A pragmatic analysis of the expression of appreciation – thanks in Nigerian English

Abstract

Many studies on the linguistic realizations and social functions of responses to thanks in different varieties of English have reported interesting findings on the speech act. However, it appears that thanking, the first pair part of the thanking formula, is under-researched. To fill this gap, this study investigated the linguistic realizations of thanks in Nigerian English in order to determine and compare their features and functions with previous findings in British English. 300 expressions of thanks that were recorded from speakers of Nigerian English from verbal exchange, WhatsApp and radio airings were analyzed. The analysis revealed massive similarities in linguistic patterns but divergent pragmatic features owing to cultural differences. These findings support the variational pragmatic theory which opines that intra-variation does not guarantee same pragmatic features.