“What’s in a name?” Swahili toponymy of past towns on the East African coast

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F49777513%3A23330%2F22%3A43966170" target="_blank" >RIV/49777513:23330/22:43966170 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/kervan/article/view/6892" target="_blank" >https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/kervan/article/view/6892</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.13135/1825-263X/6892" target="_blank" >10.13135/1825-263X/6892</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

“What’s in a name?” Swahili toponymy of past towns on the East African coast

Original language description

For the last century, archaeologists have surveyed and studied sites on the Swahili coast of East Africa, that represent the remains of past Swahili settlements and, in few cases, living historical towns. This paper is the first discussion of a collection of the names under which these past towns have been known, some of which may date back to the precolonial period. The present enquiry is concerned with the analysis of linguistic features, folk etymology and the conceptual content of these toponyms. It considers the recognised important themes in archaeology and history of the Swahili society, such as the political functioning of these towns as city states and the attested social and economic relevance of trade, the built environment and the role of the ocean. Utilising this knowledge, it reflects on how the names contributed to place-making and defining the identity of these towns both as individual entities and as part of the Swahili cultural sphere. The interdisciplinary approach and perspectives (linguistic and archaeological) help to elucidate the connection between the socio-historical relevance of these sites and their cultural conceptualisations.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_SC - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the SCOPUS database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60102 - Archaeology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GJ20-02725Y" target="_blank" >GJ20-02725Y: Comparing urban morphological transformation in precolonial to colonial urban traditions</a><br>

Continuities

P - Projekt vyzkumu a vyvoje financovany z verejnych zdroju (s odkazem do CEP)

Publication year

2022

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Kervan: International Journal of African and Asian Studies

ISSN

1825-263X

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

26

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

IT - ITALY

Number of pages

23

Pages from-to

3-26

UT code for WoS article

—

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85141045259