A Cultural Linguistic Study of Personal Names Among the Igala People of Northern Nigeria

Onoja; Joseph Ajogwu PhD

doi:10.56201/ijelcs.vol.11.no6.2026.pg1.29

📄 Download Paper

A Cultural Linguistic Study of Personal Names Among the Igala People of Northern Nigeria

Onoja, Joseph Ajogwu PhD

Abstract

This study investigated the cultural and linguistic significance of personal names among the Igala people of Northern Nigeria with the aim of documenting, preserving, and explaining the cultural values, philosophical orientations, and linguistic structures embedded in Igala anthroponyms. The study was motivated by the growing influence of modernization, globalization, and language shift, which have contributed to the gradual erosion of indigenous naming traditions and other aspects of Igala cultural heritage. Guided by the Cultural Linguistics Framework of Sharifian and Frank (2017), the study sought to examine the physical and social representations of Igala personal names, explore their spiritual and philosophical underpinnings, and identify the morphosyntactic strategies employed in their formation. An ethnographic research design was adopted, utilizing participant observation, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and document analysis to generate qualitative data. The study purposively selected thirty-five (35) respondents comprising traditional chiefs , elders (Abogijo), youths (Abokolobia), and other knowledgeable members drawn from the five major dialect areas of the Igala language. A total of 842 personal names constituted the primary data for analysis. The findings revealed that Igala personal names are not merely labels for identification but serve as repositories of history, cultural values, religious beliefs, philosophical ideas, emotions, and collective experiences. The names reflect the people's occupations, environment, social interactions, worldview, and belief in the Supreme Being, ancestral spirits, and reincarnation. The study further established that male names predominantly symbolize courage, strength, leadership, and heroism, whereas female names often emphasize tenderness, beauty, motherhood, and emotional expression. Linguistically, the study identified diverse morphosyntactic processes, including compounding, clipping, affixation, serial verb constructions, and derivation from phrases and sentences, which demonstrate the richness and creativity of the Igala language. The study concludes that Igala personal names constitute an invaluable cultural and linguistic heritage that preserves the identity, history, and worldview of the Igala people. It recommends the preservation and promotion of indigenous naming traditions through education, documentation, curriculum development, and scholarly research to safeguard this cultural legacy for future generations.

References

Adamo, G. E. (2007). Nigerian English. Is it can it be - part of quest for cultural expression and identity? English today 89, 23(1), 42-47 Adeyemi, L. (2006, Oct. 31 – Nov. 4). Will the real national literature of Nigeria please stand up? (Paper presentation). 23rd Annual Conference of Nigeria English Studies, University of Ilorin, Kwara State. Adeyemi, L. (2006, Oct. 31 – Nov. 4). Will the real national literature of Nigeria please stand up? (Paper presentation). 23rd Annual Conference of Nigeria English Studies, University of Ilorin, Kwara State. Agbanusi, C. A. (2015). The relationship between philosophy and culture. International Journal of Arts and Humanities. 4(3), 77 – 85. Awonusi, V. O. (2004). The English language in global context. In. A. B. K. Dadzie & S. Awonusi (Eds.) Nigerian English: Influences and Characteristics. Bamgbose, A. (1971). English language in Nigeria. In J. Spenser (Ed.), English language in Nigeria. Longman. Clark, A. & Chalmers, D. (1998). The extended mind. Analysis, 58(1), 10 – 23. Duran, L. (1994). Towards a better understanding of codeswitchign and interlanguage in bilingualism: Implications for bilingual instruction. The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students 14, 68-88. Duranti, A. (1997). Linguistic anthropology. Oxford University Press. Egblewogbe, E. Y. (1977). Ewe personal names; A sociolinguistic study (PhD thesis), University of Ghana. Ethnologue Nigeria (1996). Ethnologue (13th ed.). In B. F. Grimes (Ed.), Summer Institute of Lingusitics Inc. retrieved from http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/countries/Nigr.html. Kroeber, A. L. (1987). The nature of culture. In H. Applebaum (Ed.), Perspectives in cultural Anthropology, (pp. 80-84). Lawal, R. A. (2004, Sept. 14-17). The national policy on education in cybernetic perspective. (Paper Presentation). 3rd National Conference of National Association of Research Development, Federal College of Education, Okene. Palmer, G. B. (2015). Ethnography: A neglected method of inductive linguistics. Etnolingwistyika 27, 21 – 45. doi:10.17951/et2015.27.21. Salzman, E. (1998). Language, culture and society. Westview Press. Sharifian F. (2017). Cultural Linguistics. John Benjamins. Sutton, J. (2005). Memory and the extended mind: Embodiment, cognition, and culture. Cognitive processing, 6(4), 223 – 226. Sutton, J. (2006). Introduction: Memory embodied cognition, and the extended mind. Philosophical Psychology, 19(3), 281 – 289. Wilson, R.A. (2005). Collective memory, group minds, and the extended mind thesis. Cognitive processing, 6(4), 227 – 316.

A Cultural Linguistic Study of Personal Names Among the Igala People of Northern Nigeria

Abstract

References

More Articles from INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION STUDIES