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Title: | Proverbs as iconic and indexical markers of culture: exploration of proverbs of four Nigerian cultures |
Authors: | Esimaje, Alexandra llzoaku Mosagbor, Richard Abekhe Ezirim, Chukwuma Daniel |
Year: | 2014 |
Periodical: | Okike: an African Journal of New Writing (ISSN 0331-0566) |
Issue: | 51 |
Pages: | 255-271 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Nigeria |
Subjects: | proverbs Hausa Yoruba Igbo Ivbie North-Okpela-Arhe language |
Abstract: | Language is not only a vehicle of individual thought but of also collective thought. One of the ways it performs the latter function is by the use of proverbs, which carry the burden of a peoples' beliefs, customs and traditions. As communicative medium, proverbs seem to be iconic and indexical of the cultures that produce them. ln this paper, this assertion was investigated through the exploration of the proverbs of four Nigerian cultures to see to what extent proverbs serve to identify and define their users. To do this, a total of forty (40) proverbs were selected from four cultures: Hausa, lgbo, Yoruba and lvie; ten (10) proverbs from each culture were analysed using the frameworks of Habermas' (1998) validity claims and Peirce's (1958) sign triad of symbol, icon and index. The authors discuss proverbs from a linguistic perspective as bearers of definite semiotic/cultural meaning by identifying and discussing motifs and patterns of modality in the proverbs across the four cultures. Bibliogr, sum [Journal abstract] |