VARIATIONS IN SPEECH STYLE IN CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE’S PURPLE HIBISCUS

Abstract

The focus of this paper is on the use of variations in speech style by interlocutors in dialogues. Interactants engaged in verbal discourse employ different speech styles on different occasions. This is largely informed by the fact that no one speaks in exactly the same way on all occasions. Many factors inform these shifts such as the speaker, the addressee, the setting, the topic of discourse and the purpose of discourse. Using Chimamanda Adichie’s Purple Hibiscus, this study seeks to identify the variations in the speech style in the dialogues of the characters and the motivations for the shifts. It also seeks to determine the way the shifts affected the relationships between the characters as well as the power structures that are at play. To achieve these objectives, eight sample excerpts purposively selected from the text were used as data while ethnography of communication was used as the theoretical framework. Findings revealed that the different speech style variations identified were influenced mainly by the situation and social distance.