Imagery in Dagaaba riddles

Abstract

The study examines imagery in riddles in Dagaare, a Gur language spoken by the Dagaaba in Northern Ghana. A riddle is a popular genre that appeals to people of all ages, gender and status. It is a short utterance that requires deep thinking before a response. This study identified and analyzed the types of imagery employed in Dagaaba riddles in the context of the Dagaaba society and their culture. Dagaaba riddles are characterized by figurative meaning and employ both perceptual and conceptual imagery. Imagery is the use of descriptive and figurative language to represent ideas, actions and entities in a way that appeals to our senses. The study looked at symbolism, simile, personification, repetition, satire, metaphor and parallelism as some of the imagery embedded in the riddles. Imagery serves to project the Dagaaba world view and defines a frame of reference for the people’s beliefs, and identity. The main function of imagery is pictorial. It concludes that, the imagery employed shortens and delivers the thought forcefully and also makes it easy for riddles to remain in one’s mind.