A STYLISTIC ANALYSIS OF AKACHI ADIMORAEZEIGBO’S TRAFFICKED
OLADIPO, TUNMISE MARY
07/15CD132
AN ESSAY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS.) IN ENGLISH
TO
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF ARTS,
UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN, NIGERIA.
MAY, 2011
1
CERTIFICATION
This essay has been read and approved as meeting part of the requirements for the
award of a bachelor of arts degree (hons.) in the department of english, faculty of
arts, university of ilorin, ilorin.
_________________________
DR.MRS VICTORIA ALABI
SUPERVISOR
__________________
DATE
_________________________
DR.S.T BABATUNDE
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
__________________
DATE
_________________________
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
__________________
DATE
2
DEDICATION
This research work is dedicated to God the father, God the son and God
the Holy Spirit. The one who is my source, my inspiration, my strength, my
guardian, my provider, my all-in-all and my very present help in trouble.
Hallowed be thy name, o Lord!
And to my lovely parents, Mr and Mrs Ajayi Oladipo.
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
“O, for a thousand tongues to sing, my great redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and king, the triumphs of his grace!”
What shall I say unto the Lord? All I have to say is to thank you o Lord!
My unreserved and undiluted appreciation goes to my Lord, my redeemer, the
controller and owner of my life for his ever loving kindness. I give God all the
praises, thanks and adoration for seeing me through my academic journey. What
can I possibly do without you by my side, oh Lord? Nothing at all. GOD, you are
awesome!
I am most grateful to my supervisor, Dr. (Mrs.)Victoria Alabi who ,
despite her tight schedules, was always ready to listen to me. She devoted her
time in reading and correcting in the course of this research . Ma, your kind
gestures to me for the successful completion of this research work is highly
appreciated and my prayer is that God in his infinite mercies will continue to
bless YOU ma. Ma, you are indeed like a mum to me.
I am equally grateful to my lecturers in the department, especially the head
of the department, Dr. Sola Timothy Babatunde. You are indeed a father and a
blessing to me sir. Dr. T.A Alabi, I cannot but thank you for changing my
perspective about Phonetics and Phonology during ENG103 class. You are highly
appreciated sir. Lest I forget, I must also say a very big thank you to the likes of
Prof. Charles Bodunde, Dr.(Mrs.)Oyinkan Medubi, Dr.M.S Idiagbon, Dr Mafhouz
Adedimeji, Mrs T.M Olujide, Dr. Afolayan and Mrs Aliyu Ibrahim .
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I am most grateful and indebted to my lovely and wonderful parents, Mr
and Mrs Ajayi Oladipo whose love, care and support both financially, spiritually,
and morally have made my academic pursuit a reality. Daddy and Mummy,
words are just too weak to thank you both. And to my two brothers,
Oluwamayowa and Oluwadunsin, both of you are the best and sweetest that have
ever happened to me. From the bottom of my heart, I say, I LOVE YOU BOTH.
My sincere appreciation goes to my family here in Ilorin, Mr and Mrs
Olawepo. Big Mum and Dad, you both have been so wonderful to me. Words
are just too inadequate to express my profound gratitude but my prayer is that
God in his infinite mercies will continue to meet you at the very point of your
needs in Jesus name.
To my friends, Tosin Ipinmisho,Adeniran Mojirola, Soretire Oludamilola,
Buraimoh Folajimi, Femi Omoniyi, my Roommates, Kuburat Yinusa, Sikemi
Adesuyi, Azeezat Yusuf and my school mum, Miss Adekunbi Ajibade, I LOVE
YOU ALL.
I cannot forget my colleagues in class ’11 most especially Ahmed
Olaosebikan, Solomon Eseigbe, Muda Saka, Ann Akinboyewa, Eunice Abajo,
Toni Fayeye, Tosin Agemo, Funmilayo Balogun,Yusuf kabeerah, Jide Wumi,
Olukemi Olujide and others that I cannot mention. You all made my academic
years fun and have all in one way or the other imparted positively to make me to
be who I am today. I will surely miss you all.
5
Above all, I want to thank the immortal, the invisible, the Almighty and
the King of all creations who is the Alpha and Omega, the one who is and will
continue to be my redeemer. What else can I say? I LOVE YOU LORD!!!
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ABSTRACT
Stylistics is the study of literary and non-literary texts using linguistic and
literary descriptions. The aim in this research work was a stylistic analysis of
Akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s Trafficked. The study critically analysed the data
through the use of some levels of stylistic description namely; graphology,
morphology, syntax, lexico-semantics and cohesion. The study discovered that at
the graphological level, the author used italics, comma and dash. Among these, it
was found out that the author used italics for stream of consciousness in order to
reveal the real intention of the speaker. At the morphological level, it was noticed
that the author only gave the full meaning of ‘OYSCO’,’WON’, etc which she
introduced in the novel and takes for granted the full meaning of other acronyms.
She also idiosyncratically employed more hyphenated compounding. The marked
lexico-syntactic patterns used in the text are basically for emphasis. At the lexicosemantics level, proverbs was used to introduce the readers to the rich culture of
the African society. Also, cohesive devices employed by the author were used to
create links within the text. The conclusion to the work was that the employment
of stylistic tools in the analysis of literary and non-literary text enhances better
understanding of such texts and the authors.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgment
vi
Abstract
vii
Table of contents
viii
CHAPTER ONE
General Introduction
1
1.1 Introduction to the study
2
1.2 Statement of the problem
2
1.3 Purpose of the study
3
1.4 Scope of the study
3
1.5 Justification of the study
3
1.6 Data description/synopsis of the novel
4
1.7 Biography of the author
4
1.8 Summary
5
CHAPTER TWO
Literature review
6
2.1 Introduction
6
2.2 The Concept of style
6
2.3 Stylistics
8
2.4 Levels of stylistic description
11
2.4.1 Graphology
11
2.4.2 Morphology
13
8
2.4.3 Syntax
14
2.4.4 Lexico-semantics
15
2.5 Cohesion
16
2.6 Summary
22
CHAPTER THREE
Stylistic elements in Akachi adimora-ezeigbo’s Trafficked
3.1
3.3
3.4
Introduction
23
3.2
Graphology
23
3.2.1
Italics
23
3.2.2
Comma
28
3.2.3
Dash
29
3.2.4
Capitalization
30
Morphology
32
3.3.1 Compounding
32
3.3.2
34
Acronymy
Lexis and syntax
34
3.4.1
Parenthesis
35
3.4.2
Anaphora
37
33.4.3 Polyptoton
38
3.5 Lexico-semantics
38
3.5.1
Proverbs
38
3.5.2
Simile
40
3.5.3
Deviant words
41
3.6 Cohesion
44
3.7 Findings
59
3.8 Summary
61
9
CHAPTER FOUR
Introduction, Summary, Recommendation and Conclusion
4.1 Introduction
62
4.2 Summary
62
4.3 Recommendation
63
4.4 Conclusion
63
References
64
10
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.1
INTRODUCTION
Stylistics, a branch of linguistics which developed from the ancient Greek
rhetoric through the Swiss linguist, Charles Bally during the 20th century, is an
aspect of language study that has attracted a great deal of attention from scholars.
Young as this discipline is, it is open to so many fields of study most especially to
related disciplines such as theory of literature, poetics and aesthetics, among
others.
However, over the years, there have been various arguments among
scholars about the application of linguistics to the analysis and interpretation of
literary texts. This is because, “they operate at different levels that are hardly
reconcilable”. Literary criticism on the one hand operates on terms of value,
purpose and aesthetics while linguistic analysis focuses on phonetics, stress,
syntax, and lexico-semantics (Kolawole, 2003, p.1)
In the words of Short (1996, p.1), stylistics is “an approach to the analysis
of 'literary texts using linguistic description”. Stylistics, from his submission deals
with how literary and non-literary texts are analyzed through linguistic tools. As
observed by Short, stylistics is both relevant in studying literary and non-literary
texts. One of the prominent areas in literature in which stylistic theory could be of
11
great benefit is in the study of a novel. This is so because the language employed
by an author in a novel should help in contributing to the overall development of
the text.
Trafficked, by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo is a literary text that was written
in 2008. The novel in 2009 received Honourable mention as Runner-up for the
ANA/NDDC Flora Nwapa prize for women and also that same year, Chris
Anyoku wrote an article which he titled “Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked:
Re- defining the ‘New’ Nigeria Novel.
Therefore, this research attempts to analyse Trafficked using stylistics as
the theoretical basis. The stylistic tools that will be used as mode of analysis
include Graphology, Morphology, Syntax, Lexico-semantics and Cohesion.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
This study “A stylistic analysis of Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked”
attempts to analyse the text using some stylistic tools. The problem this study
hope to provide answers to is how these stylistic tools are used in the novel. By so
doing, this study will show whether Adimora-Ezeigbo’s work is simply an
exhibition of stylistic effects or these stylistic tools contribute to the overall
development of the text.
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1.3
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The aim of the work titled “A stylistic analysis of Trafficked” is to
examine how the author has used the linguistic and literary stylistic tools to
convey meaning in her literary text. This research is not only to critically assess
the stylistic tools that are employed by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo in the text, but
also to examine how the tools have in one way or the other contributed to its
receiving honourable mention as runner up for the ANA/NDDC Flora Nwapa
prize for women writing in 2009.
1.4
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
In this work, our focus shall include some of the stylistic elements found
in the data. Graphological, Morphological, Syntactical and Lexico-semantic
devices will be examined. Also, we shall examine all the cohesive devices found
in the data.
1.5
JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY
This study, which is titled “A stylistic analysis of Trafficked” is being
embarked upon because no study of this kind, to the best of our knowledge, has
focused specifically on, or has been carried out on Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s
Trafficked because it happens to be the latest work of the author.
This work will therefore, be of great importance to up-coming researchers
13
who will like to study the novel or explore the field of stylistics. Also, it will be of
great benefit to studies in language and literature in general.
1.6
DATA DESCRIPTION/SYNPOSIS OF THE NOVEL
Trafficked, is a novel written by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo in 2008. The
book dramatizes the story of a young lady, Nneoma, who is order not to marry
Ofomata, her supposed fiancé flees from home and goes to Lagos in company of a
friend. She is later, alongside five other ladies trafficked to Europe for prostitution
under the pretense of working as a teacher.
After six years, she is deported to Nigeria along with some other trafficked
young ladies. The deportees are taken to a rehabilitation centre, which is a nongovernmental organization. Through the assistance of this NGO, Oasis Youth
Centre for skills development (OYCSD), Nneoma is able to start her life all over
again.
1.7
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo was born and raised in Eastern Nigeria to the
family of Mr. and Mrs. Joshua Adimora. She was raised partially in a rural
environment and partially in the city. She therefore, combines these two factors as
background and setting for her literary texts.
She studied English and literary studies at the University of Lagos and the
14
university of Ibadan, where she obtained Bachelor of Arts (B.A), Masters of Arts
(M.A) and PhD degrees. She also has a postgraduate Diploma in Education
(PGDE) from the University of Lagos.
Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo has received many literary and academic awards
for her works among which is the NLNG prize for children’s literature which she
won in 2007. Apart from publishing over forty-five academic papers in local and
international journals, she has also published thirteen books for children out of
which two have been translated into Swahili and Xhosa.
She is married to Professor Chris Ezeigbo and they are blessed with three
children.
1.8
SUMMARY
This chapter has given an introduction, the statement of the problem, the
purpose of the study, the scope of the study justification, research methodology,
data description and the biography of the author. In the next chapter, we shall
review related literature to this research work.
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we shall review some works that are relevant to the
concept of style, and to the field of stylistics. Also, the various stylistic elements
will be reviewed.
2.2
THE CONCEPT OF STYLE
Crystal and Davy (1996, p.9) affirm that “style is certainly a familiar word
to most of us; but unfortunately to say simply that stylistics studies style does not
clarify matters greatly, because of the multiplicity of definitions that the word
‘style’ has”. Therefore, the concept of style means various things to various
authors. Crystal and Davy (1969) see style from three different perspectives. Style
may refer to “some or all the language habits of one person”, “the language habits
shared by a group of people at one time, or over a period of time”, or when it is
used in an evaluative sense which means “saying the right thing in the most
effective way.”
Baldick (2001, p.435) opines that style refers to “The manner of
expression in writing or speaking, just as there is a manner of doing things, like
playing squash or painting.” In the same vein, Peck and Coyle (1993, p.138) state
that “style means the writers’ characteristic manner of expression.” In their view,
16
style deals with the way or ways in which a writer presents his or her idea or
thoughts in writing.
Leech and Short (1981, p.11) refer to style as “the way in which language
is used in a given context, by a given person, for a given purpose, and so on”.
Style from their submission is viewed in relation to the use of language in a
particular communicative situation. To Freeborn (1996, p.1) style refers to
“different ways of using our common language by which we identify one writer
or one kind of writing from another”. To him, the concept of style deals with the
idiosyncratic peculiarity of a particular writer.
Myers and Simms(1985, p.292) view style as “the manifestation in
language of a writer’s individual voice and vision that are derived from his or her
character, or, a particular tone of writing (formal, informal, objective informal,
etc) also, a specific manner of writing influenced by movements of fashion of
periods …”
Also, Abrams (2001, p.203) submits that:
Style is the linguistic expression in prose or verse –
it is how speakers or writers say whatever it is that
they say. The style of a particular work or writer has
been analysed in terms of the characteristic modes
of its diction, or choices of words, its sentence
structure and syntax; the patterns of its rhythm,
17
component sounds, and other formal features, and
its rhetorical devices.
Abrams’ view from the above submission deals with how a literary text is
analysed through the tools of linguistics.
Many scholars have given different definitions of style which only few
have been adduced above. However, from their various submissions, it can be
said that it is the application of language to style that makes it stylistics.
Therefore, the field of stylistics would be examined so as to know the relationship
that exists between style and stylistics. What then is stylistics?
2.3
STYLISTICS
According to Leech and Short (1981, p.13),
The linguistic study of style is rarely undertaken for
its own sake, simply as an exercise in describing
what use is made of language. We normally study
style because we want to explain something and in
general,
literary
stylistics
has,
implicitly
or
explicitly, the goals of explaining the relationship
between language and artistic function.
Stylistics, to them, refers to how linguistic tools are employed in analyzing
literary texts.
18
Carter and Malmkjaer (2000, p.510) see stylistics “as the study of style in
spoken and written texts.” Their view is somehow related to the submission of
Leech and Short. However, the difference is that they are of the opinion that
stylistics can be studied in relation to oral and literary texts.
Crystal (1999, p.323), states that stylistics is the study any “situationally
distinctive use of language and of choices made by individuals and social groups
in their usage in all linguistic domains”. Stylistics is viewed from its
sociolinguistic context. It deals with how language is used ‘on every conceivable
occasion’ by individuals in a particular speech community.
Widdowson (1975, p.3) views stylistics as “The study of literary discourse
from a linguistic orientation” He continues further by saying: “what distinguishes
stylistics from literary criticism on the one hand and linguistics on the other hand
is that it is a means of linking the two has (as yet at least) no autonomous domain
of its own.”
From the above submissions, we are able to understand that stylistics does
not stand on its own like pragmatics, semantics, phonology, etc which are other
fields of study in linguistics but is composed of linguistics and literary criticism.
Widdowson’s viewpoint is buttressed by Carter (1989, p.161) who says
that “stylistics is essentially a bridge discipline between linguistics and literature.”
The ‘bridge’ or mediating role which stylistics plays between linguistic
description and literary appreciation has been diagrammatically represented by
19
Leo Spizter in his ‘philological circle’ (Leech and Short 1981, pp.13-14).
Stylistics, however, does not just perform a mediating role between
linguistics and literature; it also deals with meaning explication. This is expressed
in Lawal (2003, p.25) who states that stylistics is “concerned with the analysis
and description of linguistic features of text in relation to their meaning.
Crystal and Davy (1969, p.10), further explain the aim of stylistics. In
their opinion, the aim of stylistics is:
To analyse language habits with the main purpose
of identifying from the general mass of linguistic
features common to English as used on every
conceivable occasion, those features which are
restricted to certain kinds of social context; to
explain, where possible, why such features have
been used, as opposed to other alternatives, and to
classify these features into categories based upon a
view of their function in social context…
Ajileye and Ajileye (1997, p.196) believe that “stylistics aims at analysing
language habits with the purpose of identifying those features which are restricted
to certain individuals’ use of language in certain kinds of social contexts”. Also,
Wales (2001, p.372-373) adds that the goal of most stylistic studies is not simply
to describe “the formal features of texts for their own sake, but in order to show
20
their ‘functional’ significance for the interpretation of the text; in order to relate
literary effects or themes to linguistic ‘triggers’ where these are felt to be
relevant”.
From the above submissions, the aim of stylistics is not only in analyzing
texts using the linguistic tools but also to show the overall explanation of literary
texts. Therefore, it can be observed from their various submissions that stylistics
tends to employ elements, theories and approaches of linguistics to the analysis
and interpretation of literary and non-literary texts.
Scholars like Chapman (1973) and Crystal and Davy (1969) refer to the
elements of stylistics as ‘codes’ and ‘linguistic levels of analysis’ respectively.
According to Crystal and Davy (1969, p.15), the levels of analysis could be:
phonetics/graphetics, phonology/graphology, grammar/lexis and semantics.
In this essay, the concern will be on the following stylistic tools:
Graphology, Morphology, Syntax, Lexis, Semantics, and Cohesion.
2.4
LEVELS OF STYLISTIC ANALYSIS
2.4.1
Graphology
According to Crystal and Davy (1969) cited in Alabi (2007, p.120)
Graphology is “the analogous study of a language’s writing system or
orthography as seen in the various kind of handwriting or topography”. Also,
Leech (1969) cited in Alabi (2007, p.120) further explains that it refers to “The
21
whole writing system: punctuation and paragraphing as well as spacing.”
Graphology has foregrounding effects. The features under graphology as
stated in Alabi (2007) include the following: Quotation marks, ellipsis period,
hyphens, contracted forms, special structures, the full stop, the colon, the comma,
the semicolon, the question mark, the dash, lower case letters, gothic and bold
print, spacing, italics etc. In this research work, the graphological devices to be
used conclude: Italics, Comma, Dash and Capitalization. Their different functions
will also be stated.
In the words of Hornby (2001) as cited in Alabi (2010, p.17) italics are
“printed letters that lean to the right.” Italics are mostly employed to achieve
clarity or to demarcate terms and expressions that are out of tune with the general
tenor of discourse (Alabi, 2007, p.174).
Mallett (2005, p.63) views Comma as “a punctuation mark which is used to
separate different parts of a sentence where this would be helpful in making
meaning clear.” Comma is generally employed to separate sentential elements and
it is also employed for a very short pause (Alabi, 2007, p.172). Also, Mallet
(2005, p.87) views dash as “a punctuation mark which signals either a pause or an
aside or which separates data”.
Mallet (2005, p.40) views capitalization as, “the consistent use of capital
letters to begin the first word of a sentence and the first letter of a proper name.”
Capital letters are basically used for proper nouns, for the beginning of first and
22
last names, for titles, in acronyms among others. Capitalization in literary texts
have foregrounding effects when some words, phrases or expressions are
capitalized is certain places.
2.4.2
Morphology
Adedimeji and Alabi (2003, p.38) say that “Morphology is the linguistic
investigation of the combination of morphemes.” Also, Aronoff and Fudemen
(2005, pp.1-2) define morphology as “the mental system involved in word
formation or to the branch of linguistics that deals with words, their internal
structure and how they are formed.” Morphology therefore refers to the study of
the structure of word forms.
The word formation or morphological processes in English are affixation,
compounding, conversion, blending, acronyms, reduplications, borrowing,
coinages, etc. In this work, the word formation processes that will be examined
are acronyms and compounding.
Wales (2001, p.4) describes acronym as “… word formation by which
words and especially names are formed from the initial letters of a group of
words.” Also, Wales (2001, p.74) describes compounding as “a productive means
of word formation in English, two lexical items are combined to make a new one
which is regarded as a single fixed unit, often with a meaning different from its
(separate) ‘parts’ ”.
From the above submissions, acronyms and compounding are word
23
formation processes which deal with how words are formed by using first letter of
words on the one hand or by combining two or more words together on the other
hand.
2.4.3
Syntax
According to Horrocks (1987, p.24), “Syntax is concerned with the
principles according to which words can be combined to form larger meaningful
units, and by which such larger units can be combined to form sentences”. From
his submission, syntax deals with how words can be merged to form meaningful
units which can be phrases, clauses or sentences.
Syntax, in the words of Lyons (1970) cited in Olujide (2007, p.41) is
derived from a Greek word that means ‘placing together’. He adds that “it refers
to the level at which the linguist accounts for the way words are put together to
form sentences”. From his opinion, syntax deals with how words are combined
together to form sentences. From the various submissions above, syntax generally
deals with how words are structured within a sentence. Examples of the syntactic
stylistic devices are: parallelism, antithesis, anastrophe etc. In this essay,
parenthesis, anaphora and polyptoton shall be used in the analysis.
Alabi (2007, p.163) observes that parenthesis “entails insertion of some
verbal unit (extra-information, an afterthought or a comment) in a position that
interrupts the normal syntactical flow of the sentence”. Parenthesis gives
24
additional information or message and it is usually separated from the rest of
words or phrases using commas, brackets or even dashes.
Anaphora and polyptoton involve repetition of words or phrases.
According to Wales (2001, p.19), “Anaphora involves repetition of the same word
at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences or verses” while Polyptoton, on
the other hand, “repeats word derived from the same roots”. (Alabi 2007, p.163).
2.4.4
Lexico-semantics
“The word ‘lexis’ is used as a more general technical term for vocabulary
or diction” (Wales 2001, p.247). Lexis is the sum total of words in a particular
language. Lobner (2002, p.3) defines semantics as “the part of linguistics that is
concerned with meaning”. Therefore, combining ‘lexis’ and ‘semantics’ give
lexico-semantics. Lexico- semantics is the study of the relationship between the
lexicon of a particular language and the various semantic relationships. In this
essay, aspects of lexico-semantics that will be our concern are ‘proverb’,
‘figurative expressions’, ‘archaic or deviant words’, and ‘kinship terms’.
Proverbs are “short popular saying embodying a general truth, sometimes
in metaphorical language. Proverbs seem common to most cultures and ages.
They represent homely wisdom, when they are transmitted orally” (Gray1984,
p.167). “Simile is a figure of speech where two concepts are imaginatively and
descriptively compared” (Wales 2001, p.338). Deviation refers to “divergence in
25
frequency from a norm or the statistical average” (Wales 2001, p103) while
Kinship terms are “kinds of titles or proper names that, often come in two quite
distinct sets, one for use in address (as vocative in second person usage) and the
other for use in Reference (i.e. referring to individuals in third person role)”
(levinson1983, p.70)
2.5
Cohesion
Cohesion is also one of the elements that will be examined in this essay.
Wales (2001, p.65) says that cohesion refers to the “means (phonological,
grammatical, lexical, semantic) of linking sentences into larger units (paragraphs,
chapters, etc), i.e. of making them stick together”. Also, Thompson (2004, p.179)
asserts that “cohesion refers to the linguistic devices by which the speakers can
signal the experiential and interpersonal coherence of the text.” Osisanwo, (2008,
p.28) sees the term as “the linguistic means by which a text functions as a single
unit”. Cohesion is viewed here as a way whereby text comes together to act as an
entity.
Cohesion is created in English as Conjunction, Reference, Ellipsis and
Substitution and Lexical Cohesion. Thus we shall proceed on our review of the
ways by which cohesion is created in English following Halliday and Matthiessen
(2004).
26
(1)
Reference
According to Halliday and Matthiessen, “Reference is a relationship in
meaning.” It creates cohesion by creating links between elements. The basic
distinction is between pointing ‘outwards’ and pointing ‘inwards’ between
‘exophora’ and ‘endophora’. In their words, the basic distinction between
exophora and endophora are their different directions of pointing. While exophora
points to ‘references in the environment outside the text’, endophora point to
‘references introduced in the text itself before or after the reference expression’
(p.533).
In this work, we shall be considering personal and demonstrative
references.
(a)
Personal reference
In the words of Halliday and Matthiessen (p.554), “In personal reference,
the category of person is used to refer”. The personal reference items in English
are either ‘determinative’ (he, she, it they, him, her and them) or ‘possessive’ (his,
her, its, theirs). The personal reference items are usually used to achieve
anaphoric reference. In short, personal reference items help create ‘co-reference in
terms of the category of person’.
(b)
Demonstrative reference
Halliday and Matthiessen(p.556) listed out Demonstrative items which
include: This/that and these/those. Demonstrative reference can either be used
27
anaphorically or cataphorically.
In their words, “the basic sense of ‘this’ and ‘that’ is one of proximity.
‘This’ refers to something that is ‘near’ while ‘that’ refers to something that is not
‘near’. Also, the locative demonstratives ‘here’ and ‘there’ are used as reference
items while the temporal demonstratives ‘now’ and ‘then’ also serve as reference
items. In short, demonstrative reference item set up a relation of ‘co-reference’.
(11)
Ellipsis and substitution
Halliday and Matthiessen observed that ellipsis and substitution operate at
the level of wording. According to them, ellipsis and substitution can be
interpreted as a systemic variant. There are three main contexts for ellipsis and
substitution in English. These are (a) The clause (b) The verbal group (c) The
nominal group.
(a)
Ellipsis and substitution in the clause
In the words of Halliday and Matthiessen, “Ellipsis in the clause is related
to mood”. They are in two kinds: Yes/no ellipsis and the WH-ellipsis.
(1)
Yes/no ellipsis: The Yes/No ellipsis can either be the whole clause or part
of the clause. It is in the whole clause if “The answer may involve ellipsis
of the whole clause.” On the other hand, it is in the part of the clause “if
just a part of the clause is ellipse”. This type is also known as ‘Residue’.
28
(2)
WH-ellipsis: The WH-ellipsis, just like the yes/no ellipsis can be in two
parts: The whole clause and part of the clause. It is in the whole clause if
the “WH -sequence in the entire clause is omitted except for the WHelement itself, or the item that is the response to the WH-element”. On the
other hand, WH- ellipsis is part of the clause “if the word elements are left
in and only the residue is ellipsed.”
In sum, the clausal ellipsis or substitution occurs typically in a dialogue
sequence where in a response turn everything is omitted expect the informationbearing element (Halliday and Matthiessen2004, p.567).
(b)
Ellipsis and substitution in the verbal group
Ellipsis in the verbal group occurs when the “mood element is present but
the residue omitted”. This means that the predicate will be ellipsed together with
the rest of the residue.
For example: have a siesta! – I can’t (have a siesta).
From the above example, there is no need to repeat ‘Have a siesta’ again.
This is because it has already been mentioned earlier.
Substitution in the verbal group occurs by the means of the verb ‘do’
which can substitute for any verb provided it is active not passive expect ‘be’ and
in some context, ‘Have’ (p.567).
29
(c)
Ellipsis and substitution in the nominal group
Ellipsis in the Nominal group occurs when “an element other than the
Thing could function as Head. Substitution in the Nominal group on the other
hand, usually substitutes for any count noun and the nominal substitute is ‘one’.
111
Conjunction
According to Halliday and Matthiessen (2004, p.549), the system of
conjunction is “a resource for marking transition in the unfolding of a text.” It
includes both conjunction proper and continuity. They identified what they called
‘system of conjunctions’ which they classified as, ‘elaboration’, ‘extension’ and
‘enhancement’.
In their opinion, elaborating conjunctions are into two categories (i)
apposition and (ii) clarification. It is appositive if some elements are “re-presented
or restated, either (i) by exposition, the ‘i.e.’ relation, or (ii) by example, the ‘e.g.’
relation”. Examples of appositive conjunction are “in other words,” ‘that is”, for
example” among others.
In clarifying conjunction, “The elaborated element is not simply restated
but reinstated, summarized, made more precise or in some other way clarified for
purposes of the discourse”. Examples include: “in particular”, “as I was saying”,
“actually”, “in fact”, “in conclusion”, “more especially” etc.
On the other hand, extensive conjunction involves either “addition or
30
variation”. Extensive conjunction includes the following: “And”, “But”, “More
over”, “Now”, “Yet” “However”, “instead”, “expect for that” among others.
Enhancing conjunctions create cohesion by (a) spatio-temporal, (b)
manner (c) causal-conditional and (d) matter. Examples of each are: “them”,
‘likewise”, “so” and “here” respectively. Conjunction, therefore, is a resource for
marking textual status” (p.549).
1V
Lexical cohesion
According to Halliday and Matthiessen, lexical cohesion operates within
the “lexis and is achieved through the choice of lexical items”. In other words, “a
speaker or writer creates cohesion in discourse through the choice of lexical
items”. The types of lexical relation are: repetition, synonymy, hyponymy,
meronymy and collocates. The lexical relations that will be our concern in this
essay are: (i) Repetition (ii) Collocation (iii) Hyponymy (iv) and Meronymy.
Repetition is “the most direct form of lexical cohesion” (Halliday and
Matthiessen). Hyponymy just like repetition, has elaborating relations. Hyponymy
has a general sense which is ‘be a kind of’ (Halliday and Matthiessen 2004). On
the other hand, Meronymy deal with extending relations and has a general sense
which is ‘be a part of’. According to them, hyponymy and meronymy often work
together in the development of text. Collocation is an instance of lexical cohesion
which does not “depend on any general semantic relationship, but rather on a
31
particular association between the item in question – a tendency to co-occur”
(Halliday and Matthiessen2004, p.576-577).
2.6
SUMMARY
We have so far in this chapter reviewed the variables in this research topic.
The stylistic tools reviewed include: graphology, morphology, syntax, lexicosemantics and cohesion. In the next chapter, we shall analyze our data using the
reviewed tools.
32
CHAPTER THREE
Stylistic Elements in Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked
3.1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter uses the reviewed stylistic devices in chapter two to analyze
Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked. These tools are: graphology, morphology, syntax,
lexico-semantics, and cohesion.
3.2
Graphology
The graphological devices employed by the author are italics, comma,
dash and capitalization.
3.2.1. Italics
Italics are employed in the text to separate odd, foreign words, thoughts,
etc from the body of discussion. Italics are employed is the novel in four different
Ways:
(a) Stream of consciousness: This is found in seven different occasions in the
novel and it is used either to reveal the inner thoughts of a particular
character or to reveal the general inner thoughts of characters in a
particular occasion in the novel. Examples from the data include:
That cold morning a down raid, an arrest,
whisked off to a police station
33
from the House on the South West London
finding up in detention centre (p.14).
This thought was
from Nneoma, who on getting to the airport was
accosted by a “Woman in a blue uniform” (p.13). Her encounter with the police
officer made her to remember her ordeal with the police officers in London.
There is another case on (p. 134)
Time stool still
Memory stirred the soul
the mind re-lived the agony
that would not pass.
That could not fade
Though time the pain had dulled
… Heals all wounds.
In the above extract, Nneoma, after sharing her trafficked experience in
Europe with Efe felt relieved.
Also, there is another stream of consciousness in: ‘The Young woman
strides into the compound, her head held high. She is wearing low-heeled shoes
and a stylish high-neck A- line dress, humorously called ‘Don’t dirty’ by fashion
designers… to the next lecture” (p.289-240). This thought is also from Nneoma
who fantasizes of being an undergraduate in a University.
Another case of stream of consciousness is seen when Nneoma, after a
34
very long time of absence from home, visited her family.
Words of love
dripping with mercy
unsullied by recrimination
freed from fear and wrong
charged with the fuel of joy
welcoming the lost and found (p. 249).
This thought reveals how Nneoma’s family members felt when they saw
her. It reveals that her family felt happy and relieved of their worries over the
‘lost’ daughter which has now been ‘found’.
(b)
To foreground foreign words and expression
Foreign words are basically used on three occasions in the novel. Example
of are:
“Persona non grata” (p.7)
“ “ Puta Puta!” (p.130)
Aluta continua!” (p.172)
(c)
For Local Food
Italics are also employed in the text to indicate local foods. The author
uses local foods which cut across the Igbo and the Yoruba Language.
35
Examples in the Data include:
Yoruba local foods
“bole”(p.24)
“Egusi”(p.149)
“Guguru and bole”(p.190)
“akara and pap”(p.210)
Igbo local foods
“onye”(p.25)
“okpo and asa”(p.35)
“oha”(p.149)”
“ukpo”(p.169)
“utazi and igbaka”(p.248)
Local foods are italicized not only to indicate that they are not English
words but also to show that they are words applicable a particular geographical
setting in the environment in which the author writes. Also, local foods are used
to indicate the nativity of the writer.
(d)
For Code Mixing
Code mixing involves the mixing of two or more languages. In this text,
the author basically mixed some words from Igbo and Yoruba Language with that
of English. Examples include:
36
“…but one made from local adire material” (p.22).
“…he wouldn’t want to become the next ozonkwu”
(p.22 ).
“When the priest of arusi protested,…” (p.39).
“Every effort the umunna made in the part to
achieve peace has failed”. (p.81).
“Hannah decided to trade in okrika …” (p.207).
“Hannah thanked her chi…” (p.210).
“Nneoma, who had taken a kabu kabu – private
car…” (p.243).
“… You look smashing in that ankara uniform…”
(p. 265).
The italicized words are Igbo and Yoruba words respectively. Code
mixing in the text indicates the characters’ knowledge of their L1 (mother tongue).
(e)
For Igbo Proverb: proverbs, which are short, wise-saying, are
extensively used in the novel. However, there is a particular proverb which the
author indicates as ‘Igbo proverb’ (p.238).
“A person who wants to confuse a fly climbs a tree to fart”.
The author italicized and indicates this proverb as an Igbo proverb to foreground
37
that it is different from all the other proverbs in the novel which are not mostly
italicized.
3.2.2. Comma
Comma is generally used to separate words, phrases, etc in a sentence.
However, in this text, Comma is used not only as a punctuation mark to separate
different parts of a sentence, but also to differentiate and explain deviant words
from English words. The author uses it twenty-two times in this novel thereby,
making it foregrounded. Examples are below.
“What is the justice in a situation where a man with
Ibi, the scrotum disease, is also burdened with afootuto, a distended belly?” (p.44).
“… he was destined to be ozo nkwu, a palm trampler,
onye na-azo nkwu”. (p. 31)
“Nneoma whispered deficiantly to arusi Oroura, the
ihite- Agu god of sleep” (p. 73)
“You may have paid the bride price but you’ve not done
the Igba nkwu, the wine-carrying ceremony”(p.74).
“He had climbed the tall palm with his bare hands,
without, ete, the special rope used to climb palm
38
trees”.
(p.76).
“Odi egwu, it’s terrible…”(p.197).
“It is not a matter of Ife Chukwu n’ime nmuo,
worshipping God in spirit and in truth any longer,
but…” (p.275).
“…the little bird, nza who challenged his…”(p.279)
“He has opposed her being subjected to this indignity but the
Umuada, daughters of the extended family, had resisted
him…”(p.294).
“Ndo nu, sorry.” (p.302).
The underlined words are the deviant words, which the author uses comma
to separate from English expressions.
3.2.3
Dash
A dash is punctuation mark that is usually longer than a hyphen. Dashes
are usually used in any literary piece to emphasize the information that has been
given earlier. However, in this text, the author uses dashes not only to emphasize
information, but also to explain the meaning of local words and expressions
earlier mentioned. The author uses it in at least four places in the novel. Examples
include.
“He called her ‘Nne’ – a short form of her name, which also
39
meant ‘mother’ ” (p.74).
“Lebechi, your daughter and our wife has become the
proverbial Ezeonyeagwanam–the one who listens to no
one, God or Man” (p.215).
“…Ihite– Agu youths and a few amaala – worshippers of
traditional religion” (p.220).
Lebechi wore nothing expect her patari – a waist slip
Ihite-Agu women wore next to their skin …” (p.227).
All the underlined words above are not English words but the author,
through the use of dashes, explains their meanings thereby making it less difficult
for non-Igbo speakers to understand.
3.2.4
Capitalization
Capital letters are used in the text for:
(i)Emphasis and (ii) Inscription
(1)
For Emphasis: capitalization is used to emphasize some words and
expressions in the novel and it is used in at least seven places in the text.
Examples:
“EASIER SAID THAN DONE!” (p.6)
The author uses it to buttress Nneoma’s point on the rate at which
misfortune had befallen her family.
“SILENCE” (p. 28)
40
It is capitalized to show the degree and extent at which Ofomata didn’t
respond to Dr. Komolafe’s call.
“BOTH”(p.104)
It is used to stress Ofomata’s point as to those perceived as the causes of
the problem in the country.
“OWN” (p.237)
“I’M IN LOVE” (p.237)
“OWN” is capitalized to show the fact that Efe is indeed using her mobile
phone to call her friend, Nneoma. Also, “I’M IN LOVE” is capitalized to show
the seriousness and sincerity in what Efe is telling Nneoma. i.e. to show that she is
truly in love with Nosa.
“PAUSE (p.286)
It is capitalized to stress the fact that the network is bad and both of them
cannot hear each other very well.
“SCREAM”
“ANOTHER SCREAM” (p.287)
It is capitalized to show that Efe is surprised and shocked about the bad
news Nneoma told her.
(ii)
Inscription: It is used in four different places in the novel
“HUMAN TRAFFICKING IS THE MOVEMENT
OF PEOPLE FROM PLACE TO PLACE, WITHIN
41
AND ACROSS BORDERS AND THROUGH
FORCE, COERCION OR
INTO
SITUATION
DECEPTION AND
INVOLVING
THEIR
ECONOMIC AND SEXUAL EXPLOITATION”
(p. 56).
“NIGERIAN
WRITERS
REMEMBER
KEN
SARO – WIWA” (P.122)
“MISSING CAT
NAME:
DESCRIPTION” (p.305)
“200 POUNDS REWARD”(p.306)
Capitalization is employed in the above for inscription. The sentences are
inscribed to foreground not only that they are different and distinct from what
have been said earlier but also to show that they pass a particular and most
important messages across to the readers.
3.3
Morphology: The word formation processes employed in the text are
(i) compounding and (ii) acronyms.
3.3.1
Compounding
A compound word is made when two words are joined to form a new
42
word. In other words, compounding entails the combination of two or more words
so as to function as a new word with a different meaning. The two types of
compounding identified by Osundare (1983) as cited in Alabi (2007, p.166) are
unhyphenated and hyphenated compounding.
In this text, the author extensively uses hyphenated compounding as there
are over seventy places in which it is used in the novel. Examples are:
“Middle-aged” (p.17)
“Two-year” (p.167)
“Dark-skinned” (p.19)
“Secretary-general”(p.175)
“Father-in-law” (p.78)
“Middle-class” (p.187)
“Head-hunters” (p.111)
“Re-established” (p.195)
“Fun-seekers”(p.118)
“Start-up”(p.208)
“Vice-president” (p.138)
“Laughing-stock”(p.220)
“Red-handed” (p.146)
“Motor-park”(p.251)
“Second-hand” (p.148)
“Break-neck”(p.251)
“Self-destruction”(p.152)
“Broad-minded” (p.274)
“Gap-toothed” (p.166)
“Food-warmers” (p.296)
Hyphenated compounding is employed to merge two different words to
form a single word.
43
3.3.2. Acronym
Acronym is another word formation process that is used is this text. The numbers
of acronym used is eleven. Examples include:
“OYCSO” (p.23)
“HND”
(p. 33)
“NGO”
(p.51)
“UNICEF” (p.54)
“HIV/AIDS” (p.65)
“MOSOP” (p. 122)
“WON” (p.122)
“JAMB” (p. 165)
“MOPOL” (p.175)
“SSS”
(p. 186)
Acronyms are used to provide short forms of words and phrases.
3.4.
Lexis and syntax
Lexis and syntax will be combined together to form marked lexico-
syntactic patterns. The marked lexico-syntactic features employed in the text are:
parenthesis, anaphora and polyptoton.
44
3.4.1
Parenthesis
Parenthesis entails inserting of a comment that departs from the theme of
discourse, extra information or a comment. There are about thirty-three cases of
parenthesis in the text. Examples are:
“She, the young woman, and some fifteen girls (without
passport, without any identification) were the last to
disembark.” (p.2).
“There was a time when people (- especially her father and
mother-) had thought the sun resided in her smile” (p.7)
“If he’ll take his father’s place (-as it has been rumoured-)
as the next ozo nkwu in ihite-Agu, how them can be
become born again?” (p.21).
“A coaster bus marked ‘Oasis Youth Centre for skills
Development’ (-OYCSO-) was parked some distance
away” (p.23).
“This was a weakness (-if indeed it was a weakness-)
which he had learned to live with” (p.36).
“After eight days (-two market weeks-) had passed, the
extended family…” (p.112).
“The Registrar (- a stocky man in his early fifties-) was
seated at the podium…”(p.139).
45
“When her parents objected to her marrying prophet Elias
(- who is any case was not prepared to pay a bride price on
her head-) Hannah took her fate in her own hands.” (p.
170).
“She has re-established contact with her family some time
before (-unlike Nneoma-) and so it was convenient and
logical to return home.” (p. 195).
“You adore this man (-the feeling is mutual-) and you are
not just a passive observer, for you too are exploring, just
like him”. (p. 236).
“Nneoma, who had taken a Kabukabu (-a private car that
operated as a taxi-) to the coach station…” (p. 243).
“His mother has insisted that whenever they were at home (Ezeozo, inine, their sister, and herself-) they all ate
together with her and their father” (p.259).
“When the tenth and last winning number (-50-) was
announced Alhaji Ogundipe raised his hand” (p.268).
“I know his type (-give in to me or be booted out-) was that
it? (p.289).
“His uncle (-his father’s younger brothers-) and another
male from the extended family sat next to Ubeku and
46
Madika respectively” (p.292).
The words and phrases that are bracketed indicate cases of additional
information added to the sentences. The added information is used to focus the
reader’s attention to what has already been said.
3.4.2
Anaphora
Anaphora consists of repeating a sequence of words or phrase at the
beginnings of successive clauses or sentences. Anaphora employed in this text is
nine. The examples are below:
“…without hesitation, without protest” (p.3)
“Be patient, be happy (p.6)
“… a time past, a time lost.” (p.7)
“you will remain in this condition until further
notice. You will have no relations with any
member of the extended family.” (p.115).”
“We will not rejoice with you or weep with you.
We Will neither eat nor drink with you.”(p.115).
“That would not pass”
That could not fade” (p.134-135)
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained” (p.162)
“Would things get better? Would peace and love
cohabit again in this ngwuru?” (p.259).
47
The underlined words show the cases of Anaphora. Anaphora is used not
only to establish a marked rhythm between sequence of phrases and clauses, but
also for emphasis.
3.4.3
Polyptoton
Polyptoton entails the repetition of words that are derived from the same
root but have different endings. In the data, cases of polyptoton are found in seven
places and they are below:
“Hope, Hopelessness” (p.12)
“gods, goddess”(p.59)
“Tailoring, tailor” (p.67)
“Laughter, laughed” (p.136)
“Homelessness, homeless” (p.241)
“Madman, madness” (p.146)
“Smiled, smile” (p.136)
Polyptoton is used for emphasis of words in the examples cited above.
3.5
Lexico- semantics
3.5.1
Proverbs
According to Meider (1993, p.14) proverb is “a concise statement of an
apparent truth that has (had, or will have) some currency among the
48
people.” In other words, a proverb is a succinct saying that is true and
relate to people.
In the text, the use of proverbs is paramount. The author uses
close to thirty proverbs. Instances of proverbs in our research data include:
“A foolish children overlooked the knife that cuts
its throat and got angry with the pot cooking it
(p.4).
“A woman who neglect or disrespect her husband
will become destitute” (p.9).
“If a visitor is not offered a seat, he will attract
more visitors for his host” (p.30).
“A man with shallow breath is better than a man
with no breath at all” (p.41).
“A cricket hides in a corner when a bigger creature
invades its hole” (p.44).
“Everyday belongs to the thief but one day
belongs to the owner of the house” (p.145).
“How could a drunk remain sober while a
teetotaller reels with drunkenness” (p.153).
“ Good fruit takes time to ripen, bad fruit ripens
prematurely” (p.171).
49
“A child who is carried on his mother’s back does
not feel the stress of a long walk” (p.176).
“Legs that fly like a shooting star must realize that
eyes that flash like lighting are watching” (p.181).
“ All lizard lie flat in the ground, it is impossible to
tell which of is suffering from belly ache’ (p.204).
“It is not every fruit that is good to the eye that is
good for the belly” (p.208).
“Trouble is like a wasps’ nest: it is not wise to
meddle with it”. (p.278).
As cited above, in the text, we have occurrences of proverbs which all
help is decoding meanings in the text. These proverbs showcase the style of the
author as a factor of her sociolinguistic environment. Also, the language
employed by the author in the novel is enriched by the use of proverbs. The use
of proverbs by the author also proves the success with which Akachi uses
proverb as a stylistic device in her novel.
3.5.2
Simile
Simile, which is a situation in which two unlike things are compared using
markers such as ‘like’ and ‘as’ is also employed in the text. Cases of simile in the
text are:
50
“Shooting its rays like a machine gun” (p.1)
“Facing them would be like swimming in a river
full of crocodiles” (p.4).
“…he gnashed his teeth like a goat chewing the
cud” (p.41).
“He watched the man’s Adam’s apple bobbling
like a canary pecking ants” (p.32).
“The wind howled like Satan when God expelled
him from heaven” (p.115).
… dripping like a leaking roof” (p.216).
“He’s like a madman whose madness has carried
him to the market place, making a cure
impossible” (p.146).
“… Stretching itself like the neck of a giraffe and
curving its multi-coloured body like a python”.
(p.290).
Simile is employed in the text to create vivid images in the minds
of the readers.
3.5.3
Deviant words
In our data, many lexical items from Nigerian languages mostly in ‘Igbo’
51
and ‘Yoruba’ languages were employed. The use of these languages especially
‘Igbo’ in the text is to foreground the nativity of the writer. The author uses about
eighty words and expressions that are from these two languages in the three
hundred and eleven pages text. Examples from our data are:
Igbo
English Meaning
“Ozo nkwu” (p.31)
A palm tree trampler
“O di egwu-o (p.39)
It is terrible
“Chi” (p.40)
Personal god
“Odu nwa” (p.43)
Last born
“Ete” (p.76)
The special rope
used to climb palm tree
“Dibia” (p.255)
A Herbalist
“Umuada” (p.294)
Daughters of the extended family
“Egbe nduru” (p.298)
cannon
“Ndo nu”
Sorry
Yoruba
English Meaning
“Ogas” (p 22)
Bosses
“Bole” (p 24)
Roast plantain
“Adire” (p.118)
A type of traditional textile
52
“Egusi” (p 149)
A type of soup
“Guguru” (p.190)
Popcorn
“Akara” (p. 210)
Bean cake
“Kabu Kabu” (p.243)
A taxi
“Okada” (p 245)
A motorcycle
“Ankara” (p 265)
A local fabric
“Agbada” (p.272)
A type of traditional dress for males
All these words show the culture, religion, beliefs, etc of the people and
these words are local and therefore deviate from the English language.
3.5.4. Kinship terms
In our data, the use of kinship terms is also evident.
Examples include:
“My mother” (p.10)
“My little mother (p.11)
“My daughter” (p.20)
“My child” (p.20)
“Elder brother” (p.41)
“Last born” (p.43)
“First born” (p.43)
53
“My brother” (p.43)
“Brother -in-law” (p.83)
The use of the aforementioned kinship term by the author are
evident of the sociolinguistic context in which she wrote the literary text.
3.6
Cohesion
The cohesive devices employed by Adimora-Ezeigbo in Trafficked
include: reference, ellipsis and substitution, conjunction, and lexical cohesion.
1
Reference
Reference can be personal, demonstrative and comparative. However,
in this work, the one that will be our concern are personal and demonstrative
references.
(a)
Personal Anaphoric Reference
Personal anaphoric references are references that are mostly used in the
text. Examples of personal anaphoric references are underlined below:
“A young woman, who had hardly said a word throughout the
flight, stirred and pulled gently at her seat belt but she did
not unbuckle it yet”. (p.1)
“… a group of people standing on the ground, some distance
away, and thought they had been sent to arrest them… (p.4).
“To them life had continually been bitter with no sweetness
54
…” (p.5)
“Even visitors did not escape her inquisitive questions, some
of them embarrassing, to say the least” (p.7).
“Ogukwu Eke had worked hard as a clerk though he did not
consider the work challenging enough for a man of his
abilities” (p.9).
“Sometimes they made promises they did not keep” (p.14)
“She often imagined their shock at her disappearance “(p.20).
“He pressed her to him so hard that she cried out” (p.75)
“Kelvin had studied fashion designing at the Yaba College of
Technology before he started working in his father’s highclass tailoring business” (p.231).
In the above examples, the underlined personal anaphoric references are:
She/he, he/His, they/ them and their. Each one of them is used to refer to what has
already been said or mentioned earlier.
(b)
Demonstrative Anaphoric Reference
Demonstratives are introduced in the text through This/ that, these/ those.
Examples include:
“If those two thought they would be allowed to stay, they
were greatly mistaken” (p.4).
55
“Those” from the above refer to the two girls that were crying and shouting
when they were about leaving Heathrow.
“But these things were not voiced, for a woman’s wealth
belonged to her husband…” (p.9).
“These” refer to what has already been mentioned that “Adaeze, an
energetic market trader, brought in more income” than her husband.
“He’s crazy about these celebrities” (p.61).
“These” refer to celebrities like ‘Sunny Ade’ Onyeka Onwenu’, ‘Kalu Nwankwu’,
‘Austin Okoha’, Saint Obi’ and Genevieve.
‘She was called Madam Dollar. I don’t know if this is
her real name, but that was what…” (p.15).
“This/that” are used to refer anaphorically to Madam Dollar.
“This was not what she truly wanted.” (p.90)
“This refers back to “tailor”
“Those victims--why did they die?” (p.93)
“These” refer back to the people that were reported dead in the news.
“Occasionally bundles of textiles were donated and these
would be distributed to the girls” (p.96).
“These” refer back to the” bundles of textiles”
“It was never sorted out and her family…” (p.69).
It” refers back to the disagreement between Ezeoze Eke, and Ogukwe about
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Ogukwe and his family moving into the house which both parties built but the
disagreement did not halt.
“It has been on television since yesterday night” (p.91).
“It” refers to the news about how Muslims rioters attacked churches in
Maiduguri”.
“It asked young men and women who wished to work
abroad to come to a certain address to be interviewed”
(p.99).
“It” here refers to the advertisement in the newspaper which Efe saw.
Demonstrative anaphoric reference is indicated above through “there, those, this,
that, and it” and they are used to refer to their antecedents.
(c)
Demonstrative Cataphoric Reference:
‘“What’s the name of this ‘madam’ who took you to Italy?
(p.13).
“Where had she been hiding all these years? It had been
six years or little less since she disappeared without a
trace” (p.35).
“They are preparing for the singing competition, so they
have longer practices this week” (p. 45).
“These people, said to be members of the Ihite-Agu
Evangelical Mission, sacked a village…” (p 59).
57
“Without the help of this young woman who fetched you,
I would probably have gone back without seeing you.”
(p.60).
“This is an update on the religious riots…” (p.90)
“This yam is hard…,” (p.164).
“What is the mad woman of Ihite-Agu saying this
morning”? (p. 181).
“Here are the news headlines…” (p.262).
“This is a day of rejoicing not of tears…” (p.249)
In the above examples, the underlined words are referring forward to the
information that immediately followed them. Demonstrative anaphoric references
in short refer forward pieces of information that have not been stated.
11
Ellipsis and substitution
According to Halliday and Matthiessen(2004), Ellipsis and substitution
have three main contexts (i) the clause, (ii) the verbal group and, (iii) the Nominal
group.
Ellipsis at the clausal level
(a)Yes/No Ellipsis: examples of Ellipsis in the data are:
“And you don’t have any identification documents with
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you”? (p16)
“ No, I don’t.”
( part of clause )
“Make I call onye mango for you?” (p. 26)
“No”
(whole clause )
“Efe, did you see yourself on the screen?” (p. 59)
“No”
(whole clause)
“I often wonder why she doesn’t leave we’ve been told
often enough that we’re free… at least for now.” (p.67).
“Yes”
(whole clause)
“Aren’t we going to watch your father? (p.76)
“Yes”
(whole clause)
“Aren’t you going to church? (p. 88)
“No, I’m not”
(part of clause)
“Lebechi, did you and your son refund to Ogukwe,
your late Husband’s brother, the money he spent on
treating his daughter at hospital, as you were
instructed by Umunna?” (p.114).
“No”
(whole clause)
“Did you prepare a meal with good chicken for
Ogukwe? (p 14)
“No, I have not.”
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(part of clause)
“Have, either of you seen it? (p. 130-131)
“No, I haven’t
( part of clause )
“This yam is hard… it is not properly cooked” (p.164)
“Yes”
(whole clause)
“By the way, do you know if he’s been arrested?” (p. 205)
“No”.
( whole clause)
“Have you finished your course in Lagos you told
us about last time you were here?” (p. 223).
“No”
(whole clause)
The above are examples of Yes/No Ellipsis
(b)
Wh-Ellipsis
“What’s the name of the man who brought you to the UK?” (p. 15)
“Baron”
(whole clause)
Substitution
(a )
Substitution at the clausal level
Examples of the use of substitution include the following:
“It was not usual for her to write a will – even if she were
to do so, everything would automatically go to the
widower…” (p.9).
“This proverbial saying holds way today and will continue
to do so for ever” (p.9).
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“Do you think Ofomata will ever become born again?”
“I don’t think so” (p.21).
“Get out and knock again. And come in only when you
hear me say so” (p.27).
“But I’m already your wife. You have paid my bride price;
you said so yourself.”(p.75).
“So” from the above examples act as substitutes for ‘if she were to write a will’
“hold sway’, ‘that he will ever become born again’, ‘come in’, and ‘I’m already
your wife’ respectively.
(b)
Substitution at the Nominal Group
“I fare like the unfortunate Onyika, who had two useless
knives− the one with a handle was blunt and the sharp one
had no handle at all” (p. 40).
“One” substitutes ‘knife’
“A weak husband is better than a dead one, is he not?”
(p.119).
“One” substitutes ‘husband’
“The other one is occupied by a student who is a relation of
mine” (p. 307).
“One” substitutes ‘room’
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(c)
Substitution at the verbal Group
“You know how people longed to leave the country, especially
during the military regime. They still do, don’t they?” (p.99)
“Do” here replaces, “people still longed to leave the country”
“Did you hear what I said?” (p.194)
“Yes, I did”
“did” here replaces, “heard what you said”
From the above given example, the author uses the Yes/No ellipsis than any other
type of ellipsis and substitution.
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Conjunction
Conjunction can be elaborating, extending or enhancing. Examples of
conjunctions in our data are:
(a)
Extensive Conjunction:
“The landing was smooth and safe” (p. 1)
“She grew up a loved and cherished child in a peaceful
home…”(p.8)
“What stops Ofomata from remaining a Christian if he
becomes the next Ozo Nkwu? But we are not even sure
he will take his father’s place” (p. 21).
“Ofomata knocked and waited” (p. 27).
“But he was not struggling, he told himself” (p. 29).
62
“I’m sorry, sir, but I had to travel home for personal
reasons” (p. 31)
“Yet, it secured only yesterday…" (p. 36).
“…Yet it did not seem he had seen the last of it” (p. 41)
“He bought women and sold them regularly” (p. 135)
“I can even go and return to Benin the same day” (p.
194).
Extensive conjunctions join two syntactic categories to create cohesion.
(b)
Enhancing Conjunction
“Then she hurried away, shielding her face” (p. 19)
“Civilians were back is power now but little had changed really,
he thought” (p. 35).
“I had better get going then” (p. 37)
“Now his wife and children insisted the house… (p. 43)
“Now we’re having to move…” (p. 69)
“Then he took consolation is alcohol” (p. 71)
“she left with so much hope and aspiration, now she was returning
in shame and hopelessness” (p. 12).
“… So they have longer practices this week” (p. 45).
“Just then, his niece…” (p. 212)
Enhancing conjunctions are employed for text-creating cohesive devices.
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(c)
Elaborating Conjunction
“In fact, he would grab the child and hug her” (p. 10)
“In fact, was Ohaka still in Lagos?”(p.21)
“When Ofomata did not say anything, he continues, “I need
at least two” (p. 32).
“At least, it meant that one of his headache had been
removed” (p.148)
“At least, she wouldn’t have… vegetables” (p. 207)
“I thought you had gone; in fact, I forget all about you”
(p.30).
“In fact, I wonder if there is any trade or small business that
provides enough income in this country. (p. 67).
Elaborating conjunctions are employed to expand and explain the
information that is given earlier. In short, they are used for addition of semantic
meaning.
1V
Lexical Cohesion
Under the lexical cohesion, repetition, hyponym, meronymy and
collocation will be discussed.
(a)
Repetition: Repetition at this level can either be exact repetition or
Polyptoton. While exact repetition entails full repetition of words, polyptoton
repeats word from the same roots. However, the examples that will be given below
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will be exact repetition since examples on polyptoton has earlier been given (see
3.3.3).Examples of exact repetitions are underlined below:
“Hannah, living with prophet Elias without any
bride price paid on her head, Hannah, joining the
gang that destroyed the shrine of arusi Udo;
Hannah, abandoning her parents and siblings and
…” (p. 44).
“Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock” (p.114).
“Solidarity for ever”
Solidarity forever!
Solidarity forever!” (p. 172)
One love, keep us together
One love, keep us together” (p.280)
All the aforementioned are examples of exact repetition. Words are
basically repeated for emphasis.
(b)
Collocation
The use of Collocate is also evident in our data. In the text, the author uses
nineteen collocates and examples include the following:
“Morning or evening” (p.1)
“Far and near” (p.2)
“Sister and brother” (p.7)
65
“Man or woman” (p. 14)
“Fear and Panic” (p. 14)
“White or black” (p. 15)
“Press and Television” (p. 18)
“Standing or sitting” (p. 35)
“Men and Women” (p. 40)
“True or False” (p. 40)
“Kith and kin” (p. 91))
“Bought and sold” (p. 135)
“Lived or died” (p. 220)
“Wife or husband” (p. 230)
“Coffee or tea” (p. 240)
“Life and Death” (p. 243)
“Up and down” (p. 244)
“Father and mother” (p. 248)
“Bread and Butter” (p. 282)
Collocates are employed in our data to obtain clarity of words in sentences
(c)
Hyponymy
Hyponymy which is a term used to refer to class membership has the
following examples as its co-hyponym in our data.
‘Oranges, Mangoes, Bananas” (p. 25).
66
In the above example, the co-hyponyms have as its hypernym “fruits” therefore,
the examples, are types of fruits. They can be illustrated as:
Mangoes
Orange
s
Bananas
-
co- hyponyms
“Tailoring, Hair dressing, category and puffery “are co-hyponyms of ‘trade’ (p.52)
co – hyponyms
Pottering Tailoring
Hairdressing
Catering
“Machetes, cutlasses, clubs and axes “(p.58): it can be illustrated thus:
Axes
Machetes
Cutlasses
–
co-hyponyms
Clubs
Hyponymy is employed above to show the “be a kind of “ relations using
the different types of ‘fruits’, ‘trades’ and ‘weapons’ respectively as examples.
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(d)
Meronymy: In our data, meronymy can also be found. Two examples are
therefore given to illustrate meronymy.
“… which housed the administrative unit of the
University- the vice chancellor’s office; the offices of the
two deputy vice chancellors; the Registrar’s office,
Bursary; personal division, planning and consultation
services section, the students’ affair division and the
Halls of residence management board’.
The underlined words above are holonyms of the word “the
university”.
Another example is found on (p. 236).
“You watch a part of his body rear like a cobra… Now,
close your eyes… hands…face…Jaw…lips pursue a
course down and up the hills and valleys of your neck
and chest, ... meanwhile his figure and yours works
them selves into frenzy…
The underlined words above are holonyms of parts of the body.
meronymy is thus employed to show the different parts of the administrative
units of the ‘university’ and different parts of the ‘body’ respectively thereby
showing the “be a part of “ relations.
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3.7
Findings
Adimora-Ezeigbo seems to have been motivated by the environments in
which she grew up. The combination of the rural and city environments are both
reflected in her literary text, Trafficked. Therefore, having studied the text, we
have been able to discover quite a number of things at the different levels of
stylistic devices employed.
At the Graphological level, it was discovered from our data that the author
italised all the words and expressions that are foreign to the English language
except for ‘Afo Udo’ and ‘Ihite-Agu’ which are names of a shrine and a village,
respectively. The author uses comma to separate local words from English words
and also employs dashes, not only to create a long pause after which an additional
information is given but also immediately after local words in order to explain the
English meaning of the words and expressions. The uses of all these graphological
devices by the author exhibit the high standard of the novel.
At the Morphological level, it was noticed that the author uses acronyms
and hyphenated compounding. Out of the twelve acronyms used in the novel, it
was noticed that the author only gave the full meaning of ‘OYSCO’, ‘WON’, etc
and takes for granted the full meaning of ‘SSS’ JAMB, ECOWAS’ among others.
By so doing, she believes that her readers would have had previous knowledge
about the full meaning of these words since they are words that are often used in
the everyday life. The use of over seventy compound words in the three hundred
69
and eleven-page novel reflects Ezeigbo-Akachi’s innovation and this in turn,
enhanced her style of writing.
Another finding was at the lexico-syntactic level. At this level of linguistic
analysis, it was discovered that the author employed parenthesis, polyptoton and
anaphora. The use of all these marked patterns was basically for emphasis. Also,
they help the reader with a better understanding of the content of the novel.
Furthermore, it was discovered that the author used proverbs, simile,
deviant words and kinship terms at the lexico-semantic level. In the novel, it was
discovered that the author used close to thirty proverbs. The use of proverbs shows
the Africanness of her novel. Also, it introduced the readers to the rich culture of
the African society which is the environment in which the novel was written.
Simile was employed to show a direct compassion. The use of simile therefore,
gives the reader a clear mental picture. Cases of kinship terms are also evident in
the novel. The use of ‘my little mother’, ‘my elder brother’ and ‘our wife’ is to
show the nativity of the author. Also the use of deviant local words in the novel
shows that Adimora–Ezeigbo’s environment is reflected in her novel. This is
evident in the way she deviated from English language to Igbo and Yoruba
Language respectively. The employment of proverbs, simile, deviant forms and
kinship terms all contribute to the overall development of the style of the author.
Cohesive devices employed by the author include; reference, ellipsis and
substitution, conjunction and lexical cohesion. The use of all these cohesive
70
devices help in creating links within the text.
3.8
Summary
This chapter has used the reviewed elements in chapter two to analyze our
data and also provided some findings. In the next chapter, we shall do the
summary, recommendation and conclusion.
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CHAPTER FOUR
Introduction, Summary, Recommendation and Conclusion
4.1
INTRODUCTION
This study has examined the stylistic devices employed by Akachi
Adimora-Ezeigbo in her recent novel. Therefore, this part of the research work
intends to reveal the summary, some recommendations for possible future
research on Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked and conclusion.
4.2
Summary
This research work, “A stylistic analysis of Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo’s
Trafficked has been based on some elements of stylistics such as graphology,
morphology, lexico-syntax, lexico-semantics and four cohesive devices. Chapter
one is the general introduction of the study. It discussed the statement of the
research problem, the purpose of the study, the scope of the study, the justification
of the study, the description of data and the biography of Adimora-Ezeigbo.
Chapter two provided various views on style and stylistics, some stylistic
elements such as graphology, morphology, lexico-syntax, lexico-semantics and
cohesion. Chapter three focused on data analysis using the stylistic tools that were
reviewed in chapter two and provided some findings. Among the findings in the
work were the use of italics for stream of consciousness in order to reveal the real
intention of the characters at the graphological level, the idiosyncratically use of
72
hyphenated compounding at the morphological level, the employment of marked
lexico-syntactic patterns basically for emphasis, the extensive use of proverbs to
show the africanness of the novel at the lexico-semantic level and the use of
cohesive devices to create links within the text. Chapter four, which is the last
chapter contains the summary, recommendations and conclusion.
4.3
Recommendation
Since no stylistic study has been done on Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked
before our attempt in this study, other literary and non- literary scholars may
study the text following other linguistic approaches such as pragmatics, discourse
analysis, semantics, sociolinguistics, among the others.
4.4
Conclusion
General stylistics, which is a type of analysis that focuses on literary and
non literary text, has been found to be a suitable theory for this study as it was
used to examine how linguistic tools could be used in the analysis of a literary
text using Adimora-Ezeigbo’s Trafficked as a case study. The employment of
linguistic tools espoused the style used by the author in this text. In a nutshell,
using stylistics as a tool has given an understanding, not only the meaning of
words most especially, local words used in the text, but has also enabled the
effectiveness of the use of linguistic tools in analysing literary texts.
73
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