Dr. Feyi Ademola-Adeoye

Person
Priorities

Short Bio

Feyi Ademola-Adeoye is a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, University of Lagos. She holds a PhD in Linguistics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa (2011). Over the course of her academic career at the University of Lagos, Dr. Ademola-Adeoye has held several administrative and academic positions. These include: Course Adviser, Department of English (2015-2017); Coordinator, Foundation Programme, Department of English (2014-2017); Deputy Director, Institute of Continuing Education (2016-2017); Sub-Dean, Faculty of Arts (2017-2019); Deputy Director and Postgraduate Coordinator, Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (2019–2023); Member of the University of Lagos Senate (2017-2019); and Early Career Coordinator, University of Lagos African Cluster Centre (2021-present).

With over thirty years of experience in academia and research, Dr. Ademola-Adeoye has taught, supervised, and led projects in various fields including Syntax, Phonetics, Phonology, Digital Humanities, Cultural and Anthropological Linguistics, and Gender Studies. Her scholarly works have been published both nationally and internationally. She is a member of the Association of Phoneticians and Phonologists in Nigeria (APPN) and the International Association for World Englishes (IAWE). Dr. Ademola-Adeoye has participated in numerous conferences, workshops, and symposia, both locally and internationally. She is a Fellow of the Moi University African Cluster Centre and serves as a Principal Investigator at the University of Lagos African Cluster Centre (Unilag ACC), which is a hub of the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence, University of Bayreuth, Germany.

Selected Publications

2025. Ademola-Adeoye, Feyi. “A Cross Anthropologico-Linguistic Analysis of Selected African Proverbs as Evidence of a Culture of Violence”. The Journal of African Philosophy and Indigenous Knowledge (JAPIK), 1(1): 4-15. doi.org/10.69778/3007-7192/2025/1.1/a1
2023. Ademola-Adeoye, Feyi. “An Anthropologico-linguistic Analysis of Gender and Patriarchy in Yoruba and Kalenjin Proverbs”. In Hadzantonis, M. (Ed.) The Glocal Conference 2023 in Africa: Linguistic Landscapes, Cultural Climates: Selected Conference Proceedings Papers. London: SOAS University of London, pp 38-56.
2022. Ademola-Adeoye, Feyi. “Culture and the Conceptualization of Character in Selected Yorùba Proverbs”. Asεmka, The Bilingual Literary Journal of the Faculty of Arts, University of Cape Coast, Vol. 11, No 2. Pp 38-52.
2022. Yakubu,Moses, Ademola-Adeoye, Feyi & Falaiye, Muyiwa. “Doctoral training in Nigeria”. In Scherer, C. & Sooryamoorthy, R. (Eds.) Doctoral Training and Higher Education in Africa. Oxfordshire, England: Routledge.
2021. Ademola-Adeoye, Feyi. “What’s App Jokes: A reflection on the Nigerian Lifestyle during the Covid-19 Pandemic”. African Diaspora Discourse, (Journal of the Institute of African & Diaspora Studies, Unilag) 3(3):105-130.

Project Description

Normative Disruptions in the Linguistic Transition of some Nigerian Proverbs

This study explores the normative disruption in the linguistic transition of traditional Nigerian proverbs, challenging their assumed fixity and epistemological authority. It examines the rise of contemporary or “new” proverbs that mirror changing socio-cultural values and expressions. The study aims to: (i) identify traditional proverbs with modern equivalents; (ii) compile and categorise contemporary proverbs with new meanings and values; and (iii) investigate the factors behind their emergence and popularity, especially among younger speakers. Using a cultural-linguistic approach, it questions the idea of proverbs as immutable carriers of ancestral wisdom. The research argues that emerging Nigerian proverbs, often humorous or subversive, express alternative worldviews and showcase dynamic linguistic creativity. To the researcher’s knowledge, no previous study in linguistics has critically examined the truth claims of traditional proverbs while giving analytical prominence to contemporary “street” proverbs as evolving sites of cultural and epistemological significance.