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A Pragmatic Analysis Of Nigerian Proverbs In Wole Soyinka’s “the Lion And The Jewelâ€
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Achebe, quoted by Kachru (1981:25) says …
I feel that English language will be able to carry the
weight of African experience. But it will have to be a
new English, still in full communion with its ancestral
but uttered to suit its new African surroundings.
Adedimeji
(2007:166) submits that, as language reflects the totality of culture,
mores, philosophy and customs of its speakers, Nigerian English
showcases the traditional experiences of Nigerians.
The above
utterance by Achebe is manifested in what is called pragmatic variation
which will includes: euphemisms, kinship terms, greetings, idiomaticity,
discourse/conversational implicature, politeness, transfer features and
proverbs (Adedimeji 2007: 166-169) making the pragmatic features of
Nigeria English. These are briefly discussed as follows:
EUPHEMISMS:
These are expressions that are used to lessen the bad effect of
something or situation; present unpleasant or unsuitable situation in a
pleasant and elevated manner.
KINSHIP TERMS: These are words that reflect deep family and social relationship.
GREETINGS:
Nigerian cultures place much emphasis on greetings. This is manifested
in the following examples “Well doneâ€, “Welcomeâ€, “Sorryâ€, (even when
one has not caused the inconvenience).
IDIOMATICITY: This has to do with the use of idioms. They are expressions which meaning cannot be known literarily.
DISCOURSE/CONVERSATIONAL
IMPLICATURE: This happens when one or all of the Gricean maxims, i.e.
Quality (be informative as required), Quality (be truthful), Manner (be
clear), Relation (be relevant) are flouted and not adhered to.
POLITENESS:
Expressions showing respect are created by the Nigerian speaker of
English to exhibit all the titles of the addressee so as not to rob the
person of being addressed of his/her supposed dignity and respect.
TRANSFER FEATURES: These are patterns that reflect the influence of Nigerian languages on English.
PROVERBS:
These are ancient sayings of wisdom handed down from generation to
generation. The Nigerian uses of proverbial expressions have led to the
formation of English that is out of tone with the standard British
English because some proverbs in Nigeria are directly translated from
mother tongue e.g. ‘there is no smoke without fire’, ‘A man running
during the day time, if he is not after something, then something must
be after him’, etc. These proverbs among several thousands of Nigerian
proverbs enrich the pragmatic variation of Nigerian English.
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