CHAPTER 2: Linguistic forms
Linguistics can be broadly defined as the systematic study of
language. Any approach to a description of language is based upon a set of
axioms and postulates. In fact, language is the main issue which writers need
to vehicle their message. But to handle the meaning of sentence structures,
linguists have established five levels of analysis or description: syntax,
semantic, phonetics, lexis, and morphology.
However, language has another dimension in literature. In this
respect, Roland Barthes (1953: 14) writes:
Langue et style sont des forces aveugles;
l'écriture est un acte de solidarité historique. Langue et style
sont des objets; l'écriture est une fonction; elle est le rapport entre
la création et la société, elle est le langage
littéraire transformé par sa destination sociale, elle est la
forme saisie dans son intention humaine et liée ainsi aux grandes crises
de l'histoire.
This quotation shows how complex an author's style can be. To
better understand Buchi Emecheta's literary technics, this chapter is divided
into two main sections: syntactic analysis and semantic analysis.
1. Syntactic analysis
This section is devoted to syntactic analysis. It is the
linguistic field that studies the way lexical items are combined to form
sentences in a paragraph. In this respect, the purpose of this section
is to determine the structure of the text input used by Buchi Emecheta in
The Slave Girl. Basically, the interpretation (decoding) of language
construction occurs at the sentence level, that is to say the whole
construction that generates the meaning. This can be in form of sentences or
utterances.
In fact, a sentence is a building of words syntactically
correct, semantically meaningful and pragmatically acceptable. Accordingly, J.
Dubois and R. Lagane (1973: 14) assert:
«Les phrases sont des suites de mots ordonnées
d'une certaine manière, qui entretiennent entre eux certaines relations,
c'est-à-dire qui répondent à certaines règles de
grammaire et qui ont un certain sens»
Broadly speaking, most of sentence structures of African works
are a key issue in their analysis as Charles Larson (1975: 25) points out:
Les recherches linguistiques sont donc une des
premières différences, une des premières barrières,
que l`on rencontre immédiatement dans un roman africain écrit
dans une langue européenne.
As it can be seen from this assertion, the sentence structures
of African novels are mostly disconnected. In that case, our work in this
section will be concerned with the complex sentences, the simple sentences,
awkward sentences, incomplete sentences, and the problem of the word-order
found in The Slave Girl.
A complex sentence is a hypotaxis one where there are main
clause and subordinates. In this novel, there are two types of complex
sentences: first the periodic sentence and then the loose ones.
Periodic sentences are those sentences in which the main
clause comes last and is preceded by the subordinate clause. In fact, Buchi
Emecheta uses excessively periodic sentences. But the most telling point in
case is found in the following sentence:
When the rumour had first reached the ears of many Ibuza
people, all noise, joyous music and all kinds of loud cries were stopped until
the rumour was fully investigated.
In this sentence, there is one subordinate sentence. This is
introduced by the adverb of time «when». And the main clause of this
sentence is «joyous music and all kinds of loud cries were stopped
...». This sentence is a full one because it is composed of the noun
phrase (NP), and the verb phrase (VP). Nevertheless, it is important to know
that this periodic sentence, by having the completion of its main clause to the
end, produces an effect of suspense towards the readers.
Similarly, the passage that comes after is also an
illustration of the periodic sentence:
As a gesture of affectation, and to help assuage his
guilt, he pulled Ogbanje Ojebeta on his lap and sat there on the bench,
watching the bustle and jostle of the market. (Buchi Emecheta, 1977:
50)
Actually, this passage is a periodic sentence since it begins
with two subordinate clauses linked by a comma and the coordinator
«and». These subordinates are expressed by the adverb «as»
which introduces the dependent sentence. Therefore, this is followed by the
main clause «he pulled Ogbanje Ojebeta on his lap and sat there on the
bench. In fact, this main clause is composed of the noun phrase «he»,
the verb phrase «pulled Ogbanje Ojebeta» and the adverb phrase
«on his lap». But what is important to notice is that the main clause
is followed by another dependent clause «watching the bustle and jostle of
the market». They are separated by a comma.
The periodic sentence is observed in the illustration
below;
And just like a hunter's narrow, that had been quivering
impatiently in its bow while the hunter covered his prey until the opportune
moment to let fly, so did Ogbanje Ojebeta dash out of the Palagada cloth
stall.(Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 56)
In the above example, the subordinate comes before the main
clause. This is presented by the coordinator «and» and by the
conjunction «while». What is interesting to assert here is that the
author lets the reader in suspense.
Apart from periodic sentences, there are also loose sentences
in The Slave Girl. In fact, a loose sentence is the contrary of
periodic one. It is a kind of complex sentence which does not end with the
completion of its main clause, but continues with one or more subordinate
clauses or other modifiers. Buchi Emecheta's The Slave Girl is full of
examples of loose sentences. So, the example that follows illustrates the point
at issue:
Ojebeta stood and looked at her for a moment, wondering
why the child-catchers should want to take her away (Buchi Emecheta, 1977:
56)
Truly, this sentence is complex since it comprises the main
clause and a subordinate one. Unlike in the preceding sentences, the main
clause «Ojebeta stood and looked at her for a moment» is put
initially and followed by its subordinate «wondering why the
child-catchers should want to take her away».
After being concerned with complex sentences, it is necessary
to deal also with simple ones used by Buchi Emecheta in The Slave
Girl. Indeed, a simple sentence is a parataxis in which the clauses or
phrases are juxtaposed without the use of coordinating or subordinating
conjunctions. Evidence of simple sentences in The Slave Girl are
abundant. Thus, the most telling will come in the following instance:
«The rumour had come true. There is a kind of death
coming from across the salty waters. It has killed many people in Isele Azagba,
it is creeping to Ogwashi, it is now coming to us. They call it Felenza. It is
a white man's death. They shoot it into the air, and we breathe it in and
die.»(Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 24)
It results from the above passage that this whole paragraph is
mostly composed of independent clauses. In fact, each sentence of this
paragraph comprises the noun phrase, the verb phrase one. Additionally, these
sentences are linked together by commas, certain by full stops. The use of
independent clauses by this character may refer to wisdom. It means that he
thinks twice before saying a word. He is supposed not to say much.
Another example of simple sentence can be marshalled in the
following illustration:
The silence was profound. The night animals had gone into
hiding and the day ones were still reluctant to come out into the open to start
their early morning business. (Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 31)
From the above sentence, each one is independent, that is to
say they do not depend on other sentences. But what is important to note is
that the second sentence is melted into two dependent sentences. They are
linked together by the conjunction of coordination «and». Those
sentences are mainly conjugated in the past. As a matter of fact, they are
correct regarding syntax, semantics and grammar.
Similarly, Buchi Emecheta`s The Slave Girl awkward
sentences. So one of the illustrations is found in the following passage:
It looks very like the white otuogwu your people like to
wear. Just feel its smoothness. It is a cloth in a million. (Buchi
Emecheta, 1977: 48)
This quotation is inaccurate as far as syntax rule is
concerned. What makes it incorrect is the noun phrase `it looks very'. The
adverb «very» is in fact a bound morpheme, that is to say it could
not stand alone. It must be followed by an adjective or an adverb called in
syntax «the head» of the sentence. Additionally, the comparison made
in this sentence has no sense because it lacks the comparing noun to what
«the white otuogwu» is compared.
In the same vein, other instances can be found in The
Slave Girl. The following passage backs up this idea:
She had ordered from the best pounded yam stall in Otu
market, and it was served piping hot, with the aroma from the kelenkele soup
curling visibly in the form of a dewy stream. (Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 65)
In the above sentence, the main clause «she ordered»
is loose in the sense that the verb «to order» is a two- place -
predicate. In other terms, «to order» requires an object or a factive
to be grammatically correct. In that case, this sentence is inaccurate for the
narrator does not tell really what was «ordered from the best pounded
yam».
Some sentences in The Slave Girl are too long and
confusing. The point in case is illustrated in the quotation below:
So, tightening her voluminous lappa round her substantial
posterior, her breast heaving in unison to her great, she rushed forward
prepared to do battle with and if necessary maim this market thief causing the
outcry, if she could lay curfs on whoever it was, for dancing to go into her
absent colleague's stall. (Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 59)
In this sentence, the structure is difficult to understand
because of its length; besides it seems quite complex or difficult to dissect
it into constituents (noun phrases, verb phrases, and adjective phrases).
Therefore, a normal well-built sentence must be composed of the noun phrase
(NP), and the verb phrase (VP). Accordingly, William J. Kerrigan (1965: 75)
writes:
Your very best can only be your attempt to be as clear as
possible in language familiar to you if you try to do better than your best,
you'll hand in the soup.
Buchi Emecheta's The Slave Girl, also comprises the
incomplete sentences as illustrated in the following example: «A sad
girl, strong, healthy and almost beautiful» (Buchi Emecheta, 1977:
115). In this passage, it is important to note that this sentence is imperfect
because it lacks a verb. Here, the narrator uses three adjectives without a
verb to describe the major character. Actually, it requires the main clause in
order to be complete.
Similarly, the following passage is also a good illustration
of incomplete sentences: «For her to have lost everyone...»
(Buchi Emecheta, 1977: As a matter in case, this example is an independent
clause since it lacks the main one. In addition, the fact of ending this
sentence with dots proves that it is not finished. But, it is important to say
that this technique is called 'aposiopesis' (stopping a sentence in midcourse
so that the statement is unfinished). It is used here to allow readers guess
what the addresser wants to say.
The problem related to sentence structure concerns also the
word-order, that is to say, the way words are arranged to form a sentence. In
that case, the writer must well organise sentence so that they be accurate.
Therefore, the word-order of some sentences in Buchi Emecheta`s The Slave
Girl is not well organised. This is elucidated through these lines:
«... .So shut up, and let's go and help in the
kitchen,» said Ijeoma as she began to walk out of the room. (Buchi
emecheta, 1977: 90)
From this example, we remark that the lexical items
arrangement is not correct. In a reported style, verbs are always put after
their subjects. Since this sentence is a semi reported speech, the verb
«said» must come after the subject «Ijeoma» so that it to
be well- built. In this regard, the best words' construction would be
«Ijeoma said....
Moreover, some sentences in The Slave Girl are
difficult to understand in the sense that there are certain lexical items which
are not necessary. This passage is a good example:
«If I go about challenging all thing people buy
about me, who will be my friend? For whoever I challenge about spiteful things
they are said to have said about me, that person will deny It, and I will only
have more enemy to the list I have already.» (Buchi Emecheta, 1977:
57)
In this passage, syntax is confused because «they are
said to have said about me» is not the correct arrangement of lexical
items. In fact, this transcription seems to be a mere oral translation of the
`departure language' (DL) or the first language.
In the same token, the following sentence is also the point at
issue:
The Eke market was the biggest market Ojebeta had
previously even seen before, but this one looked to her like a whole city.
(Buchi Emecheta, 1977: 44)
In this passage, syntax is inaccurate since the author uses
the lexical items having the same explanation. What is in fact inadequate in
this sentence is the use of the adverbs of time «previously» and
«before». As a matter in case, this is the tautology. Normally, the
author might choose one of them instead of writing both at the same time. After
dealing with the syntactic analysis, it is important to consider the semantic
one.
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