The communicative significance of Ngembà personal names

Among the Ngembà, a Bantu-Grassfields people of Western Cameroon, personal names are alternative forms of narratives that represent past experiences and conflicts encountered by the name giver. These are central to the self-definition and future expectations of the name bearer as well as in re-negotiating locally relevant principles of values. This article explores Ngembà personal names as communicative acts that mirror a wide range of human experiences within the Ngembà sociocultural context. In this article, we trace the stories behind these names, investigate their communicative and socio-onomastic significance and analyse their ethnopragmatic meanings. The study discovers that Ngembàpersonal names do not only index individual or collective identities and belongings but also embed significant historical resonances and cultural assumptions that reflect cruel and sometimes pleasant personal memories, unresolved tension and promising futures.