A Sociolinguistic Investigation of Selected Songs in Jukun

Abstract

This work is an investigation of selected songs that are rendered in informal situations for entertainment purpose. The situations selected in this work include: drinking centres, the market, wedding ceremonies after the important guests have left, playing grounds as well as in the farms. Data for the study were collected in one of the Jukun villages- Bete in Takum Local Government Area of Taraba State through interaction with the people where the songs were recorded using the handset. The researcher also used his knowledge of the songs as a member of the community. The result of the research indicates that while some of the songs are bastardized form of church songs with different wordings, some centre on individuals and certain happenings in the past. It has been equally observed that although the songs have different themes such as eulogising certain brand of alcoholic drinks, abuse and condemnation of certain acts and persons in the society, within the context in which they are rendered, they are purely for entertainment.

Keywords: communicative competence, shared knowledge, cultural values, communicative event, implicatures.