The toponyms and their meanings among the basa’a people: towards a preservation of cultural and ancestral heritage

The meaning of toponyms among the Basa’a people helps demystify toponymy and as a result, highlights its interest and cultural value. As a science, typonymy is not an exclusivity observed only amidst African peoples even less among the Basa'a. Therefore, every place has its own name that makes the difference with other places around the world. Among the Basa'a people, typonymy give praises to the people as well as social events, ferocious or mild animals and so on. Here, the name of a village for example is more often than of one common ancestor, explaining the filiation relationship. The choice and attribution of toponyms stem from a school of wisdom that takes into account durability. From generation to generation, humans are supposed to safeguard these toponyms, understand their meaning as well as their socio-historical context of their origin. However, people from other communities failed in their duty when they got in contact with foreign languages and cultures and could no longer transmit and value the ancestral culture.