Marang: Journal of Language and Literature

Editorial Board

Naledi N. Kgolo-Lotshwao — 2023-12-11

Editorial

Naledi N. Kgolo-Lotshwao — 2023-12-11

INTERTEXTUALITY AS A PRAGMATIC FRAME OF REFERENCE IN JESUS’S PARABLES IN SELECTED BIBLICAL VERSES

Joel Iyiola Olaleye — 2023-12-11

The theoretical foundation of lexical pragmatics posits that each word in an utterance embodies a range of meanings from which the interpreter is tasked to select the relevant sense which the word conveys in the context of use. However, extracting meaning from Biblical texts may pose a serious challenge to readers because some Biblical discourses, especially parables, are often fortified with metaphorical qualities and cryptic expressions which may be obscure to readers. This paper employs elements of pragmatic intertextuality to explicate Jesus’s parable contained in Matthew 13:33. To achieve this, the study explored the meanings of key expressions in the parables through the application of some macro elements of pragmatic intertexts such as presupposition, speech act, intertextual echo, exegetical intertextuality, and dialogical intertextuality and mapped the meanings through the inferential process of intertext to arrive at the central message of the parable. The data consists of keywords contained in the parables. The study revealed that meanings of expressions in the parables transcend the overt senses conveyed by the lexical items in the immediate semantic net of the utterances but are appended on other Biblical texts. Also, inference processes demonstrated that Jesus utilized the parables to forewarn the Church against infiltration of doctrinal errors through some agencies. Based on these findings, it is concluded that familiarisation with different but related texts in the Bible is crucial to unravelling the full meanings of words in their immediate contexts of use. Otherwise, the correct meaning and interpretation of Biblical parables may be elusive, with the implication that misinterpreted Biblical messages may lead to misleading and unbiblical applications.

LANGUAGE ECOLOGICAL REVIVALISM IN ZIMBABWE: THE INCLUSION OF INDIGENOUS LANGUAGES IN ACADEMIA

Beatrice Lantern — 2023-12-11

The article discusses the linguistic ecological revivalism of previously marginalised languages in Zimbabwe through their inclusion in the academe. Prior to the adoption of the 2013 Constitution of Zimbabwe which promoted most languages spoken in Zimbabwe to an official status, indigenous languages were relegated to lower echelons of power. Ndebele and Shona languages were regarded as national languages while the rest were relegated to marginal statuses. The current inclusion of the once marginalised languages in the curriculum is a topical issue in Zimbabwe. The article examines how these once marginalised languages managed to find their way back in the academia where English, Ndebele, and Shona are already in use. Therefore, this study is primarily concerned with mapping and discussing the inclusion of selected indigenous languages: Sotho, Nambya, Kalanga, Tonga, Xhosa, Venda, and Shangani/Tsonga at primary, secondary, college, and university levels. The article also examines the growth and development of these languages because of their inclusion in the academe and suggests avenues for further development. This research uses the Catherine Wheel Model elements to map and critique the success of that inclusion. The data gathering tool that was used for this research was interview approach. Teachers, lecturers, and research assistants were interviewed. The findings of the study show that even though these languages are empowered through their inclusion in the Zimbabwean curriculum, the achievements made so far are insignificant to warrant their growth and development.

A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF STRESS ASSIGNMENT IN NIGERIAN NEWSCASTS AND NEWS REPORTS

Foluso Mary Okebiorun — 2023-12-11

Existing studies have observed that stress as one of the English suprasegmentals constitutes a major challenge to Nigerian users of English and that there is a marked difference in the use of stress in Nigerian English and Standard British English (hence SBE). Newscasters and news reporters however are assumed to be models for good pronunciation in the second language context. This research sets out to examine, through a comparative approach, whether Nigerian newscasters or news reporters approximate closely to the SBE in the appropriate use of stress. It also aims to find out whether news reporters and newscasters of private TV stations (hence TVS) do better than public TV stations newscasters and news reporters in the appropriate assignment of stress. Metrical theory guides the analysis in showing how stress is assigned by the newscasters and news reporters. Data was collected through the extraction of news from a recording of newscasts and news reports of six different television stations, that is, three public and three private TV stations. Data was derived from the counting of occurring instances of appropriate stress assignment of words and deviations from SBE pronunciation. This was subjected to perceptual, statistical, and metrical analysis. The results show that newscasters from both private and public TV Stations approximate closer to the SBE in stress assignment than news reporters. The results also show that private TV station newscasters and news reporters generally performed better in the appropriate assignment of stress than Public TV Stations newscasters and news reporters. Thus, this study concludes that Nigerian newscasters from private TV stations (though non-native speakers of English) are models for Standard Nigerian English pronunciation because they all performed better in their level of compliance with the SBE pronunciation.

A PREFERENCE OPERATIONAL GRAMMAR APPROACH TO STANDARDIZING KONGLISH PHONOLOGICAL CORPORA FOR PEDAGOGICAL PURPOSES

Jacinta Benjamin-Ohwodede — 2023-12-11

This study is an investigation into the phonology of Korean-accented English, Konglish. The objective is to propose a means to extracting preferred phonological features, which would constitute a two-way standard: inner and outer standards or formal and informal standards. This research is grounded on the workings of the Preference Operational Grammar approach to the standardization of the phonological corpora of New Englishes. It is a framework that adopts ranked but violable parameters that are parallel to ‘constraints’ in the Optimality Theory mechanism to categorize variations in spoken forms into members of a bi-normative inventory. This schema is paramount in studies relating to New Englishes regarding the formalization of phonological norms. Methodological considerations involve a descriptive and non-numerical analysis of phonological choices, and cross-linguistic evidence. Konglish lexical items are gleaned from the discourse contexts of selected K-dramas on Netflix, using an Infinix Smart 5 mobile device. Several vocabularies and sound sequences are selected, isolated, and presented for illustrative purposes in tables. Results establish a prototypical phonological inventory of Korean-style English as a non-native variety of English. These findings confirm the preference for certain phonological elements or outputs which would constitute the inner standard norms or formal standard while the next in rank, the non-preferred elements would form part of the atypical category which may be considered as allophones of the accepted components and described as the outer standard norm, informal standard. The non-standard patterns are categorized under the developmental circle, reflecting the regional and sociolinguistic aspects of Konglish.

A LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION OF FISHING TERMS IN ǸKÒ̩RÓ̩Ò̩

Ebitare F. Obikudo — 2023-12-11

Nko̩ro̩o̩ is an Eastern I̩jo̩ language spoken in Rivers state, Nigeria, where fishing forms part of the traditional ecological knowledge. However, there is a decline in fishing activities due to factors such as migration, education, and urbanisation which has translated into a loss of the associated vocabulary. This paper aims to identify the language used within the domain of the fishing culture and to describe the linguistic processes employed in deriving the vocabulary. The data was collected via participant observation and oral interviews with competent native speakers of Nko̩ro̩o̩ who are also engaged in fishing. The study utilises the Righthand Head Rule within the framework of generative morphology to analyse the internal structures of the fishing terms. The findings reveal that the derived vocabulary employs three-word formation processes, namely clipping, compounding, and reduplication. Both apheresis or fore-clipping and apocope or final clipping are employed to derive disyllabic clipped words. The compounds are right headed and exhibit both simple (binary) and complex structures. The study addresses the need to preserve the vocabulary associated with the fishing culture of the Nko̩ro̩o̩ people and contributes to the literature in Ijoid linguistics.