International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue VI, June 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
A Stylistic Analysis of Selected Speeches of Prominent Politicians in Adamawa State of Nigeria.
Abdullahi Muhammad Sani
B. A. Ed. (Language Arts), M. A. (ESP)
Department of English Education
Adamawa State Polytechnic, Yola
Abstract: This is a corpus-based study which is focused on the stylistic analysis of selected political speeches of prominent politicians of Adamawa State. The researcher deliberately presents two speeches of His Excellency Murtala Nyako the then governor of Adamawa State and Dr. Jonathan Silas Zwingina, Deputy Senate Leader and Senator representing Adamawa South Senatorial District respectively. The corpus was analysed based on Leech and Short’s (1981), checklist and stylistic categories: graphology, lexical, syntactic and rhetorical features. The lexical features of the speeches show that, the politicians used the lexical items for self-identification and to show that the context of the speeches center on politics. It was also discovered that the politicians used rhetorical devices to capture the minds of the audience. However, the tone and texture of the two speakers slightly vary. This was speculated through the lexical items used by the two speakers. It was also identified that compound complex sentences were used in their speeches, in order to compress more information to their audience. This study recommends the use of simple sentences by the politicians as this will enhance more comprehension by their targeted audience. It was also recommended that the politicians should be objective and shun their personal sentiments in public speeches.
ey words: Adamawa State, political speeches senatorial district, stylistic analysis.
I.INTRODUCTION
This study strives to review and analyse the language of selected Adamawa state political elites as they discuss political issues. The political elites whose speeches were
analysed in this paper are Senator (Dr.) Jonathan Silas Zwingina and His Excellency Murtala Nyako. It embraces those that are involved in political practitioning and politicking as civilians. Nigeria has witnessed different kinds of political dispensations after independence. These leaders have, one time or the other, made formal speeches in order to unveil their minds by either supporting the political activities or protesting the actions or in actions of the federal government.
Language use at different speech events depends largely on the context of situation that is based on the linguistic features – field, tenor and mode (Malinouski, 1949 and Halliday, 1964). Field, tenor and mode describe how the context of situation determines the kinds of meaning that are elicited. Field here refers to the on-going activity and the particular purposes that the use of language is serving within