Onomastics in Zimbabwean Sign Language: Unpacking the Signs for City Names

This study explains how Zimbabwean city names are formed and constructed in Zimbabwean Sign Language (ZSL) by the Deaf community. Data was collected through general lexical elicitation and semi-structured interviews with 10 profoundly deaf individuals: five students at Emerald Hill School of the Deaf and five adults at Copa-Cabana Bus Terminus in Harare, selected via purposive sampling. The primary goal of this research is to contribute to a less explored area of Sign Language (SL) linguistics: toponyms (place names). We provide a detailed description of ZSL toponyms, explicating their linguistic structure and the underlying cultural logic that reflects their social environment of origin and use. By comparing spoken and signed languages—even within the relatively small domain of toponyms—this study highlights interesting parallels and significant differences between the two modalities. A secondary objective is language documentation. Recognising languages as a significant part of humanity’s heritage, their documentation is crucial. Existing ZSL dictionaries and materials (e.g., Volume 1, Volume 2, and the King George VI Centre and School ZSL dictionary) largely omit most Zimbabwean place names. Therefore, working directly with Deaf signers in Zimbabwe was essential to document their signs for local place names. This research includes photographic documentation of ZSL toponyms. This vocabulary list will be valuable for Deaf individuals, educators, SL interpreters working in schools, universities, and businesses in Zimbabwe, as well as for hearing people interacting with the Deaf community. The findings reveal various methods for signing Zimbabwean cities, categorising them into four types: (1) arbitrary (initialised) name signs, (2) descriptive name signs, (3) initialised descriptive name signs, and (4) loan/borrowed name signs. This study offers immediate and insightful contributions to the understanding of cultural and linguistic diversity.