ABSTRACT
Most of the
theories on the origins of language have all shown that language arose of man's
desire to adapt to his environment. For instance, the cooperation and contact
theories show that language (speech) came into being out of the human instinct
for survival and contact.
One of the basic
conditions that must be fulfilled before an individual can claim membership of
any society is the ability to communicate effectively in the language of that
society (community-social group). The norms and traditions of a society are
transmitted through specific linguistic codes (language). This view is in
consonance with Hallowell's (1953) claim that:
“A necessary condition for socialization in man is the learning
And
use of language and by the way, a socially conditioned
Aspect
of it, to be relevant in that social group of which he is a
Member.
No matter how
primitive a society is, its cultural values and beliefs are presented in well
defined linguistic forms and nuances. Among the various functions of language
in our society, specialization is perhaps one of the greatest. It gives a
distinct exclusivity and pride to a group. This is perhaps why the military and
police personale will call those who do not understand their peculiar
meta-language as "bloody, civilians". This is echoed in Sapir's view
when he noted that: "Language is a great force of socialization probably
the greatest" - Edward Sapir: Culture Language and Personality: University
of California press (1956) page 1.
Perhaps, Bell's
opinion is even more apt when he says:
“Language is a set of culturally transmitted behaviour
patterns
shared by a group of individuals.
Roger Bell,
sociolinguistics: Goods, Approaches and. problems: London, B. T. Batsford Ltd
(1976) P.l4. In Bell's view, language
cannot be divorced from culture and society. A member of any society who does
not know well, when and how to use the language peculiar to his society is a
social outcast". The ability to use the specialized and predominant languages
of a society enhances social mobility, way, competence, reviewing and
professionalism.
Having
established that the French or language use of a group society sensitizes
members to the orderly society. It has equally been established that language
mobilized in entirety, the personalities of members to more effectively
interact with the philosophy and codes of conduct of their societies.
In conclusion,
language can be used to social solidarity and group infirmity. That is the
reason a member of a security agency would probably not need any formal
identification, when out of uniform, when he discusses with another officer of
the law in the specialized security and police language. We will immediately
experience a reality of, "he talks as us; he is one of us"
On the strength
of the above lies the basis of this essay - an analyses of a special variety of
language used by a special group in furtherance and advancement of their set objectives;
hence, the Linguistic stylistic Analysis of Nigerian security Agencies use of language,
with emphasis on the Nigeria Police Register.
TABLE OF CONTENT
CERTIFICATION i
DEDICATION ii
ABSTRACT iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT v
TABLE OF CONTENT vii
CHAPTER ONE:
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
of the study 1
1.2 Statement
of the problem 2
1.3 Aim
and Objective of the study 4
1.4 Significance
of the study 4
1.5 Scope
of the study 5
1.6 Definition
of terms 6
CHAPTER TWO:
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Language
as Means of Communication 9
2.2 Registers
and Collocations 13
2.3 Brief
History of the Nigeria Police Force 13
2.4 The
concept of linguistics 17
2.5 The
concept of stylistics 19
CHAPTER THREE – RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction 20
3.1 Sources
of data collection 20
3.2 Method
of data collection 21
3.3 Method
of data analysis 21
CHAPTER FOUR -
DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.1 General
use of language by the Nigeria police Force 22
4.2 Registers
of the Nigeria Police Force Junior Cadre 32
4.3 Registers
of the Nigeria Police Force Junior Cadre 35
4.4 Registers
and Collocations of Allied Security Operatives 37
CHAPTER FIVE:-
SUMMARY:
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary
of Findings 43
5.2 Recommendations
44
5.3 Conclusion 45
Bibliography 47
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1.
BACKGROUND
OF THE STUDY
The truth, of
course, is that it is precisely the multiplication of meanings which makes
language the powerful and flexible tool that it is. The possibility of
selecting adopting, standardizing of a selected set of vocabulary and
specialized intended meanings for use by a society, the effectiveness and
intelligibility of same have elicited a study in varieties and functions of
language (English).
It is pertinent
at this point to stress that in as much as uniformity in the use of language is
desirable, it is not possible. Even if it were possible, it would not be in the
best interest for the growth and effectiveness of the language; certain groups
have peculiar sensibilities and needs. These peculiar realities must by
necessity be addressed and furthered by a peculiar variety of language
(English) which might be exclusive to this selected group but at best, vaguely
intelligible to people outside the select group.
So far, we have
seen that certain social factors have by no means acted as influence on
language. While some have worked for greater clarity and efficiency, others
have tampered with the adequate functioning of language.
Basically
therefore, varieties of language in our study of English language, have
emerged, distinguishing races, classes, occupations, etc.
This
multiplicity of a compendium of varieties of one general language has
considerably and unconsciously provided very powerful tool of identification
uniqueness and exclusivity to certain groups in one larger general linguistic
community. In the subsequent sections, it will examined how these specialized
varieties have been able to satisfy the peculiar needs and sensibilities of the
various linguistic groups such as the security agencies, the Nigeria Police,
etc.
1.2 STATEMENT
OF THE PROBLEM
Language -
"any language is a code"; a set of rules for generating what
generative transformational grammarian call "well-formed sentences."
A breach of the standard code could therefore result in an
"ill-formed" utterance (sentences).
Basically, many
if not all social varieties of English are derivations from the standard
normative features of the language. Our case study is the Nigeria police force's
Register.
The security
agencies register especially the police thrive on a long established
alterations of the syntactic" semantic and to some extent, the
phonological components of the English language. Some of such alterations which
have combined to give a unique identity to the Nigerian Police register are:
category rule violation, linguistic foregrounding,
avoidance of technical verbiage, paradigmatic
association, semantic compounding, neutralization of
semantic opposition double extender, taboo expressions,
tedious legal verbiage, etc.
The question
which immediately arises is: Does this peculiar variety with all its
peculiarities hamper the effective use of language for communication? OR better
put, what are the socio-linguistic advantages, benefits, challenges and shortcomings
of this variety?
In summary, it
has been established that the tenets of socio linguistics accepts that the
peculiarities of every linguistic group present a varitable ground for the
growth of distinct register. Now, the Nigerian Police has a recognizable and
identifiable official variety of English. How effective it is in the
advancement of the organization, its intelligibility and grammaticality are
basically the problem this essay will address.
1.3 AIM
AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this
study is to examine the Linguistic -
Stylistic Analysis of Nigerian Security Agencies Use of Language. The
objective of the study is to:
i.
Carry out a stylistic analysis (basically semantic and
syntactic), towards identifying the components of the Nigerian Police register.
ii.
Make a comparative analysis of the intelligibility of the
police register to members of the force vis-a-vis the civilians and the
basic/standard deviations of the police register from standard formal English
language expressions.
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE STUDY
Our exhaustive
analysis will reveal the mutual interaction that takes place between some of
the structural components or standard everyday English language and the
specialized if you like, close aspect (police register) of the language.
The study will
furthermore open vistas on the extent
and influence of sociolinguistic factors that come to play when a group of
people develop and standardize a suitable English language diction that will
reflect the syntax and semantics appropriate to their peculiar realities, while
yet retaining the basic elements of the language (English language)
1.5 SCOPE
OF THE STUDY
The scope of the
research will not extend beyond the analyses of isolated expressions which
contain linguistic elements that could be designated the Police register. Some
of such peculiarities have combined to acquire the description - Police
register are repetitions lexical items in a structure, Linguistic
foregrounding, semantic compounding, taboo expressions, tedious legal verbiage,
etc.
The project will
also examine the semantic components that consist of the use of martial and
specialized scientific expressions.
However the
phonological components of the police register which is the least affected will
however not be examined in details.
1.6 DEFINITION
OF TERMS
Language: This is the act of speaking, writing or
signing, in a given situation; often referred to by the French term, parole
(2) The Diagnostic system underlying a person's use of speech writing or sign
(often refereed to as competence); more generally, the system underlying the
shared spoken, written or sign behavior of a whole community often referred to
by the French term language (3) The biological faculty enabling individuals to
learn and use speech, writing or sign - a defining feature of human behavior.
(4) A particular variety or level of speech writing or sign - as encountered in
such phrases as religious language and gutter language" (5) An
artificially constricted system used to expound a conceptual are a (e.g.
computer language) or to facilitate communication (as artificial language/), in
this sense, the term contrasts with a natural language.
Syntax: The study of the rules governing the
way words are combined to form sentences and other constructions in a language.
In this use, syntax is opposed to morphology, the study of, structure. More
generally it is the study of the interrelationships between all elements of
sentences structure (including morphemes), and of the rules governing the
arrangement of sentences in sequences. In "generative grammar" the
syntactic component contains rules for the generation of syntactic structures.
Semantics: A branch of linguistics related to the
study of meaning in languages. In particular, the approach called structural
semantics applies all the principles of structural linguistics to the study of
meaning through the notion of semantic relations between lexical items (such as
synonymy and antonym). In "generative grammar", the semantic
component is a major area of the semantic representation to a sentence and
analyses lexical times in terms of semantic features.
Sociolinguistics: To start with, linguistics is
the scientific study of language. Several
approaches can be distinguished, according to the linguistics focus, range and
interest. Socio-linguistics is a study of the influence of one's society on his
use of language whether his first language (mother tongue) second language or
foreign language
Register(s): Variety according to the subject matter
or social group involved in a speech act (in this case English language speech
act) is known as the register of that Linguistic group. The presumption is that
it is possible that an individual or a group can adopt one distinct variety
peculiar to them as their permanent form of English. But the same speaker(s)
has/have a repertoire of varieties and habitually switches to the appropriate
one as occasion arises. Most typically, perhaps, the switch involves nothing
more than turning to the particular set of lexical items habitually used for
handling the subject and situation in question.
Metalanguage: A higher level language devised in order to talk about an
object of study or discussion (the object language). Linguistic metalanguage
includes all terminology, nomenclature and special expressions which have been
introduced to talk about the human language in its use in various aspects of
life.
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