Names and naming: bases for naming trees and other objects and humans

17 Nov, 2019 - 00:11 0 Views
Names and naming: bases for naming trees and other objects and humans

The Sunday News

Pathisa Nyathi

THE idea behind these articles is not to render a literal meaning to names, all the names that are there. Rather, our aim is to draw generalisations from examples that we have given. What do various communities have in common when it comes to choosing names for items in the environment, be they flora and fauna. Even before we get to the end of the series for these articles, there are preliminary generalisations that may be observed and drawn.

Names give identity to a named object. We could view it as identification of the various species of life forms. A man or woman is identified by his name, a cultural phenomenon relating to a natural being. The given name is entered in the identity document (ID) and is sometimes accompanied by a picture of the individual. The picture is of an individual’s face. The face is arguably the best part of a human being which carries his/her identity.

A face has many features, each with its own individual identity: mouth, nose, cheeks, ears, eyes etc. These identities together constitute some unique compound identity and it is the face that encapsulates an individual’s identity.

Fingerprints are another feature that brings out individual identity. Unfortunately, these are not readily identifiable on account of their size. The face thus becomes the composite feature that carries identity and uniqueness. Imagine a harvest of buttocks from several individuals.

How easy would it be to tell the pairs apart? The faces are easy to tell apart since they are composite and represent the human parts that carry individuals’ identities.

In a way, a named object has unique identity, one that is peculiar to it. A tree known as uxakuxaku is unique and different from all other known, and therefore named trees. There are no two trees that bear the same name. Umganu is similar to umganunkomo (the hanging tree along JMN Nkomo Street in Bulawayo) but there are differences between them.

Their similarity is captured in their similar names. Their individuality is reflected not just in name but in several distinguishing ways. Going further with the tree known as uxakuxaku, we discover that its leaves look like no other. Its bark is unique, so are its edible fruits. The tree is a face of itself in terms of physical attributes.

In addition to its distinguishing face, it has a particular name. The name and physical attributes coincide and identify the same tree known as uxakuxaku.

When a name is given, it immediately goes hand in glove with the overt physical features. It then so happens that the name is chosen in line with observable physical characteristics of the named object or person. This is particularly true of trees and plants. The name becomes a description or qualification of the named tree.

Umkhomo is an IsiNdebele name of a baobab tree but is applicable outside of the tree to describe something big and colossal. In human beings this is possible when an individual has grown up and acquired some physical traits that distinguish him or her. When a man is named uMafukufuku, it suggests one who is big, tall and walks in a particular rolling way. It is one with a physical presence. This was the name given to Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo.

Dare we ask what is in a name? There is a lot to be deduced from a name, especially when given to a grown up individual whose unique traits have become apparent.

Identity comes as a result of many factors. Physical traits are just but one way.

The physical features are the observable ones resident in the named object. A tree’s physical traits may be transferred to another plane. All it takes is symbolic manipulation. An example is the tree known as umvebe. It has long and big pods. Both African men and women seek the properties of these pods to enlarge their respective human body parts.

Women seek enlarged breasts while men seek enlarged sexual organs, the penis in particular: to be as big as the pods. The bigger the better, so it seems. Some organic link between the growing pods and the growing organs is established. The two grow in tandem and a point is reached when sympathetic growth is stopped, lest the organs become oversized and become clumsy.

There is a creeping plant called inkunzana, a small bull. Its fruits have two spikes that face upwards. They resemble the two horns of a young bull. Here is a case where physical traits have given rise to a name of a plant that is sought after by overseas researchers and pharmacists for its perceived medicinal properties. That takes us to another level of naming where a plant or tree is named after its pharmacological or sometimes symbolic properties.

Beyond physical traits, behaviour, either physical or chemical, may be a source of names. A tree known as umloyanyoni (one that bewitches birds) is part of a concoction that was used to ensure birds did not enter a crop field and devour grain.

Such concoctions were administered by elderly women beyond menopause with assistance from young girls who had not reached puberty. In African terms, the two are thought of as spiritual or ritual clean. Birds, usually in droves, fly over the crop field but fail to land.

I still vividly remember Ndumiso Gumede’s mother, uMaMasongo from Inyathi (eKopa) telling me about this many years ago.

This is a case where the name points to the behaviour of a plant, used in conjunction with other plants. It could very well be a pointer to overt traits which those au fait with indigenous knowledge systems may be in a position to deduce or see. The word ‘‘loya’’ has to be properly understood as implying the power, capacity or skill to overcome something.

It is a term or word applicable in several situations. However, for most of us, it has come to refer to a limited context — witchcraft. The person we call a witch is highly skilled and possesses advanced technologies beyond the reach and comprehension of many. The problem is the African who has come to believe it is technology that is demonic. How sad it is that the African has fallen for the disempowerment move hook, line and sinker.

We could, while still at the symbolic level, refer to a similar phenomenon elsewhere. A hawk has the habit of snatching chicks from homesteads. Knowledgeable Africans use a variety of inkunzana, with bigger fruits with curled protrusions to ‘‘loya’’ the hawk. The observation is that the fruits look like the talons of a hawk but ones that will not open up to catch the chicks. The hawk will swoop and when it gets to the chicks it is let down by the talons which fail to open up. The Babirwa people who used to keep large herds of cattle in areas that were infested with lions, protected their herds using the same symbolic principle. The lion’s nails simply failed to open up when it landed on the cow.

Africa protected wives from infidels in the same way.
Naming behaviour may be one that derives when the fruit of a tree is consumed. Let us take the case of uxakuxaku. The name is onomatopoeic. When the fruit is chewed there are click sounds that are produced in the consumer’s mouth. There are xa ku xa ku sounds and the tree has been so named as a result.

What is equally clear is that naming is acknowledgement of a people’s knowledge about the named object. Admittedly, our knowledge of trees and their symbolic and literal behaviour is no longer known. This is clearly reflected in the names that we no longer understand. What we do know is that communities do not name from a point of ignorance. Behind every name there is justification, legitimation, explanation or interpretation.

The language of naming is the language of the namer. Names endure but as we become less knowledgeable, our ignorance is expressed through our failure to explain let alone interpret names.

The situation gets even more complicated when names are adopted from a different pre-existing language and then indigenised by the incoming language. The first barrier is the language that is no longer known from which the name originally derived. Indigenous knowledge systems have been seriously undermined. Names derived from symbolic properties are the least understood.

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