34 individuals or places changed with the historical times. At times they remained indigenous, were westernized or fused indigenous and other African names.” This study gets a lot of insights from Moyo’s ideas especially the idea that naming patterns underwent some changes.
The current study wants to establish gender connotations enshrined in the Zezuru names before and after western influence.
The coming of African nationalist movements which resisted colonial domination saw a paradigm shift in the naming pattern with many people rejecting names associated with colonialism. Pongweni (1983:2) says “Christian names were rejected in favour of Shona names”. Herbert (1994-99:224) suggests that there have been four stages in Southern African naming patterns namely, stage 1 were people had an African name only, stage 2 with African name + English name, stage 3 English name + English name and lastly stage 4 comprised of African name + African name. Neethling (2005:77) says that the bestowal of an English name came about with the introduction of Christianity as well as education to the Xhosa through the efforts of missionaries. The same scenario was also experienced among the Shona people.
Some Shona people included took the names voluntarily associating English names with civilization. Herbert (1994:6) says, “The ‘so called Christian names were never well- integrated into the indigenous systems of naming in Southern Africa’ because such names lack the meaningfulness criterion”. With reference to the Shona people, these names were accepted and integrated in their naming system in the early days but with the passage of time people reverted to their indigenous names. Although there has been a tendency to opt for indigenous names at the expense of the western names, whether integrated or not, the system of resorting to western names have become part of the name giving patterns in many parts of Africa with Zimbabwe included. While the above scholars looked at how western names influenced the naming patterns in Africa, without looking at whether the names had gender connotations, the present study however will be confined to Zezuru personal names in as far as they reflect the gender status of the name bearers.
35 Choosing a name for child represents an important cultural resolution and personal
names in most cases reflects one’s identity, particularly the identity to do with one’s gender statust. The first name, which comes after birth, is important in identifying the particular new entrant as well as exposing the expectations of the family around a number of issues. Personal names usually carry with them long-term consequence because personal names as labels usually influence the socialization of children and contribute to the development of personal identities and at times their behaviours in life. Barthes (1994) says, “names, like voices, like odors, would be the terms of a languor: desire and death: ‘the last sigh which remains of things” Derrida (1995) in Makondo (2009) says “my proper name outlives me. After my death it will still be possible to name and speak of me.”
The worldview of the Zezuru people can be understood in terms of their indigenous names. Relevance of the Zezuru naming system is that it encompasses the namers’
spirituality which consists of beliefs, norms, values, practices and rituals concerning the meaning of life and the universe, and includes lifestyle practices that bring meaning to the life of an African. In short it can be said that Zezuru names are a synopsis of the way they view life. Marieme (2011:46) has this to say:
“In West Africa, your ‘name says it all’. It is not a random choice, but a strategic decision to personify hope, a positive self-image, and self characterization.”
Allport (1937) in Lawson (1988:97) says“one’s name is the most important anchor point to selfhood”. Clarke in Lawson (1988) adds that names were easier to recall than faces because the name of a person will remain years after the death of its bearer. Names are important source of information. They can indicate gender, marital status, birth place, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and position within a family or even within society. Personal names are viewed to be very important in various aspects and as such these views will shed light to the present study which seeks to study how personal names can reflect the gender status of the name bearer.
Yanga (1978) in Zaire discovered that personal names are not merely used distinguish people from each other; rather they also function as linguistic indicators of socialization in that they are usually a reflection of various social relationships within a family and at times society as a whole. At a more general level, they play an indexical function of reflecting the sociocultural changes or events in the family and in the community as well. These views by Yanga (1978)
36 in Lawson (1988) will be handy to the present study which looks at how personal names can reflect the gender status of the name bearer in that if personal names can have the potential of acting as agents of socialization they can as well socialize people along gender lines.Barthes (2003:68) says:
“The human person is born into a world that includes both language and community of language users and upon being thrust into the world, the individual does not immediately exist as a member of such a community. Rather, she/he must become a member of that community through the acquisition of language.”
Generally, the acquisition of language does not simply involve gaining the ability to use language, but also being deemed a member of the community of language users itself and this is achieved through being given a personal name. What happens in most cases is that, one must be named before one is allowed to gain access to the community and through that name one will be identified as being masculine or feminine.
Ramaeba and Mathangwane (2014) say that African names have meanings as they are chosen to communicate some message that could be related circumstances of the family at the time of birth, an event that took place at the time of birth or even religious belief of the parent.Thus, African names speak volumes about the lives of the namers and the named as is reflected in their meanings. A person’s indigenous name most probably offers the first insight to his cultural origin. Koopman and Zungu (2013:63) say, “Names do not function in a vacuum; instead they function in a society. There is a strong link between naming and society”. They go to say that in any anthroponymic system, the wider context of naming is a socio- cultural one which reflects the norms, the practices, the dynamics, the conflicts, and the pressing issues of a particular society. They give an example of the Zulu anthroponymic system were personal names may be linked to inter-clan relationships, marriage negotiations,patrilineal descent, friction between co-wives, current events affecting the family, and a number of other issues.Faik- Nzuji (1974) says, “Among the Luba the power of the name consists of the belief that the name represents the soul of the individual. Therefore, to inherit or to receive someone’s name is to inherit or receive at the same time his qualities, faults and even his destiny”.
Zelensky (1970) in Sue and Telles (2007) is of the view that naming patterns and name choices may be an ideal measure for analyzing spatial and temporal variation in total cultural systems as it very much possible to know the culture of people through analyzing the meanings of their personal names. The study of naming practices provides a window into parental visions with
37 regard to their attitudes and expectations towards their children taking in consideration the gender status of the children. Sue and Telles (2007) say, “Naming practices represent behaviors which are much more concrete measures than attitudes and opinions”.
Makondo (2009) says that Shona first names have meanings that their users can readily identify through the associations of the object, action or concept projected by the names. In line with this Roberts (1931:89) in Makondo (2009) says “Shona people used to be called by names in the vernacular that conveyed some definite idea. These names incidentally were generally long and a stumbling block to those ignorant of the language, who were also careless in listening to the sounds emitted.”
Kahari (1991:282) says that Shona first names are “situation-tied.”Shona first names are pregnant with meaning and as a result they need not be taken for granted. Hodza quoted by Frederiskse (1982:23) if one’s to know the true meaning of Shona personal names, there is need to look at both the surface meaning and underlying meaning. The surface meaning is only there to brag while the underlying meaning deals with what is behind it. This is the entrenched meaning that is not immediately clear to a lay man. This meaning is the most important one because the Shona people usually pass their messages in veiled ways, for instance, through the use of figurative expressions (Pongweni 1996).
Personal names have the potential of indicating an individual’s relationship with the physical and social environment as is reflected in the meanings of some Zezuru personal names.Through personal names, one’s religion and belief system can be known and as such personal names play a very important role in society. Personal names thus are an indicator for measuring changes in attitudes and moral codes at specific historical epochs and periods in life.
Pongweni (1983) says that most cultures seem to agree that the relationship between the name and the thing, i.e. between symbol and referent, is so close and intimate. Potter (1950:142) in Pongweni (1983) goes further to say, “In Europe it was strongly and widely believed that the frivolous or malicious handling of a name in speech might imply insult or injury”.This usually will be emanating in most casesin the meaning of the name. Peter (2010) says, “A name is assumed to have the most significant effect on an individual’s ego”. He goes on to add that there is a strong relationship between a person’s name and the whole psychological on females.
Peter (2010) is of the idea that names contain a certain kind of power that determines the
38 distinctiveness and uniqueness of each individual and can even influence the behaviour the bearer of the name.
Merleau-Ponty (1968:67) says, “As has often been said, for a child the thing is not known until it is named, the name is the essence of the thing and resides in it on the same footing as its color”. Ndiga Mbo (2004) states that Congolese anthroponyms are linguistic expressions reflective of Congolese thought, belief system, and philosophy. He conceives of them as texts decipherable to those who have the linguistic competence and cultural knowledge to interpret them.Koopman’s 1989 article on the etiology of Zulu personal names quotes Evans-Pritchard on the subject of personal names saying: “names of all kinds are social documents, which fix a person’s position in the social structure and define his relations to other members of society.Koopman and Zungu (2013:64) say,“Names are more meaningful within a society and particularly within a family, the context within which they are most often used”. Names are very sancrosanct among the Zezuru as is usually reflected by the respect which is given to the namers and the naming process. The Zezuru believe that there is a strong link between one’s name and the spiritual realm.When one is given a name it means that there is some form of bond on the name and its bearer and this in turn is transmitted to the spiritual realm. This is why when the Zezuru are performing various rituals which entails the living and the dead they mention the name of the person who is seeking help from the powers from above because they believe there is a lot of power in calling the name of the one who needs the intercession. While the above scholars look at the importance of personal naming in general the present study will be looking at one of the major function of Zezuru personal names, that of reflecting the gender status of the name bearer.
From African onomastic point of view proper names according to Batoma (2006) the onomastics meaning of a name is a cluster of several layers of meaning. The three layers are the linguistic which is also called literal or denotative meaning, the cultural layer which is sometimes confused with the etymological meaning and which is beyond the name givers’
motivations that it describes. This layer can provide the socio- cultural and philosophical precepts of a linguistic community. Finally, there is the pragmatic or interpellative layer, which indicates the meaning that a name takes on in the context of its use, be it an interpersonal, a situational or a social context. The three layers noted by Batoma informed this research which is aimed at how naming can be gendered since the study will look at the semantic meaning of personal names given to both male and female people.
39 Batoma(2009) says the Kabre of Northern Togo like many other ethnic groups in Africa, have developed a verbal strategy that involves the use of personal names and animal names to indirectly communicate their feelings and opinions, particularly in conflict- laden situations.
Mutemaand Njanji (2013) say that Shona personal names are repositories of human experiences as the name givers expose their joys, sorrows, perceptions on life in general as well as their gratefulness to the giver of life, God. However, some of the names especially those that show animosity, have a negative impact on the named such as embarrassment as well as promoting low esteem on the name bearer. The unfortunate part about the whole act is that it is the innocent child who will be burdened by the negative name. Sentiments raised by Mutema and Njanji (2013) that names are a source of venting out Shona people’s feelings, sorrows and joys and that certain names are a burden to the name bearers came in handy to this research as the analysis of names in terms of their meanings was done to assess the relationship between the meaning of the name and the gender status of the name bearer.
African personal names have a high and potent cultural content which makes them to be culture specific. They are not just descriptive tags intended to separate one individual from another rather they are more than that for they can even personify the individual. Abernathy’s in Olawale (2005:9) says, “There is much meaning in a name. If you are given the right name you start off with certain indefinable but real advantages.” In an interview with a diviner, Berglund (1975:287) in Neethtling says that the name is the person. He goes on to add that the name and the person are the same. The name is the word whereby that person is known so, the person and the name are one. The diviner suggests that harm can be done by an umthakathi (a witchdoctor) to a person if he knows the name of the person. Name and the name carrier appear to be interlinked that one cannot distinguish between them. Neethling (2005) says to ‘do off your name’ in an African society would be equal to laying down your identity, you cease to exist. Goethe in Zabeeh (1985:5) quoted by Neethling (2005) says, “A man’s name is not like a cloak that merely hangs around him, it grows over him like his very skin .One cannot scrape and scratch at it without injuring the man himself. Neethling (2005:11) says, “Names in African context are furthermore usually ‘meaningful’ without fail”. In most of the instances, speakers of Bantu languages in Southern Africa use the lexicon of the languages they speak to come up with a wide range of names which give to their children. Zezuru personal names are so much connected to the belief system of the Zezeru people. Neethling (2005) adds that semantic transparency is a major feature of African names.Neethling’s observation is very true of Zezuru personal names and it informed this research to a greater extend. Most meanings of Zezuru
40 personal names point to the gender status of the name bearer as they give hints on how the name bearer is expected to behave in the Zezuru society.
Maybury-Lewis (1984:7) has it that personal names in Central Brazil not only function as forms of identity individual but in addition to this identity function they also transform individuals into persons.Thus, usually a person is expected to behave as to the dictates of the meaning of his or her name. Rosaldo (1984:22) says, “The semantic content of Ilongot names relates more profoundly to the interpersonal play of assertion and reply than to the structural properties individuation and differentiation”. This research which looks at how personal names can reflect the gender status of the name bearer benefits a lot from the above line of thinking of associating certain names with a lot of advantages. If there are names which are gendered that will mean a particular gender group will be advantaged while on the other hand the other will be disadvantaged because of naming.
It is in light of the strong relationship between the Zezuru culture and names given to Zezuru people that this research embarked on investigating the linkage between the gender status of an individual and respective personal name accorded to him or her. Wasosa and Mareva (2014), say that in African culture just like in other cultures of the world, names in general are symbols of some meanings. They go on to add that names are an integral part of people’s culture, the ways of interacting amongst themselves and their environment. Pongweni (1983) says that Shona names, like those of other African cultures usually express the experiences or attitudes of the namers and society at large. He goes on to say that in analyzing these names, one has to be careful because it is not a simple task since one will be essentially engaging in a linguistic investigation, with social and political messages predominating the composition of most of the names. Through these names one must remember that he or she will be handling language data, mainly speech that has certain well-defined functions for the people who create and use it as a way of relaying this important information.
Sengani (2014) says that for one to understand the meaning of one’s name, he or she must speak the language of the bearer of the name, understand the culture or have the background knowledge about the name. Ndlovu (2014) regards a name as a significant instrument of studying the beliefs and values of a society. He makes reference to negative naming among the Shona which he thinks is used as a means of communication to control the behaviour of individuals as it influences thought and perceptions of members of the society on certain issues.
The names can allude to a story about the family or the parents of the bearer. In a broader sense