A Pragmatic Analysis of Code-Mixing in Yorùbá-Arabic Bilingual Sermons in Ilorin
Abstract
Language functions not merely as a tool of communication but also as a marker of identity, culture, and communal value. In multilingual societies, religious discourse is often a site where speakers blend codes to project both spiritual authority and social accessibility. In Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State in North-Central Nigeria, a city shaped by Islamic tradition and Yoruba heritage, clerics who deliver Jummah sermons routinely mix Arabic, the sacred language of Islam, with Yoruba, the language of everyday life. Although Yoruba-English code-mixing has attracted considerable scholarly attention in Nigeria, Yoruba-Arabic mixing in religious sermons remains largely unexamined, despite Ilorin’s standing as a centre of Islamic scholarship. This study addresses that gap by investigating the patterns and pragmatic functions of Yoruba-Arabic code-mixing in Jummah sermons in Ilorin. Adopting a qualitative design, the study draws on 15 audio-recorded sermons purposively sampled from mosques across the city, complemented by semi-structured interviews with 5 clerics and 5 congregants. Data were transcribed, coded, and analysed within a combined sociolinguistic and pragmatic framework. Findings reveal four recurrent patterns of code-mixing (inter-sentential switching, intra-sentential insertion, formulaic Arabic expressions, and switching for emphasis) that perform four corresponding pragmatic functions: asserting religious authority, clarifying meaning, engaging congregants emotionally, and structuring the sermon. Both clerics and congregants evaluate the practice positively, regarding it as a bridge between sacred authority and cultural intimacy. The study concludes that Yoruba-Arabic code-mixing in Ilorin sermons is a deliberate, function-driven strategy rather than an incidental habit, and recommends further research into comparable bilingual religious practices in other Nigerian speech communities.
References
Agoke, A. (2019). Contesting linguistic practices “in the wild”: A critical study of multilingualism in South Western Nigeria. The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Alexiadou, A., & Lohndal, T. (2018). Units of language mixing: A cross-linguistic perspective. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 1719.
Amuzu, E. K. (2014). Producing composite codeswitching: The role of the modularity of language production. International Journal of Bilingualism, 18(4), 384-407.
Asgarova, M. (2025). Everyday Code-Switching Practices: Identity, Pragmatic Functions, And Social Context: How Multilingual Speakers Use Code-Switching to Navigate Identity and Interaction. Linguiverse, 1(1), 15–30.
Auer, A., Schreier, D., & Watts, R. J. (Eds.). (2015). Letter writing and language change. Cambridge University Press.
Auer, P. (2010). Code-switching/mixing. The Sage Handbook of Sociolinguistics. London: Sage Publications, 460–478.
Babalola, E. T., & Taiwo, R. (2009). Code-switching in contemporary Nigerian hip-hop music. Itupale online Journal of African studies, 1(1), 1–26.
Busayo, O. M., Bunmi, A. F., & Sunday, B. (2025). Sustaining Creativity in Sociolinguistics: Language, Culture and Identity. Concrescence Journal of Multi-Disciplinary Research, 2(4).
Deckert, S. K., & Vickers, C. H. (2011). An introduction to sociolinguistics: Society and identity. A&C Black.
Dey, M. (2023). The primary characteristics of English pragmatics in Applied Linguistics. Journal of English Teaching, Applied Linguistics and Literatures (JETALL), 6(2), 125–138.
Durrani, A. S., Mushtaq, A., & Fatima, N. (2025). Socio-Pragmatic Effects of Code-Switching and Code-Mixing of ESL Learner University Students' Language Proficiency in Pakistan. Contemporary Journal of Social Science Review, 3(3), 1594–1604.
Ekpo, G., & Nyong, B. (2022). Code Mixing in Pentecostal Churches. In Current Issues in Descriptive Linguistics and Digital Humanities: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Eno-Abasi Essien Urua (pp. 423–432). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
Fahnestock, J. (2011). Rhetorical style: The uses of language in persuasion. OUP USA.
Fasinu, E. S., Banjo, R. O., & Afolaranmi, A. O. (2024). Yoruba socio-cultural approach and indigenous communication mechanisms towards the quest for sustainable development. Sustainable Development 2(2), 270–284.
Gafaranga, J. (2016). Bilingualism as interactional practices. Edinburgh University Press.
Giolfo, M. E., & Sinatora, F. (2011). Rethinking Arabic Diglossia. Language Representations and Ideological Intents. In Multilingualism. Language, Power and Knowledge (pp. 103–128). Edistudio.
Goodwin, J. (2014). Conceptions of speech acts in the theory and practice of argumentation: A case study of a debate about advocating. Studies in Logic, Grammar and Rhetoric, 36(1), 79–98.
Grosjean, F. (2010). Bilingual: Life and reality. Harvard University Press.
Grosjean, F. (2019). A journey in languages and cultures: The life of a bicultural bilingual. Oxford University Press.
Kiamu, B. N., & Musa, B. A. (2021). Theorising the communication of digital religion as popular culture in Africa: The case for alternative epistemological models. Howard Journal of Communications, 32(2), 139-155.
Liddicoat, A. J. (2012). Language planning as an element of religious practice. Current Issues in Language Planning, 13(2), 121–144.
Maffi, L., & Woodley, E. (2012). Biocultural diversity conservation: a global sourcebook. Routledge.
Meeuwis, M., & Blommaert, J. (2013). A monolectal view of code-switching: Layered code-switching among Zairians in Belgium. In Code-switching in conversation (pp. 76–98). Routledge.
Muhammad, A. S. I. (2023). The changing linguistic codes in Hausa hip-hop songs. Studies in African Languages and Cultures, (57), 193–217.
Okechukwu, C. V. (2025). The intersection of music and education: Promoting cultural identity in Nigeria. ISA Journal of Engineering and Technology (ISAJET), 2 (1), 3049-1843.
Rohman, I. (2016). The pursuit of new interpretive approaches to the Qurʾ ān in contemporary Indonesia. In The Qur'an in the Malay-Indonesian World (pp. 97–150). Routledge.
Stell, G., & Yakpo, K. (Eds.). (2015). Code-switching between structural and sociolinguistic perspectives (Vol. 43). Berlin: De Gruyter.
Suleiman, Y. (2013). Arabic in the fray: Language ideology and cultural politics. Edinburgh University Press.
Tan, W. C., & Malaysia, U. P. (2021). Reviewers’ comments in academic journal peer review reports: A speech act theory perspective. International Journal of English Linguistics, 11(6), 40.
Ugwuanyi, K. O. (2026). Introduction to the special issue on Nigerian English. World Englishes, 45(1), 2–6.
Copyright (c) 2026 Fatai Toyin Kareem, Lydia Damilola Oyewole, Khadijat Temitope Lawal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish in Meurunoe: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pengajaran agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. (See The Effect of Open Acces)
