RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF THE AKUAPEM

PEOPLE THROUGH THEIR BIRTHDAY NAMING SYSTEM

Introduction

Language is more than just a means of communication. It influences our culture and even

our thought processes. During the first four decades of the 20th century, language was viewed by

linguists and anthropologists as being more important than it actually is in shaping people’s

perception of reality. This was mostly due to Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Whorf who

said that language predetermines what people see in the world around them. There is a unique tie

between language and culture. The languages that people speak provide them with the words and

concepts to describe the world around them, allowing them to verbalize certain values easily.

Anything people as a cultural group value will surely have a known and easily understandable

term. Culture is a product of the human mind and it is defined, propagated and sustained through

language. The relation between language and culture is indisputably symbiotic. Language serves

as an expression of culture without being entirely synonymous with it. This paper discusses the

interplay between language and culture of the Akuapem using their birthday names an example.

Akuapem People

Akuapem is the language of the people called Akuapem. The Akuapem is one of the

major dialects of Akan, the largest ethnic group in Ghana. The Akuapem people are an

amalgamation of indigenous patriarchal, Volta-Camoe-speaking Guans and matriarchal, Kwa-

speaking Akan people occupying the mountainous Akuapem Hills in the Eastern Region of

Ghana. The Akuapem people were originally Guan speaking people which includes Larteh Guan
block namely Larteh, Mamfe, Abotakyi, Mampong, Obosomase, and Tutu and the Kyerepong

(Okere) Guan block namely Abiriw, Dawu, Awukugua, Adukrom, Apirede, and Abonse-

Asesieso. The Akan Twi-speaking towns include Akropong, the capital, and Amanokurom  who

are emigrants from Akyem and Mampong people who are also emigrants from Asante Mampong

in Ashanti Region. (Obeng, 1997)

The name Akuapem was given to these multi-ethnic group by the famous warrior King,

Nana Ansa Sasraku I of Akwamu. The name came from Akan Twi phrase "Nkuu apem" which

means "thousand groups." He gave them this name after the people overwhelmed his Akwamu

invading army. The name "Nkuu apem got corrupted to Akuapem as we know them today.

The towns of Akuapem are in the Eastern Region of Ghana and situated between longitude 0°15

W - 0°00 and latitude 5°45 - 6°00 N. These towns are located on the Akuapem Ridge, which

runs northeastwards across the Volta Region and extends further into Togo. It is bounded South

by Ga (Akra), East by Adangme and Krobo, North and West by Akem. The following 17

principal towns form the Akuapem state, viz., Berekuso, Atweasing, Aburi, Ahwerase, Asantema

(Obosomase), Tutu, Mampong, Abotakyi, Amanokurom, Mamfe, Akropong, Abiriw, Odawu,

Awukugua, Adukrom, Apirede and Larteh. The inhabitants belong to three, or strictly speaking,

two different tribes.

The Akuapem people are heterogeneous. They comprise both Akan and Guan

communities. The Guan Okere (Abiriw, Dawu, Awukugua, Adukrom and Apirede) who occupy

the northern parts of Akuapem speak Kyerepong, whereas Late-Ahenease and Larteh-Kubease

speak Larteh. Both Larteh and Kyerepong Guan languages, unlike Akan Kaw language, "belong

to the larger Volta-Comoe group of languages of the larger Niger-Congo phylum (Dolphyne and

Kropp Dakubu 1988: 77-79). Akan Twi represent 51.6% of the population, 42.3% are of
Kyerepong and guan extraction while only 6.1%% constitutes Ewes, Northerners, Krobos and

ethnic groups. With Akuapem Twi spoken by almost all the residents in the Akuapem mountains.

The Akan in Akuapem who speak Twi are the descendants of the Akyem people who live at

Akropong and their relations at Amanokrom. The people of Aburi are also remnants of Akwamu

(Akan) and speak Twi but have intermarried with other ethnic groups.

Language

Language can be defined as a system of signs (verbal or otherwise) intended for

communication. It is intended for communication, for it can be safely assumed that we speak to

pass on information to others. But communication is not the only function of language. In fact,

language can be used for dreaming, internal monologue, soliloquy, poetry, etc. However, for the

sake of this discussion, the position that, essentially, language plays a communicative role would

be taken. Language has also been defined by Wardhaugh, 2002 (as quoted by Elmes, 2013) as

“the knowledge of rules and principles of and of the ways of saying and doing things with

sounds, words, and sentences”. Edward Sapir defines language as a purely human and non-

instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions, and desires by means of voluntarily,

produced symbols while Blodu & Frager (1942) say it is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by

means of which a social group cooperates. Also, Elmes (2013, p. 12) indicates that Thanasoulas

(2001) compiled the definition of language in the following;

…language does not exist apart from culture, that is, from the socially inherited

assemblage of practices and beliefs that determines the texture of our lives (Sapir,

1970, p. 207). In a sense, it is ‘a key to the cultural past of a society’ (Salzmann,

 1998, p. 41), a guide to ‘social reality’ (Sapir, 1929, p. 209, cited in Salzmann,

1998, p. 41).

Thanasoulas’s definition suggests that language and culture cannot be separated because

language influences the practices and beliefs of people.

Culture

Culture is the belief systems of a people, their history, their present, future and also the

rules of behaviour that is beneficial to the society as a whole. Gyekye (1996, p. xiii) uses the

term “culture” in a comprehensive sense, to “encompass the entire life of a people: their morals,

religious beliefs, social structures, political and educational systems, forms of music and dance,

and all other products of their creative spirit.” Goodenough (1957), Wardhangh (2002) and

Elmes (2013) agree that culture is the participatory responsibilities of the members of the culture

whereby one is to know in order to operate in a manner that is acceptable to its members. Indeed,

it can be considered as the sum total of norms and values espoused and cherished by a particular

people which includes their language. Thus in general terms, culture defines a people’s way of

life.

Relationship between Language and culture

Particular languages are associated historically with particular cultures; the

languages provide the key to the associated cultures, and especially to their literature; the

languages themselves cannot be fully understood otherwise than in the context of the cultures

in which they are inextricably embedded. Language encodes the values and norms in a given

society. Elmes (2013, p 11) notes that “the culture of a people finds reflection in the language
they employ: because they value certain things and do them in a certain way, they come to use

their language in ways that reflect what they value and what they do.” Each language mirrors the

values of its speakers. Language is a vehicle of communication whereby one person conveys a

message to another for the purpose of informing, ordering, persuading, reassuring, etc.

Language therefore provides a conventional resource for influencing people’s attitude and

behaviour (Bradac and Hung Ng 1993:117).

Data Collection Methodology

Most of the names used in this paper were collected from some students, friends and

some elders who were natives of Akuapem. Some were collected from University of Cape Coast

and others from Tutu, a principal town of Akuapem. I also consulted books on personal names

written by scholars of Africa. These include Obeng (2001), Agyekum (2006), Asante (1995);

Crane (1982) Chuks-orji (1972) Zawawi (1993), Suzman (1994) among others.

Naming Among the Akuapem

In the Akuapem cultural contexts people are named in order to differentiate, to recognize

and finally to know them. The Akuapems attach much importance to names and naming

practices. The knowledge about Akuapem names gives insight into Akuapem, philosophy,

thought, environment, religion, language and culture. The symbolic nature of Akuapem names

and their interpretation depicts Akuapem religious beliefs, and their interaction with foreign

cultures. In logical and philosophical sense, a name refers to a different element of human

experience i.e. to an individual or a collective entity, which it designates or denotes. Names are

therefore purely referential. Some philosophers and linguists have attempted to characterise
names logically in the absence of social contexts. Names are only considered as arbitrary labels

that refer to certain signified entries, therefore the signifier and the signified may not share

certain intrinsic qualities. This notion is true when we consider situations where people who bear

the same name behave differently.

According to Zawawi (1993: 6) “a name constructs a person because the name one bears

may create an attitude in those who hear it before they meet the name bearer.” Frege (1949) and

other scholars also consider names to have attributes and therefore consider names to be attached

to referents. This is exactly what pertains in the Akuapem culture where the social and cultural

context analyses of names strongly reveal the power of names to emphasise social relationships.

Agyekum (2006) points out that, personal names are iconic representations of composite social

variables that indexicalise and relate to the name and the person. These include sex, hierarchy in

birth, circumstances surrounding the birth, the person’s structure, power, status, etc. The events

involved in the naming ceremony and the choice of names given to children have traceable links

to the referent.

In Akuapem, the individual carries his/her name and since names have social meanings,

people expect the bearer to live by it. The varied meanings of one’s proper name evolves through

a life history imbued with a lot of transformations and may be intimately linked with the

“identity concerns” of an individual or society (Rymes 1996). In effect, what happens is that

people expect the inherent power of words in names to reflect the lives of people either

positively or negatively. Therefore the individual’s name is of concern to the society as a whole.

For example, the Akuapems expect a child named after a dignitary or a chief to behave himself

properly so that nobody makes derogatory remarks about the name in attempt to denigrate it. It is

for these same reasons that children named after grandparents, parents and chiefs are addressed
accordingly, such as Nana Opoku, Nana Agyeman, Maame Boakyewaa and so on. Such children

are also advised to behave well so as to avoid tarnishing their names (Agyekum, 2006: Obeng,

2001). The names are meant to shape the children’s upbringing, behaviour and socialisation.

Names in Akuapem frequently describe the characteristics of the named individual. Names can

thus be clearly understood when placed in socio-cultural context. Analysis of proper names

should therefore concentrate more on the functional theory bearing the society and culture in

mind, for names are not arbitrary as perceived. Names are important indicators of people’s

behaviour and ways of life. Since Akuapem names can be best understood and interpreted under

context, people who know the language and culture of the people are able to interpret such

names accordingly. Birthday names and all other categories of names in Akuapem have socio-

cultural and ethno-pragmatic referents and interpretation.

This paper is based on the view that there is a strong boundary between a people’s

language and their cultural practices. It mirrors on how language is used as cultural resources and

practices, and how language is seen as a powerful tool used to view and understand the

worldview and philosophy of a particular society. One can therefore use language as a

microscopic lens to view and understand the social practices and day-to-day activities of a

society. As a microscope, the language travels beyond what is expressed and settles on what is

practiced in the real sociocultural world. According to (Agyekum, 2006, p. 210) “the language of

the people is inextricably interwoven with their culture and thought. It is a cultural practice and

verbal activities that link and fit verbal activities to the real world.” A society’s world is fitted to

words and words may also befitted to the world. There is a strong relationship between the

world, which is reality, and the word, which is language. Linguistic signs are therefore

representations of the word and to a greater extent the world (Duranti 1997). This is also true of
Akuapem personal birthday names. In this work, the Akuapem names are the linguistic signs,

and the sociocultural interpretations of the names represent the real world. According to Mey

(1993:132), “through the use of words I make the words fit my language and change the world in

accordance with my directions as given through the use of language.” The language of the people

is therefore the exit valve through which their beliefs and thoughts cognition and experiences are

articulated. The language of the people is manifested in their naming systems and practices,

marriage, family, kinship, political, economic, occupational, health systems, religious beliefs and

practices, law, funeral activities, etc.

The language of the people also depicts the social stratification of the society. The

cultural practice of the members of the group is based on their conceptualisation, meanings and

interpretations of their belief systems and the things around them. The Akuapem naming system

is very unique from any of the western societies, but it may share some similarities with the

naming systems of the Ewes Ghana and other African ethnic groups. This phenomenon,

according to Agyekum (2006), tallies with Giddens’s (1984) concept of regionalization that is

defined as the “zoning of time and-space in relation to routinized social practices. Within the

Akuapem society, some Akuapem names refer to personal, temporal, spatial and social deixis.

With regard to temporal deixis, Akuapem names are very unique, because each person has

anautomatic birthday first name that points to the day of the week that s/he was born. For

example, name Adwoa indexicalises the day Monday, Kwabena indexicalises Tuesday, etc.

Indexical modes like personal names therefore link language and speech to the wider system of

sociocultural life of the people. Silverstein (1976: 44) argues therefore “Speech acts are the

elementary indexical formulae for specifying the pragmatic meaning or function of speech signs.

They operate within the framework of purposive function of socially constituted behaviour.”
Utterances therefore perform certain sociocultural functional actions. In naming, the official

performs the act of naming by saying, “I now give you the name XYZ”, and that becomes the

official name of the newly born baby. Naming therefore conforms to both performance and

participation because the labels may dictate how the person behaves and how s/he participates in

social activities. This paper looks both at how the Akuapem naming systems depict the Akuapem

philosophy and culture.

Birthday Names in Akuapem

This section deals with Akuapem birthday names. Birthday name is the first automatic

name every Akuapem child gets based on the day s/he was born even before s/he is officially

named. Agyekum (2006) notes that, except in few cases, this first name is not tampered with.

The Akuapems call it kradin (lit.) ‘souls name’ and they believe that this is a name that a

person’s soul offers him/her. It is the soul of the person that decides when to allow the unborn

child to enter this world. It is believed that this particular day may affect his/her behaviour, fate

and future. The names of the days were derived from names of deities and their particular days of

worshipping (Agyekum, 2006). Akuapem names of the days of the week show a regular pattern:

name of a deity + -(a)da‘day’ e.g. Kwasi-ada, Dwo-ada, Wuku-da, Yaw-da, Memene-da.... this

same pattern is found in English (Mon-day, Tues-day, Wednes-day, Thurs-day...), French (Lun-

di, Mar-di, Mercre-di, Jeu-di…), and so on. Agyekum (2006) notes that this pattern (name of a

deity + word for ‘day’) is a feature shared by almost all the languages belonging to the Indo-

European family, and it is believed to have been a trait of the ProtoIndo-European language as

well. There is a system of seven-day names that correspond to the days of the week. This is also

found in all Akan dialects. There are two forms of names; one for females and another for males.
These names are found in all the Akan dialects and they overlap with each other with only some

slight differences. These differences include spelling of the names, pronunciation, etc. for

example in Akuapem, Monday is Dwoda, in Asante, it is Ɛdwoada while in Fante, it is Dwoada.

All the same, the table below presents days and birthday names in Akuapem.

Table 1. Akuapem Days and Birthday Names male and Female.

Day Name in English Day Name in Akuapem Male Names Female Names

Sunday Kwasiada Kwasi Akosua

Monday Dwowda Kwadwo Adwoa

Tuesday Benada Kwabena Abena

Wednesday Wukuda Kwaku Akua

Thursday Yawda Yaw Yaa

Friday Fiday Kofi Afua

Saturday Memeneda Kwame Ama

Among the Akuapem speaking people and even Akans in general, each of the birthday

names has its own appellation that hints on the behaviour of the people born on such days. The

table below depicts that (cf. Agyekum, 2006). The English glosses of the appellations also given.
Table 2. Akuapem Birthday Names and their Appellations.

Male Female Response

Day Appellation Day Appellation Both Male and

Name Name Female

Kwasi Bodua ‘agility’ Akosua Dampo ‘agility’ Awusi ‘agility’

Kwadwo Okoto/Asera ‘peace’ Adwoa Badwo/Akoto ‘peace’ Adwo ‘peace’

Kwabena Ogyam ‘friendliness’ Abena ,Nimo‘friendliness’ Abra‘friendliness

’

Kwaku Daaku/Bonsam ‘evil’ Akua Obisi/daakuo‘evil’ Aku ‘evil’

Yaw Preko ‘brave’ Yaa Busuo ‘brave’ Awo ‘bravery

Kofi Kyini/Babne Afua Baafi/Nkso ‘wanderer/ Afi

‘wanderer/traveller/’ traveller/’ ‘wanderer/travell
er’

Kwame Atoapoma, Amma Nyamewa/Adoma Amen ‘creation’

teanankannuro ‘combat ‘creation/grace’
ready’, snakebite
herbalist.

The appellations for both male and female and their responses have the same

interpretation. People born on particular days are supposed to exhibit the characteristics or

attributes and philosophy, associated with the days. For example, a Monday-born is supposed to

be peaceful and calm, while a Friday born is a wanderer and adventurer, and a Saturday born is
creative (Obeng, 2001). The last column represents response addressive associated with the day

names of the Akuapem. Both female and male have the same forms because they are all derived

from the same source, i. e. the deity of the particular day. The elderly people still use these

responses when one greets them and they know the person’s birthday name. This phenomenon

confirms that names are not arbitrary labels among the Akuapem of Ghana but have indexes to

sociocultural contexts.

Conclusion

From the mentioned points and discussion, it can be concluded that there is a very close

relationship between language and culture in general, and a specific language and its culture in

particular. That is, language reflects culture. In fact, the two issues are closely correlated and

interrelated. Language is the symbolic presentation of a culture. Because there is a strong

interface between a people’s language and their cultural practices, it mirrors on how language is

used as cultural resources and practices, and how language is viewed as a powerful tool used to

view and understand the worldview and philosophy of a particular society. Therefore the

argument in this paper is that, language is used as a mirror to reflect cultural practices and also it

is used as a lens to view and understand the social practices and day-to-day activities of the

Akuapem people. This paper is based on the view that, Akuapem birthday name system and

practice is a marker of the people’s belief, ideology, religion, culture, philosophy and thought.

The names are best understood and analysed when one has insight into the sociocultural norms

and the language and culture of Akuapem. The Akuapem birthday names are therefore an aspect

of linguistic relativity. Language gives full expression to the Akuapem people’s values and

norms.
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