“Say Not Her Name!” The Socio-Cultural Significance of Personal Name Avoidance Strategies for Shona Married Women

Abstract

Shona culture discourages people from addressing married women using their personal names. The article uses the socio-onomastic approach to discuss the socio-cultural significance of this personal name avoidance practice. Extant literature has looked at the general address system for different addressees in private and public settings. A study of honorific discourses that thrive on name avoidance for specific addressees is yet to be done among the Shona. This study gathered data using observation and semi-structured interviews with a sample of 100 participants. It established that clan praise names, kinship terms, and teknonyms are the personal name avoidance strategies used.

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