Contemporary use of proverbs in Akan news broadcast

Abstract

Proverb is a universal phenomenon which plays very significant roles in language use and communication. The Igbo of Nigeria says: “Proverb is the palm oil with which words are eaten”, meaning without the ornament of proverbs, words are hard to swallow. Akan people of Ghana also believe that: If you speak without proverbs, your speech is not complete in sweetness. Proverbs have been used extensively in the media since the establishment of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) in 1954. Therefore, this paper analyses the use of proverbs in radio and television news broadcasts in Akan. Four radio stations and three Television stations were selected for the study. Recordings of 6:00 a.m, 12:00 and 6:00 p.m. News from the four Radio stations and evening News from the three Television stations constituted the data for the study. After listening to the recordings, follow-up interviews were conducted. The study used an integrated approach for data analysis. Critical Discourse Analysis and Politeness Theory are the theoretical frameworks adopted for this ethnographic discussion. Both theories emphasize that in all speech or communication acts; one must consider the text, cultural context, and the setting in which expressions or certain literary devices are used. Analysis of the data indicates that Newscasters/readers in the selected stations use proverbs in their News items. It was further found out that proverbs used in this context are of four categories – original, modified, embellished, and newly coined proverbs. In each case, the proverbs are either used appropriately or otherwise.