ABSTRACT

Every language often reveals what the people who use it see, feel and think; what they can talk about, and how they organize the world around them. Idioms and Proverbs are linguistic elements that address the heart of a discourse in any given context-truthfully and objectively. In Africa, and especially in Nigerian cultures, Idioms and Proverbs are considered as the reliable horses, which convey meanings to their destinations or the hearts of listeners/readers. As such, their interpretation requires more than linguistic processing; it also demands the interplay of contexts from where they usually derive their meanings. This work, A Linguistic Study of the Idioms and Proverbs in Selected Literary Works of Aliyu Kamal, therefore, contends that the meanings of Idioms and Proverbs, especially of Hausa origin, translated into English and used in texts could be worked out within the contextual theory of Firth (1957), which is both semantic and pragmatic in nature. Some characteristic features of Hausa Idioms, found to be common to that of the English Language, such as those of being collocational, non-compositional, elaborate in meaning and unchanging feature, etc. are highlighted in this study. Similarly, types of Proverbs which are analytical/philosophical, rhetorical as well as didactic in nature have been explored. From the point of view of the grammatical analysis carried out in this study, Idioms and Proverbs have varied syntactic structures ranging from phrases to simple sentences, complex sentences and compound forms. This study demonstrates that Idioms and Proverbs play significant roles in clarifying, exemplifying, underscoring and influencing human communication. With the broad analysis of the sixty Idioms and Proverbs at lexical, grammatical as well as the immediate and wider contexts, this work attempts to further illustrate the vitality of semantics in negotiating meaning especially in a second language context. The findings from the study reveal that Idioms and Proverbs serve as linguistic elements which would allow for the enhancement of Linguistic Universals. This is because the study has established that both the English and Hausa Idioms and Proverbs characteristically share certain common features. The study concludes also that interpreting Idioms and Proverbs demands background knowledge of the language from which they have been drawn.

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Linguistic creativity is an innate tendency that manifests at various degrees in human beings. According to Leech cited by Okpe (2011), the poet, (by inference, the literary artist) is nothing if not creative, and since language is his medium, one might as well imagine how he could be creative without using language in some sense creatively. From the above, it is discernable that the literary artist lives up to his professionalism only by being creative, but creativity cannot take place without the instrumentality of language. Similarly, it is pertinent to stress that the function of any linguistic expression is determined not only by its literal meaning in a speech event but also by its contextual meaning which contains hidden intention of the speaker as seen in the case of idioms and proverbs.

It is expedient to state that, meaning can be studied as part of Linguistics since meaning is a part of Language and not independent of Language. There is no escape from Language and it is a fundamental tool for expression of meaning. Also every language builds up a system of meaning based on concepts and relations between concepts (sense relations and references). This becomes a level of organization or system within the language itself, in the same way as phonology and syntax. Therefore, semanticists and pragmatists are concerned with the description of meaning of words, sentences etc., and the manner in which words and sentences are meaningful. The native speaker of a language has a “semantic” and “pragmatic competence” which helps in recognizing and analyzing meanings, including those of idioms and proverbs which are studied under semantics and pragmatics.

Idioms and Proverbs, which are aspects of culture cherished the world over, are preserved in language which is the medium of expressing them. In Africa and all over the world, Idioms and Proverbs are of fundamental significance in day to day discourse. They have psychological, cosmological and sociocultural roots and make special demands on the listener or reader, as their interpretations usually demand more than sheer linguistic processing. Every discourse (oral or written) among or between adults in Africa is expected to be spiced with Idioms and Proverbs for impact. Therefore, the use of Idioms and Proverbs and other linguistic elements that abound in the written or oral discourse stands as a clear testimony of such great creative ability in language use Idioms and Proverbs cannot be separated from language, where they are best accommodated. It is possibly because of this accommodation, coupled with other things that Okon (2008) claims that language provides a vehicle for the transmission of technical inventions and social conventions within the framework of culturally and linguistically circumscribed possibilities.

There are so many definitions of ‘Idiom’ and ‘Proverb’ as there are many scholars and paremiologists, even though many of them contend that the concepts are difficult to define. This is because of their variability from culture to culture and understanding as well. The sheer diversity of academic interest of scholars has enriched the literature of these linguistic elements (Idioms and Proverbs) with several definitions.

According to Murthy (2006), Idioms are expressions whose meaning connot be arrived at by summing up the meaning of the individual words that make up the expressions. By implication this means that Idioms have meanings outside their structure which have to be specially learnt. Another important definition which the present study adopts is by Omorodion (2006) in which he sees an Idiom as: a group of words whose meaning cannot be explained in terms of the habitual meanings of the words that make up its parts-a group of words that is different from the meanings of each separate word put together. From the two definitions above it can be understood that the meanings yielded by Idioms are non-compositional, that is, Idioms have meanings outside their structures.

While, a Proverb, according to Dongall (1991), cited in Ogwuche (2007:1), is a saying popularly known and repeated, usually expressing simple and concretely, though often metaphorical, a truth based on common sense or practical human experience. In line with the above, Meider (1985) sees a Proverb as

… a short, generally known sentence or expression of the folk which contains wisdom, truth, morals, experience, lessons and advice concerning life and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed and memorable form and which is handled down from generation to generation (1985: 5).

Another important definition, which the present study finds useful is the one offered by Onyemelukwe, (2004: 26). According to her Proverb is “a popular expression which succinctly conveys truth and wisdom with the aim to teach, praise, commend, advise, correct, indict, warn, rebuke, or castigate, denounce, reprimand or condemn an undesirable act or behavior or a vice”. However, majority of the Proverbs in the two texts under study are examined/analyzed along the critical insight given by Meider above. The basic concern of the present work is a linguistic study of the meaning of an idiom or a proverb in the two texts under study Hausa Girl and Life Afresh by Kamal. It is imperative to stress that grammar cannot be separated from meaning, as grammar describes a language. Part of it (grammar) in this case must describe meaning also. Thus grammar must contain semantics. Taking these two considerations together, it seems reasonable that semantic information is an integral part of grammar. Therefore, the analysis of the idioms and proverbs in the two texts under study will effectively be carried out when their structural patterning is given due consideration.

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

Idioms and Proverbs are linguistic items with a special kind of meaning. Their meanings, as argued by scholars such as Murthy (1991), Ogwuche (2007), depend on psychological, cosmological and structural roots hence their interpretation by language users requires some amount of congnitive intervention for interlocutors to arrive at their meanings. The act of interpreting Idioms and Proverbs becomes increasingly difficult when they are borrowed from one language and translated into another language – as in Hausa Idioms and Proverbs translated into English and used in written text. This is as a result of the variations in the linguistic and ethnic backgrounds of the users.

Thus, when Idioms and Proverbs, like other linguistic elements, are translated from one language to another and used in a written texts, the reader must rely on the context which they appear in order to decipher their meaning, hence Idioms and Proverbs may have different interpretation based on the context they appear or the linguistic background of the reader. For example, the idiom “You have taken a firm grip of the ground” (LA: p. 75) may have more than one interpretation based on the context and understanding of the interpreter: (i) It may be used to refer to a person that is living a comfortable life, (ii) it could be used ironically to tease someone that is poor and living in abject poverty.

It has been claimed that Idioms and Proverbs are used and interpreted uniquely from one context to the other. Sometimes the use of such by older or young people could add meaning to the Idioms and Proverbs depending also on how and where such are used. This is also one of the problems that the study investigates using the literary works of Aliyu Kamal. In addition, Idioms and Proverbs are conceived in many quarters as items used only by older people within the framework of folklore and when engaged in conversations to teach morals to the younger ones, and to warn or advise them. However, the analyses done in this study by focusing on the characters of the studied texts, some of which are young, dismisses the said claim.

Furthermore, it is important to add that, although Idioms and Proverbs have been collected, researched and studied by foreign and native African scholars, yet it is very unfortunate that the value of most of these collections has severely suffered from poor understanding or interpretation, especially by foreign scholars. Closely related to the reason above is the fact that, the writer has authored eleven novels in which Idioms and Proverbs are significantly used, but unfortunately, not much study has been done to analyze his use of such linguistic features. The focus, therefore, of this research work is an examination of the different contextual meanings of Idioms and Proverbs as used by Aliyu Kamal in his selected novels.

1.3 Research Questions

The present study is, therefore, expected to provide answers to the following questions:

1. How are Idioms and Proverbs used in the selected works to assume new shades of meaning beyond their semantic meaning?
2. What thought patterns do the characters in the two texts under study depict as a result of the use of Idioms and Proverbs in the selected novels of Aliyu Kamal?

• How does context determine the use and meaning of an Idiom and a Proverb in the selected novels? iv.In what way(s) does an Idiom or a Proverb contain multiple level meanings in the selected texts?

1. What structural patterns do the idioms and proverbs have in the chosen texts?

1.4 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The central aim of this study is a linguistic analysis of the Idioms and Proverbs as used in the selected literary texts of Aliyu Kamal. The specific objectives of the study are to

1. examine how the used Idioms and Proverbs assume some new shades of semantic extension in Kamal’s Hausa Girl and Life Afresh.
2. highlight how Kamal embedded the Hausa thought pattern in the selected novels.

• analyse how that the use of Idioms and Proverbs in the texts under study are best illuminated through contextual semantic determinism.

1. examine the possible multiple-level of semantic implication of the use of Idiomatic or Proverbial expressions in the selected texts.
2. to examine the structural patterns of the idioms and proverbs in the chosen texts.

1.5 Significance of the Study

The study and learning of Idiom and Proverbs as linguistic elements is pertinent considering the fact that they can be key elements in language acquisition process, since learning Idioms and Proverbs makes one a good speaker or user of a particular language. Fundamentally, the study is relevant in the following significant ways. This study is propelled by the proposition that Linguistic analysis of Idioms and Proverbs in English as used by Nigerian writers and especially Aliyu Kamal is pertinent as it will help in extending the frontier of the semantic implicature of the two novels under study.

Finally, the study is also relevant in that it would help translators, interpreters and linguists to update their understanding of Idioms and Proverbs, knowing that they occur in all occasions when language is used for communication in its many guises.

1.6 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

This work is not an exhaustive description of all the linguistic elements that abound in Kamal’s two novels, namely Hausa Girl and Life Afresh. Rather, the study focuses specifically on the Linguistic analysis of Idioms and Proverbs in the texts. Also, it covers written Idioms and Proverbs in English as used in the Nigerian context and by a particular Nigerian literary writer, Kamal. To study the said features in all the texts authored by Aliyu Kamal would be too cumbersome. Therefore, the present study is limited to two selected novels – Hausa Girl and Life Afresh. This is to allow for an indepth analysis of the Idioms and Proverbs employed by the author in them. The selection is informed by the recent nature of the texts, absolute depiction of Hausa culture as well as the special interest the researcher has on the novels. Another issue that makes the choice of the novels necessary is the various use of the Proverbial and Idiomatic expressions that run across the texts. Closely related to the fact above is the researcher’s accessibility to the author from whom firsthand information regarding the texts and the used linguistic elements could be sourced. The study is restricted