YORUBA GREETING CULTURE: AN ANTHROPO-LINGUISTIC REVIEW

Abstract

In this descriptive paper, the author asserts that the culture of greetings is a valuable aspect of the Yoruba ethnography of communication. Grice’s and Leech’s co-operative and politeness principles, with those of Brown and Levinson, formed our theoretical framework. Through the authors’ introspection, observation and interview method, and content analysis, it was found that Yoruba greetings serve many pragmatic functions. They facilitate and regulate inter-personal relationships, guide people’s co-operative and politeness behaviour, promote reciprocal respect and amity, lubricate communication, exemplify cultural identity and promote integration and unity. Different types of greetings have been identified, such as seasonal or periodic, occupation, events or festival greetings. The authors note that the Yoruba language and culture are facing threat of extinction, and that Linguistic suicide and murder are also taking their tolls on Yoruba language. It is therefore suggested that language documentation is the panacea to language and cultural endangerment.