THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS IMPLICATIONS OF ABUSED ISLAMIC NAMES AMONG THE YORUBAS (2)
by Raji Mubin Olatoye, modified by Flying Colours Crew
This is the second episode of (THE SOCIOLINGUISTICS IMPLICATIONS OF ABUSED ISLAMIC NAMES AMONG THE YORUBAS (1)
Corruption of Islamic Names
Apart from abusing or reviling with these Islamic names as we discussed prior, there is a long list of Muslim names that have been corrupted by the Yoruba people into different pronunciations, which of course, render them meaningless or connote different meanings. This trend, to our knowledge, is not new as it is traceable to the early Yoruba Muslims who, being unable to break away from the structural features of the Yoruba language, domesticated Islamic names to the point of making them sound like Yoruba names. This is partly informed, due to the fact that virtually all Yoruba names end with a vowel and in order to be comfortable with pronunciation of foreign names (Arabic inclusive) which do not end with a vowel, a terminal vowel is added. That is why, for instance, Muslim names like Ḥusayn is often rendered as Oseni, Zubayr as Suberu, Idrīs as Disu, Zaynab as Senabu etc.
Scholars of onomastics or onomatology have been able to come up with morphological rules and principles guiding domestication of Muslim names. Onomastics or onomatology is the scientific study of the origins, forms, conventions, history and uses of proper names. They observed that when proper names leave their primordial shores to other climes, they in time are often liable to local adaptation.
It is a principle that when a Muslim name starts with a vowel, the Yoruba morphological domestication process dispenses with the initial vowels and start pronouncing the name from the next consonant after the vowel. In some cases, intermediate and terminal vowels are added. For example, in Ibrāhīm, the initial (I) which is a vowel is dispensed with, and intermediate and terminal vowels are added to produce Buraimo; the same rule goes for Idrīs being rendered as Disu, Imrān as Muraino, ʻUthmān as Sunmonu, Ismāʻīl as Sunmola and Abū Bakr as Bakare. In the case of Abū Bakr, the word Abu is eliminated and “Bakr” is fitted with intermediate and terminal vowel to produce Bakare.
Another principle arises from the Yoruba fondness for the short forms of names whereby names that are regarded as too long are often shortened. In this case, the prefix Abdul in Muslim names that are derived from the 99 names of Allāh is dispensed with, and the consonant (l) in Abdul is added to begin the other part of the name and a terminal vowel to produce a pronounceable word. Take for instance, Lasisi, a Yoruba corruption of ʻAbdul-ʻAzīz (the servant of the Mighty God), the prefix Abdul is dispensed with, leaving only Azīz. The consonant (l) in Abdul is added to Azīz to produce Lasisi or Laisi. The same principle also goes for such names that have Muḥammad as prefix, like Muḥammad Al-Amīn rendered as Lamina.
The above linguistic analysis, notwithstanding, does not provide enough excuse or encourage Muslims to corrupt Islamic names. (Read AAYÁN ÒGBUFỌ̀: (YORUBA PROVERBS/IDIOMS AND THEIR ENGLISH EQUIVALENTS) – 1) Names according to Islām convey cherished meanings which would not be achieved if they are not properly spelt and pronounced. Reference is here made to the importance the Prophet attached to the meaning of names; hence he changed some people’s names from Hazan (Sadness) to Sahl (Ease), from Āṣiyah (Disobedience) to Jamīlah (Magnificent) etc.
….to be continued
