English ‘non-name’ address forms in the non-native sociolinguistic context

The case study of the Akan of Ghana

Authors

  • Yaw Sekyi-Baidoo University of Education, Winneba Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.37831

Keywords:

address terms, formal title, status description, kinship terms, filial terms, Akan, Ghana

Abstract

In this paper, the focus is on non-name address forms, or rather, non-proper name address forms, and they are seen as English loan words, which are originally used in the native English culture not as address terms or names. With their use in the Akan culture, these expressions have not only been loaned, but they have also been referentially transformed. The paper looks at the use of such address forms of English origin as kinship terms, common formal titles, status-description names, names denoting age and physical characteristics and occupational names in the Akan culture. It discusses the meaning and use of these names vis-à-vis their usage in Standard English. The paper also discusses the processes of indigenisation as the terms are adopted into the Akan sociolinguistic culture.

Author Biography

  • Yaw Sekyi-Baidoo, University of Education, Winneba

    Yaw Sekyi-Baidoo studies at the University of Ghana and at the University of Cape Coast, South Africa. He has been on the academic staff of the University of Education, Winneba (Ghana), and is currently a professor in the Department of English Education and Dean of International Programmes and Global Affairs. Sekyi-Baidoo’s major research interest is in onomastic theory and Akan names, and he is currently completing a monograph on Akan personal names. He is member of the American Names Society, Linguistics Society of America, Association of African Studies in Africa, Linguistic Politeness Research Group, Linguistics Association of Ghana, American Names Institute among others.

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Published

2020-02-20

How to Cite

Sekyi-Baidoo, Y. (2020). English ‘non-name’ address forms in the non-native sociolinguistic context: The case study of the Akan of Ghana. Sociolinguistic Studies, 13(2-4), 379–397. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.37831