Forms and functions of “impossibility” expressions in Yoruba informal interactions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32690/56.5Keywords:
impossibility slangy expressions, Yoruba informal interactions, pragmatic acts, impossibilityAbstract
This study investigates the forms and pragmatic functions of “impossibility” slangy expressions in Yoruba informal interactions, within the framework of Mey’s pragmatic acts (2001). Data comprised ten informal interactions randomly sampled from thirty interactions observed among the Yoruba in different contexts. Findings revealed “impossibility” slangy expressions in Yoruba trifurcate into function‑oriented, structure‑function‑oriented, and danger‑oriented types. They are deployed to express rejection, rejection with warning, caution, discountenance and disapproval, rebuke with dare, challenge and threat in Yoruba informal interactions. Participants in Yoruba informal interactions make recourse to facial expression (physical act), and contextual elements: shared cultural knowledge (SCK), shared experiential knowledge (SEK), voice (VCE), inference (INF) and relevance (REF) to deconstruct the pragmatic imports of impossibility expressions.
References
Adeyanju, D. 2007. “Slang usage in educated Nigerian English: A sociolinguistic overview”. Sociolinguistics in the Nigerian Context, ed. by D. Adeyanju. Ile Ife: OAU Press. 265-277.
Ajayi, T.M. 2016a. “The pragmatics of commendation in selected ‘abusive’ utterances among Yoruba youths in Nigeria”. African Notes 40 (1-2). 80-94.
Ajayi, T.M. 2016b. “A pragmatic analysis of selected Yoruba Christian pain-relieving burial songs in Nigeria”. Explorations: A Journal of Language and Literature 4. 34-46.
Ajayi, T.M. 2017. “Unveiling the taboo of sexual intercourse in the Beulah Yoruba/English bilingual parallel Bible”. Africology: The Journal of Pan African Studies 10(1). 308-324.
Ajayi, T.M. & G.A. Bamgbose. 2018. “Nigerian hip hop and the anti-oׅ moׅ lúàbí subculture among Nigerian youth”. The Quint: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly from the North 10(3). 46-67.
Akanmu, D. & R.O. Ajetunmobi. 2017. “Language and culture among the Yoruba: A Study of argot, cant, jargons and slang as forerunners of the new idioms and idiomatic expression in the 21st century”. International Journal of African Society, Cultures and Traditions 5(1). 28-37.
Allan, K. 2003. “Linguistic metatheory”. Language Sciences 25. 533-60.
Allan, K. 2010. The western classical tradition in linguistics. London: Equinox.
Allott, N. 2010. Key terms in pragmatics. London, New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Attardo, S. 1994. Linguistic theories of humor. New York: Mouton.
Ayigun, K. M. 2018. A pragmatic analysis of selected Yoruba euphemisms. Unpublished MA Thesis. Zaria: Ahmadu Bello University.
Bamgbose, G.A. 2016. “Implicitness in language use: The Yoruba example”. International Journal of Humanities and Cultural Studies 2(4). 12-21.
Bolaji, E.T. & T.A. Kehinde. 2017. An analysis of the proverbs the Yorubans live by. Online: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED571521 [1.10.2019].
Capone, A. 2005. “Pragmemes: A study with reference to English and Italian”. Journal of Pragmatics 37. 1355-1371.
Charteris-Black, J. 2004. Corpus approaches to critical metaphor analysis. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dozie, P.C. & I.L. Madu. 2012. “Language of communication among university students in Nigeria: A study on slangy expressions in Federal University of Technology Owerri, Nigeria”. Journal of Communication 3(2). 99-103.
Dunbar, R.I.M. 1996. Grooming, gossip and the evolution of language. London: Faber & Faber.
Eble, C.C. 1996. Slang and sociability. In-group language among college students. Chapel Hill/London: University of North Carolina Press.
Ehineni, T.O. 2016. “A discourse-structural analysis of Yorùbá proverbs in interaction”. Colombian Applied Linguistics Journal 18(1). 71-83.
Ehineni, T.O. 2019. “The pragmatics of Yorùbá proverbs in Ahmed Yerima’s Igatibi, Ajagunmale and Mojagbe”. Issues in Intercultural Communication 4(1). 61-71.
Ellis, Y. 2002. “What is slang?”. Contemporary France Online. Online: www.well.ac.uk/cfol/slang.asp [11.09.2018].
Fairclough, N. 1989. Language and power. London: Longman.
Fasiku, G. 2006. “Yoruba proverbs, names and national consciousness”. The Journal of Pan African Studies 1(4). 50-63.
Filani, I. 2015. “Discourse types in stand-up performances: An example of Nigerian stand-up comedy”. European Journal of Humour Research 3(1). 41-60.
Gbogi, M.T. 2016. “Language, identity, and urban youth subculture: Nigerian hip hop music as an exemplar”. Pragmatics 26(2). 171-195.
Goffman, E. 1981. Forms of talk. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
González, F.R. 1994. “Youth and student slang in British and American English: An annotated bibliography”. Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses 7. 201-212.
Hymes, D. 1974. Foundations in sociolinguistics: An ethnographic approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Idiagbon-Abdullahi, M.S. 2010. “The sociolinguistics of Nigerian Pidgin English in selected university campuses in Nigeria”. Ife Studies in English Language 8(1). 50-60.
Lorimer, L.T. (ed.) 1994. The new Webster’s dictionary of the English language. New York: Lexicon International Publishers Guild Group.
Mey, J. 2001. Pragmatics: An introduction. Oxford. Blackwell.
Odebunmi, A. 2006a. “A pragmatic reading of Yerima’s proverbs in Yemoja Attahiru and Dry Leaves on Ukan Trees”. Intercultural Pragmatics 3(2). 153-170.
Odebunmi, A. 2006b. Meaning in English: An introduction. Ogbomosho: Critical Sphere.
Odebunmi, A. 2015. Oׅ moׅ lúàbí. Handbook of pragmatics. Germany: Benjamins Publishing Company.
Odebunmi, A. 2008. “Pragmatic functions of crisis-motivated proverbs in Ola Rotimi’s The gods are not to blame”. Linguistik Online 33(1). 73-84.
Odogwu, C.N. 2018. “Sociolinguistic analysis of slangy expressions in Nigerian Pidgin”. Journal of Language and Linguistic Studies 14(3). 32-43.
Osisanwo, A. 2009. “Slangy expressions as communicative tool among university undergraduates”. Sociolinguistics in the Nigerian Context, ed. by D. Adeyanju. Munich: Lincom Europa. 206-222.
Oyetade, S.O. 2000. “Verbal indirection in Yoruba informal conversation”. ISESE: Ibadan Journal of Folklore 2(1). 16-25.
Ugot, M. 2014. “From slang to acceptability: Style-shifting variation in English language usage by students of CRUTECH, Calabar, Nigeria”. International Journal of Applied Linguistics & English Literature 3(1). 231-239.
Ugot, M. 2009. “Lexical pidgin innovations in contemporary Nigerian popular music”. Oniong: A Contemporary Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 1(1). 225-238.
Unuabonah, F.O. 2016. “Contextual beliefs in a Nigerian quasi-judicial public hearing”. Journal of Asian and African Studies 51(5). 619-633.
Yahaya, A. 2010. Hausa slang used on campus: A case study of University of Maiduguri. Unpublished BA Thesis. University of Maiduguri, Nigeria.
Zhou, Y. & Y. Fan. 2013. “A sociolinguistic study of American slangs”. Theory and Practice in Language Studies 3(13). 2209-2213.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Studies in African Languages and Cultures
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
The SALC is a BOAI-compliant open access journal. The journal content is freely available on the journal website. All journal content appears on the licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of the first publication, the work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
Authors are required to sign and send copies of Article Publishing Agreement and Fields of Exploitation statement prior to article's publication.
