Abstract:
Emowha is a dialect of Igbo. The speakers of Emowha dialect reside in the eight villages that make up Emohua clan. The villages are: Rumuche, Rumuohia, Rumuaknunde, Mgbueto, Oduoha, Elibrada, Isiodu, and Mgbuitanwo with its administrative/traditional headquarters in Rumuche. Emohua is situated in Emohua Local Government Area of the present-day Rivers State of Nigeria. Emohua is bounded by Kalabari (Ijaw), Odognu, Ibaa, Aluu, Ogbakiri, Choba, Isiokpo and Rumuokparali. The subject of proverbs has elicited interest from different disciplines including Philosophy, Sociology, Anthropology, Linguistics, folklore, and communication with each defining it according to their orientation. However, they all agree that proverb is a timeless culture. This paper ‘Analysis of Emowha Proverbs: An Ecolinguistics Perspective’ explores focus group and unstructured interview methods as sources of data, and uses descriptive and discursive methods for data analysis. This work further used conceptual metaphor theory as proposed by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson as a theoretical framework. After meticulous data analysis, it was found that proverbs do not make for smooth communication encounters, most of the proverbs that use plants and animals are eco-destructive in their ecological orientation and the literary devices metaphor and synecdoche are elaborately used. Also, this work concluded that though proverbs are not appreciated by the young folk, they have served as the storage of culture and should be encouraged in our day-to-day communication as they enhance our socio-cultural ties. The objective of this work, therefore, is to determine the extent and environmental elements that feature prominently in Emowha proverbs.
Keywords: Proverbs, Emowha, Metaphor,
Ecolinguistics, Denotation, Connotation
DOI: www.doi.org/10.36349/tjllc.2025.v04i02.020
author/Elekwa, S.O., Dangana, D. & Joy, I.
journal/Tasambo JLLC 4(2) | July 2025 |
