Abstract:
This study investigated the origin, meaning and motivation of the names of the
principal settlements of the Anlo state and the morphological processes involved in
the formation of the names. It classified also the names with appropriate conclusions.
The research design used for the study was the descriptive survey. The population for
the study was the chiefs, elders and people who had knowledge about the history of
the settlements. The purposive and snow ball sampling techniques were employed in
selecting the sample. Two sources of data collection were employed. First,
documentary analysis was used to retrieve information from existing documented
narratives of the area. The second source was interviews conducted with chiefs and
elders, and prominent people in the towns which followed suggested methods for
collecting oral history data in Ewe. The toponymic typological framework proposed
by Tent and Blair (2011) was used to classify the settlement names. The results
showed that settlements names originated from the migration history of Anlos. The
settlement names make reference to natural features such as hills, valleys, sandbars,
marshy areas, streams, vegetation and events encountered during their migration. The
names comprised one, two or more morphemes put together through processes of
affixation, compounding and borrowing. Also, the thirty-six settlement names could
be classified into the nine categories outlined by Tent and Blair. However, some
settlement names were difficult to identify as Ewe morphemes.
Description:
A THESIS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH EDUCATION, FACULTY
OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION,
SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES, UNIVERSITY
OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE
REQUIREMENTS FOR AWARD OF THE MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY OF
ENGLISH DEGREE.
DECEMBER, 2015