Something That Looks Like Money: Ethnopragmatic Analysis of Wealth-Related Title Names Among Young Igbo Businessmen

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper “Something that looks like money”. The ethnopragmatics of wealth conceptualized title names of young Ibo businessmen tries to explore a rather interesting research question, namely the ethnopragmatics of title names of young Igbo businessmen. However, the approach is enumerative-descriptive and lacks any kind of analytical-interpretative or theoretical framework. The title itself needs to be edited. Please, edit the title to make clear the aim and objective of the research. E.g., “of wealth as conceptualized in title names…” OR “The ethnopragmatics of title names of young Igbo businessmen reflecting wealth conceptualizations.” It does not become clear from the paper whether what is studied is names or terms of address. More importantly, what is studied is identified as “informal” title names. Meanwhile it is claimed that these are bestowed by rulers in formal ceremonies. Clarifications are need to understand the distinction between formal and informal titles, grounds for their bestowing and all related practices. The paper sounds superficial, lacking analytical substance.  E.g., many of the titles are metonymic or metaphoric, but no comments are provided in this direction.
There is insufficient information on the interactive contexts and types of encounters and communicative situations in which these titles are used, thus the pragmatic part of the research remains unsubstantiated.
Some of the interpretations simply do not contribute anything as they are self-evident or are simply synonymous with what is being interpreted, adding no value and thus making those redundant (e.g., money means being able to spend it)????

Spacing between words, sentence, etc. throughout the whole paper is in need of careful editing! Hyphenation in age-related expressions has to be inserted throughout the paper.
Tabulation in all Tables is in need of heavy editing.

A decision has to be made and consistently applied to the spelling Igbo vs. Ibo. The latter has been dispreferred since 1970s.

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

The paper needs editing in terms of style, choice of words and expressions, spacing, etc.

Author Response

comment 1: Please, edit the title to make clear the aim and objective of the research. E.g., “of wealth as conceptualized in title names…” OR “The ethnopragmatics of title names of young Igbo businessmen reflecting wealth conceptualizations.”

Response: we agree that the title needs some adjustment and we have modified it to be "Something that looks like money".The ethnopragmatics of wealth as conceptualized in title names of young Igbo businessmen.

comment 2: It does not become clear from the paper whether what is studied is names or terms of address. More importantly, what is studied is identified as “informal” title names. Meanwhile it is claimed that these are bestowed by rulers in formal ceremonies. Clarifications are need to understand the distinction between formal and informal titles, grounds for their bestowing and all related practices. 

Response 2: we do not totally agree with this, as the paper clearly states that the data collected and worked on are informal title names and not terms of reference. these informal titles are displayed on items belonging to holders just as it is the case with holders of formal titles in Igboland. moreover, the paper did not say that the titles investigated are bestowed by rulers in formal ceremonies, these titles sometimes begin as nicknames before they are used as titles without formal ceremony. clarifications on how formal titles are bestowed have been given, using literature on the 'Ozo" title names.

comment 3:  The paper sounds superficial, lacking analytical substance.  E.g., many of the titles are metonymic or metaphoric, but no comments are provided in this direction. 

Response 3: The titles studied in our paper have been compared and contrasted with the meaning of formal title names which reflect ideas the Igbo have about wealth. The use of Metaphor has been identified in some of the titles and how meaning is conveyed using this tool has been discussed in the analysis section.

comment 4: There is insufficient information on the interactive contexts and types of encounters and communicative situations in which these titles are used, thus the pragmatic part of the research remains unsubstantiated.

Response 4: The scope of this research did not extend to the interpretative contexts and communication situations. the focus of this work is on the title names themselves. the socio-cultural context within which the ideas of wealth captured by the titles was the pre-occupation of the study.

Comment 5: Some of the interpretations simply do not contribute anything as they are self-evident or are simply synonymous with what is being interpreted, adding no value and thus making those redundant (e.g., money means being able to spend it)???? 

Response 5: we do not agree with the above comment because the interpretation of the data analyzed have been linked to the holders ideas of wealth. Also, the interpretation and relationship of the title names to the population's idea of wealth is metaphorically derived and this has been explicated in the analysis section of the paper. secondly, the example given in the above comment has been expunged from the paper.

Comment 6: Spacing between words, sentence, etc. throughout the whole paper is in need of careful editing! Hyphenation in age-related expressions has to be inserted throughout the paper.
Tabulation in all Tables is in need of heavy editing.

Response 6: we agree and a lot of editing has been carried through out the work

Comment 7: A decision has to be made and consistently applied to the spelling Igbo vs. Ibo. The latter has been dispreferred since 1970s.

Response 7: we agree and have decided to go with 'Igbo" which refers to the people and the language of the Eastern part of Nigeria.

Comment 8: The paper needs editing in terms of style, choice of words and expressions, spacing, etc.

Response 8: we agree with most of the grammatical corrections made and they have been effected throughout the paper.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

By focusing on informal title names, it expands the existing body of knowledge on African naming systems, especially within the context of wealth and social status. The application of the ethnopragmatic framework is particularly valuable, as it allows for an insider perspective on the linguistic practices of the Ibo community. This study also builds on previous works by incorporating the socio-economic context of modern Igbo society, thereby offering a contemporary analysis that is relevant to ongoing scholarly discussions. However, there are a couple of areas I believe there may be improvement. First,

Author Response

no comments seen from this reviewer

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The research is original and offers a theoretical and practical contribution to the field of linguistics in particular pragmatics.It provides insights into The ethnopragmatics of wealth conceptualized title names of young Ibo businessmen. The research paper provides sufficient background information to enable readers to better understand the problem being identified by the author(s). It also clarifies the theoretical framework and provides a review of the related research. However, I recommend that the authors take care of the following minor amendments:

 1. The ethical considerations of this research should be explicated.

2. The discussion of the results should be enriched by providing more justification of the results and comparing and contrasting the results with those of the previous related research.

3. The pedagogical implications of the results should be clarified.

4. Recommendations for future research should be presented.

5. The typesetting should be unified.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

good

Author Response

Comment 1:  The ethical considerations of this research should be explicated.

Response 1: the ethical consideration of the research have been explicated in the methodology of the paper.

Comment 2: The discussion of the results should be enriched by providing more justification of the results and comparing and contrasting the results with those of the previous related research.

Response 2: the results of the study have been justified by the comparison and contrast of literature on wealth conceptualization in names such as Mensah and Iloh (2021) and Akabuike (2021)

Comment 3: The pedagogical implications of the results should be clarified.

Response 3: we agree with the above comment and have clarified the pedagogical implications in the concluding part of the work

Comment 4: Recommendations for future research should be presented.

Response 4: Recommendations for further research have been made. This can be seen in the last paragraph of the paper.

Comment 5:  The typesetting should be unified.

Response 5: typesetting has been unified

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper has been significantly improved.

Author Response

Thank you very much