2003
XII, 247 pp.
13 maps, numerous tables and charts
Text language: German
The present study is concerned with the analysis of the various aspects of settlement names in Northeast Nigeria. These toponyms can be regarded as linguistic and historical records of a region. The source material for this book consists of historically substantiated settlement names gathered during a field trip in two areas of the former kingdom of Borno. Initially the strategies of word creation of the five major languages spoken in Borno (Kanuri, Hausa, Shuwa-Arabic, Malgwa and Fulfulde) found in these toponyms are scrutinised and detailed with examples.
Afterwards the etymological content of these settlement names is determined in the context of the closely intertwined histories of the Kanuri and the kingdom of Borno. This allows the author to highlight the changes in the social structures of the naming ethnic group, the relationships between different ethnic groups, the deterioration of the ecology of the Lake Chad region, and the shifting perception of the environment. Precolonial and colonial records are used to further discuss the historical as well as ethno-sociological aspects of these processes.
The dominating influence of the Kanuri language in the region today is marked by the fact that most contemporary settlement names contain Kanuri elements. But the antiquity of toponyms of unknown etymology and their accumulation along the rivers are indicators that Borno was densely populated even prior to the immmigration of the Kanuri in the 14th century. Therefore, the juxtapositioning of historically substantiated and modern settlement names can help to trace shifting settlement patterns and the (re-)naming of settlements as expressions of the struggle for ethnic or political dominance.
Under these links you will find publications by the author, further studies of place name research / onomastics in African languages and descriptions of the (settlement) history in Nigeria:
