A PRAGMATIC STUDY OF POLITE INSULTS IN THE NIGERIAN CONTEXT

Abstract

Conversations are expressions of feelings, views, opinions or
intentions that involve at least two individuals. The success or
failure of any conversation solely depends on the interlocutors. For
a conversation to be successful, it is expected that one of the
interlocutors protects the self-image of the other interlocutor. This
study, therefore, investigated polite insults so as to know the
ingenuity in language use. Anchoring on Grice’s (1981)
conversational implicature as a theoretical framework, the study
examined polite insults in the Nigerian context. Researcher’s
participatory observations and recorded conversations of the
participants served as sources of data collection. Data were got from
nuclear families, offices, Clubs, markets and interview settings in
Ondo West Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria. The
participants were ESL speakers. The study discovered that polite
insults are used for the avoidance of face-threat in a conversation. It
also revealed strategies employed by the participants to express
polite insults while still sustaining and maintaining face saving.
Magnanimity in language use enabled the speakers and hearers flow
in their conversations. These were reflected in the data analysed.
This study, therefore, recommends that linguists should intensify
efforts to beam their searchlight in other areas of polite insults in
the socio-pragmatic context as this will expand and expound the
body of existing knowledge.

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