Analysis of the Forms and Functions of Conversational Implicature in Dowry Negotiations among the Maragoli of Western Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/ijhss.2024Keywords:
Conversational Implicature, Negotiation, Dowry, Participant, and LulogooliAbstract
This paper examines the Conversational Implicature (CI) evident in dowry negotiations among the Maragoli people of Western Kenya. The Maragoli is one of the sixteen Luhya subtribes in the Western Part of Kenya. The Maragoli, who speak Lulogooli language, form the dominant inhabitants of Vihiga County. The Maragoli community is steeped in traditional practices which control human relations and ways of life. One of the societal institutions that is controlled by tradition is marriage. The process of marriage among the Maragoli has several stages key among them is dowry negotiation which is the penultimate stage to a bride leaving her family to join another family through marriage. Dowry negotiation is a rigorous and often a delicate exercise that seeks to bind two families hence it is conducted in language that is meant to foster unity and understanding besides achieving the goal of a dowry settlement. Towards this end, participants in Maragoli dowry negotiations have mastered the art of indirectness in the use of Lulogooli language to achieve their purpose; the lexical items used and utterances made on this occasion have a hidden meaning. This study delves into this with specific focus on dowry negotiations in Sabatia Sub County in Vihiga County. The paper will analyze how CI manifested in Lulogooli, the forms of the CI and linguistic functions of performed by the CI.
Downloads
References
Allot, N. E. (2018). Conversational Implicature. Oxford: Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Linguistics.
Animasahun, R. A & Fatile, E.F. (2011) Patterns of Marital Instability among Married Couples in Lagos, Nigeria. Journal of African Studies and Development,3(10), 192-99.
Anindo, C. (2016). A morphosemantic Study of Toponyms: Lulogooli Place names. Nairobi: University of Nairobi.
Bach, K. (1994). ‘Conversational impliciture’, Mind and Language 9: 124–62.
Blutner, R. (1998). Lexical Pragmatics. Journal of Semantics, 15(2), 115-162
Boyd, O (2005). Dialects, Languages and Ethnicity. http://orvillejenkins.com/languages/dialectslangsethnicity.html. Accessed on April 27, 2023.
Bruyn, S. (1966). The Human Perspective in Sociology: The methodology of participant Observation. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. A classic defense of Participant observation.
Bwonya, J.U. (1998) The Gender Dimension of Songs in Maragoli Marriage Ceremonies (MA Thesis). University of Nairobi, Nairobi. Kenya.
Chelangat, C.N (2013) A Lexico-Pragmatic Analysis of Kipsigis Marriage Dowry Negotiations, (Unpublished MA Project) Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya.
Chomsky, N. (1987) Mind & Language. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0017.1987.tb00115.x Accessed on April 23, 2023.
Davies, B, (2000) Grice’s Cooperative Principle: Getting the meaning across. In D. Nelson, P. Foulkes, (Eds.). Leeds Working Papers in Linguistics. 82(2), 1-26
Dijk, V. T. (1997). Discourse as Structure and Process (A Discourse Studies: An Multidisciplinary Introduction) CA: Sage Publications.
Gachara, M. (2012). Metaphors of Gikuyu Marriage Negotiations: A Cognitive Linguistics Perspective (Unpublished PHD Dissertation) Kenyatta University
Githiora, C. (2002, December) Sheng: Peer Language, Swahili Dialect or Emerging Creole? Journal of African Studies,15(2)
GOK. (2019) …. Kenya Population and Housing Census Report. Nairobi: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
Grice, H. P. (1967). ‘Logic and conversation’, William James Lectures, Harvard. Published in Grice 1989, 1–143
Heritage, J. (1984). Garfinkel and Ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hofmann, R. (1993). Realms of Meaning: An Introduction to Semantics. Routledge
Horn, L. & Ward, G. (2006) The Handbook of Pragmatics. USA: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Johnson, R. A. (1993). Negotiation Basics: Concepts, Skills, and Exercises. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications
Kabaji, E. S. (2005) The Construction of Gender Through the Narrative Process of the African Folktale: A Case Study of the Maragoli Folktale. (PhD Thesis). University of South Africa.
Kaluhi, E. (2018). A lexical and Phonological variations in Lulogooli, Lutirichi and Lumudu: A sociolinguistic Variationist Approach. (MA Thesis) Nairobi: University of Nairobi.
Kimani, J. (2021, September) ‘Pragmatic Analysis of Marriage Dowry Negotiations in Local Communities in Africa’. European Journal of Historical Research, 1, 35-45.
Kroeger, P.R. (2019) Analyzing meaning: An introduction to semantics and pragmatics. Berlin: Language and Science Press. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.2538330
Leech, G. (1983) Principles of Pragmatics. USA: Pearson Education Limited. Marriage Act, (2014). National Council for Law Reporting in Kenya. GOK
Marlo, M. (2007). The Verbal Tonology of the Lumarachi and Lunyala: Two Dialects Of Luluyia (Bantu Kenya) Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Michigan.
Matinde, R., Akello, W. (2021) Violation of Cooperative Principles among Face bookers in a Kenyan Political Discourse. https://www.royalliteglobal.com/african- languages/article/view/703. Accessed on April 23, 2023.
Milroy, L. (1987). Language and Social Networks.2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell.
Mugari, V, Dhumukwa, A & Mukaro, L. (2013). Violation of Conversational Maxims in Shona. Journal of Comparative Literature and Culture (JCLC), 161(2), 4.
Needman, R. (2015) African Wedding Traditions. New York: Basic Books.
O’Connor, T. (2005). Qualitative social science research Methodology. North Carolin Wesleyan College. Acquired 15 May 2006 from http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/308/308lect09.htm
Olenyo, J.M. (2011). What is in a name? An Analysis of the semantics of Lulogooli personal Names. International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies, 1(20).
Osogo, J. (1966). A History of the Baluyia. Nairobi: Oxford University Press.
Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research &Evaluation Methods. 3rd Edition. Sage Publications, Inc.
Sacks, H. (1984) Notes on Methodology: In Structures of Social action; studies in Conversational Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University press.
Saeed, J.I (1997). Semantics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Servile-Troike, M. (2003). Ethnography of Communication. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Solanke, S.O & Ayodabo, S.J (2017) …Contemporary Marriage Process in Nigeria: Willing Love, Perilous Business, Post-Marriage Problems https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320756915 Accessed on April 27, 2023.
Sperber, Dan, and Wilson, Deirdre (1986). Relevance: Communication and Cognition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Second edition with a new postface, 1995.
Sperber, Dan, and Wilson, Deirdre (2002). ‘Pragmatics, modularity and mindreading’, Mind and Language 17: 3–26. Reprinted in Wilson and Sperber
Spradley, J. P. (1997). Participant Observation. New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston;
Suryadi, H & Muslim, M. (2019). An Analysis of Conversational Implicature Strategy in Drama “The Bear” By Anton Checkov and Its Application in Elt. JOLLT.
Whorf, B. L. (1956). Language, Thought and Reality. Cambridge, England: MIT Press & Wiley.
Widdowson, H.G (2021) On Limitations of linguistics applied. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/21.1.3 accessed on April 27, 2023.
Wilson, D (2016). Relevance Theory. Oxford Handbook of Pragmatics. Oxford University. Press. Published online Jan 2016: 10.1093/oxford hb/9780199697960.013.25
Yule, G. (1996) Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Vivere Sailas Nandiemo, Professor John Chege Githiora
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
