A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF PROVERBS IN BOSEDE ADEMILUA-AFOLAYAN’S

ONCE UPON AN ELEPHANT

BY

EWEJE, AYOMIDE ELIZABETH

140321083

A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, FACULTY OF

ARTS, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF

THE BACHELOR OF ARTS (B.A) DEGREE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE OF THE

LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY, OJO, LAGOS.

APRIL, 2019

1
CERTIFICATION

I certify that this work was written by Eweje, Ayomide Elizabeth with Matric no 140321083

under my supervision in the Department of English, Lagos State University, Ojo Lagos.

________________________________ _____________________________

DR. ONI BURAIMOH, O.O DATE

SUPERVISOR

________________________________ _____________________________

DR. RACHAEL BELLO DATE

HEAD OF DEPARTMENT

________________________________

EXTERNAL EXAMINER DATE

2
 DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to God almighty, maker of heaven and earth and in whom all

things become beautiful. This work is also dedicated to those that resent dictatorship, and those

who believe in the freedom of others’ voices.

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I thank the Father Almighty for his infinite grace and mercy throughout my educational journey.

I am grateful to my parents- Mr. Segun and Kofoworola Eweje, for their continual support right

from my first breath up till this moment and for raising wonderful children. I sincerely appreciate

my superwoman Mrs. Yinka Eweje-Sulaimon for being the best big sister I could ever ask for,

thank you for your financial, moral, and emotional support throughout my stay in LASU. My

gratitude goes to my other siblings and their families- The Ojewolas, The Olanrewajus, The

Sulaimons, Odugbesi Timilehin, Modupeoluwa Eweje, and Gabriel Eweje.

I sincerely appreciate my wonderful supervisor Dr. Mrs. Olawunmi Oni-Buraimoh for your

tireless effort and encouragement during the course of this research. I also appreciate Dr. Mrs.

Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan who, despite not knowing me, provided me with her autobiography.

She is truly an accommodating person. All thanks to the lecturers of the department of English,

LASU for shaping me into the person I am today. I appreciate Kolawole Josephine for allowing

me to disturb her with my questions and for helping me edit some part of my work.

I am grateful to the ‘BFFs’, Danmola Abdulazeez (Captain), Ogunsanya Ayotunde, Adeoluwa

Oreoluwa, and Adejokun Adebowale for being such wonderful friends, thank you guys. To ‘The

Ladies’, Ahisu Sewanu and Akinsola Oluwafunmilayo Rachael (best friend) thank you for

having my back always, I love you girls.

I am equally grateful to Jihadist Haven Residents, my CCC LSP family, Josu Micheal, Ayodele

David, Ajose Dele, Bodunrin Kanyinsola, Esho Temidayo, Shan, Sojirin Taiwo, Adefioye

Opeyemi, Moibi Ibukun, Olatunji Azeez, and my Pukka family for making my stay in LASU a

memorable one.

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 ABSTRACT

There are existing studies on Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’sOnce upon an Elephant from the

perspectives of semantics, syntax, and pragmatics but none of the works has investigated the

proverbs in the text from a Pragmatics persperctive. Hence, this work examines the proverbs in

Once upon an Elephant from a pragmatic perspective using Akin Odebunmi’s (2006) theory of

modified pragmatic act. Nineteen proverbs from the text were purposively selected and analyzed.

Findings from this study revealed that proverbs can be classified into three categories:

Flora/fauna proverbs, Cultural proverbs, and Weather proverbs. Some practs are common across

all these categories but their roles and functions change according to the context of the proverb.

Shared Cultural Knowledge (SCK) and Common ground help interlocutors infer the implied

meaning of the proverbs as used in text. That is, common ground, shared cultural knowledge, and

shared situational knowledge between participants help reveal the implicit meaning of proverbs

without the speaker necessarily stating the explicit meaning of the proverb.

Keywords: Flora/fauna proverb, Cultural proverb, Weather proverb, Pragmeme, Common ground

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title page i

Certification ii

Dedication iii

Acknowledgements iv

Abstract v

Table of contents vi- ix

CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1-6

1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

1.2 Significance of the Study

1.3 A brief profile of the Author

1.4 Synopsis of Once upon an Elephant

1.5 Statement of the Problem

1.6 Aim and Objectives of the Study

1.7 Scope and Limitation of the Study

1.8 Research Questions

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 7-24

2.0 Introduction
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2.1 Pragmatics

2.2 Implicature

2.2.1 Conversational Implicature

2.2.2 Conventional Implicature

2.3 Proverbs

2.3.1 African Proverbs

2.4 Types of Proverbs

2.5 Characteristics and Content of Proverbs

2.5.1 Social Charter

2.5.2 Imagery

2.6 Features of Yoruba Proverbs

2.6.1 Prescriptive Function of proverbs

2.6.2 Characteristic Sentence Forms in proverbs

2.6.3 High Incidence of Lexical Repetition and Contrast in proverbs

2.6.4 Terseness in proverbs

2.7 Purpose of Proverbs

2.8 Review of related literature

2.9 Theoretical Framework

CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 25-26

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3.0 Introduction

3.1 Research Design

3.2 Sampling and Sampling Procedure

3.3 Justification of Data

3.4 Method of Data Analysis

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS 27-37

4.0 Introduction

4.1 Section one (Data Presentation)

4.1.1 Flora/fauna Proverbs

4.1.2 Cultural Proverbs

4.1.3 Weather Proverbs

4.2 Section two (Data Analysis)

4.2.1 Flora/fauna Proverbs

4.2.2 Cultural Proverbs

4.2.3 Weather Proverbs

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION, AND

RECOMMENDATIONS 38-39

5.0 Introduction

5.1 Summary of Findings

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5.2 Conclusion

5.3 Recommendations

REFERENCES 40-41

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 CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

Language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written

symbols that are used by the people of a particular country or region for talking or writing.

Humans communicate with each other in order to exchange knowledge, beliefs, opinions,

wishes, threats, commands, thanks, promises, declarations, and so on. In order to use language,

people rely on grammar and other rules governing its use for effective communication.

According to Jakobson (1960), there are six functions of language as a medium of

communication; these functions are:

1. The Referential Function.

2. The Emotive Function.

3. The Conative Function.

4. The Poetic Function.

5. The Phatic Function.

6. The Metalinguistic Function.

The Referential Function: This function is representative, that is, meaning here

will not be clear without an explicit understanding of the context of utterance. It corresponds to

the factor of context and describes a situation, object, or mental state. The descriptive statements

of the referential function can consist of both definite descriptions and deictic words. The

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referential function states that the verbal structure of a message depends primarily on the

predominant function of the language.

The Emotive Function: This emphasizes the addresser’s own attitudes towards the

content of the message, that is, it looks at the emotion of the speaker towards the message. It

aims a direct expression of the speaker’s attitude toward what s/he is speaking about. It tends to

produce an impression of a certain emotion whether true or feigned.This function is best

exemplified by interjections and other sound changes that do not alter the denotative meaning of

an utterance but do add information about the addresser’s internal state.

The Conative Function: This function focuses on and is concerned with influencing the

behaviour of the addressee, and thus has to do with persuasion. It engages the addresser directly

and is best illustrated by vocatives and imperatives.

The Poetic Function: This function focuses on the message for its own sake, that is, the

code itself, and how it is used. It is also the operative function used in poetry as well as slogans.

It can also be found in a prose text.

The Phatic Function: This function deals with language for the sake of interaction and is

therefore associated with the contact/channel factor. This function can be observed in greetings

and it provides the keys to open, maintain, verify, or close the communication channel.

The Metalinguistic Function: This deals with the use of language to discuss or describe

language itself. It is also known as the reflexive function of language. Metalinguistic function is

described as an utterance in which the addressee gives or asks information about the code of

language used in a communicative event.

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1.1 Background to the Study

Proverbs can and have been studied under various linguistic fields of study such as

semantics, syntax, and pragmatics.

In semantics, proverbs have been studied in relation to how the meaning of a group of

words can be understood in the context in which it occurs. For instance, individual words that

make up a proverb have meanings that can be deduced when they are isolated in a context.

With recourse to syntax, linguists believe that proverbs are not just strung together

haphazardly; they follow some particular syntactic rules of the grammar of the language in which

the proverbs occur. These syntactic rules give some aesthetic values to proverbs usage in such

language. In terms of structure, proverbs can be in form of simple, complex, or compound

sentences.

From a pragmatic perspective, proverbs are viewed in relation to context, shared

situational knowledge, shared cultural knowledge, common ground, and how these pragmatic

concepts help participants in a communicative event understand the implicit meaning of a

proverb.

This work from a pragmatic point of view looks at the use of Yoruba proverbs in a text. It

examines the use of language in the text using pragmatic principles such as: practs, cultural and

situational context, common knowledge, and implicature.

1.2 Significance to the Study

Proverbs are wise witty sayings of past generations. Proverbs create a lot of problems for

younger generations, because they do not understand the importance of the use of proverbs in

conversations. Therefore, this study provides the younger generation with ways by which

proverbs could be understood in conversations.

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 The study also shows how Yoruba proverbs are analyzed pragmatically through their

types, the pract each proverb performs, and the implicature of each proverb. In doing this, the

researcher contributes to the knowledge on the pragmatics of proverbs.

Moreover, this study contributes to the literature on Yoruba proverb analysis. The text

chosen for analysis is relatively new. It is believed that this will open up other students’ minds to

text analysis.

1.3 A Brief Profile of the Author

Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan was born in 1965 to late Mr. Samuel Oluyemi and Mrs.

Rachael Ademilua. She was born in Ikole Ekiti although she is from Ilogbo Ekiti. She attended St

Mary’s Girls’ Grammar school, Ikole and Federal School of Arts and Sciences, Ondo for her A

level education. She then proceeded to Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and the University

of Lagos, Lagos for her B.A in English, M.A in English and Ph. D in Comparative Drama

respectively. She is currently a Senior lecturer in the Department of English, University of Lagos

and a Nigerian playwright. She has attended several conferences in Nigeria and abroad. She is a

commonwealth fellow at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. She is the author of Look

Back in Gratitude (2013) and Once upon an Elephant (2015) both by the same publisher (Kraft

Books, Ibadan).

1.4 Synopsis of Once upon an Elephant

Once upon an Elephant takes a look at the issue of dictatorship, “sit-tightism”, or what

some critics have referred to as self-perpetuating syndrome of African leaders at every level of

governance. The play’s uniqueness lies in its use of suspense and irony. Above all, it highlights

the role of women as the cause and sometimes, solution provider in a situation in which they may

be complicit. (Afolayan, 2015)

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 Once upon an Elephant is a play about the tyrannical rule of a king in the Yoruba part of

Nigeria in his quest for immortality and indomitable power. He is not the rightful heir to the

throne, yet with the help of the chief priest (Serubawon), he was able to ascend the throne. His

reign is filled with terror and calamity. As part of the immortality ritual items, Olaniyonu has to

rape seven virgins as it is believed that their blood is pure and will make him immortal. He met

his downfall at the climax of the play when he raped the seventh virgin who happens to be

Desola, the daughter of Serubawon and who was also revealed to be his half-sister as his

biological father is Serubawon. Through the help of Iya Agba, Desola was able to collect,

literally, her life back from Olaniyonu and Olaniyonu's insatiable lust for power, wealth, and

fame lead ultimately to his death.

1.5 Statement of the Problem

Several authors have attempted an analysis of proverbs in various levels of linguistic fields.

Lawal, et al (1997) identified the illocutionary acts performed in Yoruba proverbs through the

analysis of twelve Yoruba proverbs. Odebunmi (2006) attempted an analysis of proverbs using

the theory of modified pragmatic act and the various classifications of proverbs available.

Ehineni (2016) attempted a discourse- structural analysis of Yoruba proverbs in interaction;

where Yoruba proverbs are discussed as a discourse medium.

Although this study is similar to Odebunmi (2006) in the sense that it uses the theory of

modified pragmatic act and the various types of proverbs in its analysis, yet, it deviates from

what the author has done because it uses a relatively new text that has not been analyzed in

relation to Yoruba proverbs, their types, practs, and their implicature

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1.6 Aim and Objectives of the Study

The aim of this study is to show the conventional and implied meaning of proverbs as used in

the text through a pragmatic analysis of the proverbs using Odebunmi (2006) modified theory of

pragmatic act. The specific objectives are:

1. To identify the types of proverbs that are portrayed in the text.

2. To show how common ground helps in understanding proverbs used in the text.

3. To show the practs observable in the use of proverbs

1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study is limited to the proverbs used in the text - Once upon an Elephant, and the

proverbs are analyzed through the theory of a pragmatic act (pract). That is, the scope and

limitation of this study is the analysis of the proverbs used in the text, through the description of

the pract each proverb performs, the types of proverbs, and the implied meaning of the proverb.

1.8 Research Questions

This study provides answers to the following questions:

1. What types of proverbs are used in the text?

2. How is common ground reflected by participants in the text?

3. Does the knowledge of the pract of the proverb help in the understanding of the meaning of

proverbs as used in the text?

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

2.0 Introduction

This chapter focuses on the review of related literature and the theoretical framework

employed in this research. The main topics discussed in this chapter include; pragmatics,

implicature and types (conversational and conventional), proverbs, African proverbs, types of

proverbs, characteristics and content of proverbs, features of Yoruba proverbs, purposes of

proverbs and the theoretical framework employed in this research.

2.1 Pragmatics

In modern linguistics, pragmatics is regarded as the study of language from the point of

view of the users, especially of the choices they make, the constraints they encounter in using

language in social interaction, and the effects their use of language has on the other participants

in an act of communication. (Crystal 2008)

The origin of the term ‘pragmatics’ is attributable to Charles Morris a philosopher who

was concerned with the outlining of the general shape of a science of signs, or semiotics

Levinson (1983). Verschueren (1999:1) says pragmatics can be defined as the study of language

use, or, the study of linguistic phenomena from the point of view of their usage properties and

processes. Pragmatics is concerned with the study of meaning as communicated by a speaker (or

writer) and interpreted by a listener (or reader) (Yule (1996). The term pragmatics covers both

context-dependent aspects of language structure and principles of language usage and

understanding that have nothing or little to do with linguistic structure (Levinson (1983).

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 Pragmatics studies the use of language in human communication as determined by the

conditions put in place by the society (Mey 2001). Simply put, pragmatics is the study of

language usage as conditioned by a particular society. Some aspects in pragmatics include:

Deixis, Implicature, Presupposition and Speech acts.

Deixis, as a scope of pragmatics, directly concerns the relationship between the structure

of languages and the contexts in which they are used. The traditional categories of deixis are

person, place, and time. Person deixis concerns the encoding of the role of the participants in the

speech event in which the utterance in question is delivered. The first person category is the

grammaticalization of the speaker’s reference to himself or herself; the second person is the

encoding of the speaker’s reference to one or more addressees, while the third person is the

encoding of reference to persons and entities which are neither speakers nor addressees of the

utterance in question. Place deixis concerns the encoding of spatial locations relative to the

location of the participants in the speech, that is, whether the location is proximal or distal to the

speaker or addressee. Time deixis concerns the encoding of temporal points and spans relative to

the time at which an utterance was spoken (or written message inscribed), that is, we can talk

about the coding time and the receiving time which may be distinct from each other Levinson

(1983).

In addition, there is also discourse (text) deixis and the social deixis. Discourse deixis has

to do with the encoding of reference to portions of the unfolding discourse in which the utterance

(which includes the text referring expression) is located. Discourse deixis uses lexis like ‘this and

that’ in its execution. Social deixis, on the other hand, concerns the encoding of social

distinctions that are relative to participants-roles, particularly aspects of the social relationship

holding between speaker and addressee(s) or speaker and some referent. Social deixis is where

we talk of honourifics Levinson (1983).

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 According to Yule (1996), presupposition is something the speaker assumes to be the case

prior to making an utterance. Speakers, not sentences have presuppositions. Presupposition is

treated as the relationship between two propositions.

According to Yule (1996), speech acts can be defined as actions performed via utterances

and, in English, are commonly given more specific labels, such as apology, complaint,

compliment, invitation, promise, or request. This study lays emphasis on implicature.

2.2 Implicature

Implicature is one of the principles in pragmatics, that is, it is a concept in Pragmatics

that deals with the implicit meaning of an utterance in a communicative event. Implicature is a

component of speaker meaning that constitutes an aspect of what is meant in a speaker’s

utterance without being part of what is said. It is any meaning which is conveyed indirectly or

through hints, and understood implicitly without being stated. It is something that is stated

obliquely rather than directly, so that the hearer has to draw the implication from what is said.

The notion of implicature is that is provides some explicit account of how it is possible to

mean more than what is actually said. Implicature are not semantic inferences, but rather

inferences based on both the content of what has been said and some specific assumptions about

the cooperative nature of ordinary verbal interaction Levinson (1983). Implicature can be derived

from what is said, and the assumption that at least the cooperative principle is maintained. This

brings us to the types of implicature; the conversational implicature and conventional

implicature.

2.2.1 Conversational Implicature

A conversational implicature is something which is implied in conversation, that is,

something which is left implicit in actual language use. It concerns the way we understand an
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utterance in conversation in accordance with what we expect to hear Mey (2001).It provides

some explicit account of how it is possible to mean more than what is literally expressed by the

conventional sense of the linguistic expressions uttered.

Grice’s theory of implicature (conversational) provides an account of how more meaning

can be communicated than what is actually said. That is, a number of inferences can be derived

from a given utterance, but not all those inferences may have been communicative. Grice’s

concept of implicature is essentially a theory about how people use language. His suggestion is

that there is a set of guidelines guiding the conduct of conversation. These four basic guidelines

are known as maxims of conversation or can be jointly expressed as co-operative principle.

Implicatures are derived from what is said, and the assumption that at least the co-operative

principle is being maintained. This co-operative principle specify what participants have to do in

order to converse in a maximally efficient, rational, co-operative way: they should speak

sincerely, relevantly and clearly, while providing sufficient information. The co-operative

principle is expressed below; the co-operative principle---make your contribution as is required,

at the stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which

you are engaged Levinson (1983).Conversational implicature is of two types namely; generalized

and personalized conversational implicatures. Generalized conversational implicatures are those

that arise without any particular context or special scenario being necessary Levinson (1983). In

the case of generalized implicatures, no special background knowledge of the context of

utterance is required in order to make the necessary inferences Yule (1996). Particularized

conversational implicatures are implicatures that require specific contexts. All implicatures that

arise from observing the maxim of relevance are particularized, since utterances are relevant only

with respect to the particular topic or issue at hand.

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2.2.2 Conventional Implicature

Conventional implicature is an implicature that is part of a lexical item's or expression's

agreed meaning, rather than derived from principles of language use. Conventional implicatures

are non-truth-conditional inferences that are not derived from super-ordinate pragmatic

principles like the maxims, but are simply attached by convention to particular lexical items or

expressions Levinson (1983).

2. 3 Proverbs

Mieder (2004) defines proverbs as ‘a short, generally known sentence of the folk which

contains wisdom, truth, morals, and traditional views in a metaphorical, fixed, and memorizable

form and which is handed down from generation to generation. Proverbs are a rich source of

imagery and succinct expressions on which more elaborate forms can draw. The origin of

proverbs is as old as the origin of man, while its usage is an exultation of wisdom of the users in

the art of communication Babade (2008). To understand the implied or implicit meaning of

proverbs, one needs some knowledge of the cultural background of those who utter the proverbs

to grasp the points the proverbs give. Proverbs are better interpreted within their context of

utterance. They usually occur in situations where there is conflict and they help to conceal the

tensions to prevent the conflict from being too open and personal. One of proverbs most

noticeable characteristics is their allusive wording usually in metaphorical form. Some elements

of proverbs include; simile, metaphor, allusion, hyperbole, exaggeration, and paradox.

2.3.1 African Proverbs

Proverbs seem to occur almost everywhere in Africa and are relatively easy to record.

The literary nature of proverbs in Africa is brought out by their close connection with other

forms of oral literature. The general truth touched on in a proverb can be conveyed in several

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ways; more or less literally, through a simile, or most commonly, through a metaphor. The

relatively literal forms of proverbs often contain some allusion or a picturesque form of speech,

and amongst certain peoples, they are marked by some poetic quality such as rhythm.

Yoruba proverbs state universally accepted principles and give guidance as to conduct in

some particular circumstances. Some are self explanatory, but most are couched in symbolic

terms, which are largely taken from animal life, many of them being related to well-known fables

or animal stories. They occur informally in day-to-day verbal communication, their reference

being a person or a situation known to both the audience and the user before they are uttered.

The Yoruba value proverbs very highly, for they are considered the wisdom lore of the race. It is

believed that matters are easily handled and rifts settled by people who are versed in proverbs.

2.4 Types of Proverbs

Proverbs are often said to represent a people’s philosophy. In proverbs, the whole range

of human experience can be commented on and analyzed, generalizations and principles

expressed in a graphic and concise form, and the wider implications of specific situations

brought to mind. According to Odebunmi (2006), proverbs are of three types; the flora/fauna

type, the weather type, and the cultural type. The flora/fauna type has to do with proverbs

relating to plant and animals, that is, the lexical composition of these proverbs uses elements

from the plant and animal family. Some flora/fauna proverb types are;

Monkey jumps down, it jumps into running

“Aaya be sile, o be sare”

An attempt is what the white ant is proposing; no white ant can devour stone

“Aba ni ikan n da, ikan ko le mu okuta”

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 The marshy riverbank stands aloof as though it has no relationship with the river

“Abata ta kete bi eni pe ko ba odo tan”Babade (2008)

There is no short-cut on the palm-tree; it is where one climbs up that one comes down

“Abuja kan o si l’orun ope ibi t’aa ba gba gun ope laa gba sokale”

The weather proverbs are those proverbs that are composed of the elements of weather.

They are usually based on someone’s observations and not on scientific studies. Because

climates and weather patterns differ throughout the world, a weather proverb based on

observations in one location may not be valid in another location. Some weather bound proverbs

are;

One who collects rain water with a sieve is deceiving himself

“A f’ase gbe ojo n tan ara re”

The torrent does not say it will not demolish the house; it is the house

owner that will not agree

“Agbara ojo ko so pe oun o n’ile wo, onile ni ko ni gba fun un”Babade (2008)

The cultural types of proverbs are those proverbs that align with the culture and traditions

of a people. The wordings of these proverbs make use of the lexicon of a particular culture. Some

cultural proverbs are;

‘Irana’ fowl, is not meat one can eat without paying back

“Adiye irana, ki i s’eran ajegbe

22
 The fireplace of three lumps of clay cannot pour the soup away.

“Aaro meta ki i d’obe nu”

I know it all make ‘oro’ to sieze a man.

“Mo mo on tan ni oro fi n gbe okunrin”

When the staff of office has not lost in the hand of Alake of Egbaland, the cow tail

must not miss in the hand of Alaafin of Oyo land.

“Nigba ti opa ko ba ti i bo sonu lowo Alake Egba, irukere ko gbodo ye lowo

Alaafin Oyo”Babade (2008)

2.5 Characteristics and Content of Proverbs

1. Social charters.

2. Imagery.

2.5.1 Social Charters

Like the proverbs of other races, Yoruba proverbs serve as social charters, to praise what

the society considers to be virtues and condemn bad practices. Amongst the virtues is respect for

elders, consideration for others, cooperation, hardworking, tactfulness, and regard for promises

made. Laziness and uninformed participation in other people's matters are among the practices

shunned.

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 An example of social charter is the honouring of elders in the society. The Yoruba tribe has

great respect for age and proverbs enjoin respect for elders whose greater experience of life's

hopes and sorrows yield worldly wisdom which younger people need for guidance. When

statements ought to be made on any issue, such statements have greater weight when they

proceed from an elder's lips. They believe that an elderly person must be true, and coolheaded,

s/he must be self-respecting in all s/he does, and s/he should be ready to mediate in rifts for it is a

shame for an elder if things change for the worse in their presence (Olatunji 1984).

Some proverbs attesting to the mentioned facts are:

Enu agba lobii gbo

It is in the elder's mouth that the kolanut sounds ripe.

Agba Ko si ilu baje

When an elder is not around, the town gets confused.

Agbalagba to wewu aseju, ete ni yoo fi ri

An elder that puts on the garb of immoderateness, it is disgrace that it will earn him.

2.5.2 Imagery

Yoruba proverbs are rich in imagery but this can only be appreciated when they are

related to particular situations. Any discussion of imagery in the Yoruba proverbs cannot, but

consider particular applications of the proverbs. The literal meaning of each proverb must be

grasped between the elements that occur in it. It is when this literal meaning is related to an

24
already known situation that the full understanding of the imagery can be appreciated. One

instance of imagery includes:

Alaso ala kii jokoo niso epo

The wearer of a white dress does not sit in a palm oil stall.

One possible interpretation of this proverb is that one who has a good name to preserve must

not move in bad company. Thus, it can be understood that white dress and palm oil represent two

contrasting concepts (Olatunji 1984).

2.6 Features of Yoruba Proverbs

According to Olatunji (1984), some features of Yoruba proverbs include:

1. Prescriptive function of proverbs.

2. Characteristic sentence forms in proverbs.

3. High incidence of lexical repetition and contrast in proverbs.

4. Terseness in proverbs.

2.6.1 Prescriptive Function of Proverbs

These proverbs, more than any other poetic type, outline a rule of conduct. They state

what should or should not be done and lay down conditions for certain actions and attitudes.

They serve as social charters condemning some practices while recommending others. These

statements can be negative, positive, or conditional. The negative statements usually assert what

things are not or should not be done. They often embody a moral or practical precept or a rule of

conduct. Some statements, however, outline the conditions for certain types of behaviour or

reaction. The idea is to define situations and to state what should or should not be done in such

25
situations. All these types of statements reflect the prescriptive nature of the proverbs. No matter

whether they are negative, positive, or conditional, they often outline a rule of conduct.

2.6.2 Characteristic Sentence Forms in Proverbs

The sentence patterns observable in Yoruba proverbs are; simple, complex, sequential,

and parallel sentences. Sequential sentences consist of two or more clauses bound by

grammatical, lexical, or lexico-grammatical references between them. Parallel sentences have

lexico-grammatical features, and they are structurally similar. Parallelism can only occur in

utterances that have more than one sentence. For instance:

Eni ta ni ko kinni lehin fegun sowo

Eni ta ni ko feni loju fata senu

Eni ta pete pero pe ka finu han je alarokiri eni.

He whom one asks to help scrub one's back hides a thorn in his palm

He whom one asks to blow out the dirt in one's eyes put some pepper in his mouth

He whom one asks or decides to confide in is indeed one's betrayer.

2.6.3 High Incidence of Lexical Repetition and Contrast in Proverbs

Another characteristic feature of Yoruba proverbs is the repetition of lexical items and the

use of lexical items that contrast in meaning. Lexical items may be repeated in the same clause,

as in:

Oju oloju ko jo oju eni

Other people's eyes are not the same as one's own eyes.

26
Or it could manifest in different clauses, as in

Ajanaku foju ise wo obo

Obo ko toro je
The elephant considers the monkey poor,
The monkey does not beg for food.
Lexical items also contrast in meaning, as in:

Eni ti a se loore ti ko dupe

Bia a see nika ko ni dun un

He who is ungrateful for an act of kindness

Will not feel the pain if he meets unkindness.

In this instance, kindness contrasts with unkindness in meaning.

2.6.4 Terseness in Proverbs

Yoruba proverbs are generally terse and short and the reason for this lies in their very

nature. They usually consist of one or two, rarely more than four, sentences and it is within these

few sentences that pithy (concise and meaningful) ideas, with all the multiple applicability of the

proverbs are contained.

2.7 Purposes of Proverbs

Proverbs in Yoruba culture can are used to narrate, describe, or explain certain situations

for better understanding of the discussion going on. That is, they might be used as a witness or a

means to buttress a known fact or a matter under discussion. They are also used to spite, mock,

discourage, or check bad behaviour within the society; they can be used to encourage good deed

or habit. They are also a means of prayer or incantation. They can be employed to warn someone

27
of impending danger, or used to speak against arrogance or pride. They are used to entertain one

another on matters which otherwise would not have been palatable or accommodating.

They may be used as a means of challenging someone to perform better in what s/he is

doing. They can also be used to educate someone on what she/he probably does not know. They

are sometimes used to show empathy or to console the oppressed, handicapped, bereaved, or

anyone in trouble. They are used as a medium to teach youths how to respect elders and other

Yoruba cultural virtues that are now lacking in most children. They are used as a means of

coding on-going discussion from children and non-Yoruba speaking adults so they won't

understand the topic of discussion. Most importantly, they are used to flaunt the Yoruba’s

wealthy cultural heritage.

2.8 Review of Related Literature

There are several scholarly works on proverbs and Yoruba proverbs which have

contributed to the available literature on proverbs and Yoruba proverbs. Some of these works are

discussed below:

Ehineni (2016) explores a discourse-structural analysis of Yoruba proverbs in interaction.

This study attempts a discourse and structural analysis of Yoruba proverbs collected from oral

interviews and native Yoruba texts. It reveals that proverbs are used to achieve different

discourse acts and communicative goals by interlocutors in a communicative event. It affirms

that native speakers use proverbs as a linguistic strategy for negotiating deep ideas and

intentions. The study explains that the Yoruba proverb is structurally characterized by some

lexical and grammatical devices which help to reinforce its communicative intelligibility and

textuality. According to this study, the Yoruba proverb is a culturally and linguistically rich

significant part of the Yoruba speech community.

28
 In the ‘Syntax of Yoruba Proverbs’, Akanbi (2015) reiterates that Yoruba proverbs are not

just strung together haphazardly; they follow some particular syntactic rules of the grammar of

the language in which they are found. This study discusses the various syntactic forms that many

of the Yoruba proverbs manifest and reveals how these syntactic rules give some aesthetic values

to proverbs usage in the Yoruba language. It also discusses the implication of the syntactic rules

and how they are applied to structures to conform to the ‘wellformedness’ condition of Yoruba

grammatical sentences.

Also, Odebunmi (2006) examines how Ahmed Yerima uses proverbs primarily as

communication tools within culturally defined contexts. It says that a function-based approach,

rather than a structure-based approach must be taken to properly understand the role proverbs

play in Yerima’s dramas. This study uses a modified model of Mey’s (2001) pragmeme in its

analysis. It demonstrates that Yerima’s plays employ proverbs with topic-comment, fixed/non-

fixed, and poetic/non-poetic structures. It also demonstrates that all the proverbs in the plays

include all the three categories of proverbs, which are; weather proverbs, cultural proverbs, and

flora/fauna proverbs. This study shows that proverbs are sensitive to contexts of interaction.

Through proverbs, the speakers in the dramas use pragmatic acts or practs to counsel, accuse,

pronounce, and/or assure.

Yusuf (1997) examines how forty-six English and Yoruba proverbs compare women to

animals, food, plants, property, and trouble. It reveals that all of the proverbs examined in this

study de-personify and dehumanise women. The paper discusses how women are implicitly and

explicitly compared with the non-human. It compares the sexist analogies created by English and

Yoruba proverbs.

Ademowo & Balogun (2014) examine the role of proverbs and their use in conflict

management and in enhancing peaceful human co-existence. This aim is achieved through a

29
content analysis of twenty-four randomly selected Yoruba proverbs and proverbial expressions,

with reference to themes of warning, cooperation, and diversity. This paper argues that proverbs

are useful in conflict management and resolution and in making people have a peace-loving

frame of mind. It concludes that proverbs and proverbial expressions are vital in relationship

management. It affirms that anybody with a good understanding of proverbs and their

implications for peaceful co-existence would appreciate conflicts as an intricate part of human

existence and harmonious living; and such person(s) would therefore avoid actions and inactions

that promote violence.

2.9 Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework of this study is Akin Odebunmi’s Modified Pragmeme, a

model that was fashioned out of Mey’s model of pragmatic acts.

The theory of pragmatic acts does not try to explain language use from the inside out, that

is, from words having their origin in a sovereign speaker and going out to an equally sovereign

hearer. Rather, its explanatory movement is from the outside in: the focus is on the environment

in which both speaker and hearer find their affordances, such that the entire situation is brought

to bear on what can be said in the situation, as well as on what is actually being said Mey (2001).

The emphasis is not on conditions and rules for an individual (or an individual’s) speech act, but

on characterizing a generalized pragmatic act which is called a pragmeme.

A pragmeme is a generalized pragmatic act; it is an abstraction. A pragmeme can be

instantiated through individual practs. The instantiated pragmatic acts or practs are concrete

occurrences of a pragmeme. There are practs of apologizing, commanding, directing, and so on.

The diagram of the pragmeme according to Mey (2001) is represented below:

30
 PRAGMEME

ACTIVITY PART TEXTUAL PART

(INTERACTANTS) (CONTEXT)

INF REF VCE SSK MPH ‘M’…

SPEECH ACTS

INDIRECT SPEECH ACTS

CONVERSATIONAL (‘DIALOGUE’) ACTS

PYSCHOLOGICAL ACTS (EMOTIONS)

PROSODY (INTONATION, STRESS, …)

PHYSICAL ACTS:

BODY MOVES (INCL. GESTURES)

PHYSIOGNOMY (FACIAL EXPRESSIONS)

(BODILY EXPRESSIONS OF) EMOTIONS

O (NULL)

PRACT

ALLOPRACT

PRAGMEME, PRACT, ALLOPRACT

Figure 1: A model of pragmatic acts (Jacob Mey 2001)

31
 The diagram above is divided into two parts, the activity (or interactants) part and the

textual (co(n)text) part. The activity part states a list of choices that is available to a language

user during communication. The textual part, on the other hand, represents the elements that are

present in a textual chain. ‘INF’ represents ‘inferencing’, ‘REF’ represents ‘reference’, ‘REL’

represents ‘relevance’, ‘VCE’ represents ‘voice’, ‘SSK’ represents ‘shares situation knowledge’,

‘MPH’ represents ‘metaphor’, while ‘M’ represents ‘metapragmatic joker’.

In“A Pragmatic Reading of Ahmed Yerima’s Proverb in Yemoja, Attahiru, and Dry

Leaves on Ukan Trees”, Odebunmi uses a modified model of Mey’s pragmatic acts to analyze

the proverbs as seen in the texts. This modified model of pragmatic acts is shown below:

PROVERBS

Structures types

Speaker Context hearer

REF, MPH,
INF, SSK, SCK,
REL

Practs:
Counseling
Pronouncing
Accusation
Assurance

Figure 2: A modified model of pragmatic acts (Akin Odebunmi 2006)

This modified model of the pragmatic acts is a modification of Mey’s model of pragmatic

acts as shown in the diagram above. The REF (reference), MPH (metaphor), INF (inference),
32
SSK (shared situation knowledge), and REL (relevance) are borrowed from Mey (2001), but the

SCK (shared cultural knowledge) is operationally added, given the special attachment of

proverbs to culture. The new model shows that particular types of proverbs are engaged between

a speaker and a hearer in communication. The use of proverbs in specific contexts ultimately

produces certain practs, which are directed at the hearer. The practs could be practs of

counselling, accusation, pronouncing, assurance, and so on.

33
 CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter discusses the methodology adopted in this research. Here, we discuss the

research design, the sampling and sampling procedure, justification of data, and the method of

data analysis.

3.1 Research Design

This research has been designed to investigate the proverbial features of the primary data

(Once upon an Elephant) using the modified pragmatic acts as the adopted theory for the

analysis of this research. The context in which the proverb is used will be mentioned, the type of

proverb in relation to the elements the proverb contains will also be discussed, the pract which

the proverb performs will be discussed also, and the implicature of the proverb according to the

common knowledge of the participants will be discussed also.

3.2 Sampling and Sampling Procedure

The play; Afolayan’s Once upon an Elephant used for this study was purposively

selected. The reason for its selection is because it is a relatively new text to the literary world and

it has never been analyzed in relation to its proverbial features.

Also, the extracts chosen for analysis were chosen purposively. The data analyzed are the

Yoruba proverbs contained in the text. These proverbs are used in conversations between two or

more participants in the text.

34
3.3 Justification of Data

The primary source of data for this research is derived from the text Once upon an

Elephant. Excerpts from this text are analyzed using Odebunmi (2006) modified model of

pragmatic acts. The reason for this choice lies in the fact that the text is relatively new and the

theory adopted has never been used in analyzing it.

3.4 Method of Data Analysis

The section for analysis is sub-divided into two sections; the first section groups the

nineteen extracted proverbs into the categories of proverbs available and states the pages they are

extracted from. The second section discusses the context that prompted the usage of the

proverbs, the pract that the proverbs perform according to each category, and the implicature of

each pract. This section will be exemplified using three proverbs each across all categories.

35
 CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS

4.0 Introduction

This chapter focuses on the pragmatic analysis of the proverbial utterances found in

Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’s Once upon an Elephant using Akin Odebunmi’s modified model of

pragmatic acts. The analysis is in two sections: section one presents the excerpts of the proverbs,

the category of proverbs that they belong to and the pages they are extracted from, while section

two provides the context analysis of the excerpts according to their practs and the pragmatic

implicature of the proverbs.

4.1 Section One (Data Presentation)

This section presents the proverbs extracted from the text and groups them according to

the three categories of proverbs available. Nineteen (19) excerpts have been selected from the

text. These are grouped and listed below:

4.1.1 Flora/ Fauna Proverbs

PROVERB PAGE

“He is Ajanaku, more than ‘I have caught a 25

glimpse of something’, for when you see an

elephant, you surely have seen something

huge, awesome, imposing… even impregnable

like a rock”

PROVERB PAGE

36
If a cock crows on earth, its peers in heaven 25

respond.

The baldness which afflicts the vulture is 26

hardly the result of its carrying heavy loads.

The hedgehog does not live in the grassland, 27

but in the forest.

The lizard may resemble a crocodile, but they 36

are certainly different.

The snake that travels alone gets killed by the 52

farmer.

Wherever the jackal lurks, the chicken must 54

give the place a wide berth.

PROVERB PAGE

The baboon does not send an ultimatum to the 54

leopard.

4.1.2Cultural Proverbs

PROVERB PAGE

37
Truth never goes astray. It is falsehood that 18

earns a gash on the head.

But anger, our fathers say, is the brother of 18 & 19

hopelessness.

Many hands are required to rub camwood on 26

the body.

The king who buried coral beads; and the king 34

who digs them up for people’s benefit, both

will have their names remembered only

differently.

To the rafter belongs the load; the shelf only 38

pretends.

It is only a bastard child who doesn’t resemble 52

his parents.

Whoever conceals a disease from his medicine 53

man is beyond help.

Unrestrained daring makes the acrobatic 55

masquerade to expose his private in public

38
4.1.3Weather Proverbs

PROVERB PAGE

17

It is with tomorrow in mind that we do favours

for today.

Nobody tells the blind that fire is burning. If he 29

cannot see it, at least he can feel the heat, and

smell the smoke coming from it.

They deceive themselves greatly; whoever 34

collects rain water with a sieve.

39
 From the grouping above, there are eight cultural proverbs, eight flora/fauna proverbs,

and three weather proverbs respectively. These proverbs are extracted between pages 17 and 54.

4.2 Section Two (Data Analysis)

This section discusses each category of proverb, the practs involved, and the pragmatic

implicature of each pract. The aforementioned things will be expatiated with the aid of three

proverbs each from each type of proverbs.

4.2.1 Flora/Fauna Proverbs

This section of the analysis discusses the practs found in flora/fauna type of proverb and

the pragmatic implicature of these practs using three proverb examples from this category. Under

this category, the author uses practs like boasting, stating, assurance, condemning, mocking, and

cautioning to achieve the intended meaning of the proverbs. The pract of condemning and

cautioning is quite common in this category of proverb as they occur more than once in the text.

The pract of boasting is used by the king to instil fear in his subject and demand respect from

them. The pragmatic implicature of this pract is that, any subject that fails to pay obeisance to the

king will be punished by the king. The king in this instance is Ajanaku who is not the rightful

heir to the throne but ascended the throne cunning means. The pract of stating and assurance is

directed to Ajanaku, the king. The implied meaning of these two practs and their function is quite

similar. The meaning of these practs is that, although it is very visible and quite understandable

that Olaniyonu is not the rightful heir to the throne as the new king, he shall be respected and

revered as a king. The council of elders is assuring Ajanaku that he has their full support as the

new king of the community. The other observable practs of this category and their implicit

meaning will be exemplified using three proverbs from the text. These practs are condemning,

mocking, and cautioning. These proverbs are extracted from pages 27, 36, and 54 respectively.

40
 The pract of condemning is identified in page 27 of the text. The context that surrounds

the proverb is the situation of Ajanaku’s coronation ceremony after his exit from the scene. The

participants of this scene are some members of council, Odejimi, Ogundele, and Odegbami. The

proverb was used by Odejimi in asking whether the others got the meaning of the new king’s

royal speech. The pract of condemning comes into play here in the sense that, Odejimi uses the

proverb to condemn Ajanaku’s royal speech as he (Odejimi) sees the speech as a declaration of

war on those that will not support the new king’s reign and that the speech is ridiculing the reign

of the old king. The meaning of this pract is that, there is an order to doing things and this

structure also applies to ascending the kingship throne. In a situation where by conventions are

bypassed or disregarded, then there will be confusion and disaster. This proverb is classified

under the flora/fauna type of proverb because it uses lexical items like, ‘hedgehog’, ‘grassland’,

and ‘forest’ and these items is peculiar to the flora/ fauna type of proverb.

Another pract is the pract of mocking identified in page 36 of the text. The context

surrounding the utterance of this proverb is the scene of Ajanaku’s palace. The participants are

Ajanaku and Iya Agba, the first wife of the late king that was accused of adultery and banished

from the kingdom. The proverb was uttered by Iya Agba as a sign of mockery. She uses the

proverb to mock Ajanaku’s supposed power and prowess. She likened Ajanaku to a lizard that

wants to pretend to be a crocodile because they have similar physical features. The meaning of

this pract is that no matter how Olaniyonu compares himself to an elephant (Ajanaku); he is not

as strong or as regal as the elephant. It also implies that although Olaniyonu might prefer to be

called Ajanaku, he does not possess the power of the elephant; rather, he is nothing but a barking

dog. The proverb falls under the flora/ fauna type of proverb because of its use of lexical items

like ‘lizard’ and ‘crocodile’; these two belong to the reptile family in the animal kingdom.

41
 The last pract observable in this category of proverb is the pract of cautioning. The

situation of this proverb is the conversation between Odekunle and his friends, Yele, Dele, and

Lere after the rape of Desola Odekunle’s fiancée. In this situation, Dele is agitating for the

confrontation of Ajanaku about his wrongful deeds towards the community members. This

proverb is uttered by Lere in a bid to caution Dele about his intention to confront Ajanaku. Lere

uses the predator- prey relationship that exists between the jackal and the chicken to depict the

kind of relationship that exists between the king and his subjects, likening the king to the

predator and his subjects to the prey. He therefore uses the proverb to caution Dele about keeping

his temper in check when it comes to matters that affects or concerns the king. Thus, this proverb

implies that there is nobody powerful or bold enough to confront the king about his

misdemeanours and even if such a person exists, s/he will only be suicidal to try confronting

Ajanaku since such an individual will eventually lose his or her life. This proverb is categorized

under the flora/ fauna type of proverb due to its lexical composition with its usage of words like

‘jackal’ and ‘chicken’ that belongs to the animal kingdom. The jackal is depicted as a wolf-like

animal that is liable to feed on chickens.

4.2.2 Cultural Proverbs

This part of the analysis considers the cultural category of proverb, the practs involved,

and the pragmatic implicature of each practs using three proverbs as examples. In this category

of proverb, the author makes use of practs like the pract of stating, mocking, advising,

persuading, and cautioning. The practs of stating, mocking, and cautioning are dominant in all

three categories of proverbs. The pract of stating in this category is used to reiterate a well

known fact or concept that is familiar to all the participants in a conversation. The pract of

cautioning on the other hand is used mostly by Lere (Odekunle’s friend) Dele (Odekunle’s

friend) about keeping his temper in check and not giving in to the temptation of confronting

42
Ajanaku. The three proverbs that will be used to examine the pragmatic implicature of practs in

this category are extracted from pages 18 & 19, 52, and 53 respectively.

The first proverb which is extracted from pages 18 & 19 uses the pract of advising. The

situation that surrounds the utterance of this proverb is the conversation between Odejimi and

Ogundele. In this instance, Ogundele is advising Odejimi that although he is angry about

Serubawon’s intent to enthrone Ajanaku as king, he should be mindful of his anger and wait until

the truth comes to light. The implication of this proverb is that acting on one’s anger brings

downfall and hopelessness; rather, one should be calm in the face of problems, analyze the

situation, and find solution to whatever the problem might be. This is a cultural type of proverb

in the sense of its usage of the word “our fathers”, and in the Nigerian setting it is believed that

anyone that is old enough to be your biological father is your father.

The next proverb to be discussed under this category is the proverb that performs the

pract of mockery. The instance of this proverb is when Odekunle was recounting his fiancée’s

(Desola) rape to his three friends- Yele, Dele, and Lere. The proverb is uttered by Dele as a

rebuke to Odekunle, criticizing him for not doing something to prevent Desola’s assault and for

failing to protect her pride and virtue. The proverb performs the pract of mockery as Dele uses

the proverb to make mockery of Odekunle and his father, he likens the both of them to cowards

and he claimed they are not man enough to protect what belongs to them. The implicit meaning

of the proverb is brought to bear due to the understanding and common ground that exists

amongst the participants. Due to the shared cultural knowledge between, it is deduced that Dele

is not actually calling Odekunle a bastard because he is illegitimate, but he is actually implicitly

saying that Odekunle takes after his father because of the coward-like characteristics they both

share. This proverb is culturally inclined because it uses words like ‘bastard’; it is believed that

in the African-Nigerian setting, the one attribute that distinguishes the legitimate child from the

43
illegitimate one is his/her resemblance to either one of the parents. If there is lack of resemblance

between the child and the parents especially the father, the child is seen as illegitimate and s/he

automatically becomes a bastard and is mostly shunned in the society.

The last proverb to be discussed under this category is the proverb that performs the

pragmatic act of persuading. The situation is the conversation between Odekunle and his friends.

The proverb is used by Lere to persuade Odekunle into telling them the mastermind behind

Desola’s rape. This proverb implies that, an individual battling a disease should not be close-

mouthed about it. It may also mean that, talking about one’s problems with one’s friend(s) is one

sure way of finding solutions to them. This proverb is culturally inclined because the word

‘medicine man’ is peculiar to the African setting and it literally means ‘one who heals with

leaves and herbs’.

4.2.3 Weather Proverbs

This last category of proverb examines the pragmatic implicature and practs of proverbs

that fall under this category. The proverbs are extracted from pages 17, 29, and 34. The practs

involved in these proverbs are practs of persuading, admonishing, and mocking.

The first proverb in this category performs the pract of persuasion. It is also the first

proverb extracted from the text. It is classified under the weather type of proverb because it

makes use of the element of time (today and tomorrow) in its lexical make up. The situation

surrounding the utterance of the proverb is the conversation between Serubawon and some

members of the elders in council- Odejimi and Ogundele. Serubawon is persuading the other

kingmakers to accept Olaniyonu as the new king although the reigning king (Akinjobi) is still

alive even though ailing. Serubawon uses the pract to convince the other two kingmakers to

support Ajanaku although he is not the heir to the throne simply because he is fond of showering

them with gifts. The implicit meaning of this proverb is that, part of the reason an individual
44
helps others is so that s/he will also be helped in return when the time comes, which is saying

that the reason Ajanaku has always helped the kingmakers in past years is because of his

kingship ambition.

The next proverb is extracted from page 29 and it performs the pract of admonition. The

scene of the proverb is set in Odejimi’s house on the day of Ajanaku’s coronation. The

participants are Odejimi and his wife Iyale. Iyale is admonishing Odejimi not to let the issue of

Ajanaku bother him. She explained that people will only be concerned about something that

affects them directly; she then told him to be calm and that everything will be settled soon. The

pragmatic implicature of this proverb is that, until something threatens an individual’s personal

peace and sanity, such an individual will not be concerned about the destruction that thing might

be doing to others. This proverb is classified under the weather type of proverb due to the

weather element ‘heat’ that is present in its lexical make up.

The last proverb that is discussed under this category is extracted from page 34 in the

text. This proverb is classified under the weather proverb because of the lexicon ‘rain’ that can be

found under the vocabulary of weather. This proverb performs the pragmatic act of ‘mocking’.

Iya agba is mocking the king and his subjects; she’s letting them understand that the end of a

treacherous arrangement is filled with calamity. She mocks Ajanaku and the council of elders

that appointed him with the fact that they should not have been in the palace also because they

have no rightful place in the palace. This proverb implies that, an individual that does something

unprofitable and keeps doing it even though s/he knows that thing is unprofitable will only have

himself or herself to blame for all the wasted and unfruitful efforts.

45
 CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.0 Introduction

This chapter discusses the summary of the findings of this research work, its conclusion,

and recommendations for further studies. These will be discussed below.

5.1 Summary of Findings

This study examined the proverbs used in Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan’s Once upon an

Elephant. It discussed the pract each proverb performs and the pragmatic implicature of each

proverb according to their practs.

From the analysis of the various proverbs extracted from the text, it is deduced that some

practs are common across all categories. Although the categories of the proverb are different

from one to the other, it is seen that some practs feature across all three categories. It is observed

that the pract of stating, mocking, and cautioning feature in all the categories of the proverbs. It

is also observed that, although all the practs mentioned above are dominant across the types of

proverbs, their roles and functions change according to the context surrounding the proverb.
46
 Another finding is that shared cultural knowledge and common ground help participants

infer the implied meaning of the proverb. This means that the implicit meaning of a proverb can

only be inferred by the existence of a common ground between the participants in a conversation.

This is exemplified in the instance where Dele mocks Odekunle for not being man enough to

protect Desola’s virtue, he said “It is only a bastard child who doesn’t resemble his parents.”,

here the common ground between the four friends helped them understand that Dele is not

calling Odekunle an illegitimate son, rather he is inferring that Odekunle is the true son of his

father due to the similar characteristics they share.

5.2 Conclusion

The analysis of the proverbs extracted from the text using the theory of modified

pragmeme shows that proverbs can be used to achieve different practs. As exemplified in this

study, the common ground, shared cultural knowledge, and shared situational knowledge

between interlocutors help toreveal the implicit meaning of proverbs without the speaker

necessarily stating the explicit meaning of the proverb. Also, the lexical items embedded in a

proverb will aid easy classification of such proverb into the three categories of proverbs

available.

5.3 Recommendations

This study has been able to analyze the proverbs embedded in Bosede Ademilua-

Afolayan’s Once upon an Elephant using Odebunmi’s theory of modified pragmatic act; the

analysis of proverbs in the text can be examined from another level of linguistic analysis since it

is still a relatively new text.

47
 Pragmatic theories like speech act and co-operative principle can also be used to analyze

the types of proverbs in the text to determine whether the proverbs will perform the same practs

as discovered in this analysis.

Also, an in-depth analysis of the various contexts that surrounds the utterance of each

proverb can also be considered.

REFERENCES

Ademilua-Afolayan, B. (2015). Once upon an Elephant. Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited.

Ademowo, A. & Balogun, N. (2014). Proverbs and Conflict Management in Africa: A Study of

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