On the semantic-pragmatic interface of Igbo verbs of perception

Abstract

This study examines some semantic-cum-pragmatic issues in realising the senses of the Igbo verbs of perception. The specific objective of the study is to find out how the gap between linguistic meaning and speaker’s meaning is filled and enriched through the context; and how the contextual features underpin what an utterance communicates using some Igbo verbs of perception. The verbs involved are hụ́(see), lé(look at), nụ́(hear), gè(listen), mètụ́(touch), nụ́(ụ̄tọ̄) (taste) and nụ́(ísì) (smell). By adopting a combination of the Cognitive Semantics approach and Neo-Griceanism, a corpus-based analysis of the Igbo verbs of perception was carried out in different contexts of usage. An audio text was transcribed, and the Antconc concordance software was used on the transcribed text for this purpose. The study’s findings indicate that the senses of Igbo verbs of perception depend significantly on some pragmatic features of the verbs’ contexts of usage. This is because the pragmatic features determine the verbs’ referents, which are established only in specific contexts. However, without the establishment of these contexts, the utterance would not make sense.