A Sociolinguistic Description of Rhetoric in Anaañ and Ọrọ Traditional Settings
Keywords:
rhetoric, interactional sociolinguistics approach, systemic functional linguistics(SFL), Anaañ, ỌrọAbstract
This work centred on Rhetoric as an aspect used for effective communication by the Anaañ and Ọrọ speakers in Akwa Ibom State. Rhetoric is applied to persuade, influence and convince an audience for specific purposes. This paper, therefore, sought to analyse the sociolinguistic devices used in rhetoric in Anaañ and Ọrọ traditional settings, with the aim of showing the effects of these devices in the understanding of the message. Data for this paper was extracted from an ongoing research work on Anaañ and Ọrọ oral literature, using the framework of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Interactional Sociolinguistics theories for analysis. Findings revealed that rhetorical language is commonly coloured with figurative expressions, proverbs, and metaphorical expressions, code mixing, convergence, with some forms of idiomatic expressions. Rhetoric was also used as a tool for inclusion and exclusion in communication in Anaañ and Ọrọ traditional settings. The paper is a contribution to the ongoing research on oral literature in the Lower Cross Languages. It established a basis for the understanding of the various rhetorical devices used in traditional societies in Akwa Ibom as well as Nigeria as a whole.
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