From Pulpit to Everyday Speech: The Social and Linguistic Impact of Pentecostalism in Nigerian

Nigerian Pentecostalism has emerged as a significant social and cultural force, wielding substantial influence over many aspects of daily life, including language use. The movement has contributed not only to the rise of new lexical expressions that reinforce religious dogmatism in a restrictive sense, but also has fecundated their pervasive deployments in social discourse, in a non-restrictive sense. Through innovative media, Pentecostal ideology—particularly in warfare prayer forms and vernacular—has permeated society, allowing everyday people to adopt these expressions in popular culture to convey various ideologies and identities. This study examines how ordinary Nigerians use these expressions as tools of offense and defense against perceived threats to their progress as well as a means of engagement and socialization. Analytical in nature, the study employs Norman Fairclough’s (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis and draws on data from participant observations and unstructured interviews. The findings show that the adoption of Pentecostal language and expressions reflects the changing sociocultural landscape and the influence of religious movements on societal norms and values. Both language and religion are shown to be fundamental instruments in the development of human society.