A Speech Act Analysis of Abiku Names among the Yoruba Nigerians
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Date
2012-05
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Publisher
Language in India www.languageinindia.com
Abstract
This paper attempts a speech act analysis of Abiku names from the socio-pragmatic perspective
of the Yoruba, one of the three principal ethnic groups in Nigeria. The basis of the study is to
prove that names, particularly the Abiku names, serve as means of communication rather than the
common function of identification which they are believed to be performing. The Abiku names
elicit certain illocutionary acts which are unique and far-fetched in other naming contexts. The
paper submits that unlike other names, Abiku names are therapeutic, magical and ‘semogenic’
i.e. they are rich in meaning and have socio-pragmatic significance.
Description
Keywords
Abiku, Semogenic, Yoruba, Soyinka, Still-birth