The Role of Politeness and Nation Building: The Igbo Perspective

Abstract

This study examines the role of politeness and nation building: The Igbo Perspective. The main purpose of this study is; to identify the good and wrong use of linguistic choice of words and utterances by the particular country people as shown in the text " O Ji Ihe Nwata Welie Aka Ya Elu" used for the study, to ascertain whether negative or positive politeness promotes nation building, to find out the extent to which polite statements helps in nation building. Three research questions were raised by the authors of this work. A descriptive research design was also adopted for this study. Data were generated through the internet, library and analysis in its methodology to arrive at its logical conclusion. The theory used for this study was the theory of politeness propounded by Brown and Levinson in the year 1987. The findings revealed that good use of language may promote peace and sustain national development either in a clan, community, and the nation at large. The study recommends that polite statements, speeches, etc. should be maintained as it also combats crisis between one another, nation to nation and communities as well.