Language on the Road

Abstract

This paper examines (mis)interpretations of the semiotic components of road signs by road users within the Nigerian sociocultural environment using global standards as an evaluative framework. The selected roads were two Trunk A highways: Calabar-Uyo and Calabar-Ogoja in Cross River State, Nigeria. The study adopts insights from Geosemiotics theory to account for drivers' (mis)interpretation of road signs as influenced by their shared cognitive sociocultural knowledge. The data was generated using participant observation, semi-structured interviews with digital photographs, and field notes in a two-year fieldwork involving 32 drivers who plied the roads regularly. Findings indicate that motorists along the selected roads maintain a consistent road signs culture that contains mixed global and indigenous semiotic components. While certain road signs align with global standards and meanings, others represent index local comprehension derived from Nigerian ethnocultural backgrounds. The localised standards are prominent in warning and informative signs that are characteristically symbolic, iconic, and indexical, and are combined for the dissemination of messages. These mixed practices call for a blended road signs system that attends to the information needs for the safety of both Nigerian indigenous and foreign road users.