Towards a Language-Based Typology of Church Names in Ghana

Over the years, scholars have sought to provide language-based typologies of names, but while attempts have been made for some sub-branches of onomastics such as anthroponymy and toponymy, there is arguably none for ecclesionymy (the study of church names). Consequently, this paper sought to provide...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Mother-Tongue Biblical Hermeneutics and Theology 2021-11, Vol.2 (11), p.77-87
Main Authors: Akoto, Osei Yaw, Oppong-Asare Ansah, Juliet
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
church names
ecclesionymy
glocal language
unilingual
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Summary:Over the years, scholars have sought to provide language-based typologies of names, but while attempts have been made for some sub-branches of onomastics such as anthroponymy and toponymy, there is arguably none for ecclesionymy (the study of church names). Consequently, this paper sought to provide a language based typology of the hitherto underexplored area of church names. Data of names of churches in Ghana was built for the present study. Adopting content analysis as the analytical approach, the study realized that church names in Ghana are generally homogenous and heterogeneous linguistically. It was also realized that homogenous/unilingual church names involved English only, Akan only and Ewe only. On the other hand, the heterogeneous church names comprised two types: bilingual and trilingual church names, which contained varied language permutations from the three spheres in Osei Yaw Akoto’s classification of languages in Ghana. The paper concludes by making some recommendations for language-in-religion policy in Ghana. Keywords: Church names, Ecclesionymy, Glocal language, Unilingual
ISSN:2676-2838
2676-2838
DOI:10.38159/motbit.2021353