The Relevance of Metaphors to Sociolinguistic Meaning in Nollywood Movies
Date
2019
Authors
Sobola, Eniayo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of English, University of Lagos
Abstract
This paper examines the relevance of metaphors in the interrogation of sociolinguistic meaning in the language of selected Nollywood movies. Metaphors are explored through the concept of context as an analytical framework to examine social functions performed by the figure of speech (metaphors). These include the use of metaphor as a tool for communicative competence, social identity, producing versions of metaphoric idioms, as well as showing effects of technological advancement on the metaphors used in Nigerian movies. The data for this study are purposively selected from three hundred metaphors used in the researcher’s ongoing doctoral research. It has been established in the study that metaphor is a tool for communicative competence in Nigerian socio-communicative context. Metaphors with indigenous lexical items are used to show social identity; thus Nigerian versions of metaphoric idioms have been produced. It has also been established that technological advancement has influenced the metaphors used in Nigerian society as portrayed in Nigerian movies, and some metaphors have been classified as peculiar Nigerian metaphors. The study shows that metaphor is worth investigating in sociolinguistic study of language in different speech communities.
Description
Keywords
metaphor, Nollywood, movies, sociolinguistics, sociocultural