A Sociolinguistic Analysis of Cloth Names among the Ga and Dangme People of Ghana

Abstract

Varied ways are used for communication which may either be verbal or non-verbal. Non-verbal occurs in different forms and one is kinesics which includes gestures, facial expression, touching, eye contact and mode of dressing. The paper focuses on the aspect of dressing by examining traditional cloth worn among the Ga and Dangme people. It investigates the cloth types and their name source. It further examines the choice of cloth worn among Dangme and Ga in relation to function or ceremony. Additionally, it did a brief morphosyntactic analysis of the cloth names.  The paper employed the visual semiotic theoretical framework by de Saussure. The data were gathered from sellers of cloth in the Accra Business Centre and some markets in the Dangme speaking areas through photography, semi-structured interviews, observation and notetaking. The data was then subjected to a sociolinguistic analysis.  It was revealed in the paper that the sources of the name were from events, occasions, requested names and names derived from the motifs. The paper revealed morphosyntactically that the names of cloth are derived from phrases, sentences, personal names, wise sayings, proverbs and others. The names are mostly misspelled because they are not written by experts of the language. Furthermore, the colour of the cloth also determines the event to which one can wear it. Insinuations, the act of thanksgiving and congratulatory messages are some of the information relayed to the public upon usage. Lastly, the paper shows that in contemporary times, most relatively young people do not have much ideas about names of cloths and how they impact their usage.