COHESION BETWEEN DEIXIS AND ILLOCUTIONARY FORCE IN SPEECHES OF NASARAWA STATE GOVERNOR

Abstract

This study examines cohesion in selected speeches of the governor of Nasarawa State. It explores the language of political speeches using some pragmatic approaches, namely, deixis, exophora and illocutionary acts to determine coherence  between the cohesive devices as exemplified by deictic and exophoric references, and illocutionary force (the intent) of the speaker. The study was carried out through the examination of the data as presented in different occasions. It explores the speaker’s use of person deixis specifically to reflect on the assumptions he shares with his listeners. This, again, was used to relate with his intent; i.e. illocutionary acts, to see how they cohere to bring out the shared assumptions, or understanding between the speaker and the listeners. From the findings, the results show that there is a significant relationship between the two pragmatic aspects as the deictic and exophoric references cohere remarkably with the illocutionary acts of the speaker such as ‘expressives’ and ‘commisives’. However, whether or not the cohesion or coherence truly reflects the assumptions between the speaker and the audience was not investigated.