Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika

Richard Anane Appiah; Lawrence Bosiwah

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12

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Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika

Richard Anane Appiah, Lawrence Bosiwah

Published in International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 1, Issue 1)

Received: 4 May 2015 Accepted: 10 May 2015 Published: 13 May 2015

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Abstract

Verbal threat is a face threatening acts that confront people. It is a language phenomenon that can generate quarrel, fight, confusion, chaos, etc. This study investigates causes, aims and effects of verbal threat, among the Fantes using Apewosika as a case study. The research employed a qualitative and a case study approach. In all, 30 participants made up of 12 male adults, 12 female adults, 3 male children and 3 female children were randomly selected using the purposive sampling technique of which their responses from the interview and the observation to the research topic problem were presented to content analysis. The results indicate that there are four main causes (ill-speaking/gossiping, insults/invectives, false-witnessing against someone, and wrongly nicknaming someone), for which one issues out a threat among the Apewosika people. Also, the research reveals that there are three main aims for which an individual seeks to achieve when he/she issues out a threat and these are: to prevent the offender from repeating the same mistake, to deter other people from committing similar mistake and to present oneself as very fearful to an offender so as to demand some respect from the offender. Further, the study reveals that verbal threats have some negative effects on individuals. Thus, it breaks the smooth relationship between people, it puts so much fear in an offender and also makes one feel so worried and disorganized. The paper concludes that verbal threats are not meant to preserve the face of an individual since it is a face threatening act.

Published in	International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 1, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12
Page(s)	8-17
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Verbal Threats, Face, Impoliteness, Offender, Threatner

References

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Richard Anane Appiah, Lawrence Bosiwah. (2015). Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 1(1), 8-17. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12

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Richard Anane Appiah; Lawrence Bosiwah. Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2015, 1(1), 8-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12

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AMA Style

Richard Anane Appiah, Lawrence Bosiwah. Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2015;1(1):8-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12,
  author = {Richard Anane Appiah and Lawrence Bosiwah},
  title = {Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
  volume = {1},
  number = {1},
  pages = {8-17},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20150101.12},
  abstract = {Verbal threat is a face threatening acts that confront people. It is a language phenomenon that can generate quarrel, fight, confusion, chaos, etc. This study investigates causes, aims and effects of verbal threat, among the Fantes using Apewosika as a case study. The research employed a qualitative and a case study approach. In all, 30 participants made up of 12 male adults, 12 female adults, 3 male children and 3 female children were randomly selected using the purposive sampling technique of which their responses from the interview and the observation to the research topic problem were presented to content analysis. The results indicate that there are four main causes (ill-speaking/gossiping, insults/invectives, false-witnessing against someone, and wrongly nicknaming someone), for which one issues out a threat among the Apewosika people. Also, the research reveals that there are three main aims for which an individual seeks to achieve when he/she issues out a threat and these are: to prevent the offender from repeating the same mistake, to deter other people from committing similar mistake and to present oneself as very fearful to an offender so as to demand some respect from the offender. Further, the study reveals that verbal threats have some negative effects on individuals. Thus, it breaks the smooth relationship between people, it puts so much fear in an offender and also makes one feel so worried and disorganized. The paper concludes that verbal threats are not meant to preserve the face of an individual since it is a face threatening act.},
 year = {2015}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika
AU  - Richard Anane Appiah
AU  - Lawrence Bosiwah
Y1  - 2015/05/13
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DO  - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12
T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
SP  - 8
EP  - 17
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-1271
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AB  - Verbal threat is a face threatening acts that confront people. It is a language phenomenon that can generate quarrel, fight, confusion, chaos, etc. This study investigates causes, aims and effects of verbal threat, among the Fantes using Apewosika as a case study. The research employed a qualitative and a case study approach. In all, 30 participants made up of 12 male adults, 12 female adults, 3 male children and 3 female children were randomly selected using the purposive sampling technique of which their responses from the interview and the observation to the research topic problem were presented to content analysis. The results indicate that there are four main causes (ill-speaking/gossiping, insults/invectives, false-witnessing against someone, and wrongly nicknaming someone), for which one issues out a threat among the Apewosika people. Also, the research reveals that there are three main aims for which an individual seeks to achieve when he/she issues out a threat and these are: to prevent the offender from repeating the same mistake, to deter other people from committing similar mistake and to present oneself as very fearful to an offender so as to demand some respect from the offender. Further, the study reveals that verbal threats have some negative effects on individuals. Thus, it breaks the smooth relationship between people, it puts so much fear in an offender and also makes one feel so worried and disorganized. The paper concludes that verbal threats are not meant to preserve the face of an individual since it is a face threatening act.
VL  - 1
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Richard Anane Appiah

Department of Ghanaian Languages and Linguistics, University of Cape Coast, College of Humanities & Legal Studies, Cape Coast, Ghana
Lawrence Bosiwah

Department of Ghanaian Languages and Linguistics, University of Cape Coast, College of Humanities & Legal Studies, Cape Coast, Ghana

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Richard Anane Appiah, Lawrence Bosiwah. (2015). Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 1(1), 8-17. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12

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Richard Anane Appiah; Lawrence Bosiwah. Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2015, 1(1), 8-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12

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AMA Style

Richard Anane Appiah, Lawrence Bosiwah. Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2015;1(1):8-17. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12,
  author = {Richard Anane Appiah and Lawrence Bosiwah},
  title = {Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika},
  journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation},
  volume = {1},
  number = {1},
  pages = {8-17},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20150101.12},
  abstract = {Verbal threat is a face threatening acts that confront people. It is a language phenomenon that can generate quarrel, fight, confusion, chaos, etc. This study investigates causes, aims and effects of verbal threat, among the Fantes using Apewosika as a case study. The research employed a qualitative and a case study approach. In all, 30 participants made up of 12 male adults, 12 female adults, 3 male children and 3 female children were randomly selected using the purposive sampling technique of which their responses from the interview and the observation to the research topic problem were presented to content analysis. The results indicate that there are four main causes (ill-speaking/gossiping, insults/invectives, false-witnessing against someone, and wrongly nicknaming someone), for which one issues out a threat among the Apewosika people. Also, the research reveals that there are three main aims for which an individual seeks to achieve when he/she issues out a threat and these are: to prevent the offender from repeating the same mistake, to deter other people from committing similar mistake and to present oneself as very fearful to an offender so as to demand some respect from the offender. Further, the study reveals that verbal threats have some negative effects on individuals. Thus, it breaks the smooth relationship between people, it puts so much fear in an offender and also makes one feel so worried and disorganized. The paper concludes that verbal threats are not meant to preserve the face of an individual since it is a face threatening act.},
 year = {2015}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Pragmatic Study of Verbal Threats among the Fantes: A Case of Apewosika
AU  - Richard Anane Appiah
AU  - Lawrence Bosiwah
Y1  - 2015/05/13
PY  - 2015
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12
T2  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JF  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
JO  - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation
SP  - 8
EP  - 17
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2472-1271
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20150101.12
AB  - Verbal threat is a face threatening acts that confront people. It is a language phenomenon that can generate quarrel, fight, confusion, chaos, etc. This study investigates causes, aims and effects of verbal threat, among the Fantes using Apewosika as a case study. The research employed a qualitative and a case study approach. In all, 30 participants made up of 12 male adults, 12 female adults, 3 male children and 3 female children were randomly selected using the purposive sampling technique of which their responses from the interview and the observation to the research topic problem were presented to content analysis. The results indicate that there are four main causes (ill-speaking/gossiping, insults/invectives, false-witnessing against someone, and wrongly nicknaming someone), for which one issues out a threat among the Apewosika people. Also, the research reveals that there are three main aims for which an individual seeks to achieve when he/she issues out a threat and these are: to prevent the offender from repeating the same mistake, to deter other people from committing similar mistake and to present oneself as very fearful to an offender so as to demand some respect from the offender. Further, the study reveals that verbal threats have some negative effects on individuals. Thus, it breaks the smooth relationship between people, it puts so much fear in an offender and also makes one feel so worried and disorganized. The paper concludes that verbal threats are not meant to preserve the face of an individual since it is a face threatening act.
VL  - 1
IS  - 1
ER  -

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