Language choice as discourse: A transitivity approach to MTN® and ETISALAT® advertising communicative webs in Nigeria

................................................................................................................................................................CROSSROADS. A Journal of English Studies

TAOFEEK O. DALAMU 1 DOI: 10.15290/CR.2019.25.2.01
Department of English and Literary Studies
Anchor University, Lagos, Nigeria
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-5494-4854

Language choice as
discourse: A transitivity
approach to MTN® and
ETISALAT® advertising
communicative webs in
Nigeria
Abstract. Advertising texts are significant to manufacturers to promote and skyrocket products’ consumption. This
study examined kinds of textual choices in advertising, accounting for their frequencies. Two advertisements each
from MTN® and Etisalat® – of the Nigerian advertising universe – were chosen for sample analysis, employing Transi-
tivity and word-formation procedures, as the conceptual frameworks. Transitivity allowed tables and graphs to com-
pute the recurrence of textual components. The research revealed Material Processes of has offered, go rock (MTN);
and get, pick up (Etisalat) as pronounced choices. Circumstances of Location such as This week… (MTN); and on
weeknights… (Etisalat) are choices of communicative augmentations. The investigation further recapitulated creative
over-generalization (yous), word play fragmentation (Y’ello), and alphanumeric code (9javaganza) as communicative
facilities of MTN and Etisalat constructs. Hence, the researcher suggested that an extensive study of language choice
in advertising domains can strengthen government policies to benefit, among others, readers, researchers, manufac-
turers, and advertising practitioners.

Keywords: advertising, discourse, ideational metafunction, language choice, system.

1. Introduction
Language, being a hub of both human activities and existence, is thus central to the notions of
discourse and advertising. On that ground, one could suggest that discourse and advertising locate
ways in which language resources are chosen, constructed, and disseminated to play some func-
tional roles in societies (Cook 1992; Kress 2010; O’Halloran & Lim 2014; Forceville 2017). In respect
of that remark, there are some terminologies remarkable to this study as devices of language oper-
ations. The basic concepts are discourse, advertising, and language choice. (The italicized lexemes

1 Address for correspondence: Department of English and Literary Studies, Anchor University, Ayobo, Lagos, Nige-
ria. E-mail: lifegaters@yahoo.com , tdalamu@aul.edu.ng

are for emphasis). Language choice, as a core mechanism for depicting and expressing meaning
(Fontaine et al. 2013), serves as the interface between discourse and advertising.

The language of advertising is not short of scholarly evidence. This is because advertising, accord-
ing to Dalamu (2017a), is as old as man. That recognition seems to have informed the proliferation
of discourses of advertising in human sciences. Significantly, it is attestable in the knowledge-
based industry that Leech (1966) has set a linguistic pacesetter for advertising analysis, explain-
ing the kind of language that advertising professionals utilize to convince the public. On this key
language geometry, extant literature has emanated. Consequently, Williamson (1978) examines
interchangeability in advertising frameworks, while Gies (1982), Vestergaard & Schroder (1985),
Myers (1994), and Forceville (1996) illuminate advertising scaffolding as the epitome of textual
and imagery fabrications. Such phenomenal events, for instance, in Brierley (1995) and Hermerén
(1999), are explicated as being metaphorical, elliptical, euphemistic, denotative and connotative.
Nevertheless, Dalamu (2018a) claims that textual devices play fundamental roles in exhibiting
meaning potential of advertisements (henceforth: ads).

Of course, there are other insights, such as Lemke (1995), Geiszinger (2001), Goddard (2002),
Fairclough (2003), Dyer (2005), and Carter & Nash (2013), which describe advertising nuances
from textual, contextual, historical, socio-cultural, semiotic, and communication points of view.
However, this study, as a contribution to the existing literature, differentiates itself from earlier
efforts by investigating the choices of lexemes, functional in MTN and Etisalat2 advertising
constructions, deployed to persuade readers to consumption. In addition to that, this study consid-
ers MTN and Etisalat textual constructs as a kind of discourse for hypnotizing the audience to
patronize their services in Nigeria. Nonetheless, Halliday’s grammatical transpose of Transitivity
operates as the major processor of the textual facilities, channeling a way for tables and graphs to
account for the frequency of the texts. The goal is to demonstrate that Transitivity has the capacity
to expound meaning potential of the MTN and Etisalat advertising texts. As a result, one expects
that such exposition will further display to readers the structural contents’ recurrence of the
frameworks and semantic implications associated with the contents.

2. Literature review

2.1. Discourse, advertising and language choice
Fundamentally, the notion of discourse, possessing multidimensional and overlapping descrip-
tions, influences scholars to express different opinions on the subject as a very wide and complex
concept (Schiffrin et al. 2002; Jaworski & Coupland 2006; van Dijk 2010; Gee 2011). Perhaps the
writer might perceive discourse in this proposal as discourse analysis (DA) because scholars,
including Fairclough (2003), claim that discourse is synonymous with DA. Blommaert (2009: 2-3)
expatiates discourse as (i) “linguistic structures actually used by people” and (ii) “a meaningful

2 MTN and Etisalat are telecommunication operators (firms) in Nigeria.

symbolic behavior”. In a similar semantic plane, Fairclough (1992) illuminates discourse as social
activities pleasurably conducted by language users. Of significance is the functionalist perspec-
tive in which discourse is practically entwined with text in context. Discourse represents a specific
spoken language or any social process of communication (Lemke 1995; Hoey 2000). Nonetheless,
Johnstone (2008), from a methodical point of view, explicates DA as a systematic consideration of a
set of broad analytical topoi and a research mechanism that can be used to answer a variety of ques-
tions. Then, it seems to imply that as DA is a social engagement; the notion is as well as a process-
ing facility of human communications. Thus, the present analyst has employed DA in the study
as an analytical tool and explanatory paradigm in alignment with Johnstone’s (2008) argument.

Advertising plays crucial roles in today’s businesses. Those tasks position advertising as a
fascinating device for promoting products in different parameters to increase consumption and
achieve economic growth. In addition, advertising constructs a link between language and society,
society and business, and products and consumers. Leymore (1975) defines an ad as a stimulant
and a means of drawing consumers’ attention to something or informing people of something by
provoking the consumer’s anxiety and resolving it. The mission of ads might motivate experts to
produce their communications with unique language choices for the intended social interaction
(Dyer 2005). Advertising text choices, in Myers’ (1994) argument, accommodate some features
such as: clever puzzles, short bursts, and being parasitic in nature. Besides the ubiquitous nature
of ads, one might state that the language choices are loaded with concise structures (Ignis 1972).
Such strategies aim at attracting attention with simple constructs that contain comprehensive
messages. The features of ads stated above appease to justify my interest in analyzing the language
choice of MTN and Etisalat advertising discourse in Nigerian communicative space.

The notion of language choice, as used in this paper, subscribes to certain specific tendencies, as
characterized in cognitive and neuroscience (Lamb 2013), sociolinguistics (Putz 1997), stylistics
(Carter & Nash 2013), and systemic practices (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014), in relation to cultural
and contextual spheres (Urbach 2013). The neuroscience claims that choice is the potential as well
as the concrete selection of part of a system. These parameters invariably position a textual element
to be multifunctional. The multifunctional principle pinpoints a relationship between systemic
linguistics and neurolinguistics, expressed through Lamb’s relational theory (Gil 2013). In soci-
olinguistics, the term is alternatively employed either as language choice or choice of language.
Particularly, Buda (2006: 1) argues that “sociolinguists have been long fascinated by the phenome-
non of bilingualism and the complex language switching patterns that accompany it”. A bilingual
could code-switch, in Buda’s (2006) perspective, from one language to another. For instance, a
bilingual could switch from English to Yoruba, while a multilingual could switch from English to
Yoruba or English to Igbo as the situation demands.

In stylistics, scholars (O’Quinn 2012; Donovan 2012) have examined language choice as word
choice and writer’s choice. Stylistic experts seem to orient their arguments principally on the
choice of words that a writer makes as the writing style. Style is the lexical choices that a writer
exhibits to express ideas as s/he decides for a particular communicative rationale. Perhaps the

choice displays the ways in which meanings are constructed in texts to serve a rich variety of
purposes (Ross 1985). To this end, one might appreciate language choice as word constructions,
explaining the feelings of a writer. Although neuroscience, sociolinguistic and stylistic views
are relevant to how advertisers deploy language choices to persuade consumers’ patronage, this
approach hangs on Systemic Functional Linguistics (henceforth: SFL) for its strong emphasis on
language as choice.

The explanations that SFL offers on language as a network of choices characterize the theory
as a device of textual analysis (Halliday 1994). That merit seems to inform Kress (1981) to state
that SFL, the Hallidayan theoretical dais, rests on the notion of choice. In Kress’s view, choice
represents the crux of meaning-making in interactions. That might be connected to Halliday’s
(2013) reinvigorated idea that all human activities involve choice. Based on that discernment, it
may be difficult to engage SFL in language analyses without a reference to the concept of choice
either explicitly or implicitly. Kress further argues that “The speaker of a language… engaging in
any kind of culturally determined behavior… carries out, simultaneously successively, a number
of distinct choices” (Kress 1981: 3). To Kress, the cultural context of which a speaker chooses to
communicate the message to the audience is still anchoring on the individual’s language choice.

In language, choice manifests centrally for it is the selection made out of a range of other
lexemes available to a communicator. If someone has a reason for saying something in a certain
situation, by implication, the interactant could have said something else if the context has been
different. In consonance with that standpoint, Bloor & Bloor (2013) say that language consists of
systems which offer the writer an unlimited choice of ways of creating meanings. It is out of the
‘unlimited’ systemic items that a writer makes a choice. Consequently, linguistic choices operate at
every point in the production of writing (Matthiessen et al. 2010) as context-related and context-
dependent facilities.

The idea of choice in SFL connects strongly to the concept of System. System, as a technical
concept, is an itemized set of choices in a specific context. A linguistic system, in Kress’s (1981)
symbolic insight, is composed of items which have possible alternatives in that position and the
domain of its utility. In the mainstream, Kress (1981) mirrors a system as providing a possibility
of options for a language user to execute certain communicative tasks. The terminology of choice
revolves around Halliday and the theory that he exemplifies. As such, choice being paradigmat-
ic and probabilistic is not only axiomatic but a basic tenet in SFL because the thought connects
language distinctively pervasively. The impression creates a contrast between what element has
been chosen and what elements are left out in a communicative exchange.

2.2. Advertising and language
Advertising and language are social enterprises that utilize the text as a means of communication.
The text operates as an interface between two social actors, and can serve as an object of request-
ing something from readers (Bourdieu 1988; Barry 1997; Hoffman 2002; Brierley 2002; Thompson
2014). Language can function without advertising; nevertheless, it is probable that advertising

might not operate without language. However, Goffmann (1979: 84) discusses advertising without
language when he refers to “hyper-ritualization” (also in DeRosia 2008). That position of the
image, playing a wholesome role, is rare in the advertising industry. So, the position that language
occupies in advertising elevates the “local magic” (Firth 1957: 185) as a bond in the creativity (text-
cum-image) of persuasion.

Perhaps it is unarguable that advertising behaviors are globally universal (Mattellart 1991),
but contextually, the matter of cultural affiliations influences one advertising professional from
another (Daramola 2008; Forceville 2017). Such a division and demarcation could be observed
regionally, nationally, and continental-wise. To reiterate, Leech (1966) considers advertising
lexemes from Great Britain; Williamson (1978) explains interchangeability and semiotics in adver-
tising; and Tanaka (1994), in her pragmatic approach, examines advertising designs of Britain
and Japan. The perspectives of Cook (1992), Forceville (1996), Hermerén (1999), Dyer (2005), and
Geiszinger (2001) dominate the circle of the developed western world. It is important to state that
Awonusi (1998) and Gully (2012) have discussed political and commercial texts. Some of those
texts are neither dialectical nor theoretically-systemic.

However, most of these studies have succeeded in interpreting the creative nature of advertising
as employed to persuade the audience. The symptom that the analyst observes in earlier efforts
and seeks to address is that none of those scholars, to the best of my knowledge, has evaluated
advertising texts of MTN and Etisalat, utilizing the Ideational Metafunctional approach as articu-
lated in Halliday’s (1994) point of view. The digitization of the lexemic and registerial choices is the
open window that the study intends to explore. The application of SFL has the capacity to decom-
pose the deployed choices into grammatical constituents (Wodak & Meyer 2001: 3, 8), allowing
technological tools to act upon the components (Dalamu 2017b). This will permit textual density’s
accountability-cum-computation. Besides the scientific facilities revealing the nature of choices in
different hierarchies, SFL processors of Transitivity has unveiled the meaning potential of MTN
and Etisalat advertising discourse to readers. These factors position this proposal as an object of
digital humanities (DH) with the potency to demonstrate significant values within the Nigerian
multilingual domain.

2.3. Theoretical mapping
This study has adopted two conceptual spheres, as applications, to analyze the texts of MTN and
Etisalat ads. The major one is Transitivity – a grammatical transpose of Ideational Metafunction,
and compounding and blending – some terms of morphological methods – represent the minor
aspect.

2.3.1. Ideational metafunction
The study has considered one of the core elements of SFL’s three Metafunctions as a tool of
analysis owing to its resourcefulness in social semiotics and textual analysis (O’Halloran
2008). On that ground, Thompson (2014) indicates that Ideational Metafunction operates to

create functional meanings in context (also in Butler 2003). One could suggest that Ideational
Metafunction is divided into experiential and logical relations. In that respect, Halliday (1994)
claims that the Ideational Metafunction exhibits the content of the goings-on in a text. When we
use language to interact, Halliday & Matthiessen (2014) emphasize that we use language to express
either the world around us or the world within us. Eggins (2004: 213-215) observes further that we
use words to talk about our experience and construct the world where “some entity does some-
thing”. Ravelli (2000) remarks that the external world focuses things, events qualities, etc. Our
internal world represents thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc. Moreover, Halliday (1994: 106) describes
both external and internal worlds as experience as consisting of goings-on. He adds that “the clause
is also a mode of reflection… and flow of events” to explicate meaning potential in confidence.

These utterances are regarded as texts that are contextually-produced in a particular content.
Kress & van Leeuwen (2003: 47) explain that the speaker determines the content with specific
meanings embedded thereof. In this regard, language possesses numerous resources that are
employed to represent the entities in the world. The module of realizing and analyzing meanings
from this standpoint, Thompson (2004) asserts, is called the transitivity system. Also, Thompson
(2014) suggests that the Process is brought about, most times, by nominal elements (Participants)
involved in the event of negotiating and exchanging interactions. It is also possible that a text may
have circumstantial elements to augment the information (Dalamu 2017c). Figure 1 below illus-
trates the six processes operating in the clauses of English.

Figure 1. Six processes in English clauses (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014)

The content of the message is, perhaps, central to the communication function in terms of
meaning potential and linguistic analysis. As a result of that remark, the contents have its distinct
way of presenting both the external and internal worlds to social actors. As publicized in Figure 1,
Halliday & Matthiessen (2004: 171) argue that “Material, Mental and Relational are the main types
of process in English transitivity system” with “Behavioral, Verbal and Existential” on the border
lines. Figure 1 is the cyclical posture of the six processes of the Ideational Metafunction, which
offers descriptions to how Halliday’s linguistic thoughts analyze textual nuances of communica-
tions within the schemata of the independent clause in English.

2.4.2. Compounding and blending
Compounding is described as the joining of “two separate words to form a single form” (Yule 1996:
53). Blending is “accomplished by taking only the beginning of one word and joining it to the end
of the other” (Yule 1996: 53; also in Napoli 1996: 214-223).

2.3. Research questions
This study has used the following questions to reveal the exploration of the MTN and Etisalat
choices in their advertising constructs: How has the application of Transitivity conceptual model
assisted in deducing meaning potential of processes of MTN and Etisalat advertising choices?
What kind of circumstantial elements do MTN and Etisalat deploy to augment the messages of
their ads? Of what frequencies have Processes and Circumstantials function in the MTN and
Etisalat ads? In what ways have MTN and Etisalat contributed to English through the formation of
new coinages? Besides the theoretical terms employed for the analysis, the researcher has utilized
statistical instruments such as tables and graphs to accomplish the achievement of some of the
questions.

3. Method

3.1. Procedure
The analyst selected two ads each from MTN and Etisalat communications, as advertising facili-
ties in The Punch newspaper. The choice of the advertising communications was based on the
discourse patterns, contextual relevance as well as neological apparatuses of the texts. The selec-
tion’s objective was to demonstrate certain factors in consideration before advertisers deploy texts
to the public space. The data presented below displays the textual choices of MTN and Etisalat ads
labeled as Ad 1 and Ad 2. The researcher has applied Transitivity, a terminology from SFL, and
Compounding and Blending, morphological terms, to process the clauses after being separated
with slashes. The paper exhibits the analytical techniques in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, as shown in
the sub-section of Data Analysis. It is worth stressing here that the demarcation of clauses with
double slashes and the initial capitalization of concepts characterize the tradition of SFL fathers
(Halliday & Matthiessen 2014). A combination of qualitative and quantitative procedures, as SFL

has permitted, dominates the study. Thus, after the constituents’ analysis, as stated earlier, tables
and graphs operate as technological tools, computing and revealing the frequencies of systemic
choices, exhibited in Tables 1 and 2, and Figures 7 and 8. The discussions act on the platform of
these applications. The symbol, ®, references a registered company as CL is an abbreviation of the
clause. Ads are in British English (BrE) in order to retail their lexical originality.

3.2. Data presentation
MTN Ad 1: //MyCustomer®, your smile is worth a thousand ‘Thank Yous’// Our celebration starts
with you.// For 10 amazing years you have offered us the opportunity to serve you like no other.//
This week, we are celebrating a decade full of fond memories// we promise you that the best is yet
to come with the continuous roll out of new look. MTN Walk-in centres across Nigeria.// It is
always a pleasure to serve you.

MTN Ad 2: //MTN Kulturefest Lisabi// Lisabi Cultural Festival.// Let’s go rock Egbaland// It’s
going to be a Y’ello Celebration// as all Egbaland honours Lisabi the Great.// From March 1st to
8th, you too can be part of the Lisabi Festival// and experience Egba cultural as well as innovative
MTN Products and services on full display.// It’s an experience// that will surely enrich life//

Etisalat Ad 1: //wwwherever you are// wwwhenever you wwwant// wwwhatever you need// get
up to 1GB freeeee!// it’s easy with easynet.// Get the internet plan of your choice with easynet//
Get 1 month free bonus data plan //when you buy any of our 1.5GB, 3GB or 6GB plans// Bonus
available instantly upon purchase// Bonus available in the following months after purchase can be
used only on weeknights and weekends// Pick up your easynet data SIM and USB modem at any
etisalat experience centre// Text ‘help’ to 229.//

Etisalat Ad 2: //9javaganza// enjoy free weekend calls// get 50% of airtime spent// it’s your time
to talk// From now till March 31, simply make as many calls as you wish to my network on week-
ends //and get 50% of the amount you spent to make FREE weekend calls to any etisalat line!//
And you get this week after week after week// So pick up your 0809ja phone //and start calling!//
It’s your time to talk! //Offer opens to all new and existing easystarter and easycliq subscribers.//

3.3. Data analysis 1
The analysis below demonstrates the application of Halliday & Matthiessen’s (2004) transitivity
system to textual devices.

CL1 MyCustomer your smile is worth a thousand 'Thank Yous'
Carier Pro.: Rel. attributive Attribute

CL2 Our celebration starts with you
Actor Pro.: Material Goal

CL3 For 10 amazing years you have offered us the opportunity to serve you like no other
Circum.: Extent Actor Pro.: Material Recipient Goal Circum.: Cause

CL4 This week as we celebrate a decade of fond memories we promise that
Circum.: Location Senser Mental

CL5 the best is yet to come with the continuous roll out of new look MTN Walk-In-Centre…
Actor Pro.: Ma- terial Goal

CL6 It is a pleasure to serve you
Carier Pro.: Rel. attributive Attribute

Figure 2. Analysis of MTN Ad 1

CL1 MTN Kulturefest Lisabi CL2 Lisabi Cultural Festival
Participant Participant

CL3 Let's go rock Egbaland
Actor Pro.: Material Goal

CL4 It 's going to be a Y'ello Celebration
Actor Pro.: Material Goal

CL5 as all Egbaland honours Lisabi the Great
Behaver Pro.: Behavioral Behavior

CL6 From March 1st to 8th you too can be part of the Lisabi Festival
Circum.: Extent Token Pro.: Rel. identifying Value

CL7 and experience Egba culture as well as innovative MTN products and services of full display
Pro.: Mental Phenomenon Circum.: Accompaniment

CL8 It 's an experience
Carrier Pro.: Rel. attrib. Attribute

CL9 that will surely enrich your life
Pro.: Ma- Circum.: Manner terial

Figure 3. Analysis of MTN Ad 2

CL1 wwwherever you are CL2 wwwhenever you wwwant
Circum.: Location Carrier Pro.: Rel. attrib. Circum.: Location Senser Pro.: Mental

CL3 wwwhatever you need CL4 Get up to 1 GB freeeee
Circum.: Matter Senser Pro.: Mental Pro.: Material Goal

CL4 it 's easy with easynet
Carrier Pro.: Rel. attrib. Attribute Circum.: Manner

CL5 Get the internet plan of choice with easynet
Pro.: Material Goal Circum.: Manner

CL6 Get 1 month free bonus data
Pro.: Material Goal

CL7 when you buy any of our 1.5GB
Actor Pro.: Material

CL8 Bonus [is] available instantly
Carrier Pro.: Rel. attrib. Attribute Circum.: Manner

CL9 Bonus available in the following months after purchase can be used only on weeknights and weekends
Actor Pro.:Material Circum.: Location

CL10 Pick up your easynet data SIM and USB modem at any etisalat experience centre
Pro.: Material Goal Circum.: Location

CL11 Text 'help' to 229
Pro.: Material Goal Circum.: Location

Figure 4. Analysis of Etisalat Ad 1

CL1 9javaganza CL2 enjoy free weekend calls
Participant Pro.: Mental Phenomenon

CL3 get 50% bonus of airtime spent CL4 it 's you time to talk
Pro.: Material Goal Value Pro.: Rel. ident Token

CL5 From now till simply make as many calls on weekends
31st March Pro.: as you wish
Circum.:Extent Material Goal Circum.:Location

CL6 and get 50% of the amount you spend to make FREE weekend calls to any etisalat line
Pro.: Material Goal Circum.: Location

CL7 And you get this week after week after week
Actor Pro.: Material Goal Circum.: Location

CL8 so pick up your 0809ja phone CL9 and start calling!
Pro.:Material Goal Pro.: Material

CL10 It 's CL11 Offer opens to all new and existing easystarter and
Value Pro.: Rel. ident easycliq subscribers

Actor Pro.: Material Goal

Figure 5. Analysis of Etisalat Ad 2

The study, as expressed in the Results section, further translates the Transitivity elements
of the analyses in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 to tables and graphs. These tools display the language
choice frequencies in terms of Processes and Circumstantials as functional in MTN and Etisalat
communications.

3.4. Data analysis 2
Below is the list of word-formation processes observed in MTN and Etisalat ads.

Coinages Foremation Processes Original Lexemes
MTN Ad 1: My Customer = my + customer my customer

Yous = you + s you '-s'

MTN Ad2: Kulturefest = culture + fest culture festival
Y'ello = yello + hello yellow hello

Etsalat Ad 1: wwwherever = ww + where + ever wherever
wwwhenever = ww + when + ever whenever
wwwant = ww + want want
wwwhatever = ww + what + ever whatever
freeeee = free + eee free
easynet = easy + net easy net

Etisalat Ad 2: 9javaganza = 9ja + vaganza Nigeria extravaganza
0809ja = o8o + ja 080 Nigeria
easystarter = easy + start + er easy starter
easycliq = easy + cliq easy click

Figure 6. Morphological appreciations of MTN and Etisalat ads

4. Results
This study displays the outcomes of both systemic applications and morphological processes in
this section.

4.1. Outcomes of systemic applications
Tables and graphs below reveal the Transitivity constituents of Processes and Circumstantials of
MTN and Etisalat ads’ textual choices in their different recurrence capacities and patterns.

Table 1. Analysis of Processes in MTN ads Table 2. Analysis of Processes in Etisalat ads

Processes Processes
Ad 1 Ad 2 Total Ad 1 Ad 2 Total

Material 3 3 6 Material 7 7 14
Mental 1 1 2 Mental 2 1 3
Relational 2 2 4 Relational 3 2 5
Behavioral 0 1 1 Behavioral 0 0 0
Verbal 0 0 0 Verbal 0 0 0
Existential 0 0 0 Existential 0 0 0

MTN Frequency Etisalat Frequency

Out of all the six Processes found in English, Table 1 reveals that only four of the goings-on
are functional in the MTN ads, while Table 2 indicates three operational Processes in the Etisalat
ads. Thus, the choices present Material, Mental, Relational, and Behavioral as the goings-on of the
advertising communications. By implication, as Verbal and Existential Processes are not remark-
able choices in both MTN and Etisalat ads, the Etisalat advertiser goes ahead to eliminate the
deployment of Behavioral Process. The Process choices of the MTN Ad 1 and Ad 2 operate in
similar frequencies. Those are the motivation for Material, Mental, and Relational Processes to
recur as 3, 3; 1, 1; and 2, 2 points. In addition, the Behavioral term functions just once in Ad 2.

The textual choices in Etisalat record the recurrent higher number of points because of the higher
number of clauses employed in persuading the audience. Consequently, the recurrent points of
Material Processes are 7 and 7 respectively, in Ad1 and Ad 2. Mental Processes operate in the
ration of 2:1, whereas Relational Processes recount 3 and 2 points as shown in Table 2. Figure 7, as
indicated below, juxtaposes the frequencies of the MTN and Etisalat ads’ textual choices comput-
ed in both Tables 1 and 2.

MTN Etisalat
Material 6 14
Mental 2 3
Relational 4 5
Behavioral 1 0
Verbal 0 0
Existential 0 0

Processes
Frequency

-2
0
2
4
6
8

10
12
14
16

0 2 4 6 8

Fr
eq

ue
nc

Processes

Figure 7. Graphic representation of Processes’ frequency of MTN and Etisalat Ads

Figure 7 contains a table and a graph whose combination pinpoints MTN and Etisalat adver-
tising communications, utilizing Material Processes at the highest frequencies of 6 and 14. That
choice was followed by Relational Processes in the two telecommunications operators with 4 and
5 points. There are Mental Processes recurrences of 2 to 3. Although the figure points to the fact

that minor Processes of Verbal and Existential are irrelevant choices of persuasion, MTN still
employs the Behavioral once as a communication point. In all these, one could infer that Material
Processes occupy the highest relevant positions in the advertising of both MTN and Etisalat,
which are seconded by Relational Processes. Significantly, these choices demonstrate the keen
interest of MTN and Etisalat advertising practitioners in getting things done as well as making
things happen as quickly as possible. Besides, another sphere of interest, as Figure 7 illustrates, is
how to create unbroken relationships with the target audience.

Table 3. Analysis of MTN ads’ Circumstantials Table 4. Analysis of Etisalat ads’
Circumstantials

Circumstances Circumstances
Ad 1 Ad 2 Total Ad 1 Ad 2 Total

Angle 0 0 0 Angle 0 0 0
Location 1 0 1 Location 5 3 8
Extent 1 1 2 Extent 0 1 1
Contingency 0 0 0 Contingency 0 0 0
Matter 0 0 0 Matter 0 1 1
Cause 1 0 1 Cause 0 0 0
Manner 0 1 1 Manner 3 0 3
Accompaniment 0 1 1 Accompaniment 0 0 0
Role 0 0 0 Role 0 0 0

Etisalat FrequencyMTN Frequency

The Transitivity system, as computed in Tables 3 and 4, unveils Circumstantials of Location,
Extent, Matter, Manner, Cause, and Accompaniment as augmentation facilities to inspire readers.
There are no choices regarding Angle, Contingency, and Role in the MTN and Etisalat texts.
Alternatively, MTN does not utilize Matter so also does Etisalat reject Cause and Accompaniment
as devices of manipulating subscribers.

As exemplified below, Figure 8 represents the comparison of the MTN and Etisalat ads’ textual
choices accounted for in Tables 3 and 4.

MTN Etisalat
Angle 0 0
Location 1 8
Extent 2 1
Contingency 0 0
Matter 1 1
Cause 1 0
Manner 0 3
Accompaniment 1 0
Role 0 0

Circumstances
Frequency

-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

0 2 4 6 8 10

Fr
eq

ue
nc

Circumstantials

Figure 8. Graphic representation of Circumstantials’ frequency of MTN and Etisalat ads

Apart from Extent that records 2 points in the MTN ads, other Circumstantials occur one time
each. Seemingly, observations show different frequencies in the Etisalat ads. As the Circumstantial
element of Location records a value of 8 and Manner 3; Extent and Matter manifest one point each.
As such, the analyst could infer, as illuminated in Figure 8, that Location, Manner, and Extent
are the most fascinating choices where MTN’s and Etisalat’s advertising experts utilize domain,
quality, and period to sensitize recipients to consumption.

4.2. Outcomes of morphological procedures
Moreover, the morphological procedures pinpoint combinations of letters in strange ways. These
are: yous (creative over-generalization); y’ello (creative familiarization; wordplay fragmentation);
and wwwant (creative association). One could recapitulate the formations as creative fallacy of
some kinds because some of the lexemes serve only business purposes. There are also the forma-
tions of numbers-cum-letters such as 9ja, and 9javaganza known as alphanumeric codes. In a
simple term, these are the communication choices of the ‘neological’ constructs of the analyzed
MTN and Etisalat ads.

5. Discussion
The researcher organizes the discursive patterns of MTN and Etisalat ads’ textual choices along the
lines of Transitivity arrangements in relation to Process, the core element, as well as the systemic
semantic implications of the clauses. These logical parameters follow after Halliday & Matthiessen
(2014), Thompson (2014), and Dalamu (2018d).

5.1 MTN ads

MTN Ad 1

There are six declarative clauses, as analyzed in Figure 2, in MTN Ad 1. Clauses one and six are
relational of a kind because their contents are propagated as is. The Relational Processes project
their Attributes as worth a thousand ‘Thank Yous’ and a pleasure to serve you. The former quan-
tifies weight of gains that consumers receive from MTN over the years, which lead individuals
to uncontrollable facial expressions. The Transitivity segments the subscribers’ favorable counte-
nance as your smile, Carrier. A pleasure, as the Attribute for the later, relates readers to the feelings
of the MTN team in providing telecommunications services for Nigerians.

Mental Processes, starts with, have offered, and is… to come, are the goings-on of clauses two,
three, and five. The advertising professional displays starts with as a pointer to the source of the
acclaimed celebration operating as Actor. A reference to consumers is further introduced through
have offered, which is an invitation proposed as Goal, the opportunity, for MTN. In that regard,
subscribers have perceived MTN as capable of performing some telecommunications’ tasks useful
to the people. Such duties tend to treat the public well through unwavering service deliveries. A
time-line of 10 amazing years signals the degree of trust that consumers bestow on MTN, which
seems incomparable to a favorable chance given to any firm in the telecommunications industry.
To serve you better like no other and For 10 amazing years enhance the clause to draw the subscrib-
ers’ attention to the message. The linguistic organs our, you, us, and we create strong partnerships
between MTN and the public.

The Process, is… to come, fingers the future. The best, Actor, incites recipients toward good
services expected later from the firm, which is illustrated by the continuous roll out of new centers
across the country. The ad proceeds in clause five by utilizing a Mental Process, promise, an object
of emotion, to excite readers. Concisely, the commitment is made during a week of festivity that
MTN organizes to mark the 10 year anniversary. The affirmation, expounded earlier, is to get very
close to the consumers’ reach, hence, the establishment of more satisfying sales outlets.

As a strategy, before the communication appreciates the 10 years of the business existence in
Nigeria, the ad first and foremost acknowledges consumers’ roles in ensuring that the operations

are successful through their loyalty. That condescending allegiance informs the planting of more
branches in strategic locations. As a result of that notification, the MTN team, as the ad asserts,
derives some pleasures in rendering nice services to subscribers. The motivation for services, one
could submit, is financial gains from subscribers rather than services rendered. In other words, the
cash received through the consumers’ patronage influences MTN consistent services to consumers.

MTN Ad 2

As depicted in Figure 3, MTN Ad 2 accommodates nine clauses divided into two fragmented
clauses (clauses one and two), one imperative (clause three), and six declaratives (clauses four and
nine). Being punctuated, clauses one and two do not have Processes, which can determine the
kind of participating agents of their systems of Transitivity. Thus, MTN Kulturefest Lisabi and
Lisabi Cultural Festival are labeled as Participants of nominal group (NG) pertinent identifications.
Of importance are the constructs of Kulturefest and Lisabi. Apart from the contextual inclina-
tions of the two structures, Kulturefest has three salient fundamentals. First, the K is an adoption
phonetic sound from the consonant C (Adetugbo 1997). Second, fest is a pruning remnant of festi-
val (Yule 1996). Third, Kulturefest as a compound device is a combination of two lexemes, that is,
culture and festival (Zapata 2000, 2007).

One can duly observe the peculiarity of the Material Process, go rock, in clause three with the
Actor, Let’s. It is quite unusual for the imperative to have a subject element except in the case of
Let’s, which is an indicator of suggestions. Besides, go rock, ‘s going to be, and will… enrich are
other contents pointing readers to happening events, such as, a Y’ello celebration and your life. The
Behavioral Process, honour, in clause five pinpoints a particular activity that all Egbaland, Behaver,
yearly participates in. The advertising communication mentions From March 1st to 8th as the week
of Lisabi the Great’s remembrance period. Can be and ‘s, Relational Processes, engage recipients to
the cultural connection by identifying with the social commitment in terms of value, part of the
Lisabi festival. To the advertiser, the readers’ involvement is further classified as an experience in
relation to attribute as well as mental cognition. Although the ad focuses Lisabi Cultural Festival,
the communicator also offers some portions for promotional intents. The analyst observes these

goals, augmented with as well as innovative MTN products and services on full display, and surely
enrich your life. The former represents accompaniment in an additive status, while the later func-
tions as manner to demonstrate quality.

In the life of an individual or a community, one can emphasize, tradition seems to be vital. The
aspect of one’s background and tradition cannot be discarded with a wave of hand (Goddard 2002).
MTN might have discovered the certainty; and the company has in-turn fraternized products
with Lisabi and, perhaps, other festivals in Nigeria. These various aspects of different traditional
festivals are done specifically for the specific communities involved in the festivals. The MTN ad
on the Lisabi Cultural Festival is done for the Egba people in Abeokuta, Ogun State, Nigeria. MTN
does applaud the Egbas as a people with a rich cultural heritage. The MTN ad reminds the Egbas
of how Lisabi has served as a symbol of protection and unity for the people. The aim of the lauda-
tory ad is to build a harmonious relationship between MTN and the Egbas of which Olusegun
Obasanjo, Wole Soyinka, Taofeek Dalamu, etc. are in the membership board.

5.2. Etisalat ads

Etisalat Ad 1

Etisalat Ad 1 has twelve clauses. On the one hand, seven of the clauses are declarative and five
are imperative. On the other hand, the twelve clauses organize their contents in the forms of three
Relational goings-on, two Mental goings-on, and seven Material goings-on. Apparently, the domi-
nance of meaning potential is in Material Processes. The constituents of clauses one and three
are very germane because the linguistic organs construct internal communicative rings. First,
clauses two and three possess Mental Processes of wwwant and need respectively, which denote
desideration (Thompson 2014). Observations locate the second communicative ring in the utiliza-
tion of you as Senser(s) indicating participants of wwwant and need. Even the Relational Process,
are, accommodates you as Carrier. The third ring is the choices of wwwherever, wwwhenever, and
wwwhatever of Location and Matter representing Circumstances of place, time, and condition.

Specifically, the www linguistic devices noticed in the constructs are connotations of the
Internet website resources identified as World Wide Web (Dalamu 2018c). Moreover, the ad

deploys Material Processes in a repetitive mode such as Get up to, get, and get in clauses four, six,
and seven. All these structures have their Goal(s) as 1 GB freeeee, the internet plan of your choice,
and 1 month free bonus data plan, pointing readers to the quantity of benefits derivable from the
advertised product. Freeeee is creativity as an advertiser’s language of stimulating the public to
consumption. Buy, can be used, Pick up, and Text are other contents of materiality that exhibit the
sole mission of advertising in clear terms.

In addition, the places where consumers can purchase the plan as well as the appropriate time
of its enjoyment are demonstrated as at any etisalat experience centre and on weekninghts and
weekends. These pieces of information become necessitated in order to clarify doubts on the prod-
uct’s availability and to ease the consumers’ stress on the purchase of the service. The commu-
nicator consoles subscribers with clauses twelve and five. That is, Text ‘ help’ to 229 and it’s easy
with easynet. Directing readers to 229 is perhaps an end to discomfort in purchasing the Internet
plan, owing to the freedom that consumers could exercise by purchasing the product online. The
convenience created alleviates some worries. To further satisfy the public, it’s easy with easynet
culminates the message to give readers a peace of mind. Such means could make consumers relax
to benefit from the campaigned Etisalat data plan.

Etisalat Ad 2

The eleven clauses of Etisalat Ad 2 contain one disjunctive grammar, seven imperative, and three
declarative clauses. The punctuated structure, 9javaganza, is a lexical choice made up of alphanu-
meric code (Dalamu 2018b). That is, 9 (a number) plus ja plus vaganza (words). As decorated in
Figure 6, 9javaganza is a leftover of the punctuated Nigerian extravaganza. From a systemic point
of view, 9javaganza is a disestablished participant that cannot be associated with any Process of
English. Consequently, 9javaganza has become a non-conformist participating linguistic facility.
The textual choice demonstrates the advertiser’s fantastic conduct of benevolence to be lavished on
the public, though the waste or recklessness is restricted to only Etisalat consumers.

It is upon the intended ‘business’ profligacy, euphemized as generosity, that other ten clauses
rest. The Mental Process, enjoy, in clause two creates emotional feelings for consumers on the

benefit of free weekend calls. Communicative facilities such as get, make, pick up, starts calling, and
opens to are Material Processes that inspire readers to consumption. Ad 2 utilizes get repetitively
about three times in clauses three, six, and seven as a means of sensitizing the public to gain extra
50% of airtime, obtainable in a consistent weekly basis. That is a probable reason for deploying …
to make FREE weekend calls and …week after week as Goal and Circumstance of time respectively.
To any etisalat line! is another Circumstance, but, of place, emphasizing Etisalat as a priority. The
imperative markers make and pick up, in clauses five and eight, are two bedfellows. The Processes
inform the target audience to grasp a telephone loaded with Etisalat line in order to commence
communicating friends and relatives with your 0809ja phone.

In that respect, the advertiser personalizes both the telephone and Etisalat line as consumers’
properties. That behavior signals an ownership culture that baptizes and entwines the audience
into Etisalat family. It’s you time to talk, illuminated in clauses four and ten, pinpoints From now
till 31-March as the duration of the proposed FREE weekend calls. The communicator employs
opens to to indicate the people who are qualified to take advantage of the campaigned benefits.
Thus, Actor, Offer, and Goal, all new and existing easystarter and easycliq subscribers display a sort
of generalization of participants to be satisfied.

6. Conclusion
One cannot deemphasize the relevance of choice in the language of advertising. It is on that plane
that the researcher demonstrates how MTN and Etisalat deploy specific lexemes and registerial coin-
ages to persuade the public to consumption. With the application of Transitivity system, the study
reveals that Material Processes (e.g. start), as demonstrated in Figure 7, are the commonest choices
of both MTN and Etisalat advertising communications. Nonetheless, Relational Processes (e.g. is)
are next in function, which are followed by Mental Processes. In the domain of communication
augmentation, MTN and Etisalat utilize Location in terms of time and place to sensitize readers. To
a limited degree, the Circumstance of Manner and Extent play some roles as choices of excitements.

Although the two communication firms employ similar conceptual terminologies in construct-
ing relationships with subscribers, their lexemic choices are not the same. For instance, MTN uses
go, ‘s going to be, and experience, while Etisalat deploys get, get up to, and enjoy to inspire the target
audience in order to patronize their goods and services. As well as innovative MTN products…
and to any etisalat line! are Circumstantial choices that lay some emphasis on the firms’ goals.
From a morphological perspective, the ads fascinate recipients through the poetic license leading
to alphanumeric codes, creative fallacies, and word plays of perhaps undefined terms and indefi-
nite sequences. Yet, one also observes dissimilarity in the freedom exemplified in their morpho-
logical mechanizations such as ‘Thank Yous’, Kulturefest, and Y’ello in MTN, and wwwhenever,
9jevaganza, and 0809ja in Etisalat.

The analysis has briefly offered an understanding to the nature of advertising texts in Nigeria.
In turn, the effort could motivate advertising professionals, young scholars, and researchers to
deepen their understanding about creativity in the advertising industry in this bloc of the universe.

In addition to that, the study has demonstrated to readers the suitability of SFL as a virile and
interpretative tool for advertising discourse choices. By extension, the outcomes could benefit
stakeholders as recapitulated thus:

To advertising professionals, the analysis could spur new choice of textual creation in the
creativity industry, having obtained the knowledge of what is currently obtainable in the industry,
as functioning within the Nigerian context. The document could assist manufacturing companies
in calibrating the influence of ads on the target audience as that affects sales, thus, operating as a
yardstick to quantify sales of products. This is obtainable by realizing the nature of textual choices
that assist in generating more consumption of products. The recipients of these kinds of commu-
nications will understand the recklessness of advertising as a vehicle for convincing, shaping, and
swaying readers’ thoughts in a designed/certain direction.

Besides, the analysis will assist in the formulation of policy to adapt textual nuances as devices
of leveraging an equal playing ground between communicators and recipients. The investigation
could inspire government agencies to promulgate policies to regulate the activities of the adver-
tising industry in ways that their persuasive strategies could contribute to peaceful coexistence
that the world urgently needs and seeks rather than to mental-capitalize consumers. The research
seems to have the capacity to channel a way for other cross-national and cross-continental studies
in communication spheres in order to stimulate structural and contextual knowledge of the adver-
tising industry.

To reiterate, the study has facilitated the exposition of language students to SFL’s insights into
processing advertising texts. It thus appears that this study might serve as a device to be incorpo-
rated into computational linguistics. That is, it could encourage computer experts in collabora-
tion with linguists to develop software that can account for advertising communication lexemes.
However, such move has the strength to enhance cross-fertilization of interdisciplinary ideas in
Digital Humanities.

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***

Dr. T. O. Dalamu earned a PhD from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, under a thorough supervi-
sion of Prof. Adeyemi Daramola, with specialization in Systemic Functional Linguistics, Discourse
Analysis, and Digital Humanities in relation, mostly, to advertising communications. Currently,
Dr. T. O. Dalamu teaches English courses at Anchor University, Lagos, Nigeria.