Morphological analysis of personal names in Chindali language, Ileje District of the Songwe Region, Tanzania

Imani Alinanuswe Mwang'eka

doi:10.51867/ajernet.7.1.35

Authors

Imani Alinanuswe Mwang'eka
imanimwangeka@gmail.com
Tanzania Institute of Accountancy, Tanzania https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9075-9706

Keywords:

Chindali, Morphology, Morphological Analysis, Personal Names

Abstract

This paper presents a morphological analysis of personal names in Chindali, a variety of Ndali spoken in the Ileje District of the Songwe Region in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The study employs a qualitative approach with a descriptive research design to analyse the internal morphological structure of Chindali personal names. Data were collected from elderly native speakers selected through purposive and snowball sampling methods, basing in age and language proficiency. The sample size depended on the saturation point of data. The primary data collection techniques included structured elicitation, introspection, and document analysis. The researcher used onomastics theory to study Chindali personal names. Data were analysed by analysing the morphological patterns of Chindali personal names such as roots and affixes. The findings reveal that Chindali personal names exhibit three major morphological patterns: monomorphemic, dimorphemic, and polymorphemic. These patterns reflect not only morphological variation but also embedded cultural, social, and grammatical meanings within the Ndali-speaking community. The study concludes by recommending further research into the phonological and syntactic constraints influencing name formation in Ndali, as well as comparative morphological analyses across related Bantu languages to assess potential universality in naming structures.

Dimensions

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