IMPLICATING ORALITY IN THE SYNTACTIC FEATURES OF BIBLICAL PARABLES: "THE SOWER", AND "THE MUSTARD SEED"

Abstract This paper examined the import of orality in the syntactic structuring of the Biblical parables. One of the major characteristics of language is its flexibility in response to contextual use. Contextual influence on language does not only manifest in lexical choice-making, but it also extends to the manner of structuring an expression. The paper relied on M.K.A Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics to contend that the choice of language (in this paper, structural choices) is necessitated by the function expected of the expression. It also posits that Biblical parables constitute identifiable context of language use, involving the teller of the parable; those that the parables were told; and the socio-cultural background that generated the parable. Thus, the conclusion of the paper is that the choice of language in the Biblical parables can be connected with an attempt to retain their fidelity to their oral version, and this can be assessed through examining the syntactic choices of the sentences. Keywords: Language, context, orality, syntax, biblical parable