Wal

ker,

Wile

y, a

nd G

ene

Sul

liva

n 1941

Whe

n M

y B

lue

Moo

n Turns

to G

old

Aga

in. N

ew Y

ork:

Pee

r In

tern

atio

nal

-.

corp

. W

enge

r, Jo

hn

1961

The

Men

noni

tes i

n In

dian

a an

d M

ichi

gan.

Sco

ttda

le, P

a.:

Her

ald

Pre

ss.

Win

ner,

Sep

tim

us

1864

Der

Dei

tche

is D

og. P

hila

delp

hia:

Sep

tirn

us W

inne

r.

The

Pro

verb

as a M

itig

atin

g an

d P

olit

enes

s S

trat

egy

in A

kan

Dis

cou

rse

Indi

ana

Uni

vers

ity

Abst

ract

. A

mon

g th

e A

kan

of G

hana

, the

pro

verb

is h

ighl

y va

lued

as

a m

ode

of c

omm

unic

atio

n. P

ragm

atic

ally

, it m

ay b

e us

ed in

the

man

agem

ent o

f "f

ace.

" S

peci

fica

lly, i

t may

ad

as a

mit

igat

or th

at m

inim

izes

the

offe

nsiv

e int

ent o

f an

up

com

ing

"dif

ficu

lt" ut

tera

nce,

it m

ay s

how

a s

peak

er's

hum

ilit

y or

his

ack

now

l-

edgm

ent o

f th

e ad

dres

see'

s se

nsib

ilit

y by

pro

vidi

ng a

com

mon

gro

und

that

doe

s no

t im

pale

the

sens

ibil

ity

of an

y of

the

conv

ersa

tion

al p

arti

cipa

nts;

or

it m

ay

show

def

eren

ce o

r so

lida

rity

. Str

uctu

rall

y, it

may

fun

ctio

n as

a p

redi

ffic

ult, a

pr

eclo

sing

, or

a cl

osin

g.

1. I

ntr

odu

ctio

n

Pro

verb

s ar

e us

ed e

xten

sive

ly i

n A

kan

disc

ours

e. I

n t

his

ar

ticl

e, I

dem

onst

rate

that

Aka

n el

ders

, in

advi

sing

a y

oung

er p

erso

n, e

ven

one

of t

hei

r ow

n ch

ildr

en, e

ngag

e in

"fa

cew

ork.

" S

peci

fica

lly, t

hey

ackn

owle

dge

the

vuln

erab

ilit

y of

"fa

ce"

and

ther

efor

e ta

ke

step

s to

mai

ntai

n it.

I de

mon

stra

te

that

pro

verb

s ar

e used to

mit

igat

e up

com

ing

pote

ntia

lly

diff

icul

t, te

nse,

or r

isky

ut

tera

nces

. In

th

e co

ntex

t of

adv

isin

g, t

here

fore

, pro

verb

s se

rve

to w

arn

ad-

vise

es o

f up

com

ing

face

-thr

eate

ning

act

s (F

TA

s).

Spe

cifi

cally

, th

e pr

over

b "s

ofte

ns"

the

forc

e of

the

impe

ndin

g FT

A, l

est

it b

e m

isco

nstr

ued

as a

ver

bal

assa

ult

or a

n i

mpo

sitio

n on

th

e ad

vise

e. T

he u

se o

f pr

over

bs a

nd o

f pr

e-

prov

erbi

al u

tter

ance

s is

th

us

in c

ogni

zanc

e of

th

e de

licac

y of

th

e ad

vice

-giv

ing

even

t. I al

so d

emon

stra

te th

at th

e us

e of

pro

verb

s he

lps

to m

aint

ain

a sp

eake

r's

face

, sin

ce h

is o

r her

face

is a

lso

pote

ntia

lly

thre

aten

ed b

y th

e FT

A i

nher

ent i

n

his

or h

er o

wn

utte

ranc

e. I

n p

arti

cula

r, th

e de

sire

to e

xpre

ss w

arm

th a

nd p

osi-

ti

ve c

once

rn f

or o

ther

s (*

posi

tive

polit

enes

s,"

cf.

Bro

wn

and

Lev

inso

n 19

87)

dem

ands

that

FT

As i

nher

ent i

n a

spea

ker's

utt

eran

ce b

e m

itig

ated

unl

ess

the

spea

ker i

s to

be s

een

as u

ncar

ing

and

rude

. S

uch

prov

erbs

, by

actin

g as m

itiga

tors

, per

form

a s

eque

ntia

l fun

ctio

n, n

ame-

ly

, a p

redi

ffic

ult

. The

pro

verb

may

als

o a

d as

a p

recl

osin

g or

as

a ki

nd o

f cl

os-

ing.

Thi

s ar

ticl

e, th

en, s

itua

tes

the

prov

erb

in th

e co

ntex

t of

advi

ce-g

ivin

g an

d ex

plor

es th

e ro

le p

rove

rbs p

lay

in c

onve

rsat

iona

l seq

uenc

ing

and

orga

niza

tion

. I

exam

ine

eigh

t exc

erpt

s fro

m a

n e

xten

ded

Aka

n di

scou

rse

in w

hich

an

old

co

uple

adv

ises

thei

r so

n, th

e au

thor

, who

is

abou

t to

go o

n a

jour

ney.

Pri

or to

th

is,

I br

iefl

y ex

plor

e th

e li

tera

ture

on

prov

erbs

(es

peci

ally

th

at o

n A

kan

prov

erbs

) an

d on

pol

itene

ss th

eory

in o

rder

to h

elp

clar

ify

this

art

icle

's p

lace

in

522

AN

TH

RO

W~

ICA

L

LIN

GU

I~C

S

38 N

o. 3

the

cont

ext o

f st

udie

s of

Aka

n pr

over

bs a

nd p

olit

enes

s th

eory

. A

lso,

a b

ack-

gr

ound

kno

wle

dge

of th

e re

leva

nt li

tera

ture

on

prov

erbs

and

pol

iten

ess

shou

ld

I as

sist

read

ers

in fo

llow

ing

the

logi

c of

the

inte

rpre

tati

ons

and

in e

valu

atin

g th

e cl

aim

s mad

e ab

out t

he

exce

rpts

. i

2. T

he

Aka

n p

rove

rb.

Aka

n pr

over

bs h

ave

been

stu

died

by

folk

lori

sts

and

ling

uist

s (R

attr

ay 1

927;

Fin

nega

n 19

70; Y

anka

h 19

86,1

989a

, 198

9b);

and

by

ethn

omus

icol

ogis

ts (N

betia

197

1). B

y fa

r th

e m

ost c

ompr

ehen

sive

stud

y of

Aka

n pr

over

bs is

Yan

kah'

s (1

9891

3) "

The

Pro

verb

in th

e C

onte

xt of

Aka

n R

heto

ric,

" in

whi

ch h

e di

scus

ses t

he

plac

e of

pro

verb

s in

Aka

n so

ciet

y, p

rove

rb a

utho

rshi

p,

and

th

e us

e of

prov

erbs

and

opp

ortu

niti

es f

or c

reat

ivit

y in

var

ious

con

text

s,

incl

udin

g ju

risp

rude

nce

and church s

erm

ons.

Y

anka

h re

mar

ks t

hat

"th

e ne

ares

t A

kan

equi

vale

nt o

f th

e pr

over

b, &

be,

incl

udes

bu

t is

not r

estr

icte

d to

epi

gram

mat

ic e

xpre

ssio

n; a

nd is

not

bou

nd tb

the

spok

en w

ord"

(198

6:19

9). A

pent

eng-

Sac

key'

s (1

990)

wor

k on

the

lang

uage

of

Aka

n cl

othi

ng a

nd te

xtil

es, a

s wel

l as t

hat

of A

ppia

h (1

992)

, pro

vide

s co

nsid

er-

able

insi

ght into h

ow &

an

prov

erbs

may

eve

n be

"w

orn.

" "P

rove

rb-w

eari

ng"

amon

g ot

her African p

eopl

es h

as b

een

stud

ied

by E

astm

an (1

972)

and

Spe

ncer

(1

982)

. A

kan

prov

erbs

may

, in

add

itio

n to

epi

gram

mat

ic e

xpre

ssio

ns,

incl

ude

exte

nded

met

apho

rs,

illu

stra

tive

ane

cdot

es,

para

bles

, et

c.

The

y, l

ike

the

prov

erbs

of

othe

r su

b-S

ahar

an A

fric

an c

ultu

res,

are

use

d in

a v

arie

ty o

f di

scou

rse

situ

atio

ns,

incl

udin

g n

atu

ral

conv

ersa

tion,

sto

ryte

llin

g, r

iddl

ing,

ch

urch

ser

vice

s, e

ulog

izin

g, s

ingi

ng,

drum

min

g, f

orm

al p

ublic

spe

akin

g, a

nd

even

in c

ourt

s of l

aw.

Pro

verb

s ar

e so

met

imes

sem

anti

call

y am

bigu

ous,

esp

ecia

lly w

hen

cite

d in

is

olat

ion.

Thu

s, a

n A

kan

prov

erb

such

as

exam

ple

(I),

may

be

cite

d ei

ther

to

enco

urag

e or

to

dis

cour

age

com

petit

ion,

dep

endi

ng u

pon

the

circ

umst

ance

s (Y

anka

h 19

86).

(1) F

un

tun

fraf

i ne

ck

nky

ern

fttf

i lzuta

afu

Itor3

nso

se wa

n re

didi

F

untu

nfra

fu and

d&nk

y&af

u ho

ld

stom

ach

sam

e bu

t if

they

ea

t

a,

na

w3r

efom

w

hen

then

th

ey-s

cram

ble

Th

e Si

ames

e tw

in cr

ocod

iles s

hare

a co

mm

on b

elly

, yet

scra

mbl

e ove

r foo

d.'

So a

lso

may

the

prov

erb

give

n in

exa

mpl

e (2

) bel

ow, w

hich

may

be

cite

d to

war

n so

meo

ne to

exe

rcis

e se

lf-r

estr

aint

in a

n u

nfam

ilia

r env

iron

men

t, or

to c

onso

le

him

not

to b

e w

orri

ed a

bout

the

resu

lts

of a

n a

ctio

n h

e m

ay h

ave

tak

en in

igno

r-

ance

. T

he s

eman

tic

ambi

guit

y of

prov

erbs

is a

lso

note

d by

Sch

ottm

an (1

993:

54

0),

and

it i

s fo

r th

is r

easo

n th

at c

onsi

dera

ble

sign

ific

ance

or

emph

asis

is

plac

ed o

n th

e "c

onte

xts-

of-s

ituat

ion"

in w

hich

a p

rove

rb is

cit

ed o

r app

ropr

iate

ly

appl

ied

(Sir

an 1

993)

.

(2) 3hh03 na

3we

a

n'an

i ab

a.

stra

nger

w

ho

he-e

ats

fow

l w

ho

its-

eye

blin

d 'I

t is t

he st

rang

er w

ho e

ats a

blin

d fo

wl.'

Lik

e ot

her

genr

es,

seve

ral

com

mun

icat

iona

l *ru

lesu

gove

rn p

rove

rb u

se.

The

se r

ules

rel

ate

dire

ctly

or

indi

rect

ly t

o H

yrne

s's (

1962

) "e

thno

grap

hy o

f sp

eaki

ng."

An

appr

opri

ate

use

of p

rove

rbs

reco

gniz

es th

e pr

esen

ce a

nd s

igni

- fi

canc

e of

th

e pa

rtic

ipan

ts in

the

disc

ours

-nam

ely,

th

e pr

over

b-gi

ver a

nd th

e pr

over

b-re

ceiv

er, t

he

plac

e an

d ti

me

of t

he

disc

ours

e, t

he

form

in

whi

ch t

he

prov

erb

shou

ld b

e pr

esen

ted

(inv

olvi

ng v

ario

us o

peni

ng fo

rmul

as a

nd w

heth

er

to is

sue

the

prov

erb

in a

dec

lara

tive

, inv

erte

d, o

r com

man

d fo

rm),

the

occa

sion

, an

d ot

her

cont

ribu

ting

con

text

ual f

acto

rs. I

n s

ub-S

ahar

an A

fric

a, just

as p

ro-

verb

use

in

a su

bord

inat

e-to

-sup

erio

r soc

ial

cont

ext

is l

arge

ly re

stri

cted

(es

- pe

cial

ly i

f th

e sp

eake

r do

es n

ot u

se m

itig

ator

s an

d va

riou

s po

lite

term

inal

ad

dres

sive

s),

so a

lso

is p

rove

rb u

se i

n a

supe

rior

-to-

subo

rdin

ate c

onte

xt r

e-

stric

ted,

esp

ecia

lly w

here

the

subo

rdin

ate'

s li

ngui

stic

soph

isti

cati

on m

ight

be

in

doub

t. Unt

il r

ecen

tly,

it w

as s

ugge

eted

that

bec

ause

pro

verb

s re

pres

ent

cult

ural

tr

uism

s an

d are

ascr

ibed

to th

e el

ders

or

ance

stor

s, th

ere is l

ittl

e or

no

oppo

r-

tuni

ty fo

r ind

ivid

ual c

reat

ivity

. Lor

d (1

960)

and

esp

ecia

lly Y

anka

h (1

986,

1989

a)

disc

uss

crea

tivi

ty in

pro

vk

b s

peak

ing.

Nov

el p

rove

rb c

reat

ion,

th

e ti

mel

y in

- vo

catio

n of

an

eff

ectiv

e pr

over

b in

a f

itti

ng rh

etor

ical

con

text

, and

the

adap

ta-

tion

and

man

ipul

atio

n of

exi

stin

g pr

over

bs a

re fa

cets

of c

reat

ivit

y m

enti

oned

by

Yan

kah.

How

ever

, he

dwel

ls m

ainl

y on

th

e ad

apta

tion

and

man

ipul

atio

n of

ex

isti

ng p

rove

rbs.

T

he ro

le o

r fun

ctio

n of

pro

verb

s in

com

mun

icat

ion has a

lso

been

stu

died

by

man

y fo

lklo

rist

s, e

thno

grap

hers

, and

ling

uist

s. H

erzo

g (1

936)

, Are

wa

and Dun-

des

(196

7), Y

anka

h (1

989)

, Obe

ng (1

994)

, as

wel

l as

othe

rs, h

ave

disc

usse

d th

e ro

le p

rove

rbs

play

in m

anag

ing

soci

al c

onfl

icts

. Her

zog,

for

exa

mpl

e, r

emar

ks

that

pro

verb

s "a

re th

e m

ost i

mpo

rtan

t ins

trum

ent f

or m

inim

izin

g fr

icti

on a

nd

effe

ctin

g ad

just

men

t, le

gal,

soci

al, i

ntel

lect

ual. . . .

They

form

a v

ital

and

pot

ent

elem

ent o

f th

e cu

ltur

e th

ey in

terp

ret"

(19

367)

. Okp

ewho

(19

92)

and

Ola

tunj

i (1

984)

hav

e tr

eate

d pr

over

bs a

s soc

ial c

ontr

ol s

trat

egie

s am

ong

the

Yor

uba

and

Asa

ba (I

gbo)

of N

iger

ia.

Oth

er fu

nctio

ns of

the

prov

erb

amon

g th

e A

kan,

as w

ell a

s am

ong

othe

r sub

- S

ahar

an A

fric

an p

eopl

es i

nclu

de s

umm

ing

up a

sit

uati

on, p

assi

ng ju

dgm

ent,

repr

iman

ding

, rec

omm

endi

ng a

cou

rse

of ac

tion

, ser

ving

as p

ast p

rece

dent

s fo

r pr

esen

t act

ions

(com

para

ble

to c

ases

cite

d in

law

cou

rts t

o su

ppor

t or

refu

te a

li

ne of

rea

soni

ng),

pra

isin

g, c

auti

onin

g, sp

eaki

ng th

e un

spea

kabl

e, p

ersu

adin

g he

arer

s, a

sser

ting

som

eone

's st

atu

s (S

eite

l 19

77),

and

teac

hing

a m

oral

. The

y thus p

rovi

de s

trat

egie

s fo

r dea

ling

wit

h a

vari

ety

of c

omm

unic

ativ

e sit

uati

ons.

3. P

olit

enes

s.

Stu

dies

of

poli

tene

ss h

ave

caug

ht th

e at

tent

ion

of l

ingu

ists

(e

spec

ially

soc

iolin

guis

ts a

nd th

ose

who

wor

k on

ling

uist

ic p

ragm

atic

s), p

hilo

- so

pher

s, a

nthr

opol

ogis

ts,

and

folk

lori

sts.

The

wor

k of

L

akof

f (1

977)

, G

rice

(1

975)

, Vig

ner

(197

8), L

eech

(19

83, B

row

n an

d L

evin

son

(198

7), B

lum

-Kul

ka

(198

9), a

nd m

any

othe

rs po

int t

o th

e ex

tent

to w

hich

pol

iten

ess h

as b

een

stud

ied

in d

iffe

rent

cul

ture

s.

In h

er "

Pol

itene

ss, P

ragm

atic

s an

d P

erfo

rmat

ives

," L

akof

f (1

973)

pro

pose

s th

ree

rule

s of

poli

tene

ss, n

amel

y, f

orm

alit

y, h

esit

ancy

, an

d eq

uali

ty o

r ca

m-

arad

erie

. With

reg

ard

to f

orm

alit

y, L

akof

f ar

gues

th

at a

n i

nter

acta

nt s

houl

d re

mai

n al

oof

and refrain

from

impo

sing

his

idea

s, fe

elin

gs, o

r po

int o

f vi

ew o

n ot

her p

arti

cipa

nts

in th

e di

scou

rse.

For

hes

itan

cy, s

he e

xpla

ins t

hat

an

add

res-

se

r sho

uld

allo

w a

n a

ddre

ssee

to d

ecid

e on

his

ow

n op

tions

. Fin

ally

, for

equ

alit

y,

Lak

off

argu

es th

at a

spe

aker

shou

ld a

ct a

s tho

ugh

he

and

the

hear

er w

ere

equa

l. T

hus,

the

hear

er is

to b

e m

ade

to fe

el g

ood

by t

he

spea

ker.

Som

e of

th

e pr

oble

ms

inh

eren

t in

Lak

off's

rul

es h

ave

been

dis

cuss

ed b

y Brown

and

Lev

inso

n (1

987)

an

d b

y F

asol

d (1

984)

. Bro

wn

and

Lev

inso

n (1

987)

arg

ue th

at' p

osit

ing

rule

s is

tant

amou

nt to

inve

ntin

g a

prob

lem

to b

e ex

plai

ned,

rath

er th

an e

xpla

inin

g it.

Fas

old

(198

4) d

iscu

sses

pro

blem

s wit

h th

e he

sita

ncy

rule

. Fo

llow

ing

Gri

ce's

(197

5) c

onve

rsat

iona

l max

ims,

Lee

ch (1

983)

put

s fo

rwar

d fo

ur p

olit

enes

s max

ims.

The

se a

re: t

act,

gen

eros

ity,

app

roba

tion

, and

mod

esty

. W

ith re

gard

to ta

ct, L

eech

wri

tes

that

an

inte

ract

ant o

ught

to m

inim

ize

cost

to

othe

r pa

rtic

ipan

ts i

n th

e di

scou

rse,

whi

le a

t th

e sa

me

tim

e m

axim

izin

g th

eir

bene

fits

. T

he m

axim

of

gene

rosi

ty d

eman

ds t

hat

an

int

erac

tant

min

imiz

e be

nefi

ts t

o on

esel

f, w

hile

at t

he

sam

e ti

me

max

imiz

ing

one'

s co

st. F

or a

ppro

- ba

tion

, Lee

ch p

osit

s th

at a

n in

tera

ctan

t sho

uld

max

imiz

e pr

aise

for o

ther

s, a

nd

thus m

inim

ize

disp

rais

e of

them

. Min

imiz

ing

prai

se fo

r one

self

and

max

imiz

ing

disp

rais

e of

one

self

are

dis

cuss

ed u

hder

the

max

im o

f mod

esty

. Exp

lain

ing

the

mod

esty

max

im fu

rthe

r, Leech

argu

es th

at it

is m

ore

polit

e, a

nd th

us

pref

erab

le,

to b

ack

an o

ffer

wit

h an

obl

igat

ion

sinc

e th

at m

inim

izes

pra

ise

for

ones

elf.

A

crit

icis

m le

vele

d ag

ains

t; L

eech

's w

ork

by F

asol

d (1

984)

is

that

sta

rtin

g w

ith

rule

s or

max

ims

like

tho

se p

ropo

sed

by L

eech

can o

nly

help

us

unde

rsta

nd

polit

enes

s in

ter

n of

the

rule

s wit

hout

kno

win

g w

hy th

ere

shou

ld b

e su

ch ru

les.

E

arli

er w

ork

done

on

polit

enes

s by Brown

and

Lev

inso

n (1

987)

is, b

y fa

r, th

e m

ost

ofte

n ci

ted,

is t

he

mos

t wid

ely

infl

uent

ial,

and

off

ers

the

mos

t tho

roug

h tr

eatm

ent o

f th

e co

ncep

t. Y

et, i

t is

also

the

mos

t wid

ely

deba

ted.

The

thes

is th

at

they

dev

elop

cla

ims v

alid

ity

acro

ss c

ultu

res

and

is b

ased

on

the

idea

that

inte

r-

acta

nts e

ngag

ed in

dis

cour

se e

ngag

e in

rati

onal

beh

avio

r to

achi

eve

sati

sfac

tion

of

'face

wan

ts"

that

are

rela

ted

to p

olite

ness

. "F

ace,

" ac

cord

ing

to th

e au

thor

s,

". . .

is em

otio

nally

inve

sted

and

can

not b

e lo

st, m

aint

aine

d or

enh

ance

d, a

nd

mu

st b

e co

nsta

ntly

att

ende

d to

in in

tera

ctio

n. I

n g

ener

al, p

eopl

e co

-ope

rate

in

mai

ntai

ning

fac

e-in

in

tera

ctio

n, s

uch

co-o

pera

tion

bein

g ba

sed

on m

utua

l vu

lner

abil

ity o

f fac

e" (Brown a

nd L

evin

son

1987

:66)

. The

y di

stin

guis

h tw

o ty

pes

of f

ace:

pos

itive

and

neg

ativ

e. P

ositi

ve fa

ce c

once

rns t

he

posi

tive

cons

iste

nt se

lf-

imag

e th

at p

eopl

e w

ant

othe

rs t

o a

ccep

t and

app

reci

ate.

This

is m

ore

or le

ss

rela

ted

to L

akof

fs th

ird

rule

rega

rdin

g ca

mar

ader

ie m

enti

oned

abo

ve. N

egat

ive

face

, on

the

othe

r ha

nd, d

eals

wit

h ri

ghts

to te

rrit

orie

s, fr

eedo

m o

f ac

tion

, and

fr

eedo

m f

rom

im

posi

tion.

Acc

ordi

ng t

o F

asol

d (1984),

Lak

offs

for

mal

ity

and

hesi

tanc

y ru

les

may

be

seen

as

expl

icat

ions

of

poli

tene

ss b

ased

on

pres

ervi

ng

nega

tive

face

. Brown a

nd L

evin

son

cons

ider

neg

ativ

e po

lite

ness

str

ateg

ies

less

pr

oble

mat

ic th

an p

ositi

ve p

olit

enes

s st

rate

gies

bec

ause

the

latt

er a

ssum

e th

at

the

hear

er s

hare

s th

e sp

eake

r's fe

elin

gs of

clo

sene

ss, w

hich

may

not

be

the

case

. A

lthou

gh B

row

n an

d L

evin

son'

s po

lite

ness

theo

ry a

llow

s for

som

e cu

ltur

al

vari

abil

ity,

the

y co

nten

d th

at th

e us

e of

pol

iten

ess

stra

tegi

es i

n t

he

man

age-

m

ent

of f

ace

is u

nive

rsal

. H

ence

, the

y ou

tlin

e fo

ur s

trat

egie

s on

a s

cale

fro

m

leas

t to

mos

t pol

ite (b

ald-

on-r

ecor

d, po

sitiv

e po

lite

ness

, neg

ativ

e pol

iten

ess,

and

of

f-re

cord

hin

ts)

that

can

be

used

by

spea

kers

who

se u

tter

ance

s in

volv

e a

face

- th

reat

enin

g ac

t. W

hich

form

a s

peak

er c

hoos

es, a

ccor

ding

to th

e au

thor

s, is

de-

pe

nden

t upo

n th

e di

stan

ce b

etw

een

the

spea

ker a

nd th

e he

arer

, th

e po

wer

of t

he

hea

rer

over

the

spea

ker,

and

th

e pe

rcei

ved

impo

sitio

n im

plic

it in

th

e ac

t. T

he

auth

ors s

umm

ariz

e thi

s in

wha

t the

y re

fer t

o as

the

wei

ghti

ness

of t

he

act (

Wx)

, ba

sed

upon

a fo

rmul

a st

ated

as:

Wx =

D(S

,H) +

P(H

,S) +

&, w

here

D(S

,H) =

the

dist

ance

bet

wee

n th

e sp

eake

r and

the

hear

er, P

(H,S

) = th

e po

wer

of

the

hear

er

over

the

spea

ker,

and

=

the

degr

ee of

per

ceiv

ed im

posi

tion.

An

incr

ease

in W

x w

arra

nts

the

choi

ce o

f a le

ss fa

ce-t

hrea

teni

ng st

rate

gy b

y th

e sp

eake

r.

Bro

wn

and

Lev

inso

n's

poli

tene

ss th

eory

has

com

e un

der

stro

ng c

ritic

ism

. First, th

eir d

efin

itio

n of p

olit

enes

s in

term

s of

thre

at to

face

(the

mor

e th

reat

to

face

, th

e le

ss p

olite

an

act

is),

whi

ch is

in tu

rn c

hara

cter

ized

in t

erm

s of

th

e di

rect

or i

ndir

ect n

atu

re of

an

utt

eran

ce (

the less direct

an u

tter

ance

, th

e m

ore

poli

te a

nd v

ice

vers

a), i

s se

en b

y su

ch s

chol

ars

as B

lum

-Kul

ka (1

987)

, H

olt-

gr

aves

and

Yan

g (1

990)

, and

de

Kad

t (19

92) a

s bei

ng to

o si

mpl

istic

. Spe

cifi

cally

, th

ese

auth

ors

have

con

clud

ed t

hat

th

e va

lue

of indirectness

as a

pol

iten

ess

stra

tegy

var

ies

from

cu

ltur

e to

cul

ture

. S

econ

dly,

Bro

wn

and

Lev

inso

n's

asse

rtio

n th

at s

peak

ers f

rom

dif

fere

nt cu

ltur

al b

ackg

roun

ds p

erce

ive

poli

tene

ss

the

sam

e w

ay b

ut o

nly

opt f

or d

iffe

rent

form

s of

poli

tene

ss so

lely

bec

ause

they

pe

rcei

ve t

he

wei

ghti

ness

of t

he

situ

atio

n di

ffer

entl

y, is

dis

pute

d. B

lum

-Kul

ka

(198

7) n

otes

that

the

perc

eptio

n of

pol

itene

ss is

not

the

sam

e ac

ross

cul

ture

s an

d ar

gues

for t

he

notio

n of

pra

gmat

ic c

lari

ty, i

.e.,

the

degr

ee to

whi

ch th

e sp

eake

r's

desi

res

are

mad

e cl

ear

to th

e he

arer

. A

ccor

ding

to B

lum

-Kul

ka, i

n m

akin

g a

polit

e re

ques

t th

e sp

eake

r mus

t "w

eigh

the

impo

sitio

n in

volv

ed in

bei

ng c

oerc

ive

agai

nst t

he

impo

sitio

n in

volv

ed in

cog

nitiv

ely

burd

enin

g th

e he

arer

and

mak

ing

it d

iffi

cult

for h

im o

r her

to g

uess

the

mea

ning

" (19

87:4

4).

Phh

h an

d C

satC

, (19

85)

sugg

est a

ge a

s a

dete

rmin

ing

fact

or in

pol

itene

ss. D

e K

adt (

1992

) als

o su

gges

ts,

amon

g ot

her

thin

gs, t

hat

non

verb

al c

omm

unic

atio

n sh

ould

be

incl

uded

in

any

poli

tene

ss th

eory

.

626

PO LOGICAL LINGUISTICS

38 NO. 3

Am

ong

the

Aka

n of

Gha

na, Y

anka

h (1

991)

an

d O

beng

(199

4) a

rgue

that

FT

As m

ay b

e el

imin

ated

or "

wea

kene

d" b

y ro

utin

g on

e's

spee

ch th

roug

h pr

oxie

s or

by

suff

usin

g on

e's

utte

ranc

es w

ith

poli

te te

rmin

al e

ddre

ssiv

es o

r de

fere

nce

hono

rifi

cs,

and

by

apol

ogiz

ing

for t

he

com

mis

sion

of F

TA

s. A

n in

tera

ctan

t may

sh

ow a

n a

sym

met

rica

l so

cioe

cono

mic

rel

atio

nshi

p be

twee

n hi

mse

lf a

nd t

he

hea

rer t

hrou

gh t

he

use

of s

uch

ling

uist

ic m

arke

rs o

f po

lite

ness

as:

soc

ial t

itle

s (e

.g.,

3ltrs

e.z '

The

Mig

hty

One

', 3k

y.za

de.z T

he

Mag

nani

mou

s' o

r 'G

ener

ous

One

', 3d

Eef

oa T

he

Mag

nani

mou

s O

ne',

Nan

a 'e

lder

, ch

ief',

Me

Wu

ra 'M

y L

ord'

), an

d

term

s of r

espe

ct d

enot

ing

the

addr

esse

e's

or re

fere

nt's

aff

ilia

tion

wit

h a

resp

ect-

ab

le so

cial

cla

ss o

r fam

ily

(Yan

kah

1995

). T

his

cate

gory

of l

ingu

isti

c m

arke

rs o

f po

lite

ness

are

suf

fixe

d to

exy

ires

sion

s of

than

ks a

nd

to g

reet

ings

. A

mon

g th

e te

rms o

f res

pect

are

ape

aw (

a de

fere

ntia

l tit

le fo

r mem

bers

of t

he

Ase

ne li

neag

e),

ahen

ewa

'sm

all

or s

ub c

hief

', a

ny

d ?b

enev

olen

ce',

Eso

n (

defe

rent

ial r

espo

nse

for m

embe

rs o

f th

e A

sona

line

age)

, and

am

u 'w

hole

ness

, dig

nity

'. Linguistic m

arke

rs o

f po

lite

ness

that

act

as

in-g

roup

ide

ntit

y m

arke

rs

incl

ude,

but

are

not

rest

rict

ed to, su

ch c

onsa

ngui

nal a

nd f

fia

l kin

ship

term

s as

m

e n

ua

'my

sibl

ing'

, w~

fa

'unc

le',

agya

'fat

her',

an

d e

na 'm

othe

r'. T

hey

may

als

o be

use

d to

den

ote

met

apho

rica

l kin

ship

pm

xim

ity

to th

e re

fere

nt.

4. D

ata

and m

ethod

. T

his

wor

k is

bas

ed o

n tr

ansc

ript

s of

tap

e-re

cord

ed

nat

ura

l di

scou

rse.

A c

oupl

e ad

vise

the

ir s

on (

the

auth

or),

who

is l

eavi

ng t

he

vill

age

and

coun

try

for

anot

her

coun

try.

The

cou

ple,

Yaw

Gya

si,

eigh

ty-o

ne

yeer

rs o

f age

, and

Abe

na H

umuu

, sev

enty

-thr

ee y

ears

of a

ge, are fr

om A

suom

in

the

east

ern

regi

on of

Gha

na. T

hey

wer

e bo

rn i

n th

is v

illa

ge a

nd

hav

e li

ved

ther

e al

l the

ir li

ves.

The

y ar

e m

onol

ingu

al a

nd sp

eak

only

Aka

n. T

he a

dvis

ee, t

hir

ty-

five

yea

rs o

ld, l

ived

in

this

vil

lage

unt

il h

e w

as s

ixte

en. H

e vi

sits

this

vil

lage

re

gula

rly.

He

spea

ks A

kan,

Eng

lish

, Sw

ahil

i, D

angm

e, a

nd so

me

Ger

man

. A

mon

g th

e A

kan,

dur

ing

an

advi

ce-g

ivin

g ses

sion

, the

adv

iser

con

trol

s th

e di

scou

rse.

An

advi

see m

ay b

rief

ly sp

eak

to c

lari

fy a

poi

nt b

ut g

ener

ally

he

utt

ers

supp

orti

ves o

nly.

It is

usu

ally

at t

he

end

of t

he

advi

ce th

at th

e ad

vise

e ex

pres

ses

his

gra

titu

de to

thos

e w

ho a

dvis

ed h

im a

nd 'p

rom

ises

" to

abi

de b

y th

eir a

dvic

e,

and

this

is e

xact

ly w

hat

was

don

e. A

n a

dvis

ee w

ho f

requ

entl

y in

terr

upts

his

ad

viso

r w

ith

utte

ranc

es o

ther

th

an n

eces

sary

cla

rifi

cati

ons

or

acce

ptab

le e

x-

plan

atio

ns a

nd su

ppor

tive

s is

alm

ost a

lway

s rep

rim

ande

d w

ith

prov

erbs

such

as

thos

e gi

ven

in ex

ampl

es (3

) and

(4).

(3)

Yet

ettr

w

o fo

a n

a ~

na

m

w'a

so

akyi

. w

e're-

advi

sing

yo

u if

th

en

it-pa

ssee

you

r-ea

rs b

ack

You

don

't pa

y at

tent

ion

whe

n w

e gi

ve y

ou a

dvic

e' (i.

e., y

ou d

on't

take

oth

er p

eopl

e's

advi

ce).

(4) Yetu

wo

fo

na

wos

nte

a,yE

de

wo

k3

w

e-gi

ve

you

advi

ce

and

you-

not-

hear

if

we-

with

yo

u go

A

nte

d.

Nev

er-H

ear-

Thi

ng

'If y

ou d

on't

heed

adv

ice,

you

're "

depo

rted"

to D

eaf T

owns

hip'

(i.e

., di

sobe

dien

ce

lead

s to

des

truct

ion)

.

An

unca

lled

-for

inte

rrup

tion

by

an ad

vise

e is

trea

ted

as d

isob

edie

nce o

r in-

atte

ntio

n an

d is

rega

rded

as

fool

ish

prid

e--a

be

havi

or t

hat

is

not t

oler

ated

in

im

port

ant m

atte

rs. T

he re

sult

of i

natt

enti

on o

r dis

obed

ienc

e cou

ld b

e os

trac

ism

or

ban

ishm

ent f

rom

the

fam

ily.

I h

ave

anal

yzed

th

e te

xt o

f this

adv

ice-

givi

ng se

ssio

n w

ithi

n th

e fr

amew

ork

of c

onve

rsat

iona

l ana

lysi

s, a

s pra

ctic

ed b

y S

acks

, Sch

eglo

ff a

nd Je

ffer

son

(197

4),

and

pol

iten

ess

theo

ry (

Lak

off

1977

; Blu

m-K

ulka

198

9). T

he "

cont

ext"

wit

hin

whi

ch th

e di

scou

rse t

akes

pla

ce a

re a

lso

rele

vant

to m

y an

alys

is (c

f. M

alin

owsk

i 19

24; S

eite

l198

1; D

uran

ti a

nd G

oodw

in 1

992)

. In

this

ana

lysi

s, i

nter

acti

ve c

ateg

orie

s pro

vide

the

basi

s fo

r th

e st

atem

ents

an

d cl

aim

s mad

e. T

he s

tate

men

ts a

re d

eriv

ed in

duct

ivel

y fr

om m

y d

ata

and

are

sh

own

to b

e re

leva

nt fo

r th

e in

tera

ctan

ts. E

xcer

pts are

plac

ed a

long

side

my

ana-

ly

tica

l cla

ims

to p

reve

nt m

y d

yt

ic

clai

ms

from

sta

ndin

g in

sula

ted

from

any

ki

nd o

f ins

pect

ion.

This p

ract

ice

also

hel

ps to

min

imiz

e id

iosy

ncra

tic

judg

men

ts.

I als

o at

tem

pt to

ans

wer

the

call

by H

ymes

(196

2,19

72),

Mal

inow

ski (

1924

), S

eite

l(19

81),

Dur

anti

and

Goo

dwin

(199

2), B

rigg

s (1

995)

, and

man

y ot

her s

cho-

la

rs, f

or li

ngui

sts,

folk

lori

sts,

and

ant

hrop

olog

ists

to s

tudy

com

mun

icat

ion

as a

proc

ess

gove

rned

by

con

tex

ti.e

.,

as t

he

fund

amen

tal

juxt

apos

itio

n of

tw

o en

titi

es, a

foca

l eve

nt a

nd a

fieI

d of

act

ion

wit

hin

whi

ch th

at e

vent

is e

mbe

dded

(D

uran

ti a

nd G

oodw

in 1

9923

). T

hus,

lik

e D

uran

ti a

nd G

oodw

in, I

tak

e th

e co

nver

sati

onal

pie

ces (

talk

) and

the

cont

exts

in w

hich

they

occ

ur a

s sta

ndin

g in

a

"mut

uall

y re

flex

ive

rela

tion

ship

to e

ach

othe

r, w

ith

talk

, and

the

inte

rpre

tive

w

ork

it g

ener

ates

, sha

ping

con

text

as m

uch

as co

ntex

t sha

pes t

alk"

(Dur

anti

an

d

Goo

dwin

199

2:31

). T

he c

onte

xtua

l cu

es t

hat

hel

p pr

ovid

e ap

prop

riat

e in

ter-

pr

etat

ions

(Gof

fman

197

4) fo

r th

e ex

cerp

ts e

xam

ined

in th

e co

re se

ctio

ns o

f thi

s pa

per are

ther

efor

e tak

en into c

onsi

dera

tion

as w

ell.

In v

iew

of t

his,

I em

phas

ize

the

noti

on of

con

text

of s

itu

stio

n b

oth

dire

ctly

and

indi

rect

ly in

my

anal

ysis

. For

ex

ampl

e, I

take

into

con

side

rati

m th

e ag

es a

nd so

cial

rela

tion

ship

s of

th

e in

ter-

ac

tant

s, th

eir

soci

ocul

tura

l sta

tus,

etc

., an

d ho

w a

ll th

ese

com

bine

to in

flue

nce

wha

t is

verb

aliz

ed a

nd h

ow it

is v

erba

lize

d.

5. T

ext a

nd d

iscu

ssio

n.

5.1.

Pro

verb

s as

mit

igat

ing

and p

olit

enes

s st

rate

gies

. In

this

sec

tion

, I

dem

omtm

te th

at in

tera

ctan

ts p

refa

ce F

TAs

wit

h re

dres

sive

act

ions

, and

that

in

the

cont

ext o

f ad

visi

ng, a

red

ress

ive

acti

on c

an b

e a

prov

erb

alon

e, o

r a p

rove

rb

528

~W

~G

IC

AL

LI

NG

UIS

TIC

S 38 NO. 3

issu

ed c

onjo

intly

wit

h ot

her r

edre

ssiv

e st

rate

gies

. In

par

ticu

lar,

I d

emon

stra

te

that

thes

e re

dres

sive

act

ions

(esp

ecia

lly th

e pr

over

bs) 'are

impe

rson

al v

ehic

les

for p

erso

nal c

omm

unic

atio

ll* (A

rew

a an

d D

unde

s 1964:70),

conv

ey a

deg

ree

of 'u

nwil

ling

ness

n on

the

par

t of

the

spea

ker t

o im

pose

his

thou

ghts

and

idea

s on

th

e he

arer

, and

show

the

spea

ker's

hum

ilit

y, si

nce t

hey

are an a

ckno

wle

dgm

ent

by t

he

spea

ker o

f th

e he

arer

's l

ingu

istic

soph

istic

atio

n. T

hese

redr

essi

ve a

ctio

ns,

then

, ind

icat

e how

a s

peak

er s

hare

s th

e he

arer

's i

nter

ests

and

des

ires

, mit

igat

e th

e of

fens

ive n

atu

re of

th

e FT

A, a

nd h

ence

con

vey

poli

tene

ss.

Exc

erp

t 1

[Con

texk

KO

, th

en 54, is

abo

ut t

o e

mig

rate

to

th

e U

nite

d S

tate

s to

wor

k. Y

G, K

O's

fath

er,

is n

ot h

appy

abo

ut K

O's

deci

sion

to e

mig

rate

an

d a

dvis

es h

im t

o c

hang

e hi

s de

cisi

on. K

O a

ttem

pts

to e

xpla

in to

YG

that

his

(KO

's) b

oss

is n

ot a

gain

st th

e jo

urne

y.

YG

then

adv

ises

KO

not

to fo

rget

his

root

s.]

\ > Y

G:

Wo

dec

won

im

nyan

sa

enti

m

en

dm

a

nkyc

. yo

u as

-for

yo

u-kn

ow

wis

dom

so

I-

won

't-ta

lk

long

Wo

am

w

onim

sc

w

okw

a ba

abla

ra

ntw

oma a,

eber

e.

You

eMp

you-

know

th

at

you-

pain

t an

ywhe

re

red-

clay

if

it

-bri

ghte

n8

Men

ku

d.ec

a,

ank

a m

eka

se

tern

ch

a ar

a.

me-

only

as

-for

if

wou

ld-h

ave

I'd-s

ay

that

st

ay

here

on

ly.

You

're w

ise

so I

won

't m

ake

a le

ngth

y sp

eech

. You

kno

w th

at w

here

ver y

ou p

aint

5

wit

h re

d cl

ay, i

t will

be

brig

ht. Left

to m

e al

one,

I w

ould

hav

e sa

id, "

Sta

y he

re."

KO

: Me

pani

n a

3w3

Nkr

an

no

ntla

rn

ekor

~

no.

my

boss

w

ho

he-b

e in

Am

who

no

t-ag

ains

t m

y-tr

avel

th

at.

Wap

ene so.

He'

s-ag

reed

.

My

boss

in A

ccra

is n

ot a

gain

st m

y tr

avel

. He

has

agr

eed.

'

YG

: Ec

&

ye;

nans

o K

wad

wa

won

im

yie

sc

wel

l it-

good

bu

t kw

adw

o yo

u-kn

ow

wel

l th

at

sc

wo

se

akyi

nny~

wo

de

a, &b

am

na

wot

afem

.

if yo

ur teeth

back

no

t-be

yo

u sw

eet

if th

ere

only

Poc

you-

lick

B3

mm

&n

na

bra

efie

nt

cm.

tryh

ard

and

retu

rn

hom

e ea

rly

Cm

ma

biri

bi

ara

ngye

w

o nk

a b

mm

ere

tent

en

baia

ra.

don'

t-le

t th

ing

any

draw

yo

u le

ave

ther

e ti

me

long

an

y 'W

ell,

that

Ss fi

ne. B

ut K

wad

wo,

you

kno

w v

ery

wel

l th

at no

mat

ter h

ow t

aste

less

you

r gu

ms a

m, t

hat

r the

onl

y pl

ace

you lick. T

ry as

muc

h as

you

can

to re

turn

hom

e in

th

e ne

ares

t fut

ure.

Don

't le

t any

tlun

g ke

ep y

ou th

ere

for a

long

per

iod

of t

ime.

'

In e

xcer

pt 1

, th

e ad

vise

r, Y

G,

atte

mpt

s to

dis

cour

age

KO

fro

m t

rave

ling

. R

agm

atic

ally

, th

e co

ntex

t sit

uati

on (B

urke

195

7; S

eite

l197

7) in

volv

es a

wro

ng

deci

sion

, to

emig

rate

to t

he

Uni

ted

Sta

tes,

take

n by

th

e ad

dres

see.

The

fir

st

prov

erb

is t

hu

s m

eant

to s

igna

l to

the

addr

esse

e th

at th

e sp

eake

r is

unh

appy

w

ith

the

deci

sion

take

n. H

owev

er, t

elli

ng a

you

ng m

an n

ot to

trav

el, e

spec

ially

in

a s

ocie

ty w

here

peo

ple

who

trav

el a

re re

spec

ted,

is fa

ce-t

hrea

teni

ng to

YG

. In

fa

ct, i

f YG

does

not

han

dle

him

self

wel

l, he

cou

ld b

e co

nsid

ered

as p

rom

otin

g hi

s se

lf-i

nter

est a

nd n

ot h

avin

g an

y in

tere

st i

n hi

s so

n's

futu

re. T

o co

nvey

suc

h a

FTA

, Y

G first a

nd f

orem

ost a

ckno

wle

dges

KO

's w

isdo

m a

nd p

rom

ises

not

to

mak

e a

leng

thy

spee

ch, i

n ac

cord

wit

h th

e A

kan

prov

erb

give

n in

exa

mpl

e (5

).

(5)

3ba

nyan

safo

~,

pb

u

no

be

na

yenk

a no

as

cm.

chil

d w

ise

we-

addr

ess

him

pr

over

b b

ut

we-

don'

t-te

ll

him

st

ory

'A w

ise

chil

d is

add

ress

ed in

pro

verb

s, n

ot in

a le

ngth

y sp

eech

.'

Ack

now

ledg

ing

the

addr

esse

e's

wis

dom

sho

ws

the

spea

ker's

res

pect

for

th

e li

sten

er. A

mon

g th

e A

kan,

suc

h a

com

plim

enta

ry re

mar

k is

an

indi

rect

per

sua-

si

ve st

rate

gy. S

peci

fica

lly, t

he c

ompl

imen

t ad

s as

a "

dow

nton

er" t

o an

upc

omin

g FT

A.

The

com

plim

ent i

s th

en im

med

iate

ly f

ollo

wed

by

the

prov

erb,

rep

eate

d he

re in

exa

mpl

e (6

).

(6)

Won

im

se

wok

wa

baab

i ar

a nt

wom

a a,

cb

ere.

yo

u-kn

ow

that

yo

u-pa

int

plac

e an

y re

d-cl

ay

if it

-bri

ghte

ns

You

kno

w v

ery

wel

l th

at w

here

very

oupa

int w

ith

red

chy,

it w

ill b

e br

ight

.'

In th

is p

rove

rb, a

job

done

wit

h th

e m

axim

um e

ffor

t is

like

ned

to n

two

ma

'red

clay

', an

d su

cces

s to

the

brig

htne

ss o

f re

d cl

ay. H

ere,

th

e sp

eake

r is

impl

ying

th

at n

o m

atte

r w

here

the

addr

esse

e w

orks

, he

can

be s

ucce

ssfu

l if

he p

uts

the

max

imum

eff

ort i

nto

his

wor

k.

The

pro

verb

sig

nals

to th

e he

arer

that

the

upco

min

g ut

tera

nce

is "d

iffi

cult"

or

fac

e-th

reat

enin

g to

the

spea

ker a

s w

ell a

s to

the

addr

esse

e. T

he F

TA

pot

en-

tial

ly th

reat

ens

the

spea

ker's

fac

e si

nce

wit

hout

the

mit

igat

or h

e w

ould

be

seen

as

not

sho

win

g an

y w

arm

th to

war

d th

e ad

dres

see.

It t

hrea

tens

the

addr

esse

e's

face

sin

ce i

t in

volv

es a

n im

posi

tion

on h

im.

The

pro

verb

the

refo

re a

cts

as a

m

itig

ator

and

thu

s m

inim

izes

the

poss

ibili

ty of

any

off

ence

that

mig

ht b

e ta

ken

by

KO

. Alth

ough

YG

's op

posi

tion

to th

e tr

ip is

app

aren

t, h

e ca

nnot

be

crit

iciz

ed

as t

he

only

per

son

ever

to 'c

autio

n" h

is c

hild

abo

ut a

jou

rney

he

is a

bout

to

unde

rtak

e. H

e di

d no

t cr

eate

the

prov

erb.

He,

lik

e a

law

yer

in c

ourt

, is

only

ci

ting

a "

case

" to

supp

ort h

is p

oint

of v

iew

. Mor

eove

r, b

ecau

se th

is p

rove

rb, l

ike

othe

r pro

verb

s, is

a c

ultu

ral t

ruis

m, i

t len

ds w

eigh

t to

the

vali

dity

of Y

G's

poin

t. K

O t

ries

to

im

pres

s up

on Y

G t

hat

he

has

the

cons

ent a

nd b

less

ing

of h

is

boss

, th

us

indi

cati

ng th

at th

e jo

urne

y is

per

mis

sibl

e. H

owev

er, a

ltho

ugh

YG

to

som

e ex

tent

acc

epts

KO

's ex

plan

atio

n, h

e ad

vise

s hi

m n

ot t

o "o

vers

tavu

-a

"

--

furt

her i

ndic

atio

n th

at h

e is

sti

ll n

ot h

appy

abo

ut th

e jo

urne

y.

In a

dvis

ing

him

not

to o

vers

tay,

YG

utt

ers

a se

cond

pro

verb

, Se

wo

se a

kyir

i ny

e w

o dc k

oraa

a, &h ar

a na w

otaf

em 'N

o m

atte

r how

tast

eles

s yo

ur g

ums a

re,

I th

at's

th

e on

ly p

lace

you

lick

.' In

this

pro

verb

, hom

e co

rrel

ates

wit

h on

e's

gum

s.

The

spe

aker

app

eam

to b

e sa

ying

that

no

mat

ter h

ow b

ad the c

ondi

tions

at h

ome

i '

are,

it is

alw

ays %

ome

mee

t hom

e.'

Be

ii to

ld n

ot to

ove

rsta

y su

gges

ts th

at o

ne

prob

ably

doe

s not

kno

w h

ow to

man

age

one'

s ti

me

prop

erly

. It t

here

fore

com

es

as n

o su

rpri

se th

at su

ch a

dif

ficu

lt ut

tera

nce

is p

refa

ced

wit

h a

prov

erb

that

ad

s as

a m

itig

ator

. Utt

erin

g th

e pr

over

b is

the

refo

re c

onsi

sten

t wit

h th

e fa

cew

ork

being

done

her

e.

A c

ritic

al o

bser

vatio

n of

YG

's ut

tera

nce

indi

cate

s th

at h

e li

nks t

hepr

over

b's

-- -

hypo

thet

ical

situ

atio

n (t

hat

of g

um-l

icki

ng) to

the

soci

al s

itua

tion

(th

at of

hom

e or

one

's co

untr

y be

ing

the

best

pla

ce f

or a

n in

divi

dual

) th

at it

add

ress

es. A

n un

ders

tand

ing

of th

is p

rove

rb t

hus

requ

ires

an

und

erst

andi

ng o

f th

e A

kan

perc

eptio

n of

the

rela

tive

sta

tus o

f an

indi

vidu

al li

ving

in h

is h

omet

own

and

the

\

indi

vidu

al li

ving

in a

fore

ign

land

as a

str

ange

r. T

he A

kan

prov

erbs

Jn

ante

fo~

se

3se

asem

Th

e ha

bitu

al t

rave

ler

is a

ble

to e

duca

te h

is f

athe

r', B

aabi

deh

yee

kxls

ne b

aabi

ako

a 'A

roy

al p

erso

nage

cou

ld b

ecom

e a

slav

e in

a d

iffe

rent

or

stra

nge

plac

e',

and

Jh

3b

na D

we a

ko

h a

n'a

ni a

b~

'It

's a

stra

nger

who

eat

s a

blin

d fo

wl' h

elp

expl

ain

this

phe

nom

enon

. Alth

ough

the Akan ta

ke g

reat

pri

de in

tr

avel

ing,

they

ack

now

ledg

e th

e fa

ct th

at tr

avel

ing

enta

ils

man

y da

nger

s an

d in

conv

enie

nces

. The

trav

eler

bec

omes

kno

wle

dgea

ble,

bu

t h

e m

ay h

ave

to d

o 'lo

w"

jobs

th

at h

e w

ould

not

nor

mal

ly d

o in

his

hom

etow

n H

e m

ay a

lso

be s

ub-

ject

ed to

db

rim

inat

ion

, and

may

eve

n ha

ve to

ad

stup

idly

like

a b

lind

fow

l. It

is

f

wit

h th

ese

thou

ghts

in th

e ba

ck o

f his

min

d th

at Y

G a

dvis

es K

O n

ot to

trav

el, o

r if

he

mus

t tra

vel,

not

to o

vers

tay.

In

exc

erpt

2,

YG

adv

ises

KO

to

take

goo

d ca

re o

f his

wif

e an

d ne

ver

to

quar

rel w

ith

her.

Exc

erpt 2

[Con

texk

Hav

ing

been

una

ble to im

pres

s up

on K

O t

he n

eed to r

esci

nd h

is d

ecis

ion to

emig

rate

, YG

now

inqu

ires

whe

ther

KO

will

trav

el w

ith

his f

amily

. He

then

adv

ises

KO

to

be

tole

rant

and

nev

er e

ngag

e in

any

con

fmnt

atio

n w

ith

his

spo

use

whe

n th

ey are in

th

e U

nite

d St

ates

.]

YG

: W

o ne

A

bem

ne

n

kw

ab

non

a eb

ehrJ

? yo

u an

d A

bena

an

d ch

ildre

n th

eFoc

w

ill-g

o

Will

you

go

with

Abe

na a

nd th

e ch

ildre

n?

KO

: Aa

m

Yes

Y

es.'

YG

.. Ey

e. ee

m

pan

info

~ se

se

w

ohw

e ob

i de

hyee

yi

e O

.K.

wel

l el

ders

sa

y if

YO

U-lo

ok so

meo

ne's

roy

al-p

erso

nage

wel

l

a,

wo

mo

w

o de

hyee

ye

yi

e.

Nip

a a

won

e if

you

also

yo

ur

roya

l-per

sona

ge d

oes

wel

l. pe

rson

w

ho

you-

with

no

retu

kw

an

ye

obi

dehy

ee.

BJ

mm

&n

hwe

no

yie.

he

rtra

vel

be

som

eone

's

roya

l-per

sona

ge t

ry

hard

lo

ok

her

wel

l.

Wan

i an

hu

biri

bi

a,

enye

w

o ta

n.

SE

aka

saak

asa

biar

a yo

ur-e

ye

not-

see

som

ethi

ng i

f it-

not-

be y

ou

awfu

l if

argu

men

t an

y

a ed

e ba

saba

sa

biar

a ba

a,

pu

e ka

kra.

E

nnu

mm

erz

whi

ch

it-w

ith

conf

usio

n an

y co

mes

if

leav

e aw

hile

it-

reac

h ti

me

a w

obeb

a no

na

obia

ra

bo

adw

o.

whi

ch

youw

ill-r

etur

n K

E

then

ev

eryo

ne

ches

t co

ol

BJ

me

na

men

i n

a an

ka

me

~e

?

hit

me

and

I'm

-her

e ho

w-a

bout

it-

not-

touc

h m

e Q

'O.K

. Wel

l, th

e el

ders

say,

If yo

u ta

ke g

ood

care

of s

omeo

ne's

roy

al p

erso

nage

, you

r ro

yal p

erso

nage

will

als

o pr

ospe

r. T

he p

erso

n yo

u're

goi

ng to

trav

el w

ith

is so

me-

on

e el

se's

roy

al p

erso

nage

(i.e

., fr

om a

diff

eren

t lin

eage

). Try

to ta

ke g

ood

care

of

her.

If so

met

hing

is o

ut o

fyou

r sig

ht, y

ou c

anno

t pas

s ju

dgm

ent

on it

. If t

here

's a

ny

argu

men

t tha

t cou

ld re

sult

in a

ny s

erio

us co

nfro

ntat

ion,

take a

wal

k ou

tsid

e th

e ho

use a

whi

le. B

y the

tim

e you

ret

urn,

eve

rybo

dy w

ould

hav

e ca

lmed

dow

n. Is

n't

it on

ly w

hen

you

h w

ithi

n yo

ura

asai

ht'

spu

nch

ing

rang

e th

at h

e ca

n pu

nch

you?

'

A lo

ok a

t exc

erpt

2 re

veal

s thr

ee p

rove

rbs.

The

first, W

ohw

e obi

deh

yee y

ie a

, na

wo

nso

wo dee

reye

yie

'If

you

take

goo

d ca

re o

f so

meo

ne's

roya

l per

sona

ge,

your

roya

l per

sona

ge w

ill a

lso

pros

per',

is

issu

ed as

a m

itig

ator

to th

e FT

A, "

Try

to

tak

e go

od c

are

of he

r."

To

be to

ld to

take

goo

d ca

re of

one

's w

ife

pres

uppo

ses

that

you

may

not

hav

e be

en ta

king

ver

y go

od c

are

of h

er in

the

past

or t

hat

ther

e m

ight

be

a pr

oble

m. T

he p

rove

rb t

hat

pre

cede

s th

e FT

A, h

owev

er, m

akes

the

FTA

utt

eran

ce m

ore

of an

"enc

oura

gem

ent"

than

a c

omm

and.

The

add

ress

ee h

as

as m

any as th

ree sisters

and

wou

ld n

ot w

ant t

hem

to b

e m

istr

eate

d by

any

man

, he

nce

the

rele

vanc

e of

th

e pr

over

b.

The

use

of

the

sour

ce fo

rmul

a M

pan

info

~ se .

. . , a

s po

inte

d ou

t ea

rlie

r,

brin

gs i

nto

focu

s th

e ve

nera

bili

ty o

r cr

edib

ilit

y of

th

e pr

over

b's

sour

ce-t

he

elde

rs. T

he e

lder

s spe

ak n

othi

ng b

ut t

he

tru

th, s

o this e

xpre

ssio

n he

lps t

o m

ake

the

spea

ker's

str

etch

of u

tter

ance

eas

ily te

llab

le a

nd a

ccep

tabl

e sin

ce it

is n

oth-

in

g b

ut t

he

tru

th.

The

prov

erb

also

inst

ills

in th

e he

arer

the

conc

ept o

f jus

tice

or e

qual

trea

t-

men

t. S

ynta

ctic

ally

, th

e pr

over

b is

form

ed a

s a

cond

ition

al s

ente

nce.

Lik

e ot

her

cond

itio

nal s

ente

nces

, th

e pr

opos

ition

in th

e fi

rst p

art o

f th

e se

nten

ce m

ust b

e m

et f

irst

bef

ore

that

of

the

seco

nd is

car

ried

out

. Thus, it

is if

and

onl

y if

KO

tr

eats

his

wif

e w

ell

(whe

n he

em

igra

tes

wit

h he

r) t

hat

his

sis

ters

will

als

o be

fa

irly

trea

ted

by th

eir h

usba

nds.

T

he se

cond

pro

verb

als

o em

bell

ishe

s th

e de

lica

te u

pcom

ing

difF

icul

t FT

A b

y re

mov

ing

tiny

elem

ent o

f fo

rce

or im

posi

tion

behi

nd it

. It i

s on

ly w

hen

you

see

532

~W

LO

GI

CA

L

LIN

GU

IST

ICS

38 NO. 3

som

ethi

ng th

at y

ou a

re li

kely

to p

ass

a co

mm

ent o

r a

judg

men

t on

it. A

gain

, if

YG

had

sim

ply

said

"D

on't

quar

rel

or a

rgue

wit

h yo

ur w

ife,

" it c

ould

hav

e m

arre

d K

O's

face

bec

ause

of

the

impl

icat

ion

that

he

is q

uarr

elso

me

or p

ug-

naci

ous.

Pra

gmat

ical

ly, i

t mak

es th

e po

int m

ade

earl

ier m

ore

audi

ble

and

sub-

st

anti

ve. T

he t

hird

pro

verb

add

s em

phas

is a

nd r

efin

es th

e po

int b

eing

mad

e ab

out a

bste

ntio

n fr

om q

uarr

elin

g.

In e

xcer

pt 3

, AH a

dvis

es K

O to

sen

d m

oney

hom

e.

Exc

erp

t 3

[Con

-. A

H, K

O's

mot

her,

als

o no

t hap

py a

bout

KO

's de

cisi

on to

trav

el, n

ow d

raw

s K

O's

atte

ntio

n to

YG

's il

l-he

alth

and

rem

inds

KO

of

his

oblig

atio

n to

sen

d m

oney

hom

e to

be

used

in lo

okin

g af

ter

the

peop

le th

ere

sinc

e YG

is

now

inca

pabl

e of

wor

king

. KO

agr

ees t

o ab

ide

by A

H'S

sug

gest

ion.

]

AH

: M

pani

nfoc

l n

a ek

aa

se

se

obi

hwe

wo

ma

wo

elde

rs

FOC

sa

id

that

if

so

meo

ne

look

s-af

ter

you

for

your

se

fifi

a,

E

SE

SE

w

o m

o

wo

hwe

no

na

ne

se

teet

h

deve

lop

if m

ust

you

also

w

o lo

ok-a

fter

hi

m

his

teet

h

tutu

. Wonim

wo

papa

ya

dee

yi.

Sees

ei

sntu

mi

nye

upro

ot

you-

know

yo

ur

fath

er

illn

ess

this

no

w

he-c

anno

t N

EG

-do

adw

uma;

as

eten

a ay

e de

n.

wor

k lif

e ha

s-be

com

e h

ard

'It

is th

e el

ders

who

sai

d, If

som

eone

look

s aft

er yo

u w

hen

you'

re t

eeth

ing,

you

sho

uEd

also

look

afi

er h

im w

hen

he l

oses

his

teet

h. Y

ou're

aw

are

of yo

ur f

athe

r's il

lile

ss.

Now

he'

s in

capa

ble

of w

orki

ng. L

ife

is h

ard

thes

e da

ys.'

KO:

Mrn

m.

mm

m (i

.e.,

O.K

.) 1Mmm.

In e

xcer

pt 3

, AH

, in

ask

ing

KO

to s

end

mon

ey h

ome,

all

udes

to th

e fa

ct th

at

life

is h

ard.

Ask

ing

her

son

to s

end

them

mon

ey d

irec

tly,

espe

cial

ly w

hen

she

is

unaw

are

of t

he

cond

ition

s her

son

mig

ht e

ncou

nter

abr

oad,

is c

onsi

dere

d fa

ce-

thre

aten

ing

to A

H. S

peci

fica

lly, s

uch

a ve

rbal

beh

avio

r inv

olve

s an

impo

sitio

n by

AH

on

KO

-an

indi

cati

on th

at A

H m

ay b

e un

cari

ng. T

he p

rove

rb, a

s w

ell a

s th

e st

retc

h of

utte

ranc

e oc

curr

ing

befo

re th

e pr

over

b, a

cts

as a

redr

essi

ve a

dio

n

or m

itig

ator

. The

exp

ress

ion

'It i

s th

e el

ders

who

sai

d . .

.' giv

es th

e sp

eake

r a

"shi

eld"

that

pro

tect

s her

from

resp

onsi

bilit

y fo

r any

dam

agin

g in

terp

reta

tion

on

the

par

t of

the

addr

esse

e, s

ince

it a

scri

bes

the

prov

erb

to t

he

elde

rs. S

eque

n-

tially

, this

ope

ning

form

ula

acts

as

a 'p

relim

inar

y to

a p

reli

min

ary"

(c.f.

Sch

egl-

of

f 1980). P

ragm

atic

ally

, it m

itig

ates

the

upco

min

g m

itig

ator

. The

spe

aker

thu

s bu

ilds

, for

her

self

, a

stro

ng c

omm

unic

atio

nal i

mm

unit

y an

d ca

n le

giti

mat

ely

disc

laim

any

off

ensi

ve in

tent

. Her

e, th

ere

is a

dis

clai

mer

of p

erfo

rman

ce.

With

reg

ard

to th

e pr

over

b it

self

, it m

ay b

e sa

id th

at o

ne s

tart

s to

dev

elop

te

eth

whe

n on

e is

you

ng, a

nd s

tart

s lo

sing

them

whe

n on

e be

com

es o

ld. H

ere,

A

H i

s in

dire

ctly

rem

indi

ng K

O t

hat

he

was

sup

port

ed b

y hi

s pa

rent

s w

hen

he

was

you

ng a

nd in

capa

ble

of s

uppo

rtin

g hi

mse

lf. N

ow, h

is p

aren

ts (Y

G a

nd A

H)

are

too

old to fe

nd fo

r the

mse

lves

and

sho

uld

ther

efor

e be

supp

orte

d by

KO

who

h

as th

e ca

pabi

lity.

C

lose

exa

min

atio

n of

th

is p

rove

rb,

ther

efor

e, s

ugge

sts

that

wit

hin

the

inte

ract

ion

situ

atio

n, th

e ge

neri

c th

ird

pers

on obi 's

omeo

ne' r

efer

s to

YG

, KO

's fa

ther

, an

d th

e se

cond

per

son

sing

ular

pro

noun

wo

'you

' re

fers

to

KO

, th

e ad

dres

see.

T

he p

rove

rb, a

par

t fro

m it

s m

itig

atin

g ro

le, a

lso

serv

es to

rem

ind

KO

of

an

Aka

n cu

ltur

al m

axim

, a f

ad

of l

ife

in w

hich

the

stro

ng su

ppor

t th

e weak,

and

of

his

own

resp

onsi

bilit

y. K

O's

resp

onse

, Mmm 'O

.K.',

alth

ough

a "

back

cha

nnel

," is

it

self

an

ana

lysi

s of

AH

'S u

tter

ance

. The

fa

d th

at h

e em

ploy

s a

back

cha

nnel

th

at in

dica

tes a

gree

men

t poi

nts t

o th

e fa

ct th

at th

e co

nten

t of

AH

'S m

essa

ge (t

he

requ

est)

and

the

form

in w

hich

it i

s pr

esen

ted

are

unde

rsto

od. I

t als

o in

dica

tes

that

the

prop

ositi

on e

mbe

dded

in th

e ut

tera

nce

is a

ccep

tabl

e to

him

. In

exc

erpt

4, K

O i

s ad

vise

d to

list

en to

the

view

s of

his

wif

e an

d ch

ildr

en. A

H

begi

ns w

ith

an a

ckno

wle

dgm

ent o

f the

wis

dom

of K

O's

wife

and

a p

rove

rb th

at is

ju

xtap

osed

wit

h an

etio

logi

cal t

ale.

Exce

rpt 4

[C

onte

xt: A

H, l

ike

YG

, al

so i

nqui

res

whe

ther

KO

will

be

trav

elin

g w

ith

his

wif

e an

d ch

ildre

n. S

he th

en a

dvis

es K

O a

gain

st m

ale

chau

vini

sm a

nd e

ncou

rage

s him

to li

sten

to

his

chil

dren

's su

gges

tions

.]

AH

:Wo

tiri

ye

w

o ye

re

te

a.w

m

me.

M

pani

nfok

:, se

yo

ur

head

go

od

your

w

ife

unde

rsta

nds

stor

y un

der.

el

ders

sa

y

eye

3heh

e-tu

-fo-

ante

ncz

swe

ntak

rabo

a a

it-b

e C

hief

-Nev

er-T

akes

-Adv

ice

who

ea

ts

feat

here

d-an

imal

whi

ch

snni

tir

e N

a sa

a sh

em

yi

adw

ene

ye

no

se

snim

it

-not

-hav

e he

ad. FOC

this

ch

ief

this

m

ind

be

him

th

at

he-k

now

s

nyan

sa

sen

wia

se

nnip

a ny

inaa

nt

i n

a an

tie

ne

mpa

ninf

os

wis

dom

th

an

wor

ld

pers

ons

all

so FOC

he-n

ot-l

iste

n hi

s co

unse

lors

afot

uo.

3h

y~e

mm

ara

maa

nk

bsm

msf

o~

se

se w

sn

kk:,

ahay

s n

a ad

vice

he

-ena

cted

law

fo

r hi

s-hu

nter

s th

at i

f th

ey

go

hunt

ing

and

wsa

nya

akye

nkye

na

amm

m

no

a,

sb~

twa

w

sn

ti.

Da

they

not-

get

plan

tain

-eat

er

not-

brin

g hi

m

if

he-w

ill-

cut

thei

r he

ad

day

koro

bi

a

bsm

msf

o~

hweh

wee

kw

aee

mu

ara

nso

wsa

nya

one

a hu

nter

s se

arch

ed

fore

st

in

exte

nsiv

ely

bu

t th

ey-n

ot-g

et

I ak

yenk

yena

no

bi.

W~

redw

endw

en

asem

a

ato

plan

tain

-eat

er

it

a.

whi

le-t

hey-

wer

e-th

inki

ng p

robl

em

whi

ch

befa

ll

I ! w

3n

no ho

no,

wjn

m

u ba

ako

hvu

3

ptE

, ku

mm

no

ka

th

em

it

self

w

hile

th

em

in

one

saw

vu

ltur

e,

kill

ed

it

say

kye

m a

barn

rn~f

oa a

aka

no

se

mom

s ye

ntut

u an

omaa

tl sh

ow

hu

nte

rs

who

re

mai

ned

the

that

le

t-us

w

e-re

mov

e bi

rd

1 yi

ho

n

a ye

ntw

a ne

ti

n

a ye

mfa

no

n

bm

a ~

hen

e.

this

se

lf

and

cut-

off

its

head

an

d w

e-ta

ke

it

give

ch

ief.

I

W3p

enee

so

enti

wxl

e 3p

cts

no

bm

sla

ah

ene

yem

na

~m

th

ey-a

gree

d so

th

ey-w

ith

vult

ure

the

go-g

ive

chie

f w

ife

and

she

nso

esia

ne

se

anni

m

nti

xk

ye&

nk

wan

m

art

also

be

caus

e of

sh

e-no

t-kn

ow b

ecau

se

she-

wit

h m

ade

soup

fo

r

~h

ene n

o.

Saa

as

ma

yi

~E

YE

E

E~

E.

SE

3b

m

no

ka

chie

f th

e th

is

stor

y th

is

beco

me

prov

erb

if w

oman

th

e sa

ys

anya

mas

em

bi

ara

a,

fa

was

o b

fam

. En

ye

Nti

kum

a se

nsib

le-s

tory

a

any

if ta

ke

your

-ear

s go

do

wn

it-n

ot-b

e N

tiku

ma

m

~k

yert

e ne

se

an

anse

kw

an

a es

esc

3de

nya

ma

Fo

e

he-t

each

hi

s fa

ther

A

nans

e w

ay

whi

ch

mu

st

he-w

ith

wis

dom

'1 $

kuku

o no

fo

m

du

a no

. Se

m

m3f

ia

no

mpo

de

ny

ansa

dwen

-

pot

the

clim

b tr

ee

the

if ch

ildr

en

the

even

w

ith

wis

dom

-min

d

ba

a,

fa.

com

e if

tak

e Y

ou're

luc

ky y

our

wif

e is

und

erst

andi

ng. T

he e

lder

s sa

y, I

t is C

hief

-Nev

er-T

akes

- A

dvic

e w

ho e

ats

a h

dle

5s

bid

. Thi

s ch

ief

thou

ght h

e w

as w

iser

than

eve

rybo

dy

else

in th

e w

orld

so

he n

ever

list

ened

to th

e ad

vice

of h

is c

ouns

elor

s. H

e en

acte

d a

law

mak

ing

it a

n o

ffen

se p

unis

habl

e by

beh

eadi

ng if

his

hu

nte

rs w

ere

unab

le to

br

ing

him

a p

lant

ain-

eate

r whe

neve

r the

y w

ent t

o h

un

t in

the

fore

st. I

t so

hap-

pe

ned

that

one

day

aft

er a

thor

ough

sea

rch

thro

ugh

the

fore

st, t

he

hu

nte

rs w

ere

unab

le to

get

a p

lain

tain

-eat

er fo

r th

e ch

ief.

As t

hey

lam

ente

d ov

er th

eir

ill-

luck

an

d im

min

ent e

xecu

tion

, one

of

them

saw

a v

ultu

re, t

ook

aim

, sho

t and

kil

led

it,

and

said

to th

e ot

hers

, 'Why

don

't w

e ju

st r

emov

e th

e pl

umes

from

this

bir

d, c

ut it

s he

ad o

ff, a

nd ta

ke

it to

the

chie

f?' T

he o

ther

s ag

reed

, so

the

vult

ure

was

giv

en to

th

e ch

iefs

wif

e w

ho,

out o

f ig

nora

nce,

pre

pare

d so

up w

ith

it f

or t

he

chie

f. T

his

inci

dent

then

bec

ame

a pr

over

b. If

th

e w

oman

bo

ur w

ife)

mak

es a

ny s

ensi

ble

sug-

ge

stio

n, (l

it., a

ccep

t it,

send

you

r ear

s dow

n). I

sn't

it N

tiku

ma

who

sug

gest

ed to

his

fa

ther

, Ana

nse,

a s

ensi

ble

way

to

ca

ny

the

pot

of w

isdo

m to

the

top

of th

e tr

ee?

Eve

n if

it is

the

chil

dren

who

sug

gest

som

ethi

ng go

od, t

ake

thei

r ad

vice

.'

KO

: H

ahah

a.

(lau

ghte

r)

Ha

ha

ha.

In e

xcer

pt 4

, AH

adv

ises

KO

aga

inst

mal

e ch

auvi

nism

and

impr

esse

s up

on

him

the

need

to b

e to

lera

nt. T

he p

repr

over

bial

utt

eran

ce, t

he

prov

erb

itse

lf, a

nd

the

etio

logi

cal t

ale

all c

ontr

ibut

e to

dri

ve h

ome

the

FTA

"li

sten

to y

our w

ife

and

chil

dren

."

As

poin

ted

out e

arli

er, t

he

open

ing

form

ula

"The

eld

ers

say . .

." is

a d

is-

clai

mer

of

perf

orm

ance

. The

spe

aker

(AH

) em

ploy

s th

is s

trat

egy

to s

how

her

re

spec

t an

d hu

mil

ity

tow

ard

the

addr

esse

e an

d th

ereb

y di

scla

ims

any

offe

nsiv

e in

tent

ion

of t

each

ing

a m

oral

to a

chi

ld w

ho in

this c

ase

is a

n a

dult

. It o

ught

to b

e no

ted

that

had

the

dire

ctio

n of

com

mun

icat

ion

been

reve

rsed

(i.e

., fr

om c

hild

to

pare

nt),

th

e po

lite

ness

and

mit

igat

ion

wou

ld h

ave

been

eve

n m

ore

elab

orat

ed

sinc

e th

e A

kan,

lik

e m

any

othe

r so

ciet

ies,

dem

and

that

sub

ordi

nate

s sh

ow

cons

ider

able

def

eren

ce to

sup

erio

rs.

Ret

urni

ng to

exc

erpt

4, i

t may

be

note

d th

at th

e op

enin

g fo

rmul

a, W

o ti

ri y

e w

o ye

re t

e as

cm a

se. M

pani

nfoa

se . .

. You

're l

ucky

, you

r wif

e is

und

erst

andi

ng.

The

eld

ers

say

. . .', a

cts

as a

mit

igat

or a

nd h

ence

a p

olit

enes

s st

rate

gy. T

he p

ro-

verb

and

the

asso

ciat

ed ta

le a

lso

soft

en th

e lo

cuti

on of

th

e ad

mon

itio

n "L

iste

n to

yo

ur w

ife."

Mor

eove

r, th

e ta

le to

ld a

fter

the

prov

erb

also

hel

ps so

w, i

n th

e br

ain

of t

he

addr

esse

e, t

he

mor

al b

eing

ind

irec

tly

impa

rted

by

the

spea

ker.

This

com

mun

icat

iona

l str

ateg

y cr

eate

s a

very

con

duci

ve e

nvir

onm

ent a

nd lo

wer

s or

to

tall

y el

imin

ates

th

e ad

vise

e's

anxi

etie

s, s

ince

it i

s le

ss o

bvio

us th

at h

dvic

e is

be

ing

give

n.

The

que

ry, "

Isn'

t it N

tiku

ma

who

sug

gest

ed to

his

fath

er, A

nans

e, a

sen

sibl

e w

ay t

o c

arry

th

e po

t of

wis

dom

to th

e to

p of

th

e tr

ee?"

ref

ers

to a

noth

er A

kan

folk

tale

. In

this

con

text

, how

ever

, it i

s ac

ting

as

an c

bc 'p

rove

rb'.

In th

at ta

le,

Ana

nse

(Spi

der)

is a

llege

d to

hav

e co

llect

ed a

ll th

e w

isdo

m in

the

wor

ld, p

ut i

t in

I a

pot,

and

deci

ded

to h

ang

it in

the

top

of a

tree

, in

orde

r to

depr

ive

ever

yone

els

e of

wis

dom

. To

conc

eal w

hat h

e is

doi

ng, h

e cl

imbs

the

tree

wit

h th

e po

t in

fron

t of

him

, ins

tead

of

putt

ing

it o

n his

back

, and

thu

s h

e is

una

ble

to c

lim

b w

ell.

His

so

n N

tiku

ma,

hid

ing

in th

e w

oods

, see

s his

fath

er's

foo

lish

ness

and

adv

ises

him

to

pu

t th

e po

t on

his

back

. Rea

lizi

ng th

at h

is s

on h

ad s

ome

wis

dom

in h

is h

ead,

A

nans

e, o

ut o

f an

ger,

thro

ws

the

pot d

own,

and

it c

rash

es. E

very

one

who

hea

rs

this

folk

tale

thu

s le

arns

the

mor

al o

f th

e st

ory.

T

o te

ll a

n A

kan

pare

nt d

irec

tly

to li

sten

to th

e ad

vice

of h

is o

wn

chil

dren

is

to s

ugge

st t

hat

they

are p

roba

bly

wis

er t

han

he

is o

r th

at h

e is

a d

icta

tor

who

li

sten

s to

no

one.

How

ever

, by

pref

acin

g th

is F

TA

wit

h a

prov

erb,

AH

mak

es i

t te

llab

le s

ince

the

prov

erb

mak

es th

e ut

tera

nce

less

face

-thr

eate

ning

. In

exc

erpt

5, AH c

onti

nues

to ta

lk a

bout

KO

's ch

ildr

en.

Exc

erpt

6

[Con

text

: AH

con

tinue

s to

advi

se K

O a

bout

his

chi

ldre

n. In

par

ticu

lar,

she

adv

ises

KO

to

hand

le h

is so

n (w

ho is

nam

ed a

fter

AH

) car

eful

ly. S

he begins b

y ra

isin

g3he

five

fing

ers o

f he

r ri

ght h

and

to d

emon

stra

te th

e un

equa

l abi

liti

es of

hum

ans,

and

then

goe

s on

to a

sk

for s

peci

al p

rivi

lege

s for

the

boy.

]

AH

: Y

en

nyin

aa

nim

SE

n

ips

nsat

eaa

nnum

no

ny

inaa

ny

e p

~.

w

e al

l kn

ow

that

hu

man

fi

nger

s fi

ve

the

all

not-

be

equa

l

Wo

maa

me

Kw

abi

sua

ne

ho

nyE

den

SE

Gya

siw

aa

your

m

othe

r K

wab

i sm

all

him

se

lf

not-

be

stro

ng

like

G

yasi

waa

a ne

ho

Y

E

den

SE

ne

a ye

de

no

too

no

no.

who

h

er

self

be

st

rong

li

ke

one

we-

with

he

r na

med

hi

m

the

Me

nana

no

de

ne

mm

a be

to

me

enti

WE

no

yie

my

gran

dchi

ld

the

wit

h hi

s ch

ildr

en

wil

l-na

me

me

so

look

hi

m

wel

l

ma

me.

fo

r m

e W

e al

l kno

w th

at th

e hu

man

five

fing

ers

are

of u

nequ

al le

ngth

. You

r mot

her K

wab

i (i

.e.,

your

son

nam

ed a

fter

me)

is y

oung

. He's

not

as

stro

ng a

s G

yasi

wa

who

is as

stro

ng as

the

one

afte

r who

m s

he w

as n

amed

. My

gran

dson

will

nam

e hi

s ch

ildr

en

afte

r me

so h

andl

e hi

m c

aref

ully

and

gen

tly fo

r me.

'

In e

xcer

pt 5

, AH

see

ks p

refe

rent

ial t

reat

men

t for

KO

's so

n na

med

aft

er h

er.

To

ask

for t

his

favo

r di

rect

ly w

ould

aut

omat

ical

ly ra

ise

seve

ral q

uest

ions

as

to

whe

ther

sh

e lo

ves h

er g

rand

chil

dren

equa

lly

or w

heth

er s

he

has

evi

denc

e th

at

the

boy

is n

ot b

eing

pro

perl

y lo

oked

aft

er. T

he p

rem

ise

from

whi

ch s

he s

tart

s,

how

ever

, rec

ogni

zes

the

uneq

ual a

bili

ties

of h

uman

s. S

peci

fica

lly, t

he

prov

erb

firs

t an

d fo

rem

ost

help

s to

dem

onst

rate

th

e in

equa

liti

es i

n th

e ab

ilit

ies of

hum

ans.

Con

sequ

ently

, it r

emov

es a

ny F

TA i

n h

er p

lea.

If

it i

s a

trui

sm t

hat

hu

man

s ar

e of

uneq

ual

abil

itie

s, t

hen

a p

lea

for

pref

eren

tial

tre

atm

ent

for

peop

le w

ith

wea

k ab

ilit

ies

is in

ord

er. M

oreo

ver,

th

e pr

epro

verb

ial u

tter

ance

"W

e al

l kno

w t

hat

. . ."r

emin

ds th

e ad

dres

see

that

kno

wle

dge

of t

he

prov

erb

is

shar

ed b

y bo

th o

f th

em. T

his

sugg

ests

equ

alit

y of

pow

er a

nd p

rote

cts

AH

fro

m

taki

ng a

ny a

bsol

ute

resp

onsi

bili

ty fo

r th

e up

com

ing

FTA

. As

wit

h th

e ex

cerp

ts

cite

d ea

rlie

r, th

is p

rove

rb, t

oget

her

wit

h it

s pr

epro

verb

ial m

odif

ier,

act

s as

a

"dow

nton

er"

for

the

FTA

. The

pro

verb

als

o he

lps

to s

tren

gthe

n th

e sp

eake

r's

poin

t of

view

. It

mu

st a

lso

be p

oint

ed o

ut t

hat

the

perf

orm

ance

str

ateg

y of

rai

sing

her

fi

nger

s to

dem

onst

rate

the

uneq

ual p

oten

tial

of h

uman

s se

rves

as

a ve

ry e

ffec

- ti

ve a

tten

tion

-get

ting

dev

ice.

Not

onl

y di

d th

e ac

tion

and

the

anal

ogy

mak

e th

e li

sten

er (t

he a

utho

r) m

ore

aler

t, it

pro

vide

d a

sig

nik

ant l

earn

ing

expe

rien

ce a

s w

ell. I e

nd th

is se

ctio

n by

con

side

ring

thre

e m

ore

exce

rpts

.

Exc

erpt

6

[Con

text

: Hav

ing

give

n he

r adv

ice

on h

ow s

he w

ants

KO

to h

andl

e hi

s ch

ildr

en, A

H n

ow

turn

s he

r att

enti

on to

KO

him

self

. She

adv

ises

KO

to b

e hu

mbl

e, re

spec

tful

, and

not

to d

o an

ythi

ng w

itho

ut c

onsu

ltin

g hi

s bo

sses

(at h

is n

ew p

lace

).]

AH

: Se

nea

wo

papa

ta

e ka

no,

ah

obrz

wee

w

ie

nkun

im.

Na

as

your

fa

ther

us

uall

y sa

y hu

mil

ity

lead

s-to

vic

tory

an

d

won

im

SE

SE

woh

un

tr

a w

o pa

nin

a,

wus

a ne

m

men

yo

u-kn

ow

that

if

you-

jum

p ov

er

your

el

der

if yo

u-st

uck

his

horn

s

mu.

M

ante

as

em

b3ne

bi

ara

w3

wo

adw

uma

mu

wa

insi

de

I-no

t-he

ar

stor

y ba

d an

y ab

out

your

w

ork

in

in

Nkr

aw di

wo

ho

ni

w3

baab

i a

wo

rek

~

no

nso.

Acc

ra

beha

ve

your

se

lf

neat

ly

at

plac

e w

here

yo

u-ar

e-go

ing

the

also

'A

s yo

ur fa

ther

usu

alIy

say

s, H

umili

ty b

eget

s vic

tory

. And

you

kno

w th

at if

you

jum

p ov

er y

our

elde

r, y

ou g

et e

ntan

gled

in

his

horn

s. I

didn

't he

ar a

ny b

ad n

ews

from

yo

ur w

ork

plac

e in

Acc

ra; b

ehav

e th

e sa

me w

ay w

hen

you

go t

here

.'

In e

xcer

pt 6

, AH

talk

s ab

out h

umil

ity.

She

att

ribu

tes

the

init

ial p

rove

rb to

Y

G (

KO

's fa

ther

) an

d th

eref

ore

min

imiz

es p

rais

e fo

r he

rsel

f. H

ere,

one

see

s L

eech

's (1

983)

mod

esty

max

im a

t w

ork.

An

exam

inat

ion

of t

he

firs

t pr

over

b re

veal

s th

at th

e fa

ct th

at K

O i

s be

ing

advi

sed

to b

e hu

mbl

e is

impl

ied

bu

t not

ex

plic

itly

stat

ed.

The

pre

prov

erbi

al u

tter

ance

"A

nd y

ou k

now

th

at . .

." of

th

e se

cond

pro

verb

als

o se

rves

as

a m

itig

ator

for

th

e se

cond

pro

verb

. H

ere,

AH

ac

know

ledg

es th

e li

ngui

stic

sop

hist

icat

ion

of th

e ad

dres

see

(KO

). It

als

o po

ints

to

the

fact

that

the

prov

erb

cite

d is

con

vent

iona

l kno

wle

dge

and

is th

us

true

. The

se

cond

pro

verb

in turn

mit

igat

es th

e ut

tera

nce

"Beh

ave

the

sam

e w

ay w

hen

you

go th

ere,

" w

hich

car

ries

the

FTA

. Alth

ough

KO

is A

H's

son,

tell

ing

him

dir

ectl

y to

beh

ave

wel

l thr

eate

ns K

O's

nega

tive

face

(fre

edom

from

impo

sitio

n) a

nd A

H's

posi

tive

face

(th

e ad

dres

see'

s po

sitiv

e se

lf-i

mag

e of f

eelin

g go

od, a

ppre

ciat

ed, o

r ap

prov

ed of

by

othe

r peo

ple)

.

Exc

erpt

7

[Con

text

. YG

, aft

er a

long

sile

nce,

now

adv

ises

KO

aga

inst

exc

essi

ve d

rink

ing

or a

lco-

ho

lism

. He

ackn

owle

dges

the

fad

that

he (YG) dr

inks

a li

ttle

, and

that

AN

, KO

's el

der

brot

her,

dri

nks

a lo

t. H

e th

en "

war

ns" K

O n

ot to

be

dece

ived

by

the

"tas

ty"

nat

ure

of

alco

hol.]

YG

: 3b

anm

a d

e~

, ne

a E b

qe

bittr

a,

s~b

e

wob

etw

a m

an

as-f

or

wha

teve

r it

-be-

happ

en

any

apol

ogie

s w

o-w

ill-d

rink

kakr

a.

Men

om

kakr

a;

AN

no

m

dodo

. C

nni

adw

en

&

litt

le

I-dr

ink

litt

le

AN

dr

inks

to

o-m

uch

do-n

ot-f

ollo

w m

udfi

sh

tast

y

akyi

nh

we

Bre

muu

. ba

ck

dam

B

irim

'Bei

ng a

man

, wha

teve

r hap

pens

; apo

logi

es, y

ou11

tast

e a

litt

le (a

lcoh

ol).

I drink

a li

ttle

; AN

drinks too m

uch.

Do

not l

et th

e ta

sty

natu

re o

f mud

dish

forc

e yo

u to

fish

in

th

e B

irim

Riv

er.'

The

them

e of

exc

erpt

7 is

"ca

utio

n ag

ains

t alc

ohol

ism

." I

n th

is e

xcer

pt, Y

G

talks

abou

t th

e fa

ct th

at h

e drinks a

litt

le, c

riti

cize

s AN

(KO

's el

der b

roth

er w

ho

is n

ot p

rese

nt a

t th

e sc

ene

of t

he

disc

ours

e) fo

r dr

inki

ng to

o m

uch,

and

then

is

sues

a p

rove

rb to

con

vey

his

mes

sage

. The

dan

gero

us n

atu

re o

f-al

coho

l is c

or-

rela

ted

wit

h th

e B

irim

Riv

er, w

hich

is th

e bi

gges

t riv

er in

Aky

em C

ount

y (w

here

A

suom

is).

The

fear

of b

eing

sw

ept a

way

by

the

swif

t tid

e of

th

e ri

ver,

and

thu

s be

ing

drow

ned,

is in

dire

ctly

like

ned

to th

e da

mag

ing

effe

ct of

alc

ohol

. Alc

ohol

, li

ke m

udfi

sh, m

ay b

e ta

sty,

bu

t li

ke t

he

swif

t-fl

owin

g Bir

im R

iver

, it

can

also

ki

ll.

In th

is e

xcer

pt, u

nlik

e th

e ot

hers

, th

e FT

A i

s em

bedd

ed in

th

e pr

over

b,

whi

ch is

ver

y in

tere

stin

g be

caus

e it

allo

ws Y

G a

deg

ree

of "

bold

ness

" in

war

ning

K

O o

f so

met

hing

that

he

him

self

ind

ulge

s in

, bu

t w

hich

, he

ackn

owle

dges

, is

bad.

A c

riti

cal

obse

rvat

ion

of t

his

exce

rpt

also

rev

eals

th

at t

he

tone

of

forc

e-

fuln

ess i

s ra

ther

mil

d co

mpa

red

with

th

e ot

her e

xcer

pts i

nvol

ving

YG

. In

exc

erpt

8, A

H c

oncl

udes

her

adv

ice b

y re

min

ding

KO

to a

lway

s rem

embe

r h

is ro

ots.

Exc

erpt

8

[Con

texk

AH

wra

ps u

p he

r ad

vice

by

rem

indi

ng K

O a

bout

the

need

to

visi

t hom

e fr

e-

quen

tly.

She

als

o te

lls

KO

to

info

rm h

is s

ibli

ngs,

who

als

o liv

e ab

road

, ab

out t

hei

r fa

ther

's il

lnes

s and

the

need

for t

hem

to v

isit

him

.]

AH

: W

onim

se

an

omaa

w

u dua

so

a,

ne

ntak

ra

nka

dua

you-

know

th

at

bird

di

es

tree

on

if

its

plum

es

not-

rem

ain

tree

no

so.

Se

WO

~

a,

twa

w'a

ni

hwe

wo

nkyi

na

ta

a th

e on

if

you-

go

if tu

rn

your

-eye

s lo

ok

your

ba

ck

and

freq

uent

ly

bm

fie.

Aso

pa

nk

yere

as

em

te.

Mer

enh

a

nkye

. co

me

hom

e ea

rs

good

no

t-ke

ep-l

ong

stor

y he

ar

1-w

ill-

not-

talk

lon

g

Ka

kyem

Y

aw

Taw

ia na

amm

ehw

e ne

papa

an

nye

saa

tell

sh

ow

Yaw

T

awia

so

-tha

t he

-com

es-a

tten

d-to

his

fa

ther

el

se

kuro

m

ha fo

a b

~y

no

. Se

w

o ne

Ata

a ne

Ah

sua

P

anin

to

wn-

folk

s he

re

wil

l-in

sult

him

if

you

and

Ata

a an

d A

kosu

a P

anin

kasa

a,

m

a w

an

nte

wo

papa

y

h no

. M

a ye

nte

wo

talk

s if

let

them

he

ar

your

fa

ther

il

lnes

s th

e le

t us

-hea

r yo

u

nka

se

wod

uru

a.

onya

me

mfa

w

o n

b.

abou

t if

yo

u-ar

rive

if

God

sh

ould

-tak

e yo

u go

Y

ou k

now

th

at w

hen

a b

id d

ies

up

in a

tree

, its

plu

mes

do

not

rem

ain

in th

e tr

ee.

Whe

n yo

u go

, tu

rn y

our e

yes

tow

ard

your

root

s an

d co

me

hom

e fr

eque

ntly

. Goo

d

ears

are

qui

ck to

hea

r a m

essa

ge. I

won

't make a

leng

thy

spee

ch. T

ell Y

aw T

awia

to

com

e an

d a

tten

d to

you

r (p

l.) f

athe

r or

els

e th

e vi

llage

fol

ks w

ill c

ritic

ize

him

. W

hene

ver y

ou talk

with

Ata

a an

d A

kosu

a P

anin

, let

them

hea

r of y

our f

athe

r's il

l-

heal

th.

Let

us

hear

fro

m y

ou w

hen

you

arri

ve a

t yo

ur d

esti

nati

on. M

ay G

od

acco

mpa

ny y

ou.'

KO

: M

&w

o as

e.

Mek

a ak

yerr

Y

aw

ama

no

aba.

M

eb

~

mm

xlen

I-

than

k yo

u I-

wil

l-te

ll

show

Y

aw

let

him

co

me

I-w

ill-

try

hard

a* si

stan

om

call

si

ster

Thanks. I'l

l tel

l Yaw

to c

ome

over

. I11

als

o tr

y a

nd c

all m

y si

ster

s.'

The

firs

t pro

verb

, Won

im se

an

orn

aa w

u du

a so

a,

ne n

takr

a n

ka

du

a no

so

'Y

ou k

now

th

at w

hen

a bi

rd d

ies

up i

n a

tre

e, it

s pl

umes

do

not r

emai

n in

the

tree

', m

itig

ates

the

FTA

. It i

s im

med

iate

ly fo

llow

ed b

y S

E w

oh

a, t

wa

w'a

ni W

E w

o n

kyi na

taa

bra

fie

Whe

n yo

u go

, tur

n yo

ur e

yes t

owar

d yo

ur ro

ots

and

com

e ho

me

freq

uent

ly'.

Any

Aka

n w

ho tr

avel

s an

d do

es n

ot r

etu

rn h

ome

or d

oes n

ot

visi

t hom

e re

gdar

ly is c

onsi

dere

d kw

asea

mpa

nin

'irre

spon

sibl

e, e

ldes

t-of

-foo

ls'.

To

be r

emin

ded

to r

etur

n ho

me

is f

ace-

thre

aten

ing

sinc

e it

sug

gest

s yo

u pr

obab

ly a

re n

ot o

rgan

ized

. The

pro

verb

abs

orbs

this

pot

enti

al f

ace-

thre

at a

nd

mak

es A

H'S

utt

eran

ce c

onsi

sten

t wit

h fa

ce. T

he ex

pres

sion

"You

kno

w th

at. .

." va

lida

tes

the

tru

th in

the

prov

erb.

The

spea

ker a

ppea

rs to

be

sayi

ng so

met

hing

li

ke "

It is

a c

ult

ura

l truism

that

a b

ird'

s pl

umes

do

not r

emai

n in

a tree

even

w

hen

the

bird

die

s on

the tree.

I am

not

mak

ing

up

som

ethi

ng n

ew, I

am

onl

y re

min

ding

you

of

som

ethi

ng y

ou a

lrea

dy kn

ow."

In

effe

ct, A

H u

ses

this

ope

ning

fo

rmul

a to

co

nfi

i her

aw

aren

ess

of K

O's

com

mun

icat

ive

skil

ls.

The

sec

ond

prov

erb,

Aso

pa

nkyt

yere

ase

m te

'Goo

d ea

rs a

re q

uick

to h

ear

a m

essa

ge',

is a

com

plim

enta

ry r

emar

k. K

O is

a go

od c

omm

unic

ator

, on

e w

ho

take

s ad

vice

, so

it is

unn

eces

sary

to m

ake

a le

ngth

y sp

eech

to h

im. T

his p

rove

rb

conf

irm

s th

e co

nfid

ence

AH

has

in

KO, a

n in

dica

tion

th

at th

e co

mm

unic

atio

n w

ill p

rove

suc

cess

ful.

5.2.

The

rol

e of

pro

verb

s in

con

vers

atio

nal

seq

uen

cin

g and o

rgan

iza-

tion

Apa

rt fr

om S

eite

l's (

1977

) wor

k on

the

use

of p

rove

rbs

amon

g th

e H

aya

of

Tan

zani

a, very

litt

le h

as b

een

done

on

the

role

of

indi

rect

ly a

utho

red

spee

ch

form

s lik

e pr

over

bs in

inte

ract

iona

l seq

uenc

ing

and

orga

niza

tion

. Bas

ed o

n th

eir

inte

ract

iona

l fu

ncti

ons

and

thei

r pl

ace

of o

ccur

renc

e in

a c

onve

rsat

iona

l se

- qu

ence

, Sei

tel d

iscu

sses

two kinds

of p

rove

rbs:

en

fum

o an

d o

mw

im.

lnfu

mo

prov

erbs

are

alm

ost a

lway

s ac

ompa

nied

by

a li

tera

l (no

nfig

urat

ive)

st

atem

ent o

f th

e sp

eake

r's v

iew

of

the

soci

al s

itua

tion

in

que

stio

n. S

uch

pro-

ve

rbs,

acc

ordi

ng to

Sei

tel,

may

com

e af

ter a

n ex

pres

sion

of t

he

spea

ker's

vie

w o

f th

e so

cial

sit

uati

on t

o st

reng

then

it, a

nd t

o co

nvin

ce t

he

hear

er t

hat

th

e sp

eake

r's v

iew

is

corr

ect,

thu

s ob

viat

ing

the

disc

ussi

on ~

f al

tern

ate

view

s.

540

AN

TI-

~OPO

LO

GIC

AL

L

ING

UIS

TIC

S 38 N

O. 3

Con

clud

ing

an

expl

anat

ion

wit

h an

enf

umo

is th

eref

ore

an a

ttem

pt to

clo

se th

e di

scus

sion

of

a to

pic

by a

chie

ving

gen

eral

agr

eem

ent (

Sei

tel1

977:

gl).

S

eite

l (1

977)

not

es f

urth

er th

at a

n e

nfum

o m

ay b

e in

trod

uced

bef

ore

the

actu

al e

xpre

ssio

n of

th

e si

tuat

ion

to w

hich

it is

bei

ng a

ppli

ed, t

o se

rve

as a

con

- ve

rsat

iona

l ope

ning

, or,

in h

is o

wn

wor

ds, t

o se

rve as a

"w

ay in

" to

a d

iscu

ssio

n.

Her

e, th

e pr

over

b in

trod

uces

the

topi

c of

a c

onve

rsat

ion

abou

t whi

ch th

e sp

eake

r ex

pect

s th

e he

arer

to v

oice

an

opi

nion

. "In

trod

ucin

g th

e pr

over

b fi

rst s

how

s th

at

the

spea

ker i

s ve

ry s

ure

of t

he

corr

ectn

ess

of h

is v

iew

of t

he

soci

al si

tuat

ion.

He

is s

o su

re, i

n f

ad, t

hat

he

invi

tes

disc

ussi

on" (

1977

:92)

. U

se o

f en

fum

o, S

eite

l co

nclu

des,

oft

en in

vite

s la

ught

er fr

om th

e ad

dres

see,

and

lead

s to

par

tici

pati

on

by a

ll in

tera

ctan

ts.

In c

ontr

ast,

an

om

wiz

o pr

over

b is

usu

ally

exp

ress

ed w

itho

ut e

xpla

inin

g it

s ap

plic

atio

n. W

hen

used

wit

h a

n ex

plan

atio

n, t

he

spea

ker i

s re

quir

ed "

to m

ake

furt

her s

peci

fica

tion

in re

gard

to th

e se

quen

tial

pos

itio

n of

th

e pr

over

b re

lati

ve

to it

s ex

plan

atio

n an

d re

lati

ve to

the

term

inal

par

ts o

f th

e co

nver

sati

onn

(197

7:

92).

Seq

uent

iall

y, a

n om

wiz

o m

ay fu

ncti

on a

s ei

ther

a c

onve

rsat

iona

l ope

ning

or

a cl

osin

g. W

hen

an o

mw

izo

prec

edes

an

expl

anat

ion,

it fu

ncti

ons as a

con

vers

a-

tion

al o

peni

ng. H

ere,

th

e sp

eake

r is

sues

a p

repr

over

bial

str

ing

to k

ey i

n th

e pr

over

b. T

he c

onte

xt s

itua

tion

usu

ally

invo

lves

a w

rong

doin

g by

th

e ad

dres

see.

A

n om

wiz

o us

ed in

such

a c

onte

xt is

mea

nt to

invi

te re

conc

ilia

tion

. S

eite

l(19

77:9

3) n

otes

th

at w

hen

an o

mw

izo

is s

poke

n a

t th

e en

d of

a d

is-

cuss

ion

follo

win

g a

n e

xpla

nati

on o

f it

s ap

plic

atio

n, i

t is

inte

nded

to

clos

e of

f

1 ve

rbal

inte

ract

ion.

In

this

sect

ion,

I de

mon

stra

te th

at A

kan

prov

erbs

, lik

e H

aya

prov

erbs

, pla

y a v

alua

ble

"pre

sequ

enci

ng" r

ole

in th

e se

quen

tial

org

aniz

atio

n of

var

ious

face

ts

of i

nter

acti

on. I

n p

arti

cula

r, I

dem

onst

rate

th

at p

rove

rbs

are

empl

oyed

to p

re-

figu

re p

oten

tial

ly d

iffi

cult

upc

omin

g ut

tera

nces

. Sp

ecif

ical

ly, a

spe

aker

, in

ad-

vi

sing

a h

eare

r, m

ay u

se a

pro

verb

to w

arn

the

hear

er th

at a

fac

e-th

reat

enin

g ut

tera

nce

is u

pcom

ing.

The

pro

verb

th

us

acts

as

a pr

edif

icul

t or

a p

re-F

TA

st

ring

, and

ther

eby

func

tion

s as

a "d

ownt

oner

."

I al

so d

emon

stra

te t

hat

pro

verb

s m

ay b

e em

ploy

ed a

s pr

eclo

sing

s. T

hus,

th

ey m

ay b

e us

ed t

o pr

efig

ure

the

clos

ing

of a

par

ticu

lar

topi

c, th

eme,

or

dis-

co

urse

. By

so d

oing

, the

y in

vite

eit

her a

col

labo

rati

on in

the

clos

ing

of t

he

topi

c,

them

e, o

r dis

cour

se, o

r a c

olla

bora

tion

in a

void

ing

such

act

ion.

F

inal

ly,

I de

mon

stra

te th

at p

rove

rbs

may

act

as

clos

ings

. A s

peak

er m

ay

thu

s en

d hi

s or

her

turn

at s

peak

ing

by c

itin

g a

prov

erb.

f T

he t

erm

pre

sequ

ence

, ac

cord

ing

to L

evin

son,

is

"use

d w

ith

a sy

stem

atic

am

bigu

ity,

to re

fer b

oth

to a

cer

tain

kin

d of

tu

rn a

nd a

cer

tain

kin

d of

seq

uenc

e co

ntai

ning

that

type

of t

urn.

Mos

t pre

-seq

uenc

es,"

Lev

inso

n co

ntin

ues,

"are

buil

t to

pre

figu

re th

e sp

ecif

ic k

ind

of a

ctio

n th

at th

ey p

oten

tial

ly p

rece

den

(198

3:34

6).

1 T

eras

aki

(197

6),

Lab

ov a

nd F

ansh

el(1

977)

, Sc

hegl

off

(197

9), a

nd m

any

othe

r co

nver

sati

onal

ana

lyst

s, h

ave

all

disc

usse

d in

som

e de

tail

th

e di

stin

ctiv

e pr

o-

pert

ies

of s

uch

pres

eque

nces

as

prea

nnou

ncem

ents

, pre

-sel

f-id

entifi

cation

s, p

re-

invi

tati

ons,

pre

requ

ests

, etc

. Wit

h pr

ereq

uest

s, fo

r exa

mpl

e, L

evin

son

rem

arks

th

at "w

hat i

s ch

ecke

d in

the

pre-

requ

est i

s wha

t is m

ost l

ikel

y to

be

the

grou

nds

for r

efus

al; a

nd if

thos

e gr

ound

s are

pres

ent,

then

the

requ

est s

eque

nce

is a

bort

- ed

" (1

983:

358)

.

5.2.1.

Pre

dif

ficu

lt.

In A

kan,

any

utt

eran

ce t

hat

hin

ders

one

's i

mag

e fr

om

bein

g ap

prov

ed by

oth

ers o

r th

at p

lace

s an

impo

siti

on o

n ot

her d

isco

urse

par

tici

- pa

nts

may

be

desc

ribe

d as

"di

ffic

ult."

Utt

eran

ces

that

com

mun

icat

e di

ffic

ulty

m

ay th

us

incl

ude

thos

e ut

tere

d in

such

com

mun

icat

ive

cont

exts

as

cred

it s

olic

i-

ting

, ad

visi

ng, t

radi

ng in

sult

s, a

nd re

ques

ting

fav

ors.

The

age

s, a

s w

ell a

s th

e so

cioe

cono

mic

stat

uses

of t

he

inte

ract

ants

, may

als

o pl

ace

som

e di

ffic

ulty

on

an

inte

ract

ion.

It i

s, fo

r exa

mpl

e, n

ot p

rope

r for

a y

oung

er p

erso

n to

adv

ise

an

old

er

pers

on, e

ven

if th

e ol

der p

erso

n is

of a

low

er so

cioe

cono

mic

stat

us. I

f it

bec

omes

in

evit

able

for

a y

oung

er p

erso

n to

adv

ise

an

old

er p

erso

n, t

hen

th

e di

ffic

ulty

be

com

es e

nhan

ced.

Suc

h a

pers

on w

ill n

eed

to u

se m

ore

mit

igat

ors t

han

wou

ld

have

bee

n ne

cess

ary

had

the

dire

ctio

n of

adv

ice-

givi

ng b

een

from

th

e ol

der t

o th

e yo

unge

r per

son.

O

beng

(in

pre

ss)

disc

usse

s ho

w F

TAs

may

be

mit

igat

ed b

y in

dire

ctly

au-

th

ored

spe

ech

form

s, s

uch as p

rove

rbs,

rid

dles

, an

d ta

les,

as

wel

l as

by o

ther

st

rate

gies

, inc

ludi

ng th

e us

e of

apo

loge

tic e

xpre

ssio

ns, a

clm

owle

dgm

ents

of i

m-

posi

tion

, hed

ges,

and

hin

ts.

I ind

icat

e th

at th

e FT

A m

ay e

ithe

r be

pref

aced

or

follo

wed

by

the

mit

igat

or,

orm

ay b

e *w

oven

n int

o th

e m

itig

ator

. P

rove

rb s

peak

ers

thus

reco

gniz

e th

e m

itig

atin

g po

tent

ial

of p

rove

rbs

and

plac

e th

em i

n d

isco

urse

pos

itio

ns w

here

th

e ne

ed t

o so

ften

th

e "b

low

" of

an

up

com

ing

utte

ranc

e is

req

uire

d. T

he d

iscl

aim

er o

f pe

rfor

man

ce, w

hich

may

be

clai

med

by

a pr

over

b sp

eake

r, a

s wel

l as t

he

pote

ntia

l of t

he

prov

erb

to fu

ncti

on

as a

cul

tura

l tru

ism

, mak

e pr

over

bs t

he

stro

nges

t can

dida

tes

for m

itig

atio

n in

A

kan.

In

exc

erpt

1, W

o d

e~

w

onim

nya

nsa

enti

mer

enka

sa n

kye.

Wo

ara

wo

nim

se

wok

wa

baab

iara

ntw

oma

a, &

ere.

'A

s fo

r yo

u, y

ou're

wis

e so

I w

on't

mak

e a

leng

thy

spee

ch. Y

ou k

now

ver

y w

ell t

hat

whe

reve

r yo

u pa

int

wit

h re

d cl

ay, i

t w

ill b

e br

ight

' is

a pr

edi=

cult

utt

eran

ce.

Spec

ific

ally

, it s

erve

s as

a pr

eseq

uenc

e ut

tera

nce

pref

aced

to a

fac

e-th

reat

enin

g act

ion

(FT

A).

The

act

ion

pref

igur

ed b

y th

is u

tter

ance

is

"Lef

t to

me

alon

e, I

wou

ld h

ave

said

, 'S

tay

here

'" (i.

e.,

don'

t tr

avel

). YG w

ould

hav

e be

en c

onsi

dere

d ru

de, a

utho

rita

rian

, and

eve

n un

cari

ng

if h

e ha

d no

t use

d th

is p

rove

rb as

a re

dres

sive

utt

eran

ce to

mit

igat

e th

e di

ffic

ult

or f

ace-

thre

aten

ing

utte

ranc

e th

at fo

llow

s.

Thi

s pr

over

b fr

om e

xcer

pt 1

, in

one

way

or

the

othe

r, p

erfo

rms

an in

ter-

ac

tion

al fu

ncti

on si

mil

ar to

a H

aya

omw

izo

(Sei

tel1

977)

. Spe

cifi

cally

, it p

rece

des

an e

xpla

nati

on o

f th

e sp

eake

r's v

iew

of

the

soci

al s

itua

tion

in

que

stio

n-th

e ne

ed n

ot to

trav

el s

ince

har

d w

ork

done

any

whe

re b

ring

s su

cces

s-an

d is

use

d in

ope

ning

th

e co

nver

sati

on. A

s w

ith

omw

izos

per

form

ing

the

sam

e fu

ncti

on

Spec

ific

ally

, I s

how

ed h

ow th

e pr

over

b m

ay b

e is

sued

con

join

tly

wit

h re

dres

sive

pr

epro

verb

ial u

tter

ance

s, a

nd w

ith

or w

itho

ut a

pos

tpro

verb

ial

etio

logi

cal t

ale

(whi

ch f

urth

er s

ofte

ns t

he

locu

tion

of

the

follo

win

g FT

A).

Som

e pr

epro

verb

ial

utte

ranc

es id

enti

fied

in

my

tran

scri

pts

incl

ude

wha

t Yan

kah

(198

6:20

4) re

fers

to

as

"sou

rce

form

ula,

" "f

adiv

e fo

rmul

a,"

and

wha

t I c

all "

defe

rent

ial"

form

ula.

A

mon

g th

e so

urce

form

ulas

foun

d in

my

data

are

"The

eld

ers

say

. . . ,"

"It i

s th

e el

ders

who

sai

d . .

. ,"

and

"As

your

fat

her

alw

ays

says

. . .

." Th

ese

sour

ce

form

ulas

att

ribu

te t

he

prov

erb

to t

he

elde

rs,

the

ance

stor

s, a

n i

mpo

rtan

t pe

rson

age,

or

to a

per

son

resp

ecte

d by

bot

h th

e sp

eake

r an

d ad

dres

see.

The

sp

eake

r th

us

depe

rson

aliz

es th

e pr

over

b, s

how

s his

or h

er h

umil

ity,

and

mak

es

it a

ttri

buta

ble

to a

n a

ckno

wle

dged

and

resp

ecta

ble

ling

uist

ical

ly s

ophi

stic

ated

so

urce

(Yan

kah

1989

). T

his

prep

rove

rbia

l utt

eran

ce, t

hen,

exc

uses

the

spea

ker

from

resp

onsi

bili

ty fo

r th

e w

ords

(wit

hin

and

wit

hout

the

prov

erb)

, alt

houg

h h

e or

she

will

sti

ll b

e he

ld a

ccou

ntab

le fo

r th

e ap

prop

riat

enes

s of

th

e pr

over

b.

The

fac

tivi

ty f

orm

ulas

ide

ntif

ied

in m

y tr

ansc

ript

s in

clud

e "Y

ou k

now

th

at . .

. ," "

You

kno

w v

ery

wel

l th

at . .

. ," a

nd "

We

all k

now

that

. . . ."

Thes

e fa

ctiv

es p

resu

ppos

e th

e tr

uth

of

the

follo

win

g co

mpl

emen

t (K

ipar

sky

and

Kip

arsk

y 19

79).

As u

sed

in th

ese

form

ulas

, th

e fa

ctiv

es p

resu

ppos

e th

e tr

uth

of

the

prov

erb.

The

y he

lp r

emin

d th

e ad

dres

see

that

th

e pr

over

b it

self

and

th

e tr

uth

in i

t ar

e sh

ared

by

both

int

erac

tant

s. I

arg

ued

earl

ier

that

thi

s he

lps

mai

ntai

n eq

uali

ty o

f po

wer

and

pro

tect

s th

e sp

eake

r fr

om taking

abso

lute

re

spon

sibi

lity

for

the

FTA

that

follo

ws t

he

prov

erb.

I

also

dem

onst

rate

d ho

w a

pos

t-pr

over

bial

eti

olog

ical

tale

may

be

used

to

furt

her s

ofte

n th

e fo

rce

of a

FT

A. I

t was

arg

ued

that

such

tale

s ac

t as

a ca

taly

st

to h

elp

pu

t im

port

ant

mes

sage

s ac

ross

. Sp

ecif

ical

ly, I

poi

nted

out

th

at t

hey

crea

te a

con

duci

ve c

omm

unic

atio

nal e

nvir

onm

ent b

y ei

ther

low

erin

g or

tota

lly

elim

inat

ing

the

addr

esse

e's

anxi

etie

s.

With

rega

rd to

dis

cour

se st

ruct

ure,

I ar

gued

that

pro

verb

s ac

t as p

redi

ffic

ult

utte

ranc

es. Thus, in

a c

omm

unic

ativ

e con

text

such

as

advi

ce-g

ivin

g, th

e pr

over

b m

ay b

e em

ploy

ed to

pre

figu

re a

n u

pcom

ing

"dif

ficu

ltn u

tter

ance

. W

e al

so s

aw

how

an

inte

ract

ant u

ses

a pr

over

b to

act

as

a to

pica

l tra

nsit

ion.

In

eff

ect,

the

spea

ker e

mpl

oys a

pro

verb

to c

ompl

ete

a cu

rren

t top

ic o

r the

me

and

to b

egin

th

e ne

xt to

pic,

I ha

ve a

lso

show

n ho

w th

e pr

over

b m

ay fu

ncti

on s

truc

tura

lly

eith

er

as a

pre

clos

ing

or a

clo

sing

. Mor

eove

r, I

ind

icat

ed t

hat

a p

rove

rb m

ay b

e de

- pl

oyed

as

a pr

eclo

sing

to p

refi

gure

th

e cl

osin

g of

a p

arti

cula

r to

pic,

the

me,

or

disc

ours

e. B

y so

doi

ng, t

he

prov

erb

spea

ker i

nvit

es c

olla

bora

tion

in c

losi

ng o

r a

coll

abor

atio

n in

avo

idin

g cl

osin

g. F

urth

erm

ore,

I e

xpla

ined

that

a s

peak

er u

ses

a pr

over

b as

a c

losi

ng to

indi

cate

that

he

or s

he has c

ome

to th

e en

d of

his

or h

er

turn

, talk, o

r top

ic. T

his i

s not

mea

nt to

sug

gest

that

whe

neve

r a

spea

ker i

ssue

s a

prov

erb

he

or s

he h

as e

nded

his

or

her

turn

. W

hat

is s

ugge

sted

is

that

th

e pr

over

b is

one

of t

he

man

y co

mm

unic

ativ

e gen

res w

ith

whi

ch a

spe

aker

may

end

a

part

icul

ar s

ocia

l int

erac

tion

.'

If p

olit

enes

s is

cha

ract

eriz

ed in

term

s of

th

e us

e of

dis

clai

mer

s an

d fa

ctiv

e fo

rmul

as th

at d

o no

t im

pose

on

the

sens

ibil

itie

s of t

he

addr

esse

e bu

t mak

e hi

m

part

of t

he

"spe

akin

g pr

oces

s,"

then

AH

, th

e fe

mal

e sp

eake

r, is

mor

e po

lite

than

Y

G, t

he

mal

e sp

eake

r, s

ince

she

use

s m

ore

disc

laim

ers

and

fact

ives

. Mor

eove

r,

any

Aka

n w

ould

arg

ue th

at Y

G s

poke

wit

h "b

oldn

ess.

" He

did

not n

eed

to b

e ve

ry

poli

te b

efor

e hi

s ow

n so

n.

AH

als

o sh

ows

a te

nden

cy to

em

bark

on structural e

xpan

sion

and

ela

bora

- ti

on o

f pro

verb

s m

ore

than

YG

. In

fad

, in

one

inst

ance

, sh

e ex

plic

ated

th

e pr

o-

verb

met

apho

r w

ith

an e

tiol

ogic

al ta

le.

Mor

eove

r, A

H s

omet

imes

ren

ders

a

prov

erb

in a

n in

terr

ogat

ive

form

whe

reas

YG

doe

s not

. Suc

h us

es o

f th

e pr

over

b sh

ow h

ow c

omfo

rtab

le o

ne is

wit

h th

e ge

nre.

It a

lso

depi

cta

one'

s cr

eati

ve p

oten

- ti

al. A

noth

er d

iffe

renc

e in

pro

verb

usa

ge b

etw

een

YG

and

AH

is

that

AH

use

s pr

over

bs m

ore

freq

uent

ly th

an Y

G. T

here

are

seve

ral i

nsta

nces

, as

in e

xcer

pts 6

and

8, w

here

, wit

hin

a sh

ort p

erio

d of

tim

e, A

H u

ses

two

or m

ore

prov

erbs

. F

rom

the

sequ

enti

al p

oint

of v

iew

, it i

s on

ly Y

G w

ho u

ses

prov

erbs

in

clo

sing

. In

exc

erpt

s 2 a

nd 7

, th

e pr

over

bs B

s m

e na m

enni

, na a

nk

a m

e e?

'Isn

't it

onl

y w

hen

you'

re w

ithi

n yo

ur assailant's

punc

hing

rang

e th

at h

e ca

n pu

nch

you?

an

d

Enn

i adw

en dE

akyi

nhw

e B

rem

uu 'D

o no

t let

the

tqty

nat

ure

of m

udfi

sh fo

rce

you

to fi

sh in

the

Bir

im R

iver

' are

use

d to

clo

se th

e ad

vice

-giv

ing

on q

uarr

elin

g an

d on

alc

ohol

ism

, res

pect

ivel

y.

I I F

inal

ly,

obse

rvat

ion

of t

he

tran

scri

pts

indi

cate

s th

at t

here

was

onl

y on

e in

stan

ce, i

n e

xcer

pt 7

, whe

re a

face

-thr

eate

ning

act

was

issu

ed b

efor

e a

prov

erb

was

use

d; t

his

was

don

e by

YG

. In

tere

stin

gly,

thi

s ad

vice

see

ms

to h

ave

a 1

diff

eren

t to

ne o

r fo

rcef

ulne

ss. I

n pa

rtic

ular

, Y

G d

oes

not

cond

emn

drin

king

neit

her

does

he

tell

KO

not

to drink. H

e on

ly i

mpr

esse

s up

on K

O n

ot t

o ov

erin

dulg

e in

exc

essi

ve d

rink

ing.

A c

riti

cal o

bser

vati

on o

f th

e re

ndit

ion

of t

he

prov

erb

in th

is e

xcer

pt a

lso

yiel

ds a

wns

ider

ahle

insi

ght into

the

corr

elat

ion

betw

een

form

an

d fu

nctio

n in

pro

verb

spe

akin

g (c

f. S

eite

l198

1). T

he p

rove

rb i

n

ques

tion

is n

orm

ally

rend

ered

as

a de

clar

ativ

e se

nten

ce:

Woc

li ad

wen

& a

kyi a

, w

obeh

we

Bre

muu

'If

you'

re n

ot c

aref

ul, t

he

tast

y n

atur

e of

mud

fish

will

tem

pt

you

to d

am a

nd fi

sh in

the

Bir

im R

iver

.' In

dis

cour

se d

iscu

ssed

her

e, h

owev

er, i

t is

synt

acti

call

y su

bjec

ted

to n

egat

ive

and

impe

rati

ve tr

ansf

orm

atio

ns.

I w

ould

like

to re

emph

asiz

e th

e fa

ct th

at A

kan

prov

erbs

fun

ctio

n m

uch

the

sam

e w

ay a

s pr

over

bs i

n o

ther

sub

-Sah

aran

Afr

ican

cul

ture

s. A

s w

as p

oint

ed

out i

n th

e pr

evio

us se

ctio

n, H

aya

prov

erbs

als

o pe

rfor

m v

ario

us s

eque

ntia

l rol

es

in in

tera

ctio

ns s

imil

ar to

thos

e pr

efor

med

by

Aka

n pr

over

bs. L

ike

prov

erbs

in

Y

orub

a an

d th

ose

of o

ther

Afr

ican

peo

ples

, Aka

n pr

over

bs a

ct as

the

palm

oil

wit

h w

hich

the

Yor

uba

prep

are

soup

(Ach

ebe

1958

).

I will

con

clud

e by

quo

ting

two

Aka

n pr

over

bs, a

s exa

mpl

es (7

) an

d (8

).

(7) Se

wod

e ko

kum

beti

lw

ayie

a,

ys

de

soto

r3 na

egya

if

yo

u-w

ith

thu

mb

go

funeral

if th

ey-w

ith

slap

s IW

C

leav

e

wo

kwan

. yo

u ro

ad

'If y

ou g

o to

a fu

nera

l wit

h yo

ur th

umb

rais

ed, y

ou a

re b

id fa

rew

ell w

ith

slap

s' (i

.e.,

'if yo

u m

isbe

have

at a

fune

ral y

ou're

giv

en a

sou

nd b

eatin

g,"

impl

ying

that

if y

ou

mis

beha

ve in

an

inap

prop

riat

e pla

ce y

ou w

ill b

e st

ernl

y pu

nish

ed).

(8) Ano

bwbw

ma abaa

t3.

lips

so

ft-s

oft

lets

st

ick

fall

'A

polo

getic

lips

let a

n angry s

tick

fall

' (i.e

., po

lite

or a

polo

getic

spee

ch w

ill b

ail

one

out o

f de

bts)

.

In v

iew

of t

he v

ulne

rabi

lity

of fa

ce, i

nter

acta

nts t

ake

spec

ial S

eeps

to p

reve

nt

thei

r fac

es fr

om b

eing

mar

red.

An

inte

ract

ant's

pos

itiv

e or

neg

ativ

e fa

ce m

ay b

e th

reat

ened

by

vari

ous

face

-thr

eate

ning

acts

. Suc

h FT

As,

if

unm

itig

ated

, can

easil

y r

esul

t in s

ocia

l con

flic

t. W

ith a

ppro

pria

te m

itig

ator

s an

d re

dres

sive

ac-

ti

ons,

how

ever

, the

cri

ses c

an b

e re

solv

ed ta

ctfu

lly.

Not

es

Abb

revi

atio

ns. T

he fo

llow

ing

gram

mat

ical

abbr

evia

tion

s are

use

d: EMP = e

mph

atic

; mc =

focu

s; NM: =

neg

ativ

e; p

l. =

plu

ral;

Q =

que

stio

n m

arke

r.

1. C

lose

att

enti

on to

my

tran

scri

pts

also

reve

als s

ome

gend

er d

iffe

renc

es in

pro

verb

us

age

and,

alt

houg

h th

e sm

all a

mou

nt of

dat

a m

ay n

ot w

arra

nt a

ny s

igni

fica

nt g

ener

- al

izat

ions

, it

poin

ts to

the

fad

that

fut

ure

rese

arch

is

need

ed i

nto

the

rela

tion

ship

of

gend

er a

nd p

rove

rb u

sage

.

Ref

eren

ces

Ach

ebe,

Chi

nua

1958

T

hing

s Fal

l Apa

rt. L

ondo

n: H

eine

man

n.

Ape

nten

g-S

acke

y, E

dwar

d 19

90

The

Lan

guag

e of

Aka

n C

loth

ing

and

Tex

tiles

. M.A

. th

esis

, Uni

vers

ity

of

Gha

na, L

egon

. A

ppia

h, K

wam

e A

ntho

ny

1992

In

My

Fat

her's

Hou

se: A

fric

a in

the

Phi

loso

phy

of C

ultu

re. O

xfor

d: O

xfor

d U

nive

rsity

Pre

ss.

Are

wa,

Ojo

, and

Dun

des,

Ala

n 19

67

Pro

verb

s an

d th

e E

thno

grap

hy o

f S

peak

ing

Fol

klor

e. A

mer

ican

Ant

hro-

po

logi

st 6

6 (6

, pt.

2):7

0-85

. B

lum

-Kul

ka, S

hosh

ana

1987

In

dire

ctne

ss a

nd P

olit

enes

s in

Req

uest

s: S

ame

or D

iffe

rent

? Jo

urna

l of

P

ragm

atic

s 11

:131

-46.

B

lum

-Kul

ka, S

hosh

ana,

Juli

ane

Hou

se, a

nd G

abri

el K

aspe

r 19

89

Cro

ss-c

ultu

ral P

ragm

atic

s: R

eque

sts a

nd A

polo

gies

. Nor

woo

d, N

.J.:

Abl

ex.

Bri

ggs,

Cha

rles

L.

1995

L

earn

ing

How

to hk: A

Soc

iolin

guis

tic A

ppra

isal

of

the

Rol

e of

th

e In

terv

iew

in

Soc

ial S

cien

ce R

esea

rch.

Cam

brid

ge: C

ambr

idge

Uni

vers

ity

Pre

ss.

Bro

wn,

Pen

elop

e, a

nd S

teph

en C

. Lev

inso

n 19

87

Pol

iten

ess:

Som

e U

nive

rsal

s in

Lan

guag

e U

sage

. Cam

brid

ge: C

ambr

idge

Uni

vers

ity

Pre

ss.

Bur

ke, K

enne

th

1957

T

he P

hilo

soph

y of

Lit

erar

y F

orm

. Rev

ised

and

abr

idge

d ed

ition

. New

Yor

k:

Vin

tage

. D

e K

adt,

Eli

zabe

th

1992

R

eque

sts

as S

peec

h A

cts

in Z

ulu.

Sou

th African J

ourn

al o

f A

fric

an L

an-

guag

es 1

2:10

14.

Dur

anti,

Ale

ssan

dro,

and

Cha

rles

Goo

dwin

19

92

Ret

hink

ing

Con

text

: Lan

guag

e as

an

Inte

ract

ive P

heno

men

on. C

ambr

idge

: C

ambr

idge

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

. E

astm

an, C

arol

M.

1972

T

he P

rove

rb i

n M

odem

Wri

tten

Sw

ahili

Lit

erat

ure:

An

Aid

to

Pro

verb

E

lici

tati

on. In

Afr

ican

Fol

klor

e, e

dite

d by

Ric

hard

M.

Dor

son,

193

-210

. B

loom

ingt

on: I

ndia

na U

nive

rsity

Pre

ss.

Fas

old,

Ral

ph

1984

T

he S

ocio

lingu

istic

s of

Lan

guag

e. O

xfor

d: B

asil

Bla

ckw

ell.

Fin

nega

n, R

uth

1970

O

ral L

iter

atur

e in

Afr

ica.

Lon

don:

Oxf

ord

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

. G

offm

an, E

rvin

19

74

Fra

me

Ana

lysi

s: A

n E

ssay

on

the

Org

aniz

atio

n of

Exp

erie

nce.

New

Yor

k:

Har

per a

nd R

ow.

Gri

ce, H

. Pau

l 19

75

Log

ic a

nd C

onve

rsat

ion.

In

Spee

ch A

cts,

edi

ted

by P

eter

Col

e an

d Jerry

L.

Mor

gan,

41-

58.

Syn

tax

and

Sem

antic

s 3.

New

Yor

k: A

cade

mic

Pre

ss.

Her

zog,

Geo

rge

1936

Ja

bo P

rove

rbs f

rom

Lib

eria

. New

Yor

k: T

he P

eter

Pau

per P

ress

. H

ymes

, Del

l H,

1962

T

he E

thno

grap

hy o

f S

peak

ing.

In

Ant

hrop

olog

y an

d H

uman

Beh

avio

r,

edit

ed by

Tho

mas

Gla

dwin

and

Will

iam

C. S

turt

evan

t, 1

3-53

. W

ashi

ngto

n,

D.C

.: A

nthr

opol

ogic

al S

ocie

ty of

Was

hing

ton.

K

ipar

sky,

Pau

l, an

d C

arol

Kip

arsk

y 19

79

Fac

t. In S

ynta

ctic

Arg

umen

tatio

n, e

dite

d by

Don

na J

o N

apol

i an

d E

mily

N

orw

ood

Ran

do,

328-

68.

Was

hing

ton

D.C

.: G

eorg

etow

n Uni

vers

ity

Pre

ss.

Lab

ov, W

illia

m, a

nd D

avid

Fan

shel

19

77

The

rape

utic

Dis

cour

se. N

ew Y

ork:

Aca

dem

ic P

ress

. L

akof

f, R

obin

19

77

Wha

t You

Can

Do

wit

h W

ords

: Pol

iten

ess,

Pra

gmat

ics

and

Per

form

ativ

es.

In P

roce

edin

gs of

the

Tex

as C

onfe

renc

e on

Per

fom

ativ

es, P

resu

ppos

itio

ns

and

Impl

icat

ures

, edi

ted

by A

ndy

Rog

ers,

Bob

Wal

l, an

d Jo

hn M

urph

y,

79-1

06.

Arl

ingt

on, V

a.: C

ente

r for

App

lied

Lin

guis

tics.

L

eech

, Geo

ffre

y 19

83

Pri

ncip

les o

f P

ragm

atic

s. L

ondo

n: L

ongm

ans.

L

evin

son,

Ste

phen

19

83

Pra

gmat

ics.

Cam

brid

ge: C

ambr

idge

Uni

vers

ity

Pre

ss.

Lor

d, A

lber

t 19

60

The

Sin

ger o

f T

ales

. Cam

brid

ge: H

arva

rd U

nive

rsit

y P

ress

. M

alin

owsk

i, B

roni

slaw

19

24

The

Pro

blem

of M

eani

ng in

Pri

miti

ve L

angu

ages

. In

The

Mea

ning

of M

ean-

in

g, e

dite

d by

C. K

. Odg

en, a

nd I.

A.

Ric

hard

s, 2

96-3

36.

New

Yor

k: H

ar-

cour

t, B

race

and

Wor

ld.

Nke

tia,

Jose

ph H

anso

n K

wab

ena

1971

T

he L

ingu

istic

Asp

ect

of S

tyle

in

Afr

ican

Lan

guag

es. In L

ingu

isti

cs i

n

ANTHROPOLQGICAL L

ING

UIS

TIC

S 38

No.

3

Sub

-Sah

aran

Afr

ica,

edi

ted

by T

hom

as A

. Seb

eok,

733

-57.

C

urre

nt T

rend

s in

Lin

guis

tics

7. T

he H

ague

: Mou

ton.

O

beng

, Sam

uel G

yasi

19

94

Ver

bal

Indi

rect

ion

in A

kan

Info

rmal

Dis

cour

se.

Jour

nal

of P

ragm

atic

s 21

37-6

5.

in p

ress

C

omm

unic

atio

nal S

trat

egie

s: P

ersu

asio

n an

d P

olit

enes

s in

Aka

n Ju

dici

al

Dis

cour

se. T

ext 1

7(2)

[199

71.

Okp

ewho

, Isi

dore

19

92

Afr

ican

Ora

l Lit

erat

ure.

Blo

omin

gtdn

: Ind

iana

Uni

vers

ity

Pre

ss.

Ola

tunj

i, O

latu

nde

1984

F

eatu

res

of Y

orub

a O

ral P

oetr

y. 1

bada

n:U

nive

rsity

Pre

ss L

td.

Phh

h, C

saba

, and

Val

rhia

Csa

t6

1985

In

dire

ct D

irec

tives

in

Hun

gari

an:

An

Em

piri

cal

Stu

dy. A

da

Lin

guis

tica

A

cade

mia

e S

cien

tian

un H

unga

rica

e 35

:299

-312

. R

attr

ay, R

ober

t Sut

herl

and

1927

R

elig

ion

and Art

in A

shan

ti, O

xfor

d: C

lare

ndon

Pre

ss.

Sac

ks, H

arve

y, E

man

uel S

cheg

loff

, and

Gai

l Jef

fers

on

1974

A

Sim

ples

t Sys

tem

atic

s for

the

Org

aniz

atio

n of

Tur

n T

akin

g fo

r C

onve

r-

sati

on. L

angu

age

50:6

96-7

35.

Sche

glof

f, E

man

uel

1979

Id

enti

fica

tion

and

Rec

ogni

tion

in T

elep

hone

Con

vers

atio

n O

peni

ngs.

In

Eve

ryda

y L

angu

age:

Stu

dies

in

Eth

nom

etho

dolo

gy,

edit

ed b

y G

eorg

e P

sath

as, 2

3-78

. N

ew Y

ork:

Irvi

ngto

n.

1980

P

reli

min

arie

s to

Pre

lim

inar

ies:

Ta

n I

Ask

You

a Q

uest

ion?

" Soc

iolo

gica

l In

quir

y 50

: 104

-52.

S

chot

tman

, Wen

dy

1993

P

rove

rbia

l Dog

Nam

es o

f B

aato

mbu

: A

Str

ateg

ic A

lter

nati

ve t

o S

ilenc

e.

Lan

guag

e in

Soc

iety

22:

534.

54.

Sei

tel,

Pet

er

1977

S

ayin

g H

aya

Say

ings

: Two C

ateg

orie

s of

Pro

verb

Use

. In

The

Soc

ial U

se o

f M

etap

hor:

Ess

ays o

n th

e A

nthr

opol

ogy

of R

heto

ric,

edi

ted

by J. D

avid

Sap

ir

and

J. C

hris

toph

er C

rock

er, 7

5-99

. P

hila

delp

hia:

Uni

vers

ity

of P

enns

yl-

vani

a P

ress

. 19

81

Pro

verb

s: A

Soc

ial U

se of

Met

apho

r. In

The

Wis

dom

of

Man

y: E

ssay

s on

the

Pro

verb

, edi

ted

by W

olfg

ang

Mie

der a

nd A

lan

Dun

des,

122

-39.

New

Yor

k:

Gar

land

Pub

lishi

ng.

Sir

an, J

ean-

Lou

is

1993

R

heto

ric,

Tra

diti

on a

nd C

omm

unic

atio

n: T

he D

iale

ctic

s of

Mea

ning

in

P

rove

rb U

se. M

an 2

8:22

5-42

. S

penc

er, A

nne

1982

In

Pra

ise

of H

eroe

s: C

onte

mpo

rary

Afr

ican

Clo

th. N

ewar

k, N

.J.:

New

ark

Mus

eum

. T

eras

aki,

Ale

ne K

. 19

76

Pre

-ann

ouce

men

t S

eque

nces

in

Con

vers

atio

n. S

ocia

l S

cien

ces

Wor

king

P

aper

99.

Inr

ine:

Sch

ool o

f So

cial

Sci

ence

s, U

nive

sity

of C

alif

orni

a.

Vig

ner,

Ger

ard

1978

S

avoi

r-V

ivro

on h

co

. Par

is: H

acho

tte.

Yan

kah,

Kw

esi

1986

P

rove

rb S

peak

ing

as a

Cre

ativ

e P

roce

ss: T

he A

kan

of G

hana

. Pro

verb

ium

3:

195-

230.

19

89a

The

Pro

verb

in th

e C

onte

xt of

Aka

n R

heto

ric:

A T

heor

y of

Pro

verb

Pra

xis.

N

ew Y

ork:

Pet

er L

ang

Pre

ss.

I 19

8913

P

rove

rbs:

The

Aes

thet

ics

of T

radi

tion

al C

omm

unic

atio

n. R

esea

rch

in

Afr

ican

Lit

erat

ures

20(

3):3

25-4

6.

I 19

91

Ora

tory

in A

kan

Soc

iety

. Dis

cour

se a

nd S

ocie

ty 2

:47-

64.

1995

S

peak

ing

for t

he C

hief

: Oky

eam

e an

d th

e P

oliti

cs o

f A

kan

Roy

al O

rato

ry.

Blo

omin

gton

: Ind

iana

Uni

vers

ity P

ress

.