You are what you Look: A Socio (Linguistic) Analysis of Some Kaonde Nicknames Associated with Physical Appearance

Abstract

The Kaonde language is part of the Bantu language family found in South Central Africa. It is spoken by the baKaonde ethnic group in Zambia's North Western and Central provinces. Nicknames are an essential part of the baKaonde naming system and hold significant importance in their culture. These nicknames are given to describe people based on their physical characteristics, animal-like features or things, social habits, and so on. Among the Kaonde people, nicknames serve different social functions such as endearment, humor, mockery, social counsel, expression of bravery, and lifestyle. This study aims to investigate Kaonde nicknames associated with physical appearances and features of people. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates how Kaonde speakers play with language in their naming systems and how they use ‘frames’ of meaning to coin new words (nicknames) from existing linguistic resources. The data for this study was collected through qualitative ethnographic methods, including participant observations and personal interviews with ten purposively selected respondents, as part of a larger study on Kaonde nicknames. The study findings reveal that Kaonde nicknames describe an individual's physical appearance and features, either positively or negatively. These nicknames may arise from other people’s physical features and animal characteristics which are likened to individuals being nicknamed. Some nicknames may be known or unknown to the nicknamee, depending on their connotations, context of use and existing personal relationship between the namer, and the named. These findings reflect human interactions among themselves and with other living beings and the extended naming system of the Kaonde speakers to include nicknames.