The paper takes a close look at the sociocultural significance of oratory and formal speaking among the Akan of Ghana, and discusses the various stylistic and rhetorical strategies adopted to mitigate face threat in formal interaction. The Akan style of formal speech is replete with honorifics, proverbs, metaphor and ornate expression, and is contrived to control the power of the spoken word as well as reinforce the existing social and political order.
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