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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Indexicality of 'wón': Yoruba language and culture
Author:Agwuele, AugustineISNI
Year:2012
Periodical:Journal of African Cultural Studies (ISSN 1369-6815)
Volume:24
Issue:2
Pages:195-207
Language:English
Geographic term:Nigeria
Subjects:Yoruba language
Yoruba
world view
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13696815.2012.697310
Abstract:The Yoruba pronoun 'wón' is equivalent to the English pronoun they, and can occur in various syntactical constructions including passives. Indefinite pronouns of passive constructions by definition are silent about the identity of their subject. However, Yoruba peoples' cultural interpretation attributes definiteness, concreteness, and agency to the indefinite pronoun 'wón' in specific usages. Based on the study of utterances obtained from popular, contemporary usages, and individual narratives all featuring the passivized pronoun 'wón', this article examines Yoruba habitual practices. It argues that understanding the cultural meaning of 'wón' is invaluable for understanding the Yoruba peoples' habitual view of causality in addition to the way it guides their interpersonal interactions. Further, 'wón' is shown to index a certain Yoruba worldview and to guide their efforts to achieve their presumed goals of earthly existence. The article does four things: (1) it explicates the content of the pronoun 'wón', exemplifying its various manifestations in contemporary popular Yoruba usages; (2) it shows the spiritual foundation of 'wón'; (3) it provides evidence to argue for its cultural continuity in spite of modernity and western/eastern religious traditions; and (4) it discusses its place in the sociopolitical continuity and identity formation of Nigeria's Yoruba peoples. Bibliogr., note, sum. [Journal abstract]
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