Personal Names Derived from Quranic Arabic Words: The Phenomenon of “Bad” Names among Siompu Islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia

This study investigates the meanings of Arabic personal names (PNs) of the Quran words origin among Siompu islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It focuses on the phenomenon of “bad” names, i.e., names derived from Arabic words and wordgroups with negative meanings. The initial corpus of schoolc...

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Main Author: La Dunifa
Format: Article
Language:Russian
Published: Izdatelstvo Uralskogo Universiteta 2024-12-01
Series:Вопросы ономастики
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Online Access:https://onomastics.ru/en/content/2024-volume-21-issue-3-11
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author La Dunifa
author_facet La Dunifa
author_sort La Dunifa
collection DOAJ
description This study investigates the meanings of Arabic personal names (PNs) of the Quran words origin among Siompu islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It focuses on the phenomenon of “bad” names, i.e., names derived from Arabic words and wordgroups with negative meanings. The initial corpus of schoolchildren’s personal names (n = 2,662) was examined. Among 1,173 of the Arabic names, 324 (28%) were found to be “bad” names. Some “bad” names are one-word forms (e.g., Jahilun ‘The fool,’ Majnun ‘A madman,’ Khatiun ‘The sinner,’ etc.), while others are two-word formations (e.g., Jabaran Syaqiya ‘Arrogant and unblest,’ Qiratadan Khasirin ‘Despised and hated ape,’ Afakin Asim ‘A sinful liar,’ etc.). Some two-word “bad” names are phrasemes taken from a single Quranic verse, while others are combinations of words from different verses. This trend spread along with the Islamization of the island, the phenomenon being particularly interesting because such names are generally forbidden in Islam. In Siompu, however, giving “bad” names is not intentional as it is in some other cultures, but rather due to the name-givers’ inability to comprehend the meanings of the Arabic words, their lack of knowledge of religious norms, and their misunderstanding of the sacred text used as the source of names. The choice between one-word or two-word names is also based solely on the name-givers’ preferences; no underlying rationale was found during the research. The article provides statistical data and discusses the phenomenon of “bad” names in both regional and broader typological contexts.
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institution Kabale University
issn 1994-2400
1994-2451
language Russian
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series Вопросы ономастики
spelling doaj-art-1b444e36f7964ce8a345e0ac26c2af5e2024-12-27T12:53:59ZrusIzdatelstvo Uralskogo UniversitetaВопросы ономастики1994-24001994-24512024-12-0121323724910.15826/vopr_onom.2024.21.3.040Personal Names Derived from Quranic Arabic Words: The Phenomenon of “Bad” Names among Siompu Islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, IndonesiaLa Dunifa0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7116-9178Dayanu Ikhsanuddin University, Baubau, IndonesiaThis study investigates the meanings of Arabic personal names (PNs) of the Quran words origin among Siompu islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia. It focuses on the phenomenon of “bad” names, i.e., names derived from Arabic words and wordgroups with negative meanings. The initial corpus of schoolchildren’s personal names (n = 2,662) was examined. Among 1,173 of the Arabic names, 324 (28%) were found to be “bad” names. Some “bad” names are one-word forms (e.g., Jahilun ‘The fool,’ Majnun ‘A madman,’ Khatiun ‘The sinner,’ etc.), while others are two-word formations (e.g., Jabaran Syaqiya ‘Arrogant and unblest,’ Qiratadan Khasirin ‘Despised and hated ape,’ Afakin Asim ‘A sinful liar,’ etc.). Some two-word “bad” names are phrasemes taken from a single Quranic verse, while others are combinations of words from different verses. This trend spread along with the Islamization of the island, the phenomenon being particularly interesting because such names are generally forbidden in Islam. In Siompu, however, giving “bad” names is not intentional as it is in some other cultures, but rather due to the name-givers’ inability to comprehend the meanings of the Arabic words, their lack of knowledge of religious norms, and their misunderstanding of the sacred text used as the source of names. The choice between one-word or two-word names is also based solely on the name-givers’ preferences; no underlying rationale was found during the research. The article provides statistical data and discusses the phenomenon of “bad” names in both regional and broader typological contexts.https://onomastics.ru/en/content/2024-volume-21-issue-3-11anthroponymynames with negative connotationspersonal namesquranic arabicsemanticssiompu islandsulawesithe quran
spellingShingle La Dunifa
Personal Names Derived from Quranic Arabic Words: The Phenomenon of “Bad” Names among Siompu Islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
Вопросы ономастики
anthroponymy
names with negative connotations
personal names
quranic arabic
semantics
siompu island
sulawesi
the quran
title Personal Names Derived from Quranic Arabic Words: The Phenomenon of “Bad” Names among Siompu Islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
title_full Personal Names Derived from Quranic Arabic Words: The Phenomenon of “Bad” Names among Siompu Islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
title_fullStr Personal Names Derived from Quranic Arabic Words: The Phenomenon of “Bad” Names among Siompu Islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
title_full_unstemmed Personal Names Derived from Quranic Arabic Words: The Phenomenon of “Bad” Names among Siompu Islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
title_short Personal Names Derived from Quranic Arabic Words: The Phenomenon of “Bad” Names among Siompu Islanders, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia
title_sort personal names derived from quranic arabic words the phenomenon of bad names among siompu islanders southeast sulawesi indonesia
topic anthroponymy
names with negative connotations
personal names
quranic arabic
semantics
siompu island
sulawesi
the quran
url https://onomastics.ru/en/content/2024-volume-21-issue-3-11
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