A Socio-Cultural And Linguistic Analysis Of Yemeni Arabic Personal Names

Abstract

This study is an investigation in anthroponomy of a Yemeni community which mayreflect the naming practices followed in some tribal regions of Yemen neighboring SaudiArabia. The study aims at investigating personal names, particularly female names, asthey look very striking to a person who does not know much about the culture of thoseregions. Almost 300 personal female names are collected by the researcher usingquestionnaire as the tool for data collection. The names are, then, classified into differentcategories on the basis of their sources. For instance, Saadah and the adjacentgovernorates (in Yemen) are famous for different weapons business, so, you can hearnames like tomateek, canadah: types of gun or qunbulah: grenade). Such selection ofnames is indicative of the attitudes of the parents of the family and of the way they areassociated with the nature and the atmosphere around them as suggested by the responsesto the questionnaire. However, the changing social, political and linguistic influences onthe land and the people of Saadah and the neighboring places (in Yemen) have left theirimpact on naming patterns. As a result, naming practices are changing. This study is apreliminary investigation in anthroponomy of the Yemeni community, to be precise inthe north and north west part of the country. It is an attempt toward understandinganthroponomy as a branch of the science of Onomastics in the region in relation tosociolinguistics.