A Study of Ghanaian Hausa Personal Names

European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies ISSN: 2602 - 0254 ISSN-L: 2602 - 0254 Available on-line at: http://www.oapub.org/lit DOI: 10.46827/ejals.v6i2.438 Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES Murtalah Mohammedi Languages Department, English Language Section, Al-Faruq College of Education, Wenchi, Bono Region, Ghana Abstract: This study attempts at undertaking a comprehensive study of personal names among Ghanaian Hausa. It particularly looks at the socio-pragmatic usage of the Hausa names. This paper argues that the Hausa give names to their children by considering the social, cultural, and religious philosophy of the Hausa speech community. The philosophy behind these Hausa naming practices goes a long way to help in the peculiar identity of the Ghanaian Hausa. This, to a very large extent, hints that there is a link between names and personal identity as far as naming practices among the Hausa in particular, and Africans in general are concerned. The study, using interview, observation and the researcher’s introspection as a data collection method and Linguistic Relativity as a theoretical framework, reveals three categories of names used by the Ghanaian Hausa. These are Judeo-Islamo-Christian names, Hausa names of Arabic origin and Hausa traditional names. Keywords: identity, naming practice, Judeo-Islamo-Christian names, Hausa, onomastic 1. Introduction Onomastics is a discipline dedicated to the study of proper names in general. It has two sub-disciplines: anthroponomastics which studies names of people and toponomastics which is dedicated to the study of names of places (Al-Zumor, 2009; Ennin and Nkansah, 2016). Anthroponomastics constitute issues of concern for philologists, anthropologists, linguists, psychologists and even the literati. This interest of scholars from various fields of studies may stem from a hint regarding the essence of names. Names are, indeed, pointers to certain facts about the cultural system of the people (Atakpa, 1997; Ennin& Nkansah, 2016; Obeng, 1998; Sekyi-Baidoo,2019). The Hausa consider names as identity markers and a kind of biography for the child. The name of a typical Hausa person reveals a lot about the cultural, social and Correspondence: email gmmurtala10047967@gmail.com i Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved 17 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES religious aspirations of the person. The Hausa name their infants when they attain bakwai (seven days) or one week; for the Hausa, seven days make a week. The paternal grandfather of the baby is responsible for selecting the name otherwise, the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the father of the infant. The name given is superintendent by the imam of the town or community in which the parents live. The names are selected from a host of sources such as Judeo-Islamo-Christian, names of illustrious companions, Islamic saints, Arabic, and traditional. These sources, therefore, give Hausa names this structure: a given-name which comprises the first three sources of Hausa names and day name which also consists of the Hausa traditional names. It is the given-name that is officially given on the name-giving day and, the day name is later conferred on the infant unceremoniously (Mohammed, 2023). The study aims at achieving the following objectives: i. to explore the sources of Ghana Hausa personal names, ii. to discover the types of Ghana Hausa personal names. The study seeks to answer the following questions: i. What are the sources of Ghanaian Hausa personal names? ii. What is the typology of Ghanaian Hausa personal names? And iii. What is the philosophy behind Ghanaian Hausa naming practice? 2. The Hausa of Ghana Hausa is a language spoken by the Hausa people. The term is used in referring to both the language and its speakers. It belongs to the Chadic languages which is a branch of the Afroasiatic language family phylum (Newman, 2009; Sarkin-Gulbi and Ahmed, 2018). The Hausa are Sahelian people who are mainly found in Northern Nigeria and south eastern part of Niger. However, migration for trade and jobs has made it possible to find a significant number of Hausa people in some parts of West African countries such as Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo (Sarkin-Gulbi, & Ahmed, 2018). The migration of the Hausa to Gold Coast (now Ghana) took three main phases. First, some of them came in groups – in caravans of kola nut. The traders had to live in Gold Coast while gathering their goods that would be sent to the Sahelian regions for sale. In the process, some quarters called Zango (corrupted zongo by the natives) sprang up. Second, the migration of the Hausa to Gold Coast was through colonial policy on security in the Gold Coast Colony. The Colonial Administration recruited Hausa soldiers from Nigeria to help them in their war against the Ashantis between 1873- 1874. This force, after the war, was regularized into Gold Hausa constabulary (GCHC) – a Gold Coast security force, the majority of whom were Hausa from northern Nigeria (Aremu, 2015; Ntewusu, 2014; Twumhene, 2019; Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2007; Boateng & Darko, 2016; Tankebe, 2008). Third, the migration of Hausa into Gold Coast took place individually. Some Hausa entered Ghana on an individual basis mostly to look for jobs in the Gold Coast Colony. These temporary quarters founded by the traders finally became permanent settlements because some of the traders finally had to stay. These became homes for any Hausa who migrated to the country and any person of northern Ghana descent and Islamic religious persuasion. Because of the northern and Hausa characteristics of these areas, they became suitable settlement places for some of European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 18 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES the ex-soldiers of GCHC to settle after their discharge from the service, especially ‘the zongo communities in the urban centres’ (Ntewusu, 2014). 3. Literature Review A lot of studies have been undertaken on names by scholars of Onomastics, Literary Onomastics and Sociolinguistics because of the importance of names to the life of any entity that exists. Some of these studies are attempts to analyse, explain, to uncover the shroud of myths surrounding names, and to bring to the fore the relationships between names, language and society. Names are not mere labels in African society; they serve as a biographical account of the bearer. The bearer of the name is expected to behave in accordance with the philosophy surrounding the name he/she bears. For instance, Rahman (2013) examines the influence of religion on Pakistani personal names. He argues that religion plays a significant role in identity construction among Pakistanis. One’s name singles him/her out as the adherent of any of the multiple religious groups in Pakistan. This, therefore, means that a lot of socio-cultural factors inform the choice of names for infants (Al-Qawasmi &Al-haq, 2016; Al-Zumor, 2009). Names are not only limited to pointing to the bearer’s identity in society, but they are also tools for communication (Abd-el-Jawad, 1986; Agyekum, 2006; Ansu-Kyeremeh, 2000; Mandende, Cekiso & Rwodzi, 2019). They communicate a lot of things about the name bearer and his/her cultural and social environment. Though from differing angles, Radding & Western (2010) argue that “linguistic and geography each observes that a name’s significance is connected to a society”. That might be why (Agyekum, 2006) argues that people who share the same family name have genetic relationships and are therefore expected to behave in the same way. This notion, therefore, counteracts the concept of the arbitrariness of names as claimed by some western Philosophers of language (Eu gene, 1981). Personal names among some speech communities bring to the fore believes and philosophy of the people. Abubakari (2020) for instance, explores the personal names of the Kusaal speech community of Northern Ghana. The paper particularly focuses on the pragmatics and semantics of these names. It argues that names are not given to Kusaas’ infants in a vacuum without any underlying philosophy. Names among the Kusaas are meaningful and underpinned by the religious beliefs of the people. It is becaus e of these beliefs that make it is possible to have the Kusaas bearing traditional, Islamic, or Christian names. Mohammed (2023) explored terms of address and forms of reference in Roko poetry among the Hausa in Ghana. The study which is a literary onomastic one argues that the Hausa philosophy of the world and their cultural practices influence the choice of names for a Hausa infant. All these beliefs and practices showcase the Hausa understanding of the world and therefore reveal the real identity of a Hausa infant through the names he or she bears. This leaves us in no double that names are chosen carefully and consciously in order to reflect the worldview of the people. European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 19 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES Apart from names functioning as identity markers, they also have communicative functions as explored by Batoma (2009). The study investigates the communicative functions of the personal names of the Kabre speech community of Northern Togo. It argues that among the personal names of the Kabre people, there are some categories of names that have communicative functions. These names indirectly communicate the feelings and opinions of the bearer of the name, and, by extension, the name giver. They are, therefore, insinuative. This naming practice of the Kabre people concurs with the findings of the present study where the Ghanaian Hausa have sentential names which are also insinuative. Many studies have not been undertaken in Ghanaian Hausa personal names. Most of the Onomastic studies on personal names in Ghana are on non-Hausa speech communities. Therefore, the present study intends to fill this gap in order to bring to the fore the untapped linguistic resource in Ghanaian Hausa. 3.1 Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework that underpins this study is the Theory of Linguistic Relativity propounded by Edward Sapir (1884-1939), a Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Chicago, and Yale and his student, Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941), a fire-prevention engineer in Hartford by profession and a linguist by passionate avocation (Stam, 1980); hence, the common designation of the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis as “the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis” (Lucy, 1997 p.294). Whorfian Hypothesis claims a relationship between language and the way the speakers of the language think. This means that the language a particular group of people speaks influences their thought. That probably explains why no two cultures are the same. This may be the result of different languages spoken by different people of the world. The theory is in two forms – stronger and weaker forms. In its stronger form, the theory holds “that in some way the language of any given culture is the causal determinant of the patterns of thinking in that culture” (Stam, 1980 p.306). The theory postulates that people’s language determines their worldview and their perception of their world’s experiences. If people’s cultural experiences of which language is the most commo n determinant influence their perceptions of the world realities, that probably explains why there are different cultures because of the different languages of the world. It is clear that no two different languages have the same cultural practices or experiences, not even dialects of a language. To this effect, Sapir quoted in Stam posits that “[n]o two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality” (1980, p.306). That is why while some cultures perceive a name as a sheer label (Al-Saeedi, 2016), others consider it as an identity marker (Rahman, 2013). Some cultures have just one word for a concept, while others use several words to explain a concept. My choice of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis as a theoretical framework guiding this study is because the essence of the hypothesis concerns the relationship between language and culture and how they influence one’s way of thought. Obviously, the study has a bearing on the hypothesis as it (the study) focuses on the use of linguistics devices European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 20 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES (names) to explore a Hausa naming culture which is exhibited through the use of language. This culture of naming which the study seeks to explore is quite unique from the other types that are portrayed in other cultures. This is because where language differs, perception will also differ as Sapir quoted in Stam posits “[t]he worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached” (Stam, p.306]. 4. Materials and Methodology The data for this study are primary data which were collected through interviews and my introspection as a Ghanaian Hausa native speaker. With regards to the interview, I purposively sampled 20 elders 10 middle-aged men from Accra Sabon Zongo whose ages range between 40 and 80. I chose Sabon Zongo because most of the inhabitants are native speakers of Hausa and they adhere to most cultural practices of the Hausa. Each of the participants gave me his/her name, his/her parents’ names, and the names of their grandchildren if any. This saved me the time of having to interview a lot of people. This also offered me the opportunity of collecting the names used by four generations of Ghanaian Hausa people in Sabon Zongo as part of my primary data collection. I resorted to the registers of the local makaranta (an Islamic seminary) located in the community where most of the learners and teachers are Hausa. I complemented these by observing and taking notes of names used in those communities. 5. Results and Discussion In this section, I analysed and interpreted the Ghanaian Hausa personal names. I looked at the sources of the first category and put them into groups and types according to their sources. I then analysed the names by looking at their meanings per the Hausa philosophy of the world and the socio-cultural circumstances that motivate the use of those names. 5.1 Typology of Ghanaian Hausa Personal Names The Ghana Hausa personal names are derived from several sources. The sources that dominate are the ones that relate to Islam and Arabic due to agelong relationship of the Hausa with Islam. The data analysis revealed three types of Ghanaian Hausa personal names. These are Judeo-Islamo-Christian names, Hausa names of Arabic origin, and Hausa traditional names. The use of these names reveals the multiple identities of the Hausa and their philosophy of the world. 5.1.1 Judeo-Islamo-Christian Names These types of names are derived from the Qur’an, especially the ones that are names of the prophets of Islam. The Hausa believe that names have an impact on the bearer of the name. Good names have positive impacts and vice versa. In order to have their values reflected in the behaviour of the child, the names of these prophets are then given to the European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 21 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES child. This practice portrays the hopes and aspirations of the child’s parents for the child. Some of the names revealed in the data are presented below. Males Hausa Adamu (m) Adama (f) Alyasa-‘u Ayuba Bunyaminu Dawud/Dawuda Hudu Haruna Ibrahim/Ibrahin Islamail Isaka/Isaaku Iddris/ Idi Issah Isu Ilyas / Ilyasu Musah Nuhu Sale /Salihu Sulemana/ Sule Yakubu Yahayya Yunus/Inusah Zakari Zurkanaini/ Zurka Females Hawwa/ Hawaawu Saratu Hajara Hannatu Mariam/Maryma/Meri English Gloss Adam Elias Job Benjamin David – Aaron Abraham Ishmael Isaac Enock Jesus Joseph Elisha Moses Noah Solomon Jacob John (the Baptiser) Jonah Zakariah English Gloss Eve Sara Hagar Hanna Mary As can be seen from the names above, they have been categorised into males and females names. The male ones are strictly names of the prophets of Islam that have been mentioned in Qur’an by way of address or reference. However, the female category of the Judeo-Islamo-Christian names are the names of the wives of the prophets, such as Khadija, Saratu, mothers of the prophets such as Amina, and the ones who lived exemplary lives like Hannatu (Hanna) and Mariam (Mary). These names are strictly used either in male sense or in female sense. They are therefore not gendered. 5.1.2 Hausa Personal Names of Arabic Origin Another Hausa naming practice is naming their infants with names of Arabic origin. Though these names are of Arabic origin, they have been modified to suit the philosophy and worldview of the Hausa. They are names and attributes of God, names and attributes European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 22 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES of the Prophet of Islam, Hausa ordinal names, the names of the Illustrious Caliphs, nonorthodox Arabic names, Hausa proverbial names, colour names, and suffixal names. The categories are presented below. A. Names and Attributes of God The Hausa name their children with the names and the ninety-nine attributes of God of Arabic origin in the hope that the bearer of the name may emulate the beauty of the name s and may live an exemplary life per the ethical concepts the names portray. Such names are prefixed by the term ‘abd’ which means a slave in Arabic (Ba’alabaki, 2005), plus the main attributes which indicate that the bearer is subservient to God, the ultimate bearer of the attributes and the names. Name Awdullahi /Awudu/Abdullah Abdul-Kareem Abdur-Rahman Abdus-Salam Abdus-Samed etc. English Gloss the slave of God the slave of the Generous one the slave of Merciful one the slave of the Peaceful one the slave of the Dependable one B. Names and Attributes of the Prophet of Islam Apart from the Hausa names of Judeo-Islamo-Christian Origins (names of the Prophets accepted by the adherents of the Semitic religions), the Hausa name their infants after the Prophet of Islam – Mohammed. The Prophet had other names apart from the name ‘Mohammed’. These names are used with some modifications in Hausa. So, the name ‘Mohammed’ is used in Hausa with modifications that result in the forms indicated below. Arabic forms Muhammad Ahmad Al-Mujtaba Al-Mukhtar Al-Muntakaa Al-Mustapha Al-Amin Al-Mahee Al-Akib Al-Hashir Al-Bashir Al-Nazir Hausaised forms Muhammadu/Mamman Amadu/Ahamadu Mujitaba Muntari Muntaka Mustapha/Almu Aminu Mahe Hakibu/Akibu/Shakibu Hashiru Bashiru Naziru English gloss the praised one praise worthy the chosen one … … … the trust worthy the cleanser the last the resurrector the precursor the warner C. Hausa Ordinal Names The Hausa use what I call ‘ordinal names’ to name their infants. The Hausa ordinal name is to name one’s infant boys ‘Mohammed’. This is due to the Hausa obsession with the name ‘Mohammed’ and not because they want to know the number of males they have. European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 23 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES To differentiate between the children and to identify them, the name ‘Mohammed’ is suffixed with Arabic ordinal numbers. By this practice, the following pattern is generated: Muhammadu Awwal, Awwalu Muhammadu Sani Muhammadu Salisu Muhammadu Rabi’u Muhammadu Hamisu Muhammadu Sadisu Muhammadu Sabi’u Muhammadu Saminu Muhammadu Tasi’u Muhammadu Ashiru Muhammadu Hadi –Mohammed number – – – – – – – – – – 1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th 8 th 9 th 10 th 11 th As you can observe from the names above, the ordinals occur after the name ‘Mohammed’. These ordinals indicate the position of each male in the sequence of male children in the family. The Hausa is a polygynous society, the ordination of the children is done across the board. For instance, if wife ‘A’ gives birth to a male for first time the ordinal name may apply by giving the boy ‘Muhammadu + the ordinal Awwal (first)we, therefore, have the structure ‘Muhammadu Awwal’, the first Mohammed. If a female is born after that, a female name of the parents’ is given her. If the third birth happens to be a male, the child is then named ‘Muhammadu Sani’ which means the second Mohammed irrespective of who the mother is. This naming practice is limited to only the male children in the family, and this makes it a non-gendered term. D. The Names of the Illustrious Companions Among the names of Arabic origin the Hausa use in naming their children are the names of illustrious companions, both males and females. The names of male companions are used for male children while the female ones are used for female children. The use of these names is for identity and the emulation of the exemplary lives of these companions. Below are some of the names of the male and female companions. Male Companions Arabic Form Abubakar Umar Uthman Ali Usama Hamza Abbas Khalid Alhassan Husain Hausaised Form Bukari/bukkar/Buba Mmaru Usman/Asuma Ali / Aliyu Husama Hamza Abas Halidu Alasan Huseni European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 24 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES Zubair Female Companions Arabic Form Khadija A-ishatu Maimuna Fatimatu Zaynab UmmulKulthum Ãmina Mariyya Zuberu Hausaised Form Hadiza Shatu/ Aysha Memuna Fati/Fatima Zenabu/Abu Katumi Amina Mariya As you can see in the above list of names of the companions, the Hausaised forms are the modifications of the Arabic form. This is done to suit the phonetics and phonology of Hausa. You must also note that the names listed above occurred most frequently in the data. The categories of the male names are the names of the four illustrious Caliphs, that is, the first four names, the blood relations of the Prophet such as Abas, his uncle, and the ones who made inroads in Islam such Khalid bn Walid. The most frequently occurring female names on the other hand are the ones who had affinal relationships with prophets such as Khadija, his wife, Fatima, his daughter, and consanguine relationship, such as Zainab, his daughter. E. Non-Orthodox Arabic Names The non-orthodox Arabic names the Hausa use in naming their children are ones that are not known traditionally among Ghanaian Hausa, but are often used by the Hausa to name their children. The exodus of Muslim students to the Arab world to study, and the exposure of the Hausa people to the international community due to globalization may be responsible for the gradual shift from the orthodox names to the non-orthodox ones. These types of names are meaningful Arabic words that express the hope and aspirations of the parents, unlike the orthodox ones which have obscure meanings in most cases. The following are examples of the non-orthodox Arabic names used by the Hausa. Male Firdausu Sa’ad Muflih Ikililu Fauzan/ Faizu Nabil Najib Fadil – Female Firdausu Sa-adatu Muflihatu – Faiza Nabila Najiba Fadila Yasmin English Gloss a name of paradise happy successful a crown victor noble noble virtuous jasmine As you can observe from the names above, some of the gender names such as Faiza, female and Faizu, male have the Arabic letter ‘the rounded t’ attached to the word. This marks the feminine gender. There are also other types of non-orthodox Hausa names of European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 25 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES Arabic origin used by the Hausa that are epicenes. They are used to name both male and female Hausa infants. For example, a name such Firdausu, Sirina and Husama, the Hausaised form of Usama, which are strictly male given-names among the Arabs have been recorded in the data to have been used for both sexes. The third type is the name that is used strictly only for females. There is no particle that marks it as a male name; however, the Ghanaian Hausa society uses it for males. The name that belongs to that category is Iklilu. The last category is the one that is also used strictly for females without any particle marking it as such. An example is Yasmin. F. Hausa Proverbial Names These type of names are sentences and expressions extracted from the Quran which function like proverbs. They are usually insinuative which portrays the hopes and aspirations of the name-giver and the societal expectation of the child. Name Barã-atu Huda(llah) Lantana/Lantanalu Larai (ba) Nasaru (minalallahi) Rahinatu/Rahi Rubbamã Sayakũlu Tawa (tawakkaltu) Yatasu (Yakhtassu) Yazidu English Gloss Freedom from obligation… Q9:1 The Guidance of Allah Q2:120 By no means shall ye attain … Q3:92 Without doubt …2:2 A speedy victory … Q61:13 Held in pledge …Q74:38 It may be that…Q15:2 They will say: … Q2:142 I put my trust … Q11: 56 He specially chooses…Q3:74 He adds… Q35:1 The type of the above names is chosen from Qur’anic sentences because of the ethical messages the name contains. As you can see above, because the names are in sentences, they are difficult to pronounce. They are usually reduced to phrases or words for ease of pronunciation. The full Qur’anic sentences from which these names have been extracted are as follows: The Transliterated names in Qur’anic context Barã-atun min al-Allah wa Rasulihi Kul inna hudallahi huwa alhuda Lantanalu bira hatta tunfiku mimma tuhibbun Dhalika al-kitabu laraiba Nas(a)rum minallahi wa fat-hunqarib Kullu nafsin bimã Kasabat Rahina Rubbamã yawaddu alladhina kafarũ Lau kanũ muslimĩn English gloss Freedom from obligation (is proclaimed) from Allah and His Messenger Q9:1 Say: ‘The Guidance of Allah, – is the (only) Guidance’. Q2:120 By no means shall ye attain righteousness unless ye give (feely) of that which ye love …Q 3:92 This is the Book; without doubt …Q2:2 Help from Allah and a speedy victory …Q 61:13 Every soul will be (held) in pledge …Q74:38 It may be that the disbelievers wish they were Muslims. Q15:2 European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 26 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES Sayakũlu al-ssufahã-u min al-nãsi mã wallahum an qibilatihim kanu alaiha Innee tawakkaltu ala al-Allah Rabbee waRabbikum Yakhtassu biRahmatihi mayyasha-u Yazidu fil al-khalqi mãyashã-u The fools among the people will say: “What has turned them from the Qibla to which they were used?...Q2:142 I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord. Q11: 56 For His Mercy He specially chooseth whom He pleaseth…Q3:74 He adds to creation as He pleases… Q35:1 G. Hausa Colour Names Colour names are among the type of names Hausa use in naming their infants. These names are used to depict the complexion of the child. These names are of Arabic origin, but they are usually modified to suit Hausa phonetical and phonological structure as can be seen below. Arabic Form Abyad Baidaau Saudaa-u Aswad Zarkaau Safaraau Name Hausaised Form Abyadu Bailaa-u Saude/Sauda Aswadu Zarkaau Safara/Shafara/Sahura Gender English Gloss Male Female Female Male Female Female White White Black Black Blue Yellow As you can observe from the names depicting a child’s complexion, the names are gendered. The names actually depict the skin colour of the bearers to a very large extent, in that most of the bearers of the names have their skin colour depicting the name. However, there was one respondent I came across during the data collection whose name, Abyad, white, is opposite to his complexion. Upon an interaction, he revealed that he was named after one Islamic historical figure called Muhammad Abyad, Mohammed the White. In such a circumstance, it is possible to have a bearer of a skin-colour-name whose complexion does not actually depict the reality. As the data analysis revealed, others in a similar situation were given such names because the sound of the name either appealed to the name giver or he/ she is ignorant of the meaning of the name. H. Suffixal names Suffixal names are the type of names of Arabic origin that the Hausa use in naming their infants. The names are suffixed by the morpheme deen, which literally means religion or faith. The base word is always a noun that depicts a certain quality the parents want the child to emulate in his/her life. Below are some of the suffixal names analysed. Name Badaruddeen Jalaludden Jamaluddeen Kamaluddeen English Gloss Moon of the religion Dignity of the religion Beauty of the religion Completeness of the religion European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 27 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES Liwauddeen Misbahuddeen Nasiruddeen Nizamuddeen Nuruddeen Salahuddeen Sahmuddeen Shamsuddeen Sirajuddeen Tajuddeen Taqiyuddeen Zaharuddeen Banner of the religion Lamp of the religion Helper of the religion Orderliness of the religion Light of the religion Godliness of the religion Arrow of the religion Sun of the Religion Lamp of the religion Crown of the religion Immaculate of the religion Emergence of the religion 4.1.3 Hausa Traditional Names The Hausa people had their naming system and practices before their Islamisation. Though Islam has affected their naming system by adding Islamic and Arabic elements to it, they have been able to maintain the traditional ones which serve as the identity of a typical Hausa person. These names include day names, circumstantial names, death prevention names, birth position names, manner of birth names, and physical feature names. A. Day Names Among the Hausa, the name of the day of the week in which the child is born is normally given to the child. Because these types of names depict the day on which the child is born, they are predictable and gendered like most Hausaised names. Unlike the Judeo-IslamoChristian names, they are not given in a grand style naming ceremony; the child is unofficially called by that name by the parents and even the members of the community because such names are predictable They are gendered names with the male ones preceded by the prefix dan (literally, the son of) serving as a male gender marker in most cases with the exception of the name Balarabe, a male Wednesday born whose male gender maker is ‘e’; this is not predictable, as you can see from the examples below. Male Danladi Dantani / Litini /Liti Dantalata Balarabe Danlami Danjimma Asabe/Danasabe Female Ladi Tani Turai/ Baturia/Talatuwa/Talata Balaraba Lami Jummai /Jumma/Jimma Asabe Day Sunday born Monday born Tuesday born Wednesday born Thursday born Friday born Saturday born B. Circumstantial Names Circumstantial names are names given to a Hausa child based upon some circumstances surrounding the birth of the child. As you can see from the list of names below, while some of the names are gendered, some are not. European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 28 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES Male Dantune Gagarau/Gagare – Mijinyawa Meriga Shekarau Shawai Talle Madugu – Female Tuni/Tune – Gwamma/Hakama – Meriga Shekara – – – Ayashe Occasion a child whose parents lost hope of giving birth a male child born after attempts to abort the pregnancy a girl born when the parents expected a boy a boy born to meet both grandparents alive an infant born with the placenta a child born after one year of pregnancy a boy who suffers from sickness at early hours of birth a child whose mother died during his birth / after a male child born when the parents are in a journey A female born that has been abandoned C. Period Names Among the naming culture of the Hausa are the names that depict the period in which the child is born such as the names below. Some of these names are gendered and some are not as you can see from the names below. Male Anaruwa Sha’aban Bako/Bakondare (Male) Labaran/Dan-Azumi Sallau Ranau Nahantsi Sammako Female – – Medare Azumi Tasalla Ranau Nahantsi Sammako Period a child born a child born a child born a child born a child born a child born a child born a child born on a rainy day in the month of Sha’aban at the night in Ramadan on Id day in the afternoon in the early hours of noon in the early morning D. Death Prevention Names The Hausa in the Pre-Islamic era believed that if a woman suffered from successive child mortality, it was attributed to a spirit that was always taking the child away and causing the baby’s mother to grief. They believed that the antidote to this recurring child mortality was to give the baby an unpleasant name. By this, the spirit would not like the baby; therefore, the baby would escape death. This meant that the name had prevented the child from dying. This naming culture of the Hausa is still practiced in this era when most of the Hausa are Muslims. Some of the death prevention names found among Ghana Hausa can be seen below. It must be noted that some of these names are gendered while some are not. But there is no distinct gender marking particle with the names that are gendered. The distinction is made through a convention inherited from general to generation. Male – – Bawa Allah Barma/Allah Bira Female Ajuji Ayashe Boya Barmini English Gloss Waste dump Rejected Slave God, preserve it for me European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 29 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES E. Birth Position Names The Hausa name their infants by the position they occupy in the line of birth of their parents. This naming practice is not like the Hausa ordinal names which serve as roll call for only the male children in the family. This, therefore, does not use numbers. These types of names are in the list below. Males Tagwaye Gado Gambo Tanko Dan Auta Females Tagwaye Gado Gambo Kande Auta Situation A set of twins A boy/girl born after twins A boy/girl after the one born after twins A boy/girl born after two or more males/females A boy/girl who is the last born of the parents As you can see from the names above, the name Tagwaye is used in naming a set of twins. But the names given to them depend upon the position of the twins. That is, the first of the twins to be born is called, Tagwaye Babba, the elder twin. This is not gendered. The other twin that follows is named Tagwaye karami if it is a male, the female twin, on the other hand, is called Tagwaye Karama, the younger female twin. You can see that this is gendered. So, these names, no doubt, indicate the various positions of the twins. The names Gado and Gambo are not gendered. The female version of Tanko is Kande even though there is no particle to indicate the gender distinction; it is purely based upon convention. However, the particle dan is a male gender marker, for Dan Auta, a male last born. There are some of the Hausa birth position names that are of Arabic origin which take the roll call of male-born children in the family. This is probably as a result of the premium the Hausa attach to male children being a patriarchal speech community. This also happens when the parents want to name all their male children, Mohammed because of the obsession of the Hausa with the name. F. Manner of Birth Names In the Hausa naming tradition, children are named by considering the manner of their births. This can be seen below. Name Tagwaye Mairiga English Gloss twins the bearer/owner of shirt In Ghana Hausa naming practices, an infant is named following the manner of birth of the child. For example, two children born in single-birth labour are traditionally called, Tagwaye. The elder is called Tagwaye Babba (not gendered) and the younger is called Tagwaye Karami for a male twin and Karama for a female twin (gendered). Those are the default names for Hausa infant twins. However, because of the Hausa people’s longstanding relationship with Islam, the twins are given Islamic/Arabic names which, with the passage of time, have metamorphosed into Hausa traditional names for twins. In a European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 30 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES grand style naming ceremony, the Hausa infant male elder twin is named Alhassan/Alasan/ Hasan, which means good whereas the younger male twin is called, Husain/Huseni which is the diminutive form of Alhassan. In the situation where both are females, they name Husena and Hasana respectively. On the other hand, if the twins are of different sexes, and a male is the elder and the female is the younger, they are named Alhassan/Alasan/Hasan and Husena respectively. If it is the other way round (i.e., the elder one is a female and the younger one is a male), they are named Hasana and Huseni. The data however, indicate a shift, albeit a gradual one, from the Hausa traditional naming practice of twins to modern ones such as Jamila and Jamilu, beautiful, Halisa and Hulaisa , pure, and Muniru and Munira, light. The term Mairiga is another Ghana Hausa traditional name that indicates the manner of birth of a child. The term riga in Hausa means shirt, so the combination Mairiga means the owner of shirt. This name is given to a child who is born in a placenta. The term literally means the owner of a shirt. A child who is born in this manner is named Mairiga which is an indication of the manner in which it is born. This name is not gendered. G. Physical Feature Names The Hausa name their children by some physical features the children exhibit. Such physical features include the height of the child, the child’s skin colour, the body size of the person (whether fat or slim), the shape of the head, etc. some of the names under this category have been shown below. Male Goshi Fari Jatao Guntu/Gajere Dogo Baki – Cindo Tsiriri Female – Fara/ ‘Yr Fara – Guntuwa/Gajeriya Doguwa Baka kumatu Cindo Afiruwa Feature protruding forehead fair fair in complexion short tall dark in complexion big cheeks a child with more than five fingers a slender boy / girl As you can see from the names above, some of them are gendered with irregular gender markers such as Gajere, a male short person, and Gajeriya, female short person, Dogo a tall male person and Doguwa, a female tall person. The gender marker in the name Gajeriya is the particle ya while the Gender marker for Doguwa is the particle wa. You can see that the gender marker in these names is irregular. Some of the names are also neutral, that is, the same form is used for both sexes. For example, the name is used for both males and females. Some of the names also which are gendered have different forms for the different gender without the use of gender markers. A typical example is Tsiriri, a slender male and Afiruwa, a slender female. The name kumatu, is used exclusively for a female with big cheeks. European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 31 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES One thing worthy of note is that these names are not given in a grand style naming ceremony held by the Hausa when a sunan yanka (the slaughtering name) is being given. The names are a spontaneous response to the Hausa culture. Therefore, these names are acquired later in the child’s life as some of the physical features do not show immediately the child is born. 5. Recommendations This study will be a good reference source for researchers in African Onomastics, and it will particular be of immense help to students of sociolinguistics, ethnolinguistics, social studies, cultural studies and ethnohistoric studies. Given the scope of this study, which is limited to Hausa personal names, further research can be undertaken in Ghanaian Hausa naming practices as some of the names are no more popular among the youth, especially the Judeo-Islamic-Christian names and the Hausa tradition names. 6. Conclusion This study explored Ghanaian Hausa personal names. These include Hausa names of Arabo-Islamo-Judeo-Christian origin which are the results of Hausa’s encounter with Islam, and Hausa traditional names which were the names the Hausa used before their contact with Islam. These names identify the Hausa as the speaker of the Hausa language and their peculiar culture. Unlike the former category which identifies the bearer not as a Hausa, but as a Muslim. So, the combination of both categories identifies one as a Muslim and a Hausa. Therefore, their usage gives the bearer a complete identity. Acknowledgement I am most grateful to God Almighty for His favours bestowed on me while I was undertaking this study. I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude to the members of Languages Department for their immeasurable support by way of useful suggestions which culminated into the completion of this research. I offer my profound gratitude to Mr. Issah Mohammed Iklil for the support and encouragement he offered me during the project work. The support offered me by Mr Abdul Majeed Saeed regarding the transcription, translation and proof reading the manuscript is very much acknowledged. The effort of my wife, Madam Salamatu Umar Birin, needs to be acknowledged; her immense knowledge in Hausa culture and Hausa orthography contributed to the success of this study. Conflict of Interest Statement The author declares no conflicts of interest. European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies - Volume 6 │ Issue 2 │ 2023 32 Muratalah Mohammed A STUDY OF GHANAIAN HAUSA PERSONAL NAMES About the Author Murtalah Mohammed is a tutor of English language and Literature at Al-Faruq College of Education, Wenchi in the Bono Region of Ghana, West Africa. His research interests are African literature, Semiotics, Sociolinguistics, Onomastics and Literary Onomastics. References Abd-el-Jawad H, 1986. A linguistic and sociocultural study of personal names in Jordan. Anthropological Linguistics 28(1), 80–94. Abubakari A, 2020. Personal names in Kusaal: A sociolinguistic analysis. Language & Communication, 75, 21-35. Agyekum K, 2006. The sociolinguistic of Akan personal names. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 15(2), 206-235. Al-Saeedi H,M,A, 2016. Arbitrariness: The first principle of linguistic sign. Journal of International Academic Research for Multidisciplinary, 4 (8), 91-103. Al-Qawasmi A, H, & Al-haq F, A, 2016. 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