PEJORATIVE LANGUAGE AND ETHNIC IDENTITY: THE LABELLING OF ILORIN PEOPLE

Abstract

Language is a central resource through which social identities are constructed, evaluated, and contested in daily interaction. In linguistically diverse settings such as Ilorin, Nigeria, evaluative and pejorative expressions serve as instruments for positioning individuals and groups within local social hierarchies. This study examined the pejorative labelling of Ilorin identity, focusing on how such expressions contribute to inclusion, exclusion, and identity regulation in ordinary speech. Despite growing scholarship on naming and identity in Ilorin, existing research has largely focused on nicknames as markers of social bonding or on broad patterns in language and political history, leaving the mechanisms by which pejorative terms police identity boundaries underexamined. To address this gap, the study adopted a qualitative sociolinguistic design, drawing on semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and naturalistic recordings involving sixty participants comprising Ilorin indigenes and non-Ilorin residents. Data were analysed thematically, with attention to interactional context, pragmatic force, and speaker positioning. Findings showed that pejorative language occurred frequently in informal interaction, with about two-thirds of participants reporting direct exposure to such terms. Gendered and morality-based pejoratives accounted for over half of the expressions discussed, while economic and behavioural labels formed a substantial minority. Although humour and familiarity softened delivery in roughly 40 percent of reported instances, the underlying evaluative force remained largely intact. Responses ranged from silence and avoidance, reported by nearly half of participants, to vocal resistance and reappropriation. The study concludes that pejorative speech functions as a routine mechanism through which social boundaries and power relations are produced and contested in Ilorin.