This article is published in AL-QALAM Journal of Languages and Literary Studies, Vol. 1, Issue 1, December 2025 (A Publication of the Department of English and Literature, Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria)
ANALYSIS OF THE LEXICO-SEMANTIC PATTERNS IN CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOOD
SECURITY DISCOURSES IN BENUE AND TARABA STATES, NIGERIA
By
Sakiru Opeyemi KILANI1 Adam
Al-Amin Abdullahi, PhD2 & Ibrahim Awwal, PhD2
Department of English
and Literary Studies, Federal University Wukari, Wukari, Taraba State, Nigeria1
Department of English
and Literary Studies, Federal University of Lafia, Lafia, Nasarawa State,
Nigeria2
Corresponding Author’s email and Phone No: kilani@fuwukari.edu.ng +2348108650110
Abstract
This study applies
Charles Fillmore’s “Frame Semantics” (1982) to critically examine how climate
change and food security discourses form semantic patterns in selected media
and policy-related excerpts from Benue and Taraba States,
Nigeria. The research explored how language encoded and evoked culturally and
technically shared frame patterns that shape public understanding, emotional
resonance, and policy orientation concerning climate change and food discourse
using the data obtained online through real-life reports, government
pronouncements, and stakeholder engagements on the YouTube Channel of TVC News.
The analysis revealed that key lexical items and conceptual structures – such
as “flash-point, desert encroachment, soil erosion, agrarian community,
conflicts, flooding, and land degradation, and so on” – function as
entry points into broader cognitive frames of climate change, ecological
degradation, and climate vulnerability, which have negative effects on the food
security in the states. The study also revealed that through prototype
framings, script evocations (frame ellipsis), relexicalisation/reframing,
taxonomies and paradigms, evaluative framings, and others, some lexical items
such as “sustainable development, collective action, tangible commitment,
welcome development, sustainable practices, actionable policy, validation, and
a host of others”, show individuals, groups, and governments’ awareness and
readiness to combat the menace of climate change and boost food security in the
two states. The concluded that the success or the otherwise of the discourse of
climate change and food security in the two states hinges on the choice of
lexical items in the communication.
Keywords: Climate Change, Food
Security, Language and Discourse, Frames, Frame Semantics
Introduction
Climate
refers to the atmospheric conditions of a particular location over a longer
period. The climatic condition is the long-term summation of the atmospheric
elements such as solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity, and
precipitation and their variations over a long period. The main cause of
climate change experienced in the present time is the human expansion of the
greenhouse effect (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, 2014).
Climate change refers to changes in the mean variability properties of the
climate, which persist over an extended period of time, typically within
decades or longer (Ani, Anyika, & Mutambara, 2022). Nigeria is not shielded
from the rest of the world in terms of the effects of climate change. The
outcomes of climate change have been felt across the vegetative regions of
Nigeria (Ani, Anyika, & Mutambara, 2022). Research has shown that climate
change is increasingly becoming a major threat to agricultural productivity in
Nigeria.
Language is a
tool that influences our behaviour, either positively or otherwise. The impact
of an issue, such as climate change, hence, is related to the words employed in
narrating the issue. Choosing the appropriate lexicon and their structural
arrangement should, therefore, merit attention if one desires a particular
effect and subsequent action when climatic conditions are being discussed
(Kaburise & Ramavhona, 2016). Climate change has undoubtedly brought with
it many seemingly intractable challenges and is already having significant
impacts in Nigeria, and these impacts are expected to increase in the future.
In Nigeria, climate change has continued to hit harder on farmers, forming part
of the challenges of food security in the country. Benue and Taraba states,
which are well known for their contributions towards food security in the
country, are impacted by climate change as well as its discourses, which are
capable of informing the farmers about agricultural processes. This development
affects the agricultural produce from these regions. This problem is not
far-fetched from language barriers and communication deficiency in the sense
that farmers, especially the local ones, are left behind in the discourse of
climate change. Benue and Taraba states are located in the North-Central
and North-Eastern regions of Nigeria, respectively. Benue is known as the “Food
Basket of the Nation” due to its rich agricultural produce, while Taraba is
notable for its diverse ethnic groups and mountainous terrain. The two states
have significant rural populations engaged in farming. They experience varying
climate patterns, which impact agriculture and food security.
Drawing from
the above background, the climate change and food security discourses that are
carried out with certain lexical choices with some semantic features to convey
meanings cannot be overlooked in the academic world. It is against this
background that this research is set to investigate the lexico-semantic
patterns of climate change and food security discourses in Benue and Taraba
states and their implications on the discourses. Specifiacally, it aims to: (i)
identify the lexical choices and their semantic features in the discourse, (ii)
analyse the kinds of frames present in the discourses and (iii) categorise the
recurring lexico-semantic patterns into groups.
Extant
Literatures and Problem Statement
Climate
change poses significant challenges to global food security, particularly in
regions heavily reliant on agriculture, such as Benue and Taraba States,
Nigeria. Specifically in Benue and Taraba States, there exists some research
works from various science disciplines. Researchers on climate change and food
security, such as Agbo and Ikpe (2025), Ekhuemelo and Adole (2024), Sheidu
(2023), Okon et al. (2022), and Chia et al. (2021), among others, have focused
their research on the causes, effects, awareness, adaptation, perception, and
assessment of climate change on food security in Benue State. In Taraba State,
on the other hand, research works of Angye et al. (2024), Tsojon (2017), Ike et
al. (2017), Oruonye (2014), Adebayo and Oruonye (2013), Ike and Opata (2013),
among others, have researched on the causes, effects, assessment, awareness,
response, and adaptation to climate change on food security in the state. While
these research works emanate from science fields, they have contributed to the
body of knowledge on climate change and food security. However, there are
limited research on a joint examination of both Benue and Taraba States. This
factor forms one of the research gaps this current research seeks to fill.
There are
some extant research works on the roles and impacts of language climate change
and food security (Crymble, 2022; Olatumile & Tunde-Awe, 2019; Eze &
Ekechukwu, 2019; and Nerlich et al., 2010), while some other studies dwell on
the use of indigenous or official language in climate change discourse
(Teibowei, 2024; Oyero, 2017; Fløttum, 2017; Kaburise & Ramavhona,
2016; and Mba & Ayegba, 2013). There is a paucity of research investigating
the lexical formation and the meanings of climate change and food security
discourses in both Benue and Taraba States despite the importance of language
and communication on the subject matter. This research gap poses a significant
challenge, as it overlooks the lexical and semantic features of the discourses
of climate change and food security at the local level. Therefore, this
research seeks to explore the lexical and semantic features of the climate
change and food security discourses in the two States.
Conceptual
Review
Language
and Climate Change
The
reflection of language diversity on cultural richness and historical legacies
within communities is an integral aspect of human identity (Teibowei, 2024).
However, its influence on environmental engagement is a nuanced and
underexplored area. The Federal Ministry of Environment Climate Change
Department (FME, 2011) disclosed that understanding how language diversity
interacts with climate action initiatives is crucial for designing policies and
strategies that not only acknowledge but also leverage linguistic variations
for more effective and inclusive environmental outcomes.
The
intersection of language and climate acknowledges that language is a crucial
factor influencing how individuals and communities perceive, understand, and
engage with environmental issues (Oyero, 2017). In a linguistically diverse
context, effective communication becomes paramount for mobilising diverse
populations towards sustainable practices. Inclusive language policies,
multilingual communication strategies and an understanding of linguistic
distinctions contribute to fostering broader and more effective climate action
participation across different linguistic communities.
The Field of Lexical Semantics
Lexical
semantics, also known as lexico-semantics, is a subfield of linguistic studies
that involves analysing lexical units such as words, sub-words, affixes,
compound words, and phrases. Lexical semantics looks at how the meaning of the
lexical units correlates with the structure of language or syntax. This is
referred to as the syntax-semantic interface. The study of lexical semantics
simply looks at the classification and decomposition of lexical items, the
differences and similarities in lexical semantic structure and the relationship
of lexical meaning to sentence meaning and syntax (Edem, 2013). Geeraerts
(2010:2) affirms that the “first stage in the history of lexical semantics runs
from 1830 to 1930. Lexical semantics as an academic discipline in its own right
originated in the early nineteenth century, but that does not mean that matters
of word meaning had not been discussed earlier”.
According to
Beaugrande (1997, p. 21), “the engine of language is to generate or convey
meaning.” Lexical semantics is very critical to language or textual analysis in
the sense that it encapsulates various shades of meaning, which include
denotation and connotation, that is, emotive, social, figurative, or
transferred, and contextual meanings, among others. However, it is imperative
to underline the fact that lexical choices become meaningful only in concrete
or pragmatic situations or contexts. According to Malinowski (1926), the text
is extremely important but without the context, it remains lifeless.
Discourse of Climate Change
Climate
change discourse refers to the language used to discuss climate change,
including the scientific evidence, causes, impacts, and potential solutions.
The importance of climate change discourse in shaping public opinion and policy
decisions cannot be overemphasised. Climate change is a global issue that
requires collective action from individuals, governments, and organisations.
The extent of news media coverage of climate change across the globe has been a
subject of concern (Orhewere & Olley, 2023).
The claim
that language affects how people think, and vice versa, is based on the theory
of linguistic relativity, which has, in turn, impacted ecolinguistics, a branch
of linguistics that examines language and ecology. As Stibbe (2021, p. 2)
mentions, although language and ecology seem to be separated at first glance,
their connection lies in how people treat themselves and the natural world,
which is shaped by how they think, and in turn, how we use language. He claims
that ecolinguistics “is about critiquing forms of language that contribute to
ecological destruction and aiding in the search for new forms of language that
inspire people to protect the natural world” (Stibbe, 2021, p. 1).
Relevant
textual features in climate discourse are “expressions of epistemic, deontic,
and axiological modality; adverbial expressions (or different types of
hedging); connectives; pronouns; lexical choices; metaphors; reported speech”
(Fløttum, 2014, p. 16). According to Fløttum (2017, p. 6), the focus of climate
change discourse has shifted from the causes of climate change to climate
action and mitigation at local, national, and global levels. As Moser (2010, p.
32) similarly points out, “communicators attempt to reach many more audiences,
use more diverse forums and channels, a wider range of messengers, and a number
of different framings”. She proposes that elements of the communication
process, such as the purpose of communication, the audience, the framing, the
content or information, the messengers, the media and modes, and the intended
effect, should be taken into account when communicating climate change (Moser,
2010, p. 37). These aspects not only guide communication but also demonstrate
opportunities for linguistic research on climate change discourse.
Theoretical
Framework
This research
adopts Charles Fillmore’s (1982) Frame Semantics in order to examine the
lexical choices and semantic features of the selected discourses. Frame
Semantics provides a way to understanding word meanings based on the idea that
words evoke structured background knowledge – called frames.
According to Fillmore (1982:111), a frame is a system of
related concepts wherein understanding one requires knowledge of the others. A
word used activates related concepts, which contribute to its meaning. For example,
the verb buy evokes associated roles like buyer, seller,
goods, money, etc. Fillmore developed Frame Semantics from transformational
grammar and Case Grammar, emphasising that word meanings often depend on
understanding the social or experiential structures they presuppose – such as
legal or medical terms. He also draws from ‘prototype theory’ (Rosch, 1973) to
explain culturally shared understandings. For instance, while orphan refers
to someone who lost both parents, its prototype evokes assumptions like youth,
vulnerability, or even moral judgment.
An example
Fillmore gives is: “The decedent, while on land and in mufti last weekend, ate
a typical breakfast and read a novel high in flip strength.” We can relate that
this refers to a naval officer who, before his death last week, while off duty,
ate his usual morning food, and read a pornographic novel. Words like mufti, flip
strength, and weekend trigger background frames to
complete the meaning. Frame Semantics is especially relevant to discourses like
climate change. A sentence such as “Rain has stopped, the sun is scorching,
crops are pale, and wells are dry” implicitly evokes the climate change frame
without naming it directly. With the help of the theory, the lexico-semantic
patterns of the climate change and food security discourses can be identified.
Frame
Semantics offers powerful tools for interpreting language by revealing the
conceptual structures behind word usage. This theory is highly
instrumental in understanding the meanings of lexical items in a text and the
lexico-semantic patterns which they form, for it reveals how ideas and
expressions are framed and evoked to make meanings.
Methodology
This study
employed a qualitative method to explore the meanings of lexical choices in
climate change and food security discourses of Benue and Taraba States,
Nigeria. The research analysed some randomly selected materials on climate and
food security discourses in the two states, drawing on the data derived online
through real-life reports, government pronouncements, and stakeholder
engagements, all obtained on the YouTube Channel of TVC News. The researchers
watched the video clips and made transcriptions which form the basis of the
data. A linguistic analysis was carried out to identify the lexico-semantic
patterns observed in the selected discourses of climate change and food
security in Benue and Taraba States. The study analysed the data based on the
following analytical procedure. The selected discourse were analysed using the
parametres below:
Prototype: Cultural and
experiential expectations tied to word meanings. E.g., orphan implies a
pitiable child, not an adult.
Polysemy: One word fits
different frames. E.g., bank (financial institution vs. riverbank).
Alternate Framings: Different
interpretations of a single fact. Stingy can be reframed as thrifty depending
on evaluative scales.
Contrast within/across frames:
Negation can challenge frames (e.g., stingy vs. thrifty).
Frame Borrowing: Words can be
repurposed across domains. Bachelor, once used for animals, now refers to
unmarried men.
Reframing Lexical Sets: Word
meanings shift over time as contexts change (e.g., boy to man).
Relexicalisation: Titles change
while the event remains. E.g., accused, suspect, murderer, prisoner.
Frame Conflict:
Miscommunication arises when frames differ. E.g., guilty in law vs. everyday
use.
Technical Language Shift: Legal
meanings adapt to fit complex situations. E.g., murder reframed as manslaughter
through transfer of intent.
Evaluative Frames: Adjectives
imply judgment scales (good pencil, delicious meal).
Script Evocation (Frame
Ellipsis): Incomplete narratives that rely on shared knowledge. E.g., “He
pushed the door. The room was empty.”
Textual Frames: Language
conventions vary by culture. E.g., English recipes use imperatives, Hungarian
uses first-person plural.
Structural Concepts
Proportionality: Word relations
via analogies. E.g., MAN: WOMAN : BOY:GIRL.
Paradigms: Lexical structures
showing categories (e.g., male/female livestock terms).
Taxonomies: Hierarchical
structures (e.g., ANIMAL → DOG → RETRIEVER).
Other Concepts
Syncategorematic Terms:
Meaningful only in combination (e.g., imitation coffee, real gold).
Redundancy: Unlike structural
semantics, frame semantics retains seemingly redundant details for fuller
understanding.
Dictionaries vs. Encyclopedias:
Dictionaries define; encyclopedias explain. Frame semantics aligns more with
the latter.
Descriptive Simplicity: Frame
semantics offers deeper but clearer meaning, e.g., lie involves falsity, belief
in falsity, and intent to deceive.
Presupposition: Some verbs
imply prior conditions (e.g., chase presupposes movement of both parties).
Analysis
and Discussion
This section
presents, analyses and discusses the data for this research.
Excerpt One
Analysis
of the Excerpt from Taraba State
Excerpt from
a workshop titled “The Nature’s Gift and Climate Change: Opportunities for
Sustainable Development”, organised by the Taraba State Government on climate
change and food security to raise awareness on climate change in Jalingo,
Taraba State, on 3rd February, 2025, reported by Channels TV News, Jalingo)
Speaker
one, (no name mentioned in the reportage)
Our goal is
to bring together experts, policy makers and stakeholders to shared knowledge,
expertise experience, and best practices in addressing these challenges. As we
gather today to discuss these pressing issues of climate change and sustainable
development, we can be reminded of the importance of collective action and
tangible commitment….
Speaker
two, Conservator of Gashaka/Gumti National Parks)
Taraba’s
unique geographic nature spanning savannah and mountain region makes it highly
susceptible to impacts of climate change including desertification, flooding
and soil erosion. These challenges directly threaten livelihoods particularly
for agrarian communities who depend heavily on land.
With the
environment, you and I have the responsibility to think locally what can I do
in my own locality. First and foremost, we must realise the problem, accept
that there is an issue that needs to be dealt with, accept that we can change
the narratives.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wou4_p9OEo
Below are the
lexical patterns observed in the excerpts:
1. Frame activation and evocations
Similar to
the analysis of excerpt one above, various sets of frames and meanings are
observed in the excerpt above. These frames evoke rich, interconnected
environmental and climate-related frames ranging from the climate crisis frame,
the sustainability and collective action frame, the geographical vulnerability
frame.
a. Climate crisis frame:
these are frames that give names to the climate crises in the text. Key lexical
items such as “devastating effects of climate change”, “desertification”,
“flooding”, “soil erosion”, “these challenges”, “threaten livelihoods”, “pressing
issues”, and so on, evoke the environmental degradation frames. The agents
include, climate forces, deforestation, soil erosion, among others, where the
victims are the agrarian communities, biodiversity, ecosystem, food security,
among others, and the consequences include loss of land, food insecurity, and
displacement.
b. Sustainability and
collective action frames: these are frames that evoke the meanings of the
efforts made by individuals and groups in combating these crises. Some of these
frames include: “stakeholders”, “policymakers”, “commitment”, “collective
action”, “experts”, “share knowledge”, expertise experience”, “best practices”,
“sustainable development”, “you and I”, and so on. Through these frames, there
are inferences of what should be done to combat the menace of climate change.
c. Geographic vulnerability
frames: In the text, there are frames that evoke the vulnerability of Taraba
State to climate change crises. Some Frame such as “Taraba’s unique geographic
nature spanning savannah and mountain region” presupposes background knowledge
of the region’s topographic susceptibility. In fact, this statement is made by
a topography expert, the Conservator of Gashaka/Gumti National Parks.
d. Food security and
agricultural development frames: these words/expressions evoke/activate
meanings related to agricultural productivity. Examples include: “agrarian
communities”, “depend heavily on land”, and so on.
e. Causes-effects lexical
frames: here too, the speakers use some lexical items to evoke certain meanings
of the causes and effects of climate on the environment. Some of these include:
“these
challenges” → “directly threaten livelihoods”
“we must
realise the problem” → “we can change the narratives”
This creates lexico-semantic
chains where one action leads to another, ultimately justifying tree
planting as a preventive measure for a green environment and food security.
2. Prototype Frames
As explained
above, a prototype is the surrounding culture and background understanding of
the meaning of a frame. In the opening statement of the first speaker, the
speaker says, “our goal is to bring together experts….” The prototype of this
expression involves the process of announcing the recruitment of experts in the
field of climate and topography, accessing them, employing them, and then
assigning their job roles to them. Similar to that, Taraba’s unique geographic
nature, spanning the savannah and mountain region, evokes the meaning of a
region with farming activities, especially with the mention of the savannah. An
agrarian community reliant on land, directly vulnerable to climate shifts like
soil erosion, drought, and flooding.
3. Lexical Reframing and
Relexicalisation
This is the
process of a semantic shift where a frame is renamed. In the excerpt, for
instance, the use of “Nature’s Gift” in the title
frames/evokes Taraba’s biodiversity as a blessing that is
now at risk, reinforcing a heritage preservation frame. The appellation,
“Nature’s Gift”, is given to Taraba State due to its unique topography being a
gift from nature. In a similar vein, the speaker, the Conservator of
Gashaka/Gumti, says, “Accept that we can change the narratives”.
This expression reframes climate discourse
from victimhood to agency, suggesting that reframing the issue
can reorient policy and public perception about the issues.
4. Alternate Framings and Contrast
within Frames
Fillmore
explains that a single situation or fact can be presented within different
framings; framings which make them out as different ‘facts’. The instance of
this can be seen in the text when the speaker uses expressions such as “policy
makers” and still reframes it again by saying “stakeholders”. In a wider sense,
stakeholders can also be policymakers. The same situation is also applicable to
when he mentions “shared knowledge”, and later reframes it as “expertise
experience” and “best practices”. Lastly, the speaker uses “these challenges”
to evoke the negative conceptual connotation of climate change while using
“these issues” at the same time to evoke the same thing. Both lexical frames
refer to the adverse effects of climate change.
5. Evaluative Framings or Frames for
Evaluation
As we have
realised earlier, these frames show values of something through some qualifying
adjectives. In the text, the speaker uses adjectives or qualifiers to show how
serious their discourses look. For instance, the uses of “pressing” (pressing
issue), “devastating” (devastating effects), “tangible” (tangible commitment),
“sustainable” (sustainable development) and “collective” (collective action)
show the tenacity of the subjects of the head words. For instance, in the case
of the adjective “tangible”, it presupposes that many prior commitments
have been abstract or symbolic, hence establishing a frame
of action-based commitment to produce the desired effects.
6. Script Evocation or Frame Ellipsis
Some frames
are usually eliminated in order to achieve ‘redundancy elimination’ even
though the deliberate elimination does not affect the meaning of the surface
frame. In the text, for instance, the frames “desertification, flooding, and
soil erosion” suggest a known environmental deterioration script, omitting
explanatory steps, such as deforestation, urban expansion, water overflow, and
so on, because they are assumed to be shared knowledge. In a similar vein, the
speaker reiterates the script of community mobilisation when he evokes the
frames “we must realise the problem, accept that there is an issue that needs
to be dealt with, accept that we can change the narratives” without stating the
problem itself, the issue to be dealt with, and the processes involved,
especially in changing the narratives.
7. Paradigms
A paradigm is
a set of frames that refer to a group of objects each (e.g., cattle, cow, bull,
steer). In the text, the speaker creates lexical frames through paradigms to
evoke some meanings.
For instance:
Threats: desertification, flooding, erosion
Responses: knowledge
sharing, best practices, local action
In the
context of paradigm, “desertification, flooding, and erosion” are all threats,
but each one has its place and mode of occurrence, and the words cannot be used
interchangeably. The same applies to “knowledge sharing, best practices, and
local action”. They may work together, but they are not the same entities.
8. Taxonomies
A taxonomy,
on the other hand, is a set of frames that refer to one particular object at a
time (e.g., animal, vertebrate, mammal, dog, and retriever). The concepts of
paradigm and taxonomies in frame semantics are similar, however differ in
scope. While paradigm refers to the common names/frames of an object with
similar features, semantic taxonomies refer to the names/frames that can
address an object at once. In the excerpt above, the speaker creates lexical
frames through taxonomies. Instances are:
Climate
change: challenges, problems, issues
Stakeholders: experts,
policymakers, citizens
The frames,
“climate change” and “stakeholders”, in the above have taxonomy frames. This is
due to the fact that “challenges, problems, and issues” are similar in nature
and one can substitute another; likewise “experts, policymakers, citizens” can
refer to the same persons and also substitute one another. In fact, a citizen
can be an expert on climate change as well as a policymaker on it for the
government.
Excerpt Two
Analysis
of the Excerpt from Benue State
The excerpt
from a workshop titled “Development of Climate Change Policy for Benue State”,
organised by the Benue State Government on climate change and food security
policy revalidation in Makurdi, Benue State, on 18th February, 2025, reported
by Mayowa Okunato of TVC News, Makurdi.
Reporter,
Mayowa Okunato (TVC News, Makurdi)
Nomadic and
semi-nomadic herders have a long history of migrating and also of building
relationships with various sedentary farming populations, sometimes leading to
conflicts over shared natural renewable resources, namely, fresh water and
land. These, the State, can relate to. These activities aggravate land
denigration and increase a frequency of drought and consequently lead to
declining food production. One of the objectives of this stakeholders’ review
and validation meeting is to promote climate-smart agriculture practice, also
to improve access to clean and sustainable energy.
Hon. Ugwu
Odoh (Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment, and Climate Change)
Benue State
is always a flash-point state, so we don’t take issues of flooding lightly in
Benue State. We got the prediction of this year, 2025, and we are doing all we
can as a state, and as a department, who oversees environment to make sure we
prepare adequately in terms of the climate change policy that we are doing the
validation today. It is a welcome development for the state.
Mayowa
Okunato (TVC News, Makurdi)
The effects
of climate change are already evident. Stakeholders is [sic] expected to
develop and implement adaptive strategies that build resilience and promotes
sustainable practices.
Chairperson
(Women Environmental Programme)
This policy
is very critical but it is also very critical for the state, because at the end
of the day, it is not just to have a policy, but to also have an actionable
policy”. Actionable policy means that, the policy will be implemented. Just
like what we have in other states that have formed their own policy and are
implementing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh92s5EQv4c
Below
are the lexico-semantic patterns observed in the data excerpt:
1. Frame activation and evocation
a. Environmental
degradation frames: these are frames that evoke the meanings of frame concepts
that can be found in the texts. For instance, “land denigration”, “drought”,
“declining food production”, and so on. The reporter believes that the
incessant clashes between herders and farmers to the effects of unsustainable
use of land and insufficient water (drought) for farming, leading to a decrease
in farm production.
b. Climate adaptation and
policy development frames: the speaker triggers frames that evoke lexical
meanings geared towards climate adaptation and policy development in the state.
Some of the lexicons include: “climate-smart agriculture”, “clean and sustainable
energy”, “validation meeting”, “sustainable practices”, “adaptive strategies”,
“actionable policy”, and others. These frames portray that the government is
aware of the ravaging effects of climate change in the state and the need for a
sustainable policy, thus the organisation of the revalidation meeting in
question.
c. Sustainability and
collective action frames: these are frames that evoke the meanings of the
efforts made by individuals, groups, and even the government in combating these
crises. Some of these lexical frames include: “we” (as frequently used by the
Commissioner for Water Resources, showing the government’s readiness to combat
climate change menace through sustainable policies) “stakeholders”,
“department”, “[we] prepare”, and so on. Through these frames, there are
inferences of individual’s and government’s assignment in combating the effects
of climate change.
d. Geographic vulnerability
frames: In the text, there are frames that evoke the vulnerability of Benue
State to climate change crises. A frame made by the Commissioner, “Benue State
is always a flash-point state,” is a typical exemplification of the state's
vulnerability to climate crises, especially flooding. In addition, the reporter
also states, “these, the state can relate” and “the effects of climate change
are already evident”. These frames evoke the meanings that the state is already
in danger of herder-farmer clashes as well as climate change, respectively,
which both affect the agricultural productivity in the state.
2. Prototype Frames
As explained
above, a prototype is the surrounding culture and background understanding of
the meaning of a frame. A prototype frame is any available information for the
understanding of a frame. In the text, for instance, the commissioner for water
resources describes Benue State as a “flashpoint state,” which frames it as a
region historically and geographically susceptible to environmental and
intergroup conflicts. Other prototypes related to Benue State include “water
risks”, “farming reliance”, “vulnerability”, “need for proactive policy”, and
so on.
Another point
of the prototype in the excerpt is that of climate change/impact itself. The
presence of drought, conflicts, high temperature, social and agricultural
disruption, erosion, and so on, can quickly signify climate change even when
clearly not mentioned in the text.
3. Script Evocation or Frame Ellipsis
Sometimes,
frames are eliminated in order to achieve ‘redundancy elimination’ even
though the deliberate elimination does not affect the meaning of the surface
frame. In the text, for instance, the narrative omits specific causal chains
but evokes entire scripts. “Validation meeting” evokes a policy development
script including stakeholder consultation, review, and eventual implementation,
even though these steps are not clearly spelt out. The reporter also reports
“the effects of climate change are already evident” – where are they? They are
not clearly spelt out in this particular line with the aim of minimising words
(scriptal economy) and achieving “redundancy elimination”. Such a frame
relies on shared experiential knowledge to fill in the gaps.
4. Lexical Reframing and
Relexicalisation
This is the
process of a semantic shift where a frame is renamed. In the text, for
instance, instead of solely lamenting conflict, the reporter reframes it as a
driver for climate-smart agricultural practices “one of the objectives…is to
promote climate-smart agriculture”, aiming at the opportunities it tends to
bring. Also, he uses the nomadic-sedentary conflict frame within climate
discourse, not just ethnic or political categories, for example, “Fulani
herdsmen-farmers”.
In the same
vein, “flash-point state” typically used in political conflict gets
relexicalised here to mean environmental risk zone, especially for flood,
showcasing Fillmore’s recontextualisation of word meaning. “Validation” is not
used in its everyday sense (e.g., approval), but reframed as a technical policy
process, consistent with a legal/government frame.
5. Evaluative Framings
Fillmore
claims that one important area in which semantic interpretation depends
crucially on lexical framing is that of attributions of value, especially
through value adjectives. In this context, some frames evoke positive values
while some evoke negative values. In the excerpt, the speakers add some values
to some frames so as to show the level of their importance. For instance,
frames such as, “welcome development”, “prepare adequately”, “build
resilience”, “climate-smart agriculture”, “clean and sustainable energy”,
“validation meeting”, “sustainable practices”, “adaptive strategies”,
“actionable policy”, and so on, are evoked by the speaker to signal positive
evaluative framing of institutional response and morally charged engagement
with climate threats. This aligns with Fillmore’s idea that evaluative
adjectives embed frames of judgement or value scales. Although it can also
be negative, in the case of “land denigration” as reported by the reporter.
6. Paradigms
A paradigm
consists of a set of frames that refer to a group of objects, each with a
distinct meaning (e.g., cattle, cow, bull, steer). In the excerpt above, the
speaker creates lexical frames through paradigms to evoke some meanings. For
instance,
Climate
impacts: “drought”, “flood”, “declining production”, “erosion”, “land
denigration”
Solutions:
“prepare adequately”, “build resilience”, “climate-smart agriculture”, “clean
and sustainable energy”, “validation meeting”, “sustainable practices”,
“adaptive strategies”, “actionable policy”
In the case
of the paradigm, “drought, flood, declining production, erosion” are all
threats but each one has its place and mode of occurrence and the words cannot
be used interchangeably even though they all amount to “climate impacts”. The
same applies to “sustainable practices”, “adaptive strategies”, “actionable
policy”, and “climate-smart agriculture”. All these may work together to denote
“solutions” to the climate problems, but they are not the same entities.
7. Taxonomies
A taxonomy is
a set of frames that refer to one particular object at a time (e.g., animal,
vertebrate, mammal, dog, and retriever). In the excerpt above, the speaker
creates lexical frames through taxonomies. Instances are:
Agents: “Nomadic
herders, sedentary farmers, stakeholders”
The frame
“agents” in the above excerpt has taxonomy frames because one agent can
substitute another, likewise “nomadic herders, sedentary farmers, and
stakeholders” can refer to the same persons. In fact, a citizen can be a
nomadic herder, a sedentary farmer, and a stakeholder in the climate discourse.
Conclusion
This analysis
reveals how language operates not just as a tool of communication but as a
powerful mechanism for shaping perceptions, mobilising action, and structuring
socio-environmental reality. Across both contexts of the two states (Benue and
Taraba), climate change is consistently framed through interconnected
experiential domains such
as agriculture, deforestation, desertification, soil erosion,
and flooding, which all have negative impacts on food security in the two
states. These frames paved the way for social action and policy intervention
frames. These frames evoke shared understandings of environmental degradation
and resilience, drawing on familiar cognitive scripts – such as community
participation, policy validation, and flood response –
to guide public interpretation and stakeholder engagement. Words like
“flashpoint,” “restoration,” “desert encroachment,” and “resilience” are not
neutral; they trigger evaluative and emotional responses that activate specific
conceptual frames and project urgency, responsibility, and hope.
Moreover, the
data has shown how different speakers – government officials, journalists,
community leaders, and stakeholders – employ relexicalisation, frame
shifting, and script evocation to legitimise their perspectives and
to recontextualise familiar challenges in terms of climate action and
sustainability. The discourse in Benue tends
toward policy-centric and technical framing, while Taraba’s data
leans toward public awareness and policy intervention, yet both converge
around a central framing of climate change as a localised, lived, and
addressable threat. The research found that (i) the data contained some lexical
items (expressions) whose semantic features relate to the concept of climate
change and food security in the two states, for examples, “deforestation”,
“soil erosion”, “drought”, “land denigration”, “declining food production”,
(ii) the excerpts contained semantic frames that explained the meanings of the
expressions, such as climate crisis frames, environmental degradation frames,
climate adaptation and policy development frames, sustainability and collective
action frames, geographical vulnerability frames, causes-effects frames and so
on, (iii) the lexical choices in the excerpt belong to some recurring
lexico-semantic patterns such as, prototypes, relexicalisation, alternate
framings, evaluative framings, script evocation, paradigms, taxonomies, and so
on. It can be finally concluded that the discourse of climate change and food
security is as weighty as the subject matters themselves. If the right choice
of words is made during the discourse of climate change and food security, it
will foster solutions to the menace of the subject matters. Conversely, if the
right choice of diction is not made during the discourse of climate change and
food security, the meaning can be distorted leading to communication breakdown.
Recommendations
Based on the
findings of this research, which reveal how climate change discourse in Taraba
and Benue States are shaped by specific frames that influence public perception
and policy engagement, the following recommendations are proposed:
1. Individuals and
stakeholders should adopt communication patterns that intentionally invoke
positive, productive and action-oriented frames in order to motivate citizens
in the fight against climate change and ensuring food security.
2. Climate change and food
security discourse should be framed in locally resonant terms that will reflect
the everyday realities of affected population
3. Climate policies should
not only be technically sound but also linguistically effective with the
incorporation of action-oriented frames.
4. Community dialogues and
stakeholder forums should include opportunities for local voices to influence
how climate challenges are discussed and framed.
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