A SOCIOLINGUISTICS STUDY OF QUEENSHIP AND POWER IN ANCIENT BENIN

This study investigates the sociolinguistic construction of power and gendered authority in the context of queenship in ancient Benin, with particular focus on the Iyoba (Queen Mother). The research explores how language, as a system of symbolic communication, encodes and legitimizes political and spiritual authority within the Benin monarchical tradition. Anchored in Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) as proposed by Fairclough (1989, 1992) and van Dijk (1993), the study examines the ways linguistic forms and discursive practices reflect the ideological structures of power, hierarchy, and gender in precolonial Benin society. The study adopts a qualitative descriptive methodology, relying on both primary and secondary data sources such as historical texts, oral traditions, court poetry, and ethnographic accounts. These data were critically analyzed through the CDA lens to uncover the relationship between discourse, ideology, and social structure. The analysis revealed that the titles and honorific expressions associated with the Iyoba, such as Oba N’erie (Mother of the King) and Eson n’Oba (the King’s Eye), are not merely linguistic adornments but powerful semiotic instruments through which authority, motherhood, and divine legitimacy are discursively constructed. Findings further indicate that the linguistic representation of the Iyoba differs significantly from that of the Oba, emphasizing intercession, wisdom, and maternal guardianship rather than absolute sovereignty. These distinctions reflect the gender complementarity inherent in Benin’s conception of rulership. The study also identifies strategies of persuasion and ritualized deference in palace women’s speech, revealing language as a tool for negotiating influence within a patriarchal order. Comparative insights show parallels between the Benin Iyoba, the Oyo Iyálóde, and the Dahomean Kpojito, highlighting shared West African patterns of female authority constructed through discourse. Based on these findings, the study recommends amongst other that (1) further ethnographic documentation of contemporary palace discourse in Benin to preserve linguistic heritage, (2) comparative discourse studies across African monarchies to expand theoretical understanding of gendered power, and (3) interdisciplinary research combining linguistics, anthropology, and art history to explore how verbal and visual semiotics jointly construct royal ideology.