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English and Linguistics Department
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Abstract
As a result of the bilingual nature of African nations due to the historical accident of colonialism, the problem of which language (ie. Indigenous or colonial language) to adopt for literary expression, has lingered on. This has precipitated the use of various devices by African writers to contextualize aspects of indigenous meaning in the L2 text. Against this background, the present study examines lexico-semantic aspects of transliteration in Gabriel Okara's The Voice (1964), using the parameters of Robert Lado's contrastive analysis. The study explores the various sociolinguistic constraints which determine appropriate lexical choices in the text. The main aim is to enhance understanding and appreciation of the language of Okara's The Voice in particular and African literature in general. The study also highlights the importance of lexis and meaning, as distinctive levels of language, to the construction of any literary discourse. Keywords: Nativization, African literature, lexico-semantic, transliteration,Gabriel Okara,The Voice Introduction Every Literary text is constructed with language. Therefore, it is imperative to determine how a particular writer has utilized the potentials of language to negotiate meaning(s) for his text This thesis is anchored on the premise that, as Brumfit and Carter (1986) put it, we need to show "how what is said is said and how meanings are made" within the psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic ambience of the text. As a bilingual and bicultural text, the structure of language use in Okara's The Voice "calls attention to itself" (Murakarovsky, 1964:58), in the sense that the author manipulates and adapts the rhythm, register, syntax and semantics of the English Language to the linguistic and cultural nuances of his native ijaw Language. Specifically, the peculiarity of Okara's linguistic style in the text under study is a product of, or direct response to, the lingering problem of language in African literature. This problem borders on whether or not the colonial linguistic media (i.e. Portuguese, English, French etc), would be able to adequately and authentically express the socio-cultural and linguistic realities of the African continent. Scott (1990) refers to it as: - .the long-standing debate among critics of African literature over the relation between African authors and the colonial linguistic legacy. This debate which has dominated Africa literature in the past fifty years (Osundare, 2004), stems from the recognition among African scholars/writers of the centrality of language to literature, and the close connection between political independence and cultural emancipation. As literary works are cultural artifacts, the basic thinking is that, the use of colonial languages in African literature is a willing perpetuation of imperialism. Significantly, there has been a sustained polarity of opinion about the appropriate attitude the African writer should adopt to this phenomenon. These range from the fervidly nationalist to the stridently compromising. Osundare (2004) identifies three "attitudes" viz: (i) accomodationist, (ii) gradualist, and (iii) radicalist. According to this scholar, the first group (i.e. accommodationist), which has as its chief promoter, Leopold Sedar Senghor of Senegal, favours an outright use of imperialist languages; while the "gradualists" are "the dwellers of the middle of the road", prominent among whom is Ali Mazrui who advocates a de-Anglicization and re-Africanization of the English language, to authentically convey Africa's literary sensibilities. The third group, on the other hand, is the "radicalist" composed of writers who call for an immediate adoption of indigenous African languages as the media of literary expression. Obi Wali and Ngugi Wa Thiongo are proponents and exponents of this attitude. Instructively, majority of African writers belong to the "gradualist" group identified above (i.e. indigenizing the colonial language).
The Special Issue on Social Science Research Centre for Promoting Ideas, USA www.ijhssnet.com
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Gabriel Okara, Chinua Achebe, Amos Tutuola, Elechi Amadi, J.P. Clark-Bekederemo, Kofi Awoonor, etc. all fall into this category. In the main, this linguistic constraint would have informed the device of "transliteration" adopted in Okara's The Voice. On his part, Ushie (2001), summarizes some of the major positions canvassed by scholars on the problem of language in African literature as follows:
a) Those who, following Obi Wali, have continued to advocate the use of African indigenous languages, e.g. Ngugi Wa Thiongo and Immeh Ikiddeh.
Meaning; reason; rationale
11
Entered our ears (p. 51)
Heard
12
Put a law (p. 51)
Make or enact a law
13
Bad head (p. 68)
Unlucky; ill-fated
14
When Okolo came to know himself (p.80)
Regained consciousness
15
From this standing moment (p. 53)
From this moment
As earlier stated, the linguistic items in the foregoing table have L2 (SBE) equivalents, which are shown on the right-hand side. The critical point is that, the author ignores the S.B.E form, and uses the source language (L1) form, in line with the technique of transliteration adopted in the text. Semantic Shift/Extension In this situation, the meaning of standard English words are extended to accommodate local sentiments or concepts. It is pertinent to observe that, in Okara's The Voice, semantic extension is a product of transliteration. Let us illustrate this phenomenon with the following two examples:
i. What I do with my money does not touch you (p.92)
ii. Did he no part of your body touch? (p. 65)
In S.B.E., "to touch" suggests physical contact. Hornby (2000) defines it as "to be or come so close together that there is no space between". In the context of (i) above, Okara has extended it to mean "concern" i.e. "what I do with my money is not your business". In the context of (ii) above, on the other hand, the term has been extended to mean "a deliberate, sensual or lustful contact". In the LI of the author, the term could also suggest copulation or sexual intercourse i.e. "have you touched her?" The major point here is that, the term carries semantic properties of the LI of the author which extend beyond their native English uses. Contextual meaning of Lexical Transliteration Having delineated aspects of lexical transliteration in the text, our next task is to show that these lexical items are only meaningful within the context of the author's native cultural values and environment. The contextual theory of meaning is associated with systemic linguists and constructs can only be decoded against the background of the pattern of signification in the source language. According to Brumfit and Carter (1986:145): - the more culture-bound the style becomes, the more distance is created between the native varieties of English and the non-native varieties. The fact is that, apart from culture-bound lexical constructs such as "spoilt world" (which means corrupt world); 'surface-water things' (hypocrisy) "search with all his inside" (spiritedly); "had no chest" (lacks courage); "day's eye" (weather), etc, Okara's transliteration in his The Voice is foregrounded by his use of forms for which options are readily available. For illustration, let us examine the table below:
SN
L1
Transliteration Options in the L2
I
Teme
0) Spirit (ii) Shadow
Ii
Gomu iye
Straight thingtrue, honest, genuine
Lii
Gesi iye
True honest thing
The table above shows that (i) teme which is the LI form, is an ambiguous word. The two meanings are shown in the L2 code.
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The point is that Okara deliberately opts for "shadow" when, in the actual sense, "spirit" is closer to the L2 code in the following context, for instance: He was in search of it with all - his shadow (p. 23) The inference is that okara could have used " - with all his spirit", which is actually more contextually appropriate. For (ii) and (iii) on the table above, let us examine the following context: I could have been a rich man be - if the straight thing I had not done. (p. 105). Though the line between "straight" and "honest/true" is very thin, quite obviously, "true" or "honest" thing would have bee closer to the S.B.E. or L2 code. In a similar vein, the use of "standing moment" (p. 53), which we have earlier identified among borrowings with L2 or SBE equivalent in section 6.3.2, is too ambitious i.e. done without regard to the constraints of transliteration. In the original Ijaw form, it is "tie kiri" i.e. 'Standing ground". Obviously, Okara reckoned that the latter (i.e. "standing ground") would be meaningless in the L2 code. Our contention is that, faced with this transliteration constraint, he should have left it at the SBE or L2 form i.e. "from this moment", instead of opting for a form that makes no sense in both codes. Conclusion In this study, we have shown how a an African writer has nativized the English language to interpret his native sociolinguistic environment. Specifically, we have established that Gabriel Okara's The Voice is a bilingual text in the sense that it renders the sociolinguistic features of the writer's L1, in the target language or L2, by exploring the various lexico-semantic resources that reflect its hybrid character. Importantly, we have also shown that the author's linguistic experiment of "transliteration" is a valid and relevant response to the persistent problem of language in African literature. The implication of this phenomenon is that a lot of socio-cultural and even historical variables come into play in the construction of an African literary text for, as Adekunle (1987:1) put it, for effective communication of textual meaning to take place, there must be "additional knowledge of the socio-cultural variables present in the context of situation." Thus, our finding in this study is that, to fully appreciate the use of words and their meanings in Gabriel Okara's The Voice, or other African literary texts, there is the need to situate them in the proper sociolinguistic context. References Adeniran A. (1987); "Sociolinguistic Perspectives on Human Communication". In Unoh, S. 0. (ed) Topical Issues in Communication Art Uyo: Modem Business Press Ltd. Akindele F. & Adegbite, W. (1992); The Sociology and Politics of English in Nigeria: An Introduction. Ile-Ife: OAU Press. Alo, M. A. (1998); Style in Language and Communication. Port-Harcourt: Aeddy Link. Appel, R. & Muystan P. (1987); Language Contact and Bilingualism. London: Edward Arnold. Bloomfield (1993); Language. New York; Holt, Reinehart and Winston. Brumfit, C. J. & Carter, R. A. (eds) (1986); Literature and Language Teaching. Oxford University Press. Carter, R. & McCarthy, M. (1988); Vocabulary and Language Teaching. London: Longman Group Ltd. Catford, J. C. (1964); The Linguistic Theory of Translation. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Duruoha, S.I. (1992); "Form as Metaphor in Gabriel Okara‟s The Voice". In Oye: Ogun Journal of Arts Vol.v. Ago-Iwoye: OOU. Halliday, et al (1964); The Linguistic Theory of Translation. London: Longman. Hornby, A. S. (2000); Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. Oxford: OUP. Lado R. (1957); Linguistics Across Cultures. Ann Arbor: UMP Oxford University Press. McCarthy and Carter (1988); Vocabulary and Language Teaching. London: Longman Group Ltd. Mukarovsky, J. (1964); "Standard Language in Poetic Language" in P. L. Gar Vin, Prague School Reader; Washington D. C. George Town: University Press. Okara, G. (1964); The Voice. London: Heinemann Educational Books Ltd. Olabode, E. A. (2001); A Linguistic Study of Transliteration in Nigerian Literary English: the case of Tutuola. An Unpublished M. A. Project, University of Ibadan. Osundare, Niyi (2004); "What is the Nationality of your Idiom? African Writers and the Language Question" in Owolabi & Dasylva (eds) Forms and functions of English and Indigenous Languages in Nigeria. Ibadan: Group Publishers. Scott, Patrick (1990); "Gabriel Okara's The Voice: The non-Ijo Reader and the Pragmatics of Translingualism" in Bjornson, R. (ed). Research in African Literature Indiana: Indiana University Press. Shiarella, J. (1970); "Gabriel Okara‟s The Voice: A Study in the Poetic Novel". In Clark, J.P. & Abiola, I. (eds.) Black Orpheus. Lagos: Daily Times of Nigeria Ltd. Ushie, J. (2001); Many Voices, Many Visions: A Stylistic Study of "New" Nigerian Poetry (1988-1998). An unpublished Ph.D Thesis, University of Ibadan. Yeibo, A. Ebi (2000); A Lexico-Semantic Discourse Analysis of Gabriel Okara's The Voice. An Unpublished M. A. Project, University of Ibadan.
Yule, G. U. (1944); The Statistical Study of Literary Vocabulary. London: Cambridge University Press
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