Wednesday 30 April 2014

Hypothesis on Malaŵian surnames

Sunduzwayo Madise
30 April 2014

I am trying to build a thesis based on the hypothesis that if we group Malaŵian surnames using the first letter of surnames as follows:
Group Category
1. ABCD
2. EFGHIJ
3. KLMN
4. OPQRST
5. UVWXYZ

I have observed from observing elections and other data sets where surnames are used that Malawian names seem to be grouped in certain peculiar densities. In other words they are not evenly spread across the English Alphabet. Referring to the above table;

i. Groups 1 and 3 usually have the longest queues and concentrations. Most Malawians seem to have surnames starting with with letters in these groups.
ii. Group 5 has the least. This is mostly in my view due to the fact that our surnames are Bantu based and most of the letters in this group are not favourite for starting surnames in 
Malaŵi
iii. Groups 2 and 4 form the second tier of concentrations.
iv. However between 1 and 3, 3 clearly wins hands down and usually by a ratio of slightly more than 2:1
v. Group 2 usually slightly edges group 4

If I were to rank estimations of our populace it would be (in order of concentration):
1. Group 3 with 52%
2. Group 1 with 25%
3. Group 2 with 12%
4. Group 4 with 10%
5. Group 5 with <1%

Now this hypothesis needs to be tested on real data set samples and may change. The groups may also be tweaked a little. But even as a hypothesis, I am convinced groups 1 and 3 are in the absolute a majority. Therefore the hypothesis, in my view, if it can be refined into a scientifically proven thesis, would form the basis for starting credible opinion polls and surveys in 
Malaŵi! But more importantly too the thesis if proved can assist institutions for example, suppose a school wants to enroll new students; putting them in clusters of the above groups and ensuring that each cluster is well manned proportionate to its density may reduce a day long exercise to one of hours.

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