A Pragmemic Analysis of Igbo Postproverbials

Abstract

Igbo proverbs (Ilu Igbo) are linguistic expressions which projects principles with the intent to address diverse social, political, economic and culturally contextual issues that bother on values, morals and the identity of the Igbo people of Eastern Nigeria. Proverbs are handed down to different generations by speech acts of storytelling, conversing, rebuking or admonishing. The researchers carried out a pragmatic analysis of Igbo proverbs as a social practice, to establish their meaning and how its social significance are internalized and continually recreated. Language is central to the process of producing meaning. Using the Theory of Pragmeme by Jacob Mey (2001), the paper evaluates the pragmatic acts, the extent to which some of these proverbs are reformed and doctored, yet, maintain qualities of the Igbo culture while accommodating the identity of the 21st century ideology of the Igbo people. Primary and secondary methods of data collection are adopted. Being a qualitative study, the research randomly selected 12 Igbo proverbs that cut across the five Igbo speaking states of eastern Nigeria. The findings are that Igbo proverbs are essentially custodians of the Igbo cultural identity and orientalism, most proverbs have been moderated to fit the emerging trends in the identity of the Igbo ancestry.