Volume 5 · Issue 1 — 2023

This research examined African gender issues in Buchi Emecheta’s Second Class Citizen and Nawal El Sadawi’s Woman at Point Zero which are texts based on the African context. It investigated the issues that negatively affected the major female characters in the texts that were caused as a result of patriarchy which resulted in psychological and emotional trauma that inhibited the emancipation and liberation of women. Apart from investigating and analysing the gender issues in the selected texts, this study also investigated the linguistic and cultural implications that contributed to the oppression of women by analysing some specific aspects of styles explored by the authors to project these gender issues. This study employs a descriptive qualitative method in carrying out a thematic analysis through the lens of the feministtheoretical framework and examining some stylistic features to explore the language used by the authors. It was discovered that religious hypocrisy, inequality in female education, patriarchal entrapments, female-to-female subjugation, female genital mutilations, marriage, and political limitations are some of the pertinent issues that marginalised and oppressed the women in the selected texts. It was also discovered that the authors revealed that violations of the rights of women were propelled through the use of violence to silence the women and their use of language revealed the feminist ideology of the texts as a revolutionary force that resist and bring awareness to the patriarchal structure that debase the female gender. The findings of this study revealed the gender issues as contemporary and recommended that all the major actors in the oppression of women in Africa; the woman herself, the men, the government and international advocacy groups should identify their roles and work assiduously to end gender inequality if not reduced to the barest minimum.

This study aims to investigate the morphological and phonologicalchanges that have occurred in the English language over time, specifically focusing on the transition from Old English to ModernEnglish. The research draws upon a wide range of sources, includingOld English texts, dictionaries, Modern English texts, and linguisticstudies, to conduct a comprehensive analysis. By employing Labov's(1981) theory of language change and variation, the studyinvestigates the evolution of Old English morphological structuresand its impact on Modern English. A selection of 20 Old Englishwords and their Modern English counterparts serves as the basis forexamining the morphological patterns of change and variation in OldEnglish vocabulary. The study employs descriptive and comparativeapproaches, analysing representative linguistic samples from bothOld English and Modern English texts. The findings reveal that themorphological changes in Old and Modern English reflect a trendtowards simplification, regularisation, and the loss of complexinflectional systems, while providing insights into the impact of thesechanges on language comprehension, communication, and languageacquisition

Since one of the factors that contribute to the success of a film is the ability of the actors and actresses to have a thorough interpretation of the script/story to appear as real as possible, this study aims to describe the aspects of nonverbal communication in the film –The Meeting (2012) by Mildred Okwo and Rita Dominic. This paper analyses the aspects of nonverbal communication in conveying intercultural meaning. It argues that aside the transfer of cultural meanings, nonverbal communication aspects perform specific functions which strengthen and lend greater significance to conveying meaning to other characters. In addition to this, nonverbal communication cues abound in the Nigerian film industry productions, informally called Nollywood. The aim of a film has continued to be how to creatively bring the script/story to life through different communication channels that would elicit viewers’ emotions. The major aspects of nonverbal communication in the film are physical appearance, kinesics, vocal behaviour and cultural sign. The data for this study are some purposively selected sampled scenes in the minister of Lands office which was also a major setting in the film. The scenes were studied and analyzed. The results imply that nonverbal communication in the movie functions as a powerful tool to add depth and authenticity to the story, enabling viewers to relate to the characters more deeply. It should be noted that aspects of nonverbal communication can create an air of confusion when the receiver of a message fails to understand it as seen in some scenes in The Meeting