A Pragmatic Analysis and Interpretation of Verbal Offers by Vendors of Consumer Products in Jos Metropolis

Abstract

Language as a communication system is concerned with meaning as a function of the interaction of code and context of situation so that the significance of what people say transcends the significance of the words they use to say it to include its meaning in a context of situation. This paper investigates the verbal expressions used by vendors of consumer products in Jos metropolis. The purpose of the study is to identify pragmatic meanings associated with verbal expressions used by these vendors. The study aims at demonstrating the fact that the interpretation of vendors’ utterances go beyond their linguistic choices to include the context of situation. The data used is elicited with the aid of recording and direct observations. The findings provide empirical evidence to the view adopted by Levinson (1983) with regard to the Cooperative Principle and its four maxims of Quantity, Quality, Relation and Manner. It is justified that the maxims are not absolute rules that has to be strictly obeyed in order to make a verbal interaction go smoothly. Rather, they should be deemed as common assumptions shared by both the speakers and the hearers when they are engaged in verbal interaction. The Politeness Principle and the Textual Rhetoric of Processibility, Clarity, Economy and Expressivity principles are correlated in the study.

LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research, 9(2), 105-112, 2012