Swearing as a Verbal Behaviour among University of Cape Coast Students in Ghana

Abstract

This paper examined swearing as a verbal act among undergraduate students of the University of Cape Coast. It specifically explored the kind of linguistic items used as swear words by the students, the sources of the swear words and contexts in which they were used, the role gender played in swearing and why students at the university of cape Coast swear at all. A sample of data was taken using both questionnaire and interview, supplemented with participant observation. This was analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative methods. That is, the responses obtained from the interview and the questionnaire were manually transcribed into written words. It was subsequently analyzed using IBM SPSS software. The analysis of the data has revealed that students of the University of Cape Coast swear using mostly lexical items such as damn, fuck, shit, motherfucker, bullshit, bitch and asshole. There were a few instances of the use of sentences such as damn it, fuck you, damn you! And fuck your ass, for swearing. These words were mostly learnt from movies and friends and less frequently learned from the media and parents. It was noted that schools served as the main context of the usage of the swear words, but mostly in peer companies. The implication of this is that school instructors may have a very limited control on the students as far as the use of the swear words is concerned. Again it appears the male students are likely to swear more than the females. It is obvious that the students swear largely when they are frustrated, in pain, excited, in shock or when happy and to express emotions, and mostly because they did not see it offensive.