ABSTRACT
Generally, christain handbills and posters are meant to invite people for programs in churches. Different handbills and posters have different meanings. It has been observed that there are other hidden meanings to these sentences, to this effect, the researcher hopes to highlight the meanings pragmatically. Data have been collected from churches and placement centers in Ilorin, the data will be analyzed using some pragmatics elements such as presupposition, implicature, context, etc. through which we will be able to deduce adherent meanings in christain handbills and posters. The study showed that many writers just design handbills without knowing the implied meaning of what they have written, by doing this, many readers have been led astray and made to believe things that were unintended. As a result of this work, we have been made to see that handbills and posters should not just be written without total consideration of what the readers might imply and assume.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract vi
Table of content vii
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Purpose of study 2
1.2 Scope of study 2
1.3 Methodology 2
1.4 Justification 3
1.5 Christain handbills and posters 3
1.6 Summary 4
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 Introduction 5
2.1 Pragmatics 5
2.2 Theories of pragmatics 7
2.3 Elements of pragmatics 13
2.4 Handbills and posters 22
2.5 Summary 22
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 Introduction 24
3.1 Data analysis 24
3.2 Summary 43
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 Introduction 44
4.1 Summary 44
4.2 Findings 45
4.3 Conclusions 46
Bibliography 47
INTRODUCTION
Language is a sort of code system, a carrier of information which is capable of transmitting only intended meaning whatsoever. It also reveals man’s socio-cultural beliefs and thoughts. The importance of language is for easy communication, expression and enlightenment. The traditional linguists believe that language has an intended meaning and that the recipient has only to understand that meaning by interpreting it to make communication work. In that case, the above information given about language means that we can deduce different meaning from the same language used in different contexts.
Sanusi (1996 p 8) states that “if you have not developed language, you simply don’t have access to most of human experiences, and if you don’t have access to experience, then you are not going to be able to think. That is, language is very important and cannot be removed from a community or else, the community is officially dead.
The reason for success in a community is being able to communicate intelligibly because it is difficult to function without language.
Through language, several acts are performed and there are possibilities that the writer of a handbill can cajole people to come to his church by putting up an upcoming event. This is where pragmatics comes in, the writer of a handbill has used some pragmatic elements in the construction of those handbills and this is what the researcher has decided to show to all.
Pragmatics is an important aspect in the use of handbills and posters because it is necessary to decode the messages embedded in the handbills. The linguistic encyclopedia (1990) defines pragmatics as “the study of rule and principle which govern language in use”. That is, pragmatics is the study of language use.
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