Pharmacological Onomastics: The Case of Herbal Drugs in Ghana

Abstract

The study is an exploration of the naming system in herbal medicines within the linguistic landscape in Ghana. Brand names are more than just labels. A lot of considerations go into choosing a name for a product brand. This study takes a walk into the world of pharmaceutical onomastics with 105 herbal medicines taken from the Ghanaian market. We examine the names from the perspectives of pharmacology, branding, and the interplay of marketing, socio-cultural as well as linguistic factors. The analysis revealed, first, that most of the brands deployed bilingual names, with just a few utilising monolingual names. Closely allied to this finding is the trend of encompassing the drug indications and compositions in the name. The practice of naming the drug after people, especially manufacturers, is also observed. These key findings have implications for the scholarship in onomastics, pharmacology, sociolinguistics, and further research.