.ETTOI.CGICAI LT-:GZf;DS BASED 0bT FCII:' ETYFi@I,CGIES rrAj :D IPTG S URJ)TAF'EsfF John ?Jilliam Johnson Indiana University Folk is one of the most popular and widespread forms to be found amongst the ~.&rn&naand b2sndrenkaz pe oples , who live in the Republic of P.'iali 'in West ~frlca. Folk etymolo- gies are also very-often coupled with another form of folklore, the etiological . Thus coupled, these genres come in a variety of forms. They may be non-narrative explanations of folk , or polished stories; they may occur by themselves and in prose; or they may be buried inside an epic being recited in poetic language. The subject matter dealt with by this pair- ing of genres includes such varied things as t e explanation of the origin of the names of towns and villages, 3- the names of streams, rivers, and lakes, the names of geographical areas, and--the major focus of this essay--the surnames of clan families. The pogularity of these co~~pledgenres may be illustrated with an example, which may then be used to demonstrate several points. The origin of the surname K~lubalL(or Igl~bal~i),according to one variant legend, is said to be with the king of the realm of Karta, a Bamana kingdom which existed from the 16th through the -centuries. The raconteur may not have known the king's - actual name, for he called him simply mansa, which means 'king/ lord/master. ' P72nsa1s younger brother was .said to be the king of Segp-actual-rival Barnana kingdom, which existed at the samnme as Ic~rta. One day, as the story goes, k&nsa expressed his wish to gTT53'i-t his younger brother, but, because be was having a feud with the fishermen clans (called ~bmbnb),~he was refused the use of their boats to help him cross the Figer River. D'gnsa had abducted a ~omonbwoman without paying the customary brideprice for her, The refusal of the boats did not stop mnsa, and he sacrificed a black cock and two red kola nuts to the great V catfish of the PJiger. The catfish called up a hippopotamus, upon whose back Kansa crossed the river. The Son'onb bards (called jgli in am-kndenka, but better known among foreigners by mr ~rmesignati6ngriot) sang praises to their enemy, who had greatly impressed them with his knowledge of the occult. They gave him three praise namesr5 ti,'master-/owner-of- the-waters,' nogo-ti& 'master-of-people' (this praise name is commonly used with other men as well), and kurun-bali, '[the one- who-crossed-the-river-)without-a-boat. ' Kurun-oali is thus said to be the original form of Kulubali and was taken for the new clan f amilyvs surname, while catf Eh and/or hippopotamus meat became their tabu food, This combination of folk etymology and etiological legend is the domain of the general public in t'ali, whether actively carried on by being passed from person to person (as father to son, or whatever) or passively carried in people's memories. 4s we saw earlier, however, they are very often recited by professional bards as well-polished and (for the folklorist) ''typeable" narratives. The actual explanation of the folk etymology in these well-polished narratives comes at the end of the story, as fin-- r?lnrh 3 ine in a jocular tale, as we saw in the K~~lubali legend above.

Turning to form, tho IIVP~I~S+L~~of the various hypothetical particles in a surname is not restricted by either segmental, suprasegmental, or even grammatical rules for the spoken language. I\?oreover, the meanings of the various parts of a word being de- fined are fairly .liberally explained. In essence, semantic ex- tensions are highly permissible, much more so than in everyday speech. Let us take the case of suprasegmentals first. There exists in Bamana/Mgndenka the 1.inguistic phenomenon of tone, and there are twotbnes and three off-glides. It is important to note that in both the historical development of this ?language and in its dialectical spread, the single most conservative e,lement in its change is tone. Imspite of this fact, the tone of a word never appears to restrict the explanation of a hypothetical particle in a folk etymology. In the example cited above, the tones in the surname K~lubgli- do not match those of the words for 'boat,' kurun, and lwithou$,* bali. Incidentally, the tone rules for proper names (and loan words) are specified sometimes by syllable, rather than by morpheme and combinations of morphemes, as in the regular grammar. The tones for Ei~lub~liare low-high-low-low, while both kurun and bali are hiatonewords. In the case of segmentals, phonemes are often changed between the form of the surname and its 'folk explanation. Again using the surname Kglubgli as our example, kurun, #boat,' (with an /r/ and a nasalized vowel in final position) becomes kulu (with an /I/ and a non-nasalized vowel). On the other hand, these sound differences occur most often along predictable paths and final nasalization is frequently lost in the spoken language. Further- more, /r/ and /1/ often alternate across dialect boundaries. The same surname can be used to illustrate how the grammatical rules of the spoken language are relaxed in folk etymologies. Bali, l without, l is a suffix normally added to verbs. In this case, it is being added to the noun kurun, lboat., The particle -ntan with the same meaning, is the suffix added to nouns, and is what one would expect from the rules of the grammar. Kgluntgn would be the proper form, but this discrepancy does not deter the apparent need in P%li to find "logical explanationsw for the origins of things, no matter how far the. rules must be stretched in order to do so, , - In other instances, explanations go even further afield.. For example, the word Bamana itself is, explained in one variant folk etymology as meaning 'those who' refused/re jected the Lord1 ; i. e. , 'pagan,' This folk etymol-ogy is described as being derived from thewords ban, fto:reject/refu~e';'mgn, -. with -= added to make mansa, lloWking/master1; and m, a rather6vague suffix, but is explained as being a postposition. Ban-mgnsa-na is then said .to contract to $amana. In the same miant, iv~ndenka is said to mean 'the children of the Lord1 ; i. e,, , lMoslerns. ' ' a Here, the racpnteur again added -s to man to get mgnsa, -'lord[ --.. _ king/rnaster , l and then added. this to den, meaning -=d/off- spring/fruit,' etc. The -& is &n actual grammatical suffix meaning fperson/citizen of ,,l and was so explained in. the folk etymology as well. KFsa-den-ka, we are told, contracts to Mgndenka. The word maTnEdentally, is sometimes used in parts of !Cali to mean 'pagan1 and, in this context, does not designate the ethnic group. The legend, .then, states that the Bamaria split off from the .nT~ndenkaand became a separate ethnic group- when Islam came to E'ali. In act,ual fact, there are both ~~oslemand non-r%oslem.Bamang in modern. IYali, and the same is true for the Pandenka, , . Finally, a variant explairliilg the origin of the surname Tarawere (or Tarawele*) will illustrate 'the extent to which a raconteur will go wiCh semantic exte.nsion. This variant states that the surname originated with Tira Frgm, the great general in Sun Jgtals army. It was Sunma-ts who established the mian -re of the 12th ce-c~~iraI'.;agan -is remembered in legend for conquering the ~ambia-fqrm-r;.thus doubling the size of the empire. The raconteur stated that Tira Pr&gan became in- volved in ahy quarrel within his hearing rm,wnether or not it concerned him. When as.ked why he "stuck his ,n.ose into other people's business," he would reply, "3' taara wele,-" "'1 was summoned to come. lWThe raconteur then went on to explain that this meant that the 'sound of a quarrel would summon him to come forth. -.r\lltaara wele, however., means some%hing like '1 went to be -summoned. It may even be ungrammatical in Bamana and would probably beIJ3aara, &'awele. Conversely, !I was summoned to come ' would probably be samething like -KV. weleel a1 La na, . . . + To sum up about form, we might add that the grammatical and se- mant ic extent ions allowed in explaining these f.olk etymologies permit- a host of varignts to occu'r for the same surname. For instance, in a.not her variant, the surname Tarawere is said-to have originated with another ancestor , Adulaui (or Adulayi;

~bd-&-I aahi in ) Tarawere, who ' was the son FfFusani (%usam), one of the Prophet lXahammadl s twin grandsons . ~aulasi is said to have had two pairs of eyes, one in the front of his head and one in the back. Ta ra wa ra is c1airne.d to be Arabic for 'he sees and sees.' Actually, this explanation is closer to meaning 'she sees and sees' in Classical Arabic, which would be tara wa tara, 'I;e sees and seest would be yara wa yara. I-*_ A third variant explaining the origin of this surname goes as follows. There was once an orphan living in a village, and he decided to go into the bush one day. A cultivator, in the mean- time, had set fire to that particular place in order to clear land for planting, and the bush burned down completely. The boy, however, emerged unharmed, and when the farmer saw him ccme forth, he said, "I.lgn-- y*i nyk- w~len?", '* What made your eyes red?'" The boy replied, "Ta yrg Egm,'*'The fire made them red! f* From the words forTf?rZ,' 9,and 'to be made red/ lawglen, then, the surname Tarawere is said to have been derived. Turning to some of the many uses and functions of these paired genres, students of West African folklore will already know that some professional bards make their entire living by the recita- tion of folklore forms. In the past, casted griots were often attached to royal clan families who supported them fully, and it was the griots who'kept the "family historyw of these clans. Although these family histories are still kept, the present-day governing and economic systems of D:ali have rendered this patron- protege system obsolete, and griots often depend upon other means of livelihood, such as farming, to augment their incomes. byore- over, they sometimes specialize in more than one family history, and those histories have often become wminiaturizedfl into the paired genres we are discussing here. To complicate matters, griots often accuse other griots of "invent ingw etiological based on Tqfalsewetymologies merely in order to please their pa- trons so as to receive remuneration for their lffakelore.g' We know of one case, related by the official poet laureate of Eali, Jgli Ba Sgmana, Sisbkb, where a wealthy merchant from the city omgrcame to -, the present capital, on business. There, axot approamim one evening and recited to him an etiological legend concerning the origin-of the merchant ' s family. This greatly pleased the merchant and caused him--as one might expect--to be very generous with the griot. Upon returning to Segg, the merchant summoned what Ba Sgmana referred to as "honest'* griots and asked them to tell him?iiomhLs family history. These griots explained that he had merely been tricked for his money, and that he was actually the descendent of a slave, freed during the 19th century. Yhile credence must be considered a characteristic of these coupled forms, credibility is often questioned by griot and non-griot alike. i . ; # .. .- The panegyric use :of. $he\&.-&ubjed f o&k$ 'is. au&rie&$d ,by a.$&j,o' : rative us-e asl well; . Griots ,are..knowh to ve& their;' anger QQ ,

their enemjes ,: pr ,si?lply.on anyoLne.*who. ha.srdispleased them, ' T,hey .

are one of; the very few. groups in&ali who have the spcial * ,

license to eqress ve,rbal,displeasure in public, without' employing ,, and :iithout' b~ingcorisideyed ill-mannered, and even. ,

then they-risk havingzevenge.. a . taken,, . I on them. ,. ', , :dl.

. ,. , +*. \",' f TO cite. an ex&mple of a.p'j orat iv.e ikgend,'.. the Dabd surLh~-,in ". . Vali is, bo,me-by. a clan family ,,which is .sometimes a-blac,ksmith' . , clan. When acting as blacksmiths, the ~abb'sare' casted %n.,~$ost,' parts of Mali. Buried in a variant of the Sun Jata epic; we found the f 04lr)wing e.t ialogical, . legend, h-ere in -i$s ,full,.. ,.. . linear translatian:, , . . . w ..+ ,.. :3- -.. <: -,. . , *a .. 8 - -( 4 '. ., ., - , - '. . i The great. ii&, ($hat1is ~'iin:~&.ta) 60iik. ipn.a;kd.~&nt; it0. .. +he : home of the an~-~stor* WD&~&b~acksmitki~ c&n, s., He (the -33abb) was bojlihg.,[occu~hedicine'..- The ancestor of the Dab6 clan said: ' '

...

...... I.

1 ., I r

\

I. -. a * : ,*' r* . ' , As a result, Sgd-;Tat,a be,came angry, , And put his YEE-, -he heel of the grandf&ther-02 ii~f.5 . . . ., !, A .f -. . .- :of<: '.) .it (' , fhe,p,abh clan;farr$iy. *- ;.,':I I. '9 Z -. , , .. f' t .. P: " ' he~pg:;~o&g'ra~.~;.ea:;~:~.g'ib .., . a)' , . ."' '2 ' a b,$,? ' : The phrase 2.di 2 b6, -Msnnd@ is explainea ZE ThTbasis of this folk et?rn$lFg~ .and the sur-

name ~abbis claimed to have been derived frdm-.it. '' . . . a. r , ..a...... , > -. I In .I, ,2. I 1.. f. .'re .. ; . . ,, ,, .! ,.:* . I' . ,".c , I.. The above examples illustratk two uses of these paired genres, praising and cursing a clan, the former foq+economic.gab (among other reaso*s) and the : latt,er,for a .-h,ast of .Fe.as.ans,, among them revenge. '.Another .mope subt,l$ q,&; may EXXS & fie" i,lSus%ratecl, , . ..I . , ...... "... ic ! . . . . :.. , 1 ,.; ' . .' . a .." I !,,; . :. .. . : In our opinion, o.ne of.t8e .major functions. of f o.llrio$e in general ' is to defi'ne gr,qii'p .b~undqies.. Theyterm etiology itself imp&ig.a -' . an import&% fupction, .that of helping to explain the 'vJHD'& I .-

questidh., wh3db ,[email protected]:witfi ma.ikind since. he emerged. a-

from hLs pr&nit$v.e stages,. eome now say as .-h.my as' eight million. *' :- years:+ago.-.' Whei"bqs the. rkl$gious legend ('or. ) t~fAdam and . . . . Eve (for the Nosl'ems), and that of the descent.of.the fami- lies on a chain from heaven (for many of the traditionalists) . - help to answer $he question of .the absbluts origin of mankind for -.:. most Bamana/yde~k&pe3pples, as cl&nf&piiy groups, the paired . - . genres ~d%f+&sc.v=ion help- to answer the-WKC.BM I aues-tion for -. . 8, later generati'dn$.: ',., ., , . , ...... , .. . . :i. , ' b ...... <' .P 0 ' :. To cite .&XI =example, the casted gri6-t clan family Jabat8 &e' said to be an off-branch of the Tarawer;l; clan family,, anrlAave; cob: lected from at least one Jgbat& riot whu:used the traaitional- praise namefi of the srkwerep for% s own. The identical orig3n :- and later splitting off is explained ,by another 18genB. buried inside a. variant of the' epia of. Jgta, aumm+yized\. below; . - . - . . J ta*stm6tLdris skid .l;b'ha-~-eaescehdii f& a great borcer- .: % & theankiant la?& oE & (or a).Upon"becorningangry .- with her *'neph'&w'the- kcin&,,.this sorceress began. to ravqgi the - .,,

land and degtroy...the :gdsulace.. .The queen of ps bas.from' the .. #. Manden (Ha&-&.;of:olC)', @nd 'she. .gummoneb her ~%wbb.rothek8 viho were E?&l%Z8 to comePfsr$h arid--cid the Sand of this rioecer8ss, who ,. appeared In --theLfoh 6f a tornado .and of a buffalo wtth.sgolden

horns, s&lvek:.ear&, , and golden and slrlver hooire.k. and f &$L, Thesei -.* %i!~~!#ersbrothers: oame and overpowere.tl..the sorceress throygh . , . ..+ occult means and with the sorcereseVs own help. NaturalIy,'%hey... also had the help of predestination. Sveptua1,Iy.tfhey'.chose the -: kingts ugliest daughter as their Yewar-d--%hey had been directed to do so by a dttviner, or.by a grateful dog which .they 'b&$ fed (depending on the' variant)--end this ugly woman, who.becq Sun * s mother, is traded to Sun JataVs father for an~ttheeqwoGq,: is sometimeq said to be %f% a'Fier of Tira W&g&n. .. , . . .., " . . - ,, . . . . '. Now, the younger -erg brother was the brave' 'orie, whdl&he : a elder was a gentle man. The yourrge'r overpowered and killed. the buffalo-woman, .and.the8-lcler, who had fIed u& a tree, sang a long . . preiee poem to his younger' brother when the seed was ffnl8Bed; -1 .

The younger brother tpeq replied to .=thee$8er I . ' , . a . . . .-. +.,. f' . .. *. I . *, - C *. , 1 . < ...* . - . ..\ . . i' VA&,'.N~ ki&,: . . , . . . , ., . E kB .jgli,ye,, j&-?-baga,t$sbr!aila,i : .. -. mana .; .

. a. . .,- - r.. , *"Ah, myelde*, , '-. . ,.* . .. . .! *C' ~f -you:bqcke+a' ones who @wd'uld'refuse you .- - . [gifts] could not be fo~d.* J$-ba a ts is said to be the basis of the surname ~aba~atz(in En& en arand Jabaat& (in ~amana), and the two brothers beco~le %he fathers of two :,great men: the younger of .-Tira Ma+an, and the elder of Kala-jan' Sangoyi ~abaat6,.the grlot who is reported in this tradi- to have orlg=the epic of Sun Jgta. The recitation of this legend, then, ties the. .~gbaat'exd- ~ara- -were clan families together socially by expressing the belief in their common origins. Legend after legend in Mali, and not all, of them based on folk etymologies, function in this way. Indeed, other typeseof social relationships which exist in!MalS today are often "explainedw by legend; . - l!?hile other uses and func ,ic& yet unexplored must exist for these paired genres, these examples will give.some idea of their occurrence. in Nali, In conclusion, it might .be said that the coupling of these two genres (and tripling, as -in the case of their occurrence inside an epic poem) is very common in Nali, Folk etymologies with etiological legends play a vital role (or roles) in the lives of the Bamana and Mgndenka peoples in Mali and 'are but one example of the many forms of folklore which are 'alive and well in ,this fascinating and very old cuzture in West Africa.. , ._

NOTES. 1. This essay was delivered -as a paper at the 1975 American Folklore Society annual convent~ionin New Orleans. Research was carried out in the Republic of Mali from October 1973 through February 1975, and was sponsored as a Foreign Area Fellowship by the Social Science Research Cohqcil. .I should like to express 'my gratitude to the S.S.R.C. and also to M. Marnadu Sarr and ttie .entire staff of the ~Institutdes Sciences Humaines du Nali, which gave me much assistance in my work. The content of this essay is my own responsibility, however, and any error occurring in it is mine alone. 2. Tone marks used in this essay follow the system employed in the language materials used for teaching Bamana at Indiana University. Except for some surnames and in Bamana which may vary from syllable to syllable (for example. the surname K~lubgli), the tone of a word in ~amana/mnd~nka- is usually uniform far the entire word. Certain arammatlcal rules will alter tone, particularly in the final syllable, but a detailed description of tone rules is beyond the scope of this essay. Suffice it to say here that high-tone words are left unmarked, while low-tone words are marked by under- lining only the first vowel in the word (for example, si ilan, 'chair1). For a complete explanation of the of fi- &national transcription, which is used throughout t his essay, see the government publication Lexique Bambara & l'usa~edes centres dlalphabe'tisation (Bamako, ?;inistkre stionNationale: Education de Base, 1968) pp. 33. I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Charles S. Bird, F:amadou Kante, and Adama Timbo, all presently of Indiana University, for carefully reading this essay and helping to mark the tones of the ~am&a/~andenkawords.. 3. See, for example, Dominique [~~oulouba]Traore s two articles on the origin of the name and site of the present capital of Nali, Bamako, "Su'r 1' origine de la ville 2e Ikmako," Notes Africaines 35 (Dakar: Inst itut Francais de 1 Afrique Noire, 1947) : 26-27; and "Une seconde le'gend relative a l1origin de la ville de Bamako, " Notes Africaines 40(1948) :7-8. 4. For a short explanation of the term ~6mbn6,which is a clan - grouping and not a surname, see: Bokar MtDiaye, "Les Bozo et les Somono'* in his Lies Castes a Mali (BamakotEditions Populaires, 1970) pp. 59-65. 5. Pattern numbers are used often and consistently in ~amana/ hl~ndenkafolklore. One griot used only three-patterns for men and masculine affairs, and four-patterns for women and feminine affairs. After questioning several Malians acquainted with their own folklore, I was told that this number patterning is very common. 6. A postposition in ~amana/~i.ndenkais essentially the same as a preposition in EFgTEE, except for its syntactic placement. It comes after, rather than before, its object.