A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Youth Slang among Apprentices at the Onitsha Market

This article investigates Basà toponyms in Bassa and Kotonkarfe Local Government Areas of Kogi State, North central Nigeria. In the majority of Nigeria and Africa, each place name has a story behind it which together make up its symbolic identity. This research attempts to answer the question: What are the motivations and the narratives behind toponyms in the study areas? Ethnographic data for the study were sourced through interviews and metalinguistic conversations in the study areas. The investigation adopts the socio-onomastic model as its framework. The evidence from this study shows that, a historical linguistic method can also be used as an alternative perspective of studying toponyms in addition to other methods like oral history, archeology and geography. The findings show that place names are historical preserving strategies and tools among the Basà. The commonest sources of derivation of Basà toponyms are geographical features, water bodies, vegetation, and animals, among others. The study unearths, and preserves unknown stories encapsulated in these toponyms, and provides historical facts that can validate original ownership of territories which is an authentic means of preserving Basà sociocultural and linguistic resources.