Pragmatic acts and lexico-semantic variations of vulgar expressions in selected Nigerian Hip Hop Songs
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Date
2018
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Abstract
Hip hop music is becoming very prominent because it is a popular youth culture and able to generate diverse interpretations. Thus, the study examines the various pragmatic acts performed in the selected hip hop songs in order to bring to the fore the covert meanings in it. The study is anchored on Mey (2001) aspects of pragmatic acts and Adegbija’s (1989) classification of Lexico Semantic Variation as the theoretical appurtenance underpinning the study. A total of three (3) hip hop songs were purposively selected and analysed from the points of Pragmatic acts theory and Lexico Semantic Variations. The study reveals that artistes employ assertive practs of informing, requesting, persuading, inviting etc. to connote vulgar expressions by using existing lexical forms to achieve intended meaning. The study found that the artistes, in rendering the songs, adhere to socio cultural value of the Nigerian society which forbids public discussion of sex and issues pertaining to it, and therefore often use metaphors and euphemisms to connote sexual expressions. It was also found that semantic-shift is the major type of lexico-semantic variation used by the artistes in the selected songs. This is because artistes use already existing lexical terms to refer to the sexual organs and experiences based on partial likeness or similarity in the forms of the entities compared. The study concludes that Nigerian hip-hop artistes are mindful of the Nigerian socio-cultural norms and values as regarding the topic of sex, and that Nigerian society influences their choice of expressions and places constraints on their use of language in discussing issues pertaining to sex.