ENGLIGBOIC STYLISTIC FEATURES IN ODUMEJE’S ECCLESIASTICAL DISCOURSE

Abstract

This study examines Engligboic stylistic features in Odumeje’s ecclesiastical discourse with a view to identifying the dominant hybrid linguistic patterns in the selected expressions and analysing their communicative and performative effects. The study is anchored on Leech and Short’s (2007) stylistic theory and Myers-Scotton’s (1993) theory of code-switching. A qualitative research design was adopted, while the data were collected from reels posted on the Facebook page of Obianuju Chioma Akasike. Twenty-one expressions containing observable Engligboic constructions were purposively selected, transcribed, and provided with full English translations for analysis. The data were analysed descriptively using stylistic and sociolinguistic approaches. The findings reveal that Odumeje’s ecclesiastical discourse is heavily characterized by code-mixing, phonological adaptation, lexical hybridity, semantic transfer, rhetorical repetition, and semantic exaggeration resulting from the interaction between English and Igbo linguistic systems. The study further found that these Engligboic stylistic formations perform important communicative and performative functions, including humour, emotional intensification, audience engagement, conversational immediacy, identity construction, and charismatic performance. The analysis demonstrates that the hybridized expressions are not merely products of bilingual interference but deliberate stylistic resources strategically employed to enhance rhetorical effect and sustain audience participation within the sermonic context. The study concludes that Engligboic stylistic practices constitute significant communicative resources in contemporary Nigerian Pentecostal discourse and reflect the dynamic interaction between multilingualism and performative religious communication.