A Lexico-semantic Analysis Of Selected Speeches Of Is-haq Oloyede

 Effective language use is a basis for communication. Language is a system of symbols which includes words and words make up sentences that in turn form a discourse. Each word and sentence exhibit different form, nature, element and meaning. Thus, lexico – semantic level of language analysis deals with the study of word and meaning. This study examined the use of word and sentence, word group, meaning relations and cohesive devices in five selected speeches of Is-haq Oloyede, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin, as representatives of all his speeches in year 2010.These speeches contain more noun and more pronoun as word classes and different meaning relations that enhance grammatical senses. Also, the speeches exhibit some set of linking resources such as reference, ellipsis and substitution, conjunction and lexical cohesion. These resources create connection between words and sentences and between language and the world. Hence, the purpose of language use by Oloyede was achieved by the nature of a word, its group, element, the meaning it conveys and the relationship it shares with other words and sentences in his speeches.

Title Page

Certification

Dedication 

Acknowledgement

Abstract

Table of Contents

List of Tables

CHAPTER ONE

General Introduction

1.1 Introduction

1.2 The Statement of Problem

1.3 Purpose of the Study

1.4 Justification

1.5 Scope of the study

1.6 Methodology 

1.7 Data Description

1.8 Profile of Is-haq Oloyede, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin.                            

1.9  Summary

CHAPTER TWO

Literature Review

2.1   Introduction

2.2   The English Lexicon

2.3    Lexemes and Word Meaning

2.4   Word Class

2.4.1   Open Class

2.4.2   Closed Class

2.5   Meaning Relations

2.6   Cohesion

2.6.1   Reference

2.6.2   Ellipsis and Substitution

2.6.3   Conjunction

2.6.4   Lexical Cohesion

2.7   Speech

2.7.1 Types of Speech

2.8   Summary

CHAPTER THREE

Data Analysis

3.1   Introduction

3.2   Data Presentation

3.3   Datum One: “Charity Begins at Home”

3.4   Datum Two: “The Future is Here”

3.5   Datum Three: “It is a Goal”

3.6   Datum Four: “The Means Justifies the End”

3.7   Datum Five: “Seeing is Believing”

3.8   Findings

3.9   Conclusion

                                                  

CHAPTER FOUR

Summary and Conclusion

4.1   Introduction

4.2   Summary

4.3  Conclusion

Figure 1: Diagram Showing Hyponymy     18

Figure 2: Diagram Showing Hyponymy    34

Figure 3: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              34

Figure 4: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              45

Figure 5: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              45

Figure 6: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              45

Figure 7: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              56

Figure 8: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              65

Figure 9: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              65

Figure 10: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              65

Figure 11: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              74

Figure 12: Diagram Showing Hyponymy              74

 

Table 1: Open Class in Datum 1     29

Table 2: Closed Class in Datum 1     30

Table 3: Conjunction in Datum 1     37

Table 4: Exact Repetition in Datum 1     38

Table 5: Open Class in Datum 2     39

Table 6: Closed Class in Datum 2     41

Table 7: Conjunction in Datum 2     48

Table 8: Exact Repetition in Datum 2     49

Table 9: Open Class in Datum 3     51

Table 10: Closed Class in Datum 3     52

Table 11: Conjunction in Datum 3     58

Table 12: Exact Repetition in Datum 3     59

Table 13: Open Class in Datum 4     60

Table 14: Closed Class in Datum 4     61

Table 15: Conjunction in Datum 4     67

Table 16: Exact Repetition in Datum 4     68

Table 17: Open Class in Datum 5     69

Table 18: Closed Class in Datum 5     70

Table 19: Conjunction in Datum 5     76

Table 20: Exact Repetition in Datum 5     76

  CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION 

Generally, it is accepted that language is the means by which people in a community interact and express feelings, thoughts and intentions. It is a system of voluntarily produced symbols which include signs, letters, words, etc. According to Udofot (2004,p.3) “language is normally organized into patterns-phonic and graphic and each has specific characteristics”. The purpose of language is for communication. Effective communication is based on a person’s linguistic ability to produce, pronounce and use words, ability to construct sentences and on the meaning of individual words and sentences. Hence, people communicate meaning with pieces of language. 

 There are different levels of language study, namely: morphology which is the study of word formation and structure; syntax which deals with the arrangement of words to form sentences; phonology which studies speech sounds and how they are organized into a system of a given language, etc. 

 This study will mainly concern itself with lexicology and semantics as parts of the levels of language. These levels will in turn be used in analyzing our data. The notion of word is central in the study of lexicology and semantics. Lexicology deals with the study of the form, meaning, use and behavior of words. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2011) says “lexicology studies words, their nature and meaning, words elements, relations between words (semantic relations), word groups and the whole lexicon”. The term first occurred in the 1820s. Also, semantics deals with the study of meaning. It shows how words and sentences including non-verbal behaviours are understood, interpreted and related to objects and situations in the world. Semantics also relates syntactic structures to writing as a whole. 

Words and sentences are carefully selected and well-ordered to convey intentions. These words and sentences form themselves into coherent speech or text. A speech is defined as a connected discourse which is spoken formally to an audience. Speech by Hughes (1996,p.7) “ is primarily an aural or oral process which takes place through the dimension of time in a strictly linear fashion”. She describes a speech as a spoken channel of communication.

This work deals with the use of words, word groups and meaning relations that are internal to the vocabulary of English language using selected speeches of Is-haq Oloyede as case study. It will cover the theories of the classification and decomposition of word meaning and the relationship of word meaning and sentence meaning.