MORPHOSEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF ANTHROPONYMS IN MAXI AREA IN BENIN

Endogenous personal names among the Maxi-which have not received particular attention from previous researchers-are dying out under the influence of conversion to imported religions, whose names are being adopted instead.We may therefore consider the morphosemantic content of these Maxi anthroponyms. This article analyzes the morphosemantics of Maxi personal names, as defined by T.Y. Tchitchi (1979) and S-M. Kinhou(2016). The 78 Maxi names were collected between February and March 2026 in six villages within the commune of Savalou, using questionnaires administered to sixty (60) informants, fifty (50) of whom also participated in interviews.The data were transcribed according to French orthographic conventions and the Beninese and international phonetic systems. Maxi personal names which are primarily formed as compounds or derivatives-were classified into eleven (11) types.Compound and derivative names result from the combination of constituents belonging to various-or even the same-classes:nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, determiners, modifiers, affixes, and auxiliaries. Each anthroponym is generated by an utterance with historical and sociocultural significance.