THE STYLISTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF FOCUS
CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE OFO CORPUS.
BADE AJAYI
1.0
ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses focus constructions in Yoruba ofo
incantations. ' Across ten categories of ofo, the frequency of these
constructions is very high, and it can be argued that they are structurally
important to each text. We suggest that this pattern helps to reduce
ambiguity arid also to create parallelism between verse lines, thereby
enhancing the understanding and perceived effectiveness of this genre of
magical speech..
2.0
INTRODUCTION
The term FOCUS has been linked by different scholars with functions such as
prominence, emphasis and foregrounding. Rooth (1996) compares focus to a spotlight
playing on thematic material to bring some of it to the hearer's attention (of Also Halliday
1973 p. 113). Yoruba has a variety of stylistic devices for signaling focus. Including
repetition as well as special word orders and tone patterns, and the use of relative clauses.
In addition there are the ni~ and kif- constructions, respectively marking affirmative
focus and the generic negative.1
Ofo, for its part, is an. oral aspect of African magic, It requires uttering words in a
set pattern; a minor fault in rendition may render an ofo ineffective. Ofo are used in
almost-every sphere of bum an activity, for protection against evil forces or in order to
achieve success. Based on functional criteria, Ajayi (1997) lists ten sub-types:
ofo iba
ofo afose
ofo aforan
ofo afero
ofo aparo
ofo arobi
ofo awure
ofo isoye
ofo maadarikan
ogede/aasan
for paying homage
for making what is said happen
for escaping misfortunes
for attracting clients
for counteracting poison
to ward of calamities
for good luck
to activate memory
for self defence
the destructive incantations
The generic of ofo as a whole shares a set of formal linguistic traits. The aim of
this chapter is to document and explain the significance of focus construction in the
semantics pragmatics of this type of poetry.
184
3.0
TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Ofo is loaded with focus construction. The bulk of these are declarative sentences
in the imperative mood which expresses the speech of act of the text as a whole. Overall,
less than 20% of the sentences in the corpus are compound or complex, and the majority
of the simple sentence are focus construction. Looking at a single text in each text types,
the frequency of ni constructions as a proportion of total sentences ranges from one-sixth
to two-third. A detailed breakdown is given in (II):
II
Type
ofo iba
ofo afose
ofo aforan
ofo afero
ofo aparo
ofo arobi
ofo awure
ofo isoye
ofo maadarikan
ogede/aasan
III
An example
total sentences
18
43
20
13
8
31
21
43
12
31
ni- construction
6(33%)
27(63%)
4(20%)
8(62%)
3(38%)
12(39%)
14(67%)
7(16%)
7(58%)
9(29%)
The following text belongs to the ofo afose subtype, which speaks in die voice of
authority whose word must instantly come to pass. This kind of poem can be used in
sociopolitical affairs, and b economic and medical contexts to disarm dupe or revive
someone.
A-a-se, ko ni saise
Nitori awise ni ti ifa
Afose ni ti Orunmila
Ase ogunmo nii se I awujo efo
Ase Ijimere nii se I awujo eranko
Terekese nii se I' awujo Owu
Gbogbo igi [ti’ legbede ba fwo ba] nii dun
Ki o se, ki o se ni ti iilakose
Yee [a ba wi han ogbo]ni igba I igba
Yee [a ba wi han igba] ni igba'i gba
Oro [okete ba le so] ni ile i gba
Aba [alagemo ba da] ni orisa I gba
Aro oun abuke kii p'ohiin Orisa da
Sango kii ko ohun orogbo;
Orisa kii ko ohun obi
Obatala kii ko ohun sese-efun
Kokoro [keekeekee kii ko ohun ayatale
N
N
N
N line 5
N
N (R)
N
N (R)
N (R) line 10
N (R)
N
K
K
K line 15
K
K
185
Oba llu kii ko oro iyo
Oju oro kii ko ohun omi
Osibata kii ko ohun odo
Koriko [ti a ba ja fun eerun] naaa ni eerun i gbaa'mu;
Abede ni ti okira; okira kii be tiree ti
Ito kii pada senu
Omi kii san poju wehin;
Kankan ni ewe ina i jo'ni;
Irawo kii dajo ile ko sun'ke;
Adigbonnaku kii fojo iku ree do'la;
Dandan ni ti aidan
Ojo [omode ba. wa oyin] nii royin;
Ojo [a.ba muti] ni i pa'ni;
Ojo [a ba gbele eebu] ni a a bo o;
Ojo [ a ba ribi ni bi wole
Ojo [ akukodie kan ba] ni le aye
Naa niyoku re I gbeeran
Ojo [ a ba peegun] ni eegun I je
Ojo [ a ba poro] ni oro I igbona
Ojo [ oluwongaga ba waye] naa ni I orun
Oojo no oro ina mu igi
Oojo ni oro ejo I mu niyan
Oojo naa ni oro ito maa mu le
Warawara ni jimere I so l’ori igi aladi;
Warawara ni aa ri ku idin, warawara;
Warawara naa ni ki ohun yi se o, warawara
lt will happen, it won't fail to happen
because ifa's (speech) is oracular;
Orunmila's (speech) is divinatory;
ogunmo 's command always prevails
in the assembly of leaves;
ijimeres3 command always prevails
in the assembly of animals
terekese4 always prevails in the assembly of cotton;
lt is every true a baboon touches that reverberates;
"Let it come to pass. let it come to pass"
is the (command; of ilakose ,
Whatever we shout to flax 6 it hears;
whatever we shout at the igba7, it agrees to;
what a giant rat tells me earth, the earth agrees to;
suggestions made by a chameleon, the divinities accept;
cripples and hunchbacks do not defy [Obatala]8
Sango does not ignore orogbo9
divinities do not ignore obi10;
186
K
K
K line 20
N (R)
N; K '
K
K
N line 25
K
K
N
N (R)
N(R) line 30
N(R)
N(R)
N(R)
N(R)
N(R) line 30
N(R)
N
N
N line 40
N
N
N
line 5
line 5
line 15
Obatala does not ignore sese-efun11
Small insects do not ignore grubs;
even the king does not ignore salt;
water lettuce12does not ignore water;
water lilies 13do not ignore the liver;
the grass we pick for soldier ants is what they grab on to
a sharpened, prepared cutlass cuts right through,
it doesn't fall to cut;
sputum never returns to the mouth;
water never flows back where it come from;
the stinging-leaf14 imparts an-instant jolt;
dead leaves do not inspect the ground, and
then rush back to their branch;
(adigbonnaku15 never postpones its day of fainting;
compulsion is the mark of aidun
The day a child looks for oyin17it finds it;
the day we drink alcohol, it intoxicates us;
the day we dig holes to plant seed yams, we cover them up;
the day the placenta comes to light, it is buried;
the day a rooster crows on the earth,
its fellow roosters take up the call;
the day we perform egun18, the ancestor acknowledges us;
the day we perform an Oro19 ritual,
the fact becomes known;
the day oluwagaga30 appears, it dies off
On the same day, fire's force grabs a tree;
.
on the same day, snake's poison grabs its victim;
on the same day, the stench of urine permeates the soil,
It is instantly that ljimere abandons his seat on
an ant-infested tree;
it is instantly, too, that a child abandons his seat
on the werepe21 tree
it is instantly that we observe a maggot die, instantly;
it is instantly, too, that this utterance should take effect, instantly!
line 20
line 25
line30
line 35
line 40
3.1
Structure Analysis
In the text , as noted in the right hand margin, we can count 30 ni construction (N)
and 13 kii-constructions (K). the linear distribution of these constructions is charted in
(4).
IV
a.
b.
c.
d.
1 line with neither N or K;
11 lines with N; -----------8 lines with K; -----------2 lines with N; -------------
(line I)
(lines 2-12)
(lines 3-20)
(lines 21-22)
187
e.
f.
g.
h.
3 lines with K; ------------1 lines with N; ------------2 lines with K; ------------16 lines with N; ------------
(lines22-24)
(lines 25)
(lines 26-27)
(lines 28-43)
Setting aside line 1 which is an introductory formula, the overall
pattern of the text is a multiple .sandwich, with ni- construction forming the outer layer,
then kii- construction as the next layer 'further in, then a layer of ni, all surrounding a
section of kii at the middle. .The symmetry is actually reinforced by the two exceptional
lines. Line l has neither ni nor ,kii, while line 22 combines one. sentence of each type.
Line 22 occupies the numerical midpoint of the incarnation's 43 lines- The same two
lines, 1 and 22, are the only cases of a single line comprising two sentences.
This balanced arrangement can be said to serve a mnemonic purpose, since there
is predictable alternation between the two types (ni and kii). ,The alternation of ni and kii
segments also has. an aesthetic function generating variety without randomness. We
furthermore believe that the pattern in (iv) contributes to the texts effectiveness as a per
formative utterance, i.e. a ritual formula intended to produce a practical impact on
the hearer, because it provides scope for structural parallelism, 22
As with structural symmetry, so too can structural parallelism be
regarded as both mnemonic and performative in function. By parallelism
we mean repetition at a certain level of structure. There is syntactic. repetition in each
unit in (iv) by definition, since the repetition of ni and kii constructions is the basis for
dividing the text. This division is reinforced by clusters or relative clauses in the largest
two units. A relative clause is the focus argument of the ni -construction in the last 4
lines o, unit iv(b), and in the first 8 lines of' unit (iv.h).23 There is morpho-lexiail
repetition, and hence parallelism, in lines 2-3 (awise vs afose). There is purly lexical
repetition, and hence parallelism, in the line 19-20 (ko ohun) and again in lines 29-39
(ojo loojo) and 40-43 (warawara). The lexical repetition tends to be at the beginning of
the line/sentence, which is also the favoured position for focus.
3.2.
Stylistic Significance
Like other poetic genres, Ofo allows some constructions that would be
stylistically marked in ordinary spoken Yoruba. In a ni- construction, it is well known
that the item mat occurs to the left of ni is normally either an argument of the main
sentence, or- else a predicate (nominalised necessary). In Line 4, for example, the phrase
ase Ogunmo( Ogunmo’s command') is the subject of the main verb se ('come to pass;.). In
line 9, the phrase yee a ba wi han ogb6 ('whatever we may shout to flax') is the object of
'the main verb gbo (hear) in lines 40-43 the ideophone warawara {'instantly') is
understood as a secondary predicate of the various sentences that it precedes.24
In some examples from the text, a ni- construction is elliptical with respect to
certain lexical items. In line 2, the ni- sentence (v) is most plausibely derived from (vi).
V.
A-Wi-se
ni
AGT-utter-happen FOC of
ti
ifa
188
Its is oracular utterances (utterances that come to pass) that are characteristics of
Ifa
VI.
Ifa
wi
a-wi-se
Utter AGT-utter-happen
‘Ifa fortells correctly’ (i.e makes oracular utterances).
Unit (v) does not contain the lexical verb wi 'utter'; so we cannot say that (v) isderived from (vi) syntactically; the relationship is more indirectly semantic in character.
The recoverability of the main verb m in (v) is certainly made easier by its appearance
inside the focused nominalization a-wi-se. A similar ellipsis occurs in line 3, where the
elided main verb (‘say’) can be recovered through the normalization afose.
Another example of ellipsis in the text concerns the relative marker n. Since is
not a lexical item, merely a grammatical marker, its absence from lines 9-12 and 29-36 is
not very surprising because it is fully recoverable from context. In fact, ti is optional in
ordinary spoken Yoruba, especially in the dialect of lle-lfe; so perhaps one can infer that
the reciter of this text hails form that town.25
For their' message to be compelling, ofo incantations rely upon shared cultural
knowledge. The lines in-the text that show this most clearly are those containing lexical
items whose cultural content is so great that literal translation foils. Such items include
proper names of divinities like Ifa and Orunmila(the divination divinity) in lines 2-3, as
well as the use in line 13 of the noun orisa.Orisa literally means divinity, as in the name
Orisa Oko 'The Divinity of Horticulture (oko),’ but in fixed phrases like eni Orisa
'someone belonging to Orisa (by implication,; a 'physically deformed person), the word is
understood as an abbreviation of .the proper name Orisa-nlda otherwise called Obatala
(Idowu 1962: ,71). Obatala is responsible for shaping the physical body during the
creation of a humans being, including any physical deformities, hence lame and
hunchbacked people and albinos are said to be specially connected to Obatala. Only by
assuming all this background knowledge can we see that the statement in line 13 is
effectively a truism.
In a similar vein, some flora and fauna names require detailed encyclopedic
knowledge in order' for the text to make sense, e.g. the hearer must know that werepe
(line 41) is a tree whose bark irritates the skin. By. contrast, some lexical items areemployed in the text only by virtue of their sound, for die sake of' achieving; puns: Three
successive examples are found in lines 3-10. Puns contribute 'to the aesthetic value of the
text; in the content of a magical utterance' they may also suggest that a name bears a nonaccidental relation-ship to the thing named in defiance of Saussure's view mat the relation
between names and things is arbitrary. By hinting otherwise, the text implicitly claims to
have access to supernatural information. It is a deep Yoruba cultural belief that to know
the name of a thing gives power over that things,' just as one can. influence a person by.
using his or her names.36 Thus, the use of puns in the text may constitute a meta-linguistic
cultural reference to magic.
The alternation of ni and kii constructions, charted in (iv) leads us to ask why
these sentence types alternate so productively in the text. In Structural linguistics, if two
items are in complementary distribution, the standard explanation is that they are tokens
of a more abstract category, or in other words, they both possess some property in
189
common. We are therefore led to ask what is the property that the construction shares
with ni construction?
' Consider lines 23-24, which can be more fully glossed as in (7):
VII
a.
Ito
kii
pada si
enu
Spetum kii return to mouth (where it came from)
b.
Omi kii san pa oju wo ehin
Water kii flow affect eye look back
Water never flows back in the direction it came from
These are both negative generic sentences, describing states of affairs that do not
indeed, cannot happen under normal circumstances. ' Semantically,' they are interpreted
as having no exceptions. With this in mind, consider the negative sentence ((8).
VIII. Gbogbo wa ko lo
all
IP NEG go
(a)
‘None of us went’
(b)
‘Not all of us went )i.e some of us did go)
Adewole (1993) correctly notes that (viii) is liable to two
interpretations. The meaning in (vii a) is exceptionless (no single one of
us went), but that in (viii, b) is not (some of us did go. and some of us did
not). Adewole then goes on to show that the meaning which has exceptions
in (viii. b) is blocked if a ni- construction is used:
IX.
Gbogbo wa ni ko lo
all
IP NEG go
None of us went’
This fact reveals a similarity between ni and kii. They both yield
exceptionless or universal statements. The difference is a matter of
negation is always negative, but ni is negative only if the main clause negator ko is
used,27 This leads us to our concluding question: what is the function of all these
universal statements in ofo.
4.0
CONCLUSION
Mood, in Yoruba has two primary options: -indicative (declarative) and
imperative. An imperative can be direct or indirect. A direct imperative has a second
person subject, as in (X). An indirect imperative (formed with the kii complementizer)
can have a subject of any person, e.g. the f second person subject in (XIa) and the third
person subject in (Xlb).28
190
X.
Lo
go
‘Go! (singular address)’
XI.
a.
Ki
o lo!
COMP 2s go
‘You (s) should go
b.
Ki
o lo
COMP 3s go
‘S/he should go
We have seen that the ofo text is loaded with ni- and kii constructions, .and that
almost all of theseare in the indicative mood. It Is only the last line of the incantation
which is an indirect imperative. We have also seen that the preceding lines provide this
imperative with a build up, so as to make it more effective upon the address. We suggest
that the link has to do with the exceptionless nature of the ni and kii constructions,
discussed in the preceding section. The logic or the text runs as follows: All the
declarative sentences describe necessary states of affairs, either positive or negative.
(This necessity depends on the pragmatic factors of, shared knowledge and commitment
to Yoruba culture 'and cosmology). By analogy, the. final line of the text should also
come true without exception.
If this logic accurately describes the deep structure of thee ofo text, we have gone
some way towards explaining the remarkable prevalence of ni and kii constructions in
Yoruba magical incantations. At the, same time, this textual genre teaches us something
about Yoruba focus constructions, namely their suitability for expressing unambiguous
and exceptionless propositions.
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