Critical discourse analysis of the second inaugural speech of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to investigate language use in Abiy Ahmed’s second inaugural speech. The study aims to identify the critical discourse analysis elements reflected in the text, as well as the specific socio-cognitive elements used to facilitate communication. To meet these objectives, the study employs CDA as a research method and theoretical framework. As analytical frameworks, Van Dijk’s multidimensional critical discourse analysis and socio-cognitive model were used. The study revealed that at micro-level analysis, lexical items, pronouns, figures of speech, and sayings were used to construct unity—the dominant ideology. Similarly, themacrostructure analysis has shown that topics and macro structures were designed to show unity ideology. To create a unity discourse, cognitive elements such as authority, evidentiality, polarization, and victimization were used by the speaker. However, the text represents the in-groups positively and the out-groups negatively. In short, the language used in the inaugural speech has been used to build unity discourse. The speaker used history as a source of unifying rhetorical devices to persuade the audience and to achieve, exert, and maintain power over them. Furthermore, Abiy’s inaugural speech is primarily comprised of praise for his inner circle and criticism for his outer circle.

Keywords:

• CDA
• Ethiopia
• inaugural speech
• socio-cognitive model
• speech

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

The article reveals the ideals that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed conveyed to the people in his second inaugural address following the country’s general election of 2021. This paper attempted to examine the text that the premier made using Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive theory employing CDA as a theoretical framework and as a research methodology. This study unearths how speech functions in Ethiopia during a public address to convey one’s attitude, belief, and ideological position.

1. Introduction

Despite being a part of all social actions, politics and language are closely related. Discourse, which may be categorized as corporate discourse, educational discourse, health discourse, political discourse, and more, is the actual use of words in any field of social activity (Desale, 2021). In light of this, the inauguration speech or discourse is well-known and is typically categorized as a political speech or discourse delivered to an audience by the newly elected to convince them that a new administration is established or formed (Jegede, 2020).

Critical discourse analysis is a method that analyzes language as discourse, which means that “language is conceived as one element of the social process, dialectically interconnected with others” (Fairclough & Graham, 2002, as cited in (Jahedi et.al, 2014, p. 1). Fairclough and Wodak (1997) analyze real instances of social interaction that take a complete or partial linguistic form as it aims to make visible “the ideological loading of particular ways of using language and the relations of power” that underlie them (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997, p. 258). Critical discourse analysis examines social practices based on their discourse moments (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999). It emphasizes “the substantively linguistic and discursive nature of social relations of power” and the way they are used and discussed in discourse (Fairclough & Wodak, 1997, p. 272). CDA is used to analyze texts in order to discover what “structures, strategies, or other properties of text, talk, verbal interaction, or communicative events play a role” in the production or reproduction of unequal power relations (Van Dijk, 1993, p. 250).

Using critical discourse analysis, researchers have studied the inauguration speech delivered by Abiy Ahmed. The inaugural speeches of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi were examined by Tekleselassie (2019). The study found that metaphors, metonymy, and contradiction were the rhetorical strategies used in their inaugural speech. As discursive strategies, presupposition and sensationalization were employed. Abiy Ahmed’s first inaugural address was also investigated by Chekol (2019), who discovered that Abiy has changed the political discourse compared to his predecessors. The changes involved how Ethiopian history was represented, how identity was established, and how Ethiopian pluralism was seen.

This study intends to investigate how Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed used language to communicate in his second inaugural speech using van Dijk’s socio-cognitive discourse analysis. In other words, the research is conducted to address the following research questions:

1. What elements of critical discourse analysis does the text reflect?

2. What specific socio-cognitive elements does the text employ to facilitate communication?

2. Theoretical framework

2.1. Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)

Literature indicates that discourse studies are conducted for various ends. For instance, Shakoury (2018) used CDA to scrutinize the use of language by politicians striving to win public opinion and votes. It examined the linguistic features in eight addresses of Iranian presidents, Hassan Rohani and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, to the United Nations General Assembly. The study combined micro-level text analysis following 25 discursive devices introduced by Van Dijk with a macro analysis focusing on the dichotomy of positive-self presentation and negative-other representation. In addition, Chen (2018) studied Trump’s inaugural speech from the perspectives of transitivity, modality, personal pronoun and coherence to reveal the speaker’s political intention. The research indicated that Trump used different language forms to transmit, change and maintain audiences’ ideology subtly.

Hoffman et al., 2021) 2017 is the volume of the material, not the publication year. The publication year is 2021 as it is shown in the reference list and in the -text citation. the study also provided empirical evidence for the predictions of genre theorists concerning two genres of political speech: inaugural addresses and state addresses. The paper analyzed 132 speeches by United States presidents and New York mayors to see whether nine dependent variables varied according to the genre. The findings indicated a significant difference between the genres in that inaugural addresses are more inspirational and unifying than state speeches, which use more policy-related language and language concerned with the past than inaugurals. Komaruddin, 2014), on the other hand, examined the levels of meaning using CDA in Hilary Clinton’s speech about women at the conference of the world summit in New York. The study found the hidden ideology she made macro structurally, the meaning of words and propositions emphasized and controlled, and the subtle formal structures explicitly conveyed.

Sipra and Rashid (2013) studied Martin Luther’s speech “when I have a dream”. It analyzed the text in a socio-political context using Fairclough’s model. It explicates the social, cultural, and political inequalities in the speech text.

In Ethiopia too, Alemayehu (2021) analyzed the efforts made to consolidate democratization by African Union chairpersons’ acceptance speeches. The theoretical framework was Fairclough’s Approach, Wodak’s Discourse Historical Approach (DHA), Van Dijk’s Theory of Ideology, and Post-Structuralism. The findings show the leaders’ focus on peace and security, the dichotomy of us-them, peace and security of youth, migration, and youth.

The political rhetoric study of Barkessa (2019) also focused on the rhetoric Abiy used to advocate integration between the Oromo and the Amhara ethnic groups, recasting it as Oromara. The objectives were to identify the rhetorical devices and discursive strategies used in the integration of the Oromra, examined how the integration of the groups is discursively constructed, describe the message characteristic of the interview texts, and explain how political rhetoric, power, and ideology were linked to play an advocacy role in further reinforcing the integration of the groups. He used the interview as a text Abiy made with the Amhara Media Corporation, and the researcher employed Fairclough’s model as a theoretical framework. The findings show that the interview employed macro-discourse strategies like accommodative, normalization, constructive, and generalizing.

However, Yimer (2018) studied how three Ethiopian government heads construct unity and integrity. It analyzed the political discourse of Emperor Haile Selassie I, Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. It attempted to analyze the influence of ideological assumptions, social identity and situational events on the leaders’ political discourse along with their use of rhetorical devices by using Fairclough’s model. It concluded that the ideological assumptions of the government, the contemporary situations of the country and the social identity of the leaders had an influence on the political discourse of Ethiopian government heads, and the political leaders’ inappropriate use of language could jeopardize Ethiopian unity and integrity.

2.2. Socio cognitive approach

Wodak and Meyer (2007) asserted that within the broader framework of critical discourse studies, the socio-cognitive approach to discourse is characterized by the Discourse–Cognition—Society triangle. Whereas all approaches in CDA study the relations between discourse and society, a socio-cognitive approach claims that such relations are cognitively mediated. Discourse structures and social structures are of different natures and can only be related through the mental representations of language users as individuals and as social members. Thus, social interaction, social situations, and social structures can only influence text and talk through people’s interpretations of such social environments. And conversely, discourse can only influence social interaction and social structures through the same cognitive interface of mental models, knowledge, attitudes, and ideologies. For most psychologists, such cognitive mediation is as obvious as it is fundamental. Yet, many interactionist approaches to discourse today still tend to be as anti-cognitivist as behaviorism many decades ago, while limiting their analysis to what is believed to be directly “observable” or socially “available. Such an empiricist limitation ignores that grammatical and other discourse structures, and especially the semantic, pragmatic, and interactional ones, are not observable at all, but language users’ cognitive representations or inferences from actually occurring discourse or conduct. Indeed, language users not only act (communicate, talk, write, listen, read, etc.), but also think when they do so.

Social cognition, discourse, and society make up the Discourse Cognition Society Triangle (Van Dijk, 2001). Discourse is a communicative event, including conversational interaction, written text, as well as associated gestures, face work, typographical layout, images, and any other semiotic or multimedia dimension of signification. In addition, cognition involves personal as well as social cognition, beliefs and goals as well as evaluations and emotions, and any other mental or memory structures, representations, or processes involved in discourse and interaction. Furthermore, society includes both the local, microstructures of situated face-to-face interactions as well as the more global societal and political structures variously defined in terms of groups, group relations (such as dominance and inequality), movements, institutions, organizations, social processes, political systems, and more abstract properties of societies and cultures.

In a more or less informal way, Van Dijk, 1995 argues that we may view the combined cognitive and social dimensions of the triangle as defining the relevant (local and global) context of discourse. Indeed, the socio-political and problem-oriented objectives of CDA especially need sophisticated theorization of the intricate text-context relationships (look at figure 1) .

Figure 1. Graphic representation of van Dijk’s Socio cognitive approach.

3. Research Methodology

Because it is a method for examining and understanding the meaning individuals or groups attach to a social or human situation, this research employed a qualitative research design (Creswell, 2009). Case studies were employed in the study as a method of inquiry because they make it easier to examine in depth a program, event, action, or process of an organization” (Stake), according to Creswell (2009).

The study used CDA as an approach to describe the language use of the premium in his second inaugural speech at Meskel Square. Taking microstructure, macrostructure and socio-cognitive elements into consideration, this research examines how the speaker constructs and shares his ideologies with h audiences in his speech. It is important to study the elements in their contexts through thick description by considering them as distinct cases to uncover ideologies used in the text.

3.1. Sampling technique and sample

Taking into consideration of Meyer and Wodak’s argument which they pointed out that “CDA studies … mostly deal with only small corpora which are usually regarded as being typical of certain discourses” (2007, p. 25), the sample is purposively taken from a typical text, that is, the second inaugural speech of PM Abiy Ahmed.

3.2. Data source

The study uses the second inaugural speech text PM Abiy Ahmed made in 2021 in Addis Ababa at Meskel Square to control the mind of the audience as data. The text, which is produced by one of the powerful men from the top executive organ of the Ethiopian government, is also an ideological text that invites CDA research.

3.3. Data gathering technique

The procedure began by downloading the speech from the premier’s official Facebook page. Then, to identify the lexical items, themes and ideologies in chunks, critical observation was taking place. Critically watching the video was the next step to finding out the relevant (kinds of CDA elements) discourse structures that show language use and ideology and socio-cognitive elements. Thus, the study also takes into account the setting of the event as it supports the text in a subtle way so that the following steps were followed.

The speech was first transcribed into Amharic and Bahir Dar University Media and Communication second-degree students checked it if contents were missing. They corrected some foreign names like Marcus Garvey, W.E.Bois, and Dubersh which the researcher missed during transcription. In addition, the names of two birds Humming and an eagle which were vital inputs to the study were also corrected by postgraduate students.

The transcript was then translated into English by a senior instructor in the English Language and Literature department. But the one from the Amharic Department then translated the English version back into Amharic. Comparing the two texts to determine common theme/s and overall understanding of the speech, the researcher noticed differences during back translation. These were words that show the works of the Ethiopian fathers in defending their country andand y were represented using words like historical deeds, changed into sacrifice and revere were examples. In addition, compound-complex sentences were rewritten into simple and compound sentences. Also an appropriate translation has been done to the Afaan Oromo saying which shows the importance of cooperation by one of the senior Media and Communication instructors who is bilingual.

3.4. Data analysis procedures and techniques

First, the micro-structural analysis, the lexical items’ functions, and the use of pronouns, figures of speech, and sayings were presented. Then the topics and macro propositions and the order of propositions came next. The second step was presenting the socio-cognitive analysis. It begins with presenting the actor descriptions by focusing on what attributions the text attached to them. The social actor attributions are important to identify the texts’ uses of lexical items. Thus, the focus is on describing the social actors by considering the lexical items. The second data analysis focuses on the socio-cognitive aspect, mainly on the use of socio-cognitive and discourse strategies to analyze the ideology of the text producer.

4. Data presentation and analysis

The study was designed to investigate elements of critical discourse analysis and the specific socio-cognitive elements the inaugural speech (the text) employs. To achieve this goal, Van Dijk’s Multidimensional Critical Discourse Analysis and the Socio-cognitive Model were used as analytical frameworks.

4.1. Multidimensional critical discourse analysis

This model was used to analyze the local and semantic macro-structural levels. It consisted of elements like lexical items, pronouns, figures of speech, and sayings, as described below.

4.1.1. Analyzing local or microstructure

The following words in Table 1 are picked from the text for lexical analysis because of their importance in constructing meaning and imparting ideology.

Table 1. Lexical items used by the speaker

No	Lexical items	No	Lexical items
1	God	6	Inclusive
2	Danger (threat)	7	Promise
3	Ethiopia	8	Medemer (synergy)
4	Revere	9	democratic system
5	History

The word God in Table 1 appears twice in the text as follows: I would like to thank God for helping me deliver a speech on this historic moment (Paragraph 1, line 1) and God bless Ethiopia and the people (Paragraph 12, line 31). The speaker intends to get support from believers to create relationships with his audience by demonstrating himself as a believer.

The speaker uses the word danger in paragraph 1 line 6 for different reasons. One to indicate the nation and the people are facing an existential threat. Second, it shows a particular action the speaker wants to share with his audience, possibly attacked by the enemy or opponents. Third, he uses it to get attention by brainwashing the public towards common danger. Thus, it is used wisely. It shows the communicative action expected from a communicative situation.

The word Ethiopia appears almost everywhere in the text. This repetition inculcates glories of the past into the public’s mind, which have been taken away by ethnic agendas. In previous speeches, the speaker has used the word in a similar way as Chekol (2019) has also found, describing it as Ethiopia’s first rhetoric.

Revere appears in Paragraph 1, Line 9, and its role was to appreciate this generation and disrespect the enemy. Thus, it shows the speaker’s ideologies, views, and opinions about those citizens who are paying with their lives. Abiy used it to show his feelings to Ethiopians within his group, i.e., the allied forces. Thus, the usage of the word shows a positive relationship with the in-groups and a negative one with the out-groups, i.e., the enemy and its allies, as if they were fighting for no cause. The word history in paragraphs 1, line 3 and line 4 is used to show inclusiveness and to refer to the long state administration history of Ethiopia.

The word inclusive, in paragraph 2 line 1, shows unity. The speaker indicated that his government will strive to set up a government for all, by all, and of all through his medemer, which means synergy, believed to be the premier’s indigenous political philosophy, which focuses on capitalizing on the good efforts of the past as a stepping stone to go forward. Thus, its appearance earlier with the word “ship” is intended to show strong belief and democratic ideals. It’s this quality that helped the speaker think of Ethiopia as a “ship.”

Promise appeared twice in paragraph 2, lines 27 and 29; and eight times in paragraph 12, lines 13, 15, 16,17,18,20, and 21. This word is used to denote promises from two different social actors, respectively. They are the promises expected from the citizens and the kind of promise expected from the government.

Though the speaker does not mention the word democracy explicitly, in paragraph 3, line 1, and lines 6 to 8, its attributes are mentioned using the phrase “democratic system. It is expressed in two ways. The first one is when the speaker mentions the nation and its efforts to set up a democratic state in the past. The second is when the speaker mentioned the current government effort and its dream to set up democracy through the sixth national election. This helped the speaker to captivate the support of the older generation and this one.

Medemer appears in paragraph 4, lines 5 and 6, and lines 8 to 10, which literally mean synergy. It is an indigenous political philosophy the premier has brought to Ethiopian politics since he came to power whose essence is using positive experiences and cumulative good efforts as a springboard to go forward in political leadership. In addition, the speaker used the word to introduce his political philosophy, kind of government and political party.

4.1.2. Analyzing the pronouns

I, we, and they are pronouns that the speaker used in the inaugural speech.

The pronoun I

This pronoun is used by politicians to show their view clearly from their perspective. Consequently, the speaker used it in different places intentionally. For example, in paragraph 1, it appears five times to show his belief in God so that he associates himself with the audience and vice versa for making a sound relationship. This seems true, as Ethiopians are believers in some religions. The second one is to demonstrate himself as a son of the people who feel eternally proud because he presented himself as sharing certain qualities with the public. And the third, expressing his appreciation to the allied force.

4.2. The pronoun we

The pronoun we has been used in the text for various purposes as shown in Table 2 below.

Table 2. The pronoun we used to meet the purpose of the speaker

No.	Text	Paragraph and line
I	show inclusiveness
1	We are astonishing people …	Para. 2, line 7
2	Though some individuals are trying to tell us that we are incapable, we shall prove them wrong by citing from the shining historical deeds of our father on one hand and by proving that we are Ethiopians	Para. 2, line18 to 21
3	The hopes awaiting us tomorrow is not any lesser compared to the sense of pride we have for our previous victories. The basic question is how determined we are to make this hope a reality? We have to repeatedly ask ourselves. Ethiopia prospers only as much as we wish it to and no better than what we have planned for our collective Visions	Para. 2, line 22 to 26
4	We shall keep this promise …	Para. 2, line 27
II	represent the government
1	Even though the six national elections was not as perfect, flawless and successful as we wished it to be …	Para. 3, line 6
2	We have now reached a period where political power emerges only from true popular polls (votes)	para. 3, line 8
3	We have reached an era where people have proven to have owned sovereign political Power	para. 3, line 10
4	Our people have discharged their citizenry stakes proudly and in a typically Ethiopian way regardless …	paragraph 3, line 11
5	threats posed against sovereignty of our country …	Para. 3, line 14
6	If we carefully utilize this opportunity …	Para. 2, line???
7	We shall be committed and stand to win the multilayered problems united and cooperatively through medemer	Para. 4, line 5
8	On our part, we shall strongly strive to realize vision of building a state which is made by all, for all and of all the people through inclusive and participatory governance	Para. 4, line 6).
9	We shall work hard to make sure that our political system is not only a reflection of the interest of the winning group but also a result of our consensus	Para. 4, line 8
10	As history starkly reveals, our internal conflicts (disputes) benefited our enemies and made us point of ridicule	Para. 4, line 10–11
11	The year to come shall be a year we enjoy the beauty of our diversity …, compromise our differences which could narrow down …	Para. 4, line 13
12	We shall undertake an inclusive national dialogue forum to help us realize this ideal	Para. 4, line 14
13	This process of national dialogue not only accommodates political elites and all parties who believe that our differences can be dealt with over a table …	Para. 4, line 15
14	The conflict we have in the Northern part of our country …	Para.5, line 1
15	Enemies, supported by their servants and masters, caused a brutal attack on our precious Northern Command using	Para.5, line 5
16	Even recently by the time we declared unilateral ceasefire to give it cooling time …	(parag.5, line 6).
17	The enemy … . Attacked Ethiopians thereby forcing us into a war which we didn’t like to happen	paragraph 5, line 10
18	It has to be clear that we were forced into the war for survival to which there was no other option	parag.5, line 11
19	It should also be clear that whenever we parade for a rally or go into armed conflict	Para.5, line 12
20	Our principal enemies are those who try to destroy the country …	Para. 5, line12
21	It should be clear that our problem is with those hate mongers and conspiracy brewers	Parg.5, line 14
22	Our country shall build a reliable security institution having an appropriate stance …	Para. 5, line 15
23	At this very moment where we have been defending evil ambition threatening our sovereignty and national integrity, the intention we see on part of the international sources have forced us to review our history. We have passed across two conflicting realities pertinent to our long-lived diplomatic relations	Para. 6, line 1 to 3
24	While there are countries who have sustained friendly ties with us as before …	Para. 6, line 8
25	However, we don’t allow our partnership to go at the expense of the dignity and sovereignty of Ethiopia … . Our hearts and doors are open for support and advice as well as best wishes of countries which approach us with a sense of love and respect	para.6 line 6,and 8
26	We, Ethiopians, strive to establish a prosperous continent through a principle called African solutions to African Problems	Para. 7, line 1
27	We strive to discharge our responsibility like never before. In our sub-continent, we have more things to cooperate for than to fight with each other, more things which tie us together than those which separate us	Para. 7, line 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
III	to include and exclude others
1	Beyond the obvious immense economic and social benefits, the Renaissance Dam has to offer us; it is a grand project which strengthens regional ties and good neighborhood. Here us include Ethiopians and the neighbors.	Para.8, line 2
2	Abbay is an instance of our rising, a symbol of our self-sufficiency and a rope which tied us together. For Abbay has glued us together with its abstract magic, strengthen us with its intangible power, and elevated our self-reliance, people from all walks of lives.	Para. 8, line 4 to 6.
3	All Ethiopians have committed to finalize construction of the dam contributing finance from their scarcity. The dam shall be completed. Our dear neighbors and children of the Abbay [Nile], so long as you understand our stand, I would like to reassure you that all Ethiopians are ready to cooperate over the river in a mutually benefitting manner enjoying regional integration where every party wins	Para. 8, line 9 to 10
IV	represent Ethiopia’s government including the poor and the plans
1	In a bid to realize our plans to make this country prosperous, we strongly strive to ensure a multi-sectorial and multi-party economy which benefits a lot of participants.	Paragraph 9, line 1–3
	We shall work to ensure that we have a private sector-dominated economy, an international …
2	The government recognizes that economic measures which had been taken in the past few years to regulate inflation affected the poorest segment of the society	Para. 9, line 6
3	Sharing the burden of inflation from this segment of society shall be among the economic regulatory measures given priority by the government for the years to come to protect these citizens from economic pressure …	Para. 9, line 8 to 10
V	represent the government as vague
1	Our visions, the goals, and sound objectives we set can be realized as much as our implementation capacity. The vision was not clearly stated	Para. 10, line 1
2	Some of our plans on the shelves and stunted beginnings from some of our planned projects have made us stuck somewhere or worse yet slide back to where we were. We strive hard to introduce fast service supported by technology … convenient public service to be equipped with a culture of completing started up projects to solve grievances and disappointments of citizens “We” is used vaguely with some.	Para. 10, line 3–5
3	We will give special attention to corruption (theft) not just as a petty offense but as a great security and survival challenge. (Here the reference is unclear or vague).	Para. 10, line 7

Table 2 shows that the speaker used the pronoun we to exclude his out-groups, express solidarity with the Ethiopian people, and demonstrate unity and affinity with his in-groups. Additionally, the speaker used the pronoun “we” to demonstrate the inclusiveness of the government he is going to establish.

The inaugural speech or text uses pronouns to either identify himself, the speaker, with the in-groups or represent the out-group, the enemy and its allies. As can be seen in Table 3, the speaker uses the pronouns to identify himself with Ethiopians at times and to attack the enemy and their allies at other times.

Table 3. The pronouns (they, them, their)

No	Text	Paragraph and line
1	Ethiopia shall never forget your deeds as it’s used to cherish historical heroes who stood on its side when their contribution was critically sought.	Paragraph 1, line 8
2	Though some individuals are trying to tell us that we are incapable, we shall prove them wrong by citing …	paragraph 2, line 19
3	Challenges posed by foreign actors by confronting every odd coming against their interest	Paragraph 3, line 15
4	Our people have discharged their citizenry stakes proudly … .their interest.	Paragraph 3, lines 12 and 15
5	This war is a war caused by a few people who assume that there should never be a country which they would not operate and maneuver it the way they wish. Enemies, supported by their servants and masters, caused a brutal attack on our precious Northern Command using their devastating arms and destructive weaponry.	Paragraph 5, lines 2 to 3
6	a promise for the mothers and fathers who are diligently and tirelessly serving the country with their sweat and hard work	paragraph 12 lines 18, 29 and 30

The speaker used their in paragraph 1, line 8, in paragraph 3, line 15, and them in paragraph 2, line 19, to attack and corner the out-groups. In addition, the speaker also used they and their to refer to the outside groups. The speaker, on the other hand, purposefully used their in paragraph 3, lines 12 and 13, and in paragraph 12, lines 18, 29, and 30, to refer to the in group.

4.2.1. Figures of speech

Van Dijk (as cited in Wodak & Meyer, 2007) asserts that figures of speech show how text and talk are organized, how macro propositions in texts are laid out and figures of speech are used, how discourse producers manipulate discourse, and how a particular discourse is produced in a way that fits a specific genre.

4.2.1.1. The metaphor

Analysis of figures of speech, as noted in Wodak and Meyer (2001), is important because it reveals how text and discourse are constructed, as seen below, in van Dijk’s opinion.

We shall keep this promise, develop on long-lived cumulative positive effects, renovate the engine of our ship called Ethiopia, release its anchor for a non-stop voyage ensure that its routes are not endangered by the tides and waves; making sure that this trip sustains and endures shall be in the promise of the Ethiopian sons and daughters of the generation yet to come (par. 2, lines 28 to 31).

The metaphor “ship” was employed by the speaker to describe Ethiopia. The lengthy history of Ethiopia has also been a ship emblem. The speaker also uses a ship to illustrate Ethiopia’s rise or prosperity.

It should be clear that our problem is with those hate mongers and conspiracy brewers—and with nobody else (para.5, lines 13 to 14).

Conspiracy brewers and hatemongers were used to show to what extent the speaker expresses the enemy with the processes of making beverages used to show hostility and enmity to the group because it harms the beverage if taken altogether.

Hummingbird and eagle are used to show the benefits of cooperation as shown below.

If we harness our potential in this sub-continent and cooperate, our problems will look like a hummingbird standing before an eagle (para. 7, line 7 and 8).

4.2.1.2. Metonymy

Words such as heart and door are used as metonymy to express the people of Ethiopians and the current government of Ethiopia as shown below.

Our hearts and doors are open for support and advice as well as best wishes of countries which approach us with a sense of love and respect. A filthy hand and poor personality should necessarily be cleaned (paragraph 6, line 6 to 8). This representation gave freshness to the language use.

4.2.1.3. Personification

Ethiopia is presented as a person in the illustration below who has the capacity to uproot, heal, consolidate, and rejuvenate. It enabled the speaker to appeal to the audience’s optimism using language that was ideologically flavored.

The coming years shall be years that Ethiopia uproots its major problems, heals from its wounds, consolidates its diversified unity, and renews its popularity all over the globe. Example: In the coming few years the spinal cord of poverty, the neck of hatred, back bone of divisiveness, the gut of internal displacement, the arm of man assault and the power of unfounded accusations shall be broken by the strong solidarity among my fellow sons and daughters of Ethiopia (para. 12, lines 3 to 7).

Here personification is used to give vivid pictures, thought, and expression. The speaker used these figures of speech in a subtle way to inculcate the ideology of the speaker in the mind of the audience.

4.2.2. Oromo fathers and Gamo fathers’ sayings in the text

According to Wodak and Meyer (2001), any interactional marker that demonstrates the deliberate usage of the discourse producers may be taken into consideration for analysis because their use varies depending on the purpose of the study. It is crucial to take into account language use because it is the study’s main emphasis. The speaker used proverbs from the Oromo and Gamo fathers in an effort to instill the idea of medemer, which is collaboration and synergy.

The construction in the text shows the importance of hard work. This in turn shows the desire of the text to build emphasis on unity. Similarly, the sayings taken from Gamo fathers too are used to express the role of unity.

The text’s construction, which makes use of Oromo proverbs, highlights the value of hard work. This further demonstrates the text’s intention to emphasize togetherness. Similar to this, the Gamo fathers’ proverb is used to emphasize the need for togetherness or unity.

4.3. Van Dijk’s socio cognitive model

In this sub topic, the structures of propositions and socio-cognitive components at the macro level are explored.

4.3.1. The structures of propositions in the text

It consisted of major semantic macrostructures, or, as Van Dijk named them, “topics.” Topics are the gist of any discourse. They are constructed by summarizing the statements into propositions. This would help the speaker shape the opinion and attitude of the audience to suit his purposes by using a speech text with 12 propositions and 12 topics, of which each has subtopics, as shown in Table 4 and 5 below. Accordingly, the speaker arranged his statements into different macro propositions as given below. This is important because it tells a lot about the speaker’s intention towards events according to van Dijk as cited in Wodak and Meyer (2007:26).

Table 4. The Oromo and Gamo fathers saying

No .	Who?	The Sayings
1	Oromo fathers	“Walii galaan ala galaan” (consensus and mutual understanding brings one into a more convenient place where solutions will be designed for immediate problems)
		“Akka durii fi harka xuriittii hinhafan” (a filthy hand and poor personality should necessarily be cleaned).
2	Gamo saying	One who fails to plough with others for a year is doomed to plough alone for seven years

Table 5. Topics and proposition used in the inaugural speech

No.		Topic	Proposition
		Topic 1: Ethiopia realizes new government	Proposition 1: Ethiopia realize new government
a		Ethiopia reveres the heroines and heroes
b		I am born and grown as an Ethiopian having qualities of resilience’s audacity and defiance.
c		Ethiopians prioritize national interest
d		Ethiopians are ardent zealous and reliable troops
		Topic 2: Ethiopia is inclusive	Proposition 2: Ethiopia is inclusive
a.		Ethiopia first to accept Christianity
b		Ethiopia first to cry muezzin
c		Ethiopians know rulings brilliant in arts and crafts
d		Ethiopians are wise and endowed with golden culture
e		Ethiopia is cradle of civilization
f		Ethiopia is never colonized
g		Ethiopia supports anti-colonial movements
h		Ethiopia is shining symbol of motherhood and African identity
		Topic 3: efforts to set up democratic effort over the last half century	Proposition 3: Ethiopia is inclusive
a		Questions like identity equality, freedom and equity have been asking over half the century
b		People from all walk of life raised their lives and paid due price to realize Them
c		The six national election was not successful
d		However it opens a new chapter to set up and consolidate democratic System
e		The people have proven that they have owned sovereign political power Ethiopians discharge their citizenry role proudly and in typically Ethiopian way irrespective of natural and artificial existential challenges they face against their will from foreign countries.
		Topic 4: Medemer brings consensus and solutions to our immediate problems	Proposition 4: efforts to set up democratic systems are continuing
a		The election victory worth nothing if Ethiopians and Ethiopia fail to win Together
b		the victory of a single party never solves the multilayered problems
c		the election is a means to work together cooperatively
d		The government works hard to realize a new model of government made by the people for the people and of the people the majority vote never Helps
e		When a party win following majority vote it brings conflict disputes
f		history/our/tell us our enemies capitalize this practice; they ridicule us due to this
g		consensus and mutual understanding brings one to more convenient place wherein solution will be designed from immediate problem
h		This helps us to enjoy diversity compromise differences respect each other and march towards the new heights of development
i		to undertake this national dialogue forum will be done to help this ideal
j		it accommodates all political elites all political parties which believe the table helps, all members of the community
k		It will be governed by a system which will be led by Ethiopians to generate local solutions to our problems.
		Topic 5: the causes of the war in the North	Proposition 5: working together can solve our local problems
a		it was motivated by arrogance and treason
b		it brought us severe consequences
c		those started the war were themselves maneuvering the nation in the way they wish
d		the enemy attacked the Northern command since they were supported by their servants and masters
e		the enemy used devastating army and devastating weaponry
f		The enemy violates the unilateral ceasefire
g		even the enemy violated the unilateral ceasefire the Federal Government reached
h		It mobilized young children armed, demolished looted institutions, destroyed schools and health posts, attacked families killed to their demise, killed innocent civilians, shot and indiscriminately killed much cared cattle of the farmers, profaned religious institutions and attacked Ethiopians thereby forcing us into a war which we didn’t like to happen.
i		It has to be clear that we were forced into the war for survival.
j		It should also be clear that whenever we parade for a rally or go into armed conflict, our principal enemies are those who try to destroy the country, obstruct the people, and assume power by force and conspiracy to fill their pockets illegally.
k		It should be clear that our problem is with those hate mongers and conspiracy brewers—and with nobody else
l		Our country shall build a reliable security institution having an appropriate stance which is able to help overcome external and internal challenges and ensure its sustainable national interest.
		Topic 6: Diplomatic relations must be reviewed	Proposition 6: It is legitimate to fight the enemy
a		countries betray Ethiopia like before
b		countries sustain friendly ties
c		Ethiopia needs partnership to realize development but not at the expense of sovereignty and dignity
d		countries supporting and advising us are welcome
		Topic 7: Ethiopia follows African solutions to African problems policy in Africa	Proposition 7: the government should revise its diplomatic ties
a		Ethiopian strives for African interest in the world forums
b		Ethiopia dreams to see Africa united
c		Africans can unit than to separate
d		Cooperation will solve Africans problems since their destiny is interrelated
e		our resources unit us
		Topic 8: Abay has huge economic utility and metaphorical implications to Africans	Proposition 8: Ethiopia follows a principle Africans solve African problems’
a		it is a grand project
b		it has economic and symbolic power to Africans
c		Ethiopian committed to finalize it
d		Ethiopians are called to contribute more
e		the government is determined to finalize it
f		the government reassures that Ethiopians cooperate if every party wins
		Topic 9: Ethiopia follows a multi sectorial and multi-party economy to benefit all	Proposition 9: Abay having an economic and psychological power should be shared
a		to have a private sector-dominated economy, an internationally competitive and well-networked trade and investment
b		It enjoys government support ensures equitable growth, creates sufficient and reliable employment opportunities for citizens.
c		The government recognizes economic measures had that been taken in the past few years to regulate inflation have not brought the desired result
d		The poorest segment of society has been victimized.
e		Sharing the burden of inflation from this segment of society shall be among the economic regulatory measures given priority by the government
		Topic 10: The need to improve the government implementation capacity	Proposition 10: the /our economy policy should be revised
a		The new government shall be one which thinks, plans and implements-
b		some of our plans on the shelves and stunted beginnings from some of our planned projects have made us stuck somewhere
c		we strive hard to introduce fast service supported by technology and convenient public service to be equipped with a culture of completing started up projects
d		grievances and disappointments of citizens should be solved
e		We will give special attention to corruption (theft) not just as a petty offense but as a great security and survival challenge
		11. Topic: the reform has success and failures	Proposition 11: There are ways for the new government to improve its implementation capacities
a		individuals and groups feel losers because they are against democracy and justice
b		there are problems we face when we follow the path of development
c		the government will capitalizes its success and minimizes its mistakes
d		the reform should consider the timely quest of this generation and ideals of the time
e		the reform should have institutional base and public support
f		our successors will correct our mistakes and finish planned projects
g		Ethiopians can solve hatred that challenge our unity, defeat poverty increases our vulnerability to our enemies
h		We shall stand as one body with Ethiopian sense of unity and strive to replace hatred with mutual understanding, oppression with democracy, poverty with prosperity, vulnerability to enemies
i		The government builds a strong national security force.
		Topic 12: The virtues Ethiopians should follow	Proposition 12: The government will keep on its reform agenda
a		A filthy hand and poor personality should be cleaned
b		The challenges Ethiopia has been facing are springboards for her development; they are the means to rise up
c		Ethiopia uproots its major problems
d		the government renews its commitment

According to Wodak and Meyer (2007), CDA might be referred to as “text-reducing” due to its focus on fairly explicit formal properties and the concomitant compression of texts during analysis. All of the assertions in the spoken text were condensed into 12 key macro propositions, as shown in Table 5 on the very right side of the column.

4.3.2. Socio-cognitive elements at macro level

The goal is to expose ideology by using specialized discourse tools to investigate social cognition at the macro structural level. In order to do this, the text was analyzed using Van Dijk’s most important discursive strategies. They are classified as analytical or socio-cognitive indicators by Van Dijk (1998) and include authority, evidentially, victimhood, and polarization.

4.3.2.1. Authority

The following extracts show how the text constructs authority or credibility in the text to control the mind of the audience as one of the socio cognitive strategies.

Ethiopia shall never forget your deeds as it’s used to cherish historical heroes who stood on its side when their contribution was critically sought. Our country shall enormously regard and revere monumental personas of this generation as it used to do (Paragraph 1, line 7 to 9, line 10, line 12 to 15, and line 16 to 19). The text producer employs the authority strategy by using historical knowledge to claim authority. The speaker uses his history/personal knowledge to appreciate this generation and remember the audience about Ethiopia’s historical heroes.

History shall have it on its unique pages (paragraph 2, line 10). The text builds authority via using his history/his social and group knowledge because he and his in-group do believe or consider, i.e., Ethiopia remembers her heroes, a group knowledge which at times may be an opinion to the outside group as a means to claim credibility, mentioning, i.e., Ethiopia remembers her heroes.

It is a common knowledge that our people have never ever tolerated any form of attack against the nation; have prioritized national interest over personal grievance whenever the country was challenged by enemies and have never made sovereignty negotiable (paragraph 1, line 13 to 15).

From this extract we learn how the text constructed credibility through the usage of commonly accepted knowledge Ethiopians accepted as, Ethiopians prioritize fighting for their territory over personal or group differences, claiming authority by using the peoples commonly accepted knowledge.

I would like to express with great humility the unparalleled respect and admiration I have for the Ethiopian people who are reliable troops as well as zealous support and backbone of the armed forces. Likewise, on behalf of the Ethiopian people and Government of Ethiopia, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Ethiopians in the diaspora all over the globe and friends of Ethiopia for extending your support when the country is needy and for scaffolding it when Ethiopia was vulnerable (paragraph 1 line 16 to 19).

Also the text claims credibility by calling Ethiopians as reliable troops, backbone of armed forces, the commonly accepted beliefs values opinions, his attitudes about Ethiopians, social and group knowledge to construct trustworthiness. The text also demonstrated the appreciation and respect for the Ethiopian people wherein they take it as their ingredient for their social and group identity. He further thanked friendly nations too to show respect as an Ethiopian leader in particular.

Our country has been making great efforts to establish democratic state over the last half a century. It had to pass through a multitude of hopes and threats, opportunities and challenges to reach where it is now. Questions pertaining to identity, equality, freedom, and equity were all what the farmers and the pastoralists, the urban and rural residents, the military and educated elites in general, people from all walks of lives raised and paid due price for over the last many years (paragraph 3, line 1 to 5; line 10 to 15).

Again the text acknowledges by using historical knowledge .i.e. attempts that Ethiopia has been trying its best to set up democratic state and reminds the price everyone pays for it to claim authority, the text uses historically agreed upon facts that everyone accepts

We have reached an era where people have proven to have owned sovereign political power. Our people have discharged their citizenry stakes proudly and in a typically Ethiopian way regardless of mountains of hurdles, potentially despairing seasonal challenges, various artificial conflicts and natural encounters such as COVID 19 pandemic, threats posed against sovereignty of our country, challenges posed by foreign actors by confronting every odd coming against their interest (Paragraph 3, line 10 to 15).

And here the text uses a different strategy to claim authority reaction i.e. confirmation evaluation. In short, it uses present but personal knowledge e.g., the speaker confirms or evaluates the present time and appreciates the people as they are an absolute source of power, i.e. to be acceptable.

The Abbay [Nile] River has great metaphorical implications for Ethiopians beyond its economic utility (paragraph 8 line 2).Here the text claims credibility through e.g., his personal, social, government knowledge on hydro politics and spiritual knowledge to claim credibility.

Ethiopians have committed to finalize construction of the GERD dam contributing finance from their scarcity. The dam shall be completed (paragraph 8, line 8 and 9).

Ethiopians have committed to finalizing construction of the GERD dam, contributing finance from their scarcity. The dam shall be completed (paragraph 8, line 8 and 9).

Here the text claims authority by mentioning commonly held facts from personal, social, and government knowledge, e.g., Ethiopians are financing the dam. The text claims credibility by remembering the fact that the people are poor yet they construct their dams with social knowledge. And it shows the speaker’s determination or commitment.

Our dear neighbors and children of the Abbay [Nile], so long as you understand our stand, I would like to reassure you that all Ethiopians are ready to cooperate over the river in a mutually benefitting manner enjoying regional integration where every party wins (paragraph 8, line 9 to 12). The text uses political knowledge, foreign policy on river Abbay; it mentioned the value of principled arguments everyone accepts since it is mutually beneficial policy, i.e. political knowledge to claim credibility.

We shall work to ensure that we have a private sector-dominated economy, an internationally competitive and well-networked trade and investment which enjoys government support, an economy which ensures equitable growth, one which creates sufficient and reliable employment opportunities for citizens (para. 9, line 2 to 5).

Here the text uses his group/government knowledge i.e. economic policy; he acknowledges the policy should create jobs that everyone shares his arguments.

The government recognizes that economic measures which had been taken in the past few years to regulate inflation have not brought the desired result and that the poorest segment of society has been victimized (paragraph 9, line 6 to 8).

Here the text mentioned the failures of the economic policy as government knowledge that they know the poor are being affected. He claims credibility via government knowledge in such a way.

The new government shall be one which thinks, plans and implements- not just a wishful entity enjoying a nightmare (paragraph 10, line 2 to 3).

Here the text strongly reflects its position as an individual and as a leader of a government group e.g., the speaker shares his views/opinions on the nature of the newly formed government to claim personal or group authority.

Another one runs as follows:

We strive hard to introduce fast service supported by technology and convenient public service to be equipped with a culture of completing started up projects to solve grievances and disappointments of citizens. We will give special attention to corruption (theft) not just as a petty offense but as a great security and survival challenge (paragraph 10, line 5 to 8).

Here the speaker uses his group knowledge to improve public service projects that the public share and resulted in citizens’ disappointment to claim acceptability.

In paragraph 11, line 1 to 4 the speech goes on:

In our reform pursuit so far, we have seen numerous successes and various challenges as well. There are still a considerable number of individuals and groups of people who would feel losers if justice is enshrined and consensus is arrived; those who feel breezeless if democracy is instituted, those who feel oppressed if equality is ensured.

Here the speaker expressed his positive attitudes and opinions about the reform; the speaker mentioned successes and challenges that the public already shared. The text has done counter criticism through the use of strong group and social knowledge to emphasis the importance of the reform to achieve its credibility.

Adding up on our past successes and correcting our mistakes, we should work day-and-night to pass a better country to the coming generation through new ideas which corresponds to the order of the day and that fits the ideals of the generation (paragraph 11, line 5 to 9).

Here the text indicates the use of group knowledge to emphasize on the wisdom of hard work to hand over a better country to the coming generation, group knowledge to claim acceptability.

We have a promise to have this happen. A promise given to those citizens who chose Ethiopia on the polls standing the rain and the cold, overcoming the chill and the sun burn, tolerating sleeplessness during the election night; a promise entered with precious fellow Ethiopians who got bleed and died to save the country; a promise entered with mothers who prayed day and night with tears for the peace of Ethiopia; a promise for the mothers and fathers who are diligently and tirelessly serving the country with their sweat and hard work; a promise which we took from Ethiopian children who sing for Ethiopia with their child stammer (paragraph 11, line 12 to 19).

The speaker employs his social knowledge in that Ethiopians have a promise for Ethiopia that everyone shares with him. The text uses the use of social knowledge and his social hope to build credibility.

The coming years shall be years that Ethiopia uproots its major problems, heals from its wounds, consolidates its diversified unity, and renews its popularity all over the globe (paragraph 12, line 3 to 5).

The text mentioned the use of personal and social knowledge, the hope commonly envisioned what Ethiopia looks like in the years to come on the world by everyone in such a way he claims credibility.

I solemnly plead with you with great humility to support me with your prayers so that we shall not lose the virtues of honest service which Ethiopia deserves, discouraging theft, loving the country and its people, serving with integrity, and impartially serving to raise Ethiopia (Paragraph 12, line 25 to 28).

The text employs the use of personal knowledge to build credibility by mentioning spiritual practice, asking the public to pray for him, virtues of honest service Ethiopia needs from his personal knowledge.

4.3.2.2. Victimization

According to van Dijk, victimization refers to the representations of the in-groups as victims or in the victim position in the text. Or it happens when the out-group commits crime against the in-groups. The crimes of the out group can be physical or abstract against the in-group. If there were crimes happening to the out group, here it would be expressed in understatement to favor the in groups.

The following data show victimhood as discourse/socio cognitive strategies used in the text against in groups:

Enemies, supported by their servants and masters, caused a brutal attack on our precious Northern Command using their devastating arms and destructive weaponry. Even recently by the time we declared unilateral ceasefire to give it cooling time, the enemy mobilized young children armed, demolished and looted public institutions, destroyed schools and health posts, attacked families to their demise, killed innocent civilians, shot and indiscriminately killed much cared cattle of the farmers, profaned religious institutions and attacked Ethiopians thereby forcing us into a war which we didn’t like to happen (paragraph 5; line 4 to 10).

The speaker said in his address that the enemy or out-group assaulted the Northern Command, destroyed and pillaged several public institutions, and considered cattle and humans as the enemy’s victims of attack. The speaker employed this strategy to illustrate how the out-group, which is the adversary, is putting the victims against the members of the in-group.

At this very moment where we have been defending evil ambition threatening our sovereignty and national integrity, the intention we see on part of the international sources have forced us to review our history. We have passed across two conflicting realities pertinent to our long-lived diplomatic relations. While there are countries who have sustained friendly ties with us as before, there are some who repeat a history of betrayal once again (paragraph 6, line 1 to 5).

Here the speaker noted that Ethiopia has historically been betrayed by other nations and became their victims, and he stressed the importance of assessing or revising the country’s diplomatic ties.

We strive to discharge our responsibility like never before. In our sub-continent, we have more things to cooperate for than to fight with each other, more things which tie us together than those which separate us (Paragraph 7, lines 4 to 6).

Here, the text placed countries found in the sub-continent as victims since they are not united.

4.3.2.3. Polarization

According to van Dijk this happens when social actors express opposite ideas that might not be reconciled. Or it happens when social actors comment on opposite events in a categorically opposite manner such as government and regime or east and west or black and white.

We have now reached a point in history where political power is derived solely from true popular polls (votes), rather than from consanguineous ties, gun barrels, or some other type of conspiracy. Here the text uses comparisons between types of democracy Ethiopia had and the present, e.g., Ethiopians affected as a result of undemocratic sources of power in the past against the current government (paragraph 3, lines 8–10).

The speaker used the vote and conspiracies to create a polarized position in which the election that brought him to power was democratic, but others were undemocratic or full of conspiracy.

This war is a war caused by a few people who assume that there should never be a country which they would not operate and maneuver it the way they wish (paragraph 5, line 2 to 4

The text here depicts a division or polarization between the central government, which believed in a democratic system, and a small group of individuals who launched the conflict or the war and manipulated Ethiopia in a way they wanted.

There are still a considerable number of individuals and groups of people who would feel losers if justice is enshrined and consensus is arrived; those who feel breezeless if democracy is instituted, those who feel oppressed if equality is ensured (paragraph 11, line 2 to 4).

In this instance, the text polarizes the speaker’s government, which is thought to be delivering democracy to the country, versus individuals and groups in the enemy circle.

In paragraph 9, line 6 to 10, the speaker indicated how the inflation affected the poor as shown below:

The poorest segment of society has been victimized. Sharing the burden of inflation from this segment of the society shall be among the economic regulatory measures given priority by the government for the years to come to protect these citizens from economic pressure.

The text depicts the poorest segment of society as being affected by inflation, resulting in a polarized relationship with the non-poor, and the speaker expressed his focus on normalizing the polarity created in society as a result of economic pressure or inflation.

We will give special attention to corruption (theft) not just as a petty offence but as a great security and survival challenge (paragraph 10, lines 7 and 8).

The speaker contrasted past and present instances of corruption and theft by the Ethiopian government and people, claiming that the latter had become risky and a threat to survival.

4.3.2.4. Evidentiality

Van Dijk uses evidentially to refer to the use of evidence by speakers/writers to make an argumentative text as adiscourse strategy. The concept is so fluid that at times may be difficult to differentiate the two, evidentially and authority. Van Dijk argues that the technique can be used by politicians subtly to construct desired ideologies. The text uses the following evidentially markers in the speech to control the minds of his audience and to impart his ideologies.

As has been evident in the great Holy Books, Ethiopia is a great country of justice, equality, freedom, and extraordinary personality. Ethiopia is referred to in the Holy Bible as “an Ethiopian never changed his skin or the leopard his spots” and it contributed to the world the Ethiopian eunuch who was among the very few pioneers to accept Christianity. Prophet Mohammed praised Ethiopia as a land of truth and justice and chose it to be the host of his companions. Ethiopia is also the source of Bilal- the first mu’azzin (prayer caller) in the Muslim faith. We are astonishing people, about whom the Portuguese explorer and writer Alva raze witnessed as people who know justice and rulings, people endowed with magnificent building crafts and arts (paragraph 2, lines 1–8).

The speaker used a number of examples in his political speech to demonstrate how Ethiopia has historically influenced the world as a source of persuasive discourse or strategies. To support the validity of multiple discourses, the speech thus employs historical allusions. The speech illustrated how Ethiopia is home to admirable people who embrace Christianity and the land of justice, equality, truth, arts and rulings as well as the origin of Bilal.

Ethiopia has been praised in the fables of Aesop and fables of Menander; Herodotus, the father of history, referred to Ethiopians as wise people endowed with golden-culture and etiquette. Proven as ancient state by modern archeologists, Ethiopia has not only defended herself from foreign colonizers but also selflessly shared from its scarce resources to African brothers on their fight from colonialism and proved to have magnificent place in the anti-apartheid and anti- colonial movements. Ethiopia is such an astonishing country that enjoyed great shares in the hearts and minds of Marcus Garvey, W.E.B Dubois and … during the black people rights movement and hence enjoys a prominent place in the movement. Mandela referred to this proud and shining symbol of motherhood and African identity as “a country which revealed my African Identity (paragraph 2, lines 9–18).

Additionally, the speaker used evidences by citing key societal figures and resources, including both sacred and secular books. For instance, the Holy Books, Alva Raze, a Portuguese explorer and author, Aesop, Menander, Ethiopia defending colonizers, Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. Dubois, and … (Leaders of the Black People’s Right Movement in Latin America), and Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa. To advance unity discourse as a desired ideology, the speaker uses these components to show that Ethiopia is a magnificent nation.

4.3.3. The micro structural analysis on social actors

Social actors are those who participate in a communicative event with defined attributions. The main purpose of this section is to answer the second research question, i.e., what are the specific socio-cognitive elements found in the text? To answer this, the study uses Van Dijk (2000) four principles of the ideological square to do an ideological analysis of various ideologies or attitudes. These principles include:

1. Emphasize the positive things about us

2. Emphasize the negative things about them

3. De-emphasize the negative things about us

4. De-emphasize the positive things about them.

These four movements play an important role in the broader contextual strategy of self-positive representation and other negative presentations. The self-presentation discusses the individual acting as a group member while expressly expressing ideological ideas. Positive self- representation emphasizes the positive behavior of the individual, as in saying positive things about us and saying negative things about them. This positive attitude is an abstract characteristic of group conflict and arises because of interaction patterns with other groups (Van Dijk, 2000).

The speaker employed major social actors. The Ethiopian National Defense Forces, the popular forces, the entire security crew, the people, the Ethiopian government, the Ethiopian diaspora and friendly nations are in the allied forces. However, the enemy’s alliances, including allied nations that help the enemy, significant individuals and groups are in the enemy circle.

4.3.4. Ethiopia/Ethiopian election

Ethiopia realizes legitimate government through transparent and trusted elections, the first of its kind in the long state administration history of Ethiopia (paragraph 1, line 1 to 2). The speaker used words like realize, legitimate, transparent, trusted, first, long, and history intentionally to describe Ethiopia and its election, and described them in a positive light.

Here, the speaker used these lexical items to describe the in-group positively, for example, never forgets historical deeds, cherishes historical heroes and heroines.

Ethiopia enormously regards and reveres monumental personas (paragraph 1, line 8 to 9). Also the speaker used these items in a positive light e.g., enormously, reveres monumental personas.

4.3.5. This generation

The speaker uses these as a social actor too. Your sacrifices shall be written on our hearts and history will have on its unique pages (paragraph 1, line 9). Words like sacrifices, shall be written on … hearts and unique are identified.

4.3.6. The entire security staff

Heroic national defense forces the security crew the popular force … bravely discharging to avert existential livelihood danger … . (Para. 1, line 4). The speaker employed such words like heroic, bravely, existential livelihood danger.

4.3.7. The Ethiopian People and the Speaker

The following data demonstrated how the speaker and the people are represented in the text:

I was born to people enjoying qualities of resilience, audacity and defiance. It is a common knowledge that our people have never ever tolerated any form of attack against the nation; have prioritized national interest over personal grievance whenever the country was challenged by enemies and have never made sovereignty negotiable (paragraph 1, line 12 to 15).

These items resilience, audacity, defiance, never ever, any, prioritized, have never made … are used.

The Ethiopian people are reliable troops and have zealous support and backbone of armed forces. These items were used e.g., reliable, zealous support, backbone (paragraph 1, line 18). Our people have discharged their citizenry stakes proudly and in a typically Ethiopian way regardless of mountains of hurdles … (Paragraph 3, line 11 and 12)

These are the items e.g., proudly, typically … .

4.3.8. Ethiopian diaspora and friendly nations

The diaspora and friendly nations support the country when it is needy and scaffold the nation when it is vulnerable (paragraph 1, line 19). Similarly, look into the words (needy, scaffold, venerable).

4.3.9. The Ethiopian government (the newly formed ones)

On our part, we shall strongly strive to realize the vision of building a state which is made by all, for all and of all the people through inclusive and participatory governance. We shall work hard to make sure that our political system is not only a reflection of the interest of the winning group but also a result of our consensus (paragraph 4, line 6 to 10). The text employs these items e.g., strongly striving to realize the vision of building a state, through inclusive, participatory governance, shall work hard … is not only a reflection of … but also a result of … consensus.

We strive to discharge our responsibility like never before (paragraph 7, line 3).Words e.g., like never, used.

The new government shall be one which thinks, plans and implements- not just a wishful entity enjoying a nightmare (paragraph 10, line 2 and 3). The speaker described the nature of the newly formed government by employing items such as plans, thinks, implements, not wishful … a nightmare.

We will give special attention to corruption (theft) not just as a petty offense but as a great security and survival challenge (paragraph 10, line 7 and 8). The text employs these items e.g., special, petty, survival.

We may commit sporadic mistakes. We don’t have a pompous argument that we do everything perfectly flawlessly (paragraph 11, line 8 to 10). The text was sporadic, pompous, perfectly flawlessly. In paragraph 12, line 8 and 9 the speaker indicated the Ethiopian government emphasizing on virtues “a filthy hand and poor personality should necessarily be cleaned” by using words like filthy, poor, necessarily.

4.3.10. The enemy and its groups

As history starkly reveals, our internal conflicts (disputes) benefited our enemies and made us a point of ridicule (paragraph 4, line 10 to 11).

The conflict we have in the northern part of our country was motivated by treason and arrogance. This war is a war caused by a few people who assume that there should never be a country in which they would not operate and maneuver the way they wish. The enemies, supported by their servants and masters, caused a brutal attack on our precious Northern Command using their devastating arms and destructive weaponry. Even recently, by the time we declared a unilateral ceasefire to give it cooling time, the enemy mobilized young children armed, demolished and looted public institutions, destroyed schools and health posts, attacked families to their demise, killed innocent civilians, shot and indiscriminately killed much cared for cattle of the farmers, profaned religious institutions, and attacked Ethiopians, … assume power by force and conspiracy to fill their pockets illegally. It should be obvious that our issue is with those hate mongers and conspiracy brewers—and nobody else (paragraph 1, lines 1–15).

In the text, the speakers used lexical items such as treason, arrogance, a few, assume, operate, maneuver, wish, supported by, brutal, devastating, destructive, mobilized, armed, demolished, looted, destroyed, attacked, killed, shot, indiscriminately killed, profaned, attacked, by force, conspiracy, fills, illegally, hate mongers, and conspiracy brewers as examples to the out-groups or enemies.

4.3.11. Countries supporting the enemy

In paragraph 6, line 5 the speech goes “there are some who repeat a history of betrayal once again”. The speaker used words like some and betrayal to describe countries that support the out-group.

4.3.12. Individuals and groups around the enemy circle

There are still a considerable number of individuals and groups of people who would feel losers if justice is enshrined and consensus is arrived; those who feel breezeless if democracy is instituted, those who feel oppressed if equality is ensured (paragraph line 3 to 5).

To portray the members of the enemy circle as enemies of Ethiopia, the speaker used derogatory language to describe the actors in the out-group, such as losers, breezeless, and oppressed.

5. Results and findings of the study

Using Van Dijk’s perspectives on CDA, the researchers identified CDA elements and socio-cognitive or discourse elements that were used in the text to communicate ideologies and desired meanings in the address when the speaker communicates his ideals, viewpoints, and plans. Accordingly, the following major findings were obtained:

In the public address, the speaker used lexical items, pronouns, figures of speech, and metaphors. Lexical items were utilized to offer unity discourse, positive depictions of the in-group, and derogatory depictions of the out-group at the local level. Similarly, lexical terms were utilized to support the in-group and trash the out-group, according to a micro-level analysis of ideology based on attributions to social actors.

The use of descriptions of social actors to determine the specific attributions used at the micro-level revealed positive representation of in-groups and negative representation of out-groups. The prime minister’s uses of the negative lexical items, however, show his stand for democratic ideals and values.

At the macro level, the speaker employed 12 topics and 12 propositions to create a discourse of unity, or ideology, and favourable images of the in-groups. Furthermore, the macro analysis of ideology, which includes cognitive and discourse strategies, revealed unity in discourse through evidentiality, authority, polarization, and victimization.

Based on the findings, it is possible to conclude that the speaker skilfully used discourse or language to manipulate the audience’s opinion and attitude in order to have a positive image of his newly formed government but a negative image of his out-groups. Lastly, the speech made by the premier was used as a means of creating, maintaining, and sustaining power and ideology. The study also recommends that researchers, media practitioners, and journalists conduct studies on CDA using Van Dijk’s socio-cognitive model to examine language use critically, especially in political discourses like this specific genre.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Biset Ayalew Nigatu

Biset Ayalew Nigatuis an assistant professor in the Department of Journalism and Communication at Bahir Dar University. He obtained a BA and a PhD in teaching English as a foreign language and an MA in journalism and communication. He has been teaching different journalism, communication, and English courses at BDU since 2004.

Migbaru Tadesse Admassu

Migbaru Tadesse Admassu is a lecturer in the department of Journalism and communication at Selale University. He obtained a BA in journalism and communication and an MA in media and communication at Bahir Dar University. He has been teaching different courses in Journalism and communication, and English. He is currently working at Selale University, Ethiopia.