Amharic Personal Nomenclature: A Grammar and Sociolinguistic Insight

This article presents the grammatical and sociolinguistic analyses of Amharic proper nouns. In the sociolinguistic section, names are classified into types based on their semantic contents, which are strongly linked with the socio-economic and political situations surrounding the birth of a child. In the grammatical section, the phonology, morphology and syntax of names are described. This section also identifies the pragmatically possible constructions of proper names beyond the rules of the grammar of the language.