Abstract

This paper is a study of Urhobo proverbs from a sociolinguistic perspective in the socio-context of English as a second language in Nigeria. The analysis of the proverbs is done with a view to offer a fresh insight into the contributions of Urhoboculture and language to the Urhobo-English sociolinguistic context. Our data of fifteen randomly selected Urhobo proverbs were sourced and collected from competent Urhobo native speakers. They were analyzed using Dell Hyme‘s Ethnography of Communication to enable us relate our data to aspects of Urhobo world view and culture. Our findings reveal that Dell Hymes‘ acronym SPEAKING allows for a comprehensive understanding of the social-cultural implications of proverbs due to its explicit and analytic potentials. It is, therefore, recommended that since meaning is conveyed in the second language within the mediating role of the first language, a sociolinguistic study of L1speech patterns in the context of English as a second language should be encouraged.

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