A SOCIOLINGUISTICS ANALYSIS OF ESAN PROVERBS

ABSTRACT

This research carries out the sociolinguistics studies of Esan proverbs. The goal is to explore proverbs in Esan language while analyzing their levels of meaning and the context in which they are used. This research will help in providing data for academic reference and contribute a sociolinguistic insight into the Esan language, use and community. The qualitative and analytic methodologies were employed in the course of this research. Twelve (12) proverbs were analyzed using Uwajeh’s four-level of translation model as the major theoretical framework with insights from Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. This is because of the importance of getting the right meaning equivalence and how the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis allows this study to relate its data to aspects of Esan world view and culture. The data for the study was sourced and collected orally from competent Esan native speakers from their context of use in Esan dramas. On typology, Adedimeji’s (2003) typological classification is applied for the classification of the data into types. It was observed that getting the meaning equivalence in the right context helped to understand the data and how they are used appropriately in their source language while the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis shows aspect of Esan culture that manifest in Esan proverbs.