Ethnosemiotic significance of leaves among the Efik in South-Eastern Nigeria

Communication by means of objects is an important facet of visual communication which is within the broader spectrum of multimodal communication. Among the Efik people in Cross River State, South-eastern Nigeria, tropical leaves have wide ranging communicative functions. This article explores the ethnosemiotic significance of eight tropical leaves and discusses the ways they have been conventionalized and used as traditional modes of communication. Data were collected through participant observation and semi-structured interviews from 25 participants who were purposively sampled based on their deep knowledge of leaves with communicative import. The study is rooted in ethnosemiotic methods and principles which explain how people make meaning out of symbols and how they are interpreted based on their culture-related semiotic codes and structure. The study discovers that tropical leaves among the Efik can be used to signal prohibition, demarcate boundaries, indicate bereavement, enact solidarity, and resolve conflicts. The research concludes that these leaves provide yet another element in understanding the dynamics of cultural communication, and illuminate their social relevance in the larger sociocultural fabrics of the Efik society, particularly as a framework of indigenous knowledge system. The study is vital to the construction and preservation of traditional communication systems and cultural identity.