Abstract
The Igbo and Yoruba sociocultural groups of southern Nigeria, like most other traditional African societies, believe in the duality of human existence. Both societies believe in the constant interaction between the world of the living and the dead. They also believe and accept the notion of reincarnation. The process of names and naming is one of the ways the groups affirm their assumptions on reincarnation. Both groups believe in the existence of a set of children known as Ogbanje (Igbo) or Abiku (Yoruba). Ogbanje and Abiku are Igbo and Yoruba words for stubborn spirit-children that maintain a cycle of dying and being reborn. The words therefore reflect a phenomenon in which a child dies and returns. Most studies on spirit-children in Igbo and Yoruba have either focused on their contextual manifestations in literary texts and creative imaginations, or on their characterizations in sociological and cultural studies. None of these approaches examined the cultural cognitive motivations for the names and naming of Ogbanje/Abiku children. Thus, based on insights from the framework of Cultural Linguistics (CL), this study examines the cultural and cognitive motivations that underlie the names and naming of spirit-children among the Igbo and Yoruba of Southern Nigeria. This study therefore aims to bridge the gap in knowledge on the Ogbanje/Abiku phenomenon
Presenters
Ikenna KamaluProfessor, Department of English Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Rivers, Nigeria
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
IGBO, YORUBA, OGBANJE, ABIKU, PERSONAL NAMES AND NAMING, CULTURAL LINGUISTICS
