Akan Death-Prevention Names: A Pragmatic and Structural Analysis

Abstract

This paper discusses the content and types of Akan death-prevention names. It provides a structural linguistic analysis of the morphology of these names and presents a socio- and ethnolinguistic account of the death-prevention names as they function within Akan communication. The paper also classifies the names according to their structures. Death-prevention names are shown to be meaningful and to refer to the lives of both their bearers and the name-givers.