Regulating Marriage, Social Relations, and Marital Transition: Semiotic Resources in Nandi Marriage Negotiations

Abstract

This study examines how semiotic resources regulate Nandi marriage negotiations, organise authority and participation, and communicate marital and inter-family transition. The study used a qualitative secondary-analysis design to re-examine marriage-related material from Chemis's 2020 research on Nandi social events and its subsequent journal publication with Ochieng and Achieng in 2020. The original data were generated through semi-structured interviews with twelve Nandi speakers, purposively selected men and women aged between 40 and 60, and through participant observation at social events in Megun Ward, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. Twenty resources, selected because the original study records both a context of use and an attributed meaning for each, were re-analysed through social semiotics and multimodality, each being examined for its form, the participants involved, its point in the sequence, its documented meaning, and the social action its use performs. Three findings are reported. Culturally recognised resources regulate progression from the initial proposal, through the assessment of eligibility and the negotiation of bridewealth, to confirmation of the intended bride. Processional order, regulated access and spatial positioning organise participation and representative authority. Material and sensory resources make the resulting relationships recognisable and project expectations of married life. The significance of the study lies in showing that these resources operate as one coordinated system rather than as separate signs. The study recommends comparative research across Kalenjin communities in Kenya.