The Use of Language in Criminal Procedures Code (CPC) and the Nigeria Police Act and Regulations: A Critical Perspective

This paper examines issues that pertain to the use of language in law, with particular reference to the wordings of the Criminal Procedures Code (CPC) and the Police Act and Regulations. The major thrust of the study is that since law directly affects the lives of all the citizens of a particular country, the interpretations of statutes, bills and acts should not generate uncertainties in scope, meaning and effects.  The paper concludes that certain mechanisms should be put in place to minimize incidents of vagueness and indeterminacy of reference in the interpretations of such statutes and acts

A Linguistic (Critical Discourse) Analysis of Consumer Products’ Advertising in Nigeria

Language is the chief means by which humans communicate among themselves; it is also a veritable means of socialisation. In essence, language is an important arsenal used to influence others around us. Clive Johnson and Jackie Keddie (2011) assert that “the impact of what and how we communicate can be very profound for others”. This paper examines the use of language in the advertising industry and posits that in advertising, not only is language used to inform or sensitize, but it is also used to deceive. Language has immense power, and its impact depends entirely on how we wield it. Advertising has a great influence on our purchasing decisions. Consumers are exposed to countless commercial messages everyday “persuading them to buy brand name products”. This is achieved through certain contrivances, which the paper fully discusses. The searchlight of this paper beams on such questions as: does advertising tempt us into buying things we don’t need; does it affect us subliminally in ways we can’t control; how much latitude should marketers have in the kind of products they promote and how they advertise them; do consumers have some responsibilities in the process; what is the proper role of government, especially in protecting the consumers? In sum, the paper sets for itself the task of determining the “border line” between persuasion and deception, in the language of advertisement. It finds that through the subtle means of “appealing” and “persuading, certain deceptive contrivances and even outright falsehood are sued to hoodwink the consumer. The implications are that consumers are “tricked” to buy what they don’t really need; advertisers “overstretch” claim on their products and services; and, finally the advertising, not the product itself, becomes the selling point. It also recommends among others that the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Advertisement Practitioners’ Council of Nigeria and such other regulatory agencies should be empowered to verify all claims in advertisements before such claims are published

A Linguistic (Stylistic) Reading of Ideological Discourse in Festus Iyayi’s Violence, The Contract and Heroes

This paper undertakes, through the prism of linguistic (stylistic) analysis, a reading of the ideological discourse in Festus Iyayi’s novels- Violence, The Contract, and Heroes, with the broad aim of establishing the nexus between literature and ideology, through the instrumentation of language, for societal transformation. The paper explores the symbiotic relationship between language and literature and how the former is used in the study and understanding of the latter. Attempt is made to identify the patterns of use of language with reference to the purpose of commenting on quality, the exegesis and interpretative meanings of the text. The scaffold upon which our analysis is anchored is the Marxist literary criticism based on socialist and dialectical theories. It is the contention of the Marxist theorists that literary works are a reflection of the social institutions from which they originate. Terry Eagleton has affirmed that Marxist criticism “is not merely sociology of literature” but paying attention to its forms, style and meaning with a view to grasping those forms, style and meaning “as the products of a particular history. In all, four major literary tools-narrative technique, lexical choice, dialogue and authorial comments are deployed as indices for our analytical framework, using the Critical Discourse Analysis. What is apparent is that no success can be achieved in the reading and understanding of a literacy text without a manifest use of language

A Linguistic (Discourse) Analysis of AROKO as Mon-verbal Communication among the Yoruba

Using the linguistic (discourse) analysis, this study finds that aroko- an aspect of nonverbal communication that “speaks the loudest”- is fast losing its steam among the new generation of the Yoruba of South West Nigeria. Culture bestrides every facet of a people’s life, their social, religious, intellectual, artistic, linguistic and philosophical manifestations. Cultural determinists have argued that culture is the basic determinant of a man’s social behavior. This paper examines the use of aroko (non-verbal communication) among the Yoruba. The inference from the study is that aroko forms a veritable part of the linguistic behavior amongst the Yoruba, especially when compared with other nationalities across the globe. It finds that aroko is widely used in all nooks and crannies of Yoruba land. However, it is discovered that the use of aroko is fast losing its steam among the new generation of the people in focus. A case is therefore made for the rejuvenation of such cultural traits for the advancement of Yoruba cultural values

A pragmalinguistic analysis of selected suicide notes in Nigeria

There are a plethora of research works on suicide, following Durkheim’s (1897) book, Suicide: A Study in Sociology. It was the wish of Durkheim to use the study to show that there was a sociological level of analysis which was distinct from other disciplines and which made an important contribution to explanation of social phenomena. Whatever terminological profusion and attendant criticisms ascribed to the study of suicide, a clinical and linguistic analysis of suicide notes is germane to a deeper and fuller understanding of the phenomenon. This paper is a pragmalinguistic analysis of selected suicide notes in Nigeria. The preeminence of pragmatics to the study is hinged on Bubhtz and Norick’s (1994) proposition that to be pragmatically competent requires one to (i) associate specific linguistic resources with particular meaning and functions, and (ii) be able to appropriately select from these resources according to an assessment of the socio-contextual factors involved. Apart from the theoretical insights gleaned from scholars of suicidology, the study presents an analysis of selected five suicide notes in Nigeria and these (notes) were carried out using these linguistic tools: (i) affective words, (ii) emotive words, and, (iii) references

Interpreting and Markers in Nigerian Courtroom Discourse

It has already been affirmed that power and control embedded in questions varies according to question type (Luchjenbroers 1999, Rigney 1999 etc). The paper ranges question types according to their degree of control and observes that those with high degree of control lost their power and control through the process of interpreting. It is further observed that since lawyers always maintain power and control through the type of questions they ask (such as declarative, yes/no, alternative questions) they are at the losing end whenever there is the need for court interpreter. Similarly, the use of discourse markers in the court (such as now, so, and, ok), also signifies lawyer’s power and control over the witnesses and defendants and these are always used to further enhance the power, coercion and challenging nature of the lawyers (see Hale 1999). The study further notes that the power and control of questions coating discourse markers are always reducing through the process of interpreting. The paper opines that the presence of courtroom interpreters in court reduces the power and control of lawyers in court