I wonder if anyone else has observed the 'hints' of forgotten animal totemism that appear to be embedded as linguistic relics in the names of towns and villages within the Igbo ethnolinguistic zone.

Typically, these place-names have the prefix 'nV'-, 'nnV'-, or 'LV'- affixed to what would appear to be the name of an animal (where 'V' represents a vowel.)

Some of the most obvious examples are:

1. Nnewi - ewi? - Giant or Pouched Rat.

2. Nnokwa - okwa? - francolin, bushfowl.

3. Nodu (a village in Okpuno, near Awka) - odu? - Kemp's Gerbil.

Other possible examples could include:

4. Leeja (Lejja) - eja? or aja? - Nile Perch, a large species of fish.

5. Nando - ndo? - kind of pigeon.

6. Nankpu/Namkpu - nkpu/mkpu - termite.

7. Nnobi - obi? or obu? - Senegal Coucal.

8. Naze - uze? - Giant Forest Squirrel.

9. Leru - eru? - type of snake.

10. Nimbo (town in the Nsukka zone) - mbo? - squirrel.

11. Nanka - perhaps, aka? - poisonous brown snake.

12. Nekede - ekede? or akede? - the harmless green snake.

13. Nenwe - enwe? - monkey.

14. Lokpa - okpa? - cock. ( The intonations don't agree perfectly.)

There is a long list of similarly structured place-names whose animal references (if any) have stumped me:

15. Nimo -?
16. Nibo -?
17. Nise -?
18. Neni -? (In at least one Niger-Congo language spoken in central Nigeria, 'eni' means 'elephant')
19. Nofija -?
20. Nawfia (Nneofia) - ( Could this be from ofia - forest)
21. Nudu (in Igbariam) - ?
22. Nebo - ?
23. Nomeh - ?
24. Lekwesi -?
25. Nonya -?
26. Lilu - ( I considered 'ulu', a hypothesised shortening of ululu - a squirrel-like animal).

Are there other examples you can think of? Do you have suggestions about what animals ( or indeed other natural 'totemizable' phenomena - trees, water bodies, etc) the already presented examples could refer to?

Are there any surviving mythologies that could confirm that these names indeed refer to former totems? ( For example, I heard from an Nnewi man once that they indeed had a totemic relationship with the Giant Rat in the past.)

This is deep, not many people readily peruse the use of totem as historical marker around here.

But on a surface mode, what can you say on how Igbo ancestors derive their place-names?

I was once at a place called ipetumodu, and the statue at the junction already tell a story.

A hunter was carrying a slained antilope across his shoulder. It established the myth of the place.

Thus, 'Ipetu' means 'killing of antelope'...

The Ewi (Nnewi) is a remarkable folklore, but you stop short at telling the story.

Maybe you have to attempt a reconstruction of any of the listed place-names in light of an established Igbo folklore.

One can rightly says 'totemizing' so to say is historical and symbolic-expression with pre-historical societies.

Does the Igbo folklore have any motiff on say, dragon? I think most ancient people do.

I just learnt the meaning of Namkpu. Abu m onye namkpu.

That of Nawfia has a different ancestral history.

bigfrancis21:
That of Nawfia has a different ancestral history.

@Bigfrancis, does the igbos have a folklore or tales reminiscence of the dragon in a faint little way? Check through native ideas, thanks.

Radoillo:
I wonder if anyone else has observed the 'hints' of forgotten animal totemism that appear to be embedded as linguistic relics in the names of towns and villages within the Igbo ethnolinguistic zone.

Typically, these place-names have the prefix 'nV'-, 'nnV'-, or 'LV'- affixed to what would appear to be the name of an animal (where 'V' represents a vowel.)

Some of the most obvious examples are:

1. Nnewi - ewi? - Giant or Pouched Rat.

2. Nnokwa - okwa? - francolin, bushfowl.

3. Nodu (a village in Okpuno, near Awka) - odu? - Kemp's Gerbil.

Other possible examples could include:

4. Leeja (Lejja) - eja? or aja? - Nile Perch, a large species of fish.

5. Nando - ndo? - kind of pigeon.

6. Nankpu/Namkpu - nkpu/mkpu - termite.

7. Nnobi - obi? or obu? - Senegal Coucal.

8. Naze - uze? - Giant Forest Squirrel.

9. Leru - eru? - type of snake.

10. Nimbo (town in the Nsukka zone) - mbo? - squirrel.

11. Nanka - perhaps, aka? - poisonous brown snake.

12. Nekede - ekede? or akede? - the harmless green snake.

13. Nenwe - enwe? - monkey.

14. Lokpa - okpa? - cock. ( The intonations don't agree perfectly.)

There is a long list of similarly structured place-names whose animal references (if any) have stumped me:

15. Nimo -?
16. Nibo -?
17. Nise -?
18. Neni -? (In at least one Niger-Congo language spoken in central Nigeria, 'eni' means 'elephant')
19. Nofija -?
20. Nawfia (Nneofia) - ( Could this be from ofia - forest)
21. Nudu (in Igbariam) - ?
22. Nebo - ?
23. Nomeh - ?
24. Lekwesi -?
25. Nonya -?
26. Lilu - ( I considered 'ulu', a hypothesised shortening of ululu - a squirrel-like animal).

Are there other examples you can think of? Do you have suggestions about what animals ( or indeed other natural 'totemizable' phenomena - trees, water bodies, etc) the already presented examples could refer to?

Are there any surviving mythologies that could confirm that these names indeed refer to former totems? ( For example, I heard from an Nnewi man once that they indeed had a totemic relationship with the Giant Rat in the past.)

There's certainly some truth in what you're saying, cause I know from history that towns, cities and villages bear the names of their ancestors or names of things relating to them.

What this also proves is that Igbos are the first settlers of Igboland and not as a result of some conquest of others, like Binis conquering South west Nigeria and establishing their cultures over there. The remnants of their past is still found today in western Nigeria.

But, one cannot find the remnants of other Nigerian cultures in Igboland.

Recently, I did a similar study of who the true Israelites of the bible are using their ancestral names left in the bible and Koran, the result was shocking. The study is on this link http://www.africason.com/2015/07/modern-israel-is-not-descendant-of.html?m=1

NB: Where did you buy the Igbo keyboard?. I've been looking for Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa keyboard for more than a year now. Please let me know.

absoluteSuccess:
This is deep, not many people readily peruse the use of totem as historical marker around here.

But on a surface mode, what can you say on how Igbo ancestors derive their place-names?

Place-names can come from a variety of sources. It could come from the name of the traditional founder of the place, usually with Umu or Ndi prefixed to the founder's name (like in Umunze or Ndizuogu); it could come from the topography of the place (like Enugu - hilltop; Amachalla - a field overgrown with 'achala' grass, etc). In short, it may not be possible for me to fully catalogue all the sources of place-names in the Igbo area.

The Ewi (Nnewi) is a remarkable folklore, but you stop short at telling the story.

Maybe you have to attempt a reconstruction of any of the listed place-names in light of an established Igbo folklore.

I didn't go into details on the Nnewi 'Ewi Mythology' partly because the guy who told me about a long-dead practice of 'ewi' totemism in Nnewi didn't tell me much - probably because he himself didn't know the full story. However, I have a couple of excerpts from 'Nnewi History' by John Okonkwo Alutu, which provides hints of a dying memory of the practice. Note that Alutu translates 'ewi' as 'rabbit' while I (following Roger Blench's Onicha Dictionary) translate it as 'Giant or Pouched Rat'.

Alutu: "As regards the origin of the name Nnewi, the story tells us that there was a time there was a threatened invasion of Nnewi by a hostile people. A doctor was quickly summoned to prepare a charm which, at night, transformed itself into a rabbit (ewi) which covered the entire fringes of Nnewi with its foot- prints. When at last the invaders drew near, they saw these prints and quickly concluded that no people settled beyond. Thenceforth, they retreated and the invasion fizzled out. Thus Nnewi became safe and, in commemoration of this, the town, perhaps hitherto without a name, was given by its citizens the name, Nnewi"

In a footnote to the above legend, Alutu made this interesting addition: "Nnewi people do not eat rabbits and the precise tradition behind this abstinence is wrapped in uncertainty."

Alutu also gives another version of the 'Ewi Myth':

"By some, the opinion is held that there was a time a juju was prepared with the flesh of a rabbit (ewi) and that gave to Nnewi people their present name, Nnewi. The juju, it was said, owned rabbits just as the goddess Idemmili owns boas."

Alutu himself doubts the authenticity of the traditions because he goes on to say:

"But how do we account for the location of that deity's present shrine? There is no deity in Nnewi today which either has a name or a history connected with rabbits. And incidentally, save on one occasion, deities do not die. One normally would expect to find today a deity with such a historical background, but this, one finds not."

Personally I think the limitations of human memory and historical dynamism take care of Alutu's reservations.

One can rightly says 'totemizing' so to say is historical and symbolic-expression with pre-historical societies.

Does the Igbo folklore have any motiff on say, dragon? I think most ancient people do.

I have never heard about dragons in Igbo folklore.

herringbone:
I just learnt the meaning of Namkpu. Abu m onye namkpu.

Perhaps. Perhaps not. Part of the reason I opened this thread is to find evidence that could lend support to the theory from the communities with such names.

So are you aware of any traditions in Namkpu that makes some sort of connection between the people and termites (or termite-hills), like they do in Nnewi about rabbits/Giant Rats?

musicwriter:


There's certainly some truth in what you're saying, cause I know from history that towns, cities and villages bear the names of their ancestors or names of things relating to them.

What this also proves is that Igbos are the first settlers of Igboland and not as a result of some conquest of others, like Binis conquering South west Nigeria and establishing their cultures over there. The remnants of their past is still found today in western Nigeria.

But, one cannot find the remnants of other Nigerian cultures in Igboland.

Recently, I did a similar study of who the true Israelites of the bible are using their ancestral names left in the bible and Koran, the result was shocking. The study is on this link http://www.africason.com/2015/07/modern-israel-is-not-descendant-of.html?m=1

NB: Where did you buy the Igbo keyboard?. I've been looking for Igbo, Yoruba, and Hausa keyboard for more than a year now. Please let me know.

I do not use an Igbo keyboard, and sadly I don't know how to go about getting one.

Interesting comment. I'll go through that link. Thanks.

bigfrancis21:
That of Nawfia has a different ancestral history.

I know the Nawfia folk etymology. But as the structure of the name fits the structure of the place-names of interest ( an nV- or nnV- prefix) I decided to include it here, for whatever it is worth. And just in case some reader is aware of certain traditions or practices that might suggest an alternative etymology.

Radoillo:


Perhaps. Perhaps not. Part of the reason I opened this thread is to find evidence that could lend support to the theory from the communities with such names.

So are you aware of any traditions in Namkpu that makes some sort of connection between the people and termites (or termite-hills), like they do in Nnewi about rabbits/Giant Rats?

I don't know about that but I will try to find out from my father.

Thanks for the insight Radoillo, I always believe we don't yet have the complete linguistic mastery (worktool) to resolve some puzzling secrets shrouded in our languages...

The ancestors knows better than we do.

absoluteSuccess:
Thanks for the insight Radoillo, I always believe we don't yet have the complete linguistic mastery (worktool) to resolve some puzzling secrets shrouded in our languages...

The ancestors knows better than we do.

True. The tantalising 'clues' and the recurring patterns should fire our curiosity, though. We might still gain that mastery.

Radoillo:


True. The tantalising 'clues' and the recurring patterns should fire our curiosity, though. We might still gain that mastery.

Maybe just maybe, there are certain things I wanner know, is Igbo language analytic? By this I mean, does igbo language attempts to describe those things it identifies? for instance in Yoruba, 'ata' means 'pepper', but 'a-ta' actually means 'that which is pepperish (analytic)'. 'Ta' thus defines the hot property of the spice...

Now there is Ota [utter], a place-name that seems detached from (Ota seller, Ota, pepperish). No historian had noticed the fact that 'pepper' serve as totem in the eponymous name, Ota.

At Ota, the communal hero was Iganmode, at Idumota, you also finds Iduganran. And iganran also means pepper. Analytically, Igan~ran means 'generational head'.

Where you finds Ota, you also find Igan (Fon for leader, Gan, Oga in Yoruba). I am trying to demonstrate the fact that totem words are there on purpose.

absoluteSuccess:
Maybe just maybe, there are certain things I wanner know, is Igbo language analytic? By this I mean, does igbo language attempts to describe those things it identifies? for instance in Yoruba, 'ata' means 'pepper', but 'a-ta' actually means 'that which is pepperish (analytic)'. 'Ta' thus defines the hot property of the spice...

Now there is Ota [utter], a place-name that seems detached from (Ota seller, Ota, pepperish). No historian had noticed the fact that 'pepper' serve as totem in the eponymous name, Ota.

At Ota, the communal hero was Iganmode, at Idumota, you also finds Iduganran. And iganran also means pepper. Analytically, Igan~ran means 'generational head'.

Where you finds Ota, you also find Igan (Fon for leader, Gan, Oga in Yoruba). I am trying to demonstrate the fact that totem words are there on purpose.

I think I see what you mean. There was a thread (before the data loss) where we discussed how some Igbo nouns are constructed from the verbs that describe the actions they perform.

Like, 'eku' which is the word for 'ladle' being coined from the verb-root 'ku' which means 'scoop'...so that 'eku' would mean literally 'that with which one scoops'; or 'ukwu' which is the word for 'leg' being coined from the verb-root 'kwu' which denotes 'stand'...so that 'ukwu' would mean literally 'that with which one stands'.

If what you are trying to describe is a similar phenomenon to what I have just illustrated, then I guess, yes - Igbo is 'analytical'.

To what extent this quality of the language can help unravel the etymology of town names, I'm not sure. Except maybe in the case of my town, Awka or (more correctly) Öka. I've suspected for a while now that this place-name (Öka) was coined from the verb-root 'ka' which one can translate as ' to cut/ to carve/to inscribe/to create' from which we got our word 'nka' - 'artistry/technology'. The fact that Awka was, until British times, a prominent centre of craftsmanship and metal-based technology lends support to this etymological reconstruction.

But, of course, my people have different and fanciful stories about how the name Öka came about. I doubt if I can get any of my fathers back home to agree with my hypothesis.

You said Ipetu means 'killer of antelope' in Yoruba. Am I to assume 'etu' is the Yoruba for 'antelope'.

^^Very nice dear bruv, do you noticed that when you tend to go with analytic intuition of the word 'Awka', it starts to become familiar with 'carve'? It means that languages evolved from common source and people who coined 'Oka' might be familiar with 'carve'.

How so? Carving as a trade is as old as man. Carved items had always been currency of some sort in the old world. Maybe it started as a 'family-secret' thing.

Why I often peruse the analytic meaning of historical word is, the word in question are the subjects of research, after all said, the word in question has a hint to drop, and the hint is always 'hyperlinked' to grey area that trained scholars (like you) wont care to probe. It is the realm of the childlike scholars (me & co) where fancy theories thrives.

But the grey areas are actually the frontiers, where the differentiations remain subtle after linguistic seperations. That area is an unchartted linguistic institution, a marketplace where anything can be found.

I think etu is a stag o