DEIXIS AND EXOPHORIC REFERENCES IN SPEECHES OF NASARAWA STATE GOVERNOR

This study examines cohesion in selected speeches of the governor of Nasarawa State. It explores the language of political speeches using cohesive devices such as deictic and exophoric references to determine a coherence coherence between text and context in language use. The aim is to examine how the speaker's use of these cohesive devices reflects on the assumptions he shares with his listeners that bring about language understanding. A descriptive design was employed. Two speeches were randomly selected for study from a series of speeches made by the governor. The findings show that there exists a remarkable linguistic relationship between the two coherence features studied. However, whether or not the cohesion or coherence truly reflects the assumptions between the speaker and the audience was no investigated as that requires administering of questionnaires to presumed listeners of the governor’s speeches. This is beyond the scope of the research.