Impoliteness in Gonja. A pragmatic analysis of radio stations in the Savannah Region.

Abstract

This study examined the use of impolite language on radio stations in the Savannah Region. It aimed to investigate impoliteness strategies used in Gonja on radio stations in the Savannah Region, investigate the reasons why impolite language are used in Gonja on radio stations in the Savannah Region, and to investigates the effects of the impolite language use in Gonja on radio stations in the Savannah Region. To achieve this, a qualitative case study was employed to record data on political talk shows, current affairs, and morning shows from radio stations across the Savannah Region of Ghana and analysed thematically. From the analysis, five impoliteness strategies: Bald on-record impoliteness, positive impoliteness, negative impoliteness, sarcasm or mock impoliteness, and withhold impoliteness were discovered as used by the speakers, similarly to what can be found in Culpeper (1996, 2005). Again, the study also established the reasons why people used impolite language in a conversation on radio station and the effects impolite words has on the Gonja people and the various communities as a whole. The study also shed light on measures that should be put in place in order to help prevent speakers from using impolite language on radio stations in the Savannah Region.