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Article published In: Language, Culture and Society
Vol. 7:2 (2025) ► pp.121–143

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Linguistic strategies of naming diseases in Efik

ORCiD logo with link | SOAS, University of London
Published online: 13 January 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lcs.24056.men
Abstract
Disease names are words that exist in the lexicon of a language, and constitute part of the native speaker’s linguistic intuition. In some African contexts, disease names are often constructed to reflect symptoms or conditions of diseases. This article explores the linguistic strategies of naming diseases among the Efik people of south-eastern Nigeria. The study is anchored on the socio-onomastic theory which focuses on the social, cultural and situational contexts in which names are given and used in everyday interaction. Drawing of ethnographic approach involving semi-structured interviews with twenty-five research participants, I discovered that varying linguistic strategies such as phonological adaptation, transliteration, non-euphemistic neologism, personal (and ethnic) naming, compounding, and colour terms are deployed in creating names of diseases in the Efik language. The study concludes that language influences the conception of disease as it provides vital knowledge and local understanding of health conditions behind disease names and experience of illness.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Language, health and disease
  • Theoretical framework
  • Methodology
  • Results
  • Phonological adaptation
  • Non-euphemistic strategy
  • Personal (and ethnic) names
  • Compounding
  • The use of colour terms
  • Discussion and conclusion
  • References
References (65)
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