Basa Personal Names: An Ethno-Pragmatic Survey

Basa language belongs to Western Kainji of Kainji language family. It is spoken in North Central Nigeria, that is, all the Federal councils; Kogi, Nasarawa Niger, and Benue states. The work studies Basa personal names from the ethno-pragmatic perspective. Naming practice, though universal or cross-cultural among human societies, it is remarkably idiosyncratic in style, custom etc. The paper argues that naming practices are not arbitrary labels, but sociocultural tags that show socio-cultural functions, roles and meanings. The paper categorizes the typology of Basa personal names into different types, such as circumstantial, death prevention or reincarnation, idioms tic, riddles and proverbial names. Data for the study were obtained through interviews, personal observation and analyzed using the Leipzig Glossing Rules. Findings from the research show that Basa names undergo different derivational processes and there is a strong interface between a people’s language and their cultural practices, ie. it mirrors how a language is used as a cultural practice and how it serves as a window to understanding the worldview and philosophy of a given people.