Personal Naming among the βanasukuma: a linguistic analysis

Abstract

The current paper investigated personal names in Kemunasukuma, a Sukuma language dialect spoken in Tanzania, from a linguistic perspective. It illuminates the meanings embedded in personal names. The study was carried out in rural parts of the Shinyanga Region which is one of the places where the language is spoken. Interview and focus group methods were employed in data collection, and the data were thereafter grouped into different emergent themes based on the categories of personal names in the dialect. The findings suggest that Sukuma personal names are significant linguistic forms attached with meanings that reflect diverse realities such as the circumstances at birth, time and place of birth, manner and order of birth, and parents’ behaviours, among others. Moreover, personal names have denotative or connotative meanings depending on the factors that inspired their selection. We argue that Kemunasukuma indigenous names are useful labels used by name-givers to communicate different information to family members and the entire community.