CfP "The Dynamics of Anthroponymy: Heritages and Identities in the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa"

 

CALL FOR PAPERS TO THE THEMATIC SECTION OF THE JOURNAL ONOMASTICA DESDE AMÉRICA LATINA - [ONOMASTICS OF LATIN AMERICA], V.6. 

The call is open from August 2024 to March 2025 for the dossier "The Dynamics of Anthroponymy: Heritages and Identities in the Maghreb and Sub-Saharan Africa". It is organized by Yamina Taibi-Maghraoui, Nadjia Nehari-Roubai and Warayanssa Mawoune. Authors must create an account on the platform of the journal - Onomastics from Latin America (unioeste.br) - and send their paper to the "Dossier" section. 

The dossier is expected to be published by July 2025.

The anthroponymy of the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa opens up a fascinating perspective on the diversity and depth of cultures and stories that have permeated these regions over the centuries. These proper names, much more than simple designations, are living testimonies of the complex interplay between the various historical and contemporary civilizations, thus enriching our understanding of collective and individual identity in the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa. In the Maghreb, this richness is particularly evidenced by the successive crossing of varied civilizations - Arab, Berber, Ottoman, Andalusian and French. Each civilization has left its distinct mark on the names of the people, thus enriching the anthroponymic heritage of this region. 

The Arabs introduced Islamic names and names, marked by religious and historical references, such as “Mohamed, Khadija, Ibrahim, Seddik, Halima, etc.” (Geoffroy, 2000, p. 326) The Berbers maintained their own nominative traditions, often influenced by the linguistic peculiarities of their different dialects, using prefixes such as “At”, “Ait’ or ‘Nait’ (Khemouche, 2005, p. 63). The Ottoman presence brought Turkish names linked to administrative and military functions, such as "Belkhoudja, Daouadji, Benabadji" or "Bey, Ghazi, Bentobdji". Other anthroponyms mark the ethnicity, such as "Benzmirli, Kasdali, Kourdoughli", integrated into the local social fabric (Taibi-Maghraoui, 2017, p. 176). The Andalusian influence is found in names such as 'Bengharnout, Benkartaba', while French colonisation has frankised many names to adapt them to bureaucratic norms, such as 'Benaoumeur, Benyacko, Azreug, Mokrétar, Kadra' (TaibiMaghraoui, 2020, p. 230). These administrative transformations often simplified or altered the original forms of names, sometimes erasing the subtleties and deep meanings of traditional.

While the Maghreb features a mosaic of names influenced by various civilizations, sub-Saharan Africa offers an equally complex and captivating perspective. In fact, onomastics in sub-Saharan Africa is a virgin land, the bearer of a historical and anthropological depth. The attribution of names obeys identity, social and cultural logics, influenced by historical, sociological and sometimes philosophical factors specific to each people (Ngbesso, 2013).

In Cameroon and Côte d'Ivoire, naming is linked to contextual factors of an individual's birth, informing about their origins, their religion, and the social and cultural interactions of their family (Moreau, 2001). Names also determine social status, informing about the origins and history of individuals and peoples (Warayanssa, 2020). However, for some decades, the attribution of surnames has been undergoing a dynamic driven by intercultural and interethnic mixing, influenced by human mobilities and interactions. This evolution is also impacted by varied sociological and ethnological determinants, often conditioned by the power relations between communities and interethnic alliances.

Thus, Maghreb anthroponymy and African onomastics are not limited to reflecting a simple diversity of names. They tell a rich and dynamic story where each name brings with it the traces of the different cultural and historical influences that shaped these regions, and their role in the construction of the individual and collective identity of the inhabitants of the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa.

References 

Cheriguen F. (2005) « Régularités et variations dans l’anthroponymie algérienne » dans « Des noms et des noms… Etat civil et anthroponymie en Algérie. CRASC. Oran. 

Geoffroy Y. & Geoffroy N. (2000) « Le livre des prénoms arabes » Université de Michigan. Ed, Dar El Bouraq. 

Guillorel H. (2012). « Onomastique, marqueurs identitaires et plurilinguisme. Les enjeux politiques de la toponymie et de l’anthroponymie, in Onomastique, droit et politique, N°2/64, pp. 11-50. 

Khemouche B. (2005) « L’anthroponymie dans la toponymie kabyle : le cas d’Ait Bouaddou » dans « Des noms et des noms… Etat civil et anthroponymie en Algérie. CRASC. Oran. 

Moreau M-L, (2001). « Le marquage des identités ethniques dans le choix des prénoms en Casamance (Sénégal) », in Cahiers d’Études Africaines, numéro thématique, Entre les langues : identités, politiques et « ethnies », pp. 541-556, article consulté le 18 février 2020 sur le site : https://doi.org/10.4000/etudesafricaines.108 

Ngbesso H. (2013). « Nom propre et quête identitaire : étude de cas pris en Afrique noire », in Revue Baobab, pp. 69-89, consulté sur le site : https://revuebaobab.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/article-d6.pdf 

Taibi-Maghraoui Y. (2017) « Etude diachronique des anthroponymes algériens- cas de la ville de Mostaganem » thèse de doctorat. Université de Mostaganem. 

Taibi-Maghraoui Y. (2020) « Transcription graphique et translittération du nom propre » dans la revue Aleph.

Tsofack J. B. (2006) « (Dé) nominations et constructions identitaires au Cameroun » in Cahiers de sociolinguistique, Presses universitaires de Rennes, n° 11 | pp. 101-115, article consulté le 12 février 2020 sur le site : https://www.cairn.info/revue-cahiers-de-sociolinguistique-2006-1- page-101.htm 

Warayanssa Mawoune (2020) « Patronyme, frontière et identité ethnique dans le Mayo-Louti : essai d’analyse onomastique des anthroponymes et de leur origine tribale dans la ville de Figuil » in Multilinguales, Revue Algérienne des Sciences du Langage, vol. 8, n°1, pp. 290-319. Site https://www.asjp.cerist.dz/en/article/120646. 

Formatting 

1. Articles must be sent, in Word format, via the journal electronic submission system. 

2. Copyrighted work cannot be used. 

3. The texts should be typed with the following configuration: Times New Roman font, size 12, double space, fully justified and with symmetric margins of 2,5 cm. 

4. Paragraphs must be indicated without space, indented, except in the case of paragraphs which follow titles or subtitles. 

5. It will present uninterrupted page numbers. 

6. The first page will include title (maximum of 10 words) and the name of the author or authors, as well as personal information, they are: a) academic title and university where it was concluded; b) work institution; e-mail address and Orcid number and two abstracts , one written in the language of the article and another in English. If the article is in English the second abstract should be in Spanish, Portuguese and French. 

7.The abstract of articles and works submitted to the journal Onomastics from Latin America must be 300 words long and provide the reader with a complete and concise description of the most important parts of the research reported in the article: context, purpose and/or objectives, methodology, results obtained and contribution of the research to the field of Onomastics. After the abstract, three to five keywords separated by a comma should be included. 

8. The citations and references must be written according to the editorial pattern of the 7 th.Edition American Psychological Association (APA).

9. The articles of the “Works” section must contain, in a footnote included after the title, the full name of the supervisor. 

10. There is no limitation on the number of authors per article, however, in cases where there is more than one author, the first author must inform the editor all authors' role according to the taxonomy provided by LCCRedit - Contributor Roles Taxonomy which can be accessed at http://credit.niso.org/.