The Significance Of Oshiwambo Combat Names For The People’s Liberation Army Of Namibia (Plan) Fighters During The Armed Liberation Struggle Of Namibia (1966-1989)

ABSTRACT

The study is based on the anthroponomastics approach and investigated the significance of Oshiwambo combat names for the People Liberation Army of Namibia (PLAN) freedom fighters during the armed liberation struggle for Namibia’s independence. There is no comprehensive study that focused on the origin and significance of Oshiwambo combat names, hence, this study was conducted to investigate the significance, origin and meanings of Oshiwambo combat names for the former PLAN combatants. In addition, the study investigated the motive behind these names and the role they played during the Namibian liberation struggle. The study adopted two theories. The first theory is that of Brunner and Kellner (1989) which deals with the liberation from all forms of oppression, animated by commitment of freedom, happiness and a rational ordering of society. This theory enabled the analysis of techniques of persuasion and communication behind names and how they reinforced the evolutionary mood, providing motivation and boosting their morale in the struggle towards independence. The second theory is Frege and Russel’s (1975) descriptive theory of reference, which postulates that the meaning or semantic content of proper names is identical to the descriptions associated with it by the speaker. This theory helped in understanding the meaning of a name and to understand that the association between a name and its associated description is established by the speaker of a language of a certain speech community. The study employed the qualitative design which helped the researcher to analyze the combat names provided by the former PLAN combatants. Both purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select the sample of hundred names. The names were presented and analyzed into different categories. The study revealed that the former PLAN combatants named themselves and their names played a significant role during the liberation struggle. Also, the names helped to conceal their identities and protected them

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from enemy agents or informers. The combat names inspired and encouraged them in many ways, for instance, to face war challenges such as hunger, thirst and working long distances. The study contributes to the onomastics understanding, and it provides a large corpus of combat names that could be used for further research. Suggestions for further research are made based on the female combat names which are few.