ETHNOGRAPHY OF COMMUNICATION: A CASE STUDY OF KOLA NUT BREAKING IN UMUCHU TOWN MEETING

Abstract

Talking or speaking is free. But no one has the freedom to talk anyhow, especially when other parties are involved. It is the society and culture of any community that set the norms of speech. This paper examines the Ethnography of Communication as it concerns the breaking of kola nut in Umuchu town general meeting. It looks at the way communication is patterned and organized as a system of communicative competence of native speakers. What kola nut is, the dignities accorded it in Igbo, its significance, the determinants of who breaks it in a socio-cultural event, the symbolizations of the various number of pieces of it and the various norms associated with kola nut breaking--- all these are ethnographic issues; how does the linguistic performance of kola nut breaking as exemplified with Umuchu community here bring out these values of the Igbo? This paper looks for the answer. Hyme’s Ethnography of speaking proposal guides this investigative bent. Sticking to Hyme’s paradigm, the paper establishes that kola nut breaking is the commonest chance for prayers in most sociocultural settings, and that age and title constitute the key determinants of who breaks the kola nut in the Igbo community.