On Lexico-Semantic Analysis of Yoruba Deviant Proverbs

Proverbs are literary philosophical expressions in all languages including Yoruba. They are deployed to smooth communication delivery and also to enrich the intended messages. There are substantial numbers of research on Yoruba proverbs and proverbials. However, the present study examined the lexico-semantic relations between the primeval and certain deviant-constructed Yoruba proverbs, with a view to identifying the elements that define the frame, describe the semantic relations between them and account for the experience associated with the elements that brought the differences into discourse setting. Twenty (20) Yoruba primeval proverbs and their corresponding deviant versions were randomly selected and translated from the source language (SL) to the operational language (OL). The two versions of the proverbs were compared. Areas of differences in the two sets of the proverbs were identified and analyzed using the lens of frame semantics theory. The study discovered that the lexicalized items signaling deviation-frame between the two versions of the proverbs are made possible through relations of synonym, ambiguity, homograph, homonyms, and metonyms while the semantic relations were activated in substitution, paraphrase, and thematic shift. The study attributed the speaker’s experience engendering lexico-semantic disparity in the proverbs to the cultural incompetence and contextual equivalent. It is however noted that, the lexico-semantic relations between the primeval proverbs and their variants do not in any way exhibit contrary effects on the meaning and the performative functions of the deviant proverbs. This discovery posits that, unconscious speakers of deviant proverbs take cognizance of pragmatic equivalence rather than textual equivalence so as to make the context of the usage relevant irrespective of lexico- semantic deviations.