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Article published In: Pragmatics in African Contexts
[Pragmatics and Society 17:2] 2026
► pp. 268–288

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Assigning ‘sacred’ meaning to songs

A pragmatic perspective

ORCiD logo with link | University of Maroua
Published online: 9 October 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.21046.ndz
Abstract
This paper examines how Protestant faithful select songs they deem worthy of being performed during church services. It is premised on the hypothesis that, in addition to its text, pitch, rhythm and dynamics, the sacredness of a song depends on the context of its production. The data were collected in a parish of the Eglise Evangélique du Cameroun in the town of Maroua, Cameroon, through a questionnaire. The results revealed that the most recommended song was composed in a language that was not understood by the respondents, while the second most recommended was the endless repetition of ‘Alleluia’. On the other hand, the least recommended songs were in a language the respondents understood well. The sacredness of the songs thus appeared to be also based on authority, patronage, and tradition. It was thus concluded that songs were co-constructed, like other speech acts, by the composer and the listener.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Methodology
    • 2.1Population and sampling
    • 2.2Tools
    • 2.3Procedure and measure
  • 3.Results
    • 3.1Sacredness score
    • 3.2The rationale for sacred meaning assignment
      • 3.2.1Authority
      • 3.2.2Patronage
      • 3.2.3Tradition
  • 4.Discussion and conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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