An Onomastic Analysis of Shop Names: A Case of Manyama Market in Zambia

Motivated by the role of commercial onomastics in trade and business, this study linguistically analyses shop names in the multilingual context of the Manyama market in Kalumbila, Zambia. Three objectives guide this study: to identify the morphological processes employed in the formation of shop names at Manyama Market, to describe the contributing factors in shop name choices at Manyama Market, and to establish the significance of shop names as a resource in trade and business in the informal economy of Kalumbila’s Manyama market. For an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon, this study collected data using unstructured interviews, audio recordings, and observation. A total of fifteen shop names were purposively sampled together with ten owners. As the study is purely qualitative, the findings were transcribed and analyzed thematically through the revealed themes. For a comprehensive analysis of the findings, this study applied theories of lexical morphology and Social semiotics. The study reveals that several morphological processes are employed in the creation of shop names. Some of the processes include compounding, acronymization, initialization, and loaning, among others. The study shows that several factors influence the decision to name a shop. These factors include anglicisation, religious alignment, commemorative, and family name alignment, and indigenization. The study concludes that several linguistic aspects are taken into consideration when creating a shop name. When applied, the process results in the expression of various meanings that elicit different responses based on how customers respond to a business.