EVALUATIVE LOGICS OF SOCIAL JUDGEMENT IN IKA PROVERBS: AN ETHNOPRAGMATIC ANALYSIS

Abstract

This study investigates how Ika proverbs organise and justify social judgement, addressing the limited attention given to evaluative reasoning in proverb scholarship. Using a qualitatively analysed corpus of 1,059 culturally verified Ika proverbs, the study integrates ethnopragmatics, cultural script analysis and appraisal theory to examine how proverbial imagery attributes responsibility, legitimises authority and evaluates conduct. Iterative comparison identifies five overlapping evaluative logics: consequence-based, hierarchical, prudential, reciprocity-based and moral accountability. Close readings show how these logics support indirect warnings, criticism, advice and assessments of social relationships. The study argues that Ika proverbs provide culturally situated resources for evaluating behaviour rather than simply transmitting moral prescriptions. Because the evidence consists of documented proverbs and speaker-informed interpretations, claims about their use in naturally occurring interaction remain provisional. The findings contribute a framework for analysing the reasoning underlying indigenous proverbial evaluation.