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PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020)
Cultural Assimilation Between Indigenous People and Immigrants: A Case of Personal Naming Practice
12133
CULTURAL ASSIMILATION BETWEEN INDIGENOUS
PEOPLE AND IMMIGRANTS: A CASE OF PERSONAL
NAMING PRACTICE
AbdelrazzaqTahat1, Salasiah Che Lah2, Reema O. Abukhait3
1School of Languages, Literacies & Translation, UniversitiSains Malaysia,
11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. tarma15_hum022@student.usm.my
2School of Languages, Literacies & Translation, UniversitiSains Malaysia,
11800 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. salasiah@usm.my
3School of Educational Studies, UniversitiSains Malaysia, 11800 Pulau
Pinang, Malaysia. remaabukhait258@student.usm.my
Corresponding Author:AbdelrazzaqTahat
AbdelrazzaqTahat, Salasiah Che Lah, Reema O. Abukhait, Cultural
Assimilation Between Indigenous People and Immigrants: A Case of
Personal Naming Practice -Palarch’s Journal Of Archaeology Of
Egypt/Egyptology 17(7), ISSN 1567-214x
ABSTRACT
The political situation in the Arab World led many people to immigrate overseas. Jordan,
being at the heart of the Middle East with its political and economic stability has been
regarded as a preferred destination for many immigrants. Naturally, cultural and linguistic
interactionsare assumed to emerge for the purposes of adaptation and integration. The
apparent initial medium of contact is performed through personal names at various stages
of communication. These names are not only linguistics entities, but also a form of socio-
cultural key identification that are closely linked to peoples’ past, present, and future. The
researcher utilized a mixed-method design of a close-ended questionnaire and a semi-
structured interview. The findings indicated that Jordanians have primarily positive
attitudes towards socio-cultural integration and coexistence with other foreign cultures.
The bestowing of a foreign personal name is strongly endeavored as a sign of cultural
assimilation, and their semantic content is widely welcomed to maintain these names in
their full form.
PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020)
Cultural Assimilation Between Indigenous People and Immigrants: A Case of Personal Naming Practice
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Keywords: Anthroponymy;Cultural adaption; Dwellers;Immigrants; Name givers’
attitudes.
INTRODUCTION
Works on the migration profile in Jordan and even government reports
have mainly paid attention to matters like labor’s migrants, livelihoods
and food security, education, and residence of immigrants(De Bel-Air,
2016). It is undoubtedly that these issue are economically and practically
significant in the immigrants’ situation, but on the other way round this
research aims at highlighting a parallel important cultural practice which
is the assimilation of immigrants into a host society from a socio-cultural
and sociolinguistic perspectives. The remarkable saying of the French
nationalist party that immigrants should bestow their children a French
name to better assimilate with the host society represent the core interest
of this research. However, the necessity of studying personal names on
the one hand has no less significance than any other cultural
phenomenon. On the other hand, cultural assimilation is the highest level
for immigrants to immerse into the host society. This of course precedes
the three other levels of separation, adaption, and integration(Budyta-
Budzyńska, 2011). Recently in the 20th and 21st century, Jordan hosted
big number of immigrants from Iraq in 2003 and Syria in 2011 after the
wars’ eruption in both countries. Certainly, these waves of immigrants
resulted in a new socio-cultural context that made it a rich area for
sociologists and sociolinguists to profoundly investigate.
Personal naming practice (PNP) has previously been widely investigated
to measure immigrants’ willingness to assimilate into the host societies.
This assimilation can occur between groups of immigrants from
different backgrounds and with the native people of a new society. Many
reasons are associated with cultural change where adaption to the native
culture is badly needed by the immigrants(Carneiro, Lee, & Reis, 2020).
This significant socio-onomastic decision represents peoples’ identity
especially the one anticipated by the name givers, and it implies
powerful sociological implications in their unity; since personal names
will uphold their identity through the existence of two different cultures
(Sue & Telles, 2007).
Similarly, (Karthick & Lee, 2002) argued that immigrants whose names
are linked to their ethnic identity have unique social expectations. For
example, Spanish parents might select a personal name from their native
language regardless of the fact that they may not have any contact or live
at their place of origin. This, in turns, shows the extent to which
immigrants are protecting their ethnic identity although they might
reside for a long time in a different culture and society. Having claimed
that, immigrants might change their names or adopt new names from the
dominant culture for their children for many reasons, such as social
PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020)
Cultural Assimilation Between Indigenous People and Immigrants: A Case of Personal Naming Practice
12135
integration and economic benefits. In fact, this tendency is expected to
occur in relation to male names rather than female names because
women are rarely engaged in public jobs (Watkins, 1994).
LITERATURE REVIEW
The term culture used in sociolinguistic research bears different
meanings from the standard definition as various forms of literature or
art in people’s daily practices that reflect their thoughts, ideologies,
principles, emotions, and values. Thisalso means that cultural elements
can be distinguished from one place to another. Therefore, culture is part
of how people operate and how they behave in relation to society’s
norms. Hence,it is worthy of investigating such valuable sources of
knowledge that closely reflect both the people and their society (Swann,
Deumert, Lillis, & Mesthrie, 2004). Culture can also be defined as a
shared knowledge created by a group of speakers for the sake of
contacting, understanding, and responding to social fact around them
(Mabuza, 2009).In the same way, the notion of culture has a distinct
relationship with the concept of society, but it does not give an exactly
similar meaning or connotation. Instead, it describes the thoughts and
behaviors of the members of society (Bramwell, 2012). This relationship
between culture and society is expressed in terms of thepeople’s
perspectives and their lifestyle which are conveyed via the language of a
particular society (Riley, 2007). Moreover, culture refers to a variety of
human practices associated with people’s values and attitudes that
distinctly identify a specific society. This is a broader domain of the
definition of culture that is not merely described as literature or
depiction. More accurately, it involves language and linguistic,which
act as fundamental parts of the culture (Swann et al., 2004).
Cultural contact between immigrants and indigenous people is
evolutionary by nature not revolutionary which means for a cultural
contact to occur it normally takes time. Therefore, there should be a
place where people from different cultures meet over a period of time
needed to that contact to reveal results. These facts actually made the
population of this study worthy to be investigated as the distinctive
position of Jordan who has the highest percentage of immigrants to the
indigenous people of any country in the world(Chatelard, 2002). Not
only that, Jordan is historically described as a regional migration
crossroad. This goes back to the first wave of immigrant from Palestine
in 1984 following the Israeli - Arab war. A second movement of the
same immigrants was in 1967. However, it is important to highlight that
Palestinians moved to Jordan should not be considered as immigrants
because most of them have full citizenship (De Bel-Air, 2016). Later in
PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020)
Cultural Assimilation Between Indigenous People and Immigrants: A Case of Personal Naming Practice
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1990 specifically after the gulf war, most of the returnees to Jordan were
originally from Palestine carrying Jordanian nationality (Chatelard,
2002; De Bel-Air, 2016).
In the year 2003, after the collapse of Saddam Hussien regime, Jordan
received hundred thousands of Iraqis who are according to the latest
statistics of United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees(UNHCR)in Jordan, are ranked the second biggest number of
immigrants (their numbers are provided the methodology section).
Nevertheless, in the year 2011 after the beginning of Syrian war as
reported by the UNHCR, Syrians immigrants are ranked number one in
term of the total statistics.
Reviewing the waves of immigration from 1984-2011, one can
obviously realize the fact that Jordan over the past years is definitely a
big host country of Arab immigrants. A simple evidence can be noticed
in the astonishing increase between the last Jordan population census in
2004 and the latest one in 2015. Over eleven years between 2004 and
2011, the percentage of inward immigrants wasradically increased from
just around 7% to 31% of the total population (Jordanian population
censuses 2004 and 2011).
It is quite understandable that Jordanian society could be a valuable
resource to studies investigating immigrants and assimilation in the host
society. The naming system is a fundamental cultural principle
transferred through language to conveythe importance of personal
naming in society because culture is viewed as a dynamic process where
changes always occur such as in the case of naming(Bubu & OFFIONG,
2014). Similarly, cultural contact would leave its influence between
varied cultures. The influence of culture can be thoroughly noted in the
case of immigrants as two or more different cultural groups are
associated with each other to constitute a new social connection. The
significance of this cultural influence is ascribed to the essential
ideology of group members to demonstrate their own identity(Bubu &
OFFIONG, 2014). Personal naming is a significant cultural decision
because it represents people’s identity, especially the ones anticipated by
the name givers.This could actually be seen via the immigrants’ PNs
which havepowerful sociological implicationson their sense of unity;
since PNs will maintain their identity through the existence of two
different cultures (Sue & Telles, 2007). This actually is consistent with
(Al-Qdah & Lacroix, 2011) in a study conducted on Iraqis refugees in
Jordan where respondents show a strong desire to integrate with the host
society in different aspects of education, employment, etc. however, the
respondents’ ultimate goal was to become part of the receiving society
via building robust relations with the indigenous people while
simultaneously maintain their own identity.
For the responsibility of name’s bestowing, name giversare often parents
whose attitudes have proven to be radically influential in the name
selection process based on intrinsic sociocultural factors such as
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Cultural Assimilation Between Indigenous People and Immigrants: A Case of Personal Naming Practice
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religion, social class, and circumstances at a specific period of naming,
and cultural background (Tahat, 2019). Similarly, immigrants whose
names are of ethnic identity have unique social aspects. For example,
Spanish parents might select a PN from their native language regardless
ofthe fact that they may not have any contact or reside at their place of
origin. This, in turn, shows the extent to which immigrants are interested
in retainingtheir ethnic identity alive although they might have settledin
a different culture and society for a long time(Karthick & Lee, 2002).
Previous researchers have demonstrated that a name very often provides
an informative marker of ethnic, linguistic and cultural origin.(Kandt &
Longley, 2018) believed a name provides information on a global scale
as well as within countries. To elaborate, Meitei PNs are proven to be a
fundamental part of the Meitei language and culture. According to
(Kandt & Longley, 2018) who created a named network where it
represents the populations that provide valuable representation of the
ethnic and linguistic aspects; it is also believed that it provides an
identity for the bearer. Therefore, the link between language and culture
is a strong tie that is realized in various sociocultural products.
Names in the current research were seen as empirical evidence to define
the relation as highlighted by(Kandt & Longley, 2018)who argued that a
name representsthe identity of the bearer. Language must be studied and
analyzedin terms ofa society’s culture or group which must be
incorporated in the study and that they could not be apart from each
other (Hymes, 1986).Moreover, language and culture could not be apart
from each other, and any research on language needs to indicate
peoples’ culture. This means that the investigation of PNs must clearly
consider the effect of the population or sample’s culture from a
comprehensive sociolinguistic view. In other words, whenever
morphemes are put together to create a new word, this new word is
carefully produced in order to carry the intention transmitted by the
parents as a name-giver(Fishman, 1991).Another more prominent
interest in the linguistic of Arabic naming system can be found in a
research conducted by(Saadi, 2007) who investigated the Arabic naming
structure in Iraq and Morocco by taking into consideration the linguistic
rules of PN’s derivation of masculine and feminine names. (Saadi, 2007)
also differentiated the structure of theArab names from that of English as
can be seen inFigure 1.
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Cultural Assimilation Between Indigenous People and Immigrants: A Case of Personal Naming Practice
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Figure 1.Arabic and English naming structure based on (Saadi, 2007)
As illustrated in Figure 1, in Arabic nomenclature or name’s pattern, the
first three constituents of the name are obligatory; the first name
followed by the father’s name and grandfather’s name. While in the
English naming pattern, the full name can be introduced by the first and
last name. However, it is also common to abbreviate the father’s name in
English pattern as in the name John M. Kidney. In the Arab world, a full
name includes three or more descents of the family line. Some Arab
countries, particularly tribal-based society, prefer to maintain more than
one name of the ancestors as a form of pride that a man knows his
history. Another feature of the Arabic structure is the prefix Ibn (son)
that is added before the father’s name, and it is also common to have the
definite article Al (the) before the surname such is in Al-Tahat and Al-
Thenat. It is worth mentioning that the structure of Arabic PNs has been
influenced by foreign cultures such as Persian such as in the female
name Nima (heaven) from the Persian’s name Nimat, also
Hikmah(Palinkas et al.) from the Persian name Hikmat(Saadi, 2007).
METHODOLOGY
Researchers have recognized that the use of a mixed-methods design
(MMD) will minimize the biases produced by one particular method of
data collection (Rocco, Bliss, Gallagher, Pérez, & Prado, 2003; Saldanha
& O'Brien, 2014; Szecsy). MMD is also found to be desirable in
studying naming practices because each method can explain and inform
the other in terms of human social practices (Eckert, 2000; Saville-
Troike, 2008). Two types of immigrants are targeted namely Iraqis and
Syrians who immigrated to Jordan in the years 2003 and 2011,
respectively. The years mentioned represent the peak of political and
economic chaos particularly after war that in turn forced them to look
for an alternative safe place of residence. Due to the difference in
financial situation for both immigrants, Iraqis have mostly settled in the
cities and majority of Syrians decided to head for villages and towns for
the living cost there is quite reasonable.
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According to the UNHCR, Syrians constitutes the highest number of
immigrants with 655,831 followed by Iraqis with a number of 160,000
(Achilli, 2015). Although there are other immigrants in Jordan from
different nationalities, they are markedly lower than both Syrians and
Iraqis; thus, the target of this paper is geared toward the immigrants
from the latter two countries.
However, the greater municipality of Irbid which includes the city of
Irbid and many other districts of villages and town is a rich source for
this research as it is close to the immigrants’ original location in order
for them to return easily whenever possible besides expectations of work
opportunities which is not only applicable to Irbid but to Jordan as a
whole. One more important reason attributed to the number of
immigrants in Irbid particularly Syrian with 15% of the total number
which comes directly after Alza’tari camp. It is worth to mention that,
Alza’tari camp was not selected because it is not easy to be accessed and
requires complicated permissions. The present research adoptedthe
explanatory sequential design (ESD) which typically involves, as the
name implies, two phases:
1. An initial quantitative step, followed by
2. A qualitative step with a semi-structured interview built directly from
the initial results collected from the quantitative instrument design. The
questionnaire was distributed over 250 respondents based on stratified
random sampling techniques. One indicator, naming from other cultures,
which includes 8 items is adapted from (Bramwell, 2012) study to
measure the influence of various cultures and traditions of immigrants in
the same society on the way name’s givers choose personal names. The
questionnaire was distributed with assistance from friends to initiate
access with respondents to cooperate in identifying the researcher to the
respondents. This kind of introduction by friends “crucial in allowing
access, as without it people could be unwilling to participate” (9, p. 72).
The period of data collection took around one month due to the
dispersed of the sample between villages and towns particularly in rural
areas, traveling from one place to another, and other logistic
requirements. Directly after the questionnaires’ distribution was
completed, the data were analysed using SPSS statistical package, and
the results were obtained to stand on the construction of the qualitative
phase following the ESD adopted in this study. Next, five participants
were interviewed based on the same sampling techniques. Each
interview session was completed within 30-45 minutes and conducted in
Arabic language as the native language of all respondents. The themes
of the interview were obtained from the analysis of the questionnaire
which is the main objective of using a sequential MMD. On the one
hand,the themes extracted constitute the basic axis of the main items
used in the questionnaire and require more elaboration. On the other
hand, the reflection of the mutual interaction pertaining the personal
PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020)
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naming practice between immigrants and host society’s members
revolved around the themes ofcultural assimilation, name’s semantic
content, and the adopting of more than one name as have been discussed
in (Bramwell, 2012; Carneiro et al., 2020; Domínguez & Maya-Jariego,
2008).
RESULTS
The Questionnaire
Table 1.Means and standard deviation of naming from other cultures.
Level
Rank
Standard
Deviation(SD)
Mean(M)
Item
N
High
1
0.96
3.86
Mixing with people from other
cultures familiarized me with
personal names in their
hometowns.
2
High
2
0.99
3.85
It is acceptable in my society to
give children names from other
cultures.
3
High
2
0.92
3.85
I am thoroughly familiar with
names from other cultures.
1
High
4
1.15
3.78
The negative meaning of
personal names affects the name
bearer’s contact with members
of the society.
8
High
5
1.21
3.73
It is usual in my culture to be
called by a name other than the
personal one.
6
High
6
0.99
3.70
Knowing the meaning of your
name is a cultural expectation in
your society.
5
Moderate
7
1.50
3.09
Naming after ancestors is a
prominent cultural marker in my
society.
7
Moderate
8
1.26
2.94
It is preferable to change or
shorten foreign names in official
places such as in schools and
colleges.
4
Table 1 explains the mean values and standard deviation for items that
measure theparents’ attitudes towards naming from other cultures. The
mean values ranged between 2.94 to3.86, with the standard deviation
ranging from 0.92 to 1.50. Items 2, 3, and 1 are nearly similar to the high
mean values of 3.86, 3.85, and 3.85, respectively. Respondents who
show high interests and knowledge about names from other cultures and
how interacting with them provide a source of information about their
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hometowns. Thus, the statement, “Mixing with people from other
cultures familiarized me with personal names in their hometowns” is the
highest with a mean value of 3.86 and a standard deviation of 0.96.
In this context, naming children with names from other cultures refers to
mixing with people from foreign countries who had settled in Jordan.
The understandingthat cultural interaction has a positive influence on the
respondents’ decisions of bestowing their children’s personal names. It
follows that those who appreciatethe popularity of a foreign culture’s
influence and those who are interested in familiarizing themselves with
what a given personal name means in other cultures, how it is given, and
what might lie behind the name. Consequently, the knowledge obtained
from the personal names would typically introduce some prominent
cultural norms which are different from the indigenous culture. Not only
that, but it could also be the most accessible means of cultural
identification and exchange because personal names are the initial
linguistic utterances that are loaded with people’s thoughts, traditions
and orientations.
Item 8 which states that “The negative meaning of personal names
affects the name bearer’s contact with members of the society”, shows a
high tendency to the study the respondents with a mean value of 3.78
and standard deviation of 1.15. Negative meaning personal names taken
from other cultures or even within the society’s own cultural practices
somehow cause a social contact burden to the name holder.
Item 6 states that “It is usual in my culture to be called by a name other
than the personal one”. The respondents show strong desire to be called
by names different from their official personal names with a mean value
of 3.73 and standard deviation of 1.21. This finding, on the one hand,
demonstrates that it is favorable in the respondents’ cultural naming
practice to adopt names from other societies particularly among Arab
personal names such as those mentioned earlier in this construct.
Moreover, it is quite common in the Irbid societies and maybe in other
provinces in Jordan that an individual has two personal names, rarely
more than two, one as the official name registered in the civil status
department and is written on all the official documents as well. The
other name is the unofficial name and used significantly in social contact
with friends, relatives, members of the family, but uncommon in work
environment as people normally know each other from their official
recruiting documents.
Item 5 represents one of the fundamental goals of personal naming
which is the name-giver’s intention to convey a message to the entire
society (Mandende, 2009). The meaning that a given personal name
carries has something to do with identifying the name holder; as a result,
the meaning is actually a valuable marker that overpasses the claim that
personal names act as pointers to differentiate one from another. In
Jordanian society, the meaning of a personal name is associating with
people’s culture and the expectation of being familiar with their meaning
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is highly agreed cultural practice showed in item (Karthick & Lee, 2002)
“Knowing the meaning of your name is a cultural expectation in your
society”has a mean value of 3.70 and standard deviation of 0.99.
Finally, items 7 and 4 have moderate mean values of 3.09, 2.94 and the
standard deviation 1.50, 1.26, respectively. Item 7 states that “Naming
after ancestors is a prominent cultural marker in my society”. Generally
speaking, a child is given a name after ancestors with the intention of
reminding members of the same social network that once there lived
someone who was part of the family and the society. In so doing, not
only will the name be given a rebirth, but the identity and attributes of
the ancestor will be perpetuated as well.The child is also expected to
imitate the deceased’s characteristics (Sumbwa, 1997). The moderate
tendency of respondents to naming after their ancestors can still have a
positive orientation to the naming practice, but there is less interest to do
so. One of the reasons for this declination of naming after ancestors
maybe because some ancestors’ names seem to be old and less
fashionable; so parents would like to maintain the names that correspond
to modern names. Another point is the difficulty of pronouncing such
names which will have a potential impact on the name’s bearer contact
with others and causes a sense of irony and embarrassment. However,
the reasons for naming after ancestors can still have common
interpretations such as realizing the particular features are shared
between the child and the deceased person. Also, name givers prefer to
bestow names after successful ancestors with the hope that their children
would follow suit. The last is item 4 which states that “It is preferable to
change or shorten foreign names in official places such as in schools and
colleges”. The respondents show dissatisfaction for the shortening of
foreign names in the official settings with the lowest mean value of 2.94
and standard deviation 1.26.
The Interview
Initially, the themes for the interview were captured from the
questionnaires’ results which in doing so, the two research instruments
will be integrated, in what is called the development integration stage
according to(McCrudden & McTigue, 2019). Table 2 poses the
following interview questions.
Table 2.Themes and questions at the integration level of ESD
Theme
Question
Cultural
assimilation
To what extent do you think that adapting foreign names is a cultural
assimilation marker
Semantic content
In what way is the meaning of a personal name influence the name
holder?
Number of names
Why do some people have more than one name? How is this
interpreted?
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Table 2 shows the themes that emerge from the quantitative data
analysis of the Likert-Scale questionnaire aimed at measuring the
naming practices from other cultures, and opposite to each theme is an
interview question intended to elaborate what, why, and how such
emerging topics are interpreted. Three themes were determined to reflect
the core aspects of the naming practice as a socio-cultural marker as
follows: theme number one is the degree of people’s aptitudes to indulge
themselves in knowing, practicing, and adapting personal names that
were initially given and used by foreign name givers. Thus, there is an
expectation that the participants’ social and cultural capacity will be
obtained. For theme number 2, the researcher investigates the actual
social impact of name meaning on the name’s bearer from people’s own
views and experiences.
The last theme deals with the issue involving some cases where the
persons have more than one name would like to find out the significance
of this PNP in the name holder’s social life. In line with the
questionnaire’s results, the participants are highly motivated to engage
and contact with people from other countries through acknowledging
and equipping themselves with facts about their naming practice. They
also express their interests and appreciation to name their children after
personal names given to those outside their cultural context. The
following quotations are stated under the first question of the theme
identified as cultural assimilation. Subsequent themes are also answered,
respectively.
Question 1To what extent do you think that adopting foreign names is a
cultural assimilation marker?
“I think we are lucky here in the province of Irbid to share close borders
with two countries, Syria to the north and Palestine to the west. This
gives us the opportunity to contact more with their people. Personally, I
have named my daughter and one of my sons after personal names
popular in Palestine, particularly in Nablus city. I feel so interested in
telling others in my surroundings about how I had chosen names for two
of my children”.
“Naming after some Arab brothers’ personal names is quite important to
eliminate barriers in communication and create more intimacy. I still
remember the first thing my Syrian friend said when he got to know my
son’s name hemmm, smiling, this is very common Syrian name,and he
asked me whether I am aware of that? In reality I also felt enthusiastic to
reply, sure brother I have been to Syria so many times and liked to name
my son after your names”.
I know the meaning of some foreign names and also like to read about
names from other cultures. I feel this is not enough unless I really name
at least one of my children from the knowledge I got about these names.
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Question 2 In what way does the meaning of a personal name influence
the name holder?
“People who carry a negative name meaning are indeed in trouble. I
work as a sale’s man. One time, a customer came, and I friendly asked
what his name was. He was completely embarrassed to tell me in front
of other people, yet I regretted that I asked, I just said ok. He later told
me that his nameprovoked irony and hepreferred not to tell anyone
whenever possible. So imagine how bad this is”.
“Maybe at school-age, a negative name could greatly influence one’s
academic achievement as long as the name holder do not avoid others
because of the negative meaning of his name”.
“Parents are responsible for choosing a meaningful name for their
children.Besides, there is a religious reason for doing so.Based on my
own experience, a negative connotation ofsomeone’s name canbe an
obstacle if seen from different perspectives; in daily life communication,
at the workplace, and most often when meeting people for the first
time”.
Question 3 Why do some people have more than one name?
This is how the question is interpreted.
“Maybe one does not like the name given to him/her by his/her parents
and feels a preference to be called with another name. Usually a person
will introduce himself to others using their preferred name until it
becomes known by all”.
“I can say that a person might have some characteristics of social taste
like being braveand generous.Thus, he would like to be called with a
name more that is more reflexive of his behavior. Sometimes, after a
child grows old he/she would look like someone in the family such as
the grandparents or uncles and aunts and because of that, others will start
to call him by the name of that person. I think they feel passionate
connecting with someone’s names with the traits he resembles.”
DISCUSSION
This section presents a discussion of the study findings. For ease of
reference, the findings were organized according to the order of the
themes discussed earlier. That is to say, the results with regard to a)
cultural assimilation b) semantic content, and c) the number of names.
The findings showed that the influence of other cultures on the
knowledge and linguistic practice of the indigenous citizens had been
widely accepted by the participants whowere willing and motivated to
know and give personal names from other cultures (e.g., In reality I was
also enthusiastic to reply, ‘Sure brother I have been to Syria so many
times and liked to name my son after your names’). This emphasized
that PNP is a bridge connecting diverse cultures;it reflected that
Jordanians are obviously showing high aptitudes to socio-culturally
integration with others. Actually this finding is consistent with various
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works (Akinyemi, 2005; Baker & Edwards, 2012; Gerhards &
Hackenbroch, 2000; Ngubane & Thabethe, 2013; Yangwen &
MacDonald, 2009).
For the semantic content of PNs, (Mehrabian, 2001) concluded that the
negative connotations expressed by one’s personal names led others to
underestimate or stigmatize the name’s holder.One’s personal name
could be a major factor in the success or failure, the personality
development, the establishment of relations, and the acquisition of
friends. According to (Erwin & Calev, 1984) personal names are the
initiating stage that would significantly affect personals’ behaviors and
whether an interaction is preferred or discontinued. This actually asserts
the importance and influence personal names play in a social contact.
Therefore, negative personal names are sometimes used as a mean to
drive name’s holder anger especially in social settings. An example is
taken from Omani Arab personal names used in a family domain as way
of nagging i.e. looking for someone’s faults where negative personal
names are usually used to underestimate the name’s holder justifying
that he/she does not deserve to be called with a specific name (Al
Aghbari, 2010).In the same way, the meaning of a personal name has
social and cultural indications for individuals and the society as a whole;
people would expect the name holder to make positive reflections to
his/her name (Agyekum, 2006). Correspondingly, this is applicable to
the expectations made about names from other cultures.Hence, it is
probable that they can negatively or positively influence the social
interaction that the name holders have with others.
In line with the above-mentioned studies on the significance of PNs
meaning in terms of socio-cultural and communication context, the
study’s findings showedhigh positive attitudes of the respondents to
consider meaning as a cultural norm in their society, and for the
influence a negative personal names have on people in different
situations (e.g.,Persons who carry negative name meanings are indeed in
trouble; a negative name could greatly influence his/her academic
achievement as long as the name-holder does not interact with others
because of his negative name’s meaning).
The final theme identified was the multi-name assigned to a name
holder; the findings found that PNP mostly involves a psychological
interpretation where aspects of personal attributes and self-satisfaction
demonstrated a fundamental incentive to have more than one personal
name. This resultwasactually found to be familiar and widely adopted in
some societies. It also has different reasonings and interpretationsof the
context of usage (Aceto, 2002; Agyekum, 2006; Hobson, 1989; Koul,
1995; Mandende, 2009). Such prominent justifications for having or
being called by a name instead of a personal name given at birth are
listed below:
• Some societies practice the giving of secret names to children
besides their official personal names such as in Indian society.
PJAEE, 17 (7) (2020)
Cultural Assimilation Between Indigenous People and Immigrants: A Case of Personal Naming Practice
12146
• Ethnic and religious purposes such as in the case of Africans being
forced to adopt to the so-called European names.
• The complication of pronouncing the first name or due to the
negative connotation of the name.
• Showing preference to a particular nation or ethnicity
• Context and circumstances involving where a name holder lives and
the nature of his/her relationships with other individuals within a society
that leads to the use of second or more names.
This finding illustrated the degree to which indigenous people accept
personal names from other cultures and feel satisfied to be called by
these names because they make insignificant change to the name’s form
and connotation. This could also express the openness of the
respondents’ society when mixing with other cultures is highly
preferable.
CONCLUSION
Jordan over the last two decades hosted many waves of Arab immigrants
particularly from Iraq and Syria who sought safety and starting a new
life due to the political situation of Iraqi war in 2003 and Syrian war in
2011. Cultural assimilation is the starting point for immigrants to
integrate with the host society especially when the return to home
country is so far have taken no clear-cut basis. However, this study is
socio-cultural and sociolinguistic in nature i.e. it tackles both the cultural
interaction of immigrants through the personal naming practice as
personal names are part of language and lexical repertoire of name’s
givers. Indeed, personal names are found to be an access key of
immigrants to indulge into the host society. It is found that respondents
have gained a sufficient level of the assimilation into the Jordanian
society and conveyed a fundamental interest in the meaning of local and
foreign PNs which demonstrated the significance of these names in the
social practice of people’s daily lexicon. Interestingly, the bestowing of
PNs is found to have been connected to the psychological attributes of
thename holder where some were given a second name either directly
after birth or sometimes at later stages of one’s life. The second name
given is attached to some factors such as the genetic characteristics of a
newborn baby, the person’s self-acceptance as one might feel a name
given to him/her is not up to level of actual self-estimation, other factors
could be ascribed to the matter of admiring a name and the desire to
follow someone by copying his/her name.
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