The Metalanguage of Corruption in Cameroon-Part I: The Registers of General Administration, Transport and Education

Safotso, Gilbert Tagne

doi:10.5539/ijel.v5n2p47

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Bangura (2007) uses metaphorical language to discuss corruption in Sierra Leone, while Desta (2016) studies euphemisms for corruption in Ethiopia. Safotso (2015) and Meutem Kamtchueng (2015, 2017) researched the language of corruption in Cameroon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Euphemisms of Corruption among Students of Higher Institutions in South West Nigeria

Ojo

Ayandele

Egbeleye

2020

JLE

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Corruption is a pervasive practice in Nigeria that is commonly associated with government officials who divert public funds for private use, while minimal attention is paid to acts of corruption in the educational sector. This study, which is part of research on how language is used to drive and conceal corruption in Nigeria, aims at revealing some corrupt practices in Nigerian higher institutions that are concealed because of the euphemistic language used by students to describe and help perpetuate corrupt practices in their relationships with academic and non-academic staff of different institutions. Four institutions of higher education in south-west Nigeria were purposively selected and focus group discussions were conducted with 54 conveniently selected students of these institutions to collect qualitative data on the explanation of linguistic codes derived from the first phase of this study. The findings revealed extensive usage of ‘runs’ as a superordinate code for diverse acts of corruption including: sex for marks, cash for marks, sex/cash for grade alterations, examination malpractice, and the use of fake documents. Parents and guardians need to listen closely to the language of students in higher education for early detection of assimilation and acceptance of corrupt practices as a way of life.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Euphemisms of Corruption among Students of Higher Institutions in South West Nigeria

Ojo

Ayandele

Egbeleye

2020

JLE

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“…Many researchers in Cameroon (Meutem Kamtchueng, 2015;Safotso, 2015) and Nigeria (Bassey Ekpenyong & Bassey, 2014;Adeyemi Adegoju & Saheed Ake Raheem, 2015) have been interested in the language of corruption. Both in the Nigerian and Cameroonian contexts, this language has developed its own vocabulary and lexico-semantic features such as gradable synonyms, collocates, metaphors, idioms, clichés and coinages (Bassey Ekpenyong & Bassey, 2014), semantic shifts, borrowing, affixation, idiomatic formation, and stereotyped sentences (Meutem Kamtchueng, 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the Nigerian context, it makes use of pragmatic strategies such as blatant requests, cunning/subtle elicitations, proverbial/ metaphoric cues and technical/bureaucratic nonceformations (Adeyemi Adegoju & Saheed Ake Raheem, 2015). In Cameroon, this language has got a register (Safotso, 2015) and draws its lexes from background languages (Meutem Kamtchueng, 2015;Safotso, 2015).The following types of metaphors for bribe can be identified in Cameroon: anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, vegetative, abstraction and object metaphors (Meutem Kamtchueng, 2016). Also, social, traditional and cultural practices in Cameroon can account for the choice of the values used in the metaphors of bribery and corruption in this country.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Give an Envelope for the Boss/Give a Brown Envelope for the Boss- On the Semantics and Characteristics of the Metaphors for Bribe Across Cultures: Focus on Cameroon and Nigeria

Kamtchueng

2017

JLE

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This paper sets out to study in a comparative perspective the semantics and the characteristics of the metaphors for bribe used by Cameroonians and Nigerians and discuss the factors which can account for the choice of these metaphors. The data for the study were collected from participant observation, novels, interviews, scientific papers and online sources and the work is discussed from the vantage point of functional grammar and cognitive linguistics. The findings of the study reveal that in order to lessen the appalling nature of the act of asking for bribes, avoid sounding ridiculous and render incomprehensible the message of asking for bribe from people who are not familiar with it, these language users utilize various types of metaphors (object metaphors, anthropomorphic metaphors, vegetative metaphors as well as zoomorphic metaphors). These metaphors display some similarities (which can be accounted for by the geographical proximity between the two countries) and differences: both utilize almost the same types of metaphors and to a lesser extent the same lexical items to refer to bribe but in different proportions (object metaphors, anthropomorphic metaphors, vegetative metaphors as well as zoomorphic metaphors). Furthermore, it is found that the values conveyed by these metaphors fall under the domains of foodstuff and drinks, fauna, human beings and body parts, mailing and transportation as well as abstract realities. Also, some of these metaphors can be characterized as being meliorative, pejorative, vindictive and kinesthetic. Moreover, it is found that cultural, social and economic factors can provide insights to the understanding of the choice of the values used to refer to bribe by these language users. In addition, the values used to represent bribes in these countries are a depiction of their multilingual complex nature.

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Neologisms and Cameroonisms in Cameroon English and Cameroon Francophone English

Safotso

2020

TPLS

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Language learning/use is a very delicate task. When a learner/user of a given language is confronted with a difficulty, he/she is forced to create to communicate. This can be observed in most New Englishes. Those varieties of English abound in neologisms and local languages items. From an interlanguage frame, this study looks at some neologisms and Cameroonisms in Cameroon English (CamE) / Cameroon Francophone English (CamFE). The data come from debates on national radio stations and TV channels, conversations among students and university lecturers on university campuses across Cameroon, casual encounters such as public gatherings or during journeys, and from students’ essays. The findings show that, in CamE, most neologisms come from Pidgin English or French while Cameroonisms come from local languages, the inflection of some English words and skilful combination of some English structures. In CamFE, most neologisms come from French and Cameroonisms from home languages and code mixing.

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The Metalanguage of Corruption in Cameroon-Part I: The Registers of General Administration, Transport and Education

Cited by 3 publications

References 5 publications

Euphemisms of Corruption among Students of Higher Institutions in South West Nigeria

Euphemisms of Corruption among Students of Higher Institutions in South West Nigeria

Give an Envelope for the Boss/Give a Brown Envelope for the Boss- On the Semantics and Characteristics of the Metaphors for Bribe Across Cultures: Focus on Cameroon and Nigeria

Neologisms and Cameroonisms in Cameroon English and Cameroon Francophone English

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