Constructing Gender Disparity through Culture: A Socio-pragmatic Study of Impoliteness, Indirectness and Implicature in Igbo Female Degrading Proverbs

Igbo proverbs are valuable expressions that unravel linguistic idiosyncrasies and project the essential principles of life. This study examines the extent to which fifty Igbo proverbs that contain implicit impoliteness imports and implicature are used indirectly to demean women and create bias against them in the Igbo socio-cultural setting. In this qualitative research, the fifty Igbo proverbs were selected based on their contents from the five Igbo-speaking states in the southeastern part of Nigeria (Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, and Imo). The proverbs were translated from the Igbo language to the English language, interpreted, and analyzed. The analysis was conducted using Culpeper’s theory of impoliteness. Findings reveal that some Igbo proverbs are constructed and used in a way that promotes gender disparity and debases women in the Igbo socio-cultural setting. The paper is of the view that there is a need for subtle reconstructions and mild adjustments in the use of Igbo proverbs to challenge the discursive discrimination against Igbo women.