herbalist's opening which is supported by a c lien t 's reaction. i . Remember, however, that the divinatory transaction follows a diagnostic mostly when the la tte r means has not proved suitable for identifying a c lien t 's problem (see Texts 6 and 7). Hence, the structure o f a diagnostic transaction may be truncated (in terms of not representing most o f the motifs above) i f there is a divinatory transaction following i t (see e.g. Texts 5 and 6) . The moves and acts in the above discussion can be represented by the symbols belowr 1 7T When i t is apparent that both the obligatory and optional exchange features cannot be stated together on a lin e , these are presented separately. / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 235 a. CT. S. Sn + O'/Bo . S e l ic it , reply, accept + 1 nform,direct, reaction Herbalist in itia tio r b. C Bo. S. S ) c cl ari fy co n firm, accept) Client ,check J in itia tion c . C C . Ho. S ) Client ( check.repeat.accept) in itia tion 4*5.2*3 The structure o f divinatory transactions The two transactions pertaining to divination in YTM texts, * viz. diagnostic divination and divinatory prescription, have already been iden tified in this study (see 4*2*1). Below, we describe the structure o f the transactions. 4*5*2.3*1 The transaction of diagnostic divination ( ddtT The diagnostic divinatory transaction is a monological transaction constituted by four major partsr a focus, an opening, a series o f informs constituting motifs and a conclusion. From the opening to the conclusion seven motifs can be recognized which correspond to the seven-part structure earlier presented by scholars on this subject (c f . Akinnaso, 1982; Olatunji, 198k) . The motifs are stated as follows, t UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 236 after the focus o f the transactionr Focusr a, summons (d iv in er's invocation of gods) 7 b, starter (d iv in er's acknowledgement o f crdu and preview o f content); Opening: a* citation ; b. the protagonist involved and the problem tackled; c. medication (T fa ’ s reply in form o f prescrip­ tion or incantation or both); d. the c lien t's (non-) compliance with prescription; e. the resolution or outcome o f medication and c lien t's reaction; f. intra-structural recapitulation; Conclusion: 6- comments on the greatness o f I fa and the need to obey his commands. The boundary o f a ddt is marked by a focus made up o f a summons, starter and conclusion. However, while the f ir s t two / features are peripheral to the content o f the transaction, the third is integrated into the content; thus the conclusion is accounted for as one o f the motifs o f the transaction. The summons represent invocations and chants o f praises to some / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 237 gods that should be invoked for the success o f a divination exer­ cise (see Text 7, 11.61-77). And the starter represents the diviner's acknowledgement o f the odu that emerges on the board and his preview o f the content o f the odu (see Text 5, 11* 11-12 and Text 7, 11. 78-87). The content ,of an odu opens with a citation, which Olatunji ( 198Z|rl30) describes thus: The citation can consist o f the names o f the babalawo followed by awo (p riest for/of) and the names o f their towns or c lien ts ... The characteristic sayings o f the babalawo (k la jf ) may be used to refer to them in the c ita tion ... This feature is characteristic o f a ll instances o f the ddt and i t is represented b rie fly (Text 10, 1.1 and Text 12, 1.1-3)* ! * extensively (Text 6, 11.35-V) and 11.50-53; Text 7, 11. 88-91) or at d ifferent points (Text 11 , 1.1 and 11.10-11). Motif ' b' in the structure id en tifies the protagonist o f the I fa narrative in the transaction and the problem encountered by him for which he requires solution. This motif is very often signalled in divinatory texts by the phrase ' dia fun ( I fa was cast fo r ). On some occasions, however, other indicators may signal this section, e.g.r UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 238 ( i ) Awoi n ni woi n kei f fa s arasr ara 1 ot wo,0runmil'a t i i (Text 12, 2.4) I t was they who learnt. I fa thoroughly from Orunmila. ( i i ) Ton meteeta gberu nikble orun--- j i r I u i Those three started in heaven---- Motif ' c* indicates the feature o f medication in the tran­ saction. The term ’ medication* is preferred here to ' prescription* which is used by other scholars because i t corrects whatever wrong Impression analysts might create on readers i f their account does not cover the poss ib ility of certain divinatory texts having Incantatory features in them (e .g . Text 7, 11.94-100; Text 12, 1.55 and 62). Thus, as a wider term than either ’ prescription* or 'incantation ', 'medication' covers any kind of treatment that may be mentioned In a divinatory transaction, whether i t is a prescription followed la te r by the protagonist's (non-) compliance (Texts 10, 1 1 . 9- 20; 1 1 , 1 .1 6 and 27-29; 12, 1 1 . 26-55 and 64- 66) or i t is an Incantation which expresses the d iviner's requests or wishes. M otif * d* IS the structure which describes whether a protagonist complies or fa ils to comply with I fa 's instructions is commonly observed in divinatory texts which prescribe regimen for clients (see Text 10, 1.21; Text 1 1 , 11.17 and 30). UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 239 Motif , ef is consequent on * d * above (see Text 10, 11. 22- 30; Text 1 1 , 11. 31-2*3; Text 12, 11. 56-61 and 63). Note that the expression o f resolution or outcome may not be found in those texts which express requests, appeals or wishes (e .g . Text 7, 11. 9*4- 100) . Motifs 1 f * and ’ g* end the content o f the ddt; they can be found in part or fu ll in texts where the mythological narrative element is fully-developed (see Text 1 1 , 11. 46-52 and Text 12, 11.67-72). The motifs iden tified above form the composite structure o f prototypes o f YTM diagnostic divinatory texts, and they may not a ll be present in every single instance of the texts. In diviner-client interactions where the divinatory transaction is not represented in fu ll, the motifs present in such interactions are those that are relevant to the situation of practice. For example, the bits o f the ddt interspersed in Text 5 are a ll projecting the same topic via Motifs ’ a’ , ’ b' and ' d*. Also, Motifs ’ a’ , ' b* and 'c r are present in the structure o f the transaction in Text 7, which has a rather elaborate focus. In a l l , i t would seem that Motifs • a* and ’ b* are rea lly the defin ite parts o f diagnostic divinatory transactions in YTM practice. Other motifs than these can be observed in fu ll divinatory texts some of which UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 240 have been used for illustrations in the discussion above* 4*5.2.3*2 The transaction of divinatory are script! on (dpt) The transaction o f divinatory prescription provides a necessary follow-up speech activ ity to the ddt discussed above* The transaction is bound to the former one because the prescription in i t derives from the suggestions about medication in the earlier transaction. The priest in ter­ prets the suggestions for the client who might not have understood the highly elevated language in which they were * previously encoded. Unlike the ddt which is rrtonological, the dpt is dialogical and thus can be described in exchange structure. The exchanges in the la tte r transaction are accounted for below. The dpt is characterized by both the prefatory and conversational exchanges. Both exchanges are constituted thus, in symbolic form;- Prefatory:- F r.. S + (F r. S) summons, accept + (prayer greeting.accept) Conversational r a* 0. Sn + O'/Bo. Sn assure, accept,+ inform.accept Herbalist react in i tiation UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY b. ( C, S) + (Bo. s )n ( check.react) + ( e lic it .rep ly ) Herbalist in itia tion The prefatory exchanges are constituted by an obligatory frame plus supporting move and an optional frame plus another supporting move. The f ir s t frame contains a summons act from the priest, which ca lls the attention of the client and formally invites her to participate in a conversationj and the client answers the ca ll and listens to him (see Text 5, 11. 17—19; Text 7, 11. 101- 102) . In the optional frame the priest makes a prayer greeting act followed by a c lien t’ s acceptance act (e .g . Text 5» I I . 20- 21) . The f ir s t conversational exchange in the dpt has the pair o f moves o f opening in itia tion and supporting response. In the in itia tion , the priest tries to assure the client about the positive implication of the content o f the previous narrative, while the la tte r reacts happily to the assurance (see Text 5, 11. 22-231 11. 30-32; 11. hh-k9 and Text 7, 11.103-105). I t is observed that the content o f the narrative recitation almost always has a positive implication for the clien t, no matter the seriousness o f the problem, provided that she is ready to carry out I fa 's instructions to her. 1 Tl This rule does not apply to Text 6 (see 11. kk-k5» 55) where the priest in his interpretation o f the content o f an I fa myth accuses the clien t o f not heeding an ea r lie r ' instruction given to her at a previous encounter between them. The pecu liarities o f the background experience o f participants in this text w ill no doubt create features o f exchange structure that are peculiar to the text. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 242 The other obligatory exchange in the dpt is that in which the priest in it ia tes an opening or bound-opening move which informs the client about the instructions I fa expects her to carry out. The client supports this move and accepts the information. Note that the structure o f this exchange may he recursive in the transaction. In the optional exchanges, the choice o f what kind o f in itia tion the priest makes depends on the extent o f reaction o f the clien t to his earlier assurance. He may in it ia te a challenge move here or in it ia te an opening or bound-opening move. I f the client overreacts to the assurance, the priest challenges her overenthusiasm and cautions her to keep calm and lis ten attentively to the rest of the message (see Text 5, 1 1 . 25, 33- 34) . And i f she reacts casually to i t , the challenge becomes a reproach cautioning the c lien t ’ s ungratefulness (Text 7, 1.106); the la tte r supports the p ries t 's challenge and reacts appropriately to the assurance. An alternative to the exchange above is that in which the priest e lic its further relevant information from the clien t to fa c ilita te the interpretation process (Text 6, 11. 96ff. p Text 7, 1.111). The optional exchanges above may co-occur in a transaction, and the la tter further has the property o f recursiveness. / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY X 243 4*5.2.4 The transaction o f prescriptive medication The conversational exchanges in the prescriptive transaction can be seen from the herbalist-in itia tion or c lien t-in itia tion point of view or both. The former viewpoint has the following structure:- a, 0/Bo. , in ­ direct, inform, accept, react b. ( 0 /B o . 5) C ch eck. reply, react) An obligatory herbalist opening or bound-opening in itia tion move with both direct and inform acts is supported by a c lien t’ s response o f accept and/or react acts. This exchange may be recursive. Following the instrueticms given in the exchange above, the herbalist may use some opening moves to check whether the client has understood his instructions or not. The client supports these moves either by replying or reacting para- lin gu is tica lly to i t (see Text 3, 11« 26-28). The structure o f the exchange which a clien t in it ia tes can be represented thus: 0/Bo. S. Sn + (Bo. S. S) e lic it.d irect,in form , accept + (check, confirm, accept) UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 244 The above rule states that an opening in itia tion of e lic ita tion invites a herbalist's supporting response o f inform and/or direct and a c lien t 's final supporting response o f accept (Text 6 , 11. 120-127; Text 7, 1 1 . 149-154; Text 13, 11. 1-87* Also there is a fa c il ity here for an optional exchange in which the client seeks c la rifica tion o f the herbalist's instructions. The herbalist confirms the c larifica tion and the c lien t accepts the confirmation (see Text 3, 11. 30-36 and Text 14, 11.9-10 and and 1 1- 12) . 4.5.2.5 The transaction o f incantations The incantatory transaction in Yoruba has two major mono- log ica l sub-types:1 the 9 f proper and the ayaj: assertions - c: application The focus o f incantatory transaction, lik e the citation in divinatory texts, refers to the summoning o f agents (here incantatory agents) by their special and/or usual names. This feature is found in many incantatory transactions (see Texts 4, 11. 7, 15; 17, 11. 1-3, l 8, 1 1 . 1-3; 19, 11. 1-7, e tc . ), but i t may not be realized in some others (see Text 16) . The problem motif normally states the reason for an * incantation. I t is always found in incantatory transactions, * including the instances provided in this work (see Texts 4, I . 8; 7, 11. 94-95; 16, 11. 1-3; 17, I I . 4-9, e tc . ). In >*yaj/dafcun ♦please* (Text 20, 11. 22, 92), saanu * mercy*, etc. in supplications. h.5»3 Summary and Illustration Tt is observed from the analysis above that there is no uniform structure for YTM texts. Instead, the texts are Identified in terms o f certain transactions which make up their dialogical or polylogical structures. While some o f these transactions - e.g. diagnosis, prescriptive divination and prescription - have exchange structures, some o f them - diagnostic divination, incantations and supplications - do not. Since the YTM texts which have dialogical structures ( i . e . Type 1 texts) always combine the diagnostic and prescriptive transactions, i t means that these texts are constituted by exchanges which are already iden tified above UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 2k9 (see and *+.5.2.4). In contrast, Type 2 texts have exchan­ ge structures which co-occur with the monological narratives, » 4 descriptions, arguments and requests made in divinatory, incantatory and supplicating texts in a parallel manner to the combination o f aspects in YTM texts (see 4.2.2). Talking about the exchange structures, i t is observed that the f ir s t and last transactions identified in YTM texts are bounded respectively at the beginning and end by prefatory exchanges which mark the starting and closing o f YTM interaction. Conversational exchanges are, however, identified with only the diagnostic and prescriptive medication transactions. Meanwhile, i t is also observed that the divinatory prescriptive transaction, following a diagnostic divinatory transaction, also has a prefatory and series o f conversational exchanges o f i t s own whenever the divinatory transaction is present in a text. In the conversational exchanges mentioned above, i t is observed that opening and supporting moves are predominant, while the challenge move seldom occurs. The openings are very often in itia ted by the herbalist who either e lic its , gives 4 and confirms some information or gives directives to a c lien t, while the supporting move is often made by the client who also gives information in the interaction. The occasional UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 250 occurrences o f the challenge move are iden tified with some o f the herbalist's contributions which may accuse or caution some o f the c lien t 's replies and reactions. On the contrary, the client seldom challenges the herbalist unless * the commu*nication, between them has broken down Ce.g. Text 6, 11. 10^-159). Even on the few occasions when she checks the herbalist's moves, such checks most often seek a fter confirmation or c larifica tion of the information she has already got rather than attempt to caution, disagree with or ask nrotracting questions from him. Generally, in YTM interactions involving the herbalist and c lien t, whether such interactions are two-party or multi­ party, i t is the older participant, or oldest as the case may be in terms o f social status and/or age, who controls the interaction ( see Akindele, 19^6) . The herbalist does have greater freedom to select from the options o f moves and acts available to him at a particular time in the interaction;- for example, he can challenge a c lien t 's previous response move or open and re-open in itia tion s irrespective o f whether the * opening is supported or not. As a corollary to the above, older participants have greater freedom to challenge the moves o f younger ones in the interactions. As shown by our texts, the herbalist can challenge the moves o f any o f the participants in an interaction (see Texts 5» 6 and 7)? a UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 251 . mother can challenge the move o f a daughter (see Text 2) i a husband can challenge the move o f h is wife (nee Texts 6 and 75? etc. In order to i l lu s t ra te the discussion above, we shall analyse below the structure o f Text 7 in the appendix o f this work. The text i s selected purposely because i t has interesting structural features, being polylogical and also representing ■ / ✓ a multi-party ta lk . The symbols 'P * , * W*, 'M* and *F* stand for P r ie s t , Wife, Man and Friend respectively. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 252 TabIe 6r Analysis of The Structural Features o f Text 7 Transaction Exchange Sneaker Move Act I)omain Fre - Prefatory F Fr. (0 ,1 ) greeting 1-4 diagnosis 11,1-13 fConversational P C ( I ) e l ic i ting 1.5 .1. 5-6 F S (R) replying 1.6 Prefatory P Fr. (0 ,1 ) greeting 1.7 11.7-13 F Fr. (S,R) accepting 1.8 P Fr. (0 ,1 ) greeting 1.9 F Fr. (0 ,1 ) greeting 1.10 F Fr. ( S,R) accepting 1.11 F Fr. (0 ,1 ) greeting 1.12 i- P Fr. (S,R) accepting 1.13 Conversational F 0 ( I ) requesting 1.14 Di agnosi s 11. 1 Af — 1 6 P C ( I ) e l ic it in g 1.15 11.15-16 t F S (R) replying 1.16 Pre - Prefatory P 0 ( I ) excusing 11.17-18 diagnosis 11.17-23 P 0 ( I ) i nvi t i ng 1.18 11.17-23 K & W 0 ( I ) requesting 1.19 F O' ( I ) introducing 11.20-21 P S (R) accepting 1.22 F 0 ( I ) directing 11.22-23 Di agnosi s Conversational P 0 ( I ) e l ic i ting 111.23-24 W S (R) replying 11.25-31 w C (T) accusing 11.32-34 p 0 ( I ) informing 1.35 0 ( I ) accusing 11.36-58 I M UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 253 Transaction Fvch an ge Speaker Move Act Domain F 0 (I) assuring 1 * 39-40 P S (F) assuring 1.41 W 0 (I) praying 1 .42 P S (R) assuring 1 .4 3 Prefatory Fr.CO,I) summoning 1 .4 4 Conversational P 0 (I) directing LI.44-45 11.44-60 w S (P) reacting 1.46 F C ( I ) accusing L I.47-48 W Ro (1) requesting El.49-51 F C ( I ) cautioning}! 1.52-54 c Cl) accusing L I .55-57 Bo ( I ) e l ic it in g LI. 58-59 Pi agnostic Monological P! Focus summoning L I.61-77 divination 11.61-100 previewing 1 1 . 61-100 Starter L I .78-87 Content citation 11.88-91 informing LI.92-100 Divinatory Conversational F Fr.(0 ',I ) summom ng 1.101 prescription 11.101-148 W S (F) accepting 1.102 11. 101-148 P 0 Cl) assuring L I .103-104 W S (F) replying 1.105 P c CD accusing 1.106 W Fo ( I ) reacting 11. 107-108 F o CD informing 1.109 W s CR) confirming 1.110 F o CD e lic it in g 1.111 W c CD accusing 11.112-113 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 25^ — Transaction Exchange Speaker Move Act Domain P c CD cau tioning 11.1 D -1 15 W S CR) excusing 1-116 F Bo (T) reporting 1.117 W S CP) replying F Bo (T) e l ic i ting 1.119 W S (P) replying 1.120 F S (R) reacting 1.121 W Bo ( I ) re-asserting *1.122 P S CP) confi rming 1.123 P Bo ( I ) informing 11.124-125 W S (R) confirming 11.126-130 M Bo CD e lic i ting 1.131 P S (R) replying 1.132 F S (P) confirming 1.133 W S (P) confirming 1*134 w a (T) accusing 1.135 M 0 CT) e lic it in g 11.136-140 F s CR) replying 11.141-143 M o CD e lic it in g 11.144-145 P s CR) replying 11.146-148 ■ ----------- --------- — ------ UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRAR • Y 00 255 Transaction Exchange Speaker Move Act Domai n Prescription Conversation M 0 ( I ) e l ic i ting 1-149 1 1 . H 9-168 1 1 . 149-168 F S (R) replying 11,150-152 P Bo ( I ) e l ic i ting LI. 152-153 W S (R) checking 1.154 P S (RJ confirming 1.155 P 0 ( I ) directing and informing 11.155-164 w S (R) reacting 1.165 F Bo ( I ) requesting 1 1 . 166-168 summary of features PARTI CTPANTS TURNS M 0 V E S No Openings Supporting Challenge * i P ri est 28 43-1$ 18 50.0% 12 42.85% 7 70% Man 8 12.3% 5 13.9% - 0% 2 20% Wi fe 16 24.6% 6 16.7% 12 42.85% 1 10% Friend 13 20.0% 7 39.4% 4 14.3% - 0% Total 65 100% 36 100% 28 100% 10 100% ---- UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 256 CHAPTER FI VP 5.0 SOME FORMAL FEATURES OF YTM TEXTS This chapter i s divided into three parts. The f i r s t part which is the longest presents a description o f some o f the significant formal features o f Text 1 as an i l lu s t ra t io n of features of Type - 1 YTM texts identified ea r l ie r in this study. The analysis done here also provides the base for identifying those formal features which are characteristic of aspects, types and reg ister of YTM texts. The second part presents the peculiar features o f Text 5 as an i l lu stra t ion o f typical features o f TJme - 2 YTM texts. In both parts above, the features described are those motivated by the situations, uses, functions and messages o f the texts. A summary o f the characteristic formal features o f YTM texts ends the second part of th is chapter. The third part concludes this investigation by summarizing the contributions o f the work, identify ing i t s lim itations and observing i t s apnlication to Yoruba studies in particu lar and l in gu is t ic s in general. # UNIVERSI Y OF IBADAN LIBRARY 257 5.1 Some Formal Features of Text 1 (A Ty-pe-1 Text) 5.1.1 Theme and Cohesion —- -1 ........ ...... Clause ̂ Theme Rh eme Status i ? kaaara vv*i bcia fp wo tlx sxnu . unmkd Unless we come to push i t in for him . % i x 'id f yxyy nlypn . flikd Haemorrhoids (thematic) that i s UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 258 Clause Theme Rheme Status X k£ Ip w£? mkd What did you say? xi Id i yiyp niypn s£f. mkd Haemorrhoids (thematic) that- indeed i s 3di Yodf-yodf n\y^n mkd P iles (thematic) that i s x i i i E ^ se fikan f ni . mkd You w il l make the antidote to ( thematic) i t . 3dV Se paa maa se ni ? ■mkd itkan 9 ' (Question) Does v i t mean we shall ( th ematic) get the antidote o XT 9 fe egboogi ni . mkd > You w il l make 7 the medicine ( themati c) for i t , * xvi !pe a?alb at\d£ ni? ! mkd yzyq nlkan (Question) I s 7 • i t assorted herbs and p ile drugs ( thematic) alone? UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 259 Clause Theme Rheme Status' x v i i Id i yxyip n i o , mkd Haemorrhoids ( thematic) i t i s . x v i i i 7 yo o gbo 1 o r i i am

9 w ill also get that which he . w ill dip h is bottom in XX 7 y66 s'! gba mfmu-wfw^? unmkd w ill also get the one for drinking and bathing r UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 26a Evidently, the theme of the extract above (which has 20 clauses) 4 can he seen in terms o f three' groups of items? (a ) 1st, 2nd and 3rd 4 person pronouns a *we*, £ *you* and £ *her ; and zero realization o f the 3rd person pronoun, (b ) some lexical items referring to a problem frdf yfyy . Yod^-yydi *Haemorrhoids* ; and ( c) some question items ge? and k£?* what*. The pronouns used here indicate that reference i s made situationally to at least three participants in the extract. The 1st person plural pronoun a *we* i s used to make two references at d ifferent points in the extract; i t re fe rs to both the herbalist (a female herbalist ) and client at one point 4 ( c l . i i i ) and i t refers to the c lient and some other people, whose 4 * identity are undisclosed, at another point ( c l . v i i i ) . The second person plural honorific pronoun e *you* also refers to the herbalist and client at different points; i t re fers to the herbalist at the opening ( c . i ) and to the client la t e r in the extract (e l s . x i i i and xv) . The 3rd person singular pronoun £ "he* occurs twice in the text (e ls * v i and v i i ) and on both occasions i t refers to the client* s son who is the patient in the interaction. la s t ly , the zero theme in e ls . x v i i i -x x makes situational reference to the c lient. •Although it i s understood from the situational context o f 4 the extract that ther* i s a fourth participant in the text, there i s no formal feature that shows this in the theme. 4 4 The said participant, who i s an attendant o f the herba list , UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 261 contributes to the conversation in e ls . xvi and xx. The le x ic a l items re fe rr in g to a problem are yfyy ’ haemorrhoids'^ which occurs thrice in the extract ( e l s ix , rL and xvii)^ and yfrdf-y^>di ’ p i l e s ' ( c l . x i i ) . The two items r e fe r to the same phenomenon, and they seem connected to the item yagbe ’ pass excrement* ( c l . v i i ) because the object _idx_ is associated with vnrbip. Since i t i s the c l ie n t ’ s son above that performs th is process o f passing excrement, one can guess that he is also the person that has the problem mentioned here. Las t ly , in the theme, the question items se and kjf ’ what' occur. The f i r s t o f these occurs th r ice ( e l s . v, xiv and xv i) while the second occurs only once. In the f i r s t occurrence, s_e expresses a hope and in the th ird , i t introduces some items which re fe rs to certa in medicinal objects, v iz . asalo >it:tdi yiyo 'assorted herbs and p i le drugs’ . The mentioning o f idx yiyo here again links the objects o f medicine mentioned to the probl-em id e n t i f ie d = bcve, and one tends to see the ob jects as sources o f remedy fe r the problem.. Correlating both theme and rheme, the content opens rith the expression of a hope that nothing i s wrong ( c l . v ) . "c rever , since th is expression is presented as a question, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 262 a doubt i s then created about th is hope. Meanwhile, the next clause ( c l . v i ) ascertains that there i s indeed a problem if.y f f i ,h aving p i l e s * . The fact that th is problem i s repeatedly associated with the c l i e n t 's son in els. v i - v i i i confirms our e a r l ie r guess about the sick person. I t i s the c l ien t who states the problem o f her son as well as the e f fo r ts she and some other people have been making to cu rta il i t ( c l . v i i i ) . But i t i s the herbalist who r e a l ly id e n t i f ie s the problem and confirms I t (see e ls , ix , x i , x i i and xv i i j . . The problem id e n t i f ie d is expressed emphatically via clauses with marked theme in which the id en t ify in g verb *be* i s e l l ip te d . With th is emphasis, the herbalist does g ive f in a l support to the response o f the c l ien t in respect o f the diagnosing question asked ea r l ie r . Following the id en t i f ic a t io n o f problem above, two kinds o f information are further given in the extract.. F irs t , the herba lis t informs the c l ie n t that the la t t e r would need to prepare an antidote to the problem (see e ls . xvi-xx) . And second, she instructs her attendant, who now assumes the. ro le o f 2nd person, about the medicines the la t t e r should * bring fo r the c l ien t (see e ls . x v i-x x ) . In the propositions that occur towards the end o f th is extract, the clauses do not e x p l ic i t ly ind icate the reference o f the person being UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 265 talked about in the theme. Nevertheless, since the herba lis t and attendant are now the 1st and 2nd persons in the conver­ sation, the 5**d person has to he the c l ie n t or her son or both o f them. In th is case, i t i s the c l ien t who has a l l the while been sneakies and acting for her son in the in te ra c t !on j hence, she is expected to rece ive the medicinal ob jects from the herbalist on her son's behalf. Note that the ro le o f the c l ien t has changed from her former 2nd person to 3rd person here. The discussion about theme above shows im p l ic i t ly that the content o f the extract above i s cohesive. Some o f the features which create cohesion in i t are shown schematically below. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Coburn ve ti on Items and Location Reference ( e l tua t lona l ) £ 'you*, o 'h e1, a 'w e ' , xy^n ’ that1, etc . C a l l over the tex t ) Reference ( l i n g u i s t i c ) ymy r c b i l d t , o 'He* J; *hi;s r , a 'him’ ( e l s . i v , v i , v i i and v i i i ) x d.f ' a n u s ' £ ' i t * ( e ls . v i i and v i i i ) Yodx-yodx. tP i l e s r \ ’ i t s ' ( e l s . x i i , x i i i , e tc . ) E l l i p s i s | »F» I d f y f yo n) y£n /.i<£ / (e l s . i x . x i and x i i ) P i l e s (thematic) that i s . •SF’ Bn ,ns)ilvo atxdi yfyo nikan ni jjriyn o ( e l s . x i i i - x v i ) I s i t assorted herbs and p i l e drugs alone ( they w il l do)? • sp» ~— / yoo sx gba/ mxmu-wxwe. (11.18-19) \ -----/ he w i l l al so get/' the one fo r drinking and bathing.. Subst itut ion i egboogi 'medicines' eyx 'th e one' ( e l s . xv and xix) nnkan 'th in g ' egboogi ’ medicines' ( e l s . x i i i , x iv and xv) . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 265 Cohesive t ie s Tterns and Location Conjunction * al so —^.cls. x v i i i andxfx , si 1 and%— -^cls. x ix and xx L ex ica l rep e t i t i o n Idx yxytj) 'P i le s * ( e l s . i x and x i ) . £e 'Question* ( e l s . v, x iv apd xv i) , niy^n ' i s that’ ( e l s . i x . xi.and x i i ) . gba 'ge t* ( e l s . x v i i i and xx) , h^alo a t id f yfyp 'assorted and p i le s ' (11. 1 if—15) mimu-’.’/iw ̂ 'drinking and bathing* (11. 18-19) L e xi c al r el a t i o n sh i p egboogi 'medicines*— »a.salo a t id i yiyp ( hvpon ymy/co-h yponymy) 'assorted herbs and p i le drugs'. o l6 r i i "am£ ' shea-butter ■ ointment, e tc . ( synonymy) I d i yiy? A$d f-^>d f 'P i le s * ( e l s . x i and x i i ) v / N / / Lex ica l co lloca tion y/yodi 'protruding anus' Ida yxyp/ Yodx-y^df 'piles!£r---- nrty^n'is that* ( e l s . v i , v i i , i x , x i and x i i ) se 'make* - egboogi 'medicine* gba 'g e t ' ( e l s . xv, x v i i i - x x ) . { UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 266 I t i s apparent from the presentation above that a l o t o f t ie s are woven around the items T _d iy iy o _ 'F i le s ' and egb'bogi ' medicines’ to create texture in the ex tract. The extract above is only a part o f Text 1. The other part w i l l be discussed below. This other section is very long, hence we may renuire to reduce the length in order to nrevent unwieldiness o f i l lu s t r a t io n . The reduction i s done in such a way that i t i s only certain parts which are oriented towards the reception o f subject matter rather than the subject matter i t s e l f that are not presented. The portions remaining, which are crucial to thematic development, are s t i l l lengthy but we shall manage to present th is below. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 267 ------- sxnu xkoko . unmkd You w i l l throw i t ins ide a pot # UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 269 Th eme Hb errre Status xxxi v 9 o wa ge yxx sx i l umrrkd You w i l l use i t to push i t i n . . x l 1 X 51(5 t i ve 9? unmkd Q u e st io n h ave you u n d e r s t o o d ? L wK a dy tun f y a s y y l x - unmkd You w i l l a l s o a g a in wash t h i s c l o t h , Lx Wa a/ s a✓ a » unmkd You w i l l l e t i t become d r y . L l i / Ma j e k i o junu o * unmkd Don’ t l e t i t g e t l o s t « ,\ ' L i i i Bo junu a a n i i fun y n:f xmii o . mkd I f i t . n e t s l o s t l o s t , we s h a l l not g i v e you an oth er# LI v To b a 1t i yy n i e l£yx:f o « mkd When i t p r o t r u d e s I s ( t h e r e l e v a n c e ) o f t h i s one , UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Th em e Ph erne S t a t u s r L v <0 ya unmkd I t i s t ime L v i 9 gbagbc ja d e unmkd YOU b r i n g the h e r b s out L v i i E l o y i x nk^ ? unmkd Thin one what about i t ? c x x v i i So e r e l e y x i ? unmkd1 1 Q u e s t io n (Do) see t h i s ? you l ✓ a✓ ma/n mu u' , /x x x v i . i l A. lee »m ^,t a l o o 0\39 unmkd He vd 1 1 be d r i n k i n g i t t h r e e| times a day 3. 9/ po✓ n u' x x x i x Owoo yxn n m s^ w\ a'a -a" a b'ji unmkd Your f e e i s t e n and a h a l f pounds UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 273 Theme Rheme S t a t u s '.0/ unmkd You t h a n k s , x c i >_? e/ 0_T kb n i l di k i n tun padk wa m k i n n f y Y i V e l e y i i ' t h i s th in g / o n e * ( 1 s t e x t r a c t c l . x v and 2nd e x t r a c t c l . x x i i i ) ; k i n n f y^i ' t h i s th ing '^------o / l ' i t ' ( e l s . x x i i i and x x i v ) ; oml ' w a t e r ' 4:— i ' i t ' ( e l s . xxv and x x v i i ) ; - I d ̂ ' Anus' ( 1 s t . extract)^------ £ ' i t ' (2nd e x t r a c t c l . L i v ) ; e l£ y \ x ' t h i s one^---- ' i t ' ( e l s . x x x i i and x x x i i i ) r.rp yi:( ' t h i s c l o t h ' {------a ' i t * ( e l s . L and L i ) ; e ley x t f ' t h i s onej£— n ' i t ' ( e l s . L x x x v i i and L x x x v i i i ) ; £ /a 'him*— -frpmy ' c h i l d ( e l s . x c i i i - x e v i i ) , e t c . E l l i p s i s * SP * Mumu l , ( s 4n n i C U k J . ( e l s . x x v i and x x v i l i ) D r i n k i n g a l o n e ( t h e m a t i c ) i t i s . »SPC* Eekan naa n i ££<* maa s e ghogbo h J k j t i l . 5 ( e l s . . X3a d . i i and x x ? i v , e l s . x l . i i and x L i i i , 3d.lv and 3 d v , 3d.vi-a.nd 3d v i i ) : de tun ’ a l s o a g a i n ’ ( e l s . 3d.vii-L) L e x i c a l r e p e t i t i o n h i n n f y i i / e l ^ y l x / y i x ' t h i s t h i n g / o n e ’ ( e l s . X3GL, XX3d i , 3C30d-V, 3c x x v i , L i v , e t c . ) r xk"bko 'n o t * ( e l s . x x i i , x x 3d i and L3dx) ;■ a ̂ 9 ’ c l o t h ’ ( 3 d v i l and L) 7 mumu/mu ’ d r i n k i n g / d r i p k ’ ( e l s . x x v i , x x v i i i , L i i i , L x x x v i i i , e t c . ) ; - gba ’ c l a i m ’ ( e l s . x c v - - x c v i i ) r y^gb< ̂ ’ p a s s e x c r e t a ’ ( e l s . x x x v i i and , x x x v i i i ) , ’ b a t h e ’ ( e l s . 3c x v i i f X3C!.x, L x i v , L x v i , e t c . ) ; bh ’ t a k e ’ ( e l s . x L i i i and 3d v ) ; e t c . L e x i c a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s a . synonymy wo ’ l o o k a f t e r ’ —^ d;{ s i ’ p r e s e r v e ’ ( e l s . x c i i i and x c i v ) / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 280 C o h e s i v e t i e s I t e m s and L o c a t i o n b . antonymy yy ’ prot rude1 — v/y].6 ’ enter* ( e l s . xivl and xLviii) ' \ x * t h i s ’ - rrnt 1 1 ' a n o t h e r * ( e l s . T, and L i i i ) c . hyponymy/co-hyponymy Ni r bop bo ^pba ’ A l l th e t i m e ' — ^ I^ymytg ( t i m e r e f e r e n c e ) 160 iy ’ t h r e e t i m e s d a i l y ’ A x iy myydoptrn’ i n f i f t e e n d ay s ( e l s . xL, L x x x v i i i and x c i i ) ( m e d i c i n a l o b j e c t s ) oml * water* /frre n t i le ty 'menth olatu m' /asy ’ c lo t h * /aybo ' h e r b s * , e t c . d. c o l l o c a t i o n omi * water*—» munru * d r in k in g * /wy ’ bathe* ( e l s . x x v , x x v i , x x i x ) ; yapby 1 ' p a s s e x c r e t a ' —> i d i ’ anus* ( e l s . x x x v i i i a n d - x L ) ' ^kbko * p o t ’ —^ s^ ' c o o k ' ( e l s . x x i i and x x i v ) ~ a 99 ' c l o t h ' — ‘ wash* and saf 'd r y * ( e l s . x L v i i , L and L i ) UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 281 Apparently, Text 1 above exhibits a lo t o f cohesive features in its two extracts described above. Rut i t Is important to note that cohesion is not peculiar to this text alone. I t is a characteristic feature o f YTM texts. Every YTM text exhibits features o f cohesion which are projected via d ifferent cohesive categories. I t is these features which enhance the communication o f meaningful ideas by the texts as well as the reception o f these ideas by interpretants. Although a ll YTM texts can be said to display cohesion, they cannot be said to display this phenomenon in the same way. Hence, one might curiously want to observe the ways in which different YTM texts contain cohesive features. The features o f cohesion in the seven texts analyzed In this study are thus observed and the findings presented in a table below (see Table 7 ). Meanwhile, there are some statements made about the method of presentation as followsr a. the features are observed in terms o f ( i ) the number o f texts in which they occur, and ( i i ) the frequency of those features that are quantifi­ able in the texts;: b. a feature with a high frequency o f occurrence (H) w ill occur at least five times in a text, while that with a low freouency (L) w ill occur less than this number; UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 282 c. a feature is considered characteristic (C) i f i t occurs frequently in five or more o f the seven texts analyzed, otherwise i t w ill be regarded as not characteristic (NC); d. the total frequency o f occurrences o f features is indicated in the ‘ comment' column in the table, alongside the symbol for characteristic or non- characteristic; and e. the ' + * sign indicates the presence o f a feature in a text while the ' sign indicates i t s absence. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 283 T'-'ble 7: T^g Represents!,:!on o f Cohesive Features In YTM Texts S categories "1 ? 3 h 5 6 7 Comments s. Reference + + 4 + 4 4 4 C ( I ) Situational H H H H H II H 7H ( I i ) Co-1. extu nl H H H II II II H 7H b. Substitution 4 — 4 — 4- 4 4 NC H _ L - II H L 3H ____________ - c. E llip s is 4" + 4 4 4 4 4 C H L II L II II H 5H d. Conjunction * +' 4 4 +' 4 NC H L L » L H 3H ................... . e. Lexical + 4 4~ 4 4- 4 4 C Repetition II H ! IT FT h H H 7H f. Lexical + + 4 4 4 4 4 C Relationships g. Lexical + 4 4- 4 +' 4 4 C Collocation UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN IBRARY 234. The table above shows that cohesion is achieved in YTM texts in d ifferent ways, bnt those are exrlained in two directions below. F irst, i t is observed that features represented by categories f ar , * cr , r e ', ’ f r and • g* are characteristic o f YTM texts, while those represented by categories • b* and * d* occur only in some o f the texts. Although the frequencies o f features o f categories * f ' and ' g* are not stated in the table because both of them are not easily quantifiable or delimited in the texts, i t is observed that features of both categories are normally present in every I'M text and their features are easily iden tifiab le in i t . Thus, one can state that communication in YTM involves, especially, making references (co-textual and situational) to a lo t o f objects, actions and events, repeating words which indicate certain key ideas in the system and indicating via lex ica l means the relationships which exist between participants, objects, actions and sequences o f events. I t also involves indicating via e llip s is the shared non- lingu istic and lingu istic experience o f participants. Secondly, i t is observed that while some texts, e .g . Texts 1, 5, 6 and 7, u t il iz e features renresented by a ll or almost a ll of the categories above, other texts lik e Texts 2, 3 and k do not u t il iz e features o f some o f the categories. The observation further reveals that the f irs t set o f texts UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 285 are longer than the second set. Thus, i t seems that the longer YTM texts seem to have more cohesive features, apart from the characteristic ones lis ted above, than the shorter texts. Concerning the status of clauses in Text 1 above, i t is observed that there are more unmarked clauses ( 80. 6%) than marked ones (19.4%)- This prominence of clauses with unmarked theme is in fact a feature common to a ll the texts analyzed in this study, as the next table below showsr Tattle 8r Options o f Theme in Some YTM Texts THEME T E X T S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mean Unmarked 80.6% 57.1% 82.7% 65.5% 80. 6% 72.7% 71.25% 72.9% Marked 19.4% 42.9% 17.3% 14.5% 19.4% 27.3% 28.75% 27.1% Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Most o f the time, unmarked clauses are used to represent the ideas and thoughts expressed, except perhaps on the few occasions when problems are identified via the use o f marked forms, e.g.r I d;i yjfyp n\yen 'P ile s is that* (Text 1), Ara rare ni 'Body pains is i t ' (Text 3) , Asa si' si ni ‘Magical a fflic t ion UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY is i t ’ (Text 7) and Erepn nl o 'Rough play is i t ' (Text 9) ; when questions are asked, e.g. r Bawo 16 ye n se y? 'How does i t worr.y you?' (Text 2), ^ \y\vro ra k£ lo rb n 't i t your wife that you call her?(Text 3)» etc; and also when particular objects and circumstances are emphasized in the recommendations \ \ / / /■ o f medication, e.g.r Ona myta ni o o da a si ' I t is three places that you 'll divide i t in to ' (Text 2, 1.16) and Ayy re ni k£o 1<$ mgdx i. ' I t is her cloth you should t ie round your waist' (Text 3» 1.25). Note that even the unexpected pattern of some of the marked clauses above is only construed In grammatical terms and that some of these expressions are more conventionally accepted in Yoruba than the unmarked grammatical options. Contrast 0 je erena ' I t is rough play' or 0 je xdi yfyy ' I t is p iles ' Bren a ni or Ida yjfyo niypn mentioned abover the la tte r Yoruba pair Is more acceptable in Yoruba conversation. ( In semantic terms the more frequent selection of the unmarked option would Indicate that the aggregate o f propositions and proposals in the texts represent information in the normal order provided by the lingu istic system. The normal patterns and usual conversational forms are preferred in YTM texts perhaps because the occasion demands a straight­ forward expression o f ideas. This is one reason why one can UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 287 say that the diviners are not communicating with their clients when they use elevated language in the divinatory system, until when they la te r interpret such elevated language in a simplified one. The YTT4 herbalist undoubtedly has to make himself clear at a ll times to his c lien t, otherwise he w ill be constantly challenged to repeat or c la r ify his ideas. 5.1.2 gome significant lex ica l items The lex ica l items which project the message o f the above text can be iden tified in two partsr (3.) items indicating objects/entit ies, and ( b) items indicating processes. The f ir s t group o f items is identified as the lex ica l nodes while the second group is the collocates. The items are lis ted below vdth the number o f occurrences o f each item put in bracketsr a. Items indicating objects/entities ( i ) Ida yxy^/yoda-yibdi 'haemorrhoids/piles' (/> times), id i 'anus’ (5 times) ( i i ) Ikoko/ab^ 'mud pot/bowl' (8 times), kinna , y^i/el£yif 'th is thing/this one* (8 times), mjanu-wav/cj 'that for drinking and bathing'(2 times), ns 'b o t t le ', ^£b£, etc. are very common in the texts, while items such as btutu 'appeasement* 9 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 292 ?bg 'sacrifice* and names o f supernatural agents ( I fa , (^runmila, Equ, Aje, etc.) are restricted to Type 2 texts. Some common items o f process include l6 'use* » b& 1 scoop or take* 9 mu ’ drink’ , ’ eat’ , jja ’ rub’ , s£ 'cook ', ’ mix', la 'lick * . etc. 5.1.3 Trans! t lv l ty Three process options - material, relational and mental - rea lize the message o f Text 1. The f ir s t two options sign ificantly project the message content o f the text, while the last plus the only one instance o f verbalized process vri ’ say' (c l . x) rea lize the reception of this content. The text opens with the use of relational circumstantial verb kd 'a photic item' to express greetings in ka^arq 'good morning' (e ls . i and i i ) . In these clauses aaro 'morning' is expressed as a circumstantial attribute serving as range while the exp lic it and im plicit carrier 'You' (e ls . i and i i ) serve as the medium. Further in the greeting, the herbalist asks a question in which the material action verb jr ’ wake’ indicates a non-extended action which has the participants a *we’ ( i . e . the herbalist and clien t) both as agentAredium. The answer to this question is realized by a minor clause (see 1.3) • UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 293 At the next stage o f diagnosis, the herbalist asks another question in which the relational existential verb s£ ’ be/ exist* enquires whether there is any problem' the client replies this question using material action and event verbs in els. vi and v i i respectively. The formal interpretation o f the items 6 v yofli ( l i t e r a l ly 'He is protruding anus’ ) gives an absurd meaning in which an animate agent ef 'He' performs a material action process having xdi 'anus' as medium. Normally, one would expect the herbalist here to use formal items that w ill re fle c t an inanimate agent occurring as medium in a material event process as the client does in c l. v i i , v i z -----I dx ̂ a wrT yy 'His anus w ill then protrude'.. Although the forms of' the la tte r expression give a more plausible meaning, the former expression is also understood by the lis tener because the re-interpretation to be done is already a part of the socio-cultural consciousness of' the Yoruba in their day-to-day interaction. Thus, the two expressions above are acceptable in Yoruba conversation as well as in YTM transaction. Following the statement o f the c lien t 's problem above, the herbalist confirms the problem via the propositions I rtf yxyy n)yr?n/Yy&±~ŷ j i ' nfryyn (e ls . ix , xi and x ii ) . In these propositions, the relational identifying verb jxT UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY * be’ is e llip ted -in the clauses in which the name/token o f the problem is thematized (see 5.1.1). While Id i yxyo and yAdx- yfrdx name the problem being diagnosed above, the item j-ypn 'that* refers "to the referent o f the problem i t s e l f . This Ictf dC'/V iden tlfierta iso represents the value and medium o f the identifying process above. Further in the diagnostic transaction, the herbalist proposes that the clien t should carry out some material action processes of creation and operation, v iz . f-sh 'do' and gba 'g e t ' respectively (see els. x i i i and xv* and els. x v ii i-x x ). The agent o f these actions is the client while the medium is a set of medicinal items c.gbbogx 'medicine1, a^al^ xatldx~ yiyy 'assorted herbs and p ile s ', etc. The medicating aspect o f the text is constituted by the * prescriptive transaction. In this transaction, instructions are given as to how medicines should he prepared and admini­ stered. The preparation and administration of medicines are indicated via material operation verbs f i si 'put in ', ge 'c u t ', se 'cook ', f i . . . won ' scoop. . .on' , pb my" 'mix w ith ', f j t;l 'use to push', f£ 'wash' , sa 'dry*, etc. The client is the agent that w ill perform a ll these actions, ’while her son w ill perform such actions as .jokbo 1 6 's i t on' and mu 'drink' ( els Lxxxii-Lxxxiv and Lxxxviii) . In a ll these UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 295 instances, the medicinal objects omj 'waterj ayy 'c lo th ', ,\gbg 'herb ', men tile tp ' menthol a turn' and their references £, £, eT, 6, a ' i t ' are the medium o f the actions, being the things to be prepared and administered by the c lien t. Occasionally, the beneficiary o f the actions is mentioned in the material clauses, v iz . nx <)ofpjn kpkere kan---- (Text 8, 11, 35- 34) --- 1 shall give you. one medicine---- Even in emergency situations o f YTM practice, the expressives in the pre-diagnostic aspect are realized by especially the material clause E gha mi ooo? 'Help me!' in which the action verb gba ’ help' represents a c lien t 's distress ca ll for quick action from a herbalist. The material process is found to be most prominent in the medicating o f YTM texts. Whether the transaction is prescriptive, incantatory or supplicating, i t emphasizes physical a c tiv it ie s . In the prescriptive transaction (see Text 1, 11. 21-73? Text 2, 11. 16-28? Text 3, 11. 19-41? etc.) material verbs indicate certain actions which the client should perform on medicinal objects while preparing and applying them. In the incantatory transaction, the material process option may represent actions involving different participants. F irst, i t may represent the wish that a certain problem should cease (see Text 16, I I . 1-3 and 8-9). Second, i t may represent actions performed by supernatural forces for or on certain objects (Text 7, 11. 96-100). Third, i t may represent UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 300 some other actions performed by supernatural forces on a patient (Text 17, 11. 20-21). Lastly, i t may represent the clien t acting on certain objects in order to solve his problem (see Text l8, 11. 17-21). In the supplicating transaction, or prayer greeetings the material clause represents the wish that some supernatural agents should exp lic it ly or im p lic itly perform the action of guiding, providing the supplicant with good health or wealth, preventing him from any ev il or . 4 giving support to the client (Text 19, 11. 13-I5r Text 20, 11. 72-76). I t also represents the wish that the agents should accent the sacrifices offered by the client (Text 20, I I . k3-h5 and I I . 56-57) . Also in the divinatory aspect of YTM texts, the impact o f the material process can be fe lt in the representation o f protagonists* worries, quest for divination, la te r successes and expressions o f happiness and joy. Generally, in YTM texts, the predominance o f material verbs re fle c t the participants' b e lie f that the mark of being alive and healthy is the ab ility to perform physical a c tiv ities (see, e.g. Text /+, 11. 9-10). Thus, when a natural sickness becomes active in a patient, the patient too has to counter­ act by preparing and applying medicines to overpower the sickness. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 301 Though i t characterizes most YTM texts, the material process may rot be predominant in some of the texts. For example, in Text 5 the relational process occurs roost prominently because the divinatory interpretation (see especially 1 1 . 62- 69) emphasizes the existence of certain agents which are crucial to the problem being tackled. One further observation made here is that the verbalized process, realized by verbs like n i/n f/rn * say/speak/talk*, has the tendency to occur frequently * in transactions pertaining to divination (see e.g. Texts 5, 6 and 77 and also Texts 10-12). Having described the process options which are central to the transitivity system, a few remarks need to be made about the participants and circumstantial options too. Talking i about participant roles, i t is observed that most clauses with the material process further select the non-middle participant option (see Table 10 below). At different points in the texts, the non-middle clauses represent both the medium and agent, and sometimes the beneficiary, of material action or event processes. For example, most of the material clauses in Texts 1, 2, 3 and 7 above show the client or patient as an agent instructed to perform actions on certain objects which serve as medium. See, for example, the sentences below (the participant items are underlined): /t * UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 302 i 72a. Wa a Wa mapp yix, w)ta fx i? tl x woleT. (Text 1, 11. 37-38). You w ill then take this cloth, and use i t to push i t in. b. J& Y6 6 a mu £ gegq bx om i---- (Text 2, 1.22) He w ill be drinking i t like water---- c. wa £ Ip, k£ lp bp £ . (Text 13, 1.14) You should look for her and le t him go and beg her. Note the pronoun £ in tlx 'push it* in Example 72a which serves as beneficiary in the clause. The pronoun refers to the p iles earlier identified as the problem of the patient. Also in some of the texts, the herbalist and supernatural forces are called upon as agents to work for the clients or patients as goal or beneficiary or fight some problems which • * / serve as medium (see Text 4, 11. 3-4 and 13-16; Text 9, 11.5 and 9; Text 7, 11.96-100? Text 17, 11. 20-21, etc.)'. When material middle clauses occur in the texts, they often express clients' problems or worries that are revealed in their performance of non-extended actions (see Examples 71 a, b and c above). Consider also some other clauses in » / * ■> Text 6, 1.26; Text 10, 11. 4-5? Text 12, 11. 11 —16 and 43-52; etc. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Table 10: The Participant option in Material clauses in Some YTM Texts 1 j PARTICIPANTS T E X T s i ! 2 3 ! 4 5 6 7 Mean { 1 No % [No | % No % INo | % No | % No % No % No % : Non-middle 55 3 3 .2 |16 7 6 . 2 13 7 6 . 5 14 7 7 . 8 9 ;5 2 . 9 43 4 2 . 2 41 6 2 .1 191 6 3 . 7 ! i Middle 4 6 . 8 5 2 3 . 8 4 2 3 . 5 4 2 2 . 2 8 4 7 . 1 59 5 7 . 8 25 3 7 . 9 109 36 o 3 : Total i59 100 21 k co% 100% 118 !1100% 17 100% 102 1 0 0 % 66 100% 3 0 0 100%17 I i UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Meanwhile, other clauses which indicate mental, relational, verbalized and behavioural processes often indicate the medium and range participant roles. The range in these clauses normally cypresses the sickness attributes of patients, greeting attributes o f participants, the verbiages o f super­ natural forces and diviners and the perceptions and cognitions o f or reactions to phenomena by clients or herbalists. The representation of circumstantial details shows that the place adjunct occurs most frequently in the texts, followed by the time adjunct (see Table 11 below). Apart from indicating the location of medicines during their preparation and application as in Text 1 above, the place adjuncts also give information about herbalists' location as well as c lien t 's direction and destination in the search for remedy for her problem (see Text 2, 1. 11; Text 3» 1.5? Text 5» 1.15? Text 6, 1.86; see also Text 7, 11. 155-156 and 160-161). The time adjunct very often gives details about the period of preparation and application of medicines (Text ?, 11. 17-18? Text 3* 1*23? Text 5, 1.104? etc .). UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 305 Table H r ^ 'e C.i ream," ' : n ' < 11H c^tT oar- In Some YTM Texts — -—---------- ----------------------------------- t CTTHTTM.qT’AFCE tr 7 7, T s ! 1 1 o ic _ 3 4 5 6 7 Wean I Place 48.0 iH.O 6o.o 66.7 38.9 34.2 50.0 46.8 T:T m e 36.0 I40.0 00.0 H .3 22.2 42.5 18.8 31.8 i M -inner 10.0 O0 .0 10.0 _ pp.p 19.2 28.1 17.4 ' • Hereon ;»-0 - - 16.7 2.7 3.1 3.8 Purpose - - 1.4 - . 2 ________________ _ _______________ l_________ Total 1100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% \ UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 306 5*1.4 P0la.r3.ty From the socio-cultural point of view, the field o f YTM has both positive and negative applications to the Yoruba people. But i t has already been stated in this work (see 4.1*1.2) that the positive view is the object of this study. The goal o f a positively-oriented YTM event is the efficient diagnosis of a problem of il l -hea lth and appropriate suggestion of a remedy to this problem. No problems Can prove intractable to solutions in YTM practice and herbalists do not admit defeat even in the face of seemingly apparent failures (see e.g. Text /;) . Talking about form, i t i s already recognized that the f ir s t three clauses in the text represent greetings. The f ir s t two of these clauses are positive while the third has a negative form. While the goodwill expressed by the positive clauses is apparent, that expressed by the negative one is implied and i t has i t s proper interpretation tied with socio­ cultural experience. The clause A S ;j:f bx o? 'Didn't we wake up?' can be seen as an alternative greeting expression to other forms like S6 da ad ,4a la t i ? or a i l l re? 'Did we wake up well?' The greeting with a negative form above i s emphatic, unlike the other two, and i t does not take the act UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 307 o f weiring up well for grouted; whnt the meaning implies can be stated thus: * Did we r ea l ly wake up well ?' • Nearly a l l the clauses In the text indicating the problem and sources o f remedy are pos i t iv e . The problem of the client, for example, i s id en t i f i ed by the herbalist via the use of pos i t ive clauses (e ls . i x , xi and x ii) with emphasis on one o f them. Ida yxyq n^yyn 39 0 ’P iles that certainly i s * , This reflects the herbalist’ s positivenes’s about the diagnosis, and the c lien t 's total agreement with her i s assumed. Also, the later prescription by the herbalist is expressed by very many positive declarative clauses which indicate what actions the client should perform towards achieving a positive consequence than what actions she should not perform. Even the interrogative clauses which express part of this prescription are positive as they represent demonstrations and demands for c larification both of which are essential to the success of the encounter. Although positive clauses are predominant in the text, some negative clauses occur too to project the preventive- diagnostic-curative YTf-T view. One negative clause is the one that represents the apparently ironical in itiating question of the herbalist, viz. ye ko s { o ? ’Hope there i s nothing?’ The questioner here knows that something is UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 308 wrong with the listener hut she does not want to be blank about this since lack o f well-being is a social malaise. A more direct and positive question such as Ki it3~ d£? *What has come?' may not he as appropriate in this text as i t would have been in a text representing an emergency YTM situation (see Texts /+, 6 and 9) » Some other negative clauses in the text (see e ls . xxvii, xxix, L i i and L i i i ) represent instructions which are not intended to instigate actions with negative consequences; rather, they are intended to warn against such actions that may prevent a timely achievement of a positive goal. Similarly, those negative clauses that appear towards the end of the text (e ls xcv-xcvii) are representing appeals against occurrences of bad events so that the positive goal o f the encounter represented by it is achieved. One further observation about negative clauses in Text 1 i s that they sometimes serve to emphasize a positive event by CvKtraw denying expositive action. For example, the proposition ---- wpn o n fl i ŵ o ’ they don't bathe with it* in cl* xxvii emphasizes the action of drinking expressed in the preceding proposition, viz. Mimu ni wyn n mu u ’I t i s drinking -that -the-v) drCw-lc i f via -ike juxtaposi tion- op a ‘tlxinJci and 'non-drinking* ( i . e . bathing) action. Also, the 4 expressions Tku )> nil gbq a ’ Death w il l not claim him', UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 309 Aran o rnY r? b% i 'Sickness vail not claim him', etc. negates the positive actions Iktf a gba a 'Death w ill claim, him and . Aran a gba a 'Sickness w ill claim him' both of which have a negative consequence in order to achieve a positive event. Note also that while the exnression (̂ ItjTrun r djfa si. 'God will preserve him' is acceptable to the Yomba speaker, the expressions Iku & d̂ Ta si or )\ran a daa s'f look absurd because the la t te r agents are noted for their destructive rather than creation or preservation tendencies. Even though both the options of positive and negative play significant roles in projecting the positive view in remedy- oriented YiM texts, i t is very clear that the positive option i s more frequently employed in the texts, as Table 12 below reveals: Table 12r Polarity Options in Gome YTM Texts * POLARITY T E X T s 1 2 3 b 5 6. 7 M ean Positive 83*7 82.1 86.5 100 88.0 83.7 87.7 86.7, Negative 16.3 17*9 13*5 - 12.0 16.3 13*3 13.3 . Total 100% 100%. 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 31CT The significance of the two options above in the texts is similar to that pointed out in the description of Text 1 above*. 5.1.5 Tense Before we identify the tenses in the above text, we need to point out that we already have some clues about i t s reference to time. From the conversational mode of the text, for example, we know that i t is a representation o f a present time interactional event between participants. All actions and events that take pi ace during the interaction are thus assumed to be present time-bound; those which took place before the interaction are past time-bound; and those which are yet to take place at the time of the interaction are future time-bound. We now combine our social experience here with the interpretation of tense forms in the text in order to understand fully how It makes references to time. The f ir s t occurrences of tense in the text are the non-future neutral phatic expressions in els. Ci) - ( i i i ) . The f irst two expressions refer to the present time because they occur contextually in a present time-bound speech event v/hile the third expression A a :ix bi o? ’ Did we wake up well?1 refers to a past time because the action of ’ waiting up’ Preceded the lime of conversation UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 311 At the d iagn ostic aspect o f the t e x t , d i f fe r e n t tenses mark the exchange o f in form ation . The i n i t i a t i n g question kb s i o ? ’ Hope there i s nothing?' i s a non -fu ture tense expression which i s present time-bound because i t i s asked in a present-tim e conversation . And the rep ly by the c l ie n t contains three d i f fe r e n t tenses . F ir s t , i t contains the non- f / * £ future durative expression 0 n y^di 'He i s having p i l e s ' the expression in d ica te s habitual a c t io n , or rather event, which transcends the past time in to the present. Second, i t contains a future tense expression in a major clause ( c l . v i i ) which in d ic a te s that the problem id e n t i f i e d above i s however consequent on another past/present time-bound action expressed in the subordinate clause preceding i t r 73. bn' t i n yagbe (n on -fu ture durative) When he passes excreta )T diS \e aS wa/ ya. On'fs^gun: Kx l o de? Kx lo de? Kx 16" f^se fe? Iya Er6pa ni o ------(Non-future neutral - Text 9 , 11. 7-9) H e rb a lis t : What happens? What happens? What did he do to h is l e g ? Child* s M other:It* s rough p la y . b. Bawo l o ^e n ^e Ara rf ro mi. (Non-future durative - Text 2, 11. Zj. and 6) H erb a lis t : How does i t trou ble you? Child: My body aches Also the d iv ln atory aspect i s ch aracterized by the non future neutral tense because i t d escr ibes a present time r e c i ta t io n and in terp re ta t ion o f events which occurred at p a r t icu la r p o in ts in the past time, e .g . r UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 318 77. QrunmllK o l e Orunmxla o l e mu, e t c . (Text 12, 1 1 . . 12-12) Qrunmila could not eat, Qrunmila could not drink. In con trast to the expression o f non-future tenses in the aspects above, future tenses, in the neutral and durative forms ch aracterize the medicating asp ect . The medicating aspect mainly d escr ibe future time a c t i v i t i e s un like the other aspects which descr ibe present and p a s t time a c t i v i t i e s . The future tenses in th is aspect thus represent the future time a c t i v i t i e s in a YTM tex t such as the fu lf i lm en t o f o b l ig a t io n s and commands. 78a. Bn bale wo: K<5b w X d dl e ni? s ip y i£ . koo lip ree gb'nlu-----(Text 6 , 11 . 129-130) P r ie s t : (Let) you get home now and ( l e t you) get a drummer. . /* Kf ? •1? n lo WO K f , j f n ld la (Text 19, 11. 13-14) Let me have money Let me have wealth * c . A a bu u bayxi, a a l a gbogbo ^ .(Text 7 , 11 . 156-1 57) He w i l l ta k e - i t l i k e th is and he w i l l l i c k everything. / UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 3*9 Although the future tenses t y p i c a l ly mark the medicating asp ect , exceptions can he observed in some in can tatory and sir pull eating transactions where a sse r t io n s o f fa c ts are prominent in stead o f the expression o f wishes (see e .g . Texts 15 and 18 ). Non-future tenses which r e a l i z e assert ion s in in ca n tat ion s and su p p lication s may he prominent in some te x ts , they do not, however, override (but rather support) the future tenses which r e a l i z e o b l ig a t io n s and commands that are the s ig n i f i c a n t features o f medicating texts* Now ta lk in g about in d iv idu a l YTM te x ts , one should say that although the te x ts may have c lauses s e le c t in g both the non-future and future tenses which may r e fe r to the three per iod s o f past, present and future time, the se le c t io n o f \ tense option s in them may d i f f e r from one another depending on which aspects or tra n sa ction s are prolonged in each t e x t j fo r example, Text 1 has more future tense verbs (51%) than non- future verbs ( k9%) because the p r e s c r ip t iv e transaction in i t i s very exten s ive , whereas the non-future tense i s predominant in Texts 2-7 where the medicating aspect i s l e s s - developed. Texts can also d i f f e r from one another in respect o f the more d e l i c a t e ch o ices o f non-future or future tenses th e ir clauses represent (s e e Table 1 2 ). Thus, although most o f the tex ts s im ila r ly express the non-future n eu tra l, future UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY neutral, non-future durative and future durative tenses in a descending order o f prominence, the case o f t e x ts which do not follow this o rd er , or o f texts which represent the remaining option s o f term !native and in g re ss iv e tenses d i f f e r e n t ly , may make the d i f fe re n ce between them. Furthermore, in sp ite o f the d i f fe re n ce s that may occur in the expression o f tense hy these t e x ts , they have a l o t o f s im i la r i t i e s occasioned by the a f f i n i t y o f tense expre­ ssion in the aspects they share. Thus, p re d ic ta b ly , Type 2 tex ts which have the d iv in atory aspect in them w i l l have a l o t o f non-future tense expressions r e fe r r in g to past time in them and these expressions w il l mark them o ff from those te x ts without any d iv in atory aspect in them, ■ 5 .1 ,6 Hood and modality I : i UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 327 Although the present in v es t ig a t ion does not reveal any charac­ t e r i s t i c feature o f modality f o r YTM te x ts , some u sefu l comments about these features can he made to help p o s s ib le fb ture in v e s t ig a t io n s in to the su b je c t . For in stan ce , i t i s observed that mo dal i zed c lau ses occur alongside d ec la ra t iv es in the medicating aspect o f YTM te x ts . I f such c lau ses are prominent in extensive medicating aspects , there i s every l ik e l ih o o d that they w il l dominate the t e x ts in which such aspects occur ( e . g . Texts 1 and h) . However, i f on the contrary the d iagn ost ic and/or d iv in a tory asp ects , both o f which are r e a l iz e d mainly by d ec la ra t iv e non-modalized c la u se s .a re extensive in t e x ts , i t i s most l i k e l y that such tex ts v a i l have more non-modalized than modalized clauses in them ( e . g . Texts 5, 6 and 7 ) . 5 .1 .7 Sentence tyres Text 1 i s dominated by simple sentences which represent the rather s im p l is t ic nature o f the language s ty le employed by the speakers. Most o f the statements and questions asked are short and they aim at ea s ie r comprehension o f the meanings by l i s t e n e r s . Apart from the l o t s o f demonstration by the h e r b a l is t ( shown by the freauent use o f the demonstrative item ' t h i s ’ ) , a l o t o f checking explanations and c l a r i f i c a t i o n s UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 328 are made to ensure that the c l ie n t gets her message prop er ly . Apart from the simple sentences, some minor and compound sentences are a lso observed. The minor sentence i s no doubt ty p ica l o f casual conversations in informal se t t in g s Csee Akindele, 1986); i t cannot however be so ty p ica l in a YTM text which n a tu ra lly r e f l e c t s a semi-formal s e t t in g . In i t s occurrence in th is te x t , i t represents e ith er a ff irm a tion s o f the c l i e n t ' s questions by the h e r b a l is t (1 1 .1 9 , 51 and 53) or the un fin ished con tr ib u tion s o f the c l i e n t re su lt in g from constant in terru p t ion s hv the h e r b a l is t (s e e 11 . 5 0 -5 7 ) . The compound sentences and the few complex sentences in the te x t c l a r i f y (s e e 11. 24-25 and 11. 45-47) and e laborate (1 1 . 35-37) p o in ts that are already made to enhance ea s ie r com prehensib ility o f the message by the c l i e n t . O f the four types o f sentences which occur in varying degrees o f frequency in YTM te x ts , on ly two are considered prominent in the t e x t s . While the very few compound and complex sentences in the tex t serve to emphasize, e laborate 4 and c l a r i f y id eas already ra ised in them (se e Text 5* 11* 81-82 ; Text 6, 11 . 116- 118) , the simple and minor sentences s ig n i f i c a n t ly p r o je c t the simple and comprehensible mode o f YTTT communication between h e r b a l is t and c l ie n t . - The 4 simple sentence type occurs most frequently in the texts* UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRAR 329' accounting for as much as 72.3% o f the mean frequency pattern in the t e x t s , fo llow ed by the minor sentence type which accounts fo r 15*1% o f the mean frequency (s e e be low ). Table 16r The Occurrences o f Sentence Types in Some YTM Texts SENTENCE TYPES T E X T s 1 2 3 5 6 7 Mean Minor 10 .h 10.7 8 .9 34.1 14*7 17.8 9.5 15.1 Simple 7/f.O 82.1 80. h 59.1 69.8 68.3 72.1 72.3 Compound 11 • 5 3*6 1.8 - 8.6 6.5 9 .5 5.9 Complex h.1 3*6 8 .9 6.8 6.9 7.5 8.9 6.7 Total 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% l______ The simple and minor sentence types dominate the turns o f d i f fe r e n t p a rt ic ip a n ts in each YTM speech event, whether such very turns are long or sh ort . Their dominance o f these turns^j often. in d ic a te s a p la in atmosphere o f the YTM speech events in which the Intentions o f speakers are normally expressed simply and: emphasized. Even the monological r e c i ta t io n s ty p ica l o f d iv in a tory , in ca n tatory and su p p lica t in g tra n saction s are UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 330 p ro je c te d by simple sentences supported by minor sentences which represent voca t iv es and exclamations in them- the simple sentence r e a l i z e s the narration s , assert ion s and requests that may be expressed in such r e c i ta t io n s . L a s t ly , both the simple and minor sentence types regulate the rhythm o f YTM te x ts , e s p e c ia l ly when the sentences occur contiguou sly o r a ltern a te with each other as they most o ften do in d ia logu es ; e .g .r 79a. Y6o s i gba mxmu-wxwp? OnxpbytVn: En - pn - en, mxmu-wxw^. (Text 1 ,1 1 .18- Attendant: She w i l l a lso get that fo r drinking and bathing? H erb a lis t : Yes, drinking and bath ing . h. Okunrin: Kf n I 9S0 m^dif ? O_ n«i-s e\ 1 gu >n: K6 0 1699 mydx-f. (Text 3 , 11 . 37-38) C li ent: I should t i e a c loth round my w a is t? J H erb a lis t : You should t i e a c lo th round your waist c . Babalawo: texts in terms of fu ll and partial lexico-struetural repetition of structures* In Type- 1 texts ( l ik e Texts 1 , 2 and 3) the recurring patterns occur mainly in form of f i l l repetition of structures and they enhance comprehensibility via their emphatic property. In the * / polylogical structures of Type 2 texts, however, the patterns recur in form of both the fu ll and partial repetition o f structures and they enhance both comprehsnsibility and aesthetics via their emphatic and rhythmic properties. Both of these modes rare employed to draw the attention of listeners to get the messages of texts. Thus, structural repetitions help speakers in YTM interaction to achieve their aims because such sneakers can attract the attention of listeners to the text messages by coaxing, forcing or charming such listeners. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 333 5.2 Some Pecu l iar Formal Features o f Text5 A Typt-Z Text) In Identifying the characteristic features of YTK texts above, i t is observed that the features of Text 1 and other Type- 1 texts are contained in YTM texts generally? hence most features of Type- 1 texts are also shared by Type-2 texts* However, there is evidence from our analyses of texts that certain formal features are found in Type-2 texts which are not shared by Type-1 texts. Such features are thus not characteristic of YTTi texts, but they serve to distinguish the two broad types of texts in the register. Since i t is part of the concern of this study to also look at features that are typical o f text types, we shall identify some of these peculiar features of Type-2 texts below, using Text 5 as the base o f analysis. The most noticeable features in this Category which have not been discussed earlier in this chapter are those that pertain to the modes of texts, particularly the theme, 1 exico-structure and rhetorical devices. 5.2.1 Tb erne A basic difference o f content between Texts 1 and 5 is the mode of organization of their messages. The message of UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 334 the former is prime-order while that of the la tter is both second- order and prime-order (see 4*4) • A second-order interpretation of content becomes necessary in the diagnostic divinatory transaction in Text while a re-interpretation of the second- order message at a prime-order level becomes essential in the divinatory prescriptive transaction. With the prime-order participants in Text .5 recognized as an I fa priest, a client and I fa (represented by divination instruments) from the analysis of theme and rheme projecting the pre-diagnostic and diagnostic aspects of the text ( 1 1 . 1- 9) , we present an analysis of theme and rheme projecting the divinatory transactions below. 1. Clauses Theme Rheme \ X I ?> ĵk, wa abiye . We indeed rejoice that our babies w ill l ive . x x ii i I fa ti l<5un pere qraq fun o nbeun* has said that he invited blessings of children for you there. xxlv T fa ti l 6b qiykm^j^. has talked that you are resolute. X X V Mr\a You spoke —v xxxl O' ro ded^ You talked carelessly xxxii 0 s^ro i t i ju tan You finished talking shamelessly xxxiii Ŵ n wa polukblu kb o loju They then called you to face the music xxxl v wfn polukblu kb o ib ju tan They called you to face the music xxxv T r nlabla lb n jade l£nu wyn Big l ie s started coming out of their mouth xxxvi A df f b fbbi amcj---- Someone cast I fa for a mother---- xxxvii T fa ti ibun pere qmto fun ting different instances of lexical matching can be shown from our data as follows: » * ( i ) tonal counterpoint: Text 10, 11. 10-14;-Text 17, 11. 4-5 and 6- 7 , 1 1 . 23-26 ( i i ) word play: Text 12, 11. 62-63 ( i i i ) parallelism: Text Zf, 11. 8 and 11, 11,,9 and 10; Text 7, 11, 81-84, 11. 96-97, 11.98-99r Text 12, 11. 6-7; Text 17, 11. 16-17* (iv ) sequence of related Text 10, 11. 19-20; Text 12,, actions: 11. 11-16; Text.18,.11. 5, 8, 11, 14; Text 19, 11. 9- 1 1 . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 347 The matching o f lex ica l items in Type-2 YL’M texts complement the f u l l lex ico -structura l repetition of items (see 5 . 1 .8 ) to project the informative and aesthetic functions. The unity of sense created by these features enhances greatly the coherence o f the above texts. 5 .2 .3 .2 . Figurative expressions The analysis of theme in 5.2.1. above already has recognized the presence of recitations o f mythical event in the diagnostic divinatory transaction of Text 5. The mythical events recited in the text have metaphorical items which show some fict ionalized characters performing certain ' actions which imitate those o f rea l communicative experience. This recitation undoubtedly adds an aesthetic dimension to the information expressed in the transaction* The aesthetic e ffect o f this device added to the other e ffects — informative, d irective and expressive —• makes Type-2 texts more powerful than Type-1 texts* because the a ffec tive elements in the device are essentia l ingredients of dynamic speech ( c f , Kayakawa, 1974. 89). Figurative expressions in Type-2 YTM texts have a ffective connotations by 'ttaif representation o f symbolic events which serve as precedents to c lients* problems and also by tbejr UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 348 indication o f the supernatural via the divinatory means of communication» The domains o f f ic t ion a liza t ion in these texts are in the divinatory recitations, incantatory chants and supplicatory requests and wishes, Also, the analysis o f theme has shown certain metaphorical items symbolize experience in the text a, Further examples o f symbol from our data collection are given thus: ( i ) &gbb funfun l£ii 'ram o f pure white colour' (Text 10) - old age. ( i i ) Ey|l£ 'The Pigeon' (Text 11) - a c lient ( i i i ) kgbagbb, aliSdlp^> m^yl 'two double-fruited plantains (Text 11) - a set o f twins, ( i v ) ahun 'the to rto ise ' (Text 12) - undisturbed breathing. (v ) b&k4 'axe ' (Text 13) - breaking o f head % (headache). (v i ) ejb 'a snake' (Text 16) - worms causing stomachache. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 549 ( v i i ) ew4 'various leaves' (Texts 17-19) - d ifferent kinds o f medication. ( v i i i ) ?p̂ »n-----l d l bbtik9 'scrotum-------o f a he goat' (Text 18) - delicacy fo r elders (old age) ( i x ) 9ta 's ton e ', 'palm hem el' and bglrls£k<£ 'a type o f palm tree (Text 20) ' - res ilience . Furthermore, figures of sjjeech which create the v isua l, vocal and aural imagery are u ti lized for meaning in the text above, especially in the divinatory transactions. The v isual imagery is created via ideophones r lk l 'mighty' and sonso 'pointed' which qualify bkfe ' h i l l ' (1 .26 )* From these attributes o f a h i l l , one can visualize the degree of L i l l i ' s problem in the myth* The vocal imagery i s created in the text in three ways. F irs t , i t i s created v ia the repetitive use of * items o f speaking S£, w l n l , rb,. f£» £e, k£ and pb. The recognized speakers in the te*t include l f a , a mythical character and the p riest . Second, the repetition of the ve lar plosive voiceless sound /K/ (in $Qk^n.jttwb, pbkfcrb- mil-w^ktxn, k4 £, k^lukii, JoCra) in the myth recited in 1 1 . 11-16 draws attention to i t s e l f by also creating a vocal image. The sound further, prim itively, projects the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 350 image of kj? 'cry ' in the mythr one can imagine that the crying clone is silent since /k/ is a voiceless sound, and i t may not be out of place to use sunkun ’ cry* or ’ sob* rather than kxgbe ’ shout* in the positions of ke in the text. Thirdly, there is the vocalized metaphor in l.ifO, viz. Try nlanla lo n jade lenn won ’ Big l ie s started coming out of their mouths', in which one visualizes an inanimate object performing an action. The personiJination of iro ' l i e ' here shov/s the lack of control of the speaker over it.;- that is , the l ie s are told involuntarily by the speaker in order to avoid shame. Lastly, the aural imagery is created via the repetitive use of the item g 'hear' (9 times) in the text.. The repetition of this Item emphasizes the receptive role o f the client in the text and the seriousness with which she must f u l f i l l the obligations attached to i t . Talking generally about YiT! texts, imagery is created in them in two different ways' via the repetition of items and via figures of speech. In most YTH texts (see Texts J>9 5, 6 and 7) , the item of hearing gby 'listen/hear' i s repeated very often to emphasize the need for the client to pay attention to and comprehend the p riest 's message. Items of 'saying' are also repeated In the texts in order to ( i ) invoke * agents of divination /incantation /supplication (see Texts 7, UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 351 11. 61 —73? Texts 1 ? and 1 5-70) and Cii) report the authoritative speech of Tfa (Texts 5» 7 and 1 1 ) . Visual images are created via the use o f ideophones, metaphors and similes. See, for example: ( i ) Ideophones 81 a. Iwajti b ba ppn teretere^(Text 7, 1.9^) T f the front does not show deep red * / b. Bcf t i n gbpnl*jyYn mi nY.yii ̂wa-wa-wa.(Text 6,1.38) This is how he's shaking vio len tly at my back. (3 i) Simile 82. Onf^ogun: F̂o l e hi eewo bayii ni? (Residual) Herbalist: Roes it swell out like a boil? ( i i i ) Metaphor (Personification) 83* Ko^ko bi kooko a d\ wtpran A re walej Nn^a (Text 18, 11. 12-13) The worthless grass will grow old And go to the world beyond The a ffective imagery is created via the repetition of items and use o f ideophones, e.g.r UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 352 ( i ) Repetition 84a. Baba, | gba mi---- E gba rrrx ooo!------ (Text 4,11.1-3) Father, help me---- Help me!— - b. A b gtxpdfy pa a ' ni a a gbr>dg je y t/ ---- the elephant's skin is this child The images in TIM texts serve to create aesthetics and they also present ideas of the texts v iv id ly to the listeners. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 353 They seem to occur more often in Tvpe-2 texts of the register, especially in the poetic genres characterizing them* 5.2. If Vocatives The more frequent use of vocatives typ ica lly marks Type-2 YTTT texts as distinct from the Type-1 texts. Vocatives occur only occasionally and sparingly in Type-1 texts, but in Type-2 texts their occurrence is more frequent. Their occurrences in the la tte r type o f texts are described below. Vocatives serve mainly an expressive function in the texts where they occur. F irst, they indicate the summons which occur in emergency situations represented by some texts ( e.g. Texts If and 6)* Second, they indicate the calling o f attention o f participants in the texts. The herbalist calls the attention of his client so that the la tte r Can listen to him (Text 5, 11. 17-18, Text 6, 1.4If and Text 7, 11*101), while the client also ca lls the herbalist*s attention when she wants to speak to him or when she feels excited about certain * information revealed to her (see Text 5, 11* 19 and 50? Text 6, 11. 59 and 79)* Third, vocatives indicate the herbalist and/or c lien t’ s calling of a patient’ s name to t * ascertain his consciousness (see Text If, 11. 17-22? Text 6, 1.28). Lastly, and more typical o f Type-2 texts, vocatives UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 354 indicate the calling of names or praises o f d iv in ities , spirits, and diviners in the diagnostic divinatory transaction, ayajo incantations and supplications (see Text 4, 1.7; Text 7, 11. 61-73;' also Text 11, 1.1; Text 12, 11.1-3, ^ext 15, 11. 1-6 and Texts 17-20). 5.3 A Summary of Formal Features o f YTM Texts Chapter fiv e has iden tified certain formal features o f aspects, sub-types and register of YTM texts and their sociocultural and situational significance. While some systemic and lex ica l features distinguish aspects o f the texts, only a few lexical features appear to distinguish the two sub-types of texts in the register. Although we would lik e to relate YTM texts to other texts in terms of their shared and non-shared features, such a relation looks premature now, until features of other registers are identified . Meanwhile, the characteristic features of YTM texts as well as those typical o f sub-tyres or asnects o f the texts are stated below together with their significance to YTM practice. 5.3.1 Features o f YTM texts Cohesion is a common rrororty o f YTM texts which enhances the communication of meaningful ideas by the texts as well as*the reception o f these ideas by interpret ants. The nrominont cohesive features of the texts are those o f reference and lex ica l cohesion. The unmarke.d theme ( 80. 6%) is more prominent than the marked theme (9.4%) in YTM texts because the texts express UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 355 their ideas normally In a simp!e and straightforward manner to enhance comprehensibility of their information and directives. Although the lexical items identified in YTM texts indicate several objects and processes in the YTM f ie ld , the typical items indicate problems of i l l -h ea lth as well as objects and processes of medication. The material process (hS.?%) is the most prominent process feature in YW texts because the participants o f YTM believe that the performance of physical activ ities is the mark of being alive and healthy. Material action verbs thus cut across a l l aspects of YTM texts unlike the relational verbs which occur frequently in the pre-diagnostic, diagnostic and post-medicating aspects and verbalized verbs which occur frequently in divinatory transactions. To remain healthy or be able to fight i l l -h ea lth , one has to perform physical actions. The actions performed are realized by non-middle ' clauses ( 63. 7/0 in which some agents (herbalists, d ivinities and clients) extend mainly operation actions on objects (c lien ts , patients, medicinal objects) serving as medium. The circumstances of such actions are expressed mainly by place kdjunets (hG.8%) and time adjuncts (31.8?0. The predominance of positive clauses (86.750 over negative clauses (13.350 projects the positive view o f UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 356 herbalists and clients in YTM interactions that there are always remedies to problems of ill-h ea lth . The non-future neutral tense (56.8%) dominates the expression of tense in YU! texts because the problems which dominate YTM interaction very often occur as events at particular points in the past time and extend to the present time when attention is given to them. Also, the second position occupied by the future neutral tense (2,2.5%) too has some red evanee, especially as i t pertains to finding remedies to YTM problems at a future time. The future tense marks the medicating aspect o f YTM texts from the other aspects* The declarative option o f mood characterizes TUT texts (61»7?0 to indicate the primary informative function o f YTM texts. While declarative non-modalized clauses are frequent in the diagnostic and divinatory aspects, declarative modal!zed clauses accompany imperatives to indicate the directives in the medicating aspect. The simple sentence type (72.3%) clearly dominates YTM texts to project the goals o f sim plicity and comprehensibility o f YTM texts. The sentence type also re flects the plain, non-formal, non-co Uoquial style o f communication in YTM interaction UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 357 Some o f the peculiar lexical items are lis ted as follower a. diagnosis: :tdf yiyp- "haemorrhoids*; iba "fever*;- y£lo f l fa "yellow fever"; ara riro "body aches and paihs" ; im f rirun * stomach ache’ j o r f fff<^ "headache"; kokarc "in fection"; asasf "magical a fflic t io n "; etc.. b. prescription (pharmacy): egb'oogi "medicine'; agbo "liqu id herb"; ewe "leaves"; ô se "soap"; epo "palm o i l " ; ^para "balnr or ointment*;- m^ntileto "mentholatum* asalo "miscellaneous herbs"; etc. 4 la s tly , i t is observed that the feature o f fu ll Iexico- structural repetition also characterizes YTM texts to serve the purpose o f emphasis. This purpose is undoubtedly v ita l to the interpretation of the texts. 5.3.2 Features typical of a sub-type o f YTM texts The general f eatures o f YTM texts lis ted above are shared by both Type-1 and Type-2 texts. However, because the la tte r texts * have deeper psychotherapeutic and/or magical consequences and deal with complex and mysterious cases o f ill-h ea lth , they naturally contain strong a ffective elements which are lacking in the more usual and' ordinary Type-1 texts. The a ffective elements o f Type-2 text© derive from some aesthetic features which further enhance the emphatic and comprehensible properties o f the texts. The aesthetic features of Typ.e-2 YTM texts Includer UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 558 a. partial lexico-structural repetition b. the use of unfamiliar lexical items c. figurative expressions. In addition to the above features, i'ype-2 texts also utilize the expressive feature of vocatives more often than Type-1 texts. This feature is utilized, especially by the former texts, to call the attention of divinities, diviners and other objects that are essential to the successful remedy of a complex problem of ill-health in YTM practice. 5*4. Conclusion 5.4.1. Research contributions This study has made two major contributions to Yoruba language studies in respect of (1 ) using an eclectic textual model as framework for an explicit and comprehensive des­ cription of texts from therapeutic communication in Yoruba; and (2 ) identifying some content and formal features of these texts. The eclectic textual framework outlined and * applied in the study provides a framework in which a text can be analysed along five lines, .thus: a. the socio-cultural context and situation in which the text is produced; % b* the pragmatic uses of the text; c. the communicative functions of the text; UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 359 d. the message and macrostructure of the text; and e. the forms o f the text in relation to * a - d1 above, An̂ analysis of text(s) can be done using one or more of these leve ls , depending on the extent of coverage or details for such analysis, but no comprehensive description of features o f a text can be claimed to have been made until a ll the leve ls are catered for, A comprehensive description of texts via an Etf framework also necessarily has to focus on form among the other leve ls , most especially because only these features can give adequate, and sincere evidence about the dynamic nature of language and . i t s capacity to change according to social and situational demands The analysis of formal features o f YTK texts is done in th is study using a lo t o f general linguistics-oriented formal categories of systemic lingu istics as tools, but some o f these ■ tools have been adapted for Yoruba textual description. The contribution stated above is no doubt consequential to Yoruba studies and general text anralysis but its significance is not as immediate to Yoruba studies as the % findings on the features o f YTK texts which constitute the main subject o f the work. The orig ina lity of this research UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 360 is noted in regard o f this la tte r contribution o f systematically accounting for features of language use in YTM practice. The features identified in the work reveal both the general characteristics o f YTM texts and also the pecu liarities o f transactions, aspects and types o f these texts. For example, YTM texts are either those o f natural or natural-cum-divine herbalism? the aspects are pre-diagnosis, diagnosis, optional divination, medication and post-medicationj and the transactions are pre-diagnosis, diagnosis, optional diagnostic divination and divinatory prescription, prescription, incantation and supplication. 5.4.2 The application o f ~tke The attempt to establish a norm for YTM texts in the work is a bold step in both Yoruba and lingu istic studies and i t has positive implications for both fie lds. I t should s t ir scholars to further explore the transactions and register o f YTM texts (oven along other lines) and, possibly, compare these to other Yoruba registers or non-Yoruba medical registers. The study o f language registers is already noted as a key to language development in terms o f its proper understanding and learning. An understanding o f diverse Yoruba registers enhances the e ffec tive teaching and/or learning o f the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 361 language, as Young (1985:288) righ tly observes in respect o f learners thus* "T t TTrovides a bridge from the purposes they wish to rea lize in l i f e by the use o f language to the actual lingu istic exponents from which text is created." In respect o f teachers, Young observes (ib id .) thatr "The theory o f register o ffers a highly developed and rigorous method for language teachers to select focal teaching points that relate to the communicative needs o f their pupils." In the present era o f consistently increasing awareness o f Nigerians in some aspects o f their indigenous culture and the values of such aspects, i t is important that Yoruba learners/ users should be made aware o f some facts about language in the YTf-T system which they are fast u tiliz in g for solutions to their health problems. 5 ./|.3 Research lim itations The contributions of this work, notwithstanding, i t has certain lim iting factors. Ore obvious lim itation o f i t is that the texts analyzed cannot be said to have adequately represented the numerous and diverse texts in the YTM institution;; and this brings to mind the question earlier raised in the UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY work as to the degree o f r e l ia b il ity o f an inductive-orierrted research. Hven when one readily admits the Impossibility o f gathering texts from a ll areas o f specia lity and speech encounters in YU!, one equally faces the lim itation o f getting only a fraction o f texts analyzed and getting an even lesser number to appear in a description. I t is also recognized that there are other variations in language use in YTM besides Herbalist-Clients* communi­ cation, e.g. 'Herbalist-Herbalist*, 'Herbalist-Trainee1* etc. As more and more o f these variations are identified and investigated, more and more facts w ill be revealed about the features in them to either con firm the text types and register proposed by this study or identify more types or ,r registers within the YU! institu tion. Finally, i t should be pointed out that the texts analyzed in this study derive from orthodox traditional medical practice. In recent times, certain traditional herbalists have started modernizing procedures of their profession along the lines of Western medicine. Two notable features o f such modernization o f procedures are the writing o f prescriptions, instead o f saying them, and the separation o f roles between the herbalist and pharmacist/dispenser, instead o f resting these roles in one individual. And one o f the lingu istic UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 363 consequences o f these features is the absence o f very long turns by herbalists during medication. This new trend o f medical practice in Yo rubai and which may be tagged ♦Yoruba modern (indigenous) medicine* could be distinguished from the existing systems identified at the beginning o f this study, v iz . YTfi and Yoruba modem (Western)' medicine. There is no gainsaying the fact that each o f these systems deserves separate attention in i t s own right. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY BIBLIOGRAPHY Abimbola, ’’/. 1968. T.pnl\ Obun Enn T fa - Ann~ Kxxnx ( 2nd Edition 1983) Oyo, Nigeria* Aim a Press and Publishers. -------- ,1976. T rnr An Exposi tion of I fa L iterary Corpus. Tbadan: Oxford University Press. ----- ,1977a. Av/yn O.ju Odu f!^ry^r\rdin 1 6;■ un. Ibadan: Oxford University Press. ---------,1977b. I fa Divination Poetry. New York:- Nok Publishers. Abraham, P. C. 1958. Dictionary of Modern Yoraba. Londonr University o f London Press. Adebajo, S. 1988. titx di Odun 1930" Paper presented at the J. F. Odunj ̂ Memorial Lectures held at Obafemi Awolowo University from May 2 - May A. Ade.iare, 0. 1901. " ’Vole Soyinka* s Selected Literary Texts: A 'i*ext Linguistic Approach" Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, University o f Sheffield, Sheffield. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 365 , 198p» ’’Towards a Systemic («xt* lin ■pxistica" Paper presented at 9th International Systemic Workshop, 01on don College, York University, Toronto, Canada. Afolayan, A. 1968. "The Linguistic Problems of Yoruba Learners and Users o f English, Vols I and IT " Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, University of London, London. ------------------- , 1970. "Somd Issues in the Grammar of Modern Yoruba" Journal o f West African Languages. Vols v i i , No. 8, pp. 113-185. ------------------- , 1977. "The Surface and Deep Planes o f Grammar in the Systemic Model" An- appendix in Tomori, S.H.O. The Morphology and Syntax o f Present-day Englishr An Introductlon. Lon donr Heinemann. I9SZ. Yoruba Language and Literature. Ibadan: University o f I fe Press and University Press Limited. ---------- , 1982a. "Constituents o f Yoruba Studies: Paper 3" In Afolayan, A. ( ed.) Yoruba Language and Literature,. Cp. ci t . , pp. 23-25* UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 366- ------- ----------------- s 1989b. "Stress in Yoruba” In Afolayan, A» ( ed) Yoruba. language and lite ratu re . T k a c ta ^ llyuve/’sCfc/ Pŷ SS a^cl liyu v&yg Vfcj Pr«-S-S Li uwfc&̂ t* Akindele, T). 0 . 1986. "Speaker’ s Rights in English-English and Yoruba-English Family Eiscourse” Unpublished Ph.D Thesis, University o f Nottingham. Akindele, F» 1990- "A Socio-linguistic Analysis o f Yoruba Greetings" African languages and Cultures 3» 1* Akinn.nso, F. N. 198?. "Tie Literate Writes and The Non-literate Chanter Writ ten Language and Ritual Communication in Go do lin g ui sti c Rersrective". In Frawley, W. ( ed.) Linguistics and Literacy. New York: Plenum Publishing Corporation. ------------------------- , 1983. "The Structure of Pi vine tor y Speech: A sociolinguistic analysis of Yoruba” Sixteen-Cowry divination. Ph.D dissertation, University of California, Berkeley. —----------------------- , 1985* ”0n the Similarities between Spoken and Written Language" language and Speech. Vol* 28, Part /f, pn. 323-359. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 367 Austin, J. L. 196P. How To Do Tilings With Words, London: Oxford Universi ty Press. Bn Uni o le, A. 1966. The Content and Form of Yoruba I,1ala. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. —--------------- , 198?. "Constituents o f Yoruba Studies: Paper ?" Ttt Afolayan, A. ( ed.) Yoruba Language and Li ternture. JbaA&n - {ivuV^/Si'ty °-p Eft. af\d Pr^-SS L_>yrUt«x|, Bamgbo se, A. ( ed.) I9S I. O^thorrnnhies of Nigerian Languages Manual 1. Federal Ministry o f Education Lagos: National I.anguage Centre. ------------------ , 1965. Yoruba Orthography. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press. -------- , 1966. A Grammar o f Yoruba. London: Cambridge University Press. ---------, 1967. A Short Yoruba 0rammer: Ibadan: Hahnemann. ---------- , 197P. "What is a verb in Yoruba" In Bamgbose, A. ( ed.) The Yoruba Verb Phrase Ibadan: Ibadan * University Press and. Institu te of African Studies* University o f Ibadan. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 368 ---------------------- , 1976. "Are Yoniba Adverbs rea lly nouns?" The Journal of West African Languages Vol. xi, Nos 1 and 2. ------------------------, 1982a. "Constituents of Yoruba Studies: Paper 1" In Afolayan, A. (ed .) Yoruba I,.-mgun.̂ e and Literature. Ibadan: University of I fe Press and University Press Limited. -------------------- - -- •, 1982b. Lexical Matching in Yoruba Oral Poetry" In Afolayan, A. (ed .) vomba Language .and Literature Ibadan; University o f I fe Press and University Press Limited. ' ----------------------- — , 1990. Fonoloji ati Gtrama Yoruba. Ibadan: University Press Limited. Bascom, W. 1969. I fa Divination: Communication between Gods. and Men in West Africa. % ----------------------- — , 1980. Sixteen Cowries: Yoruba Divination from Africa to the New World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. Bauman, R. and Sherzer, J. ( eds) 197*f. Pxnl 0rations in The Ethnography o f Sneaking. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Beaugrande, Rj and Dressier, W. U, 1981. Introduction to Text Linguistics London: Longman. NIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 369 Bell, R. T. 1976. Sociolinguistics; Coals. Approaches and Problems. London; Batsford. Berry, M. 1979. I ntrodur H or to Systemic Linguistics I r Structures and Systems. Lon don r Bn its ford. --------------- ̂ 1977. Introduction to Systemic Lin^nri, sties H r Levels nnd Links. London; Batsford. Birch, D. 1989. Language. Literature and C ritical Practice London and New York; Routledge. Bloomfield, L. 1933. Lnnfringe, Londonr Allen and Unwin. Brown, G. and Yule, 0. 1983. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press. Burton, D. 198O. Dial ogre and Discourse. Londonr Routledge and Began Paul. ----------1981. "Analysing Spoken Discourse" in Coulthard, M. and Montgomery, M. C eds) Studies in Discourse Analy s is . London, Boston and Henley? Routledge and Began Paul. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 370 Butler, C. S. 1985* "Discourse Systems end Their Place within an Overall Systemic Model" In Benson, J. D, and Greaves, W. S ( eds) Systemic Perspectives and Discourse 1 , Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing- Corporation. Carothers, J. C„ 1959* "Culture, Psychiatry and The Written Word" Psychiatry 22. Chomsky, N. 1957. Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton. --------------- , 1965* Acrects of the Theory o f Syntax Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT. Cicourel, A. 7. 1969. "Generative Semantics and The Structure o f Social Interaction" In International Days o f So cio 1 :i n pu 1 s tl c s . Cluysenanr, A. 1976. Introduction to lite ra ry S ty lis tics : a discussion of dominant structures in verse and prose. London: Batsford. Coleman, H, and Burton, J. 1985. "Aspects of Control in the Dentist-patient Delation ship!! In t emotional Journal of The Sociology of Lanruage 51* pp. 75-1 Oh* UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 371 Coulthard, R. M. and Ashby, M. C. 1976, ,TA L in gu is t ic Description o f Doctor-patient In terv iews” In Wadsworth, M. and Robinson, D. ( eds) S''uu*es In Everyday Medical L i f e London: Martin Robertson. Coulthard, R. M. and Montgomery, M. Studies in Discourse Analysis London, Boston and Henley: Routledge and Kegan Paul, C r y s t a l , D. and D avy, D, 1969 . T - y 0a 1 1 g a t ln g R n g iio h 5 1y le London: Longman, Dolezel, L. 1976, "Narrative Semantics" Poetics and Theory o f L ite ra tu re Vol. 1 No, 1 , pp» 129-151• Dopamu, P. A. 1977. "The Practice o f Magic and Medicine in Yoruba Trad it iona l Re lig ion" Ph.D Thesis, U n ivers ity o f Ibadan, Dore, J. 1979, "Conversational Acts and The Acquisition o f Language" In Ochs, E. and S ch ie f fe l in , B. (eds) Developmental Pragmatics. New York: Academic Press. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 37? Dressler, W. IT, 1970. "Towards a Semantic Deep Structure o f Discourse Grammar” Papers from the Sixth Regional Meeting o f the Chicago L ingu is t ic Soc iety , Chicago* -----------------------, C «4 - ) 197% > Current Trends In Text Linguist!,cs Berlin and New Yorkr Walter de Gruyter* Duranti, A. 1983- "Samoan Sreechmaking Across Social Events: 0” e genre in and out o f a fono" Language in Society T3, 1-28. E l l i s , J. 1966. "On Contextual Meaning" In B aze ll, C. E. et al Ceds) In Memory o f ■!. R. Firth London: Longman* Fadipe, N, A. 1970. The Sociology o f The Yoruba* Ibadan: \ Ibadan Univers ity Press. F irth , J. R. 1962. A Synopsis o f LIn,guistic Theory* 1950- 1935. Studies in L ingu is t ic Analysis P h i lo lo g ica l Society, Oxford. 4 Fish, S. 1980. I s There A Text in This Class? Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard U n ivers ity Press* UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 373 F itzgera ld , I). K. 1975. "The Language o f Ritual Events among the Ga o f Southern Ghana" Tn Sanchez, W. and Blount, B. G. C eds) Sociocultural Dimensions o f Language Use- New York; Harper and Row. Fowler, R. 1971. The Language o f Li terature. London; Rontledge and Regan Haul. -----------------, M * ) »9?5 « Sty le and Structure in L itera tu re ; Essays in the New Sty lis t? cs. Oxford; Blackwell. Gregory, M. 1967. "Aspects o f V a rie t ies D if fe ren t ia t ion " Journal o f l in g u is t ic s 3. Grice, H. F. 1975. "Logic and Conversation" In Cole, F . ' and Morgan, J. L . (eds) Syntax and Semantics 3; Soecch Acts. New York; Academic Press. Grimshaw, A. D. 197^. "Data and Data Use in An Analysis o f Communicative Events" In Bauman, R. and Sherzer, J. ( eds) Explorations in The Ethnography o f Speaking London and Now York; Cambridge Univers ity Press. Gumperz, J. J. 1966. "On the Ethnology o f L ingu is t ic Change" In Bright, W. ( ed.) So cl o .11 n gu i s t i c s. The Hague; Mouton. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 374 — ----------- ------1 1972. "Soc io l in gu is t ies and Communication in - / Small Groups" Reprinted in P r id e , J. B. and Holmes, raoz, Martin, J. P. 1985. "Process and Text” : Two Aspects o f Human Semiosis" In Renson, J. D. and Greaves, W. S. (eds) Systemic Perspectives on Discourse I . Norwood, New Jerseyr Ablex Publishing Corporation* Martinet, A. 19^0. Elements o f General L ingu is t ics (Translated by E. Palmer in 19GI|). London? Faber. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 380 Mel’ cuk, I . A. 1973. "Towards a L ingu istics* Meaning Text Model” . In K ie fe r , F. (ed . ) Trends in Soviet Theoretical Lin m l s t ie s . Pordretchr Pei del, M i l l i e , I.. T. 1967. A Ounn t j tnLi ve Anproach to The Style o f Jonathan Sv;l f t , TTie Hague: Mouton. MukarovskI, J. 1976. "Poetic Reference" In Matjeka, L . and T! tun Ik , I . P. ( eds) C ^ io t ic s o f Arts Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: M.T.T. Myles, M. F* 1981. T e xt bo ok f o r H i d vd v e s (Ninth Edition) FI,PS and Churchill L ivingstone. Newmark, P. 1981. Annroaches to Translation. Exeter: f/heaton and Co. L td ., 0dunum, S. 198P. "Tense and Aspect in Yoruba" In Afol Ohmann, P. 196A. "Generative Grammar and The Concept o f S ty le" Word_PO, pp. /fP’3—39. Oke, P. C. 198P. "On the Use o f Verbal Group Negators in Yoruba". In Afolayan, A. ( ed.) Yoruba. Language and LIi ttenrraatJ unrree. Pr(J_Ss fr -ts s L ; pp- 2.4-7 - Zk3 . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 381 Olnbimtrxn, A. 1971. "0 fcjj and Ayaj^r Two Categories o f Yoruba Traditional Incantations" M.A. D issertation, Un ivers ity o f Lagos* Loros, N igeria* Olabode, A. 1981. "The Semantic Bases o f Metaphors and Belated Troupes in Yoruba" Fh.D Thesis, U n ivers ity o f T bndan, Ibadan, N5 peri a. -------- , 198/f. A.. F 'e to fl, J. S. 1978. "A Formal Semiotic Theory as an Integrated Theory o f Natural Language" In Dressier, W. U. ( ed.) Current Trends in Text L in gu is t ics . 3-y^d HWd 'ftnrfc. - 14 a-X^r A ------------------- , and Rleser, H. ( M - > i r ? s . Studies in Text Grammars. Dordrecht: Reidel. P iaget , T. 1071. Structural 1 sm. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Procter , P. 1978. f.ongman Dl ctionary o f Contemporary English Longman. Quirk, R. Greenbaum, S. Leech, G. and Svartvik, J. 1972. A Grammar o f Gor temporary English. London: Longman. ------------------_— t 107F. A U n ivers ity Grammar o f English. ELBS and Longman. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 383 Rxbey, D. O iA A ty y f l . 8t~nc H r . -g T. sm; An I n t r o d u c t i o n , O x fo rd : Oxford U n ivers ity Press. Richardson, K. 1981 . ".Sentences in TO.ccourse" In Coulthard end Montgomery ( eds) Studies in discourse Analysis, L o n < iw > fi>c.rtro\ 3/v4 fK acJU u : R © iA tl«-d su\4 fCega^v P a u l . Socks, H. Scheglof f , E. A. end Jefferson, 0. 197A-. "A Simplest Systematics for the Organization o f Turntaking for Conversation" Language 50. 4» 696-735# Sends, A. 0 , 1°? 8, "The S c ie n t i f ic or Magical Ways o f Knowing? Implications for the Study o f African Tra­ d it iona l Heelers" Second Orderr Art A frican Journal o f Philosophy. Vol. 7, Nos 1 and 2* Sapir, E. 1921. Language, New Yorkr Harcourt Brace, --------------, 19^9* "The Status o f L in gu is t ics as a Science" In Mandelbaum, D, G. (ed . ) Selected Writings o f Edward Sapir. California:- U n ivers ity o f Californ ia Press. Saussure, F» de. 1916. Cours de l ingu is t iqu e generale (5th Edition .) Pa r is : Payot. (English translation by Baskin, W. Course in General L in gu is t ics , New York: Philosophical L ibrary, 1959. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 38 Jf Searle, J. 1969* Speech Acts:: An Essay in The Philosophyof LxWjuy^g, . Ca^b-Wclge. - C a. >w. bridge. Unlv- Pre«sS -------------- , 1976. "A C lass if ica t ion o f I l lo cu t ion a ry Acts" language in Society Vol, 5, No, 1. pp. 1-?3* Servndio, E. 1965. Psychol0gy Today (Translated by J. Shepley) New York? Garrett Publications, Shands, H, C, et a l . 1959. "A Study o f Transactional Psycho therapy" Tn Psychiatry PP, Short, M, K, 1982. ""Prelude 1 ’ to a l i t e r a r y l in g u is t ic s t y l i s t i c s " In Carter, R. (ed , ) language and L iterature? An Introductory Reader in S t y l i s t ic s , London? Allen and Unwin, Siertsema, B, 1959. "Stress and Tone in Yoruba Word Compo- S'T tion " Lingua I I . S in c la ir , J, and Coulthard, M, 1975. Towards an Analysis o f Discourse? The English Used by Teachers and Pu p ils , London? Oxford. So f o wo ra , A. 198?. Medicinal Plants and Traditional Medicine In A fr ica . Chichester? John Wiley and Sons and Spectrum (Ibadan) UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 385 Snitrer, T.. 196?. and L ite ra ry H istory: Essays in S t y l i s t ic s . New Yorkr Russell end Russell. Stankiewicz, E. 1974. "Structural Poetics and L in gu is t ics " In Scheck, T. A. ( ed.) Current Trends in L in gu is t ics , The Hague, Pa r is : Mouton. van D ijk , T. a . 197?. Some Aspects o f Text Grammars. The Hague: Mouton. ---------------------- f 1977. Text and Context: Explorations in The Semantics an d Pragmatics o f Discourse. London: Longman. van Naerssen, M. M. 1985- "Medical Records: One variation i o f nhysicians language" International Journal o f The Sociology o f Language 51, PP. 43- 73- Ventolo, E. 1987. The Structure o f Social In terac tion : A Social Semiotic Analysis o f Service Encounters. London: Frances P in te r . Verger, P. F. 1947. Ampn E O s a n y j n (Yoruha Medicinal Leaves) In s t i tu te o f African Studies, U n ivers ity o f I f e , T le -T fe UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 386 Wagner, R. 1984. "R itual and Communication:- Order, Meaning and Secrecy in Melanaeian In i t ia t io n R ites" Annual Review o f Anthropology 13, 143-155* Ward, I . 1958. Introduction to The Yoruba Language* Cambridge! Cambridge Univers ity Press. Webster, H. 1948. Magicr A Soc io log ica l Study. Californ iar Stanford U n ivers ity Press. Wellek, R. i 960. "C losing Statement (re trospects and prospects from the viewpoint o f l i t e r a r y c r i t ic is m )" In Sebeek, T. A. ( ed.) S ty le in language. Cambridger Massachusetts M .I.T . Whorf, B. L . 1956. Language, Thought and R ea lity (Se lected Writings o f Benjamin Lee Whorf) edited by J. B. C aro ll. Cambridge, Massachusetts: M .I.T and New Yorkr Wiley* Widdowson, H. G. 1971. English. Studies Series 8r Language Teaching Texts (S e r ies Ed itor! R. Mackin) Londonr * Oxford U n ivers ity Press. Yemitan, 0 . 1963. I ja la Are Ode. Ibadanr Oxford Univers ity Press. Young, D. J . 1985. "Some Applications o f Systemic Grammar to TEFL or Whatever Became o f Register Analysis?" In Benson, J. D. and Greaves, W. S. ( eds) Systemic Perspectives on Discourse, Vol. 8* Norwood, New Jersey:- Ablex Publishing Corporation. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY /VPfEAlJ>IX 1 <0 S3 o5 ® Q >to T3 Co 5 Q C. OOzoo _• o•s e•: Cun naya a. Ŝ >e releyaa? B e se e, a a 45 janna daadaa. Yoo raa ru u , yoo maa fa we. Yoo maa itiiu, yoo maa f i we, On afegun: So n ye yan bo se n via? Onoope: \se ta yoo maa fa wn Aa t. a. rt mooje. : K..Ao naf mAi yaA, a. o. Yo. o. k, a' n m.aa 65 jokoo le e lasan na. tin s egu n: Ooru e ni yoo maa ju u lenu a da. Onoose: .ino tee oa sa no pc<£ nalo no na kee f i se e o. Ona gegun: Sej releyaa? A a maa ru u lijeraeta 70 lcoojo. ionhala kokere yen; akan losan-an ,akan la lij. b »oo yan je ponun tna n tun pada via mo? <■ na jegun: rfo ba se ra, kee via fun .va la laye 75 najo* m*e *b dboun . . . C• lo• un a vib o. C• lb•un a daa sa* lku o nil gba a. -*nin o nal gba a. Gbi• •io gbo•m•o o nafgbeno lb• '•;b*o yan. \ jL f'rco: As• e• . £ dabo• o. 80 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY T7V Client (Mother o f a Ch ild )* Cood morning madam. Herbal ist i SCTYljjS00<3 morning. Hope you woke up well? Cl i ent * Yes madam. (To frien d ) Won't you bring my ch i l d h er e. Herbal i s t ! Hope there is nothing wrong? Cl i ent s He p ile s . Whenever he excretes, 5 h is anus protrudes. T’nless we use our hand to push it in. Herbal i s t : That is haemorrhoids. (SXamines c h ild ) Big man! Cl i ents What do you say? Herbal ist i I say that is haemorrhoids. That is p i le s . 10 You w i l l need the antidote to it Cl i ent: You mean we sh a ll get the antidote? H erbalist* You w i l l purchase the medicines fo r i t . Attendant to H erbalist* Is it assorted herbs and the antidote to p ile s H erbalist* Yes, assorted herbs and antidote to p ile s . . . 15 Just p i le s . She w ill get the shea-butter ointment. She w ill also get the one he w ill dip h is bottom in. Attendants She w ill also get that fo r drinking and bathing? H erbalists Yes, drinking and bathing. (A fte r some time lapse , the attendant comes in with ingredients) 20 Herbal ist s You see th is thing? You w ill put it in a pot. You w i ll then cut a ll o f th is and put it on top. You w i l l cook i t . That is the water your ch ild w i l l ju st be drinking. I t 's only fo r drinking; they don't bathe with i t . I t 's only fo r drinking; they don't bathe with i t . 25 Put it here. Cl i ent t I ' l l put th is one in a pot? H erbalist s You w i ll drop it in a pot, and then you w ill cut th is thing on top o f i t . C lien t : I ' l l put it in the pot fo r cooking? 30 H e rb a lis t : You see th is one? You w ill mix it with mentholatum. Whether he excretes or not, you w i ll be dipping it into h is anus - a ll the time. You understand? You see, whenever the anus protrudes, you w i ll put h a lf o f it l ik e th is. Have you seen it? 35 You w ill then scoop a l i t t l e o f i t on the p i le s , You w ill then take this cloth and use it to push it in . Have you understood? You w ill la te r wash the cloth ahd le t it dry. won't le t it get lo s t . I f i t gets lo s t , we sha ll not g ive you another one; fo r 40 it is medicinal. This one is relevant when UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY the anus protrudes (To attendants) Bring the herbs out quick. C lien t: Mhat about this? H erba lis t: Let her bring that one f i r s t . Attendant: Here is i t . You see this one? You w i ll 45 cook it very w e ll. He w ill be drinking and bathing with i t . He w ill be drinking and bathing with i t . H exbalist: Do you understand what sh e 's saying? Attendant: This is the soap he w il l be bathing with C lien t: Can . . . . ? We don't have ar aud pot . . . 50 H erba lis t : A cooking bowl is a lr ig h t . Cl i ent: Do . . .? H e rba lis t : Yes. C lien t: Are we cooking everything together at once? H erba lis t : I t 's only once. You shouldn 't s p lit it into two . . . 55 C lien t: We don't have . . . H e rba lis t : Sh! You don't have a pot that can contain it? Do you borrow pots to cook your soup? C lie n t 's Friend: 1/ 1 have a new bowl at home, 1 can use it to cook i t . 60 Attendant: This one, you w i l l cook it with a pot that is no longer in use. You w i ll cook it very, w e ll. You w i l l s i f t it into a snail t o i le t bowl . He w i l l be s itt in g on i t . H erba lis t and Attendant: He iicn 't drink th is . He w ill just 65 be s itt in g on i t . H erba lis t : I t 's the steam that wall ju st be lapping against his bottom. Attendant: Hake sure you cook it in a bowl that you 're no longer using. H e rba lis t : You see this? He w ill be drinking it 70 three times in a day. That small tumbler, one each in the afternoon and night. Your fee is twenty-one naira . C lien t: Thank you. Do 1 need to come back again? H erba lis t : However things turn out, come an inform us 75 in f ift e e n days time . . . God w ill lock after him. God w i l l preserve h is l i f e . Death w ill not claim him. Sickness w i l l not claim him. That which claims children w i l l not claim children from you. C lien t: May i t be so. Goodbye. 80 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 392 . TS'fT 2 Iv a Omo: B k a a ir o ma# On'§eaun: E kaabo o . E wolb jb k b b . (L e v in agba d ie , o n ye omo w o.) Ra-.-o lo se e sc e? 'ly a 0 mo: ( Sa omo) 'I ’.vo ko no n b i n i? 5 Omos A ra n ro isa. fCs ru€ jes gus n: Se ' t o e o pon? (ffe. onoos?) Ganaya.' E wa daa lohun . ^va Omo: C kan maa n sun {kalna meta n i 0 6 daa sa. Koo l9 na kan l a l e v ia . To ba tun dotunla, kb o tun Iona kan. To ba tun dotunla maa, koo Ion/a kEley a\ af an. ly a Cno: na yoo m#a a nu—r 20 ctia^egun: En-en. Kumu lasan n i; won b n f ia we• 0 . Yoo maa muu ge• ge• ba omi n^a gbogbo agba. ( Sa omo) Soo t i gbo? Yelo f i f a lb via la ra e 0 . Loo ya maa lo b daadaa 0 . t maa n kooyan 25 lobya 0 . Koo ma tan ' ra e 0 . C lient (M other): Good morning nadan. Herbalist : You 're welcome. Cone in and sit down. (L ate r, she e::ajrdnes c l ie n t 's daughter.) Hoy; do you feel? Mot her: (To daughter) Are n 't you being asked a quest io:.-’ 5 Haughtor: My body is aching. Herbalist : Is year urine any yellow? (Calls attendant) Ganiya! Come and attend to her. f'ot her: She just sleeps on the ground f a l l the t in e j. Herbalist : ^Yees.^ It deadens her nerves. 10 f'ot her: Aid I 'v e taken her to t ,ie h osp ita l, that ske. has started getting in jection and they have prescribed medicine fo r her. I UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Herbal i s * : In jection cannot cure fever It is herbs we sh a ll p rescribe fo r you, and herbal powder. (A fte r some t in e ,th e attendant cones in with medicinal ingredient s .) 15 H erbalist: Vou w i l l divide it into three p laces. Use one part ton ight, When it i s the day a fter tomorrow, use another part. When it is yet another two days a fte r , use one part. t'other: Is th is the one she w i l l be drinking? 20 H erba list: Yes. Drinking only; they don't bathe with i t . She w i l l drink it l ik e water every time. (To daughter) Do you hear? Yellow fever is what you 're su ffe rin g from. So you had bette r use it w e ll. It sometimes 25 causes dizziness, so don't deceive yourself. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 394- fE.'CC 3 Okttnrin leans B kaaasan baba. B nl-j o. Onl^eguns (0 n gun avion evte lean la be b o o ji nivvajn aha re k an .) ? 4 o s i o? Wol'e o . Bmi lo via se o? Okunrin: R pe lc baba. 'Jon juste *b l fun mi n i 5 * baba. On3 ^eguns (Gbfcju soke) 1% n gbo. Kaa s£ nnkan? Okunrins Baba, lyawo rnd n i l . Ara o h da. Cni$bguns Mo t i r l i . Okunrins Ara r l r o n i , baba. Kb slhun taa lo tan. 10 On! •Selins Mo• m•o •o . Mo n o• p6* n hb Iona. Olatnri ns R® se eun baba. 0 0 0 C'nl seguns O da a naa, mo n bo. ( vionu ahere lo.) (l-cyan 3 aba. £e, o jad e ) 15 on 'geguns Bru lo po n lbe . to s'^sa n tuu kaalciri n i . Bo lyavioo re ko lo pe e? Okunri ns lyavjoo mi n i. On a seouns To• o• ba t i dele (<5 fun un n i oogun) . . .• O• kunrins Han-in o. 20 On3 jeguns Won n i "sa a b i oloogun ba je w l" . Okunrins Baba, mo n gbo. Onisbgunt Too b.i t i d e le , as? re n i koo l 6 modal. O• kunrins As* o* re* n i k ! n lo" modal? 25# Onl§eguns O 6 s i wa n l 3 boo ho onoluviaba. O o• n g* bo• ni ba? Okunrins Mo n gbo. Oniseejun: C• o• waa ga le e lo ra . 9* ? ^ P# a a l a*^0 :rl ̂ teklkanna teklkanna n i . Saa ba oloogun 30 §e vvl o. Bl o ba t i lo kanni y l l , ko too to la a , ara r j o t i ya. b ! o ba t i j ?, o f lk a lo ml nns o n l babaa ml ko lo b l mi. Okunrins wipe ara o ya&? 35 On!§eguns Yco ya& n i. Okunrins Ki n lo• s• o• m•odi!? On1seguns Ko» o• lo• s• o• m•odll. O• kunrins Ki n f i vvoo n l gbogbo ara? On 5 a'van ns Teklkanna teklkanna. Bn en. Bo t i j e 40 naa nuu. Ckunrins t?oo. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 395 On£§egun: Ho ba t i wa ra , o jo k i n gbo. Okunrin: Yoo daa fun yan baba. Ona§egun: 11$ n -in i 45 Okunrin: Y66 daa fun yin baba. Cnasegun: 6 dabb• o. O• kunrin: Hn-un tun moo de In n -in , i » ba t i r i . Onisegnn: Mo t i gbo o. Okunrin: B• s•eun o. 50 Cnisegun: R ig o. O• kunrin: A a moo r i yin ba o. Onasogun: Wolcj o. Okunrin: Bku Kgba, Ona§egun: 55 C lien t (One roan): Good afternoon s i r . 1 greet you. H e rb a lis t : (Pounding some leaves under a shade in fron t o f an is o la te d l i t t l e hut) Hope there is nothing wrong? Y ou 're welcome. W hat's your mission? C lien t: 1 greet you. Someone d irec ted me to th is p la ce . 5 H e rb a lis t : (Looks up) I'm lis te n in g . Hope nothing i s wrong? C lien t : S ir , i t ' s wy w ife . She is i l l ? H e rb a lis t : I 'v e seen i t . C lien t : She's having pains a l l over her body. Ho medicines that we haven 't used. 10 H e rb a lis t : 1 know. I knew you were coming. C lien t : Thank you s i r . H e rba lis t : T h at's a l l r ig h t . Wait f o r roe, 1*11 be back. (He goes into the h u t.) (A f t e r a few minutes) 15 H e rb a lis t : T here 's a lo t o f luggage there . 1 ju s t s ta rted to search and search fo r i t . Did you say sh e 's you wife? C lien t : She is my w ife . H e rb a lis t : When you get home (Ha g iv e s him a m ed ic in e )... C lien t : Yeees 20 H e rb a lis t : They say "use it as a h e rb a lis t has p re sc rib ed " C lien t : Father, I'm lis te n in g . H e rb a lis t : When you have reached home, i t ' s her c lo th that you should t i e around your w a ist. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY • o iJ0 Client: I should t i e her c lo th around my waist? H erbali s t ! And you w i l l be stark naked. Are you listening? C lien t s 3 am . H erbalists You w i l l then strad d le her and rub her with it from head to to e , includ ing her n a ils . "Use it as the h e rb a lis t has advised" I f you use th is th ing, b e fo re tomorrow s h e 'l l have got w e ll. 3f i t doesn 't work , abuse me and c a l l me a bastard . C lien t : You 're sure she w i l l got well? H erbalists She w i l l , d e f in it e ly . C lients 1 should t i e a c lo th around my waist? H erba l!s t s You should t i e a c lo th around your waist Clients 1 should rub it a l l over her body? H erba lis t s Including her n a i l s . Yees, T-hat's a l l . C lients Okay. H erbali st s When you have used i t , le t me know the resu lt C li ent s May you meet with good things in l i f e s i r . H erba list s Yees. C lien t s May you prosper. H erba lists Hye C lients I ' l l su re ly come again , however it comes out. H erba lists I 'v e heard you. C lien t s Thank you very much. H erbalists Mind your step. C lients May you continue to be u se fu l to tts, H erbali st s You' re welcome. C lients Kind regards fo r your age. H erba lis t s Yees. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY •3?7 xrixr 4 Hom rin kan: (Bara v.ole pelu otto lorjo) Baba, 9 gba mil H nT' alamos { Kin l.o da? Kan lo do? ' I Pkunrin 3 gba ml coo.* 3 gba ml ooo{J 3 gba nr/ cool . . . Rabalawo: (<" gba oijio lo «oo baba e . 6 yku 10 Baa ba poku, a laaye naa da . . . Kan lornko re? P’kunrin: ^Ikobunmi n ia . Tkobunmi n l n j e . (BabalawO bgre s i nla pofo j e j g s i ono.) B gba ml ooo J B gba mi ooo.’ B gba ml oooj 15 S gba ml ooo! Ikoliunmi n l n j e o . Rabalawo: 'lkobunmi i 1 O• kuntin: Tkobu nmi.’ Babalamo: { ^kobunmii.’ 1 Okunrin: Tkobunmii. J 20 Bab a l a -70: rlkpbnnmia.’ 0 O• kunrin: jlkobg rxnii! J Tkobunmi 1 IkobunmiJ AaJ B gba mi ooo! Bee* Br>%.' Babalano: Ikobiinmil (^ n po fo s l i ) . . . Aaaa J Okunrin: 8• o- ba ml ooo! Iko•' aunmi n l n je• . 25 Bahai a vo s B• m•n o• obee lo• o• le . Okunrin: Yoo laju? Bahaia"O; 'Jgba t| baa i de le , yoo yajtl. Ara o s i wnle. Okunrin* B• s• eun. . 30 Babalarrft: O• mo• o• g**be r e le . AaaaJ Okunrin* B seun o ja r e . Ikobunmi n i o o . . . C lien t: (Han runs in carry ing a c h ild ) Bather, help reel P r ie s t : fVJhat's wrong? U h at 's wrong? 1 C lie n t : JBelp me.' Help me. (H elp meJ P r ie s t : (Receives c h ild from h is fa th e r and observes him. He then continues to re c ite incantations w hile the f ather keeps shou ting .) t\foola.» When a ir i s blown into a c h i ld 's eye, he sees. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY } j ;a n ia (Oroat Poree) is the name L lj'e i s c a l le d A ye do do (th e Cool rala;:ant) i s the name the Dead i s c a lle d 10 When the Dead is c a lle d , he becomes a liv e . . . . W hat's h is name? Cl j ~!>t 8 I t 's lkohunmi. 1 kobun:ni i s h is name. (The p r ie s t continues to chant incantations s i le n t ly on c h i ld . ) Help me.' Help mei Help me.' Help mei 15 lkohunmi is h is name. P r ie s t : IkoDnrimi i i C l i e n t : lkohunmi i Pr i e s t j Client s P r i e s t s plkobunmi i i l C lients jlkobiinmi i.'J lkohunmi.’ lkohunmi.' Aahi Help me e.' Bh' P r i e s t 8 lkohunmi i.' (Chants more incan tations) Aahi C l i e n t s Help mefeee.' lkohunmi i s h is name. 25 P r i e s t s Take him home. C l i cnt s He w i l l open h is eyes? P r i e s t s By the time you get home, he w i l l open h is eyes. And Id s body vii 1 1 ho at ease. C l i e n t s Thank you. 30 P r i e s t 8 Take him home. Aahi C l i ent 8 Thank you indeed, lkohunmi ni oo . . . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY ^ 9 TBXT 5 Oblnrin kan: B n ig o n lle o. Babalawo: (Ko daun. O n k i f a . ) Oblnrin : Ji kaaasan baba o. Babalawo : Pglg oidoo mi. Kaaabo o. Fa da la le . ( 1-4 y'in agba d ig , o woke.) A e t ije 5 ? Se kb s i nfcan o? Ob anr in: Mo fe b a fa n l gbololiun. Babalawo: fcbn n l l l . (<5 sun gpon l f a sgdg O bln rin . Oblnrin naa s i b a 'f a s^rg . L|yln Igba d ig , Babalawo n d a fa .) 10 Ire o• in•oi 'ire b g^kanjuwa A tapatlp l lb daa fun ggkgrg X| n lo *b i a 11 kee lo Sekgre-mu-wglcun ?> nro b l a kee mg 15 Ara kaluku ara k ara o too fu . <3 n l " I r e gmo". (<5 dafa d ig s i . ) Omob mi. i O blnrin : Baba. Babalawo: Yoo daa fun o# 20 O blnrin : Age. Ag®. Babalawo: Ire n i fa re w I. l f a t i lo o g iyem ejl, Ob an r i n: ^ ba dupg o. Babalawos Xi g gbgran -an . l f a naa t i r l i n lgba too t i lo dodo g un. 25 bke se rak l oke go rl gongo Nlwaju L i l l i omo g lb rb lg s g oke L i l l i b le le omg g lo rg lo se oke Awa rogmg dupg omg wa ab lye l f a t i loun pere omo fun o nbeun. 30 l f a t i loo giyem ejl. O b ln rin : Mo nig £ n kanju.^ Aa2 l f a t i n sgro. N l suuru ii. O ku foun $a 35 O• so• rb• o ro de• de• O sgro i t l ju tan , won wa polukblu kb o lo ju Won polukolu kb o lo ju tan Iro n la n la n i n jade lgnu won A d l f a fabiamg t| n lg o ja Ajagbbmefcn N igba "on lsb i j b ana, Ami n mo s6 , omoo mi koo n l”. * UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY I f a t i loun pere ijroo fun 9 . !£&■ w l pe n i nnkan t l t i n dbamn. ° lohun t i l t i n daamu t o r i onto, to dbam dab mu daamt daamu, to §e §e so , t i kb rojtituu r e . ®n naa lb j$ lo b aya i, lb dafa s i . Otalnrint BabaJ Babalawo: I f a wi pen! kbo rubo t o r i o d d , bS t i w i nuu Obinrint B ja f a baba ’ B j a f a i B j a f a ) § jo in.’ Babalawo: I f a w i peni too ba wa rubo. I f a wipe n l I f a naa s i tun wa k l o n ib , ip a r§ . S90 gbo mi. Orao un . . . . . . O binrin : Nnkan kekere n i. Babalawot Nnkan kekere nu u? . . . . . Sugbon I f a wa k l o• n ib• o . * Obinrint t«fi> n gbo baba o . Babalawo t O r i§ i r i s i Iona tomo n gbaa waye. Obinrint Bn en. tb to n i . B ^ n i , bSg n i . Babalawo: Bl|gb| ’ run m. by . Obinrint B During the period o f that song "the dancer who fa r t e d yesterday It was 1 who fa rte d , not my c h ild I fa says he has c a l le d b le s s in g s o f ch ild ren to you. I f a says something that has been worrying. He says something that has been 45 worrying because o f c h ild ren , that w orried and w orried and w orried , that stru gg led and stru gg led without f in d in g any so lution to the problem . It i s th is same problem that has caused her to wake up e a r ly and seel: vh. the atten tion o f I f a C lie n t i Sir.’ 50 P rie s t t I f a says you should make a s a c r i f ic e because o f ch ild ren . That was how he s a id i t . C lie n t : You have represented I fa c o rre c t ly s irJ You represent I f a co rrec tly ^ You understand I f a vary w e ll , thank you.1 P r ie s t : I f a says when you have performed the s a c r i f ic e I f a says he a lso warns you, concerning i t . 55 Do you hear mo? That c h i ld . . . C lie n t : That's a small matter. P r ie s t : That's a small matter? . . . But then I fa has a warning fo r you. C lie n t : I'm lis te n in g s i r . 60 P r ie s t : Children come into th is w orld by variou s means. C lie n t : Yees. T h at 's tru e . Yes. I t i s so. P r ie s t : There a re those who are members o f so c ie t ie s in the w orld beyond. C lie n t : Yes. P r ie s t : There are the Abiku. 65 C lien t : Indeed* Even we s it t in g down here, we are prominent members. P r ie s t : And every one has h is own taboo. C lie n t : Yes, yes. P r ie s t : This baby that w i l l be coming to you, wlK> 70 i s coming to you; sy ch ild , I f a says that what . . . . C lie n t : Take it easy . . . P r ie s t : L iston . How are you going to rercfcinker What I want to t e l l you now? How are 75 you going to reta in i t in your memory? C lien t : I 'v e moved c lo s e to you. * UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY W • P riests Slope you won't misunderstand me? C lients 1 can 't misunderstand you, fa th e r . I'm a l l ea rs . Sven my body too is eager. 80 P rie sts This c h i ld that i s coming, that i s coming to you so, he i s a stange c h ild . C lients That i s coming to me? P rie st t Coining to you. He is a lucky c h ild . But the strangeness that 1 ta lk ed about, so 85 that you can understand very w e ll , I fa says that . . . the c h ild , he doesn 't l ik e dece it. C lien ts The chij.d that is coming? P rie sts He doesn 't l ik e deception at a l l . And he doesn 't want you to l i e against him. Hq hates l i e s . You hear. He hates l i e s . He 90 hates deception. C lien t $ Rmmm, s i r . . . P r ie s ts You ju s t have to be honest w ith him. C lien ts Thank you. 1 heard a l l your exp lanations. What do I want to do with deceit?- 'fu lness? 95 When a b ig person l ik e me, mother o f the house . . . What w i l l X then say that my c h ild has done that 1 w i l l l i e against him, that 1 w i l l c-Ktat lai-na. . 1 heard a l l your exp lanations. I keep them in my 100 le f t hand. won't eat w ith i t .^ P rie sts £ l hear • ] * you have done th a t , i t ' s Okay. C lien ts Remm, when i t ' s towards the evening time. { , n the ingred ien ts o f s a c r i f ic e you asked me to p rov ide . .JJ 105 P rie sts £c>h yes. What you ought to d o ^ C lien ts 1 sh a ll b rin g them. P rie sts A l l r ig h t , you should come. C lien ts I should have to ld ny husband by then. P rie sts Ckay, t h a t 's f in e . 110 C lients I would ask. I f he can spare the time to accompany me £here| . . . P rie sts ^That's no b ig deal.J- That’ s a l l r ig h t . It i s okay. C lien ts Thank you. Thank you very much. May you l i v e long f o r our sake. 115 P riests Keep y °u r mind on i t . Remember what 1 t o ld you C lients Thank you. P riests Be c a r e fu l . Greet your home. P lease 6hut that my mini-door J'of me* UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY yv5 TS>(r 6 (Baba at j ly a omo sara wole pelu ariw o. ly a gbe <2 mo dan /) ly a 9 m? s fBabaai Baaba ooo ! 1 R)iba O• m•o: iBabaa* II gba n l ooo Jj Babalawo: A k! iya Omo: * fBabai • • • *) dakun. * • Babalawo: jkwo lo do?J kivo lo da? Ka lo da? ly a Mo daran. Latanaa t / mo ta to ja da n l baba. Latanaa ta mo ta t o ja do n l . . . . . . Babalawo: K/ 1o. Boo ba le gbo . . . . Koo t<5 tun maa seju pakb b l i 125 maalu robij. ■Baba O• m•oi Kana se t l o gbo? Babalawoi Bo• o• baa gbo• ,* 'un to le nu a ra o• mo• un ya o . . . . Ko o wa dele n aas in ya l, koo UNIVERSI Y OF IBADAN LIBRARY ifOS- lo roe gbalu . . . Koo lo gbalu , koo wa 130 pada lo soja n ib i to t i puro memo un . . . Baba O• m*oi To t i so? Babalawoi To 11 so. Ko moo wa korin. Ko moo kos "Oniso a l| Ana o kmi n mo so. oiaoo mi k o. ’Gbanaa la ra omo o to o ya, 'Gbanaa . . . ly a Omoi Baba.' Ayi 9 so an, 9 pa a da. Nabi 145 ta mo n i o ju t i t l mi t i mo t i . . . Babalawoi (Pe lu Ib in u ) ko ro gbau fun un 0 wi un.' B lba O• mo•i fGbogbo un ba t i wu u ko da la r a . l Babalawoi IKo i & gbau l|nu 9 . J l.y a O• m*oi Baba . . . 150 Babalawoi k6 t6 gbau lenu e. ly* a O• m•oj B aba . . . Babalawoi Iru oro wo lo n i k i n ma so? Yoo baa p o rip o r i ,■ 1 to ld you that i t was since 1 came'b&ck from the market ju st before noon yesterday UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY if|3- that he has been i l l , and has been feelin g very hot? Bern, 1 went to the market. There is an eld erly man that used to buy the •big-seeded' corn from me. He came to ask 95 fo r the corn and 1 said 1 didn't have i t . 1 then went to the s t a l l o f my colleague, Lal&ipe- my frie n d , to ask fo r the corn. As 1 reached there and packed the corn, put it on my head and paid fo r i t . As 1 prepared 100 to get up lik e th is , i t escaped suddenly. Priesti What escaped? Mother* Air from my bowels. Priest* Yees, when you fin ish ed fa r t in g , what >7 :/ happened? Mother! And everybody had focused on me, in the market 105 place. 1 was ashamed. Then 1 started punishing th is c h ild claiming that he farted . P riest! (To c h ild 's father) Do you hear that? He lie d against the c h ild . You hear now? Do you hear or you don't? Father! So it *s you who want to k i l l my child? 110 P riest! (To c h ild 's mother) A n right, get th is . Father! Please. Think about me. Mother! Please . . . P riest! As sh e 's looking muddled lik e a cow about to be slaughtered. Shut up your mouth and come over here. 1 to ld her on that vary day. 1 115 said the ch ild that was coining so , noone should cheat him, ; noone should lie against him. Or didn't 1 say so? Father! She's stubborn. Father, think about me. It is me you should p ity . Whatever is to be 120 done, help us to do the appeasement. P riest! What is there now is that it doesn't . . . . it has no remedy. The remedy fo r i t now, i f she w ill hear again. If she can hear . . . . Before you start blinking your eyes again lik e 125 a cow to be slaughtered. Father! Why w ill she not hoar? P riest! If you w ill hear, what can make that ch ild get better . . . . When you get home now, go and get a drummer . . . . Go and get a drummer 130 and then go back to the market where you had l ie d against that ch ild . . . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 4*13 Father? Where she farted? Priest? Where she farted* You should then sfc singing. You should sing? "The person who farted yesterday night It was I who farted , not my ch ild (2ce 135 It was 1 who farted , not my ch ild J Mother? fWhatJ Father! Father! Father! Priest? 7 (Continues singing) The person who farted■ } yesterday night It was I who farted Not my ch ild 140 It was 1 who f art ed Not my ch ild And that is a l l . That’ s when the c h ild w ill be cured. That's when . . . . Mother? S ir , what you said now, say something e lse . 145 Where 1 to ld you I was ashamed, that 1 have . . . . Priest? (With annoyance) w ill you stop talking nonsense! Father? {Let her try whatever tr ic k s she lik e s .^Priest? Shut up your mouth. JMother? Father . . . 150 Priest? Shut up your mouth. Mother? Father . . . Priest? What kind of utterance can 't 1 make? May curse be on your ancestors. Father? Father! Save me, don't be annoyed. That's 155 my own role. (To wife) May war claim your head. A ll righ t, get out. Mother? (Now sober) Bern . . . . Priest? Keep qu iet. God w ill not le t you hear (Shouts) Get cut of my house! Get out of my house.' Mother? Bern . . . . Father, p lease. Please. 160 Father? (To p riest) I beg you in the name o f God. Priest ? She wants to be bandying words with me. May God punish you. Father? Ah, she is always te llin g l i e s . 165 Mother? Thank you. When should I get a drummer fo r you, child? Father? She requires the use of ;force . Cutlass . . . If she l ik e s , le t her do i t ; i f she lik e s le t her not do i t . I t 's cu tlass I ' l l use to cut of your head. Leave her alone. 170 Priest? This one is n 't reacfy to heed advice. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY W F at her: She is n 't ready to liste n to advice. Priests And whoever is a l ia r w ill s te a l. Father* Yeos. { i t ' s a long time I 'v e been warning her.? Mothers ■jPaa Deleke, l e t 's go home.^ One's secrets 175 should be confined to one's home. Priest* I t 's fin ish ed . (Laughs) I t 's fin ish ed. I t 's Finished. That's what she does? Mother* L e t 's go home. Fathers Sverything is in your hands. 180 Priests No wonder. Father* She is a chronic l i a r , as you see her. When she has done anything wrong, a l l th is (touches mouth) is f i l l e d with l ie s . . . . ^May God catch youJ 185 P rie st; £Ah. That *s what she w ill do? ^ Mother* (Pleading) And you can 't help me do anything about it? P riest: There is no other remedy besides th at, you hear. You can now go home. 190 Father* Thank you. P riest: Watch her properly. Greet you house. Father: I t 's a long time I 'v e been te llin g her. ( 1 talked to her to no a v a il.) Mother* {Let 's go home.J ̂ L e t 's go home. You'ye spoken enough, l e t 's go home. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY reg mi n i no m wabi, a ti baale 20 r? . Babalawos E jokoo. (S i omoose) Co gbe apo Ifa wa nlnu i l e . (Cey'in agba da9) BawO l 6 t i wa j e 0? 'fy awos En en-baba, e e je r e 0. B dakun. 25 E jaanu mi, ayee yin 66 da 0. En -e n , lo r l bro omo mi n i mo ba wa O. fesasl s3 ni 0. Se beniyan ba t ig si lend lend naa, je beeyan o s i pada leyan eni? ti b no mbun ta mo 30 ra 0. ti/gba mo . . . . O• ko•: S• e boo wa s•ebeere nkan ni? Gboo t i wa so fun baba pasasl n i nk6? fesasl bdoo? £jg won 6n sorb tan . . .J Babalawos |B gg, aye in bgg. Jr Aya m be g. 35 Oko: Nlgba to wa n so fun yin pe asasl n i. Sebl a wa sebeere b6 y 6 asasl n i boya asasl ko, ta wa n SQ 4 fun yin? 0b3nrin: Wbo. Bo sa sa sl, b l b ja s a s l, Jfa 0 go • • • • 40 Babalawos Ifa a so fun waa. Gbogbo e laa r a l. 'ly\v;6 l E g n l reni ta yoo ba tiy ln j e 0. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Afifc Babalawo: itgboo t i debi, oro re t i dayo. (<3 fun obanrin ni opeip) ArabinrinJ Bafa soro . Bafa soro. 45 by aw 6: Coo. Ifa bo . . . Babalawos Oo soro sid . . . Waa bafa scro laa fow6 sad nd? va ya ̂wto: Ifa , dakun o. Gba ml o lw»o awon amondsend 05 awon asenitan t i m ba nd 50 daro o .••• Babalawos A a ma gboun t 6 nn wi. Ifa lp m ba sb• ro• . femi ko• nd. n maa gbo•. Maa spo dapdib. O• k•oj Gbogbo wonranwonran ta n sa yal ko 55 ye mi to . Oo le wl un to o wi} b o kan n . . . . . Babal asvos Wonran wonran t i n pe y ia , b5o l 6 t j jp? ('lyawo spro kelekele s i bpplp, babalawo s'd gba bpplp nab. <5 n dafat ) 60 If a , Blar'd 1 ipin Iwaju opon, o gbo o feyin opon bun Olokanran otun C• lS•kanran bol 65 fearin opon gangan not a bn»n 11a o gbo o, bgeere a -fo k o -y e -r i Bni o gbo o , Pakita bmu feb'a eyin iyab mi ^sbronga Apenran mo lee wagun 70 Oloklki bru Akanranje, AkaIranje Agada momi gran spsogo feyin lp da mi lodu, le te mi n ifa B ni n maa j i bpfa n i mo j i bofa 75 Beeyan ba t i j i gbo t i f a kb le s3so o fegbalagbb i i daw6 boju 6 purp ire n ii . . . . (® n a bpplp raolp). Aak$ t*se tir fte . ^aa, aawp eerdn lomo y 3 i. 80 A a gbodp paa Bep ni a a gbodp gee Bnikan o s i gbodb gbe spnu. A al Ko gbodp j pp Ibi aye fo ju s i , ona b gbabe lo 85 Iree ' (<3 na bpplp molp.) UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 4-17 b a a , i r e n i . A a , o k a x e e . Won wr" pe c iu § o g b o O iu § o g b o n i 3 §91110 A j aayana w ajan x 3a §omo lw o x i M^fa IvjorS. M efa iw o l o b3 red, awo l o ra m3 90 Mo tun d ? n i on3wO fewbra M efa Lo d i f a fu n Aka lairing bo N / j o t b n t in u aya § ba omo tu n tu n w a le aye Iw aju b b a pon t e r e - t e r e Awo 0 l o r i un § e 95 b , o r 1 ok a a jH fu n ok a Ora Agben m3, regun a j a fu n Agbonrr®un A sas3 ok a n33 poka A sas3 e r e naa p e r e A kota b g b od o p e e t u . . . 100 A ra b ln r in J feyav;b: f•e n e•n . B aba law o: Fowo b a .19 0 f i kanya e nagba met a . K^o p oo k § le d a a r § ku © r a ir e . vly a>w O/J Mo k e l| d a a mi ku o r l i r a 0 105 B aba law o: -j^llgbo 0 0 f i d eb a , b r o r e jfe baun lo.J^ feyav/b s ffto k3 0 ku o r 3 i r e o . l Mo k3 0 ku L f 0 > 0 J o r i i r e e l? d a a mi 0. B abalaw ot A n -in 0 . 0 « a daa 0 . A s a s f n l . feyawb} Mo w 3, won bn j e a wa. 110 Babalawo* Se a k o b f 9 n i ab3 b o o l o t i j 9? } y awo* Mo w3 baba M olaba. Mo w 3, 0 j e n w3? Baba . . . B aba l awot Mo m b e e r e nkan lb•w o• e• n i . S• ’ ako•ba 9 n i febl . . . ,1 1 5 feyawb* fe 9 j e r e b a b a . O banrin* w6n n3 "§a k b b 3 e n i ? " \y\viOX A kobl n i . B abalaw oj Okunrin s3 n i ? feyawbt Cknnrin n l 0 . 120 B abalaw ot A a , 0 ma go o . feybwo: Akob3 n i ; Akob3 n i . . . . Babalavjos En o n , a sa s3 n i 0 . 3tigbon A sas3 y a a , nnkan mu n i lom o, eey a n l o wa n i d i 3 9 . 125 feybvib: Baba M olaba, b n g b o . E mo kan mi le y 3 n oolcan . E b a mi so fu n won won n geek anna le y 'in oru n m i. Temi n mo wa § e , e ma pa m3 la p a a/ ye*. 130 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY o la sa s / gun t i na? Babalawo: AsasZ inu ' l e n i . ^'ro Inu l i e n i . ObanrinS fcrgg mi n o wa /? fyawo t Bgg, emi naa wi bge. Won on j| a w/ . AV;On oko }yawo, Titit oko 135 ob}nrin. C• ko•: Baba, awa meta naa la wa n/nu l i e . Orogunun re, B6la n lo , l o / so e&yan buruku .Bn}yan daadaa n i. l a a wa n i 06 tun moo sa s i 17 140 Babalawo: Baba, gyin lg n soro b / omo kekere b a y }/. Nbgg r» pe ajg t / ba n pa n i , wOn 1 i rgjg lgnu g. O• k•o: E 9 gbo? Omo yoZ o lo dide. Kind n ta a la lo fun un baya/? 145 Babalavjo t R h<*<* 109 pe asasi naaa je ecy*^n ••• as a s / n is i jg ware o loju 00run. ASasa nwu. O• ko•t Un un, kin laa sa sai? Babalawo t N n naa fcogftn kan fun y /n b a y } /. 150 E 9 bu epo pupa s/nu }wo to gun rebate. Sgeroo awo to t| b a y } /, bZ awo } b / l g , avjo alamo? O banrint Awo arao? Babalawoj w o amo. B e £ i i anu e . B a 155• • • • • • fepo pupa s / i . A a bu u b a y }/ a a la gbogbo g. B6 ba t i la , ara g a wal•e , ^a roorun sun. E• e• wA a ta ponpb-wa. & n gbo bay}/? B e wa b i see kee gbe sinu 160 ggdg y /n . B e maa wa moo lh6 fun un. Gbogbo ara rg o walg. Ara o tu u , tf> jg pe ko tun n / gburoo h ”>?• Ob}nrins Ayee yin o daa o. B g je r e o. 165 B abalaw o: By/ t / n o via fun yin lo b a y }/ , 9 j e n lo ni wa ninu i l e . Mo mb$. (6 wonu i le l o . ) (A meeting of some four peoples a divination p r ie s t , one man h is wife and his w ife 's friend outside in front o f the p r ie s t ’ s hut). UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Woman's Friend! Good day fa th e r< P riesti Who's that person? 5 Friend! I t 's me the woman from t>§ogbb. P rie st! Ah, you 're welcome p lease. Tke visiters, Thank you. P riesti Mind your step. Friend! (Salute to you at work? 10 P riest! {Good day to you J Friend! I salute you at work. P riesti Thanks, you 're welcomes Friend! Hope there is nothing wrong? 15 Friend! There is nothing wrong l. . . P riesti This herb I'm working on can 't be l e f t abandoned. Sit down} s it down. Man and Woman! I t 's you we've come to see. Friend! I t 's th is my frien d I bring to you, and 20 her husband. P riesti Sit down. (To attendant) Go and bring the divination bag inside the house. (A fter some time) What rea lly Is the problem? Womans Em— fath er , may you prosper. Please. Have 25 p ity on me, your l i f e w ill meet with Joy. Yes, I t 's fo r my c h ild ’ s sake that 1 have come here. It i s magical a f f l ic t io n . I f an assailan t has pestered one’ s l i f e fo r a long tim e, shouldn't he leave one alone? I re a lly don’t 30 know what X did. When 2 . Man (Woman's husband)s Isn 't it that you've come to ask about something? Itfhat happens now that you’ ve to ld fa th er that i t ' s a magical problem? How can it be magic? (Lot him fin ish speaking . . . ) Priests ^Believe i t , There is Man.J Man is a conplex knot1. 35 Mani When she was te llin g you that i t is a magical problem. Isn 't It that we have coma to ask whether i t is a magical a ff lic t io n or n ot, and she was te llin g you. Friend! Look. Whether there are magical workings or n o t, Ifa w ill say . . . 40 P rie st! If a w ill t e l l u s . We sh a ll see everything. Womans May you not sea the one who w ill sp oil your l i f e . P riest! When you've reached here, your plight has turned into b le ssin g s . (Gives woman the divination chain)woman.' Talk to If a. Talk to I f a. 45 Woman! Okay. If a . . . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY lf-2-O P rie st: Talk to i t . . . Would you ta lk to Ifa without putting money on it? Woman: Ifa , p lease . Save me from the treacherous ones ) those who work e v il against you and la te r 50 show fa ls e p ity . . . P riest: We're not liste n in g to you. I t 's Ifa you're talking to . It is n 't 1 who w ill hear you. Be speaking s ile n tly . Man: A ll th is restlessn ess of hers 1 don't understand. 55 Can't you say what you have to say. You're ju st . . . P rie st: This restlessn ess o f hers, how does it come * about? (The woman speaks s ile n tly to the divination chain, and the p riest la te r receives the chain from her. He performs divin ation .) 60 Ifa The witness at the sharing o f destinies The fron t o f the divination tra y , you hear , , , 3 The back o f the tray and the Olokanran on the r ig h t. The Oloklmran on the l e f t 63 The centre o f the tray exactly is the c*xtsida o f heaven Hear ycu Barth who uses the hoe to t i l l i t s head Hear you mat, P akltl Amu Homage is paid to you ny mothers, &§?>rohga The one who delights in wasteful k illin g s 70 The one who is famous fo r nocturnal a c t iv it ie s Aklnrfnjft, Akllranj^ Agada viio delights in sacking the blood o f meat V3TV0 \ It was you ̂ introduced me to O&i and taught me how to perform Ifa divination You said 2 should perform divination early in the morning and so 1 did 75 I f one lis te n s to Ifa f i r s t thing in the morning,he cannot ta lk njem. (the Grwind Hornbill) On the day she was coming to the world as a baby in her mother's womb If the front does not give red (danger) signals The Ifa priest cannot have anything to do 95 Ah, the o r l (personal god) o f the cobra fig h ts fo r the cobra The personal god of Agbomnlregun fig h ts fo r Agbonm\regun It is the magic o f the cobra that k i l l s the cobra It is the magic of the python that k i l l s the python No power of magic can subdue s a c r if ice 100 Woman* Womant Yees. P riest! Place your hand on the ground and put i t on your chest three tim es. Say you thank your star fo r your luck Woman! I thank my star fo r being lucky 105 Priest i {By the time you came here, your case was more than th atj Woman! |̂ I thank you fo r your luck.J X thank you For your luck my sta rs . Prlesti Yes. Okay now. It is a magical a fflic tio n '. Woman! 1 ta lk ed , they didn 't allow us to ta lk . 110 Priesti Is he your f i r s t born or how coma? Woman! 1 talked , the fath er o f MolabS. 2 conplained, did you allow me to complain? Father . .V P riest! I'm asking you a question. Is he your f i r s t born or . . . . ? 115 Woman! May you prosper, fa th er . Friend! He says " i s ho your f i r s t bom ?" UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 4-2- 2. Woman i He is the f i r s t born. P riestj And he is a male? Woman! Ha is a made 120 P riest! Ooh, what a p ity . Woman! He is the f i r s t bom} he i s the f i r s t born '• P riest! Yes, i t is a magical a f f l ic t io n . But th is a f f l ic t io n , something a f f l i c t s one's c h ild , there is a person at the root o f i t . 125 Woman! M olabi's fa th er , are you listen in g? Do not break my fron t tooth . Help me t e l l them they are pinching my neck. I 'v e come to l iv e my Own l i f e , don't make me a liv in g - dead person. 130 Man! Listen fath er, where does the magical a ff lic t io n come from? P riest! I t 's an a ff lic t io n from inside the house. It is a home a ffa ir . Friend! tty fr ie n d , dicfci't I say it? Woman! I too said i t . They didn't allow us to ta lk . The husband o f wives} Titus the husband Of 135 women. Man! S ir , there are only three o f us in the house. Her co -w ife , B6lanla , is not a bad person. She is a good person. Who can then be ivorking magic against him? 140 P riest! Father, you're the one talking l ik e a small c h ild so. I suppose you know that a witch that k i l l s someone, no blood ever shows on her mouth. Man! Bxeuse me. This boy cannot stand up', What can we use fo r him now? 145 P riesti I thought you knew that i t is magical a ff lic t io n that doesn't le t someone '..V magical a ff lic t io n is what makes a mad person s le e p le ss . That is magical a f f l i c t loti. Mani Yes, what are wo going to do to i t ? P riesti I ' l l look fo r a medicine fo r your now. You w ill 150 put palm -oil inside a f in e p la te . Do you know the p late that is spacious, l ik e the trad itio n a l crockery made from raid? Friend! A raid plate? P riesti A raid p la te . You w ill put i t inside i t . You w ill add palm -oil to i t . He w ill take 155 It lik e th is and l ic k everything. When he has lick ed i t , h is body w ill cool down. He UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 4-22. w ill then be able to sleep . You w ill then twy ponpo-wa |a herb). Are you listen in g so? You w ill look fo r a place to cook i t and put i t 160 in your house. You w ill then be using i t fo r him. He w ill get conpletely healed. His body w ill be at ease, to the end that he won't ever fe e l it again. Friends May your l i f e be blessed . May you prosper 165 in l i f e . Priests The one that you w ill take away from me now, le t me go and bring i t from the house, I ' l l be back. (He enters house). UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY A-SPECTS OF Jb'JTSiTTa.xrs U-i YCigJBA TRADITIONAL msdjcins TEXT 8 Obanrin alaboyun kan: (0 wonu i l e babalawo) Baba oo! . . . ®aba 2 Babalawo: (0 n jade nanu i le ) S wolp o . Aal Se daadaa ni? Ob'nrin: A dupp o. Babalawo: Aa! £■ ma to jo mptaa? 5 Ob'nrin: 6 to bpp o jare . Babalawo: (un o romo ba . Won na fb o n i ka o waa ru C s i ru u Nagba laelae r l Won kaa pe jyele na jy f le . Bygko na won n/ p«e e>» Natora pe oko na n gbe. Oroo 3ya ni oun a"ti adat>a Cora, omo aya eyele na oun naa pelu Gbogbo won lo bamo Byjl e na kan ni o ba waa to kja Cgbe lo kja Cgbe na ko toju agbagba aladapo meja. Bku nej a , f j a meja, eyinda? meji; Ka o fa gbogbo re rubo. Byele sa se b^e. Nagba ta gygle o pamo, Meg a lo pa. C waa ko awon omo naa ban kja Cgbe C dip ! o sa tun sail ej gegun. ia sa t. a r*j , l, v, gj oun *o n*a a 9.0 G» . C na "mo bamo meja Mo i i fyf i le ; mo bamo meja Mo deye ale. kja Cgbe na "eye yaa ye i le lo o oto "; Ni won ba f i n pe e ni jy ?le . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 6 ni ki eyele o f i okan I i ko ba i f ninu awon onto naa rubo; 45 By £le n ! "n o le fikan rubo o ttjoeja ni mo gbe; N o le pakan ogeega na mo f fran". Ni kja Cgbe ba f i asj sai pe 50 Kegaraeja lfy e le o maa bf Nigbakugba ta §yf\ e o baa pamo kg'agbede, i t is your support that you should give me! lfa divination was performed for Oguoro Which was going to the bottom of the muddy waters, To prepare the ground for child-bearing. kjagbede, the pigeon whether male or female, 5 They both resemble each other; No distinguishing mark between them, lfa divination was performed for ligagberoa Who shares the same mother with Koyamoya. It is in pairs that 1 support; io 1 no longer value a single person, lfa divination was performed for the Bush-pigeon The day she was in the wild, The time she was sobbing She had no offspring of her own. 15 They said i t was sa crifice she needed to o ffer And she offered it In the olden days The never used to c a ll the pigeon 'house-pigeon'. It is Byfko (Wild-bird) that they c a ll her, 20 Because i t was in the wild that she lived . Both she and the turtle-dove were offspring of the same mother The wood-dove too shared the same mother with the pigeon A ll o f then had young ones The pigeon alone had none 25 She then went to ug'a Cgbe Sja Cgbe asked her to look for two plaintains, Sach double-fruited, two rats, two f is h , two eggs, Let her use everything for sa crifice . And the pigeon obeyed. 30 When the pigeon was to hatch, It was two that she hatched. She then came to show the offspring to ;Sga Cgbe UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY She gave thanks and also paid the dues. She said in order to show her gratitude, &ja °gbe should build a hut for him Outside his house, For her to be living in . She said "1 bear two children I'm now a domestic bird; 1 bear two children I'm now a domestic b ird ". kjjogbe remarked "th is bird indeed f i t s the home" So they started calling her "house-bird". He asked the pigeon to o ffer one Which she didn't like o f the twins for sa crifice . The pigeon said "1 can't o ffe r one for sacrifice It is in pairs that 1 support; 1 cannot k ill one Jt is the two that 1 l ik e " . Thus £ ji Cgbe then authorised that The pigeon would always bear two children Whenever the pigeon wanted to reprodice UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY TBXT 12 w Alasaka-mo-wareJ Xgbjs-ni-o-tuba-ara-ryl Mo-ba—o-were, awo OlanreSMnJ Xwon ni won kofa sSrasara lowo trunnSla Xi won f i poRio Ciofin fgun. Won ko awanransoka lowo frasaala W•o n so• awanran*s o*ka s ’ ^rasaala Won fa pa fcra^aala Won tun w4 k'abalar3sa lcwo fcrunmala Won so abalirafa s'^runmala 10 £•runmala o le je fcrunmala o le mu t'runrnlla o le fu f•c rurmala o le to* ^ C’runmala o le ma jake 15 Crunmala o le ma j a l j C• runmala waa na "ee e ̂o j^" na, "ko sawo mo n a lj yaa ni ndan? Wo• n lawo•n awo tun ku <5 n$ "kaloruko won n jg ? " 20 Wo• n na "awo• n olohun pihere pa ̂h^ere" Won na "awon olohun apefekelaja" t•'runmala waa dahun C na ka won lo pe won wa. Nagba won pe won de, 25 W•o n na "t•- runraa lal " ^ W•o n lawo• n ka o• , Merentelu ̂ ^ Won na awon ka o , Mesa Akaluba Won na awon ka o , ono Clode Xtalemo Wen na "ica lo wa le mu baba bayaa o 30 Xf baba o le j y , ta o le sun, ta ol e m u, Xa baba o le su, ta o le to , l'a baba o le ma j a l f , ta o le ma jake?" Ni f’runmala ba tun da won lohun t na "Alasaka-mo-ware" 35 C na "Xgbe-ni-o-tuba-ara-rg" (■ na •*!o-ba-o-were awo Clanregun" C na "awon ni won kef a sarajara Iovjo trunmala, Ta won f i porno Ciofin tgun". Won kawanransoka lowo Crasaala 40 Won so awanransoka strasaala trasaala kl UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Won kabalarjsa lowo trunnala W•o n sabalaras• a s'C•runmjla fcrunraala o le j f 45 f'runmila o la mu C•runmala o le ma jaka fcrunmlla o le mi ja le f•c runraala o la to" t•' runmila o le s•u 50 trunraala o le mi jake ^runmala o le mi j a l j Ni awon awo wa so f'tfrunmala pe Won lawon o mo pe bayaa n i. Won na pe "a min kangba ahun ni tahun" 55 t•'runmala ba na "a a !" 0 loun t i le ma ja l£ tun t i le mi jake nsanyaa o. 6 na "hin-hin o! " A! C loun t i le mi j a l “ 60 fHin ta le mi jake nsanyaa o. Won nape "tutututu laa ba korako gbakuo" Crunraala na ara ta tu tin bayaa Won ni "ton naroju ob j?" Epo n mama naroju obj 65 Epoo. Ni Crunmala ba n je Ni fcrunmala ba n mu f•c runnala ba n su C1 ru/ nraS • • a ,l'a 1b a# n ̂ 4t.o'• 70 Ni ba n mi ja lg Na ba n ml jake Alasaka-in search of blessings! A farmer does not openly show his worth! 1 meet ycu in a haste, the priest of Olanregun! It was they who learnt lfa divination thoroughly from t runna la Which they used to k i l l the son of C iofin t'gun. 5 They learnt awanransoka (a bad medicine) from t'runm'ila They threw awanransoka at trasaala They used it to k i l l trasaala They also got abalarasa from fcrunmala They threw abalarasa (a bad medicine) at trunmala 10 fcrunmala could not eat trunmala could not drink UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY t'runroala could not pass faeces tbcunmala could not urinate t'runroala could not breathe in 15 t•hrunraala could not breathe out t’runmila then said "eh ohj" He asked "are there no more priests remaining in this town as it i s ? " They said there were priests remaining He asked "what names do they bear?" 20 They said "those with relvety voices" They said "those whose voices canmand authority" t'runraala then answered He said they should go and c a ll them When they arrived 25 They said "trunmalai" They said they greeted you, Herentelu They said they greeted you, Mesa Xkaluba They said they greeted you, the son of Olode Xtltgmo They asked "what could be wrong with father now 30 That father cannot eat, cannot sleep , cannot drink, Th=t father cannot pass faeces, and cannot urinate, That father cannot breathe out and cannot breathe in ? " And fcrunroala answered them again He s a id "Alasaka-mo-wareJ" 35 He s a id " X g b e -n i-o - t u b a -a r a -r g J " He said it was they who learnt lfa thoroughly from fcrunm^la, And used i t to k i l l the son of Ciofin tgun. They learnt awanransoka from trasaala 40 They threw awanransoka at trasaala trasaala died They learnt abalarasa from trunmala They thr&’i abalarasa at C'rurunala fcrunmala could not eat 45 ^runmala cculd not drink f’runria la could not breathe in f'runmala could not b.reathe out t'runraala could not urinate ^runmala could not pass faeces 50 ^runmala could not breathe out f'runnala could not breathe in Then the priests told frunmala that They said they didn't know the situation was so bad UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY n, ta won f i ig i da. Koo wa buu s i . 10 Ko maa poo po, ko maa f i pa gbogbo ara. Were lo maa lo . . . . J f n fun f lagunmu. Koo maa lo deede, eleyaa. To ba tun d3jo k^ta, koo tun lo 6. Ijo m£tam£ta loo lo o, Alaa san s Kani mo f i le lo o? 15 Cnasegun: jkoo •gbona. bun nayaa. Waa gbadun. H e rb a l is t : This one, you w ill be drinking it lik e water every time. Cli e n t : And 1 should bathe with r.t? H erba li st s Yes. 3ut the drinking should be more. I t 's inside ycu. You should then be using palm o i l 5 and kerosene, to rub your body. You see that oal? Y o u 'll put it an a plate lik e th is , y o u 'll put kerosene in i t . Do you know the ash from fire? Client t Ash from fire ? H erbalist s Yes. I t 's not charcoal, however, 10 Cli e n t : Cr ey ash? H erbali s t : Yes, the one made from wood. You should put th is in the plate. Mix everything together and be rubbing your body with i t . It w ill disappear immediately. . . . Let me give you some herbal powder. Ose it regularly, th is one. In another 15 three days, use it again. You should use it at every three days' interval. Cli ent s With what should 1 use it? Herbali s t : Hot pap. Here it i s . Y o u 'll get w ell. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Herbalist: You w ill go am? look for her. Fatheri AlabiJ L>o you know where you le ft her? Son: 1 don't 1 don't . . . 10. Father* You certainly cannot deny knowledge of the place where you had sex with her. Son: I t 's a long time. Father: Ah, I'm finished? H erbalist: Make sure you look for her. Go and look for her and beg her. For how many years is i t ? 15 Son: I t 's thirteen Father: Whether it is now thirteen years or i t is twenty, you should know how to look for her and fin d her. Now move on. Where we can look around for her. When we get home, w e 'll know how you w ill look for her. Is it ju st to look for her and beg her? 20 H erbalist: Look fo r her and beg her. Beg her. Father: Ah Alabil What you did is what you ju st heard. Wien we get home, y o u 'll hear. Be quick. When we advise a child , he should liste n . I f he doesn 't, th is is the consequence. You now cause a problem, 25 and i t concerns both father and son. H e r b a l is t : You've said it exactly as it i s . Father: Thank you very much, (I'm grateful) H e rb a l is t : (Tliat's no big deal.) Father: When we return, y o u 'll hear. Do we only need to beg her. 30 Herbali s t : You have any alternative? If you can ju st apologise to her, and she can forgive him, th a t's a l l . (That is a ll) Father: (May God let us see her.) Thank you, I'm gratefu l. Bye-bye. H erbalist; Ah ah J UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY rsxx is C'pakanlaun! fcpakanlaun. £ pakanlaunl tpakangbenul fcpakangbesna I tipakangberaa ! Xake or'isa mu ko o re« o <5n on na koo fa lara lagbaja o lgi ni on ai koo f i la o C• n o• n ai koo f i lara %l agbaja o lgi ni on ai koo f i la o T̂ ake orasa mu ko o ree o Cn on ai ko f i lara lagbaja o lgi ni on ai ko f i la o lgi ni on a a ko f i la o lgi ni on ai ko f i la o Ha lara lagbaja o tpakanlauni b pa k an lan n! t'pa.kanlaiinl t 'pakangbanal tpakangbema! tpakangbem a! This is the axe the god gave you They didn't say you should break so and so 's head with it I t 's wood they ask you to break with i t . They didn't say you should break so and so 's head with it I t 's wood they said you should break with it This is the axe the god gave you They didn't say you should break so and so 's head with it I t 's wood they said you should break with it I t 's wood they said you should break with at I t 's wood they said you should break with it Don't break so and so 's head. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY I t e x t 16 5 Ba ejo ba ka, ko ba lopo, Loo tu . 10 Let th is stomachache subside Let so and so 's stomachache subside Let the worm in th is stomach go back to where it comes from When a snake c o ils , It later uncoils i t s e l f . 5 When a snake c o i ls , and tw ists i t s e l f . It later uncoils i t s e l f . The stomache that is troubling so and so Let it subside now Without wasting time, or going any further distance. 10 Let i t subside now. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Elemogaira Ajoge! Ajanagaara A jele ; Aja duck! taa soko Yeye fsin sin X nl a ma pa okunkun S pa okankun X ni f ma pa'sunku orun 8 pa'sanku orun Xsanku orun naa lo wa pada Tj n le y5n kiri 5 wa sare k A. j o g e0 ;. janagaara A j e l e . The black dog who is the husband of Mother Csinsin We asked you not to k i l l darkness You k ille d darkness We asked ycu not t o k il l Xsanka orun** You k i l l e d Xsanku orun It i s th e Xsanku orun th at has tu rn ed book And is chasing you about You then ran in a bustling manner You ran to Crunmala You asked Crunmala to save you C'runnala then said that You should go to tsa raeja UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY t'sa weji then said that 15 The white spoils the odcur of the red The red spoils the colour of the white Whether white or red, i t is the black charcoal which Contaminates there Hope than lie s with the abirikolo leuf^ Isanku orun, turn back from so and so 20 ^sankn orun, turn back from so and so Let so and so not have horrible nightmares again Let her not copulate with spiritual husbands again Let her not fe e l restless again Let her not have a stubborn character any more 25 Let her not get angry any more UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Xkarakara okuta! Akarikjri ajanal ^koko kudakuda laarin eyin ina! C d a fa fun O l o f i n Xgbodawonran O• lo• kunrin lo a ka n ma di wo*nran nale babaa mi Kooko ka kooko a di wonran A re waif asa Olobanrin lo a ka n ma da wonran nale babaa ma Kooko ka kooko a da wonran A re waif afa 10 X jf i l e lo a ka n ma da wonran nale babaa mi Kooko lea kooko a d? wonran A re waif asa B• le• bo• loogun lo a ka n ma da w•onran nale babaa mi Kooko ka kooko a da wonran 15 A re wal^ asa Mo j ewee rorc Mo j ero ee aw edf Mo j epon kan I00I90I00 ta m b f nadaa obuko vB• •e w n eegun s i o• O• n so• o• ta sa o• O nawo ganna, o mot a la ota aaa ki la jrun un-un run un 15 la o-a jras•a ko• ee rarun es•a K3 lagbaja naa o mo kuu Ko mo run Ko mo s of o Ko j a s e r'j, trunma la Aj ana 20 Koo gbe debi gaga Koo dabo• C• 's»e *etural Koo sakun un 0 Pesi Akolei Cgbeeljjal 25 Omo a ungun r£bo j e l is f.r an a kooko Lo dafci kakogun Blesaa Ak&n a buda ojo Lo dara kAg£ 30 Ay in awo ara oja Ayan lo dafa kola Agbale tutu Ayan lo dafa kCluwyri •Vhere 35 Sanko Loomole Lo dafa kC’duduva attrannaf^ t- a a kona mo seke Koni m6 seda • 0 0 0 40 C ses^ debi be keku na Cduduwa ko bia sea Ja kebo re fan an UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Koo j j eru re da dan-dan-dan K^bo re dode orun 45 t'ruiuna la Xj ana Ka lagbaja naa K6 napa Ko nada Kv or t. o/o' r e* 50 Ko dagba Kowo re naa roke nabd d ff naa Ko namo nabf, kokaki r f kan rabf Olofin orun, an-dn a ra 'le &md lagbaja ni no n ba lagbaja je etutu Iona a 55 j ? ketutu naa gba o Kef j f kfbo r f naa dode orun dan-dan-dan Xydn a a re 'If kff ba nj se Cn ad "Manoo da Lawo Agba-raa-da" 60 Xramokanan da Lawoo 'Kanr'g' C-se-gbodande-sa1^ Lawo Agunragba Xpataraku loo pfkun orereJ 65 Ajebisun lo n gbohun teeteluuj Lo dafa karugbo aborakoko To n lo soja Xjagboraffon Ka leru waa ta? _^ ru0 wa0 a0 j%eS re* 70 S• ru waa f^ra e• kere wale Je ka lagbaja, j^ ko ta J- e0 ko0 j ere% J £ ko fora kere wale Ko ra j^ 75 Ko ra mu Kanaa owo no da Kjnaa aya no da Kanaa o• ne• no• da Kj nnicar. no• s• o•j bo• re• 00 Ka nnkan no• s• ay* a re• Ka nnkan no soun naa Obogbo 'ba ba n fora «a, ta ba n dora ko bayaa, ^na nd ko j f trunraala Ajanal 35 iko o kej o Kakbo no koo Iona UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY t•' na an an da m^luw"eri Ko• na mo• da a mo• o ^ Olofin ctiin,i n -in a r a 'le ! 90 • • • Kej ba ni se Ke ̂ dabo, kj£ lase^ sa i. ayan ayaa mi Csoronga, Ajokan ma joraS Mo tjrun yin gbasj o kebo lagbaja naa fin Kej keru rg naa da dandan-dandan . . . (Ba babalawo t i n sure laa danu duro, eni ta a n sure fun yoo naa se asf l|yan-an ire kookan) Hear 0 t'runma la l The w itn ess at th e sh a r in g o f d e s t i n i e s ! Ajjaiogun! So and so who is ycur child He has talked to some money 5 He has used the money to touch has head He has touched the money with the divination chain Thrown onto the ground! What would they seel They saw Tkjora "ireku^ 10 They threw a bone at you They gave you a stone You stretched your hand and chose the stone, Because the stone does not die Because the palm karnel never fa lls i l l 15 B ecause th e ogarasako t r e e never lacks growth in a year. Let so and so not die Let him not f a l l sack Let ham not suffer from loss Let him reap the fru its of his labour, trunmala Xjana 20 Take Him to the height of fortune —P lease Oa s.^.e .t u ̂ra' 11 ;a Open th e door Pesa X k o le l C g b e e l e ja ! The son of the one who gives vultures sa crifice to eat! 25 It was the hyena Who performed divination for the leading Slesal warrior The i n t e r m i t t e n t ra in fa ll i t was UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Which cast divination for the cassava 30 You the in itia te s in the market Jt was you who cast divination for the okro The wet shrine'. It was you which cast divination for Oluwgri Ah ere 35 Sanko Koomole Who cast divination fo r Cduduwa and trannaf^ He says one should not cheat One should not connive 40 He ju st started in l i f e Cduduwa give him your assistance Let his sa cr ifice appease you Let his appeasement be accepted by a l l means Let his sa c r ific e get to heaven 45 t>ru nnj la Xj ana ! • Let so and so Let him have might Let him have strength Let him measure up to his colleagues standard 50 Let him become Mg Let him have progress in his place of work Give him knowledge, make him shine there The king of heaven, you people of the earth! I t 's 1 so and so making appeasement on behalf c f so and so today 55 Let the appeasement be accepted Let his sa crifice reach heaven by a ll means You rulers of earth, do help us They say "A b ility to cast Is the attribute of .lgba-raj-da, a p r ie st" 60 Inability to cast Is the attribute of priest Kanraga He who casts divination to save one from trouble Is the priest of Agunragba The thumb is the end point rf fin gers! 65 it is a hungry sleeper who hears the slightest noise in the midnight! lfa divination was cast for the very old man Who was going to Xj igbomjfon market What has the slave come to sell"? The slave has come to make profits 70 The slave has cone to use his head to bring his p ro fits hone UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Let so and so, let "ham s e ll Let ham make profits Let him use his head to bring his profits hone Let him have food to eat 75 Let him have water to drink Let him net be short of money Let him not be short of a wife (or wives) Let him not be short of children Let nothing happen to his children SO Let nothing happen to his wife Let nothing happen to he himself Everywhere he faces, and he is going, Let it be through ('rannila XjanaJ 85 Nothing obstructs the movement of a snake Let nothing obstruct him on his way No road blocks against the Queen of the sea Let no road block against him The king of heaven, the people of the earth'. 90 Help us to achieve our goal Please, give your sanctions to i t . You my mothers, t'soronga, tfho eat the heart and not the heard! 1 seek authority from you 95 Let the sa crifice of so and so be acceptable Let his appeasement receive your blessings . . . (As the p r i e s t continues to appeal to the gods, without pausing, the client too continues to say Xsf CMay it be so ’ after each request is made. ) UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY k5Z NOTES 1 - h I f a c o n f i g u r a t i o n s 5 . C h i l d r e n who b e l o n g to s p i r i t u a l a s s o c i a t i o n s i n th e w o r ld beyon d 6 . C r o t o l a r i a Lach n op h on a 7 . T e p h r o s ia B r a c t e o l a t a 8 . M e la s t o m a c e a e 9 . Name unknown 1 0 - 1 1 I f a c o n f i g u r a t i o n s SOURCES OF DATA 1 . A l h a j a I y a I b e j i - a ln g b o olom owewy, E k o t e d o , I b a d a n . 2 . M r . Demola Oyewumi, O luw asan m i R oad , I l e - I f e . 3 . M r . O y in b o O r u n m ila ’ A w o t id o y e , O d i - o l o k u n S t r o e t , I l e - I f e . i f . E x t r a c t s from p l a y s a c t e d on t h e T e l e v i s i o n S e r v i c e o f t h e B r o a d c a s t i n g C o r p o r a t i o n o f O.yo S t a t e (B C O S ) . ' 5 . Wande A b im b o la C1 9 7 7 ) Awyn 0 iu Odu M y ry ^ r :fn d i n lo g u n O x f o r d U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , I b a d a n . UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY