Oral Literary and Linguistic Norms as Styles in Ogba Funeral Songs

Literature has its unique features that distinguish it from other disciplines. This accounts for why literature is described as “a pleasurable use of words for knowledge, information and entertainment. It is pertinent that the choice of words in oral literature especially in the song genre is the prerogative of the artist (performer). For instance, the choice of refrain model which is dictated by the rhythm of the song in Ogba funeral song is purely the making of the lead singer. The refrain is chosen as part of the song, where there is not deviation in the song, it maintains the same refrain to the end as orchestrated by the performer – lead singer. This paper explores the oral literary and linguistic styles which the lead singer adopts in a corpus of sixteen Ogba funeral songs and how they function effectively during the rendition of the songs. It has been observed that syllables in the various lines (verse) of the various combination patterns are part of the styles of Ogba artists and are used to suit each particular song and some of them are songs without words, (mime) a mere harmony built on repeated vowel sounds. The paper concludes that the choice of words or pattern of rendition by the artist adds colour and spices up the funeral songs to a crescendo level. The refrain consists of repeated syllables for easy mastery by the audience. This paper recommends the use of this dual nature of songs because it adds aesthetics in the songs and the audience is highly enthused by the performance from the beginning to the end.