King Shumba, Smiling Devil and Baby Doctor: A sociolinguistic study of lecturers’ nicknames in two Nigerian universities

Mensah, Eyo; Ndimele, Roseline I.

doi:10.1080/14725843.2020.1813544

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Other nicknames were formed by retaining the initial syllable of a name and the following consonant, and then the terminal /i/ or /za/ was added to create a second syllable which is pronounced like an English name; for instance, Bonang is represented as Bonny /bɔːni/ while Tumelo is shortened to Tumza. Some nicknames were created by abbreviating names to one or two characters such as Gofaone to G. Mensah and Ndimele (2022) explored nicknames for lecturers at the University of Calabar and Abia State University which were coined by students. The authors established that nicknames are secretly used by students to refer to lecturers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nicknames among Swati clans: A socio-cultural analysis

Matfunjwa,

Mlambo,

Skosana

2024

Literator

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Nicknames are common in African societies. In Swati families, the use of nicknames is widespread and almost every member of a family possesses one. The nicknames are given to people in addition to their personal names from a young age until adulthood. This paper aims to explore nicknames bestowed on people within Swati families. This study is qualitative and adopts a socio-onomastic approach. The researchers used participant observation to collect data to gain insight into how nicknames are bestowed on family members and to establish their meanings. A total of 51 nicknames were collected and analysed. It was established that nicknames are given based on the socio-cultural traits of the family and society. It was also ascertained that nicknames are derived from an individual’s character, physical appearance, prominent people’s names, remarkable events, and short forms of personal names. Some nicknames are meaningful while others are meaningless. They are used as informal identities within the family setting and in the community.Contribution: This study contributes to the body of knowledge in Siswati onomastics, specifically Swati nicknames. It reveals how nicknames are formed and bestowed on nickname bearers within clan or family settings. The study also reveals cultural nuances associated with nicknames given in Swati families.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nicknames among Swati clans: A socio-cultural analysis

Matfunjwa,

Mlambo,

Skosana

2024

Literator

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“…In recent times, onomastic research, which generally deals with the study of names and naming practices (Algeo 1992), has increasingly gained scholarly attention. Many researchers have focused on the study of nicknames/personal names (e.g., Ntombela 2019;Abubakari 2020;Owu-Ewie et al 2021;Mensah and Ndimele 2022), place names (e.g., Matthews 2018; Yankey 2022), church names, the names of institutions (Awukuvi and Israel 2018;Akoto 2023), pet and animal names (see Alqarni 2022;Aziaku 2016;Yakub 2020), and the names of water bodies (Mphasha et al 2021; Sun and Jiang 2023), among others. Personal naming practices have become part of the core values of human existence (Sekyi-Baidoo 2019;Mensah 2023b).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Refuse Dump, Hurry Up!’: A Cognitive Onomastic and Cultural Metaphor Perspective of Nzema Death-Prevention Names

Yakub

2024

Languages

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African personal names have communicative contents that reflect the experiences and expectations of the name-giver as well as the bearer. Death-prevention names, for instance, provide some assurance and security that are vital for a child’s survival, given the implicit assumption that certain spiritual forces are at work. The bestowal of despicable and ‘ugly’ names on children whose preceding siblings died shortly after birth is also a common practice among the Nzema, aiming at preventing succeeding children from death. This study examines cultural conceptions and metaphorical correlations in Nzema death-prevention names. Using 42 death-prevention names obtained through interviews, the study discusses the implications of the names and their metaphoric connections with the objects used to identify this category of people. The study reveals that features of entities such as ɛkpɔtɛ ‘vulture’, nrɛzenra ‘housefly’, kɛndɛne ‘basket’, and fovolɛ ‘refuse dump’ are attributed to these children to make them seem ‘unpleasant’ to the ancestral spirits who are believed to have been snatching them after birth. Other ‘long-lasting’ entities like nyevile ‘sea’, bolɛ ‘rock’, and kpɔma ‘walking stick’ are used metaphorically to refer to a child with the belief that they would survive right from birth and live long on the earth.

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“…Another research on nicknames is the study conducted by Mensah and Ndimele [5]. The study examines how academics' nicknames reflect intellectual characteristics, physical looks, physical defects, religious fanaticism, speaking style, and sexual escapade.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Connection Between Nickname and Identity: Does it Reflect Intimacy or Shaming?

Dianitami¹,

Widyastuti²,

Setiawan³

2023

Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research

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Nicknames could represent ethnicity, social standing, or social reputation, all of which are thought to have social significance. Nicknames have a form of intimacy and familiarity with one another, and they also may have negative consequences such as shaming, bullying, humiliation, etc. This study looks into the Javanese people's nicknames and their meanings, the sources of nicknames, the response when others address them, and the social functions of using nicknames. A survey of thirty respondents from East Java who have and are addressed by their nicknames instead of their real names has conducted using a questionnaire to find out the answer. The results showed the meanings of nicknames are highly diverse from one another. It turns out that the sources of nicknames are coming from their physique or appearance, their nature or characteristic, daily habits or job, real name pun, family members, certain events, and unknown sources. Also, most nicknames represent intimacy rather than shaming. Responders could accept their nicknames with various responses such as pleased, normal, and disturbed. Therefore, nicknaming people in East Java can develop a new identity with multiple meanings and origins by stressing intimacy above shaming.

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King Shumba, Smiling Devil and Baby Doctor: A sociolinguistic study of lecturers’ nicknames in two Nigerian universities

Cited by 5 publications

References 29 publications

Nicknames among Swati clans: A socio-cultural analysis

Nicknames among Swati clans: A socio-cultural analysis

‘Refuse Dump, Hurry Up!’: A Cognitive Onomastic and Cultural Metaphor Perspective of Nzema Death-Prevention Names

A Connection Between Nickname and Identity: Does it Reflect Intimacy or Shaming?

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