Oti-Volta
Until the 20th century the northern peoples of Ghana did not generally form towns or villages in the modern sense, notable exceptions being places on the major trade route junctions, such as Salaga, Tamale and Wa, and the seats of government of ruling classes, such as Yendi and Nalerigu. The common practice of the indigenous people was rather to create extended family compounds, from which members would move to start new compounds when social or subsistence needs arose. Such needs might arise from marriage, land use or dispute. This could eventually result in a large scattering of homes belonging to a single ‘clan’.Many of the names that appear on maps as villages reflect these customs. The simplest are those which identify the family of the founder. Others refer to the nature of the environment, and some to the reason for, or result of, migration from a former home area.
In the Buli language area, a number of place names end in –bisi (meaning children or descendants), such as Fumbisi (Afim’s children). In Dagaare, yiri (pl. yie) and in Dagbani, yili (pl. yiya/ya) mean house(s) or compound(s). These are sometimes seen at the beginning of the name, with a qualifying adjective, as in Yipieliga (white house) and Yapala (new houses), or at the end, denoting possession, as in Nayeri (Chief’s house) and Dariyiri (Dere’s house). A similar practice exists among the Konkomba, where the suffix -do has the same meaning, e.g. Tasundo, Tasun's house. Another such village, Tatindo, has the allonym Tatinyili, which is the Dagbani equivalent, both forms appearing in the polling station listing in the 2016 general election. This is is of particular interest because the place is deep in Konkomba territory, and would be unlikely to have a Dagbani name were it not for the fact that the acephalous Konkomba people require the authority of the Ya Na of Dagbon to enskin their clan chiefs.
Places named after environmental features are less noticeable in the north, in contrast to the ubiquitous Akan constructions of ‘tree-name + -ase’ (e.g. Odumase) and ‘river-name + -so’ (e.g. Praso) in the south. But such names do occur, e.g. Bolgatanga (Farefare: clay-rock) and Tanchara (Dagaare: between the hills). There are indeed references to trees, e.g. Kpalisogu (Dagbani: Doka tree, species Isoberlinia Doka), Taalipuo (Dagaare: Among the Shea Trees), and Gia (Nankani: West African Ebony tree, sp. Diospyros Mespiliformis), but they are less conspicuous without research, because of the absence of a locative suffix.
Migration stories also provide the founders of settlements with toponymic epithets, generally based on their satisfaction with their new situations. A conflict between the Karni and Dier peoples in Jirapa District is said to have given rise to the name of Guri, 'to settle there and have peace of mind', and Tinsungu near Bawku means 'good land'. The town of Lawra is said to derive from the word ‘lura’ meaning ‘having more food than one can use’, and the same experience motivated the naming of the Nabit town Sakote, which the chief himself interprets as 'T.Z. Leftovers'.