A Linguistic-Stylistic Analysis of the Nigerien National Anthem
Une analyse linguistico-stylisque de l’hyme national nigérien
Université André Salifou, République du Niger
Laboratoire Lettres, Education et Communication (LaboLEC)
Email : ayodeleallagbe@yahoo.com
iD ORCID : https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5389-9178
ABSTRACT
This paper analyses the newly adopted Nigerien national anthem entitled “L’honneur de la patrie” (The honour of the Fatherland) from a linguistic-stylistic perspective. Drawing its conceptual insights from Simpson’s (2004) and Meyer’s (2009) models of language, and the descriptive qualitative research method, the study specifically examines how the author of this new anthem uses language to create stylistic effects therein. The findings reveal that the author employs, at the phonological level, for example, such phonological schemes as alliteration and assonance. They also exude that, at the graphological level, he organises his anthem into three stanzas, none of which has rhyming lines. But these stanzas are marked by the presence of some internal rhymes. The findings further unveil that, at the morphological level, the author uses both open-class and closed class words, the dominant type being open-class words. As the analysis indicates too, most of the words in the text are mono-morphemic and polysyllabic words. The author employs, as it also proves, two word-formation processes, inflection and derivation, the most dominant type being inflection. Moreover, the findings show that, at the syntactic level, the three stanzas in the anthem deviate from the usual SVO word order, and are all marked by syntactic variation. Finally, they reveal that, at the semantic level, the author employs antonyms, synonyms, lexical and structural repetitions, etc. in the text. In conclusion, it can be deduced from the linguistic-stylistic analysis that the author deploys all the aforementioned linguistic resources to encode the oneness of Niger or the unity of all Nigeriens.
keywords: Deviation; models of language; national anthem; Niger; stylistic effects.
RÉsumÉ
Cet article analyse l’hymne national nigérien nouvellement adopté intitulé “L’honneur de la patrie” du point de vue linguistico-stylistique. S’appuyant sur les modèles de langage proposés par Simpson (2004) et Meyer (2009), et sur la méthode de recherche qualitative descriptive, l’étude examine spécifiquement comment l’auteur de ce nouvel hymne emploie la langue pour y créer des effets stylistiques. Les résultats révèlent que l’auteur utilise, au niveau phonologique, par exemple, des schémas phonologiques tels que l’allitération et l’assonance. Ils montrent également que, sur le plan graphologique, il organise son hymne en trois strophes, dont aucune ne renferme de rimes finales. Mais ces strophes sont marquées par la présence de quelques rimes internes. Les résultats révèlent en outre que, sur le plan morphologique, l’auteur utilise à la fois des mots de classe ouverte et des mots de classe fermée, le type dominant étant les mots de classe ouverte. Comme l’indique l’analyse également, la plupart des mots du texte sont des mots monomorphémiques et polysyllabiques. L’auteur emploie, comme elle le prouve aussi, deux processus de formation des mots, l’inflexion et la dérivation, le type le plus dominant étant l’inflexion. De plus, les résultats montrent qu’au niveau syntaxique, les trois strophes de l’hymne s’écartent de l’ordre habituel des mots SVO et sont toutes marquées par des variations syntaxiques. Enfin, ils révèlent qu’au niveau sémantique, l’auteur emploie dans le texte des antonymes, des synonymes, des répétitions lexicales et structurelles, etc. En résumé, on peut déduire de l’analyse linguistico-stylistique que l’auteur déploie toutes les ressources linguistiques susmentionnées pour encoder l’unicité du Niger ou l’unité de tous les Nigériens.
MOTS-CLÉ: Déviation; modèles de langage; hyme national; Niger; effets stylistiques.
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Droit d’auteur
