A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF SELECTED HONORIFIC NAMES IN THE ILE-OLUJI DIALECT OF YORUBA

ABSTRACT

This project is a descriptive study of selected honorific names in the Ile-Oluji dialect of Yoruba. The purpose of this study is to point out and account for the selected honorific names in the language under consideration. The data used for this study were both primary and secondary. The primary data was collected from the selected native speakers of the community while the secondary data was collected from journals, archival materials, magazines, newspapers (Ile-Oluji Times), and documentations. The theoretical framework employed the descriptive method of data analysis of Basic linguistic theory. The first chapter is the background of the study which entails the introduction to the study,the statement of the problem of the research, research questions, the aims and objectives of the study, the methodology employed for the research work. This chapter also comprise both the information about Ile-Oluji people and the significance of the study. The second part of this research is the literature review which entails previous works of scholars on the topic under consideration and also the concern for present study which covers the relevance of the study,its contribution to Ile-Oluji honorific system. The third chapter is the presentation of the data used in this research which were analysed in chapter four. There were over fifty data presented and analyed in these chapters respectively. The last chapter focused on the summary and findings of the study. In the findings,there are genderspecific terms that are used in referring to and conveying honour for each gender and they vary in their usage. Another finding and observation is that the use of address forms or honorifics in Ile-Oluji helps the people of the Ile-Oluji community to know and accord due respect to their superiors. Lastly, there is adequate proof to show that the address forms of Ile-Oluji are effective.