According to John Sorenson, the reader should note that Amulek's first statement to Alma in the city of Ammonihah was "I am a Nephite" (Alma 8:20). Obviously most people there would not have said that; otherwise it would have been absurd for him to begin that way. . . . A Mayan practice at the time of the Spanish conquest shows the same principle governing how to get along in strange territory: "When anyone finds himself in a strange region and in need, he has recourse to those of his name [kin group]; and if there are any, they receive him and treat him with all kindness." [John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting for the Book of Mormon, F.A.R.M.S., pp. 205, 213]
I Amulek Am a Nephite
The fact that Amulek had to specifically mention to Alma2 that "I am a Nephite" (Alma 8:20) intimates that Amulek was living with a group of people in Ammonihah who, for the most part, were not Nephites. The following evidence suggests that they were Mulekites (with a Jaredite culture heritage):
1. The city of Ammonihah, which was the location of Amulek's home (Alma 8:21), is identified in the book of Alma as a city associated with the order of Nehor (see Alma 14:16-18; 15:15; 16:11).
2. Nehor is a name that is found in the Jaredite record (Ether 7:4).
3. The last Jaredite king, Coriantumr, was "discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons" (Omni 1:21). In Mosiah 25:2, it says that "Zarahemla was a descendant of Mulek, and those who came with him into the wilderness."
4. In Alma 22:30-31, it says that the land called Desolation (Jaredite lands?) was the place of the first landing for the people of Zarahemla before they came up into the south wilderness.
Amulek's association with Mulekites is also demonstrated in his name, A-mulek. Amulek's name could be a situation of metonymy. According to Gordon Thomasson, "metonymy or metonymic naming involves 'naming by association,' a metophoric process of linking two concepts or persons together in such a way as to tell us more about the latter by means of what we already know about the former." (see Gordon C. Thomasson, "What's in a Name? Book of Mormon Language, Names, and [Metonymic] Naming," in Journal of Book of Mormon Studies, Spring 1994, p. 15)
In other words, perhaps Mormon, in his editing process, deliberately chose the name "Amulek" for this Nephite helper of Alma2 to emphasize the fact that, although Amulek lists his Nephite lineage back to Lehi (Alma 10:1-4), he was in some way associated with a Mulekite culture. [See the commentary on Alma 2:11]