A Lexico-Semantic Analysis of Selected Sermons of Pastor David Ibiyeomie and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah International Journal of Humanities Social Science and Management (IJHSSM)Volume 6, Issue 4, Jul. – Aug., 2026, pp: 83-92
Main Article Content
Abstract
Sermons are socially consequential speech events in Nigerian public life. While previous studies on Nigerian religious discourse have focused largely on pragmatics, speech acts, and power relations, little attention has been given to the lexico-semantic structure of sermons. This paper investigates the lexico-semantic strategies deployed by two of Nigeria's most influential preachers: Pastor David Ibiyeomie of Salvation Ministries, Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Nigeria. The study analyses two sermon transcripts (one from each preacher) selected from verified organisational websites. Theoretically, it is framed within Lakoff and Johnson's (1980) conceptual metaphor theory, as extended by Kövecses (2002), and Halliday and Hasan's (1976) theory of lexical cohesion, which together serve as complementary analytical lenses for examining metaphorical and cohesive structures in the data. The data were analysed qualitatively using this framework. The study reveals that both preachers strategically employ lexical repetition, metaphorical expressions, semantic fields, and stylistic registers to persuade their audiences and project distinct theological visions. The study concludes that lexico-semantic analysis provides deeper insight into how Nigerian Christian sermons function not only as religious messages but also as social and ideological texts that shape audience perception, spirituality, public and religious consciousness.
Downloads
Article Details
Issue
Section
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All materials deposited in the Afrischolar Discovery Repository are made openly available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), unless otherwise indicated.
Under this license, users are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, including commercial use
These freedoms are granted provided that appropriate credit is given to the original author(s), a link to the license is included, and any changes made are clearly indicated. Attribution must not suggest endorsement by the author(s) or the repository.
Authors retain full copyright of their work while granting Afrischolar Discovery Repository a non-exclusive license to store, preserve, and disseminate the content for academic and public use.
Users must not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from exercising the rights permitted by the license.
Where third-party content is included, users are responsible for ensuring compliance with the applicable licensing terms for such materials.
By submitting content to the Afrischolar Discovery Repository, contributors affirm that they have the right to distribute their work under the CC BY 4.0 license.
For full license details, visit: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
How to Cite
References
[1]. Adegbite, W. (2004). Critical discourse analysis and power relations in Nigerian sermon discourse. Journal of Language and Linguistics Studies, 3(2), 45–62.
[2]. Adekunle, J. O. (2010). Language and religion: A study of Catholic homiletic discourse in Southwestern Nigeria. Journal of the Linguistic Association of Nigeria, 13(2), 45–62.
[3]. Akindele, F. D. (2011). Pragmatics of Christian sermons in Nigeria. Journal of Language and Communication Studies, 5(1), 1–18.
[4]. Affiah, U, Amaku, O & Akpan, K. (2023). “The Centrality of the Narrative Storytelling Performance Strategy in Sam Ukala’s ideological framework”. European Journal of Literary Studies. Vol. 4, No.1. Pp: 63-81.
[5]. Akpan, K. (2022). “Cultural Tension and Artistic Mediation in Uwemedimo Atakpo‟s Return to the Sun-god. Middle East Research
Journal of Linguistics and Literature. 2 (1): 1-6.’
[6]. Ayoola, K. A. (2013). Conceptual metaphor in Nigerian Pentecostal sermons. Language Matters, 44(2), 69–86. https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2013.775756
[7]. Babatunde, S. T., & Aremu, O. D. (2014). Code-switching as a communicative strategy in Yoruba Pentecostal church sermons. Journal of Universal Language, 15(1), 1–27.
[8]. Biber, D., & Conrad, S. (2009). Register, genre, and style. Cambridge University Press.
[9]. Cruse, A. (2011). Meaning in language:An introduction to semantics and pragmatics (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
[10]. Crystal, D., & Davy, D. (1969). Investigating English style. Longman.
[11]. Enang, E. T., Urujzian, V. G., and Udoka, S. T. (2013). Selected Aspects of the Syntax of Educated Nigerian English. Academic Discourse: An International Journal. 6(1), 1-19.
[12]. Etuk, J. A. (2021). Signification and cultural projection in ‘Akwawood’. An unpublished PhD thesis of the Department of English, University of Ibadan.
[13]. Etuk, J. & Akpan, I. (2023). Language and gender ideology in Tekno’s ‘Woman’.
[14]. Sapientia Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Development Studies (SGOJAHDS). 6(4), 69-80.
[15]. Etuk, J. A. & Umoh, O. A. (2024). “Style as idiolect in Ehikhamenor’s “Igodomigodo must not comatose”. Dutsin-Ma Journal of
English and Literature (DUJEL). 9(2), 365-382.
[16]. Halliday, M. A. K., & Hasan, R. (1976). Cohesion in English. Longman.
[17]. Ibiyeomie, D. (2024). The Power of God’s Love. Flatimes Nigeria. https://flatimes.com/power-god-love-davidibiyeomie/
[18]. Kövecses, Z. (2002). Metaphor: A practical introduction. Oxford University Press.
[19]. Kukah, M. H. (2022). To Mend a Broken Nation: The Easter Metaphor. Premium TimesNigeria.https://www.premiumtimesng.c
om/features-and-interviews/524346-full-textbishop-mathew-kukahs-2022-easter-messagea-must-read.html
[20]. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. University of Chicago Press.
[21]. Leech, G. N. (1974). Semantics: The study of meaning. Penguin Books.
[22]. Mbede, A., Jacob, O., Andrew-Essien, E., and Enang, E., (2024a). Interrogating the use of Multimedia for Audience Engineering in
the Nigerian Theatre Milieu. Akwa Ibom State University Journal of Arts (AKSUJA). 5(1), 134-156.
[23]. Mbede, A., Jacob, O., Andrew-Essien, E., and Enang, E., (2024b). Exploring Social Media as an Apparatus for Audience Engineering in the Nigerian Theatre Milieu. Integrity Journal of Humanities. 5(2), 95-105.
[24]. Ndimele, O. M. (2016). Semantic change in Nigerian Pentecostal discourse. Journal of West African Languages, 43(1), 22–39.
[25]. Obiechina, E. T. (2012). Gender ideology in igerian sermon discourse: A critical discourse analysis of patriarchal language in religious preaching. Nigerian Journal ofApplied Linguistics, 6(1), 78–95.
[26]. Okafor, G. (2015). Prosperity theology and the language of divine economy in Nigerian Pentecostalism. Journal of Religion in Africa,
45(34), 289 317. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700666-12340078
[27]. Saeed, J. I. (2016). Semantics (4th ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.
[28]. Stubbs, M. (2001). Words and phrases: Corpus studies of lexical semantics. Blackwell.
[29]. Taiwo, R. (2009). Language, ideology and power in church discourse in Nigeria. Pragmatics, 19(2), 249–276. https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.19.2.04tai
[30]. Udoinwang, D., &Akpan, K. (2022).Social ysteria, Moral Panic and the (Dys)Functional Order of Postmodernity in Amma Darko's Faceless And Bolaji Abdullahi's Sweet Sixteen. LWATI: A Journal of Contemporary Research. Volume 19, Issue 4.
[31]. Udoinwang, D., & Akpan, K. (2023). “The Writer, the Muse and Revolutionary Incitement in Joe Ushie’s Poetry”. Sapientia Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Development Studies, 6(2), 341-350.
[32]. Udoka, S.T., Umoh, O. & Etuk, J. A. (2020). Understanding Ibibio clause structure from the perspective of English Language”. Akwa Ibom State University Journal of English. 3, 53-56.
[33]. Ugwuanyi, L. O. (2017). Prophetic voice and public discourse: A rhetorical analysis of Bishop Kukah's public addresses. Lagos Papers in English Studies, 8, 56–74.
[34]. Urujzian, V. (2016). The Gap Between Teaching and Research in English Semantics: A Study of Tautology in English and Anaan
Language. The Intuition. 7(1), 8-16.
[35]. Urujzian, V. (2018). Internationalization of the English Language in Nigeria. The Intuition. 8(1), 269-375.
[36]. Urujzian, V. (2023). Proverbs and Metaphors as Discursive Strategies in Selected Novels by Achebe and Adichie. Lwati: A Journal of
Contemporary Research. Vol. 20, No 1, pp. 72-86.
[37]. Urujzian, V. & Etuk, J. A. (2024). “A lexicosemantic analysis of selected songs of Wizkid”.
[38]. Sapientia Global Journal of Arts, Humanities and Development Studies (SGOJAHDS). 7(1), 313-324