Contextual analysis of Gonja Idioms.

Abstract

This study discusses the contextual analysis of Gonja idioms a Guan language spoken in the Savannah Region of Ghana. The study was conducted in the East Gonja Municipality. The study examines the categories, a thematic classification, and the contextual usage of Gonja idioms. The purposive sampling technique was adopted for the study, the research design was ethnography, and the study's approach was qualitative. It involves ten (10) respondents, comprising five (5) males and five (5) females, who were from age 41 and above. The instruments used in the study for the data collection were unstructured interviews and observations. The study employs a descriptive method in the data analysis. This was done with one hundred (150) Gonja idioms. The idioms were categorized and analyzed under different themes. The major findings of the study were that the meanings of Gonja idioms depend on the contexts in which they are used. In addition, it was also found that idioms improve the communication skills of the people and that the interpretation of some of the idioms is also a major challenge, particularly for the youth. It was again realized that the use of the idioms in varying contexts reflects the native speakers' grasp of their social reality that encompasses their interactional relationships and the cultural prisms of domains that characterize their co-existence in a speech community.