Neological Developments in Nzema Proverbs

Nyame, John; Tomekyin, Cecilia

doi:10.15640/ijll.v6n2a11

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…We also relied on our competence, experience and intuitive knowledge as indigenous Nzema speakers to copy some of the expressions in a data collection note book. Researchers such as Diabah and Amfo (2018) and Nyame and Tomekyin (2018) consider data collection based on native-speaker intuition also reliable and thus used it in their works on Akan and Nzema proverbs respectively. We read two literary texts written in Nzema by Kwesi (1979) and Quarm (1993) and extracted idiomatic utterances to supplement the primary data.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nzema Idiomatic Expressions as Indirection Strategy: A Politeness Theoretical Perspective

Nyame

Adomako²,

Ibrahim³

et al. 2023

j.lang.lit.

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The paper explores Nzema idiomatic expressions used as indirection strategy. Figurative devices such as proverbs and euphemisms have received quite an appreciable amount of study in connection with verbal indirection in Nzema. Little or no attention however has been given to idioms, particularly as indirection devices in the language. This paper therefore focuses on idioms which incorporate body parts such as head/brain, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, hands, legs, heart/chest, stomach and body/skin that are used to avoid any straightforward language that seeks to undermine and threaten the face of an addressee. Data were gathered from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data comprise recordings of traditional ceremonies such as marriage contraction and arbitration, where the use of idioms as indirect expressions was pervasive. Authors’ native speaker intuition was also brought to bear on the analysis of data. Interviews with competent indigenous speakers of Nzema were conducted for useful information and clarification on the data gathered. The secondary data were sourced from two Nzema literary texts. The paper finds that, these culturally constructed body parts related idioms are deliberately employed as both face saving and as politeness devices in the language.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nzema Idiomatic Expressions as Indirection Strategy: A Politeness Theoretical Perspective

Nyame

Adomako²,

Ibrahim³

et al. 2023

j.lang.lit.

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“…As posited by Adesina (2015), "proverbs are so deeply rooted in African culture so much that almost everybody who knows how to speak his/her indigenous language is a living carrier of proverbs". The people of Nzema, as part of their oral tradition, also recognise the proverb genre, and for that matter resort to proverbs in almost every discourse interaction for the purpose of 'beautifying' the speech and for the achievement of effective rhetoric tasks (Nyame & Tomekyin, 2018;Yakub, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Structure and Communicative Import of Selected Proverbs in Nzema Language and Culture

Wiafe-Akenten

2023

JCCT

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Adopting an Ethno-pragmatics framework, the current study aims to describe the sentential structures and communicative imports of selected proverbs in Nzema, a Kwa language of Ghana, West Africa. Using data obtained from primary and secondary sources, this study identifies the structural properties of the proverbs by further highlighting structures which contribute to the pragmatic interpretations of these proverbs. The findings revealed that structural properties such as conditional constructions, causative constructions, focus constructions, and simple, compound, and complex-embedded sentences are prevalent in the syntactic manifestation of Nzema proverbs; which make affirmative and negative propositions. Hence, it was observed that these structural features have a significant contribution to determining the pragmatic import of these proverbs, based on the Nzema social norms, values, beliefs, experiences, and cultural worldview. This research also underscores existing postulations that proverbs are ‘multi-layered’ in terms of their interpretations, and they rely heavily on metaphoric representations and contextual use in any situation. Additionally, it was also noted that the oral construction of proverbs in Nzema is grammatically insightful; and thus, provides a window to the syntactic description of the Nzema language.

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“…Proverbs arise and are created as a result of natural occurrences; learning from the behaviours of animals, plants and other creatures within the ecosystem. Proverbs may also be 'crafted' as a result of human experiences and from the sociocutural activities of a particular group of people (Odebunmi 2006, Nyame & Tomekyin 2018. Perhaps, this accounts for why Jegede & Osoba (2019) inform us that the cultural background of a people can easily be traced through their proverbs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Pragmatic Functions of Some Morphological Structures in Nzema Proverbs

Ollennu¹,

Delalorm²

2021

J. Univers. Lang.

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The paper examines some morphological processes in the syntactic structure of proverbs in Nzema, a Kwa language spoken predominantly in the South-west part of the Western Region of Ghana, West Africa. The paper focuses on the pragmatic imports of such word formation processes in relation to how they contribute significantly to the understanding of the proverbs. The paper shows the prevalence of word formation processes, such as reduplication, inflections, derivations, lexical borrowing, and compounding in the construction of Nzema proverbs, which essentially help to conceptualise and infer the didactic messages that are communicated via the proverbs. Data were primarily gathered through participant and non-participant observations, including discussions and interviews with competent indigenous Nzema speakers. We extracted additional data from published sources, a compilation of Nzema proverbs and from other literary texts. The paper integrates the assumptions of Goddard's Ethnopragmatic Paradigm and Hockett's Item-and-Arrangement and Item-and-Process Models as theoretical underpinning.

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Neological Developments in Nzema Proverbs

Cited by 4 publications

References 3 publications

Nzema Idiomatic Expressions as Indirection Strategy: A Politeness Theoretical Perspective

Nzema Idiomatic Expressions as Indirection Strategy: A Politeness Theoretical Perspective

The Structure and Communicative Import of Selected Proverbs in Nzema Language and Culture

The Pragmatic Functions of Some Morphological Structures in Nzema Proverbs

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