Allen Asiimwe holds a PhD in African Languages from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She is a Lecturer in the department of African Languages Makerere University. Her teaching interests are in the morphology and syntax of Runyakitara languages, specifically how morphology influences the structure and meaning of sentences. Her research Interests generally cover the documentation and analysis of Runyakitara languages and cultures which are currently under studied. Her research contributes to the preservation of indigenous linguistic and cultural knowledge as well as cultural realms
There are interesting facets to study about personal names in the African context including their culturally-motivated interpretations, religious renditions, the emotions name-givers store and commutate through names, their complex linguistic structures, their gendered tones among other aspects. Yet, onomastic studies in the Ugandan context are extremely rare. Through ethnography, the study aims to document and analyse personal names among the Bakiga of western Uganda to explicate how culture and religion impact on naming patterns in this society. The study will further examine the contribution grammar makes to the semantics of names especially in invoking gendered connotations that seem stereotyped. The study will demonstrate how interpretations of names determine their linguistic structures and how religion has contributed to new trends in naming patterns. The two major goals are: to provide an extensive encyclopaedia on Rukiga personal names useful to scholars in linguistics, gender, and anthropology, and to contribute to the debate on African onomastics from an interdisciplinary perspective.
