Using Greetings to Teach Cultural Understanding

Sociolinguistic journals and books are inundated with issues regarding greetings and forms of address. In these works, the major concern has been to analyze the word or words used to refer to someone greeted. Others have also looked at issues of familiarity, reciprocity, politeness, gestures, and respect in regard to greetings. However, despite this sizable literature, little or nothing has been done with respect to cultural information provided in the language of greetings. This paper looks at the role Yoruba greetings play in understanding the culture of the speakers. It also illustrates that Yoruba greetings do more than establish an atmosphere of sociability; they also communicate cultural information and serve as value reinforcement for participants and observers. Therefore, teaching greetings in Yoruba goes beyond teaching the meanings of the greetings. It also involves teaching Yoruba learners the link between words and cultural content. Various examples of greetings and accounts of personal experience could be useful in methods courses to illustrate the interaction of words and actions in a cultural frame.