Auteur: Amazigh
Date: 2007-04-06 15:49:15
AMAZIGH TOPONYMY
by: Anya Weghlis
In: The Amazigh Voice, Volume 7, number 2, Spring 1998, pp. 12-15
A win yugaden tidett
Mi t-gezmed ad yagh uZaR
He/She who fears the truth
Knows that, even cut, its root grows back.
( Lounis Ait Menguellet )
Toponymy is the study of names of places that include towns, mountains, rivers, lakes, springs, and other geographical sites. It is a branch of a discipline called onomastics (study of names) which is itself a branch of history. The other branches of onomastics are ethnonymy (study of ethnic names) and anthroponymy (study of names of persons). Onomastics plays a considerable role in the elucidation of the historical process. It provides raw material for researchers (historians, anthropologists, linguists, geographers etc.) studying the history and development of cultures and civilizations, as well as inter-cultural contacts. Toponymy is particularly important in the study of the history and civilization of the first occupants of the places concerned because, generally speaking, place names rarely change. Even their phonetic evolution hardly ever leads to radical modifications in the pronunciation and spelling. North Africa is a case in point. In Algeria and Morocco, for instance, most places have retained their Amazigh names throughout the centuries, though a large number has been corrupted by the French and the Spaniards during their colonization of Algeria and Morocco. In fact, the various civilizations which succeeded one another in Algeria and Morocco did not leave significant traces in their toponymy. In the post-independence era, it is the governments of these countries that gradually have been replacing Amazigh names by Arabic ones. They also have altered the spelling and the phonetics of some Amazigh names to conform to the Arabic language. In some other cases, the alterations went so far as to derive Arabic names from Amazigh ones, resulting in names with absurd meanings. Perhaps a formidable example of this type of alteration is the case of "Amechras," name of a Kabyle village, which was deformed to give "Mecht Arras," meaning "head-comb" in Arabic.
In what follows we give a list of Amazigh toponyms from North Africa and the Sahel region. For each toponym we indicate the origin and the etymology, whenever possible.
Adrar: Means "mountain" in Tamazight.
Many places in North Africa and the Sahel region bear this name: for example, the town of Adrar in Southwest Algeria and Adrar n Ifoghas in Mali. Commonly, names of mountains contain the word Adrar followed by the actual name (Adrar Toubkal, Adrar Tignousti in Morocco). However, on geographical maps of North Africa, "Adrar" is almost always replaced by the Arabic word "Djebel."
Al Jadida: Arabic word meaning "new." This is the new name of the Moroccan town known as Mazagan.
Mazagan is the European-corrupted form of Mezghenna, the name of the Ait Mezghenna tribe, which inhabited the region of the Atlantic plains in the Middle Ages.
Anfa: A Tamazight word meaning "little hill."
This was the old name of Casablanca; today it is the name of a district in that town.
Asafi (Asif): Means "river" in Tamazight. Corrupted by the French, it became Safi. This is the name of a Moroccan town overlooking the Atlantic coast.
Aujila: City located in the southeast of Libya. It is a deformation of "Welt Zila," meaning "daughter of Zila."
Azeffoun: Village in northern Kabylie (Algeria) on the shores of the Mediterranean (Algeria). Azeffun means langoustine.
Azemmour: Name of a town located on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Zemmouri is the name of a little town located east of Algiers, Algeria, which is covered with olive trees. Both names derive from the Amazigh word "azemmur" meaning olive.
Azrou: Middle Atlas town in Morocco. "Azrou" means "rock" in Tamazight.
Beni-Mellal: Located in the Middle Atlas, this Moroccan town has a spring famous for the volume, quality, and freshness of its water.
Its etymology is related to the root "mell" which means "white" in Tamazight.
"Beni" means "son" in Arabic. Many places have names derived from this root, for example Melilla (Spanish enclave in northern Morocco), Ait Mellul (Moroccan village, Algerian Village), Telemly (district in Algiers, Algeria), and Allamellal (Gourara, Algeria). Note that the names of Amazigh villages usually take the form "Ait" (the people of) followed by the name of the ancestor who founded the village. During the French colonization in Algeria, the "Ait" part of some names was replaced by its Arabic counterpart, "Beni," (Beni Douala and Beni-Yenni in Kabylie and Beni Izguen in Mzab). After independence these appellations remained in use and additional alterations came into existence.
Berkane: Moroccan town named after Saint Sidi Mhammed Aberkan.
The word "aberkan" means "black" in Tamazight.
Bordj Menaiel: A small town in Kabylie. Bordj is Arabic for "fort" and Menaiel is a corrupted version of "Imnayen," plural of "Amnay," meaning "knight."
Chaouen: Name of a beautiful town in the Rif mountains (north of Morocco).
The name is derived from the word "icc" or "iccew," depending on the idiom, (plural iccawen) meaning "peak" or "horn" in Tamazight. Many places in North Africa bear names based on this root, for example Tichy in Algeria and Tichit in Mauretania which derive from the diminutive "Ticcit," (little horn). In fact, above the village of Tichy, there is a little hill that looks like a small horn.
Daren: The Arabicized name for theAtlas.
The original Amazigh name is "Adrar n Idraren," meaning "mountain of mountains."
Doukkala: Name of a great plain on the Atlantic coast of Morocco situated between the towns of Azemmour and Asafi. It is also the name of the confederation inhabiting the region.
Doukkala is composed of two Amazigh words "ddaw" (under) and "akal" (soil, land), hence the meaning "lowland" or "plain."
Essaouira: The current [Arabic] name (meaning "little wall") of a small town on the Atlantic Moroccan coast.
Under the protectorate it was known as Mogador, after the Amazigh name Amugdul recorded as early as the eleventh century. Amugdul is the name of Saint Sidi Magdul buried in this town.
Fez: The origin of the name results from a metathesis on "Saf," abbreviation of "isaffen"(plural of asif), meaning "river." Corrupted by the Europeans, it became Fez or Fes.
Goulmima: Comes from "Ag}lmim," plural "igulmimen," meaning "lake." Many lakes and places in North Africa bear this name.
Gourara: Name of an Amazigh[Zenete] region located in the northwest of Algeria. Gourara comes from "tagourart," plural "tigourarin," meaning "castle." This region is composed of about a hundred oases, with Timimoun at the center, totalling over a thousand "tigourarin" (castles). Guerrara, another deformation of Tigourarin, is the name of one of the Mzab cities located east of Gourara.
Iferaouan: Name of a small town in Niger. "Iferaouan," plural of "afraw," is the Tamaceght word for watering place used for cattle. Feraoun, Gallicization of Iferaouen, is the name of an oasis in Gourara.
Ifrane: Plural of "ifri," meaning "cavern." Many places bear names derived from this root, for instance Ifrane, the Moroccan winter/summer resort in the Middle Atlas and Oufrane, an oasis in Gourara (Algeria).
In Amenas: Name of a town in the Algerian desert. It is composed of "In" ("that of") and "Amenas," which is a [French] deformation of "Imena," plural of "Amenu," meaning " prince" in Tamaceght. "In Amenas" was the cradle of the Imena dynasty that controlled the Algerian desert in the sixteenth century. Note that after independence, "In Amenas" was spelled "Ain oum nnas," meaning "the eye of the mother of people" in Arabic. This is another example where a meaningless Arabic name was coined from an Amazigh one. The name was reverted back to its original form in the 80s.
Laghouat: Derives from "Laguanta," which is a Latin deformation of "Louata." The latter is the name of an Amazigh group that lived in the northwest of Algeria. The Louata were considered the most fearful enemy of the Byzantines.
Nefousa: Name of a village in Libya. It comes from "tanfust" meaning "story."
Ouargla: A city located in the south of Algeria. The name derives from "wargren" meaning "shallow well" in Tagerggrent, the Amazigh idiom spoken in Ouargla.
Oum Rbia: Means "giver of grass" in Arabic. This is the name of the big river that waters the plains of central Morocco and flows into the Atlantic at Azemmour. The Amazighs call this river "Asif n Isaffen," "river of rivers."
Sala: Corrupted by the French it became Sale'. This name is derived from an Amazigh root meaning "rock." The town of Chella, facing Sale' on the left bank of the Bouregreg, gets its name from the same root.
Senegal: Gallicization of the word "Zenaga" which itself derives from "Sanhadja," the name of a southwestern Amazigh group. According to the North African historian Ibn Khaldun, the Sanhadja accounted for the third of the Amazigh population at the time. It is the Sanhadja who created the Almoravide dynasty, which dominated North Africa and Spain for several centuries.
Tadla: Means "sheaf of cereals" in Tamazight. It is the name of an important town in the Middle Atlas (Morocco) for it is the economic center of this region.
Tafrawt: Means "flat" or "hollow" in Tamazight. This is the name of a town in the Sous (Morocco).
Tala: Means "fountain" or "spring" in Tamazight. Many places bear this name. Examples include Tala guilef (Kabylie), Tala(Gourara), Tala n Tilut (the fountain of the female elephant in Oran ) changed to Ain Tilut.
Talaq: Small town in Niger.
"Talaq" comes from "talaxt," meaning "clay." In Tamaceght, however, the combination "xt" or "ght" at the end of a word is abbreviated by "q."
Tanezrouft: Region in the Algerian desert. The name means "stony desert."
Tanut: Small town in Niger. "Tanut," diminutive of "anu," is the Tamaceght word for "little well."
Taourirt: Diminutive of "Awrir," meaning "hill" in Tamazight. Hundreds of places in North Africa bear this name, for example Taourirt Moussa (Kabyle village), Taourirt (oasis in Gourara), Taourirt (major town in the Rif mountains), Aourir (town near
Agadir, village near Inezliouen), and Ait Aourir (village south of Marrakesh).
Tassili n Azjer: Region in the Algeria desert. "Tassili" means plateau and "Azjer" (Azger) means "bull." Tassili n Azjer is home to the famous Tassili frescoes, a collection of rock paintings depicting nomad and sedentary life in that area.
Tazult n Lambese: Small village in the Aures region (east of Algeria). "Tazult" means "courage." Tazult n Lambese used to house a military post the Romans used to repress the uprising of the local population. Today, the village houses a penitentiary with the most inhumane regime.
Tenere: The French-corrupted form of "Tiniri" which means "desert." "Tenere" is the name of a region in the south of Algeria and "Tiniri" the name of a forest in the Boghni area (Kabylie).
Tenerife: Name of one of the islands of the Canarian archipelago. Tenerife is the Spanish-corrupted form of "Tin n rif," meaning "that of the rif."
Historically, part of the population of the Canary Islands emigrated from the Rif mountains of Morocco. "Tin" and its corrupted form "tim" are found in a number of North African and Sahelian place names.
Examples include Tindouf, Timimoun, Tindjillet (Algeria), Tinjdad, Tinmel (Morocco), and Timbuctu (Mali). In the context of toponymy, it usually refers to a geographical site (town, well, land, etc.) that belongs to someone or that is named after someone. The masculine form of "Tin" is "In" and is also found in place names such as In Amenas, In Timouchent, In Salah, and In Ouzzal in Algeria and In Gall in Niger.
Tetuan: Name of a city in northern Morocco, which used to be the capital of the Spanish protectorate. "Tetuan" is the Spanish-corrupted version of "titawin" meaning "springs" in Tamazight. Tattiwin, another plural form, is the name of a village in Tunisia.
Tiaret: Comes from "Tihert" meaning female lion. Male lion is referred to as "Iher," plural "Ihran" from which the name "Wehran" (Oran in French), capital city of the west of Algeria, derives.
Tinja: Name of a river in Tunisia. The name is a corrupted version of "Tanga" meaning wave in Tamazight. Note that Tanger, a Moroccan city on the shores of the Mediterranean sea, also derives from this same root.
Tinmel: Composed of "tin" and "mel" (rampart). Tinmel would mean "the town with a rampart." It is the cradle of the great Amazigh Almohade dynasty where its founder, Ibn Tumart (Utumart in Tamazight), is buried.
Tizi: Means "pass" in Tamazight. Hundreds of places in North Africa bear this name. Examples include Tizi Ouzou, Tizi Ghennif, Tizi Hibel in Algeria and Tizi n Tast, Tizi n Tishkka, Tizi n Talghumt, Tizi n Takusht, and Tizi n Isli in Morocco.
Tiznit: Means "Basket" in Tamazight. This is the name of a town in the Sous region (Morocco).
Tlemcen: Derives from "tilmas," plural of "talmist" which means "water hole." Corrupted by the French it became Tlemcen, a city in the west of Algeria. In idiom Tamaceght, "water hole" is referred to as "Abankur," plural "ibenkar."
Touat: Town located south of Gourara. "Touat" means "oasis" in Zenete, the Amazigh spoken in Gourara. Touat n Tebbou (the oasis of Tebbou) is the name of an oasis in Gourara.
Touggourt: A deformation of "Taggurt," meaning "door" in Tamazight. This is the name of an Algerian city located east of Gourara.
Walili: Corrupt form of "alili," meaning "bay-tree" in Tamazight. This is the Amazigh name of the town known as Volubilis during the Roman times.
Acknowledgment:The author wishes to thank Akli Gana for his valuable comments and Hassan Ouzzate for his help on Moroccan toponyms.
Bibliography on Amazigh Toponymy
[1]. African Ethnonyms and Toponyms, reports and papers of the meeting of experts organized by Unesco in Paris, July 3-7, 1978.
[2]. A. Basset, Du nouveau a propos de l'Ile de Fer (Canaries), Onomsatica, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1948, pp. 121-122.
[3]. A. Basset, Sur la toponymie Berbere et specialement sur la toponymie chaouia des Ait Frah, Onomastica, Vol. 2, No. 2, 1948, pp. 123-126.
[4]. R. Capot-Rey, Glossaire des termes geographiques araboberberes, Bull.Liais. Sahar. (Algiers), Vol. 8, No. 25,1957, pp. 2-4; and Vol. 8, No. 26,1957, pp. 72-75.
[5]. D. M. Hart, Tribal and Place Names
among the Arab-Berbers of NW Morocco: A Preliminary Statistical Analysis, Hesperis -Tamuda, Vol. 1, No. 3, 1960, pp. 457-511.
[6]. A. Leriche, Toponymie et Histoire Maure, Bull. IFAN, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1952, pp. 337-343.
[7]. A. Leriche, Terminologie geographique Maure, St.-Louis (Senegal), Etudes mauritaniennes, 5.
[8]. G. Mercier, Etude sur la toponymie berbere de la region de l'Aures, XI Congres Int.Orinet, Section Egypte et Langues Africaines, Paris 1897, pp.173-207.
[9]. G. Mercier, La langue libyenne et la
toponymie antique de l'Afrique du Nord, J. Asiat., Vol. 105, 1924, pp. 188-320.
[10]. V. Monteil, Notes sur la toponymie, l'astronomie, et l'orientation chez les Maures, Hesperis, Vol. 36, 1949, pp. 180-219.
[11]. V. Monteil, La part du Berbere dans la toponymie du Sahara maure, Notes Afr. IFAN, Vol. 45, 1950, p. 21 (also in Proceed. 3rd Congr. Topon. and Anthropon., Brux. 1949, pp. 478-479, Louvain 1951).
[12]. P. Odinot, Notes de toponymie marocaine, La Geog. 71, Vol. 4, pp. 205-219.
[13]. A. Pellegrin, Contributions a l'etude de la toponymie tunisienne: Note sur l'etymologie de Pheradi Maius, IBLA, Vol. 13, No. 50, 1950, pp. 203-206.
[14]. A. Pellegrin, Essai sur les noms de lieux d'Algerie et de Tunisie,
(supplement to IBLA (Tunis)), No. 45, 1949. [15]. A. Picard, Complements a la toponymie Berbere, Onomastica, 1949, pp. 127-132.
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