A LEXICO-GRAPHOLOGICAL STUDY OF SELECTED POEMS IN GBOGI’S LOCOMOTIFS AND OTHER SONGS

By

Bassey Garvey Ufot

&

Ruth Frederick Uduak

Department of English

University of Uyo, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper investigates the stylistic elements present in Tosin Gbogi’s poetry collection, Locomotifs and Other Songs, specifically focusing on lexico-semantic and graphological features. It studies how the poet utilises unique vocabulary and physical imagery to emboss in the reader’s minds resonant themes. Mounted upon the theory of Context of Situation, the paper emphasises the relationship between text and context. Employing the analytical method of critical thinking and Halliday’s Context of Situation as its theoretical framework, the paper points out the different  features of lexico-semantic and graphological data extracted from the poems. It examines the significance of features such as word blending and compounding, alongside foregrounded graphological features such as embolding, punctuation, concrete imagery and creative spelling. These features are shown to enhance the aesthetic and communicative power of the poems, enabling them to address critical issues prevalent in Nigeria and Africa. It is the conclusion of the paper that the deviations in which Gbogi’s linguistic forms find expression compel a message of the need for genuine anger and action to address social deviations occasioned by corrupt leadership, as well as failed moral, social and democratic ethos.