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COOU Journal of Arts and Humanities (CJAH) Vol. 5 No. 3, 2020

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Abstract
Language is one of the best gifts that man is ever endowed with. Human beings developed 
language in order to communicate with one another within a speech community. A speech 
community is made up of people who use a given language which need not have any social or 
cultural unity. It is based on this that the church qualifies as a speech community. This paper 
therefore, is an attempt to carry out a socio-linguistic survey of language use in different 
Christian denominations, in expressing their religious beliefs and faith. These denominations 
include: Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox. The paper carried out a survey of the 
expressions used by these different Christians denominations during their worship and its 
effects on them. The descriptive method of data analysis was used in the analysis of data 
gathered for this work. The paper carried out a socio-linguistic analysis of language use in 
different denominations under different headings. The speech patterns and language codes of 
the denominations were collected and analysed the under different headings. The findings 
from this research revealed that though Christians worship the same God, but the languages 
used by different denominations differ. The work also showed that the difference amongst the 
different denominations is just in the choice of words, semantic interpretation of the scriptures 
and not philosophical one. This work should be of great relevance to researchers on language 
use.  

Keywords: Socio-Linguistic, Language, Christian denominations, Catholics, Orthodox, 
Protestants.

Introduction 
Language is a conventionalised and natural symbol used by man in communication. Language 
according to Wardhaugh (2000) is essentially a set of linguistic items as, sounds, words, 
grammatical structure etc. Bell (1976) as quoted by Olaoye (2008) sees language as 'a system 
of signals conforming to the rule which constitutes its grammar, that is, a pure code or 
communication system'. Olaoye (2008) defines language as a means by which people from the 
same and related community interact and express their thoughts and feelings to one another. 
Gimson (1980) sees language as a system of conventional symbols used for communication 
by a whole community. It is made up of words employed in art, in branch of knowledge or 
professions, in modes of speech, diction and articulate expression of thought and feelings by 
human beings.

DAVID, ABRAHAM AREO (PhD)
Department of Languages and Linguistics

Nasarawa State University, Keffi
                                    E-mail: abrahamdavid 2013@gmail.com

And
DAVID, STEPHEN O. (PhD)

Department of English
Nasarawa State University, Keffi

E-mail: steveodavid66@gmail.nsuk.edu.ng

A SOCIO-LINGUISTIC STUDY OF 
LANGUAGE USE IN 

DIFFERENT CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS



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COOU Journal of Arts and Humanities (CJAH) Vol. 5 No. 3, 2020

From the above definitions, it can be seen that language is always meant for the society and 
therefore is independent on the society. Language is a societal possession and individuals have 
access to it and constantly show this by properly using it. It helps to insure a certain amount of 
societal uniformity thereby facilitating communication in the society.  Descartes (1937) avers 
that it is a remarkable thing that there is no man so dull and stupid, not even lunatic that they 
cannot arrange various words and form a sentence to make their thoughts understood which no 
animal however perfect or well -bred can do same. Chomsky (1970) asserts  that the capacity 
for free, appropriate and creative use of language as an expression of thought with the means 
provided by the language faculty is a distinctive feature of human species having no significant 
analogy elsewhere. To arouse appropriate feelings and responses in people, certain structural 
and lexical possibilities of a language are exploited by communicators.

Lepage (1971:9) enumerates four functions of language for an individual. These include:
a) By the acquisition of speech habits of his society; an individual becomes a full member 

of a society, contributing his responses to the common stock which could be easily 
recognized and stimulate reactions from others which he could also  understand'

b) It offers him a tool for exploring and analysing his own conceptual processes in the 
sense that it helps him understand his own thoughts and imposes on him the thinking 
habits of his community, as crystallized in the lexicon of his language.

c) It gives access to the experiences of others, depending on the adequacy of his response 
and that of others.

d) It offers an individual greater possibility of self- expression than he could have without 
it. 
It can be seen from the above definitions of language that, language plays a significant 

role in human communication and when the intended meaning is not met then communication 
loses its focus. The definitions also show that language is a learned behaviour and its use does 
not occur as a response to stimuli. It is one road of thinking which makes human society 
habitable. Every human language is resourceful and is capable of expressing the thoughts and 
feelings of its users. It is used as a tool for the exchange of ideas, a means of passing 
information, for expression of emotions, an instrument for phatic communion which is the 
social function of language. The phonology, grammar and lexis of language vary 
tremendously not only from one social group or the other but also in term of inter-
communication between social groups and the interaction of human relationships.

Language as described above is principle means of communication of ideas and social 
interaction which represents the nature and the culture of the society. It represents  the nature 
and futureand the cultural while sociolinguistics shows what Language and the society looks 
like.

Review of Related Literature
Sociolinguistics
The term sociolinguistics, a most recent field of study is concerned with the study and 
investigation of the relationship between language and the society. It relates societal problems 
to language problems. It has a strong connection to anthropology through the investigation of 
language of language and culture and to sociology through the crucial role that language plays 
in the organization of social groups and institutions (Crystal, 1987:421). Holmes (2013) 
asserts that, the interest of Sociolinguists from the above definitions is in studying the social, 
political, cultural and linguistic situations within a given speech community to see how 



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language choice and use reveal the value and cultural beliefs and practices of the community. 
Sociolinguistics focuses on the ways people use language to express social class, group status, 
gender, religion or ethnicity and it looks at how they make choices about the form of language 
they use. Sociolinguists believe that language occurs in social contexts and norms.As an 
approach that studies everyday spoken language in its socialcontext, sociolinguistics provides 
a fruitful starting point for theseconsiderations.  

Sociolinguistic can therefore be seen as practical, scientific discipline which 
researches into the language that is actually used, either by native speakers or foreigners in 
order to formulate theories abhor language change. There are numerous factors influencing 
the way people speak which are investigated by sociolinguistics. These include social class, 
social context, geographical origins, ethnicity, nationality, gender, age and religion, which are 
the interests of this paper.

Society and Language Determinants
In every society there are factors that determine language use. The determinants of language 
use in a society are the factors that determine acceptable linguistic forms in a given society. 
The language in use in some situations is not appropriate in some others. Since language does 
not occur in a vacuum, it is made possible through the basic requirements in a given society. 
Apart from the general societal requirements, there is also language use required in certain 
situations of professional touch. In certain situations requiring professional touch or 
vocational appeal, there are linguistic requirements for such situations. For instance, in a 
school environment, it is expected that the teacher should be careful in his language use since 
he has learners all around him, because they may learn all that he says or does; therefore any 
linguistic aberration by the teacher may be copied as appropriate by the learners. 

Social life, including language use, is governed by norms – socially shared concepts of 
appropriate and expected behaviour. The most basic of these concepts are acquired in early 
childhood through socialisation. In the case of language norms, this means that the first 
language norms adopted are the ones of everyday spoken language. Compared to the 
prescriptive norms of the standardised language, these uncodified norms are perhaps less 
conscious, yet more natural, in every sense of the word: they are more numerous, acquired 
earlier in life and mastered by all native speakers. They also historically precede the norms of 
the standard language, and in communities without a written language they are the only norms 
available. Labov (1972) stressed the importance of these naturally occurring norms for 
linguistic description. He both encourages to take the norms of the vernacular as the basis of 
grammatical description as well as to discuss more thoroughly the nature of language norms. 
Norms are inherently social.

Religion  
Religion is a cultural phenomenon which has a major feature in the Nigeria society. The daily 
involvement of religion in all aspects of daily living and thinking by members of society is a 
common thing in our contemporary society. Religion defies easy definition but can commonly 
be understood as a group of attitude or beliefs that concern an object; real or imagined, or a 
system of thoughts that are considered divine, sacred , supernatural, of higher truth and the 
values, practices, moral codes and rituals that are associated with such system. Christianity is 
one of such religions that are based on the teaching of Jesus Christ. The spirit, beliefs, 
principles and practice of this faith are mainly found in the Bible. In the course of 
communication during public and private worships, certain expressions are used amongst 
Christians.



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This paper identifies how language functions in Christianity and brings out some 
expressions / utterances that are used by Christians during worship and their effects on them. 
This paper therefore, is an attempt to carry out a socio-linguistic survey of language use in 
different Christian denominations, in expressing their religious beliefs and faith.The paper 
discovered, over a period of time, that there are some expressions and language that are used by 
Christians in expressing their belief and faith which are dependent on the denomination in 
question. While some are generally used, others are specific depending on the denomination. 
The paper   identified these expressions and their functions according to the denominations. 
Certain expressions and utterances are used amongst Christians in the course of interaction and 
expression of their faith and religious beliefs.

Language, communication and Society
There is a symbiotic relationship between language, communication and Society. Language 
serves as an instrument of communication. Interaction between human beings is made 
possible with the use of language while communication is the carrier of social processes; it 
enables men to be social beings. Man exists in a society and is in frequent contact with his 
fellow beings in the society as man cannot exist in isolation. Ideas, feelings, information, 
emotions etc. are communicated by man's use of language.  Communication is a very 
important and inevitable part of human existence and language is a tool employed by man to 
achieve this. Apart from being a means of establishing and maintaining relationships with 
other people, daily activities are also carried out by people through communication by the use 
of language. The growth, development and survival are possible due to a system of 
communication.

The circle of communication however proceeds through a number of stages conceived 
by the transmitter, encoded and relayed through a particular route to a recipient who then 
decodes and interprets and finally confirms to the sender that the message has been 
understood. Language is an inborn and essential part of man; it is man's means of meaningful 
communication that reflects every facet of man's attitude and behaviour. A great deal of 
importance is attached to language as it is a tool that man employs in communicating others in 
the society and also a means of resolving problems and tensions that arise from human 
interactions and behaviour. No sector of society is exempted when we talk about language as a 
means of communication.

Language cannot exist in a vacuum; it cannot be separated from the society because it is 
the major medium through which ideas are passed across in social integration. Fasold (1984) 
asserts that language is an ever evolving process on the planet earth varying from culture to 
culture and from place to place depending on the need of civilisation par time. The culture of 
the society is expressed through language. A social group is can co-operate effectively within a 
language environment when the value assigned to signs and symbols clearly understood by the 
parties involved. For example, if a person decides to use the word 'warm' to stand for an 
elephant  or the colour blue, to represent the leaves on a mango tree, one will only be creating 
confusion because he has moved beyond the boundaries  of common and acceptable symbols 
in a particular social group. Stock and Widdowson (19941:10) states that, “the use of a 
particular language or dialect is an important factor in the cultural identity of a group of 
speakers.” A person's language may be a means of identifying his position on a social or 
cultural scale. Crystal (1989)  asserts that our use of language can tell our listener or reader a 
great deal about ourselves and in particular about our origin, social background, level of 
education , occupation, age, sex and personality.

The kind of language used in socialisation differs from one social situation to another; 
the language used in a particular situation such as; between a doctor and his colleague or in 



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05

banking is used to suit the situation in which it is being used also. The language used at a formal 
gathering will be different occasions to communicate ideas. Knowledge of proper language 
use at a given time or situation for communication is required for it to have an impact on the 
listener(s) or reader(s). Man's society and civilisation are chronicled by languages; therefore, 
as development occurs new words are coined to cope with them. Crystal (1989) explained that, 
in recent times, whole new areas of expressions have emerged, in relation to such domains as 
broadcasting, popular music, computing and commercial advertising. Spread styles 
associated with the press, religion, medicine and science, commerce, politics and law have 
over a long time scale developed. 

Language and Religion
A divine being is said to have invented speech and /or writing and given it to mankind. One of 
the first things Adam did according to the book of Genesis in the Bible (the Holy book of 
Christians) was to name the acts of creation. Another similar story is that of Egypt Mythology 
of the god named Thor, who was believed to be the creator of speech and writing (Petersides 
R.D. 1976). In Hindus, it is Braham who gave the knowledge of writing to the Hindus. All over 
the world, the supernatural provides a powerful set of beliefs about the origin of language. 
Religious associations are particularly strong in relation to written languages because writing 
is an effective means of guarding and transmitting sacred knowledge. Literacy was only 
available only to the elite, in which priests figured prominently. 

Sacred Writings  
At the centre of all world’s main religion lies a body of sacred writings revered by believers. 
Scrupulous attention is to identify or preserving the linguistic features of the original text. 
Often, the text is accompanied by a long tradition of commentary, which may itself take on 
special religious significance. Examples of such long tradition religions according to 
Peterside (1976) include: 
i) Buddhism: 
The Pali canon, based on oral tradition, which contains the teaching of the Buddhist from 
many countries. But comparable text came to exist in other languages, such as Chinese and 
Japanese, as the religion evolved.

ii) Christianity:
The Bible consists of 39 books of the Old Testament written in Hebrew and the 27 books of the 
New Testament written in Greek. Several other writings, known collectively as Apocrypha 
and preserved only in Greek, have controversial status. A Latin translation of the Bible, known 
as the Vulgate, is prominent in the Roman Catholic tradition.  According to the Watch Tower 
and tract society (1996), the bible was written by some 40 different men over a period of 1600 
years. It is made up of 66 little books. Those who wrote the Bible were inspired by God; they 
wrote His thoughts and theirs. God, therefore, is the Author of the Bible (11 Timothy 3:16, 11 
Peter 1:20-21). God made sure that the Bible was accurately copied and preserved. More 
Bibles have been printed than any other book.

Hinduism:
The Vedas is a wide range of texts written in Sanskrit and preserved largely through a 
meticulous oral tradition, which takes particular care over accuracy or pronunciation. 

iii) Islam :
 The Muslims believe the Qur'an was dictated to the Prophet Mohammed by Allah, during the 



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COOU Journal of Arts and Humanities (CJAH) Vol. 5 No. 3, 2020

month of Ramadan. It is written in classical Arabic in a style which is considered miraculous 
beyond the ability to imitate. The memorisation of the text in childhood acts simultaneously as 
introduction to literacy.

iv)  Judaism: 
The Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, especially as found in its first five books, is traditionally 
said to be written by Moses. This later resulted into varieties of Hebrew, and some Arabic form 
of the language in a large collection of oral and written commentaries on the Bible known as 
the Talmud.

Not all religions favour the translation of their sacred books; Judaism, Hinduism and 
Islam especially stress the sacredness of the language itself and resist translation, whereas 
Buddhism and especially Christianity actively promote it. In Christianity the belief is that 
every man in every language should read and understand the word of God. But ultimately, all 
major religion's works are translated either from one language into another or from an older 
variety of language into a modern.

Varieties of Religious Language
The most striking feature of a religious language is its heterogeneity, deriving from the wide 

range of activities involved in public and private worship and the involvement of 
religious in all aspects of daily living and thinking. Several varieties, all distinctive 
in their use of linguistic structure are widely encountered. These include:

i) Liturgical Forms: Both spoken and sung liturgy are produced by individuals and 
in unison, as monologue and dialogue. It also includes such acts of innovate or, 
petitions, doxologies (statement of glory or praise), intercessions, thanksgiving, 
rosaries, litanies, chants, hymns, Psalms and canticles. It also includes preaching 
from formal written sermon to spontaneous monologues or even dialogues (as the 
congregation reacts) and sometimes involve elements of song or chart).

ii)      Ritual Forms: is used in relation to cultural or social practices, such as baptism, 
funerals, confessions, meal times, remembrance services, weddings, meditations, 
cleansing rites, vows, exorcising and the blessing of people, objects or places.

iii)     Readings: from sacred texts, in an original language or translation, with varying 
degrees of literalness, formality and modernity. The text itself contains or a wide 
range of varieties such as parables, psalms, historical narrative, apocalyptic 
description, poetry and paradox'

iv)    Doctrinal Statement: as expounded in official “canonical” documents, creed, 
articles of faith, expository pamphlets, courses of instruction, catechism and these 
days, teachings on cable television. Closely associated with this, there is the 
dimension of theological language, as expounded by theological, biblical scholars 
and other religious professionals.

v)    Private Affirmations: These are beliefs in supernatural beings, expression of 
identity and conversion, ecstatic prayers, prophesying, spirit possession and 
testimony giving.

Research Methodology
The descriptive research design was employed in carrying out this research. The primary and 
secondary means of research method were used in gathering the data for this paper. The 
primary means employed used include, oral interviews, and personal observation, use of 



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informants and the administration of questionnaires to Christians across Catholic, Protestant 
and Pentecostal Churches. 90 questionnaires, 30 each, were distributed across these churches. 
The respondents fall within the age brackets (15-17), (18-50), (50 and above). The area of the 
research focus is   Nasarawa State. The secondary means of data collection include the use of 
available religious texts, and other library materials both published and unpublished. The data 
collected for this work were analysed using the descriptive survey method of data analysis. 
The knowledge of the researcher to a large extent helped in facilitating the analysis of the data.

Data Presentation and Analysis
The data gathered were analysed in this section. The following questions raised in the 
background to this study were answered in this section. What are the expressions that are used 
by Christians? Are all Christians familiar with these expressions and utterances? What role 
does language play in Christianity? Do these expressions have any effect(s) on the lives of the 
users? 

Table 1 : Expressions /Utterances used by Christians According to Church 
Denominations 

S/N Church 
Denomination

Expression Usage

i

ii

iii

iv

 v

 vi

 vii

 viii

ix

In Jesus’ name -----before or 
at the end of a 
prayer

All Denominations

I am/You are covered by the 
blood of Jesus

Holy Ghost Fire consume----

Offering Time - Blessing Time

The Lord is good - All the time

Praise the Lord— Halleluyah

To the glory of God or to 
God be the glory

There is no one like Jesus

Push: Pray until something
happens

During prayer

For prayer 
against Enemies

During offering/
Offering

During 
Testimony and 
thanksgiving 

During 
Testimony and 
thanksgiving 

During 
Testimony and 
thanksgiving 

During  Praise 
and Worship

During  the 
Prayer of
encouragement 

All Denominations

Mountain of Fire

All Denominations

All Denominations

All Denominations

All Denominations

All Denominations

Pentecostal 



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x

xii

xiii

By God’s grace During the 
prayer of 
encouragement

All Denominations

God is looking for people FAT;
faithful, available and teachable

Glory to Jesus-Honour to
Mary

The Lord is my/your/our 
strength

I reject it in Jesus’ name

Bless you ----Bless you

It is well in Jesus name

It shall come to pass

A kind of 
Greeting

During Prayer

A way of 
greeting

During 
Encouragement

Catholic

All Denominations

Pentecostals 

xi During 
admonishment

Pentecostal and
Orthodox

xiii During prayer of
encouragement

God is surer than the surest, 
mightier than the mightiest, 
bigger than the biggest.

Pentecostals (Rede-
emed Christian 
Church)

xiv During  Praise 
and Worship

xv

xvi

xvii

Pentecostals 
(Living Faith 
Church)

All Denominations

During Prayer All Denominations

During 
Encouragement

During 
Admonishment

During 
prayers against
enemies

During Mass

During times of 
trials

All Denominations

Pentecostal
(Deeper Life)

Pentecostal
and Orthodox

Catholic Church

All Denominations

xix

xxi

xxii

xxiii

xxiv

Be blessed in Jesus Name

Repent or you Perish

Back to sender in Jesus’ Name

May the peace of the Lord be
with you— and with your spirit

The devil is a liar

The Lord is in control During 
encouragement

All Denominations

The Grace in fellowship

The Lord is in control During 
encouragement

During 
departure from
service

Pentecostals and
Orthodox

All Denominations

xxv

xxvi

xxvii



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Table (1) indicates the utterances and expressions that are used by different Christian 
denominations during service. These are grouped below through the following language use 
or choice at different occasions of language use. The use and meaning of some words are 
appropriate at certain points or occasions to exercise one's faith or belief and on certain 
purposes or aims. This is because the accurate use of language could go a long way in 
enhancing the confidence of the believers in their religion. For Christianity to have an impact 
in the lives of Christians, the appropriate use of language is very important. Below is a list of 
language use in various Christian activities as shown in the above table.
i) Language of Worship/ Exaltation
Examples include the following:

i) To God be the glory
ii) The Lord is good;  response:  All the time
iii) Praise the Lord  response Amen/ Halleluyah
iv) There is no one like Jesus
v) In Jesus name
vi) By God's grace
vii) God is surer than the surest, mightier than the mightiest

In the course of worshipping God by Christians, the language that dominates here is laudatory, 
positive and emphasising the unequalled ability, uniqueness, might and strength of God, 
placing God higher than every other divine being or person. These expressions are used mostly 
during testimonies and thanksgiving services in Churches and to exalt God for his good deeds, 
for instance, on occasions of child dedication, anniversary celebrations, thanking God for 
deliverance etc.
ii) Language of Administration/ Exhortation
The following expressions/ utterances are presented here:

a) Repent or you perish
b) Rapture is coming
c)  The day of  judgement is coming soon'
d) Rapture is coming'
e)  'Jesus is coming soon'
f) God is looking for people that are faithful, available and teachable'

These expressions are made by Christians (e.g. preachers, Bible scholars, Ministers of God 
etc.) to urge other Christians to shun evil or sinful activities. The words 'death', 'rapture', 
'judgsment', 'perish' etc, elicit fear in people/ Christians,  instil fear on Christians, hence the 
language used here would go a long way  in discouraging them from indulging in evil, sinful  
or immoral activities and probably to adhere to the teaching of the Bible.
iii) Language of Comfort/ Hope/ Encouragement/Consolation
Here we have expression/utterances such as:
i)  The Lord is in control.
ii) It is well in Jesus name.
iii) You will never lack in Jesus'.



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COOU Journal of Arts and Humanities (CJAH) Vol. 5 No. 3, 2020

iv) May the peace of the Lord be with you; response: and also with you'.
v) ‘You are blessed'/ 'be blessed in Jesus name'.
vi) With God all things are possible.

These expressions are made by Christians who are confronted with difficult or negative 
situations or circumstances as, financial, marital and social problems, discouragements, 
depressions, death etc. the  pronouncement of the above expressions, the Christians that are in 
will be comforted , encouraged and be hopeful in life. 
At times, language is used to make certain negative or unpleasant situation circumstance 
appear light and its usage lessens the burden in the life of the user. This shows that, language is 
capable of bringing good results to the user when used appropriately used.
iv)  Language   of Confidence and faith.
The following expressions/ utterances are made by Christians:

i) I am covered by the blood of Jesus
ii) Back to the sender in Jesus’ name
iii) Fear not, for I am with you 
iv) The devil is a liar
v) Holy Ghost Fire consume
vi) I shall not die but live to declare the good works of God

The expressions above are mostly made or used by Christians when they are confronted with 
fearful situations of death, spiritual attack, sicknesses etc.

Discussion on Findings
The data collected was analysed and its usage, effects, familiarity and attitude of user based on 
situation and user's Church was brought out. The researcher discovered from the data above 
that, the language use in Christianity, most obviously, is generally laudatory, positive, 
unreserved and  also emphasized the influence, the choice uniqueness, strength, might and 
ability awe of God through Jesus Christ, and the need for adherents of Christianity to 
experience the impact of Christianity, enhance and maintain people's interest in the religion. 
Christianity has in various ways influenced the choice of vocabulary and grammar as is 
reflected in the utterances or expressions in language use in different Christian activities 
above. Indeed, the appropriate use of language brings about effective communication which 
provokes positive and active reactions in the lives of Christians. The researcher also 
discovered that most Christians are conversant with the expressions above. This gives a 
reflection of the significance of sociolinguistics, as a field of study; the fact that certain 
language(s) is/are only peculiar to only a group of people in the society. Expressions such as: in 
Jesus name, the Blood of Jesus, Holy Ghost Fire etc. could only be appropriately used and 
understood by only Christians.

The responses shown from research carried out indicate that a great number of 
Christians are conversant with the above expressions in Table 1. It also gives a reflection of the 
extent of the popularity of the expressions among Christians. It was also discovered that, the 
use of the expressions in Table 1 cuts across the different denominations which include, 
Protestant, Catholic and Pentecostal. One can also deduce from the responses that the majority 
of the Christian use the above expressions while expressing their religious belief.  



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11

Conclusion
This work shows that Christianity relies almost totally on the use of language like other 
religions. It can indeed be asserted in the conclusion that language plays a very important role 
in Christianity. It is a tool that is employed by Christians during communication whether 
individually or as a group to bring about effective communication with the ultimate goal of 
enhancing the confidence of Christians in their Faith or beliefs.  It was also seen in the work 
that, language is employed by Christians during communication to convey their thoughts, 
ideas, feelings, emotions, desires etc. within the framework of their religion. The use of 
expressions above brings about positive impacts on their lives as revealed in this research. The 
work also shows that language plays a great role in recording of facts, as in the recording of 
past events and in passing God's instructions to the people.

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Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of New York, (1996). What does God require of us? 

Brooklyn, York USA.
Wardhaugh, R. (2000). An introduction to sociolinguistics (6th Ed). London: Wiley 

Blackwell.


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