A Linguistic Analysis of Idiomatic Expressions in Town Bemba: A Systematic Functional Linguistic

Eunice Mukonde Mulenga; Kelvin Mambwe

doi:10.18535/sshj.v8i07.1153

Abstract

Idioms, as linguistic expressions, convey meanings that go beyond the literal interpretation of words. They are deeply rooted in historical and cultural contexts and are widely utilized by language speakers to effectively communicate specific messages. These expressions have diverse origins, including historical events, folklore, mythology, and popular culture, and they form an integral part of daily communication among Bemba speakers. In recent times, urban speakers of Town Bemba have developed idioms that reflect modern life and are associated with multilingual practices and shared experiences. This study aims to examine the nature of Town Bemba idioms as spoken in the Copperbelt province in Zambia. The study is guided by aspects of the Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) model and the concept of recontextualization in analyzing the nature of idiomatic expressions used in Town Bemba. The study collected idioms from 20 purposively selected speakers of Town Bemba for oral interviews. The data were descriptively examined to unpack the conveyed meanings and the nature and form of the idioms in Town Bemba. The findings suggest several linguistic processes that give rise to idiomatic expressions, including linguistic coining, blending, and recontextualization of meaning. Additionally, the study demonstrates how multilingualism is used as a resource in forming non-traditional idiomatic expressions, incorporating linguistic features from different language sources. The study further shows how socio-cultural context and shared experiences of the speakers play a key role in determining the meaning associated with idioms.

Keywords

BlendingCoinageIdiomsIdiomatic ExpressionsSystemic Functional LinguisticsTown BembaMultilingualismRecontextualisation

References

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[refR-2] Alati, R. (2015). A Pragmatic Analysis of Olunyole Idioms PhD Thesis University of South Africa.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-3] Alexander, R. (1987). Problems in understanding and teaching idiomaticity in English. Anglistik and Eneglichunterricht, 32(2), 105-122.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-4] Bernstein, B. (1996). Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity: Theory, Research, Critique. Revised edition. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-5] Bowcher, W. L. (2017). Field, tenor, and mode. In T. Bartlett & G. O’Grady (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Systemic Functional Linguistics. Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-6] Calsamiglia, H. and van Dijk, T. A. (2004). Popularization Discourse and Knowledge about the Genome, Discourse and Society, 15(4), 369-89.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-7] Fairclough, N. (2003). Analysing Discourse: Textual Analysis for Social Research. London: Routledge.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-8] Halliday, M. A. K. (2013). Collected Works of M. A. K. Halliday, Volume 11: Halliday in the 21stCentury. Edited by J. J. Webster. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-9] Halliday, M.A.K. (2013). Halliday's Introduction to Functional Grammar (4th ed.). Routledge. Halliday, M. A. K. (1985). Part A. In M. A. K. Halliday & R. Hasan (Eds.), Language, context, and text: Aspects of language in a social-semiotic perspective (pp. 1-49). Geelong: Deakin University Press.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-10] Hasan, R. (1995). The conception of context in text. In P. Fries & M. Gregory (Eds.), Discoursein Society: Systemic Functional Perspectives (Meaning and choice in language: Studiesfor Michael Halliday) (pp. 183–283). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-11] Linell, P. (2009). Rethinking Language, Mind, and World Dialogically: Interactional and Contextual Theories of Human Sense-Making. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-12] Mafela, J. M. (2021). Exploring culture-related idioms in Tshivenda. In J. Szerszunowicz (ed.), Reproducibility of multiword expressions in paremiological and linguo-cultural studies (pp. 31-43). Bialystok, Poland: University of Bialystok Publishing House.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-13] Mambwe, K. (2014). Mobility, Identity, and Localisation of Language in Multilingual Context of Urban Lusaka. (Unpublished PhD Thesis). University of the Western Cape, Cape Town.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-14] Mambwe, K., & D.C. Fernando. (2016). Enhanced Masculinities: Names of Male Aphrodisiacs in Selected Southern African Countries, in The Postcolonial Colonial Condition of Names and Naming Practices in Southern Africa, O. Nyambi, T. Mangena & C. Phukwa, Eds. Newcastle: Cambridge Publishing, 352-370.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-15] Mambwe, K. & H. Jimaima. (2019). “Political Discourses in a Multiparty Democracy: The Case of Dandy Krazy’s Donchi Kubeba Song,” in Theoretical and Applied Aspects of African Languages and Cultures: Festschrift in Memory of Prof. Mildred Nkolola Wakumelo, F. Banda, Ed. Cape Town: Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society, 41-56.Google Scholar ↗

[refR-16] Mambwe, Kelvin, Mangi, A., & Naomi Njobvu. (2024). You are What You Look: A Socio (Linguistic) Analysis of Some Kaonde Nicknames Associated with Physical Appearance. Journal of Language and Linguistics in Society (JLLS) ISSN 2815-0961, 4(03), 26–36. https://doi.org/10.55529/jlls.43.26.36DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-17] Mukonde, E., Chikuta, P., & Musonda, B. (2023). A Socio-stylistic Analysis of Euphemistic Expressions and Symbolism in the Dirges of the People of Luapula Province. ZANGO: Zambian Journal of Contemporary Issues, 36(1), 30-44. Retrieved from https://engineering.unza.zm/index.php/ZJOCI/article/view/1039Google Scholar ↗

[refR-18] Myhill, D. (2018). Grammar as a meaning-making resource for language development. L1 Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 18(3), 1–21. DOI: 10.17239/L1ESLL 2018.18.04.04DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-19] Udosen, E. E., Offong, I. J., & Ekah, M. H. (2017). The Structure of Idioms in Ibibio. International Journal, 5(2), 185-96. DOI:10.15640/ijll.v5n2a19DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-20] Richardson, J. and Wodak, R. (2009). Recontextualizing fascist ideologies of the past: right-wing discourses on employment and nativism in Austria and the United Kingdom. Critical Discourse Studies, 6(4), 251-67Google Scholar ↗

[refR-21] Simachenya, M. & K. Mambwe. (2023). Language Practices in Multilingual Classes of Selected Primary Schools in Livingstone-Zambia. Daengku: Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences Innovation. Vol.3 No.4. https://doi.org/10.35877/454RI.daengku1899DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗

[refR-22] Spitulnik, D. (1998). The Language of the City: Town Bemba as Urban Hybridity. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology, 8(1), 30–59. DOI: 10.1525/jlin.1998.8.1.30DOI ↗Google Scholar ↗