Language and Moral Discourse in Selected Igbo Gospel Songs by Bro Okwey
Article Sidebar
Page Numbers:
595-623
Digital Object Identifier:
10.58578/ijecs.v4i3.11969
Viewed: 1 times
Downloaded: 0 times
LYAS Publisher cordially invites qualified professionals to serve as Editors or Reviewers. Your expertise will make an important contribution to maintaining and strengthening the academic quality of our publications. Interested applicants are kindly requested to complete the application form at the following link: Editors & Reviewers
Please feel free to contact us if you need any further information about the submission process or if you have any additional questions.
Authors:Chukwuma Livinus Ndububa1*, Bibian Ugoala2
Copyright :Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication.
Main Article Content
Abstract
Language not only facilitates human behavior but also shapes moral life and the social values through which communities understand and regulate conduct. Given the importance of language in moral communication, this study analyzes the linguistic and stylistic features of selected Igbo gospel songs by Bro Okwey and examines how the Igbo language constructs moral discourse and persuades listeners. Guided by Martin and White’s (2005) Appraisal Theory, the study employed a qualitative descriptive method to analyze 62 excerpts from 97 purposively sampled extracts drawn from 28 songs. The findings reveal that Bro Okwey constructs moral evaluations and persuades listeners through modality, direct address, rhetorical questions, metaphor, personification, simile, proverbs, antithesis, irony, hyperbole, allusion, parallelism, paradox, and satire. These features activate the three principal systems of Appraisal Theory—Attitude, Engagement, and Graduation—to present, reinforce, and direct moral positions toward listeners. The study demonstrates that Igbo provides substantial linguistic and stylistic resources for creative moral evaluation, audience engagement, and persuasion. It contributes to scholarship on African language and discourse by showing how Igbo gospel songs function as sites of moral communication and may support Igbo language learning and development. The findings underscore the need for greater scholarly attention to indigenous languages as media of moral discourse, while future research could compare Igbo gospel songs with songs in other languages to determine how different linguistic resources facilitate the construction of moral meaning.
Citation Metrics:
Downloads
Citation Metrics & Similar Scopus Articles
-
Davoodi A. (2027)A Reflection on The Moral Virtues And Vices Described in Nahj al-Balāghah in The Light of Image SchemasLanguage Related Research, 17(4), 103-137
-
Najafi E. (2027)Analyzing the process of dynamic and tense discourse systems in the poem "katibeh" of Akhavan salesLanguage Related Research, 17(4), 263-291
-
Meykadeh S. (2027)The effect of gender on L1-L2 syntactic processing in Turkish-Persian balanced Bilinguals using fMRILanguage Related Research, 17(4), 167-202
Article Details
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
References
Aström, T. (2006). Moral positioning: A formal theory. Grounded Theory Review, 6(1), 29–60. https://groundedtheoryreview.org/index.php/gtr/article/view/347
Bernardo-Hinesley, S. (2026). Language use and language attitudes: The case of Cavite Chavacano. International Journal of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education, 6, 75–94. https://doi.org/10.14434/ijlcle.v6i.38455
DiCenso, J. J. (2026). Kant and the interpretation of religious scriptures. Journal of the History of Philosophy, 64(3), 437–461. https://doi.org/10.1353/hph.2026.a994288
Groß, C., & Christiner, M. (2026). Sounds of creativity: Musical, creative, and language factors associated with singing and creative singing. Psychological Research, 90(4), Article 128. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-026-02346-x
Jones, R. H. (2024). Discourse analysis: A resource book for students (3rd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003377405
Ma, K. (2025). The influence of music teachers’ evaluative language on students’ learning motivation. Studies in Social Science Research, 6(4), 59–65. https://doi.org/10.22158/sssr.v6n4p59
Mahonge, F. R., & Kisarwa, M. (2026). A literary analysis of therapeutic discourses in selected East African gospel songs: Insights from corpus linguistics and psychological perspectives. East African Journal of Traditions, Culture and Religion, 9(1), 456–468. https://doi.org/10.37284/eajtcr.9.1.5489
Martin, J. R., & White, P. R. R. (2005). The language of evaluation: Appraisal in English. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230511910
McGrath, S. (2011). Normative ethics, conversion, and pictures as tools of moral persuasion. In M. Timmons (Ed.), Oxford studies in normative ethics (Vol. 1, pp. 268–294). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693269.003.0011
Ndububa, C. L. (2026a). English influence on the structure of Igbo personal names. EDUMALSYS Journal of Research in Education Management, 4(3), 166–182. https://doi.org/10.58578/edumalsys.v4i3.11635
Ndububa, C. L. (2026b). English usage and implicit audience alignment in digitally mediated sermons: The case of Odumeje. Wah Academia Journal of Global Religions, 2(2), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.63954/2f4xwd03
Ogunlade, O. (2026). A sociolinguistic study of language use and identity in some selected gospel music in Nigeria. International Journal of Language and Literary Studies, 8(2), 28–59. https://doi.org/10.36892/ijlls.v8i2.2500
Okigbo, A. C. (2024). Music of Igbo. In T. Spear (Ed.), Oxford research encyclopedia of African history. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1367
Onuoha, E., & Obobolo, V. (2026). Discursive strategies in the religious discourse of selected native doctors from Anambra State, Nigeria. Journal of English Studies, 2(1), 145–159. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21740573
Peña-Cervel, M. S., & Ruiz de Mendoza Ibáñez, F. J. (2022). Figuring out figuration: A cognitive linguistic account. John Benjamins Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1075/ftl.14
Pruitt, R. A. (2012). Contemplating the inculturation of the Christian gospel among the Igbo of Southeastern Nigeria. Missiology: An International Review, 40(4), 425–442. https://doi.org/10.1177/009182961204000404
Rubtsova, S. Y. (2026). Biblical allusions in headlines of modern English-language media discourse: Cognitive decoding mechanisms. Philology: Theory & Practice, 19(7), 2684–2692. https://doi.org/10.30853/phil20260339
Smolentseva, A. (2026). A sociological conceptualisation of morality. Acta Sociologica. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00016993261435512
Thormann, T.-F., & Michelini, M. (2026). An evolutionary model of morality as externalization. Synthese, 208(2), Article 60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-026-05708-5
Ugoala, B. (2020). Face mitigation strategies in former Nigeria president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s memoir My transition hours. International Journal of Humanitatis Theoreticus, 3(2), 92–108.
Ugoala, B. (2022). Power in words: An analysis of the flaming devices in President Vladimir Putin’s speech before the February 2022 attack on Ukraine. KIU Journal of Humanities, 7(2), 171–179.
Uzoma, I. A., Nnanyelugo, E. C., Onwuegbuna, I. E., & Nwafor, G. U. (2025). The communicative power of Igbo lyrics: Cultural identity and poverty awareness in Nsukka. Nsukka Journal of the Humanities, 33(4), 211–228. https://doi.org/10.62250/nsuk.2025.33.4.211-228
Yu, L., & Sultan, M. T. (2026). Generational difference in internet use and moral evaluation: The mediating role of moral anomie. SAGE Open, 16(3), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440261431377
Yule, G. (2023). The study of language (8th ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009233446