The Importance Of Zulu Names

A name is what something or somebody is called, it is a term or phrase by which somebody or something is known and distinguished from other people or things. According to the Chamber Dictionary (2005), name is a word or words by which an individual person, place or thing is identified; it is the nomenclature used in making reference to all things, either tangible or intangible, living or non-living, concrete or abstract, liquid or solid. In an African context, name is not brought with levity since an immense socio-cultural criticalness is connected to it. For instant, Basotho from South Africa, a name will acknowledged a social virtue; this origination may be apparent for a standout amongst their proverbs which say. “bitso lebe keseromo” (bad name is ominous, In Zulu, traditionally name givers usually give names “personal names” after a certain events or circumstance that were relevant at time of the child birth. IsiZulu is major Bantu language spoken in South Africa with the estimated 10 million speaker. Zulu’s are mostly found in KwaZulu Natal (KZN) region of South Africa. Names in African society have a meaning, unlike western names whose purpose is primary to label. These names are subjected to change as society change with time. This essay will look in the change of Zulu naming practise as a result of social change, difference between a rural, farm and urban names. There are different …show more content…
This definition provides a general theory behind a name, and the social impotence of giving a name to human in society. Concerning illustration reflected from the definition, there is essentially no known phenomenon without specific name (s); only the unknown phenomena that their names are not known to human. This is reflection that names are social constructions and are reflections of human social experiences; this says that names given for of the same things varies crosswise over social