A Stylistic Analysis of Ekun Iyawo

Abstract

Stylistics is the study and interpretation of texts from a linguistic perspective. It also attempts to establish principles capable of explaining the particular choices made by individuals and social groups in their use of language, such as socialization, the production and perception of meaning, critical discourse analysis and literary criticism. Thus, stylistics is a distinctive term that may be used to determine the connections between the forms and effects within a particular variety of language. This paper, therefore, examines the stylistic analysis of "Ekun Iyawo" (a sub-genre of oral poetry sung by the bride as she prepares to leave for her husband's home). The objective of the paper is aimed at appreciating the beauty of language, by giving an in-depth linguistic analysis to the strident song which the poet singer renders at this joyful occasion. Our analysis shows a preponderant use of poetic devices such as alliteration, anadiplosis, anaphora, epiphora, etc. Also, the syntactic elements found in the poem are brought out and discussed. The writers conclude that “Ekun Iyawo” (bride's Song) is an important aspect of marriage ceremony in Yoruba land. In view of this reason, therefore, this age long tradition of our ancestors must be upheld.

Keywords: stylistics, metafunctions, ideational, interpersonal, textual, alliteration, anadiplosis, epiphora, anaphora, parallelism, ellipsis, Ekun Iyawo