Abstract

BARIKI, Isaiah. Translating African Names in Fiction. Íkala [online]. 2009, vol.14, n.23, pp.43-61. ISSN 0123-3432.

In this paper, we study the sociocultural and ethnopragmatic significance of African names as used by the Yoruba and Izon of Nigeria and the Akan of Ghana. From the perspective of linguistic anthropology, we show the non-arbitrary nature of these names and demonstrate the need to translate them, particularly in fictional texts, so that their significance may be preserved.

Keywords : African personal names; sociocultural functions of personal names; translation of personal names.

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