Cultural contact and change in naming practices among the Aari of southwest Ethiopia
When people of different cultures interact, a degree of linguistic and/or cultural adaptation is expected. This paper examines the implication of the relationship between the Aari and the Gama for the naming practices of the former. The Aari people, who speak Araf, came into contact with Amharic-speaking migrants from central and northern Ethiopia (collectively called the Gama) during the southward expansion of Emperor Menelik in the late nineteenth century. Traditionally, the Aari people used names to express their collective history, shared life experiences, major events, and their environment. The incorporation of Aariland into the Ethiopian empire led to economic, political, and cultural domination as well as resistance on the part of the Aari. Personal names that characterize the period of struggle against the dominant migrants became common until the 1974 revolution that ended the Gama hegemony. Afterwards, however, the naming tradition suffered a setback as evidenced in the decline of Aari personal names in favour of Amhara names and the alteration of the spelling and pronunciation of Aari names. The new changes in naming practices compromised the role of the Aari language as an expression of culture and a marker of identity.
Language and Ethnicity in Minority Sociolinguistic Perspective
What is ethnicity and how is it linked to language? - phenomenological and socio-historical considerations language maintenance and language shift in ethnocultural perspective the ethnic dimension in language planning language and ethnicity in education - the bilingual minority focus elites and rank-and-file - contrasts and contexts in ethnolinguistic behaviour and attitudes ethnolinguistic homogeneity and heterogeneity - worldwide causes, consequences and aspirations.
Names in Chindali
This paper explores naming practices among speakers of Chindali (a Bantu language), including the act of naming, the selection of names, their significance and uses, as well as the impact of sociocultural changes on naming. The author uses data from an ongoing study gathered in Ileje, Rungwe and Mbozi districts in Tanzania. Members of Chindali-speaking communities bear at least five types of names: childhood names and associated praise names, personal names, clan names and clan praise names. Grandparents play an important role in the choice and bestowal of childhood names. Clan names are prescribed: they are transmitted from generation to generation through sons and signal common descent. Parents select personal names for their children but the latter may select others later in life. Childhood, personal and clan names have meanings, mainly linked to the circumstances of birth, and convey cultural and social values. Contact with other languages Kinyakyusa, English, Swahili and the migration of Chindali speakers to Rungwe and Mbozi districts have had impacts on naming practices. Chindali speakers have borrowed foreign names and nativized them and speakers of other languages have modified Chindali names. Clan names and associated praise names generally appear resistant to some of these changes.