Transliteration in Selected Nigerian Novels and The Discourse in Traditional Ceremonies in Urhobo And Ukwani
Abstract
The study investigates the use and importance of transliteration in selected Nigerian novels as well as the discourse in traditional ceremonies such as marriage and funeral in Urhobo and Ukwuani in Delta State. Unlike in literary works where some works have been done in transliteration, none has been carried out on the English used in traditional ceremonies. Even in literary works, studies on transliteration are mostly aimed at how English is "domesticated" to reflect African culture. None of the studies has actually specified what aspects of African culture each transliterated expression reflects. Owing to this gap in literature, this work aims at providing a socio-linguistic explanations for the special linguistic choices made in Achebe's Arrow of God, Anthills of the Savannah, Chimamanda Ngozi, Adichie's Purple Hibiscus and in traditional ceremonies. The theoritical framework adopted for the study is the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis of communication accomodation, which attempts to explain the relationship between language and the interpretation of social reality. Data were sourced from the novels and the speeches of spokesmen in marriage and funeral ceremonies of heterogeneous nature and were analysed through descriptive method. The following research questions guided the analysis:
i. Are there defining characteristics that determine the English used in the novels and the traditional ceremonies?
ii. Are there similarities between the language used in the novels and the ones used in the traditional ceremonies?
iii. Is the variety of English used relevant to African culture?
iv. What specific aspects of African culture do the linguistic choices made reflect?
The findings from the study show that the expressions identified reflect and promote African culture. The findings also show that there are similarities between the language of the novels and that of traditional ceremonies.
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