DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS STUDIES

This study conducted a lexicostatistical comparison of the Ngwa dialect of Igbo and Standard Igbo to determine how related they are and their level of mutual intelligibility. Using the Ibadan 400-word list and further applying the language assessment criterion of 1990, this criterion which places the level of mutual intelligibility at 70%, the analysis in this project work showed that 57.5% of the basic vocabulary items are cognates shared between the two languages This shows that while Ngwa and Standard Igbo share a considerable number of common words, their level of mutual intelligibility falls below the 70%, this suggest that speakers of one variety may experience some difficulty fully understanding the other without prior exposure. Also,the study found that 42.5% of the compared lexical items show clear differences in form or meaning, reflecting areas of lexical differences that contribute to the reduced intelligibility between the two varieties. In all, the 57.5% similarity shows moderate linguistic relationship, while the 42.5% difference show distinctive lexical developments in the Ngwa dialect compared to Standard Igbo. Therefore, although both belong to the same linguistic group, the findings suggest that Ngwa is a different dialect rather than fully intelligible with Standard Igbo

The study aimed to examine honorific system of the Yoruba people by analyzing the use of honorifics in conveying respect and social hierarchy, investigating the maintenance or alteration of honorific practices in urban and rural settings, and lastly, by examining the challenges faced by the honorific system in the context of modernization. Primary and secondary methods of data
collection was employed for this study. primary include participant observation while secondary include books, online materials and journals . The theoretical framework used for the analysis was the "Politeness Theory" by Brown and Levinson (1978). Findings are: Maintaining social relationship through respect and deferences. It also highlight the importance of gender specific
honorifics, ensuring that both men and women in position of authority receive proper recognition. Furthermore, it shows deference and acknowledge social hierarchy, aligning with the positive politeness strategy, where respect to show through inclusion and acknowledgement of higher status. It emphasize hierarchical structures speakers within themselves with the social norms and
values of the community, showing their understanding the need to respect positions of power. The study concluded that the Yoruba honorific system remains a crucial aspect of social interaction, promoting respect and maintaining social order. However, its use is adapting in response to modernization, particularly in urban settings, presenting both opportunities and challenges for the future preservation of these cultural practices. The researcher recommends further studies in this particular area and any aspect not touched in this study should be treated by linguist, scholars or any other researchers who have interest in honorific system of the Yoruba people or any dialect of the language.

This research titled "Semiotic analysis of names associated with God in Igbo language" studied how Igbo God- names are more than just labels for the divine. These names also have deep cultural, religious, and social meanings. The goal was to learn what they mean, what forms they take, their purpose in Igbo culture, and how they have changed. The work looked at names that tell about God’s character, what God does, and God's relationship with people. It shows how they link old Traditional customs with today’s Christian ways. Exactly 120 names were gathered from talks with people, church records, naming events, social media, songs, journals, everyday talk and stories passed down using one on one interviews and voice recordings. These names were studied using ideas about signs from Saussure, Peirce, Barthes, and Eco. The study found that Igbo God- names act as signs of belief, records of what happened to people and the community, and ways to pass values down. For instance, Chukwuemeka (God has done great deeds) shows thankfulness and Chidinma (God is good) shows faith in God's character. They also show how old Igbo beliefs still exist in today’s Christianity. The work suggested that more of these names should be written down and kept safe because they matter to the Igbo language, culture, and spirit. The research recommended that more of these names should be documented and preserved because they are an important part of the Igbo language, culture, and spirituality. In summary, the study showed that Igbo names for God are living signs that join together language, faith, and identity in a powerful way.

This study presents a semantic analysis of Forex terminologies used by online traders in Nigeria, employing J. R. Firth’s Contextual Theory of Meaning to explore how meaning is shaped by use within specific communicative contexts. The research investigates how Nigerian Forex traders interpret, adapt, and apply trading terms across digital platforms such as social media, online forums, and trading communities. By moving beyond static dictionary definitions, the study focuses on the contextual, cultural, and interactive processes through which meaning is created, modified, and understood in local usage. Data were drawn from various online trading discussions involving Nigerian traders, and key terminologies were analyzed according to their literal meaning, contextual meaning, and usage within discourse. The findings reveal that the meaning of Forex terms is not fixed or universally inherited from global standards, but rather constructed dynamically within the Nigerian trading community. Nigerian traders frequently localize and shorten international terms, often blending English, Nigerian Pidgin, and indigenous expressions to create a unique, functional dialect of Forex communication. The study concludes that this specialized vocabulary serves as a community-validated linguistic system, enabling clear and effective communication within Nigeria’s trading environment while reflecting broader cultural and social influences. It is recommended that financial institutions, educators, and linguists further study and document the evolving Forex lexicon and integrate localized terms into training programs and financial literacy materials to improve understanding, inclusion, and communication among Nigerian traders.

This study examines the pragmatic aspects of Yoruba taboo folktales, with special focus on selected tales from Ogbomoso. While Yoruba folktales have often been explored for their literary and artistic merits, their pragmatic roles, particularly as acts of communication, have received less attention. The aim of this research is to investigate how taboo folktales function as speech acts and employ politeness strategies that uphold social, moral, and spiritual order in Yoruba society. The study relied on eight taboo folktales, which were collected through oral interviews with competent Yoruba speakers and later translated into English. The data were analyzed using Speech Act Theory (Austin, 1962; Searle, 1969) and Leech’s Politeness Principle (1983). Direct and reported utterances from the folktales were examined at the locutionary, illocutionary, and perlocutionary levels, and further classified according to Austin’s and Searle’s categories of speech acts. The politeness analysis assessed the cultural purposes of the utterances, as well as the ways in which they conformed to or violated conversational maxims. Findings reveal that Yoruba taboo folktales are not merely entertaining stories, but performative acts that sustain cultural values. They preserve spiritual balance, instill discipline, and transmit ancestral wisdom across generations. Further research can focus on the linguistic philosophy underlying Yoruba taboo folktales, with attention to the deeper cultural beliefs and worldviews they embody

This study specifically seeks to identify the major morphological processes in the language, analyze how they operate using examples from native speakers, identify their semantic functions, and describe the structural patterns and rules governing their use. The study is anchored on the Item- and-Arrangement theoretical framework, which explains how morphemes combine systematically to form complex words. Data for the study were collected through oral interviews with native Edo speakers and from written Edo texts. The sample population comprised adult native speakers of Edo language drawn from Benin City and its environs. The findings reveal that Edo employs several productive morphological processes such as affixation (prefixation, suffixation, circumfixation, and suprafixation), reduplication, compounding, and infixation. These processes play significant roles in deriving new words, marking grammatical categories, and extending meaning. The study further shows that tonal variation functions as a suprafix, affecting word meaning and grammatical distinctions. The need for this study arises from the relative lack of detailed morphological description of Edo despite its linguistic richness. The hypothesis that Edo morphological processes are rule-governed and structurally patterned was confirmed. In conclusion, the study contributes to the understanding of Edo morphology and provides a basis for further linguistic research on Niger-Congo language.

This study investigates the sociolinguistic patterns of greetings in the Ngwà dialect of the Igbo language, with the aim of identifying, documenting, and analysing the various forms, functions, and social variables influencing their use. The motivation for this research stems from the growing concern over the gradual erosion of indigenous communicative practices in Ngwà society due to modernization, language contact, and urbanization. The study adopts a qualitative ethnographic approach, involving participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and natural speech recordings from native speakers across different age, gender, and occupational groups. The analysis is grounded in Hymes’ (1972) Ethnography of Communication theory, which provided the framework for understanding the cultural, pragmatic, and interpersonal dynamics of greeting exchanges. Findings reveal that greetings in Ngwà dialect serve vital functions beyond mere phatic communion; they reinforce social hierarchy, express respect, and sustain kinship solidarity. Moreover, factors such as age, gender, and situational context significantly determine greeting choices and strategies. The study concludes that preserving Ngwà greeting traditions is crucial for maintaining both linguistic and cultural identity within the broader Igbo community.

This study investigates the phenomenon of generational language change and variation in the Edo language, focusing on the differences between urban elders (60+ years) and youths (15-25 years) in Benin City, Nigeria. Framed within the sociolinguistic theories of Language Change and Social Networks, the research employs a mixed-methods approach to analyze linguistic data across lexicon, phonology, and grammar. Findings reveal a significant linguistic divergence: the youth variety is a systematic hybrid, characterized by high rates of intra-sentential code-mixing and the integration of exclusive English loanwords and slang (e.g., Mád, Crúz). Conversely, elders preserve the traditional Edo lexicon and grammar. This innovation is strongly correlated with exposure to formal education, mass media, and peer-group dynamics, which serve as "loose" social networks accelerating change. Elders view the change with anxiety, perceiving it as degradation, while youths view it as pragmatic evolution necessary for urban identity and modernity. The study concludes that age is the primary vector for language change in the urban Edo community, leading to the formation of two distinct generational speech varieties..

The study examined code-switching and code-mixing as a sociolinguistic medium in Nigeria music industry, with a specific focus on Davido and Zinoleesky. The method used for this study is the secondary method of data collection. The main sources of data were selected songs by Davido and Zinoleesky, which were chosen based on their popularity and rich use of mixed languages. The lyrics of these songs were collected from a trusted online platform; Spotify and popular lyrics websites. The Markedness Model Theory framework by Myers-Scotton (1993) was used for the analysis of the study. The findings revealed that code-mixing is a major part of Davido and Zinoleesky’s music, helping them connect with different kinds of listeners across Nigeria. They often switch between English, Pidgin, Yoruba, and sometimes Igbo to express emotions, share cultural ideas, and reflect real life in a way that feels natural and relatable. English and Pidgin help them reach a wide audience, while Yoruba and Igbo add local flavor, deep meaning, and emotional power. Their use of slang, street language, and everyday expressions shows that they are part of the youth culture and understand what their fans go through. 12 This switching and mixing of languages also reflects the multilingual and urban lifestyle of many Nigerians, especially in cities like Lagos. Through code-switching and code- mixing, the artists show pride in their roots, relate to the struggles of ordinary people, and keep their music fun, catchy, and meaningful.The study examined code-switching and code-mixing as a sociolinguistic medium in Nigeria music industry, with a specific focus on Davido and Zinoleesky. The method used for this study is the secondary method of data collection. The main sources of data were selected songs by Davido and Zinoleesky, which were chosen based on their popularity and rich use of mixed languages. The lyrics of these songs were collected from a trusted online platform; Spotify and popular lyrics websites. The Markedness Model Theory framework by Myers-Scotton (1993) was used for the analysis of the study. The findings revealed that code-mixing is a major part of Davido and Zinoleesky’s music, helping them connect with different kinds of listeners across Nigeria. They often switch between English, Pidgin, Yoruba, and sometimes Igbo to express emotions, share cultural ideas, and reflect real life in a way that feels natural and relatable. English and Pidgin help them reach a wide audience, while Yoruba and Igbo add local flavor, deep meaning, and emotional power. Their use of slang, street language, and everyday expressions shows that they are part of the youth culture and understand what their fans go through. 12 This switching and mixing of languages also reflects the multilingual and urban lifestyle of many Nigerians, especially in cities like Lagos. Through code-switching and code- mixing, the artists show pride in their roots, relate to the struggles of ordinary people, and keep their music fun, catchy, and meaningful.

This work is centered on showing the morphosemantic relationship that exists in agentive nominalizations. It shows the interplay between semantics and morphology with the use of the Lexeme-Based Morphology framework in which the smallest unit of a word is a lexeme. This framework examines how base lexemes which can be nouns or verbs are transformed into agentive nominals which depicits an individual being the doer of an action. The data used for this research work were secondary sources which are from past works of this topic. The findings of this work indicated that most Yoruba agentive nominalizations are usuallyformed through prefixation and a few are formed through reduplication. The prefix “oni-” was used in the derivation of agentive nominals. The semantic interpretation of agentive nominals showed that these derived nouns are divided into occupational, status, habitual and legal roles as a semantic field. It was also noted that the thematic role for these derived forms are Agents which means that each of them are the ones who performs an action. The findings of this research work bring to limelight the morphosemantic relationship that exists in the derivation of agentive nominals