Research in African Languages and Linguistics

RE-SCRIPTING MASCULINITY IN WOLE SOYINKA’S DEATH AND THE KING’S HORSEMAN: TRADITION AS TRAP OR TOOL?

Isaac M. Udoh — 2026-06-29

Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman has often been treated within the prisms of cultural conflict and colonial disruption; both treatments are germane and elucidate essential aspects of the play. This study chooses to adopt a different
trajectory to argue that central to the play’s tragedy is a crisis that wells from deep in the psyche of the community as well as the principal characters: a crisis of masculinity. Using R.W. Connell’s theory of hegemonic masculinity and Todd Reeser’s masculinity as a fluid performance, interspersed with psychoanalytic assessments from Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud, and Esther Harding, and postcolonial interpretation from Frantz Fanon, this study examines the distinction between Elesin and his son, Olunde. Where Elesin evinces a performative, hegemonic masculinity, with all the sensory pleasure and communal validation that comes with it, which becomes a quicksand that emiserates him and his community when he fails, Olunde re-scripts masculinity as a conscious tool that results from a wielding of agency that is devoid of blind devotion, but imbued with intellect, resoluteness, and belief. The study concludes that the play critiques masculinity, both internal and external, and asserts that the value placed on tradition is
eventuated in authentic, liberating and selfless service and honour.

“A MESSAGE OF HOPE”: UNPACKING RHETORICAL STRATEGIES IN PRESIDENT BOLA AHMED TINUBU’S 2025 INDEPENDENCE DAY SPEECH

David Oluwatobi Esuola — 2026-06-29

This study critically examines ideological and rhetorical strategies in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT)’s 2025 Independence Day Speech with a view to demonstrating how the speech subtly but pragmatically functions beyond being a yearly ritualistic practice but significantly projecting the Tinubu-led administration’s commitment to its ‘renewed hope’ agenda. The theoretical anchor for this study is situated within the ambit of Speech Act Theory, Austin (1962) John Searle (1969), and relevant excerpts of the speech were purposively selected for analysis in this study. Findings reveal that speech is characterized by four rhetorical strategies:
assertives, directives, commissives and expressives. Assertives are deployed to state facts and recount the administration’s success, directives are deployed to make pleads for support from the citizens, commissives are deployed to further make promises and to plead that the citizens continually remain hopeful about the administration and expressives were employed to show solidarity and a sense of identification with the plight of the citizens. The study recommends that further studies on relevant political leaders in the country be conducted using speech acts to unravel how the speech of other political leaders can be significant in shaping the nation.

IMPOLITENESS STRATEGIES IN SELECTED POLITICAL FACEBOOK COMMENTS ON NIGERIA’S 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION RESULTS

Esther Ore Olayemi — 2026-06-29

The pervasive and often aggressive nature of online political discourse, particularly in post-election environments, poses a significant challenge to Nigeria’s democratic processes and social cohesion. Various important political events in the country are
usually characterised by escalating tensions and divisive rhetoric, particularly in online interactions. The use of language in this manner to achieve a divisive end prompts an investigation into the processes by which impoliteness is exploited to oppose identities, interpersonal relationships, social normsand ideologies in selected political comments on Facebook following the announcement of the 2023 presidential election results in Nigeria.Through a blend of Brown and Levinson's Face Theory and Culpepper's (2013) Impoliteness Theory, this paper examines the nature of impolite discourse in contentious online interactions. The methodology involves the qualitative analysis of a corpus of Facebook comments, focusing on identifying recurrent patterns of impolite language and their contextual deployment. The findings reveal a significant prevalence of impoliteness, which is characterised by contempt, name-calling, dismissal, cursing, sarcasm and insults. The paper also identifies the perceived anonymity of online platforms, the contentious nature of the election results, pre-existing political polarisation of Nigerian society and widespread anger and frustration among the citizenry as major factors contributing to the strategic deployment of impoliteness, in the form of divisive rhetoric, attack to the face of others, expression of negative emotions and ridiculing of opposing personalities, by commentators on Facebook following the announcement of the 2023 presidential election results in Nigeria. The study concludes that the exploitation of impoliteness by social media users in Nigeria has severe consequences – such as promoting an "us versus them" mentality, creating a hostile online environment and eroding civil discourse – on the unity and peaceful coexistence of Nigerians. The online commentators’ impolite comments hinder meaningful political discussion and pose a threat to democratic processes and social cohesion in Nigeria. The research, therefore, underscores the urgent need for
strategies to promote constructive and respectful online engagement to safeguard democratic ideals among Nigerians.

SUPERSTITION AND CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY: A THEOPHRASTEAN ANALYSIS OF YORÙBÁ TABOOS

Gill Oluwatosin Adekannbi — 2026-06-29

Superstition, a pervasive and abiding cultural phenomenon, has long shaped human history. While previous studies on Yorùbá taboos have emphasised their sociological and religious functions, little attention has been given to their psychological dimensions or cross-cultural parallels. This paper addresses that gap by employing social identity theory and a thematic qualitative analysis of C.O. Thorpe’s Àw?n Èèwò Il?? Yorùbá (The Taboos of the Yorùbáland), situating Yorùbá practices alongside Theophrastus’ Superstitious Man from Characters. Ten taboos are selected to examine how taboos reinforce group identity, regulate behaviours, and serve as coping strategies against fear of misfortune, illness, and death. To illustrate this dynamic, the selection criteria emphasised how taboos (1) indicate clear psychological motivations such as fear, avoidance, or control, (2) establish social regulatory functions, and (3) show connection to superstition. Their background, the ‘reasons’ behind them, and the psychological foundation driving these beliefs are discussed to show how taboos operate beyond mere tradition, influencing behaviours and societal norms. By comparing Yorùbá and Greek traditions, the study extends Yorùbá taboo scholarship beyond ethnography into cultural psychology, revealing universal mechanisms of ritual appeasement and anxiety management. Theophrastus archetype is a timeless framework for interpreting Yorùbá practices, and the mode of analysis underscores superstition’s cross-cultural nature and its enduring psychological power to shape cultural practices. This paper, through a novel psychological analysis of Greek and Yorùbá traditions, demonstrates how superstition and taboos, despite contextual differences, depict the deep-seated patterns of fear management, social regulation, and the quest for control.

BEYOND CULTURAL BOUNDARIES: A FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF SAFIYA ISMAIL YERO’S NAJA

Fatima Umar — 2026-06-29

The growing interest in the ways of sustaining cultural identity has attracted diverse approaches in scholarship. This is not unconnected with the discoveries on the vital roles culture performs in the society. One of these functions is exhibiting some
patterns of behaviours that favours one gender over the other. Most people have become so overwhelmed by these behaviours that they hardly draw a boundary between culturally oriented practices from those of religion. However, at the receiving end of most of these practices are the women. Thus, the need to identify the boundary between the two becomes vital so that the society can redirect its behavioural patterns and thinking towards positive progression. Established women writers from the northern part of Nigeria like Zaynab Alkali, Razinat Mohammed, Balaraba Mohammad and the emerging voices of the likes Aziza Idris, Safiya Ismaila Yero, Aaisha Abdulkareem have tilted their focus on such issues in their works to enlighten the society. This paper focuses on examining how Yero’s Naja explores culture from an Islamic-oriented environment. The study, through African
feminist theory and hermeneutic approach finds that Yero’s Naja richly depicts those traditional practices that have aided or averted the empowerment of (rural) womanb especially due to their strong connection Islamic practices. The study concludes that
the contemporary voices, just like their predecessors, are concerned with unveiling the cultural hurdles that hinder the progress of women and redefining the roles of these women for the betterment of women and the well-being society at large.

A SEMIOTIC READING OF DISCOURSE ISSUES IN TUNDE KELANI’S AGOGO EEWO

Ganiu Bamgbose — 2026-06-29

Studies have investigated Tunde Kelani’s Agogo Eewo from the political, literary and sociolinguistic perspectives, but the exploration of the discourse issues embedded in the movie has not been teased out through the instrumentality of semiotic resources. This paper, therefore, investigates the deployment of semiotic elements in portraying inherent issues in Agogo Eewo. Twelve purposively extracted plates were analysed using Kress and van Leuween’s social semiotic approach to multimodality. The narrative and conceptual representational meanings of visual grammar are used to reveal political decadence, social vices and cultural elucidation in the movie. The political decadence is shown through bribery and extrajudicial killing, and the social vices are revealed by means of immorality through sexual innuendo, deployment of youth for vandalism, and self-aggrandisement. Cultural
elucidation shows how actions and objects project societal beliefs and values in the Yoruba sociocultural milieu. Gaze, gesture, props, demonstration, salience and vector are some of the semiotic resources used in meaning realisation in the movie. The study concludes that there is a synergy in the use of semiotic resources and thematic preoccupations in Tunde Kelani’s Agogo Eewo

THE TONE SYSTEM OF UHAMI

Tolulope Adetoun Adeniyi — 2026-06-29

Uhami is an understudied endangered Edoid language spoken in Ondo State, Nigeria.Although Edoid languages have been typologised as having two-tone systems except with few exceptions, Uhami tone system, in particular has not been systematically typologised. This study therefore presents a description of its tone system. Pitch tracks are extensively presented as empirical evidence of identified patterns. The results show that Uhami has a terraced level tone system with three underlying level tones namely the high (H), mid (M) and low (L) tones. All the three underlying tones were shown to be phonemically contrastive becausethey appear in phonetically unpredictable environments. Uhami also has widespreaddownstepped M while only traces of downstepped H were found. However, there is downdrift H which can occur iteratively, giving the classical terracing effect. It was also found that the high-falling (HF) and mid-falling (MF) contour tones which fall from the level of the preceding H and M respectively, occur in environments that appear to be contrastive but the two contours are restricted to the final position and lack distributional fluidity expected of tonemes. They are posited to be evidence of change in progress that needs to be tracked.

DIGITISATION OF BODIJA MARKET LANGUAGE USE AND CULTURE

Oluwakayode Dare Komolafe — 2026-06-29

This study documents and analyzes the unique linguistic and cultural vocabulary used in Bodija Market, one of the largest food and commodity markets in West Africa, located in Ibadan, Nigeria. Using a qualitative research design, the study employs purposive sampling and face-to-face interviews with traders, buyers, and market leaders to collect lexical data. The research focuses on specialised terms related to commodities, bargaining expressions, measurements, slang, leadership titles, and greetings, reflecting the market's socio-cultural dynamics and economic interactions. The collected data were processed and organised using Field Works Language Explorer (FLEx), a digital lexicography tool, to create a searchable, multimedia Yoruba-English dictionary. The study adopts a tripartite theoretical framework combining Descriptive Linguistics, Specialised Lexicography, and Digital Lexicography to ensure accurate representation, contextual relevance, and accessibility of the documented terms. Findings reveal that Bodija Market’s lexicon is not only functional for trade but also serves as a vehicle for cultural expression, social cohesion, and identity preservation. Terms such as Ìyáló? jà (market woman leader), òsàr?? (rebuke for unserious bargaining), and alábó? (head porter) illustrate the deep interconnection between language, culture, and commerce. The study also highlights the role of digital tools in preserving endangered lexical resources in rapidly urbanising contexts. This research contributes to the fields of lexicography, sociolinguistics, and Yoruba studies by providing a structured, culturally annotated digital lexicon. It recommends further documentation of market vocabularies across Yoruba-speaking regions and advocates for the integration of such resources into educational and cultural preservation initiatives.

MORE TADPOLES, MORE FROGS: DISCOURSE ACQUISITION SURVEY IN CHILDREN AGED TWO AND THREE EXEMPLIFIED

‘Mogbolahan Olalekan Oduola — 2026-06-29

Language acquisition remains a central focus in linguistics and psycholinguistics, offering profound insights into human cognition and socialization. Children acquire language with remarkable speed, yet early research has traditionally privileged syntax and phonology over discourse, treating initial speech as incomplete grammar. This study, therefore, investigated early English language acquisition in two- and three-year-olds through a discourse-functional perspective, conceptualising utterances as communicative acts embedded in social interaction. The analysis drew on functional (Halliday), interactionist (Bruner), and usage-based (Tomasello) frameworks, to demonstrate that even single-word and reduced forms convey varied intentions, regulate interaction, and negotiate meaning within context. Naturalistic observation of two children revealed that repetition, ellipsis, and lexical economy function as adaptive strategies, allowing discourse competence to emerge before fully formed grammar. Early conversational management, turn-taking, and repair sequences illustrate pragmatic sophistication, highlighting that structural
development serves communicative goals rather than preceding them. The “tadpoleto-frog” metaphor captures this developmental trajectory: early language is specialised, coherent, and purposeful, not deficient. These findings advance
theoretical understanding by situating grammar within discourse, and pedagogical practice by emphasising engagement over correction. Children’s early speech is an internally systematic, socially grounded, and functionally motivated stage in linguistic development.Framing child language as a dynamic, internally consistent process, therefore, advances the understanding of early discourse acquisition and its implications for theory and practice.