A Linguistic Analysis of Religious Language in Pentecostal Church Services in Port Harcourt

This study presents a linguistic analysis of religious language used in Pentecostal church services in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, South South Nigeria. The Pentecostal movement has become one of the most influential social institutions in Nigeria, yet the specific linguistic features that characterise its worship discourse remain under-examined in formal linguistic scholarship. The research employs a descriptive discourse analysis approach informed by the framework of religious language studies and the ethnography of communication. Data were collected through audio-visual recordings of Sunday worship services in five Pentecostal congregations in Port Harcourt over a period of four weeks, supplemented by interviews with five pastors and ten congregation members. The analysis examines the lexical, syntactic, and prosodic features of sermons, prayers, and prophetic utterances, as well as the interactional dynamics between preachers and congregations. Findings reveal the systematic use of repetition, imperative constructions, direct divine address, and performative speech acts in Pentecostal discourse, combined with strategic code-switching between English and Nigerian Pidgin to create affect and audience solidarity. The study also documents the construction of a specialised Pentecostal lexicon drawing on biblical idiom, prosperity gospel terminology, and Nigerian English innovations. The research contributes to the discourse analysis of Nigerian religious institutions and recommends further comparative study across denominational traditions. Keywords: religious language, Pentecostal discourse, Port Harcourt, discourse analysis, code-switching.