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A Pragmatic Analysis of a Selected Exhibit in the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Judgement of Emmanuel Olabode versus State

Authors: KALEJAIYE Abiola

Publication Type: Journal article

Journal: Beyond Babel

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Abstract

This study examines the implicit meanings in an accused person’s exhibit of the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Judgment on Olabode Emmanuel versus State. The selected exhibit was subjected to pragmatic analysis in order to investigate what accused persons do with language in the courtroom. The study adopted pragmatic framework and it examined the various types of indexical terms in the exhibit and their pragmatic imports. It analysed the assertive acts as well as the declarative acts in the exhibit and accounts for their pragmatic presuppositions. The study recorded that the accused person’s exhibit is full of implicit meanings: The indexical terms in the text were not just employed for plain pointing at explicit linguistic meanings but were used by the accused person in directing and controlling the minds of legal experts as to how he wants them to view the crime incident; the role played and why. Also, the assertive and declaratory acts have implicit meanings beyond the literal meanings they express. Implicitly, the accused person used language not only to say or report, rather he exploited language in performing speech actions such as defending self, indicting the victim, pleading and giving justification for his malicious actions in the reported crime. Ultimately, the accused person implied request for a reversed judgement. Furthermore, the findings of this study revealed that there is an asymmetric use of language between the accused person and crime victim. The defendant played a +HIGHER role while the victim played a –HIGHER role. Hence, legal experts are not the only class of people in the courtroom who use language to control but also accused persons.

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KALEJAIYE,A. . (2014). A Pragmatic Analysis of a Selected Exhibit in the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Judgement of Emmanuel Olabode versus State, 2 (), 48-48.

KALEJAIYE,A. . "A Pragmatic Analysis of a Selected Exhibit in the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Judgement of Emmanuel Olabode versus State" 2, no (), (2014): 48-48.

KALEJAIYE,A. and . (2014). A Pragmatic Analysis of a Selected Exhibit in the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Judgement of Emmanuel Olabode versus State, 2 (), pp48-48.

KALEJAIYEA, . A Pragmatic Analysis of a Selected Exhibit in the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Judgement of Emmanuel Olabode versus State. 2014, 2 ():48-48.

KALEJAIYE,Abiola , . "A Pragmatic Analysis of a Selected Exhibit in the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Judgement of Emmanuel Olabode versus State", 2 . (2014) : 48-48.

K.Abiola , "A Pragmatic Analysis of a Selected Exhibit in the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s Judgement of Emmanuel Olabode versus State" vol.2, no., pp. 48-48, 2014.

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