By Prezi, Grace Onyemaechi
The main thrust of this thesis is to account for the strategies of Igbo address system with reference
to greetings and rhetoric through a sociolinguistic study. Native speakers who were selected
through cluster random sampling from seven Igbo speaking areas (Iòs)u¤ikwu¤a¤tq , E¤ziagx,@ Ɛò hx@gbo$,
Ɛò
rq-X@@lqò, Qmx@maò, Xbx¤lx$-U¤@kwu and Iòkwe@re) were interviewed and observed on their use of
greetings and rhetoric in Igbo for the collection of data. Data from secondary sources like
textbooks, journals and internet were also used. In describing greetings and rhetoric in Igbo, the
researcher adopted Hymes’ theory of ethnography of speaking. The investigation reveals that
there are such forms of Igbo address system like appreciative, informative, persuasive and
entertaining. The impromptu, extemporaneous, manuscript and memorized modes constitute the
modes of address in Igbo. The research further portrays that setting (place and time), participants,
purpose of speech/writing and norms of interaction are factors that govern the choice of mode of
address, greetings and rhetorical devices in Igbo. The work shows such sociolinguistic
significance of address system in Igbo as being a source of information, entertainment,
conviction, appreciation, advice and a means of warning. It also identifies the different types of
verbal (daily greetings, work-time greetings, greetings for appreciation, consolation etc.) and nonverbal
(handshake, hugging, smiling, raising of eyebrows and waving) greetings in Igbo. Igbo
rhetorical strategies like description, narration, explanation and persuasion are identified in the
work. Igbo rhetoricians are observed to use such rhetorical devices as ‘schemes’ (repetition,
diacope, epizeuxis, assonance, consonance etc.) and ‘tropes’ (simile, metaphor, personification,
onomatopoeia, hyperbole and rhetorical question). The study equally reveals that the
sociolinguistic significance of greetings in Igbo are greetings as mark of respect, conversation
opener and closure, tools for establishing and re-inforcing inter-personal and group relationships
and greetings as means of solidarity while rhetoric as a tool for persuasion and conviction,
embellishment of speech or writing, judgment and expressing the moral and ethics of Igbo society
form its sociolinguistic significance. This study recommends that in order to make our address
successful in communicative acts, such factors as setting, participants, purpose of speech and
norms of interaction should be considered.The main thrust of this thesis is to account for the strategies of Igbo address system with reference
to greetings and rhetoric through a sociolinguistic study. Native speakers who were selected
through cluster random sampling from seven Igbo speaking areas (Iòs)u¤ikwu¤a¤tq , E¤ziagx,@ Ɛò hx@gbo$,
Ɛò
rq-X@@lqò, Qmx@maò, Xbx¤lx$-U¤@kwu and Iòkwe@re) were interviewed and observed on their use of
greetings and rhetoric in Igbo for the collection of data. Data from secondary sources like
textbooks, journals and internet were also used. In describing greetings and rhetoric in Igbo, the
researcher adopted Hymes’ theory of ethnography of speaking. The investigation reveals that
there are such forms of Igbo address system like appreciative, informative, persuasive and
entertaining. The impromptu, extemporaneous, manuscript and memorized modes constitute the
modes of address in Igbo. The research further portrays that setting (place and time), participants,
purpose of speech/writing and norms of interaction are factors that govern the choice of mode of
address, greetings and rhetorical devices in Igbo. The work shows such sociolinguistic
significance of address system in Igbo as being a source of information, entertainment,
conviction, appreciation, advice and a means of warning. It also identifies the different types of
verbal (daily greetings, work-time greetings, greetings for appreciation, consolation etc.) and nonverbal
(handshake, hugging, smiling, raising of eyebrows and waving) greetings in Igbo. Igbo
rhetorical strategies like description, narration, explanation and persuasion are identified in the
work. Igbo rhetoricians are observed to use such rhetorical devices as ‘schemes’ (repetition,
diacope, epizeuxis, assonance, consonance etc.) and ‘tropes’ (simile, metaphor, personification,
onomatopoeia, hyperbole and rhetorical question). The study equally reveals that the
sociolinguistic significance of greetings in Igbo are greetings as mark of respect, conversation
opener and closure, tools for establishing and re-inforcing inter-personal and group relationships
and greetings as means of solidarity while rhetoric as a tool for persuasion and conviction,
embellishment of speech or writing, judgment and expressing the moral and ethics of Igbo society
form its sociolinguistic significance. This study recommends that in order to make our address
successful in communicative acts, such factors as setting, participants, purpose of speech and
norms of interaction should be considered.