Journal of Pragmatics 27 (1997) 635-652
A pragmatic study of selected pairs of
Yoruba proverbs
Adebayo Lawala, Bade Ajayib, Wumi Rajic
a
Institute of Education, University of llorin, P.M.B. 1515, llorin,
Nigeria
b
Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of
llorin, llorin, Nigeria. c Department of Modern European Languages,
University ofllorin, llorin, Nigeria
.
Received May 1995; revised version June 1996.
Abstract
Proverbs represent the quintessence of a people's collective
wisdom sustained and transmitted from generation to generation. Due to
the polymorphous nature of the context and competence needed to be
reactivated in interpreting them, they also provide insight into some of
the greatest pragmatic constraints in language use.
The purpose of this study was to identify the illucutionary acts
performed through the use of twelve Yoruba proverbs and then analyse
the types of pragmatic context and competence which listeners have to
invoke and deploy respectively to interpret them appropriately, and to
also resolve the overt contradiction in each of the six selected pairs of
proverbs.
On the basis of the findings, recommendations have been made
towards a more pragmatic teaching and testing of Yoruba proverbs in
particular and of the language as a whole.
1. Introduction
Studies on speech acts have focused on the 'how' and 'why' of verbal
exchanges in the context of natural communication (e.g. Adegbija,
1988a), in literary discourse (e.g. Adegbija, 1988b) and in mass
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communication (e.g. Adegbija, 1982). As far as our knowledge is
concerned, little or nothing has been investigated in the area of the
pragmatics of proverbs with a view to understanding the 'how' and 'why'
of using them, and how insights gained can enrich the theory of
pragmatics in general. This neglect is unfortunate since proverbs, by
their polymorphous nature, can shed more light on linguistic
performance and thus extend the current frontiers of pragmatic theory.
In the words of Lawal (1992b), proverbs seem to contain the richest
pool of pragmatic factors since a proverb, properly contextualized,
provides data that are at once
linguistic, philosophical, psychological and cosmological. Proverbs thus
exeit some of the greatest pragmatic constraints on language users. This
is particularly true of Yoruha language in which the proverbs are not
only legion and multifarious, each with its own distinctive pragmatics of
usage, but where also the presence of overtly contradictory pairs of
proverbs accentuates the problem.
The appropriate use and interpretation of proverbs, therefore,
represent some of the greatest difficulties experienced by most learners
of Yoruba as a first language (LI) at all levels of the Nigerian school
system, and particularly as a second Nigerian Language (NL2) at the
Junior Secondary school level. The puipose of this study was to analyse
the pragmatic factors underlying this problem using six overtly contradictory pairs of Yoruba proverbs with a view to suggesting useful
pedagogical directions. The study was therefore a descriptive one,
employing a qualitative analysis of the pragmatic mappings which
competent users deploy to unravel the hidden meaning of each proverb,
and to resolve the superficial contradiction that subsists between the
pairs of proverbs. In addressing this research problem, the investigators
sought answers to the following questions:
1. What kinds of performatives are the selected proverbs?
2. What types of context and corresponding competencies are invoked
to resolve
overt contradictions in the selected pairs of proverbs?
As a corollary, we note the implications of answers to these questions
for the teaching and learning of Yoruba proverbs in both the LI and NL2
situations.1
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2. Theoretical background
The background of the literature on pragmatics, especially on speech
act theory, and on the functions and sources of Yoruba proverbs has
provided useful insights for formulating a conceptual framework and the
methodology for this study.
2.1. Functions and sources of Yoruba proverbs
Proverbs form a great part of a people's traditional repository of
what they consider to be of great value and concern to them. They are
the quintessence of a people's collective wisdom sustained and
transmitted from generation to generation (Lawal, 1992b). Thus, among
the Yoruba there are proverbs about proverbs, one of which claims that
"proverbs arc the veritable horse that conveys one safely to the
discovery of ideas". Achebe, in his popular novel Things fall Apart, has
also asserted that "among the Ibo, the art of conversation is regarded
very highly and proverbs are the palm-oil with which words are eaten"
(1980:5). The stylistic import of proverbs, as suggested by Achebe, can
be seen in their rhetorical and poetic vigour, and this would perhaps
explain why a traditional African would constantly punctuate his speech
with appropriate proverbs and aphorisms to drive his points home
(Lawal, 1992b).
Among the Yoruba, proverbs taste sweetest in the mouths of very
old people. This is not, however, implying that younger ones cannot use
proverbs in their speeches, but they have to defer to, and seek
permission from elders present, saying: "I bow to you elders; it wants to
go the way of proverbs ...". And the elders will grant him permission,
blessing him: "May you live long to use more proverbs". Proverbs are
thus employed to reinforce and sustain the traditional respect for elders.
In this regard, it also serves as a potent means of social control. In
settling quarrels and disputes, a proverb comes in handy: "It is only he
who is knowledgeable in words and proverbs that can settle quarrels'".
Again, the traditional deference to elders is here underscored.
The aesthetic qualities and functions of proverbs can be gleaned
from their different poetic techniques. There are certain stylistic devices
such as the foregrounding of sound, imagery and diction which are not
common in ordinary usages. This explains the intellectual, emotional
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and imaginative appeals of several Yoruba proverbs. Hence, another
proverb claims that "the agidigbo drum is sounded like proverbs; it is
only the wise that can dance to its rhythm, and the knowledgeable (in
words) that can interpret its message".
Yoruba proverbs also serve didactic functions, especially for the
younger generation. This is why level-headed youths crave the company
of elders so that they can glean linguistic, cultural and historical
information usually conveyed in elders' speeches which, as indicated
earlier on. are full of appropriate proverbs. As the proverbs go, "it is the
old mouth that knows the ripeness of kola" and "any youth that washes
its hands clean shall dine with elders".
A cursory examination of the contents of even a small number of
Yoruba proverbs would reveal an eclectic socio-cultural origin. The
sources are as varied as the historical, social and cultural experiences of
the Yoruba people. The significance of historicity, for instance, can be
seen in this proverb: "Greeting is something but taunting another thing;
we do not greet a man by calling him an Ijaye man passing through the
frontage of Ogunmola's house". This proverb contains a historical
allusion to the Ijaye war of the early 1860's and the historic role of
Ogunmola in the war.
Perhaps the greatest number of Yoruba proverbs are minted from the
socio-cultural realities of traditional Yoruba experience. Hence, "as
soon as the suitor wins the consent of his woman, the match-maker must
withdraw his services", and "inheritors cannot be likened to true heirs".
In addition, "the slave dies without the knowledge of the mother, but
pandemonium greets the death of the freeborn". This last one would
seem to be equivalent in pragmatic function to the Shakespcarean
coinage; "When beggars die there are no comets seen; the heavens
themselves blaze forth the death of princes" (Calpurnia in Shakespeare's
Julius Caesar, Act III, Sc. ii.).
Within the realm of socio-cultural experience, the Yoruba religious
and moral ethos is perhaps the richest sub-source. Some of the proverbs
derived from this area include: "If my deity cannot support me, he
should leave me as he met me"; "Our character is deity, the more
positive it is, the more supportive"; and "No deity .supports the indolent;
it is our arms that support us". These last two proverbs would seem to
echo the English equivalent which claims that "character is fate".
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There are a handful of Yoruba proverbs that manifest deep
psychological penetration and an understanding of animal behaviour.
Two examples of these are "Human beings never assist in licking your
hands when they are smeared with blood, except when they are
shimmering with palm-oil"; and "a sheep that keeps the company of
dogs must eat faeces", in other words, "show me your friends and I will
know whom you are".
Certain lines of divinatory and incantatory poetry have come to stay
as widely accepted proverbs among the Yoruba. Due essentially to their
poetic origin, this category of proverbs displays philosophical
profundity and a keen sensitivity to the environment. For instance,
"when the wood-insect gathers sticks, on its own head it carries them, in
the same way as "the ash must trail whoever blows it", and "the earth
shall consume those who betray it".
2.2. Theoretical models of pragmatics
There are as many definitions of pragmatics as there have been
attempts by prag-maticians to shed light on the nature of the discipline one of the youngest in the widening field of linguistic inquiry. It is
significant to note that pragmatics emerged as a result of the limitations
of structural semantics to capture satisfactorily the sociological and
other non-linguistic dimensions of verbal communication, just as sociolinguistics, the fore-runner to pragmatics, evolved as a result of the
inadequacy of structural linguistics to explicate the factors of linguistic
performance. Just as the goal of the grammarian is to describe what
constitutes grammatical competence, the concern of the pragmatician is
to describe, in adequate terms, the components of the language user's
pragmatic competence.
As the foremost proponent of speech act theory, Austin (1962)
postulates that engaging in a speech act means performing the
complementary acts of locution, illo-cution and perlocution. A
locutionary act is a sentence uttered with a determinate sense and
reference, an act performed in order to communicate. The study of locutionary act is the domain of descriptive linguistics which comprises
phonetics, syntax, phonology and linguistic semantics. An illocutionary
act is a non-linguistic act performed through a linguistic or locutionary
act. Illocutionary acts include commanding, daring, nominating,
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resigning, etc., and can be effected through performative sentences,
whether or not they contain performative verbs (Fromklin and Rod-man,
1983). For instance, "it is raining" is an implicit performance of 'stating'
even when the sentence contains no performative verb.
A perlocutionary act results from a language user's utterance and,
according to Levinson (1980), it is the intended or unintended
consequence of, or reaction to what is said. This act is not part of the
conventional meaning of the utterance, but it is derived from the context
and situation of the utterance. This implies that interpreting utterances is
more than just recognising the speaker's intention by following the convention of verbal communication.
In an attempt to improve on Austin's effort, Searle (1976) puts
forward a taxonomy of illocutionary acts as 'assertives', 'directives',
'commissives', 'expressives' and 'declaratives' which are not radically
different from Austin's. However, Searle disagrees with the distinction
between 'locutionary' and 'illocutionary' acts, while at the same time
arguing that speaking a language involves performing acts according to
two types of rules - regulative and constitutive. Regulative rules
"regulate antecedently or independently existing forms of behaviour"
(Searle, 1976: 33), and in Adegbija's view, they are the basis of
appraisal of behaviour. Constitutive rules, on the other hand, do not
merely regulate, they create or define new forms of behaviour. It is thus
"a matter of convention" (Adegbija, 1982: 37) for speech acts to be
performed in a language.
Grice (1975) proposes the term 'Cooperative Principles' (CP) to refer
to the quasi-interactional agreement which speakers enter into as they
perform speech acts, assuming that other things are equal. The concepts
of 'implicature' and 'presupposition' are important in analysing the
meaning of language in use. Implicature is the mid-way between what is
said and what is implied but not entailed or stated overtly. It could be
conventional (Leech, 1983) or conversational (Grice, 1978), which is
the purview of pragmatics. Presupposition, on the other hand, is the
explicit assumption about the real world which speakers make and on
which the meaning of an utterance largely depends.
Fairly related to the notions of 'implicature' and 'presupposition' is
the concept of 'Mutual Contextual Beliefs' (MCBs) proposed by Bach
and Harnish (1979). According to the two scholars, MCBs centre
around the speaker's 'intention' and the listener's 'inference'. A speech
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act is performed with the intention that the listener will be able to
understand and identify the intention of the speaker. When this happens,
the listener makes an inference; in other words, the listener puts certain
facts together that will help him recognise the speaker's intention. These
facts, which are salient or well-known to the interlocutors, are branded
MCBs.
Adegbija (1982) undertakes a seminal critique of the earlier speech
act theoretical models, observing that most of these models have placed
undue premium on convention as the decisive factor in identifying and
interpreting the illocutionary force of an utterance. He argues that,
although Searle suggests that intention is also crucial in interpreting
illocutionary force, Searle's theory is biased in favour of conventional or
constitutive rules. Adegbija further appraises Saddock's (1974)
submission, concluding that Saddock takes full cognizance of linguistic
convention but neglects other crucial aspects of a situation of verbal
interaction such as intention and the pragmatics of the situation of social
interaction.
Adegbija further agrees with Bach and Harnish (1979) that
understanding speech acts is in the main an inferential process. He also
supports Austin's (1962) and Searle's (1976) argument that language
users perform acts with utterances. He also points out that the effects of
perlocutionary acts, whether intended or unintended, may be on the
speaker himself as well as on the listener. Adegbija stresses the conventional aspect of speech acts, maintaining that while illocutionary acts
may be conventional, as proposed by Austin (1962) and Searle (1976),
they need not be. This is because the force of some illocutionary acts is
determined by the intention of the speaker or by the pragmatics of the
particular situation of social interaction. He then concludes that at every
stage of the discourse, both speakers and listeners have to mobilise
appropriate areas of what he terms their "pragmasociolinguistic competence" which refers to the constitutive pragmatic, social, syntactic,
semantic and lexical competencies, among others. Adegbija, like Bach
and Harnish (1974), also points out that non-literalness results in
''Indirect Speech Acts" which cannot be thorougly understood until the
"pragmasociolinguistic context" is provoked.
Writing from a pedagogical and communicative point of view,
Lawal (1992) attempts an idealisation of the bipolar process of
communication in his 'pragma-communicative' model. He argues that in
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encoding and decoding meaning with language, the closer the
pragmatic/communicative competencies of the interlocutors, the greater
the chances of fluent and efficient communication and, conversely, the
lesser the chances of misunderstanding. Since no two users of any
language are exactly the same in their pragmatic competencies, the
meaning intended by the encoder may not always be the same as the
inference drawn by the decoder. Lawal further expresses preference for
the use of 'listener' instead of Adegbija's 'hearer', since hearing as a
quantitative biological function is a necessary but not sufficient
condition for listening, a qualitative, psycholinguistic and pragmatic
skill.
Adegbija's (1982) use of 'pragmasociolinguistic competence' would
also seem superfluous as it is now clear that a language user's pragmatic
competence is an all-subsuming construct comprising the linguistic, the
social and situational aspects of his knowledge, among others. Thus the
concept of 'pragmatic competence' is deemed sufficient and allencompassing to capture all aspects of the knowledge which competent
language users deploy to encode and decode meaning in linguistic
communication.
3. A conceptual framework for this study
The background literature on the functions and sources of Yoruba
proverbs and on the existing theoretical models of pragmatics have
assisted in distilling a pragmatic framework for this study. Considering
the uniqueness of the data for this study, no single pragmatic model was
considered adequate and an eclectic approach is adopted in arriving at a
synthesized framework.
In the view of Levinson (1980), the main issue which any pragmatic
theory must explain is speech acts, along with presuppositions and
implicatures. But beyond this, the theory must also attempt a description
of the background competencies which language users reactivate to
interpret speech acts, along with presuppositions and implicatures. It is
only then that such a theory can serve the necessary diagnostic.
developmental and remedial purposes in the sphere of language and
literary education, part of which was the concern of this study.
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Fig. 1. Lawal's model of the aspecis of a pragmatic theory.
The model in Fig. 1 assumes that there are five hierarchical contexts
of an utterance, the first and most fundamental of which is the context
of language itself in terms of the phonological, lexical and syntactic
components and the structure of the sentence. This context is a sine qua
non of linguistic communication, and is followed by the situational
context which refers to the topic of discourse and the factors of the
physical event including concrete objects, persons and location. The
psychological context, largely deriving from the preceding context of
situation, refers to the background of the mood, attitudes, personal
beliefs, and the state of mind of the language user. Next is the social
context wich is concerned with interpersonal relations among the
interlocutors. The penultimate level of context is the 'sociological' and
this describes the socio-cultural and hislorical settings. The ultimate and
broadest context is the 'cosmologicar by which is meant the language
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user's world-view, and the implicit references to the world or aspects of
it, and to certain universally established facts. (Note that the broken
lines in the hierarchies of contexts and competencies indicate that the
levels are not neatly compartmentalised, since they are not mutually
exclusive.)
The various levels of context are symmetrically related to the
equally hierarchical levels of background knowledge or competence
necessary for the production and interpretation of speech acts. The
competence includes, in a fairly cumulative order, the linguistic (wich
involves lexical, phonological, morpho-syntactic and micro-semantic
knowledge), the psychological (i.e. awareness of, and sensitivity to
moods, attitudes and points of view), the situational (which refers to the
knowledge of, and familiarity with the topic of discourse, location,
objects and persons in the physical setting), the social (knowledge of
social factors and principles governing conversation), the sociological
(knowledge of the socio-cultural and historical background to the
utterance) and the cosmological (which is the language user's
knowledge of the world, his factual knowledge and general worldview).
Some or all of these competencies can be employed as pragmatic
mappings to interpret and classify an utterance into a particular type of
speech act and to give an appropriate response or reaction. In
performing this complex task, the language user deploys his
competencies to identify and understand presuppositions, implicatures
and MCBs through inference. Speech acts are also hierarchically
organised and are somewhat related to the contexts and competencies
that produce them. The most basic act is locutionary and its
identification and comprehension depends on the purely linguistic
constraints of the lexical, morpho-syntactic, phonological, phonetic and
micro-semantic structure of the sentence. Locutionary acts are thus
described in our model as the speaker's overt linguistic behaviour and
the competence and context relative to their interpretation are also
referred to as the 'surface structures'.
In consonance with the background literature earlier reviewed, it is
inferred that illocutionary act is a higher-order act which can be either
direct or indirect, intended or unintended and conventional or nonconventional, depending on the highly variable vagaries of the context
of communication. Illocutionary acts occupy a primary level of non644
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linguistic functions which language users perform with words. The
ultimate level of speech acts is that of perlocutionary acts which are the
conventional or unconventional, intended or unintended consequences
of utterances.
4. Data analysis and results
The proverbs that constitute the data for this study were collected
from informants who were adult native speakers of the language, and
also from literary texts. They are hereby presented (in both their original
and English versions) in what looks like contradictory pairs. In
translating, effort was made to preserve as much as possible the original
point of view, although it was still difficult to recapture the original
freshness and flavour. Each proverb is analysed pragmatically by stating
both the 'direct' and 'indirect" illocutionary acts it performs, and then the
contexts/competencies needed for interpretation are briefly outlined
before showing how contexts and competencies reveal the lack of
contradiction. The contextual and functional dis-tincliveness of each
proverb is thus underscored.
(la)
Irin ti a rin la a ko ni
'It's the way a person presents himself that he's received
llhcutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (claiming)
(b) indirect: expressive (blaiming)
Contexts/competencies
Linguistic: This level of context/competence is fundamental. The
core and the most unifying, however, of all the linguistic levels is the
semantic. As applicable to (and will therefore be taken for granted for)
all the other proverbs, it is 'meaning' that unites the lexical, syntactic and
phonological levels.
There are, however, two levels of semantic meaning at either the
lexical or sentential level: the primary or literal level and the secondary
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or idiomatic/figurative level. The primary lower level feeds the
secondary higher level through what would seem a fundamental and
tacit assumption by all competent users that every proverb is an idiom
of a sort, a tighly condensed representation of a fairly comparable and
rather large group of possibilities of socio-cultural experience.
'Linguistic meaning' is thus transferred in part to 'pragmatic meaning'
through the use of such figurative devices as metaphor, metonymy,
synecdoche and symbolism.
In the first proverb above, for instance, the literal translation of Inn
is 'manner of walking'. But at the figurative level a person's gait
metaphorises into his or her general carriage, comportment and conduct.
Hence, what is presented as the English version of this proverb, and
indeed many of the other eleven proverbs, is not a literal but an
idiomatic equivalent, at which every competent user of the language is
expected to arrive as the first major sign-post to a pragmatic
interpretation.
Situational: A person has presented himself in a shabby,
unbecoming manner and the topic centres around this.
Psychological: The speaker disapproves of the way another person
has presented himself, and this other person is expected to be aware of
the disapproval.
Social: Knowledge of the social relations holding between the two
people directly involved in the event (e.g. friend-friend, parent-child,
husband-wife relationship), although no special relationship need hold
in this case.
Sociological: The Yoruba value decent and respectable
appearance/company.
Cosmological: Awareness of the fact that appearance is often used
as a measure of a stranger's worth.
(Ib)
Aso nla ko ni cniyan rila.
'A big dress does not make a person important.1
llhcutionary act
(a) direct: assertive (stating)
(b) indirect: verdictive (judging)
Context / compete n cies
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Linguistic: Again, there is a fundamental semantic requirement of
understanding that 'dressing' serves as a metonym, or even a
synecdoche, for personal worth as a whole.
Situationai. A person of questionable character passes himself off as
a dignitary through mere impressive appearance and the topic focuses
on him.
Psychological: The speaker disapproves of this false appearance and
the listener is expected to be aware of this.
Social: Knowledge of relationship between the speaker and the
object of disapproval, although no type of relationship need exist.
Sociological: Knowledge of the Yoruba traditional disapproval of
all manner of falsehood and dcceptiveness.
Cosmological: Knowledge of the human capacity for deceit and
make-believe.
The seeming contradiction between proverbs (la) and (Ib) can now
be resolved by mapping certain contextual variables with the convergent
meaning of the two proverbs. While the psychological context of
disapproval is common to the two proverbs, the situational contexts
would seem to be fairly opposite to each other, and the aspects of the
sociological (or socio-cultural) and cosmological competencies to be
invoked in appreciating the pragmatic validity of each proverb in its
own right, and in resolving the seeming contradiction are radically
different. This would explain the difference in the indirect or intended
illocutionary force of the two proverbs.
The 'new' meaning that now emerges from a harmonious blending of
the two proverbs is that, although appearance may be deceptive, it is
still desirable that we present ourselves decently and respectably.
(2a) Otosi egbon mi jogun aburo, Olorfburuku baba nn joguri omp.
‘It is only the pauper that inherits the possessions of his younger
ones, just as the never-do-well inherits his own children's
properties.’
Illocutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (claiming)
(b) indirect: expressive (blaming)
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Context/Competencies:
Linguistic: The interpreter needs to appreciate the metaphorical
use of baba (father) and omo (child) as referring to any elder person and
a younger one respectively, in a relative sense.
Sit national: A person assumes wrongful ownership of
something belonging to another much younger person.
Psychological: The speaker's mood is that of disapproval and the
listener is expected to know this.
Social: No special relationship is requisite for both the direct and
indirect (or intended) illocutionary acts.
Sociological: Among the Yoruba, age confers both respect and
responsibility on a person. In addition, the wish of the traditional
Yoruba man is that his children outlive him and inherit his belongings.
Cosmological: The idea of inheritance suggests a weaker or
younger person enjoying the fruits of the responsibility and labour of a
dead person assumed to be older or more dependable.
(2b) K 'omo to jogun, ma a joghon.
'Before a child inherits my properties, I myself will have consumed
thirty of them.’
Illocutionary act:
(a) direct: commissive (vowing)
(b) indirect: directive (advising)
Contexts! competencies
Linguistic: To ensure basic competence in the semantics of the
sentence, the listener needs to understand the significance of the
polysemic pun on jogun, meaning 'inherit' and1 also 'eat twenty', the two
of which are simultaneously valid for interpretation at the nonpragmatic, sentential level. Furthermore, at the idiomatic level 'child'
would not be misconstrued only literally in a biological sense, but
figuratively as referring to any much younger person.
Sttuational: A younger person relies on what he expects the
speaker to pass on to him in terms of material objects, instead of
working hard to uplift himself.
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Psychological: The speaker disapproves of the younger person's
expectation and expects the listener(s) to understand this.
Social: A special relationship of either parent-child, older siblingyounger sibling, master-slave, etc. is necessary here for the intended
illocutionary force of the proverb.
Sociological: Knowledge of the premium1 which the Yoruba place
on self-achievement.
Cosmological: The general belief that people hardly appreciate
undeserved reward.
The apparent contradiction between proverbs (2a) and (2b) can
also be resolved quite easily once we appreciate the fact that they only
have a similar psychological context of disapproval, but are distinctively
dissimilar in their social, situational, sociological and cosmological
contexts of use, and the concomitant competencies requisite for their
interpretation as mutually independent speech acts. The two proverbs
work together congruently to underscore an aspect of the cosmological
vision of the Yoruba which affirms that parents and other adults should
leave behind for the younger generation worthy material (and moral)
heritage, but the latter should strive hard for their own independent
achievements by starting off wherever their forebears stop.
(3a) Bi okete ba dagba tan, omu omo re nf i mu.
'When okete (a nocturnal rodent) becomes very old, it sucks the
breasts of her own
children.'
Illocutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (informing)
(b) indirect: directive (advising)
Contexts/ competencies:
Linguistic: The personification of okete, a nocturnal rodent, as a
special type of metaphor must be understood, while 'breasts' and
'sucking' must also be jointly interpreted as symbolic of dependency. In
addition, the meaning of 'child' must be extended beyond, the primarily
biological to cover just any younger individual.
Situational: The speaker reacts to the listener's refusal to accept a
gift from a much younger person, or, more typically, the older person
attempts to justify his demands on the younger individual.
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Psychological: The speaker disapproves of the listener's refusal and
he expects him to understand this.
Social: A relationship of either friendship, kinship or
acquaintanceship exists between the interlocutors.
Sociological: Knowledge of the Yoruba traditional expectation of
filial concern and care for one's aged parents and other old relations.
Cosmological: The fact of the common reciprocity of filial and
parental love.
3b Ikun omo eni la ti ri ri ayo.
'It is in the tummy of her baby that a mother satisfies her own hunger.'
Illocutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (informing)
(b) indirect: directive (recommending)
Contexts! competencies
Linguistic: As before, 'baby' and 'mother' are not to be understood in
their primary, literal senses but each as a lexico-semantic short-hand
that potentially translates into several socio-cultural possibilities on the
pages of experience.
Situational: A mother breast-feeding her baby suddenly remembers
that her own meal is long over-due. The Speaker approves of the
mother's parental concern and attempts to reinforce the act of maternal
self-denial. In essence, and more importantly, an older person denies
himself or himself on account of a younger fellow.
Psychological: The speaker is happy about the situation and expects
the listeners to understand this.
Social: A relationship of either friendship, acquaintanceship or
kinship holds between the speaker and the addressee.
Sociological: Knowledge of the immense importance the Yoruba
attach to children.
Cosmological: Knowledge of the universality and incomparability
of material love and devotion.
Proverbs (3a) and (3b) would seem to be performing the same
intended, indirect illocutionary function but in opposite directions and in
different situationaL psychological, sociological and cosmological
aspects of the pragmatic context. The philosophical implication of the
mutal inclusiveness of the two proverbs is that the Yoruba expect
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children to take care of their aged parents and relations in the same way
parents and old relations take care of their young children and wards.
The two proverbs therefore represent, in philosophical and sociocultural terms, two sides of the same coin.
(4a) Igi kan 16 da igbo se.
'One tree cannot make a forest.’
Illocutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (claiming)
(b) indirect (warning, advising)
Contexts / competencies
Linguistic: An understanding of the possible personification of igi
(tree) and Igbo (forest) respectively is fundamental here.
Situational: A person over-estimates his worth, strength and
independence within a group.
Psychological: The speaker frowns at this and wants the listener to
know so.
Sociological: The Yoruba traditional expectation of personal
modesty and humility irrespective of one's worth.
Cosmological: Knowledge of the need for a person to be sensitive
to the norms of his environment, since a person's individuality derives
from his group.
(4b) Okan soso araba o ya ju egbeegberun psuhsuh
'A single mahogany tree is better than a thousand osu/mm (a tall,
grass- like type of plant)
Illocutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (claiming)
(b) indirect: verdictive (assessing)
Contexts/ competencies
Linguistic : The same type of idiomatic competence required in
(4a) also applies here.
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Situational: A person, well-known to the interlocutors, has several
children but none is worthy of being proud of, and the interlocutors are
discussing the father and his children.
Physchological: The speaker wishes to express his disgust at the
worthlessness of all the man's children.
Social: A relationship of friendship, kinship or acquaintanceship
exists between the interlocutors.
Sociological: The Yoruba traditional appreciation of the moral,
intellectual and emotional worth of the individual.
Cosmological: Knowledge of the common tyranny of the majority
and the possible stifling of individual self-expression.
Again, these two proverbs are contradictory only at the overt
'linguistic' level, and the seeming incompatibility can be removed if we
apply in particular the pragmatic mappings of the specific situational,
psychological, sociological and cosmo-logical aspects of the general
functional contexts of the proverbs. The salient philosophical point here
is that, while it is essential for an individual to be mindful of the dictates
of his environment, the society must also respect the individuality and
uniqueness of the person and grant him adequate room for selfactualisation. In essence, the dialectical axiom that the individual
determines the collective, and vice-versa, is the joint thrust of the two
proverbs.
(5a) Orisa boo gbe mi, fi mi sile bo o ti ba mi.
'If my deity cannot support me (in times of need), it should leave
me as it met me.'
Illocutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (complaining)
(b) indirect: declarative (rejecting)
Contexts/competencies:
Linguistic: The listener is expected to appreciate the crucial fact that
orisa (deity) is only used as a symbol of all sources, both human and
non-human, of support and benevolence.
Situational: A friend, acquaintance, associate or supporter is found
to be disloyal or non-supportive especially at critical times and the
speaker complains about him.
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Journal of Pragmatics 27 (1997) 635-652
Psychological: The speaker feels strongly averse to the person's
disloyalty and he wants the listener (possibly the disloyal individual) to
know this.
Social: A close relationship exists between the interlocutors.
Sociological: Knowledge of the Yoruba belief in the deities and the
mutal expectations between man and the gods.
Cosmological: A measure of magnanimity and support is expected
from an object of religious devotion.
(5b) Orisa to n'gbe die kd si; apa eni nil gbe ni.
'No deity supports the loafer; it is a person's arms that can support
him.'
lllocutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (claiming, informing)
(b) indirect: (directive, advising)
Contexts! competencies:
Linguistic: The listener is still expected to interprete onset (deity) as
done in (5a), and to further appreciate the semantic functions of apa
(arm) as both a synecdoche and a symbol.
Situational: A lazy man blames God for his woes, and the speaker
condemns this.
Psychological: The speaker is opposed to this attitude to life and
wishes the idler to know this.
Social: A close relationship exists between the interlocutors who
both know the lazy man, at least fairly well.
Sociological: Knowledge of the Yoruba belief in hard work as an
antidote for abject poverty.
Cosmological: Knowledge of the possibility of a person's character
being instrumental to his fate.
This pair of overtly contradictory proverbs can be explained
particularly in terms of familiarity with, and competence in certain
aspects of the situational, psychological, social, sociological and
cosmological contexts which give pragmatic relevance to each as a
meaningful, independent illocutionary act. The moral point being underscored here is that, while one may expect support and assistance from
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both human and superhuman figures, the surest and most crucial support
is from the self.
(6a) Bi iro ba lo logiin odun pjo kan ni otitp yo b ba a.
'If a he runs for twenty years, it takes truth just a day to catch it.'
Illocutinary act:
(a) direct: assertive (claiming)
(b) indirect: verdictive (evaluating)
Contexts/competencies
Linguistic: The personification of iro (lie) and dtito (truth) and the
rhetorical use of 'twenty years' and 'a day' respectively need be specially
appreciated.
Situational: A long-concealed lie has just been revealed and the
speaker expresses this new awareness to his listener(s).
Psychological: The mood is that of pleasant surprise and moral
disillusionment.
Social: The interlocutors are so close to have both been 'imprisoned'
for so long in the darkness of the lie.
Sociological: The Yoruba traditional observation concerning the
seeming elusive-ness and the relatively short span of lies which are also
considered a vice.
Cosmological: Knowledge of the fact of the enduring nature of
truth.
(6b) Ki ile to pa osika, ohun re re yo 6 ti baje.
'Before the earth consumes the evil-doer,
have been
destroyed.'
good things will
Illocutionary act:
(a) direct: assertive (claiming)
(b) indirect: directive (advising, recommending)
Contexts/competencies
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Linguistic: A unique pre-requisite here is the personification, or
rather the deification of He (land) which is symbolized as the final
judge.
Situational: An evil-doer is identified for what he is and the speaker
wants his lis-tener(s) to know this.
Psychological: The speaker is unwilling to continue tolerating the
evil doer and he wants to win his listeners to his side.
Social: The speaker and his lister(s) are socially close to the extent
that their continued tolerance of the evil-doer may have a negative
consequence on all of them.
Cosmological: Justice delayed is, at best, incomplete justice.
The moral point in these two apparently contradictory proverbs is
that truth always outlives falsehood, but for as long as it lives, a lie, like
any other vice, destroys both the liar and his victim(s), and eventual
awareness, though inevitable, may prove too late. The illocutionary
forces of the proverbs are different and this partly explains the
differences in the specific aspects of the context that need to be resorted
to in meaningfully interpreting each and in resolving the superficial,
mutual negation. In other words, the incompatibility is only contextual,
not philosophical.
5. Concluding remarks
The findings of this study, apart from answering the research
questions earlier raised, could go a long way in extending the frontiers
of pragmatic theory and in shedding more light on the communicative
and ethical significance of proverbs especially among the Yoruba.
From the foregoing analysis of the twelve proverbs, it can be
inferred that the 'direct' performative/illocutionary force of Yoruba
proverbs tends to be mainly 'assertive' through either claiming,
disclaiming, informing or complaining about certain aspects of both the
physical and the subjective world. A relatively small amount of the
proverbs are 'commisive' in their 'direct' illocutionary force by vowing,
pledging or promising something to someone. In pragmatic terms, and
within the framework of our model, these 'direct' illocutionary acts of
assertion and commission are only foundational to the higher, 'indirect'
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acts which require the activation of other competencies beyond the
linguistic.
The major 'indirect' illocutionary forces, which happen to be
intended acts the proverbs are used to perform, vary and include the
'expressive' act of blaming, the 'directive' ones of advising,
recommending and warning, and lastly, but quite significantly, the
'verdictive' acts of judging, assessing and evaluating. It can thus be
safely inferred that the proverbs perform illocutionary acts that are
conventional and intentionally indirect. The findings seem to suggest
that the intended illocutionary force of the proverbs serves as an ethical
mechanism for regulating human behaviour and enhancing social
control.
Essentially, therefore, the Yoruba proverbs, perhaps like proverbs in
other languages, represent a veritable tool for affecting and effecting
desirable action, and for projecting a particular cosmology. In
understanding the intended illocutionary functions of Yoruba proverbs,
the language user employs certain competencies (linguistic, situational,
social, psychological, sociological and cosmological) to identify, map
and match the corresponding contexts of use with the meaning.
Effective use of the proverbs is thus not a question of either intention or
convention, but of an intricate blend of the two. Thus, in line with our
model, conversational implicatures and presuppositions, which are
aspects of the MCBs, are related and instrumental to the 'indirect'
illocutionary force of the proverbs. These MCBs are not located in the
'surface structure' of the 'linguistic context' but in the progressively
deeper structures of the situationa!, psychological, social, sociological
and cosmological contexts. It is also in the deeper networks of context
and competence relative to the pragmatics of each proverb that the
seeming contradictions between certain pairs of proverbs'can be
resolved by identifying and employing background facts, feelings,
beliefs, situations and view-points which are presupposed or implicated,
as the case may be. As our previous analysis has indicated, Yoruba
proverbs tend to affirm and project a world in which two antipolar
extremes (e.g. good vs. evil, truth vs. falsehood, courage vs. cowardice,
etc) struggle for pre-eminence and supremacy. The central philosophical
point as deducible in the presence of several overtly contradictory pairs
of proverbs is the pragmatic need to achieve a proportional blend of the
two extemes. The Yoruba traditional world-view hints thus at a cyclic
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rather than a linear perception of reality. This is why in the Yoruba
proverbial system "a balanced blend of friendship and enmity sustains
the world" and "knowing when to attack and when to retreat is the
hallmark of a seasoned warrior; a warrior who only knows how to
attack, but lacks the skills of retreat will sooner than later perish in a war
other than his own".2
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Journal of Pragmatics 27 (1997) 635-652
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