Contextual Deliefs and Pragmatic (De)construction of Selected Lexical Items in White Garment Christian Church Discursive Encounters in Yoruba

Temitope Michael Ajayi*

Abstract


The belief cum doctrinal system of the White Garment Christian Church
(WGCC) in Nigeria informs the choice of some lexical items which manifest
different conventional and contextual meanings. This study demonstrates how
contextual beliefs aid meaning (de)construction in discursive encounters
involving the use of the seven common lexical items in the vocabulary of the
church. The shared contextual beliefs of the participants, as evident in their
knowledge of the macro and micro contexts of the WGCC, demonstrated
through shared knowledge of language, doctrine (church culture), situation and
experience, aid the pragmatic (de)construction of the identified lexical items in
discursive encounters.


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