IDEAL INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

This study examines Igbo riddles in relation to the values and images created in the mind when riddles are presented. A riddle belongs to the class of oral literature that appeals to everyone irrespective of age. They make use of figurative language to present or evoke the rich imagery. Riddles require critical thinking or reasoning as well as being familiar with the environment before one could respond correctly to it. This study aims at the pragmatic analysis of Igbo riddles and the imagery in the riddles. This study identifies some of the Igbo riddles and analyzed them from the pragmatic view point and the imagery created when they are made. The study is basically descriptive with qualitative approach as the data for the study were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected through oral interviews which were conducted with competent Igbo people. The secondary data comes from published materials such as Ngoesi (2004), Onuora (2015), and Ofomata (2019). The data for the study were categorized into five: riddles associated with: food (fruits inclusive), animals, human beings, nature, and other things that were not captured in the other categories. The study reveals that each riddle describes characteristic of a thing which is observable by the members of the community and one is expected to supply the answer based on shared knowledge.

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