THESIS STATEMENT

The study examines the relationship between language choices and semantic
nuances in Joe Ushie`s Yawns and Belches

Tentative Outline

Chapter One

(INTRODUCTION)

1.1Background to the Study

1.2Statement of the Problem
1.3Objectives of the Study
1.4Research Questions
1.5Scope of the Study
1.6Significance of the Study
1.7Definition of Terms
1.8Bio-data of the Author

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Chapter three

Research methodology and theoretical framework

3.1.1 Research design

3.1.2 Source of Data

3.1.3 Method of data collection

3.1.4 Method of Data Analysis

3.2 Theoretical Framework

Chapter four

Data/ Text Analysis

4.1 Figures of speech

4.2 Semantic relations

4.3 Repetition

4.4 Proverbs

4.5 Diction

Chapter Five

Summary and Conclusion

5.1 Summary

5.2 Findings

5.3 Conclusion

5.4 Recommendation

Chapter one Introduction

1.1 Background to the Study

Lexico-semantic features in stylistic analysis combines two formally distinct

levels of style markers – lexical and semantic features. This level of stylistic
analysis according to Khan and Jableen (2015) is the study of the way in which
individual words and idiom tends to pattern in different linguistic context on the
meaning level.

According to Lyon (1977), “lexical semantics are usually concerned with the
meaning of words, how they are depicted in the mind of the speaker and the
way in which they are employed in the text and discourse” That is to say the
meaning of a word (lexico-semantics) can be viewed in either denotation which
is the literal meaning or connotation which is implied or figurative meaning.
Obun (2021) expresses that Joe Ushie`s poetry “deploys the use of coinage and
semantic extension and invention of certain linguistic items in order to attract
the readers interest and bring their minds to issues that are contemporary in
their society”

The study focuses on the above mentioned linguistic elements as drawn from
Ushie`s Poetry titled Yawns and Belches

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Yawns and Belches is Joe Ushie`s most recent collection, and has few literary
criticism from researchers and scholars. Obun (2021), in her research work
“Stylistics Analysis of selected Poems in Joe Ushie`s Yawns and Belches”
critically analyzed the poems in Yawns and Belches. However, her work seems
to be the only research that has an in-depth analysis of the poems. Without
enough scholarly discourse, readers and researchers are deprived of valuable
insights to the poems

This study aims to investigate the lexico-semantic aspect present in Joe Ushies`s
Yawns and Belches, focusing on the linguistic nuances, lexical choices,
semantic patterns and linguistic strategies.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study are;

i. to explore patterns of lexico semantic devices and their meaning in

context as found in the poem from Yawns and Belches.
ii. to identify how diction and textual devices are deployed in poems of
Yawns and Belches.
iii. to explore the cultural and socio- linguistic context in which the text is
situated

1.4 Research Question

In the course of the research, the following questions serve as a guide;

i. what are the patterns of lexico semantics in the poems of Ushies

Yawns and Belches?
 ii. How does the writer deploy diction and textual devices to
communicate meaning in Yawns and Belches?
iii. What are the cultural and socio linguistic elements in the text?

1.5 Scope of the study

The scope of the study is limited to the linguistic stylistic analysis of Joe
Ushies Yawns and Belches, the poem is a collection of fifteen poems. The areas
of lexico semantic to be considered are; diction, figures of speech, semantic
relation and textual devices.

Significance of the study

This study will help to be benefit to those who have interest in knowing how
lexical implication can be a major factor in arriving at meaning. The research
will serve as a guide and resource material to other researchers. Most
importantly, this work will contribute to the criticism of African Poetry in
general and Ushie`s poetry in particular.

Bio-data of the Author

Joseph Akawu Ushie is a professor of General Stylistics and Literary Criticism

and the current Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Uyo, Uyo, Akwa Ibom
State. He was born on January 20, 1958 at Akorshi, Bendi, the hilly Obaniliku
Local Government Area (which houses Nigeria's foremost tourist attraction, the
Obudu Cattle Ranch) of Cross River State, and he attended St. Peter's Primary
School, Obudu, and the University of Calabar, Calabar, where he studied
English and Literary studies. Ushie's poem 'Africa Today' was the only African
poem that won entry into the 2015 Montreal Canada Global Poetry
Competition. He currently lectures at the Department of English, University of
Uyo in Akwa Ibom State. Ushie is remarkable for his critical undertones on the
sociopolitical condition of Nigeria and Africa. His background exerts influence
on his works, which are experimental in terms of linguistic exploration of
discourse-pragmatic features, which, themselves, draw from his immediate
society. Besides demonstrating a good mastery of the use of the English
language, and distinguishing himself in both literary and linguistic circles,
Ushie is one Nigerian academic and poet who has been involved in
championing the course of the ordinary man. Nigeria's Cross River State
honoured him for his exceptional contributions to the growth and survival of
African literature and culture in the millennium celebration of 2000

Chapter 2

This Chapter reviews critical essays on the concept of lexico semantics and
critical essays on Ushie’s poetry.