Thematic analysis of inscriptions on shops: A case study of Amamoma community

Abstract

Studies on language have drawn the attention of many scholars over decades because of language’s feature-social phenomena. Social phenomenon of language is a feature that states that language is utilized when it is identified with people. This feature has paved way for many disciplines such as linguistics, philosophy, anthropology and many other disciplines to be more effective in human society. Thus, these fields of study have revealed the vital role of language use in society. Inscription is one of the ways in which language is used in society. The present study investigates themes that emerge from inscriptions on shops and the rationale behind those themes, within the geographical location of Amamoma (a community located within the University of Cape Coast, Ghana). The main idea behind this paper is to identify how educational environments (University of Cape Coast) can affect the themes of inscriptions on shops. The data collected, for this study, were mainly through observation and interview. The study analyzed themes identified to be dominant in the inscriptions used. It was established that the theme of identity was the most dominant theme because Amamoma is a community where new shops are continually being constructed. It also became evident that educational environments affect the choices of some of the themes where the shops are located