relationship between the language and culture of the akuapem people

8/10/2019 Relationship Between the Language and Culture of the Akuapem People

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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF THE

AKUAPEM PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR BIRTHDAY NAMING SYSTEM

Introduction

Language is more than just a means of communication. It inuences

our culture and even our thought processes. During the rst four decades of

the 20th century, language was viewed y linguists and anthropologists as

eing more important than it actually is in shaping people!s perception of

reality. "his was mostly due to #dward $apir and his student %enjamin &horf

who said that language predetermines what people see in the world around

them. "here is a uni'ue tie etween language and culture. "he languages

that people spea( provide them with the words and concepts to descrie the

world around them, allowing them to verali)e certain values easily.

*nything people as a cultural group value will surely have a (nown and easily

understandale term. +ulture is a product of the human mind and it is

dened, propagated and sustained through language. "he relation etween

language and culture is indisputaly symiotic. Language serves as an

epression of culture without eing entirely synonymous with it. "his paper

discusses the interplay etween language and culture of the *(uapem using

their irthday names an eample.

Akuapem People


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Akuapem is the language of the people called Akuapem. The Akuapem is one of the

major dialects of Akan, the largest ethnic group in Ghana. The Akuapem people are an

amalgamation of indigenous patriarchal, Volta-Camoe-speaking Guans and matriarchal, Kwa-

speaking Akan people occupying the mountainous Akuapem ills in the !astern "egion of

Ghana. The Akuapem people were originally Guan speaking people which includes #arteh Guan

$lock namely #arteh, %amfe, A$otakyi, %ampong, &$osomase, and Tutu and the Kyerepong

'&kere( Guan $lock namely A$iriw, )awu, Awukugua, Adukrom, Apirede, and A$onse-

Asesieso. The Akan Twi-speaking towns include Akropong, the capital, and Amanokurom who

are emigrants from Akyem and %ampong people who are also emigrants from Asante %ampong

in Ashanti "egion. '&$eng, *++(

The name Akuapem was gien to these multi-ethnic group $y the famous warrior King,

ana Ansa /asraku 0 of Akwamu. The name came from Akan Twi phrase 1kuu apem1 which

means 1thousand groups.1 e gae them this name after the people oerwhelmed his Akwamu

inading army. The name 1kuu apem got corrupted to Akuapem as we know them today.

The towns of Akuapem are in the !astern "egion of Ghana and situated $etween longitude 23*4

5 - 2322 and latitude 4364 - 7322 . These towns are located on the Akuapem "idge, which runs

northeastwards across the Volta "egion and e8tends further into Togo. 0t is $ounded /outh $y Ga

'Akra(, !ast $y Adangme and Kro$o, orth and 5est $y Akem. The following * principal

towns form the Akuapem state, i9., :erekuso, Atweasing, A$uri, Ahwerase, Asantema

'&$osomase(, Tutu, %ampong, A$otakyi, Amanokurom, %amfe, Akropong, A$iriw, &dawu,

Awukugua, Adukrom, Apirede and #arteh. The inha$itants $elong to three, or strictly speaking,

two different tri$es.


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The Akuapem people are heterogeneous. They comprise $oth Akan and Guan

communities. The Guan &kere 'A$iriw, )awu, Awukugua, Adukrom and Apirede( who occupy

the northern parts of Akuapem speak Kyerepong, whereas #ate-Ahenease and #arteh-Ku$ease

speak #arteh. :oth #arteh and Kyerepong Guan languages, unlike Akan Kaw language, 1$elong

to the larger Volta-Comoe group of languages of the larger iger-Congo phylum ')olphyne and

Kropp )aku$u *+;;< -+(. Akan Twi represent 4*.7= of the population, 6>.?= are of

Kyerepong and guan e8traction while only 7.*== constitutes !wes, ortherners, Kro$os and

ethnic groups. 5ith Akuapem Twi spoken $y almost all the residents in the Akuapem mountains.

The Akan in Akuapem who speak Twi are the descendants of the Akyem people who lie at

Akropong and their relations at Amanokrom. The people of A$uri are also remnants of Akwamu

'Akan( and speak Twi $ut hae intermarried with other ethnic groups.

Lanua!

Language can e dened as a system of signs -veral or otherwise

intended for communication. It is intended for communication, for it can e

safely assumed that we spea( to pass on information to others. %ut

communication is not the only function of language. In fact, language can e

used for dreaming, internal monologue, solilo'uy, poetry, etc. /owever, for

the sa(e of this discussion, the position that, essentially, language plays a

communicative role would e ta(en. Language has also een dened y

&ardhaugh, 2002 -as 'uoted y #lmes, 201 as the (nowledge of rules and

principles of and of the ways of saying and doing things with sounds, words,

and sentences3. #dward $apir denes language as a purely human and non4


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instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires y means

of voluntarily, produced symols while %lodu 5 6rager -782 say it is a

system of aritrary vocal symols y means of which a social group

cooperates. *lso, #lmes -201, p. 2 indicates that "hanasoulas -200

compiled the denition of language in the following9

:language does not eist apart from culture, that is, from the

socially inherited assemlage of practices and eliefs that

determines the teture of our lives -$apir, 7;0, p. 20;. In a

sense, it is ye(ye -77?, p. iii uses the term culture3 in a comprehensive

sense, to encompass the entire life of a people@ their morals, religious

eliefs, social structures, political and educational systems, forms of music

and dance, and all other products of their creative spirit.3 >oodenough

-7A;, &ardhangh -2002 and #lmes -201 agree that culture is the


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participatory responsiilities of the memers of the culture wherey one is to

(now in order to operate in a manner that is acceptale to its memers.

Indeed, it can e considered as the sum total of norms and values espoused

and cherished y a particular people which includes their language. "hus in

general terms, culture denes a people!s way of life.

R!"ation#$i% &!t'!!n Lanua! and cu"tur!

Barticular languages are associated historically with particular

cultures9 the languages provide the (ey to the associated cultures, and

especially to their literature9 the languages themselves cannot e fully

understood otherwise than in the contet of the cultures in which they are

inetricaly emedded. Language encodes the values and norms in a given

society. #lmes -201, p notes that the culture of a people nds reection

in the language they employ@ ecause they value certain things and do them

in a certain way, they come to use their language in ways that reect what

they value and what they do.3 #ach language mirrors the values of its

spea(ers. Language is a vehicle of communication wherey one person

conveys a message to another for the purpose of informing, ordering,

persuading, reassuring, etc. Language therefore provides a conventional

resource for inuencing people!s attitude and ehaviour -%radac and /ung

Cg 771@;.

Data Co""!ction M!t$odo"o(


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ost of the names used in this paper were collected from some

students, friends and some elders who were natives of *(uapem. $ome were

collected from Eniversity of +ape +oast and others from "utu, a principal

town of *(uapem. I also consulted oo(s on personal names written y

scholars of *frica. "hese include Feng -200, *gye(um -200?, *sante

-77A9 +rane -7=2 +hu(s4orji -7;2 Gawawi -771, $u)man -778

among others.

Na)in A)on t$! A*ua%!)

In the *(uapem cultural contets people are named in order to

diHerentiate, to recogni)e and nally to (now them. "he *(uapems attach

much importance to names and naming practices. "he (nowledge aout

*(uapem names gives insight into *(uapem, philosophy, thought,

environment, religion, language and culture. "he symolic nature of

*(uapem names and their interpretation depicts *(uapem religious eliefs,

and their interaction with foreign cultures. In logical and philosophical sense,

a name refers to a diHerent element of human eperience i.e. to an

individual or a collective entity, which it designates or denotes. Cames are

therefore purely referential. $ome philosophers and linguists have attempted

to characterise names logically in the asence of social contets. Cames are

only considered as aritrary laels that refer to certain signied entries,

therefore the signier and the signied may not share certain intrinsic


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'ualities. "his notion is true when we consider situations where people who

ear the same name ehave diHerently.

*ccording to Gawawi -771@ ? a name constructs a person ecause

the name one ears may create an attitude in those who hear it efore they

meet the name earer.3 6rege -787 and other scholars also consider names

to have attriutes and therefore consider names to e attached to referents.

"his is eactly what pertains in the *(uapem culture where the social and

cultural contet analyses of names strongly reveal the power of names to

emphasise social relationships. *gye(um -200? points out that, personal

names are iconic representations of composite social variales that

indeicalise and relate to the name and the person. "hese include se,

hierarchy in irth, circumstances surrounding the irth, the person!s

structure, power, status, etc. "he events involved in the naming ceremony

and the choice of names given to children have traceale lin(s to the

referent.

In *(uapem, the individual carries hisher name and since names have

social meanings, people epect the earer to live y it. "he varied meanings

of one!s proper name evolves through a life history imued with a lot of

transformations and may e intimately lin(ed with the identity concerns3 of

an individual or society -Jymes 77?. In eHect, what happens is that people

epect the inherent power of words in names to reect the lives of people

either positively or negatively. "herefore the individual!s name is of concern

to the society as a whole. 6or eample, the *(uapems epect a child named


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after a dignitary or a chief to ehave himself properly so that noody ma(es

derogatory remar(s aout the name in attempt to denigrate it. It is for these

same reasons that children named after grandparents, parents and chiefs are

addressed accordingly, such as Cana Fpo(u, Cana *gyeman, aame

%oa(yewaa and so on. $uch children are also advised to ehave well so as to

avoid tarnishing their names -*gye(um, 200?@ Feng, 200. "he names are

meant to shape the children!s upringing, ehaviour and socialisation.

Cames in *(uapem fre'uently descrie the characteristics of the named

individual. Cames can thus e clearly understood when placed in socio4

cultural contet. *nalysis of proper names should therefore concentrate

more on the functional theory earing the society and culture in mind, for

names are not aritrary as perceived. Cames are important indicators of

people!s ehaviour and ways of life. $ince *(uapem names can e est

understood and interpreted under contet, people who (now the language

and culture of the people are ale to interpret such names accordingly.

%irthday names and all other categories of names in *(uapem have socio4

cultural and ethno4pragmatic referents and interpretation.

"his paper is ased on the view that there is a strong oundary

etween a people!s language and their cultural practices. It mirrors on how

language is used as cultural resources and practices, and how language is

seen as a powerful tool used to view and understand the worldview and

philosophy of a particular society. Fne can therefore use language as a

microscopic lens to view and understand the social practices and day4to4day


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activities of a society. *s a microscope, the language travels eyond what is

epressed and settles on what is practiced in the real sociocultural world.

*ccording to -*gye(um, 200?, p. 20 the language of the people is

inetricaly interwoven with their culture and thought. It is a cultural practice

and veral activities that lin( and t veral activities to the real world.3 *

society!s world is tted to words and words may also etted to the world.

"here is a strong relationship etween the world, which is reality, and the

word, which is language. Linguistic signs are therefore representations of the

word and to a greater etent the world -Duranti 77;. "his is also true of

*(uapem personal irthday names. In this wor(, the *(uapem names are the

linguistic signs, and the sociocultural interpretations of the names represent

the real world. *ccording to ey -771@12, through the use of words I

ma(e the words t my language and change the world in accordance with

my directions as given through the use of language.3 "he language of the

people is therefore the eit valve through which their eliefs and thoughts

cognition and eperiences are articulated. "he language of the people is

manifested in their naming systems and practices, marriage, family, (inship,

political, economic, occupational, health systems, religious eliefs and

practices, law, funeral activities, etc.

"he language of the people also depicts the social stratication of the

society. "he cultural practice of the memers of the group is ased on their

conceptualisation, meanings and interpretations of their elief systems and

the things around them. "he *(uapem naming system is very uni'ue from


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any of the western societies, ut it may share some similarities with the

naming systems of the #wes >hana and other *frican ethnic groups. "his

phenomenon, according to *gye(um -200?, tallies with >iddens!s -7=8

concept of regionali)ation that is dened as the )oning of time and4space in

relation to routini)ed social practices. &ithin the *(uapem society, some

*(uapem names refer to personal, temporal, spatial and social deiis. &ith

regard to temporal deiis, *(uapem names are very uni'ue, ecause each

person has anautomatic irthday rst name that points to the day of the

wee( that she was orn. 6or eample, name *dwoa indeicalises the day

onday, Kwaena indeicalises "uesday, etc. Indeical modes li(e personal

names therefore lin( language and speech to the wider system of

sociocultural life of the people. $ilverstein -7;?@ 88 argues therefore

$peech acts are the elementary indeical formulae for specifying the

pragmatic meaning or function of speech signs. "hey operate within the

framewor( of purposive function of socially constituted ehaviour.3

Etterances therefore perform certain sociocultural functional actions. In

naming, the ocial performs the act of naming y saying, I now give you

the name MNG3, and that ecomes the ocial name of the newly orn ay.

Caming therefore conforms to oth performance and participation ecause

the laels may dictate how the person ehaves and how she participates in

social activities. "his paper loo(s oth at how the *(uapem naming systems

depict the *(uapem philosophy and culture.


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Birt$da( Na)!# in A*ua%!)

"his section deals with *(uapem irthday names. %irthday name is the

rst automatic name every *(uapem child gets ased on the day she was

orn even efore she is ocially named. *gye(um -200? notes that, ecept

in few cases, this rst name is not tampered with. "he *(uapems call it

(radin -lit.


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*sante, it is Qdwoada while in 6ante, it is Dwoada. *ll the same, the tale

elow presents days and irthday names in *(uapem.

"ale . *(uapem Days and %irthday Cames male and 6emale.

Day Came in

#nglish

Day Came in

*(uapem

ale Cames 6emale

Cames

$unday Kwasiada Kwasi *(osua

onday Dwowda Kwadwo *dwoa

"uesday %enada Kwaena *ena

&ednesday &u(uda Kwa(u *(ua

"hursday Nawda Naw Naa

6riday 6iday Ko *fua

$aturday emeneda Kwame *ma

*mong the *(uapem spea(ing people and even *(ans in general, each

of the irthday names has its own appellation that hints on the ehaviour of

the people orn on such days. "he tale elow depicts that -cf. *gye(um,

200?. "he #nglish glosses of the appellations also given.

"ale 2. *(uapem %irthday Cames and their *ppellations.

ale 6emale Jesponse


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Day

Came

*ppellation Day

Came

*ppellation %oth ale

and 6emale

Kwasi %odua


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the same forms ecause they are all derived from the same source, i. e. the

deity of the particular day. "he elderly people still use these responses when

one greets them and they (now the person!s irthday name. "his

phenomenon conrms that names are not aritrary laels among the

*(uapem of >hana ut have indees to sociocultural contets.

Conc"u#ion

6rom the mentioned points and discussion, it can e concluded that

there is a very close relationship etween language and culture in general,

and a specic language and its culture in particular. "hat is, language reects

culture. In fact, the two issues are closely correlated and interrelated.

Language is the symolic presentation of a culture. %ecause there is a strong

interface etween a people!s language and their cultural practices, it mirrors

on how language is used as cultural resources and practices, and how

language is viewed as a powerful tool used to view and understand the

worldview and philosophy of a particular society. "herefore the argument in

this paper is that, language is used as a mirror to reect cultural practices

and also it is used as a lens to view and understand the social practices and

day4to4day activities of the *(uapem people. "his paper is ased on the view

that, *(uapem irthday name system and practice is a mar(er of the

people!s elief, ideology, religion, culture, philosophy and thought. "he

names are est understood and analysed when one has insight into the


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sociocultural norms and the language and culture of *(uapem. "he *(uapem

irthday names are therefore an aspect of linguistic relativity. Language

gives full epression to the *(uapem people!s values and norms.

REFERENCES

*gye(um, K. -200?. The Sociolinguistics of Akan Personal Names. Cordic

Pournal of *frican $tudied J*$K, Sol. A Fctoer 2008, pp. ?147?.

*sante, .K. -77A. The Book of African Names. "renton@ *frica &orld Bress.

Dolphyne, 6.*. -7==.The Akan Language. *ccra9 &oeli Bulishing $ervices

+hu(s4orji,F. -7;2. Names from Africa. Their Origin, Meaning and

Pronunciation. +hicago@ Pohnson Bulishing +ompany, Inc.

+rane, Louise. 7=2.African Names: People and Places. Erana4+hampaign@

Eniversity of

Illinois.

Deutscher, >uy -200. Through the Language lass! "h# the "orld Looks

$i%erent in Other Languages. /enry /olt 5 +ompany.

aduui(e, Ihechu(wu -7;?. A &and'ook of African Names. &ashington,

D.+.@ "hree +ontinents Bress.

Feng >yasi, $. -77;. (rom Morhophonolog# to Sociolinguistics: The )ase

of Akuapem

pocoristic $a#*names.In@ ultilingua ?-@ 174A?.

-200 *frican *nthroponymy@ *n #thnopragmatic and orphophonological

$tudy of Cames in *(uapem and $ome *frican $ocieties. uenchen@

Lincom#uropa.


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Fpo(u, *. *. -7;0. (esti+als of hana.*ccra@ >hana Bulishing +orporation.

7;1 O'i #er-. "ema. >hana pulishing +orporation.

Jey *lain. 77A. ssa#s on Terminolog#. *msterdam@Pohn %enjamins

Bulishing +ompany.

Jymes, %esty. 77?. Naming as social practice: The )ase of Little )reeper

from $iamond Street. Language in $ociety2A@ 21;42?0.

$u)man, $.. -778. Names as Pointers: /ulu Personal Naming Practices.

Language in

$ociety 21@ 2A14;2.

Neoa4Dan(wa, P. -770. Tete " Bi #er- 0 . *ccra@ &aterville Bulishing

/ouse.

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relationship between the language and culture of the akuapem people

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