A Religious Language Discourse: An Analysis of the Graphological Features and Cohesive Devices of Proverbs Chapter 9

Abstract

Aim: This paper discusses the language of religion as a discourse with the application of proverbs chapter. The paper examines the graphological features, the semantic features and the discourse cohesive devices in the text, proverbs chapter nine. Methods: The graphological features analyzed are the punctuation marks, indentation and capitalization. The cohesive relations examined are the lexical devices and the grammatical devices: the lexical devices include synonym; collocational converse; antonym and repetition. The grammatical devices are anaphora, cataphora, substitutions and conjunctions. The analysis is in this paper is done using the systemic grammar approach. Results: The semantic interpretation in the text is achieved through the use of proverbs and figures of speech. Conclusion: The analysis portrays and demonstrates language use in religion in general and proverbs chapter nine in particular. Recommendation: The authors recommend that researchers in linguistics and discourse analysis should conduct further researches in other areas of the language of religion to create awareness in religious language discourse.