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Documenting the Significance of the Ibibio Traditional Marriage Gift Items: A Communicative Approach

Received: 24 March 2014     Accepted: 25 April 2014     Published: 30 April 2014
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Abstract

Marriage is one of the culture universals being that it is contracted in every society of the world, but its mode of contract varies from one society to the other. This paper unravels the significance and reasons for the traditional marriage gifts in Ibibio traditional marriage. Gifts in general, have meanings attached when given or received but most importantly, they communicate the culture of the people and other forms of emotions. Through this work, the different items given and the significance of the gifts in Ibibio traditional marriage/ culture are shown. The theoretical framework is the semiotic approach which has to do with the science of sign system or signification which is amenable to this paper. This work was a purely qualitative research, where participant observation and unstructured interviews were employed. The scope of the study is the Ibibio ethnic group of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 2, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.17
Page(s) 181-189
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2014. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Documenting, Traditional Marriage, Gift Items, Communicative, Semiotics

References
[1] Adler, R., Proctor II, R. and Towne, N. (2005) Looking out looking in. USA: Thomson Wadsworth.
[2] Charles, J. (2010) Ethnography of African Societies: Sub-Saharan Region. Calabar: Serenity Publishers.
[3] Eco, U. (1979) A Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
[4] Essien, O. (1990) A Grammar of the Ibibio Language, Ibadan: University Press Ltd.
[5] Halliday, M (1993) Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning, Great Britain: Edward Arnold.
[6] Martin, B. and Ringham, F. (2006) Key Terms in Semiotics. Great Britain: MPG Books Ltd.
[7] Mc Quail, D. (2010) Mass Communication Theory. Los Angeles, SAGE Publications Ltd.
[8] Nanda, S and Warms, R. (2009) Culture Counts: A concise Introduction to cultural anthropology. USA: Wadsworth.
[9] Okon, B., Ekpe., E., Ansa., S., and Udoinyang M. (2009) “A documentation of Ibibio Oramedia” In Adika, G., Fabunmi, F. and Salawu, A. (Eds) Current Prespectives in Phono-Syntax and Dialectology. Accra: Black Mask Ltd. Pp 309-324.
[10] Semiotic Theories–Oregon State University Oregonstate.edu/semiotics.htm Retrieved on June 11 2013.
[11] Semiotic Theories www.utwente.nl/ew/thorie_enoverzic Retrieved on June 11, 2013.
[12] Thompson, W. and Hickey J. (2008). Society in focus: An introduction to sociology. USA: Pearson Education, Inc.
[13] Udoh, I. and Okon, B. (2008). The Language of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. Lagos: Concept Publications Ltd.
[14] Ukpong, E. (2007) An Enquiry into culture, Ibibio Names. Uyo: Dorand Publishers.
[15] Wikipedia the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/marriage. Retreived in September 20 2012.
[16] Isiguzo, A. (No Date) “African Culture and Symbolism: A Rediscovery of the seam of a fragmented identity.
[17] www.crpv.org/seminar/05-sem Retrieved on January 13 2014.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Bassey Andian Okon, Edemekong Lawson Ekpe, Stella Asibong Ansa. (2014). Documenting the Significance of the Ibibio Traditional Marriage Gift Items: A Communicative Approach. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 2(3), 181-189. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.17

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    ACS Style

    Bassey Andian Okon; Edemekong Lawson Ekpe; Stella Asibong Ansa. Documenting the Significance of the Ibibio Traditional Marriage Gift Items: A Communicative Approach. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2014, 2(3), 181-189. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.17

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    AMA Style

    Bassey Andian Okon, Edemekong Lawson Ekpe, Stella Asibong Ansa. Documenting the Significance of the Ibibio Traditional Marriage Gift Items: A Communicative Approach. Int J Lang Linguist. 2014;2(3):181-189. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.17

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.17,
      author = {Bassey Andian Okon and Edemekong Lawson Ekpe and Stella Asibong Ansa},
      title = {Documenting the Significance of the Ibibio Traditional Marriage Gift Items: A Communicative Approach},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {2},
      number = {3},
      pages = {181-189},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.17},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20140203.17},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20140203.17},
      abstract = {Marriage is one of the culture universals being that it is contracted in every society of the world, but its mode of contract varies from one society to the other. This paper unravels the significance and reasons for the traditional marriage gifts in Ibibio traditional marriage. Gifts in general, have meanings attached when given or received but most importantly, they communicate the culture of the people and other forms of emotions. Through this work, the different items given and the significance of the gifts in Ibibio traditional marriage/ culture are shown. The theoretical framework is the semiotic approach which has to do with the science of sign system or signification which is amenable to this paper. This work was a purely qualitative research, where participant observation and unstructured interviews were employed. The scope of the study is the Ibibio ethnic group of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    AU  - Bassey Andian Okon
    AU  - Edemekong Lawson Ekpe
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    AB  - Marriage is one of the culture universals being that it is contracted in every society of the world, but its mode of contract varies from one society to the other. This paper unravels the significance and reasons for the traditional marriage gifts in Ibibio traditional marriage. Gifts in general, have meanings attached when given or received but most importantly, they communicate the culture of the people and other forms of emotions. Through this work, the different items given and the significance of the gifts in Ibibio traditional marriage/ culture are shown. The theoretical framework is the semiotic approach which has to do with the science of sign system or signification which is amenable to this paper. This work was a purely qualitative research, where participant observation and unstructured interviews were employed. The scope of the study is the Ibibio ethnic group of Akwa Ibom State of Nigeria.
    VL  - 2
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Author Information
  • Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria

  • Department of Linguistics and Communication Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria

  • Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Calabar, Calabar, Nigeria

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