An analysis of register and lexical cohesion in a selected political manifesto in Ghana

Abstract

This study analyses register and lexical cohesive devices in the 2012 manifesto of the New Patriotic Party using the theories of Cohesion by Halliday and Hasan (1976) and Halliday (1994) register theory. The study employed qualitative research approach and purposive sampling technique to select the 2012 manifesto of the NPP. The registers in the manifesto were analysed based on Leech and Short (2007) lexical category. The findings of the study revealed that nouns are the preponderant lexical items. Adjectives occur as the second lexical items used in the manifesto. Verbs form the third most frequently used lexical items which indicate the actions that will be used to execute the developmental projects which the party hopes to achieve while adverbs reveal the manner in which the action plans of the party will be executed. In the area of cohesion, the study reveals that repetition is the most dominant lexical cohesive device which is used to emphasize the massive projects the party hopes to carry out and also the commitment the party wishes to attach to the execution of its plans. The use of synonyms in the manifesto helps the electorate to understand the ideology of the party whereas antonyms are used to compare the disparity of work done by the incumbent government and what the NPP hopes to do to improve the economy. The superordinate words are used to categorize the party‟s concrete plans into groups that the electorate can better understand the party‟s plans into detail. The study concludes that the NPP employs political register to persuade the electorates to vote for the party based on the promises they made under the various fields in the manifesto while the lexical cohesive devices used in the manifesto help to establish ties and links between the lexical items. The study recommends the use of adjectives and nouns in manifestoes and also computerised software should be used to analyse such data in order to make the analysis easier.