THE PRAGMATICS IMPORT OF ‘CHILD’ IN YORÙBÁ PROVERBS

Oyero, Olusola (2013) THE PRAGMATICS IMPORT OF ‘CHILD’ IN YORÙBÁ PROVERBS. Fort Hare Papers, 20 (1). pp. 1-15. ISSN 0015-8054

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Abstract

The rights of the child are central to sustainable development (Oyero, 2010): that is why the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987: 46) says that sustainable development is meeting “the [human] needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. Efforts have therefore been made by various nations, Nigeria included, to galvanise support for the rights of the child. In this paper, we look at the language of a section of the Nigerian population – the Yorùbá – with the aim of understanding their cultural disposition to ‘the child’ and the implications it portends for the sustenance of the rights of the child. Drawing from speech analysis and symbolic interaction theories, proverbs were collected from individuals, the elderly in particular, who are knowledgeable about Yorùbá proverbs for analysis. We found out that the Yorùbá have basic child rights tenets entrenched in their practices, thus brightening the hope for the sustenance of children’s rights among them.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Child rights, Pragmatics, the Yorùbá, Proverbs
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Humanities
Depositing User:	Dr O S Oyero
Date Deposited:	26 Feb 2015 10:14
Last Modified:	26 Feb 2015 10:14
URI:	http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/3594

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