PRESERVING IDENTITY: A SOCIO-SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF YORUBA FAMILY COMPOUND NAMES IN OFFA TOWN

Abstract

Names are related to history and tradition because names of things and objects provide the source of origin of each of the objects or things they name. This study is a socio-semantic analysis of selected family compound names in Yoruba language with particular focus on Offa town in relation to their literal meaning and socio-cultural function(s). Reference is made to the semantic features of the names in order to indicate their English equivalent translations for clarification and adequate understanding of the analysis of the work. Oral interview technique was the instrument for data collection and the data was analysed using Bertrand Russell’s Descriptive Theory of Meaning which is a socio-semantic analysis using Descriptive Content, Meaning through Descriptions, Reference and Description, Cultural and Social Context. This framework provides a structured way to analyse the rich semantic layers embedded in the family compound names of Offa town, helping to reveal their deeper significance within the community. Visits were made to the heads of the family compounds considered and relevant questions on the historical source of the origin of each of the family compound names as well as the reason for its emergence and meaning were asked. It reveals that the primary functions of the names are for identification, for indicating directions and locations and these names possess socio-cultural importance based on the relationships they share with the linguistic community where the names originated from.