Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru

Eusebia Michael Temba; Nestory Ligembe; Lea Mpobela

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13

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Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru

Eusebia Michael Temba, Nestory Ligembe, Lea Mpobela^*

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 13, Issue 3)

Received: 24 March 2025 Accepted: 1 April 2025 Published: 12 June 2025

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Abstract

Place names have been studied mainly under linguistic field by several scholars who argue that place names have meaning though they differ in the way they are formed in each society. This study sought to scrutinize socio-semantic analysis of place names in Chagga-Uru, specifically, to identify place names found in Chagga-Uru, to examine the meanings of those place names and lastly to find out how Chagga-Uru place names relate to their socio-cultural background. The study employed qualitative method guided by causal theory of names and referential theory of meaning. The study employed explanatory research design with data collected using unstructured interviews and focus group discussions where 24 native speakers were consulted. Chagga-Uru place names are either villages, hamlets, names of farms, names of streams of water, names of ritual performing places and names of meeting places. The findings also show that Chagga-Uru place names have meanings derived from several aspects such as names of people, clan names, mountains, hills, economic activities, water sources, traditional food, wars, trees, farms and beliefs. Furthermore, the findings revealed that some place names describe the culture of the society such as traditions, norms and beliefs in natural power. We recommend that other studies should be conducted on place names in different Bantu and non Bantu languages focusing on linguistic fields such as morpho-semantics, sociolinguistics, mopho-syntax and phonology.

Published in	International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 13, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13
Page(s)	137-146
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Chagga-Uru, Place Name, Meaning, Socio-cultural Background, Morpho-semantics

References

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APA Style

Temba, E. M., Ligembe, N., Mpobela, L. (2025). Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 13(3), 137-146. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13

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Temba, E. M.; Ligembe, N.; Mpobela, L. Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2025, 13(3), 137-146. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13

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AMA Style

Temba EM, Ligembe N, Mpobela L. Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru. Int J Lang Linguist. 2025;13(3):137-146. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13,
  author = {Eusebia Michael Temba and Nestory Ligembe and Lea Mpobela},
  title = {Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru
},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {13},
  number = {3},
  pages = {137-146},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20251303.13},
  abstract = {Place names have been studied mainly under linguistic field by several scholars who argue that place names have meaning though they differ in the way they are formed in each society. This study sought to scrutinize socio-semantic analysis of place names in Chagga-Uru, specifically, to identify place names found in Chagga-Uru, to examine the meanings of those place names and lastly to find out how Chagga-Uru place names relate to their socio-cultural background. The study employed qualitative method guided by causal theory of names and referential theory of meaning. The study employed explanatory research design with data collected using unstructured interviews and focus group discussions where 24 native speakers were consulted. Chagga-Uru place names are either villages, hamlets, names of farms, names of streams of water, names of ritual performing places and names of meeting places. The findings also show that Chagga-Uru place names have meanings derived from several aspects such as names of people, clan names, mountains, hills, economic activities, water sources, traditional food, wars, trees, farms and beliefs. Furthermore, the findings revealed that some place names describe the culture of the society such as traditions, norms and beliefs in natural power. We recommend that other studies should be conducted on place names in different Bantu and non Bantu languages focusing on linguistic fields such as morpho-semantics, sociolinguistics, mopho-syntax and phonology.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru

AU  - Eusebia Michael Temba
AU  - Nestory Ligembe
AU  - Lea Mpobela
Y1  - 2025/06/12
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 137
EP  - 146
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13
AB  - Place names have been studied mainly under linguistic field by several scholars who argue that place names have meaning though they differ in the way they are formed in each society. This study sought to scrutinize socio-semantic analysis of place names in Chagga-Uru, specifically, to identify place names found in Chagga-Uru, to examine the meanings of those place names and lastly to find out how Chagga-Uru place names relate to their socio-cultural background. The study employed qualitative method guided by causal theory of names and referential theory of meaning. The study employed explanatory research design with data collected using unstructured interviews and focus group discussions where 24 native speakers were consulted. Chagga-Uru place names are either villages, hamlets, names of farms, names of streams of water, names of ritual performing places and names of meeting places. The findings also show that Chagga-Uru place names have meanings derived from several aspects such as names of people, clan names, mountains, hills, economic activities, water sources, traditional food, wars, trees, farms and beliefs. Furthermore, the findings revealed that some place names describe the culture of the society such as traditions, norms and beliefs in natural power. We recommend that other studies should be conducted on place names in different Bantu and non Bantu languages focusing on linguistic fields such as morpho-semantics, sociolinguistics, mopho-syntax and phonology.

VL  - 13
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Eusebia Michael Temba

Department of Languages and Linguistics, School of Education, St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza, Tanzania

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Nestory Ligembe

Department of Languages and Linguistics, School of Education, St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza, Tanzania

Contact Email
Lea Mpobela

Department of Languages and Linguistics, School of Education, St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza, Tanzania

Contact Email

http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3695-1110

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APA Style

Temba, E. M., Ligembe, N., Mpobela, L. (2025). Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 13(3), 137-146. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13

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ACS Style

Temba, E. M.; Ligembe, N.; Mpobela, L. Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2025, 13(3), 137-146. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13

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AMA Style

Temba EM, Ligembe N, Mpobela L. Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru. Int J Lang Linguist. 2025;13(3):137-146. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13

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@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13,
  author = {Eusebia Michael Temba and Nestory Ligembe and Lea Mpobela},
  title = {Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru
},
  journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
  volume = {13},
  number = {3},
  pages = {137-146},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20251303.13},
  abstract = {Place names have been studied mainly under linguistic field by several scholars who argue that place names have meaning though they differ in the way they are formed in each society. This study sought to scrutinize socio-semantic analysis of place names in Chagga-Uru, specifically, to identify place names found in Chagga-Uru, to examine the meanings of those place names and lastly to find out how Chagga-Uru place names relate to their socio-cultural background. The study employed qualitative method guided by causal theory of names and referential theory of meaning. The study employed explanatory research design with data collected using unstructured interviews and focus group discussions where 24 native speakers were consulted. Chagga-Uru place names are either villages, hamlets, names of farms, names of streams of water, names of ritual performing places and names of meeting places. The findings also show that Chagga-Uru place names have meanings derived from several aspects such as names of people, clan names, mountains, hills, economic activities, water sources, traditional food, wars, trees, farms and beliefs. Furthermore, the findings revealed that some place names describe the culture of the society such as traditions, norms and beliefs in natural power. We recommend that other studies should be conducted on place names in different Bantu and non Bantu languages focusing on linguistic fields such as morpho-semantics, sociolinguistics, mopho-syntax and phonology.
},
 year = {2025}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Socio-Semantic Analysis of Place Names in Chagga-Uru

AU  - Eusebia Michael Temba
AU  - Nestory Ligembe
AU  - Lea Mpobela
Y1  - 2025/06/12
PY  - 2025
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13
T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JF  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
SP  - 137
EP  - 146
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2330-0221
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.13
AB  - Place names have been studied mainly under linguistic field by several scholars who argue that place names have meaning though they differ in the way they are formed in each society. This study sought to scrutinize socio-semantic analysis of place names in Chagga-Uru, specifically, to identify place names found in Chagga-Uru, to examine the meanings of those place names and lastly to find out how Chagga-Uru place names relate to their socio-cultural background. The study employed qualitative method guided by causal theory of names and referential theory of meaning. The study employed explanatory research design with data collected using unstructured interviews and focus group discussions where 24 native speakers were consulted. Chagga-Uru place names are either villages, hamlets, names of farms, names of streams of water, names of ritual performing places and names of meeting places. The findings also show that Chagga-Uru place names have meanings derived from several aspects such as names of people, clan names, mountains, hills, economic activities, water sources, traditional food, wars, trees, farms and beliefs. Furthermore, the findings revealed that some place names describe the culture of the society such as traditions, norms and beliefs in natural power. We recommend that other studies should be conducted on place names in different Bantu and non Bantu languages focusing on linguistic fields such as morpho-semantics, sociolinguistics, mopho-syntax and phonology.

VL  - 13
IS  - 3
ER  -

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