Abstract
In our time, casual conversations and political speeches as well as written productions in English in Cameroon are, to a greater extent, replete with ugly expressions full of sheer cloudy vagueness, inaccurate and debased language, consisting largely of euphemisms, pretentious dictions and sometimes meaningless words that depict a people’s experiences of resentment and bitterness as a result of tribalism and hatred. This investigation sets out to observe manifestation of tribalism and hatred in their speech, and to collect typical communicative acts in this light, analyze these as manifestations of tribalism and hate speech acts in contemporary Cameroon English speech. The objective is analyse this form of linguistic impoliteness in order to denounce and decry its devastating stigmatizing effects on living together and national integration, and which if not checked early and appropriately constitute a time-bomb. Different linguistic, sociological, ethnomethodological and psychological methods have been used to collect quantitative and qualitative data from informants, and analyze based on well-established sociological and pragmatic theories referred to as sociopragmatics; one of which is the critical discourse analysis that identifies and exposes the ways in which language, political ideology and tribal power are constantly instantiated and enacted in the everyday conversational discourse in Cameroon, politics and the media. It is important to be note that the words we use have power. Often, speakers are not conscious that the words they use does influence and affect the listener’s thoughts, actions, moral and emotional state and feelings, perception, hence his general behaviour. After the analysis, findings reveal that love for one another, decent speech, and upholding of human moral values are needful among Cameroonians. It builds human relations, mutual self-respect and a stronger nation. Nevertheless, from a purely linguistic perspective, tribalism and hatred have enriched contemporary Cameroon English vocabulary. In conclusion, a multilingual and culturally diversified nation as Cameroon needs a more inclusive participation of all the people for the construction of a better society.
Highlights
Language use is something specific to human beings and distinguishes man among all other living things
This sort of speech is characterized by hostile rhetorics of denigration and marginalization directed at certain minority groups as the Other or come-no-go. They strongly believe is the basis for hatred between peoples within the same country. They admit that there is an upsurge of hate speeches disseminated through different social media in Cameroon and notes that “Hate speech kills living together, sows seeds of fear, discord, hatred, distrust and creates social conflict,”4 Even though French is the dominant language, English is used by many Cameroonians to communicate among themselves
Greater interest has been to analyze speech acts that denote hate discourse in Cameroon by identifying some typical utterances used in speech or writing with the intention to hurt the hearer or the other
Summary
Language use is something specific to human beings and distinguishes man among all other living things. They strongly believe is the basis for hatred between peoples within the same country Decrying this practice, they admit that there is an upsurge of hate speeches disseminated through different social media in Cameroon and notes that “Hate speech kills living together, sows seeds of fear, discord, hatred, distrust and creates social conflict,” Even though French is the dominant language, English is used by many Cameroonians to communicate among themselves. It will create greater awareness on the devastating effects of such speech forms to the tribe, person and the whole nation This investigation sets out to observe communicative competence, collect, examine and analyze specific speech acts commonly encountered in casual speech such as everyday conversations, TV talks, discussions, debates, the social media and newspapers on current issues as politics, the Anglophone crises, terrorism, corruption culture and society, tribalism and hate speech in Cameroon. Even though hate discourse may cause antagonism and violence, it enriches English lexis, all of which have significantly enriched contemporary Cameroon English vocabulary system
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