Etymologie, Etimología, Étymologie, Etimologia, Etymology, (griech.) etymología, (lat.) etymologia, (esper.) etimologio
@f Afrika, África, Afrique, Africa, Africa
Toponym, Topónimo, Toponyme, Toponimo, Toponym, (esper.) toponimoj

UNESCO
African Ethnonyms and Toponyms

Contents

• Foreword 9
• Introduction to the discussion of ethnonyms and toponyms, Pathé Diagne 11
• Toponymy and ethnonymy as scientific aids to history, Mohammed El Fasi 18
• Some toponyms and ethnonyms of Swaziland, R. T. Zwinoira 23
• African ethnonymy and toponymy: reflections on decolonization, Olabiyi Yai 39
• The standardization of the spelling of African names: toponyms and ethnonyms, Robert Cornevin 68
• The transcription of ethnonyms and toponyms in Africa in relation to their historical study, David Dalby 80
• A methodology for the study of migrations, Cheikh Anta Diop 86
• Summary report of the meeting of experts 110
• Appendices
• 1. A list of African ethnonyms, Ivan Hrbek 141
• 2. African toponymy: a bibliography 187
• 3. List of participants at the meeting of experts 197

African Ethnonyms and Toponyms: Studies and Documents
(General History of Africa Studies and Documents (Unesco))
(Englisch)
Taschenbuch - 1. Oktober 1984
von UNESCO (Autor)

Uni Iowa
African Ethnonyms and Toponyms: An Annotated Bibliography
Atoma Batoma, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Preface

A major trend in African Studies today consists in using traces of African culture embedded in African names and naming practices to recover or reconstruct African heritage. African names are oral records that can be meticulously processed and analyzed by African and Africana scholars. The emphasis is placed on two categories of names: ethnonyms and toponyms. Ethnonyms are names of people and ethnic groups whereas toponyms are names of places. These two categories of names constitute two important subfields of African onomastics. In addition, they are related in three interesting ways. First, some ethnic groups derive their names from place names and vice versa. Secondly, unlike other types of names such as anthroponyms or personal names, which can easily change or disappear according to the biography of the bearer, toponyms and ethnonyms have a durable life span. Toponyms in particular constitute fixed landmarks whose durability makes them important data for historical research. Thirdly, and more importantly, ethnonyms and toponyms constitute an intricate and semiotic structure, a kind of palimpsest that crystallizes a layer of meanings of community experience. These meanings can be conceived of as approaches or facets of the collective experience of a group. There are at least five facets: the geographical, the historical, the linguistic, the symbolic, and the socio-political facets.
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