Mgbakoigba: Journal of African Studies

A pragmatic study of the Nigeria centre for disease control COVID-19 twitter text messages

Chioma N. Ibe, Ngozi C. Anigbogu, Ijeoma S. Ochiagha — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The emergence of the Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has opened up new horizons of research in different disciplines. Scholars in linguistics have made valuable and tremendous impacts on the language employed for disseminating facts on covid-19. Language came to play a very important role at the peak of the outbreak of the disease by helping the media, particularly on social media (microblogging) platforms (such as Twitter handle, Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, Instagram), to disseminate relevant information to the public. In this case, language is specifically designed by writers to ensure professionalism, choice of linguistic and textual styles that must conform to acceptable linguistic principles as well as capture the attention of the target readers. This research studied how language was utilized to create salient awareness in the Twitter messages of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The main focus was to study the speech acts of the pieces of information given on this platform from February to April 2021, which constituted the second phase of the outbreak. One hundred (100) Twitter texts were randomly selected from the Twitter handle of NCDC. The researchers studied and analyzed the messages based on Searle’s speech act theory. The data were analyzed using both the descriptive qualitative method and the quantitative method. It was discovered that NCDC employed the five illocutionary acts specified by Searle. The researchers concluded that the acts were critical for successful communication.

Posture across cultures

Adaobi Ngozi Okoye — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Posture verbs describe the position of objects thus revealing the varied conceptualization of entities in space among languages. Despite these diverse conceptualizations, the verbs sit; stand and lie have been identified as key members of the posture verb class. The assumption of posture is not restricted to only humans but extends to non-human entities. Posture verbs can also be extended to conceptualize the existence and location of inanimate objects. In this study, verbs that indicate the positions of entities in space are compared in German and Igbo languages. The study specifically explores the verbs sit; stand and lie in German and Igbo along the line of the domains set forth by Newman 2002 as properties that make up the semantic frames of the basic posture verbs. Data for the study is derived from the Max Plancks questionnaire on positional verbs. The findings of the study demonstrate that basic posture verbs in German and Igbo converge on Newman's characterizations concerning the spatio-temporal domain, force dynamic domain, and active zone. In addition, the study observes that in the expression of the position of inanimate entities, German deploys relevant posture verbs whereas Igbo expresses the same with an auxiliary verb. The study is relevant to cross-linguistic research on the conceptualization of entities in space.

Rhetorical strategies in computer-mediated hoax text messages in Nigeria

Paulinus Ndumeihochere Nnorom, Olugbenga Akinwumi Akinwole — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study focuses on language use in computer-mediated hoax text messages in Nigeria and aims to analyze their nuanced rhetorical strategies. Hoax messages are perceived as communicative acts with meaning substructure and discursive constituents which emanate from purposive language use, created, and negotiated to swindle unsuspecting victims out of their money. Such textualized transactions are conduits for fraudulent engagements and have continued to spread unchecked despite their financial implications. This phenomenon raises a question about the proactive measures taken in the fight against cybercrimes in the country. The position of this paper is that writers of hoax messages exploit the affordances of technology and language in their fraudulent engagements. Hence, the effectiveness of such messages is actualized through contrived strategies which often rely on politeness (pathos), claims of institutional authority (logos), and even suspicion-neutralizing gambits (ethos). Seventeen hoax text messages received via mobile telephony constitute the data for this study. These hoax text messages are subjected to qualitative construal following Aristotle's Classical Rhetorical Theory. The findings of the paper reveal that hoax text messages contain linguistic trails which reveal their duplicity and that the pervasive nature of technology and ineffective cyberspace regulations have encouraged the cheerless spread of computermediated frauds within and outside Nigeria.

Socio-stylistic analysis of Nigerian gospel music

Eunice C. Osuagwu — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the socio-stylistic analysis of Nigerian gospel music. The qualitative research design was adopted in analyzing the data collected using descriptive content analysis. The source of data for this paper is primarily two lyrics of selected Nigerian gospel musiciansMercy Chinwo and Amaka Okwuoha. The findings of this paper reveal that the Nigerian gospel musicians' code-switch and that the codes in most cases are English, Indigenous languages, and Nigerian Pidgin. This paper further establishes that Nigerian gospel musicians code-switch to show solidarity, express their happiness, surprise, and excitement and share their identity with their audience. Finally, the paper establishes that Nigerian gospel musicians use some other stylistic features such as simile, hyperbole, rhetorical questions, metaphor symbolism, apostrophe, onomatopoeia, slang, and repetition to draw the attention of their audience and communicate their feelings and emotion more effectively.

The challenges in developing techno-scientific terminology using the current shona orthography in Zimbabwe

Tendai Chirimaunga — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 00:00:00 +0000

This study discusses the compatibility of the Shona writing system in handling the terminology of the techno-scientific field in Zimbabwe. The argument avowed in this article is that globalization has led to techno-scientific advancement in African countries like Zimbabwe as Information Communication Technology (ICT) is being incorporated into every facet of human life. As such, most communities have been flooded by foreign concepts and terms in English which they need to also name or translate into their indigenous languages. This has exposed the inadequacies of certain writing systems, such as the current Shona orthography due to its shortcomings in handling certain technical and scientific terms. This study further argues that borrowing is the commonly used term creation technique in Shona, under which rephonologization of terms is done conforming to the target language’s writing system. The Shona orthography is failing to recognize these borrowed sounds correctly owing to its liabilities in representing phonological sounds as they are spoken. This creates gross ambiguity as users end up writing differently from their everyday speaking. This study is influenced by Skinner’s (1957) habit- related Behaviourist Theory and by Aitchison (1991) who suggests that the two basic causes of language change are socio-linguistic and psycholinguistic factors. In-depth interviews and document analysis of specialized dictionaries are used to collect research data. Furthermore, the Shona Language Database is used to find language usage in the everyday context. Findings are analyzed qualitatively. The study recommends revision of the current Shona orthography to render it usable in the field of techno-science.