MALE SPEECH PATTERN IN THE PLAYS OF G.I. NWAOZUZU (
ABSTRACT
The patriarchal society has long established men as superior to women. Hence, the speech pattern of men has a profound impact on our understanding of each other in that men have always been dominating and at the helm of affairs in their respective societies and families. They grew accustomed to being in charge and having complete control not only over women and slaves or properties, but even in the choice of language. This situation often gives men wider freedom in the use of some language expressions which could be seen as irresponsible or vulgarly talk when spoken by women. This research therefore, examines male speech pattern using the four Igbo plays of G.I. Nwaozuzu – Ome Ihe Jide Ofo; Ajo Obi; Nke M Ji Ka; and Eruru respectively. The study shows that male speech pattern in G.I. Nwaozuzu plays are not different from those in other plays. This is because the four plays used in the research explicitly show that there are specific speech patterns associated with male folk in the Igbo society. This speech pattern of men sometimes, emanates due to some characteristic traits which men often exhibit. These traits include aggressiveness, anger, craftiness, dominance, pride etc. Besides, men skillfully use mediums such as proverbs, idioms, metaphor, metonyms, witty statements, etc. to express their mood or display their instincts and superiority over women. Some of these characteristic traits reflective of male speech abound in the four plays of G.I. Nwaozuzu used for this study. Consequently, the study examined the linguistics, morphological, grammatical, social and stylistic features in the four plays with regards to male speech pattern within the Igbo setting. Another distinguishing element in the plays is the impact of male speech pattern on various roles and positions men occupy in their families and communities. Despite the fact that some language expressions are usually associated with men and are perceived as male speech pattern, the playwright’s works under study make one understand that some female folks can also speak in the same manner when ascribed the positions or roles of the male folks. Conclusively, the positions, roles, attitude and speech pattern of men are naturally bestowed on them right from creation. This endowment tends to make men superior in their approach to issues such as thinking in pattern of speech. Men have outstanding records in terms of bravery, intellectual, skills, wisdom, self confidence, strength, aggressiveness, domineering attitude and often intimidating. These vices are usually reflected in the male pattern of speech to make them look superior over their female counterpart in the society.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Linguistics is also concerned with various aspects of the representation of gender in language. One of the earliest linguists to examine gender ways of speaking was Dane Otto Jespersen whose analysis dates as far back as 1925, and serves as a useful starting point in the exploration of the study of gender speech and its ideologies. In his article “The woman” (1990),”women’s speech is clearly deficient of men’s”. The reason for this value judgment could be that there was no adequate record of situation to serve as basis of his result of pre-conceived stereotypes.
Fifty years later, Robin Lakoff established a set of gender features that seems to be a confirmation of an existing power imbalance reflected in linguistic expression (Lakoff :2004). Although counting as one of the first – if not first – contribution to feminist linguistics, some of Jespersen’s sexist assumptions are carried over into her work. Even though Lakoff’s data does not originate in empirical research, but is based on observations and introspection, this does not necessarily reflect the reality of the fe(male) speech community. The lexical gender markers introduced by her lack accuracy and stand as mere stereotypes, possibly rooted in women socialized role from the past. She claims, for example, that women use weaker and almost sweet sounding swear words such as “oh—dear,” or “goodness”, whereas men use stronger expressions such as “shit”, or “damn (Braun 2004:13)
In spite of the efforts and contributions worldwide of women, the old stereotypes that portray men as superior or domineering and women as passive or weaker vessels have continued to exist in today’s society. Despite men’s use of strong expressions as claimed by Lakoff in Braun (2004:13), women continued to strive to be equal with their male counterparts. In social circles, there is an underlying difference in the speech pattern of men and women. The men are assertive, interjecting with authority and humour, while the women on their own part are receptive and on defence. This has kept the old belief alive through generational transfer and associations.
