The Concept Of Nommo (The Power Of The Word) & The African American Vernacular Terms "Word As Bond", "Word!" and "Word Up!"

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest revision-September 28, 2019, 10:17 AM

This pancocojams post presents information about the African concept of the power of the spoken word and information and examples of the 1980s [now retired] African American Vernacular English terms "Word is bond", "Word!", and "Word up!"

The content of this post is presented for linguistics and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF NOMMO
The full article and excerpts that are found below are given in no particular order. Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Full Article #1*:
From https://www.culturesofwestafrica.com/power-of-words/ The Power of Words, Daybo, 15 April 2018
The ‘word’ in West African cultures, once loosened from the lips as if drawing back the strings of a talisman pouch, diffuses a special force, the primal energy of creation itself.

To speak is to exhale an active essence, Oro according to the Yoruba of Nigeria and Benin. For the Mande — ranging from coastal rainforests to the sparse Sahel and Sahara — the spoken word embodies the occult, generative, productive power of Nyama.

With the talismanic power not only to protect but to alter the course of events, the word alone, by its very utterance, can cause change. Nommo, the conception that life, its very actualization, rests ultimately on the word, reverberates throughout West Africa; the ancient, residual echo of the Bantu who once lived there. Among the Tiv in Northern Nigeria the concept of vital force is known as tsav; and among the Fon of Benin it is se, both of which refer to ‘’the power to cause to happen.’’

The African child until publicly named, the incantation until given voice, the art or the craft until accompanied by speech is not truly “brought forth” to take its place in the natural world. It is what is explicit, what is said, that is powerful, prolific, procreant.

The generative and dynamic power of Nommo is given full breath and breadth, in the art of dialogue and conversation, so iconic of the African continent.

“Speech is not in people’s hands. People are in the hands of speech”
—Mande proverb

The sharing of words, the vitality of conversation and dialogue — the very emanation of the productive power of Nommo, Oro, Nyama to bring into being, illuminate, affirm, heal, rectify, and to change the world — is deeply intrinsic to the indigenous cultures of Africa. Discussion is “alive”, a breathing, vibrant, ongoing interaction that animates all levels of African society. “He who tells people what he does never suffers mishap” (Igbo proverb) and likewise, “Anyone who seeks public opinion does not enter into trouble” (Gokana proverb).

“From old mouths to new ears”
— Fula proverb

[inserted: Painting of two abstract figures talking.
Painting by Cecil Skotnes.]

If words are a measure of man, then nowhere are they given more value than when spoken by an elder, the repository of communal wisdom. An elder leads with words, as a bow guides an arrow, and for he who listens, according to the Igbo, it is as if he had consulted an oracle. Among the Efik, “The words of one’s elders are greater than amulets”. It is from a ‘Togu Na’ (house of words) somewhere along the Bandiagara Escarpement in central Mali, that a Dogon elder’s verbs respire; the vaporous breath of the amphibious ancestral spirits (also named Nommo) that give wisdom and order to the world.

Wise and nommo-infused words in traditionally oral societies, such as those in West Africa, must be continually re-called, re-created, re-interpreted. And so they are, through the rich and resilient traditions of story-telling, myth-making, proverb-creating, praise-singing, so prevalent and exemplary in these cultures.

“The word is the horse on which proverbs ride”
— Yoruba proverb

The collective wisdom of a people, the manner in which it perceives the human condition, the codes, values, and interrelationships that bestow its identity, are given voice by the panoply of words, adages and tales that it creates. Proverbs and stories are the horsemen, the escorts, the messengers of culture, traversing generations and the boundaries of time.

“It is the story … that saves our progeny from blundering like blind beggars into the spikes of the cactus fence. The story is our escort; without it, we are blind”.

— Chinua Achebe

Orature, whether dispersed by the Akan folk spirit of all knowledge of stories, Anansi, or transmitted musically by the traditional griots of West Africa, is dynamic. Unbound by the pen, words, proverbs, tales and then histories are in themselves living, ongoing dialogues … “in which the present seeks to find its roots in what is remembered, or invented, of the past”.

When West Africa exhales, magic emerges."
-snip-
I've presented this complete article except for drawings and reference citations.

Pancocojams Editor's Note:
Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nommo for information about the Nommo in Dogon (West Africa) cosmology/ mythology. I think that the Dogons are the source of the word Nommo as used by African American afrocentric professor Molefi Asante. If I'm incorrect about this, please correct this statement. Thanks.

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Article Excerpt #1
From Nommo: Self-Naming and Self-Definition - University of Missouri
web.missouri.edu
"Nommo, then, an African term which cultural theorist, Molefi Asante, calls "the generative and productive power of the spoken word," means the proper naming of a thing which in turn gives it essence (Asante 17). Particularizing the concept, Nommo, in the power of the word . . . activates all forces from their frozen state in a manner that establishes concreteness of experience . . . be they glad or sad, work or play, pleasure or pain, in a way that preserves [one's] humanity" (Harrison xx)."...

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Article Excerpt #2
From https://www.soulpreaching.com/nommo-creative-power-of-the-word Soul Preaching: Nommo, the creative power of the word by Sherman Haywood Cox II, no date given, retrieved on September 27, 2019
.... "Definition of Nommo
Nommo is an Afrocentric term employed by Molefi Asante that refers to the powers of the word to generate and create reality. Asante further sees it as a communal that event that moves towards the creation and maintenance of the community. Melbourne S. Cummings and Abhik Roy quote Asante as also seeing Nommo as the power of the word to create harmony and balance in disharmony.

Keys for Preachers
Nommo is holistic and not dualistic. It seeks to use the power of language to overstep dualities. Cummings and Abhik Roy referred to this idea being in the concept of rhythm.

Nommo points to the power of language to change reality. This idea is implicit in certain preachers that are called “transformational.” This is implied in the definition that says that Nommo is the creative power of the word.

Nommo points to the inability to separate form from truth. While some would say that you have truth and you drape it in words, especially some traditional preachers, Nommo comes from the perspective that words cannot be separated from form and that the form itself holds some truth.

Nommo points to the importance of speaking to a community rather than to individuals. The whole point of Nommo, as described above, is to build community. This is done through a communal experience with the spoken word.

Nommo points to a “participation” of the community in the word rather than just being passive listeners. The goal of Nommo is to bring about a unified community who are at one with the word that comes through repetition and in a form that is easily entered."
-snip-
Read #9 in the "Online Excerpts" section below for another comment about "Nommo".

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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S NOTE ABOUT "WORD!" AND RELATED AFRICAN AMERICAN VERNACULAR TERMS
"Word as bond", "Word!", and "Word Up!" have been retired from colloquial use in the United States since at least the late 1990s. However, as demonstrated in a section of this post, these terms may still be used to convey an old school flavor to one's speech.

A version of this post was published on pancocojams in January 2019 as Part I of a two part series. Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/01/online-excerpts-about-african-american.html for that post.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/01/cameos-1986-hit-record-word-up.html for Part II of this series. Part II showcases Cameo's 1986 Funk and Rock & Roll song "Word Up!".

Also click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/01/early-1960s-birds-word-record-by.html for a pancocojams post on the 1963 song "The Bird's The Word "and its 1963 cover "Surfin Bird" by The Trashmen. In those songs "the word" means "the best", and/or "cool" ("hip"). Those meanings are different from the later African American vernacular usages of "the word", "word up" etc.

I revisited this subject as a result of reading excerpts of a book on African oral traditions. That book is showcased in this September 2019 pancocojams post entitled "Excerpts From "Oral Literature In Africa" Book By Ruth Finnegan (Part I) https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/09/excerpts-from-oral-literature-in-africa.html.

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ONLINE EXCERPTS ABOUT "WORD AS BOND", "WORD", AND "WORD UP"
These online excerpts are given in no particular order, with numbers added for referencing purpose only.

I. From https://www.quora.com/When-someone-says-word-in-reply-what-does-it-mean
1. Trevor Paul Turner, Answered Apr 18, 2015...
"It means: yes, or I agree, or you've said something that appeals to me. It evolved from "word to your mother" which meant honestly: I swear to your mother it is true... Then evolved to "word up" which was a generic catch all positive reply to many types of questions or positive affirmations. it is a bit of old school that has kind of hung on probably because is sounds so street to say instead of "yes"."

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2. Ila Sajoir, Answered Jul 14, 2017...
"The phrase “word “comes from a few phrases the first being“word is bond”.. it means your word is your bond so anything you say you are bonded to. Its an old black american slang. Many old rappers used it in the 80s or 90s in their lyrics. If somebody said “word is bond” at the begining or ending of a phrase it means they mean 100 percent what they are saying and they are not lying or joking.

[Example]:….Did he really say that I dont believe it….- “word is bond. he yelled it in the street everybody heard it”. .. it kind of has the same meaning as “ I swear”..[ex2] are you really coming tomorrow I cannot wait all day if you are not coming, are you really coming{person2}. “word is bond”.

It then changed to other forms like word up, or word to the mother..( I swear to my mother) . And even just WORD.

“Word up that movie sucked.. same meaning as I swear that movie sucked. . .

It then came to also mean I agree. If two people swear on the same topic they normally agree..{example}you are in a group and somebody asks the group.. I heard that movie sucked is that true—[two people together ] “word”

So if your text was..” that was the best movie I seen all year”..

If the person says .”word.”. it means they agree..

or they give their word what they said before was true"...
-snip-
This comment is given as it was found in that discussion, except for the eclipses (...) at the end.

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II.
From https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/25086/what-are-the-meaning-and-possible-origin-of-word-and-word-up
1. Wulfhart, asked May 12 '11 at 17:37
"Several times, I have had conversations, all over instant messenger, finish with "word" or "Word up G".

As it ends a conversation, I am guessing it is like "goodbye".

My question is what is the meaning of "word" and "word up g"? Also, what is the origin?

I am more interested in the meaning as that will help with understanding its usage."

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2. Wulfhart May 13 '11
"I ended up asking the guy, he said it meant, "I agree". Thank you"

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3. phenry, answered May 12 '111
"Both are generally used to mean "I agree." The terms are from late 1980s hip-hop slang. As Ed Guiness notes, popular usage probably originated with the single Word Up! by Cameo."

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4. 5arx Jul 19 '12 at 23:17
"The expression was in common use loooong before that Cameo single."
-snip-
phenry would be correct if he or she had written that Cameo's record probably raised awareness of and increased the usage in the United States of the already existing African American Vernacular English use of "Word Up".

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9. Callithumpian, May 12 '11
"In his 2006 Roc the Mic Right: The Language of Hip Hop Culture, H. Samy Alim quotes Geneva Smitherman on this use of word:

The African American oral tradition is rooted in a belief in the power of the Word. The African concept of Nommo, the Word, is believed to be the force of life itelf.[sic] To speak is to make something come into being. Once something is given the force of speech, it is binding—hence the familiar saying "Yo word is yo bond," which in today's Hip Hop Culture has become WORD IS BORN. The Hip Hop expressions WORD, WORD UP, WORD TO THE MOTHER, and similar phrases all stem from the value placed on speech. Creative, highly verbal talkers are valued.

And the concept of someone's word being their bond is as old as dirt (or at least dates back to Shakespeare's time)"

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10. cobra libre Mar 7 '15
"See also Felicia M. Miyakawa, Five Percenter Rap: God Hop's Music, Message, and Black Muslim Mission, 2005: "... the affirmations 'word' and 'word is bond,' common to hip-hop argot of the 1980s and 1990s, derive from Five Percenter lessons."

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11. Dictionary treatments of 'word' and 'word up,' 1994–2005 [Note: This excerpt is from that same etymology discussion thread.]

Geneva Smitherman, Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner (1994) has two relevant entries, for word/word up and word is born:

WORD!/WORD UP! A response of affirmation. Also Word to the Mother! Word Up is also the title of a music magazine published in New Jersey. [Cross reference omitted.]

WORD IS BORN! An affirmative response to a statement or action. Also Word!, Word up!, Word to the Mother! A resurfacing of an old familiar saying in the Black Oral Tradition, "Yo word is yo bond," which was popularized by the FIVE PERCENT NATION [formed in 1964] in its early years. Word is born! reaffirms strong belief in the power of the word, and thus the value of verbal commitment. One's word is the guarantee, the warranty, the bond, that whatever was promised will actually occur. Born is a result of the A[frican] A[mrican] E[nglish] pronunciation of "bond"; [cross reference omitted].

Smitherman also has this entry for G:

G 1) A form of address for a male, usually one who is HIP or DOWN. Probably the AAE version of "guy." Also man (older term); money (newer term). 2) A woman a man has a relationship with.

I should note that Smitherman offers this reading of G while fully aware of the term OG, which has this entry in her book:

OG Original Gangster; a gang member who has earned PROPS because of his bold actions.

Clarence Major, Juba to Jive: A Dictionary of African American Slang (1994) has these entries:

Word interj. (1950s–1990s) affirmation spoken in agreement; the truth; street culture gospel. (T[erry] W[illiams], [The] C[ocaine] K[ids: The Inside Story of a Teenage Drug Ring (1989)], p. 138.) Example: "Word! I was there, I aw it with my own eyes." S[outhern] C[ity] U[se], P[imp and] P[rostitute] U[se], Y[outh] C[ulture] U[se], D[rug] C[ulture] U[se].

Word up! interj. (1980s–1990s) call for attention; used as an exression of one's word of honor. (W[illiam] K[.] B[entley and] J[ames] M[.] C[orbett], P[rison] S[lang: Words and Expressions Depicting Life Behind Bars (1992)], p.51.) Example: "Word up, the cops are down there right now busting Rickie." S[outhern] C[ity] U[se].

Major does not have an entry for G in the sense of "guy," although he does include entries for G as a noun meaning "a thousand dollars" (from the 1940s–1950s) and as a verb meaning "to have sexual intercourse with" (1990s). Major's entry for O.G. notes only its meaning (from the period 1900s–1950s) "Old Girl; mother." Smitherman dates "yo word is yo bond" to 1964, and Major dates "word" (as affirmation) to the 1950s. Nevertheless, Major's earlier Dictionary of Afro-American Slang (1970) has no entry for any form of word.

It's interesting that, publishing in the same year (1994), Professor Smitherman of Michigan State sees "Word" and "Word up" (and "Word is born") as essentially interchangeable expressions of agreement, while Professor Major of the University of California at Davis, sees "Word" as an expression of agreement but "Word up" as, in the first instance, a call for attention, and, in the second, an attestation along the lines of "I swear."

This inconstancy underscores an essential problem with defining slang words: Since they don't show up in popular use neatly predefined, they are subject to multiple interpretations by the people who hear and adopt them; as a result, it is not at all unlikely that a term may mean one thing in one locale and another in another. This phenomenon might serve as a caution to authors not to assume that a slang term's usage across a diverse but definable group (such as "African Americans") is settled and uniform—especially in its early years of propagation.

Robert Chapman & Barbara Kipfer, Dictionary of American Slang, third edition (1995) offers these relevant entries:

word 1 interj 1980s black teenagers An exclamation of agreement and appreciation, used when someone has said something important or profound: If it's really meaningful, "Word, man, word" should be used—["City Teen-Agers Talking Up a 'Say What?' Storm"] New York Times [(August 29, 1983)] 2 interj =WORD UP

word up interj 1980s black An exhortation to listen, to pay attention: Word up, fool. We be fresh tonight.—Carsten Stroud [Close Pursuit (1987)] {probably based on listen up}

Chapman & Kipfer cites instances from the 1980s that corroborate Major's claim that "word" and "word up" had different senses in at least some parts of the United States. Nevertheless, ten years later, Jeremy Sideris & Brittany McWilliams, From Grill to Dome: A Dictionary of African American Slang Words and Phrases (2005) indicates that the Smitherman view (that the terms "word" and "word up" have essentially the same meaning) has prevailed in the broader marketplace of African American English speech:

Word: Statement of agreement. See also booyah, down, fo' shizzle my nizzle, fo' zizzle my nizzle, really though, true dat, and word-up.

Word-up: Strong statement of agreement. See also booyah, down, fo' shizzle my nizzle, fo' zizzle my nizzle, really though, true dat, and word.

According to Sideris & McWilliams, the only difference between the two words is in the degree of strength implied in the statement of agreement.

A note on 'word is bond'

With regard to Smitherman's comment that "yo word is yo bond" is "an old familiar saying in the Black Oral Tradition," that familiarity may be due to the fact that the same essential idea has been a proverb in English since at least 1500."...

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EXAMPLES OF THE TERM "WORD" OR "WORD UP" FROM A YOUTUBE DISCUSSION THREAD FOR THE HIP HOP RECORD "THE SHOW" BY DOUG E. FRESH & SLICK RICK [Added September 27, 2019]
Pancocojams Editor: These comments are examples of the contemporary use of the terms "word" or "word up" that were used in a contemporary YouTube discussion thread. Equivalent meanings for those words are "That's right."; "I agree with everything you just said."

Note that African Americans have retired the vernacular terms "word"/"word up" (and other "word" phrases) have been retired from contemporary use. However, the commenters may have used those vernacular phrases as a way of honoring their use in the lyrics for the 1985 record "The Show"* and/or the commenters may be mimicking the vernacular terms that they or others used in the mid 1980s. Also notice the terms such as "Damn straight", "Amen", "true that", and "Ikr" that are used in these comment exchanges. I believe those contemporary (2019) terms have equivalent meanings to the 1980s retired vernacular terms "word" and "word up".

*Lines from "The Show":
"[Slick Rick]
Well, here's a little something that needs to be heard
Doug, I was going downtown (word, Rick?) Word!"
From http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-show-lyrics-doug-e-fresh.html http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-show-lyrics-doug-e-fresh.html
Numbers are added to these comments for referencing purposes.

Comments From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDkqz5C62SM
1. david starr, 2018
"Old school rap is way better than today's wack rap beats."

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REPLY
2. David Fullam, 2018
"AMEN!!!"

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REPLY
3. Phil Duclos, 2019
"You damn right! Amen!"

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REPLY
4. Oddysea Cat, 2019
"Shhh nobody needs 90’s people bashing our music ;-;


(Ps your only listening to the mainstream rappers there are better ones)"

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REPLY
5. VINNY VIN, 2019
"Damn straight💯"

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REPLY
6. Dino Yamraj, 2019
"Wurd!!!!

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7. Aisha Bailey, 2018
"Original hip hop anthem"

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REPLY
8. gradymorrrowjr37, 2018
"Ikr"
-snip-
ikr= I know right ["I know right" is a shortened form of "I know that's right".]

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REPLY
9. EnSabahNur, 2018
"That's word Sista!"

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REPLY
10. David Giezyng, 2018
"Word"

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11. chessdrummer, 2018
"Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight" 1980 was another anthem. It was the first one to go big."

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REPLY
12. Paul Almodovar, 2018
"@chessdrummer sugarhill gang were posers...grandmaster Cas wrote the whole rhyme"

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REPLY
13. David Giezyng, 2019
"Word"

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14. Donald Pace, 2019
"I remember this from the inception word up"
-snip-
This comment was written in response to the question "Who remembered Doug E Fresh's & Slick Rick's "The Show" from when the record first was released of when it was included in the movie New Jack City.

"True that" is another African American Vernacular English phrase with the same meaning as "Word" that was used by one commenter in that same discussion thread. "True that" (also given as "true dat" means "That's true".

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Excerpts From "Oral Literature In Africa" Book By Ruth Finnegan (Part II)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series that consist of excerpts from "Oral Literature In Africa" book By Ruth Finnegan.

Part II presents information about the book and provides an excerpt from the same section of that book which focuses on names in various African cultures.

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/09/excerpts-from-oral-literature-in-africa.html for Part I of this pancocojams series. Part I presents information about this book and excerpts from the section entitled "Oratory, Formal Speaking, and other Stylized Forms".

The content of this post is presented for linguistic and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Ruth Finnegan for her research and writing and thanks to all those who she cites in her book "Oral Literature In Africa".

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "ORAL LITERATURE IN AFRICA" BOOK
From https://www.amazon.com/Oral-Literature-Africa-World/dp/1906924708 Oral Literature in Africa (World Oral Literature) Paperback – September 17, 2012 by Ruth Finnegan (Author)
"Ruth Finnegan's Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa. This revised edition makes Finnegan's ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. This book is the first volume in the World Oral Literature Series, an ongoing collaboration between OBP and World Oral Literature Project. A free online archive of recordings and photographs that Finnegan made during her fieldwork in the late 1960s is hosted by the World Oral Literature Project (http://www.oralliterature.org/collections/rfinnegan001.html) and can also be accessed from publisher's website.

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EXCERPT FROM "ORAL HISTORY IN AFRICA" BOOK

[Pancocojams Editor's Note: The full text of this chapter is given at that link. The brackets with ellipses [...] that are found in this pancocojams post indicate the portions of this book's chapter that I didn't quote (including the ellipses at the end of this excerpt which indicate that there is more content that isn't quoted). Other ellipses are found "as is" in that book. This excerpt also doesn't include paragraph numbers that are found in this writing, including some of the reference citations.]

https://books.openedition.org/obp/1204?lang=en
"16. Oratory, Formal Speaking, and other Stylized Forms
p. 431-464

"IV
I shall end this miscellaneous list of minor literary usages with a brief account of the significance of names. This is a subject of greater literary interest than might at first appear. In fact it would be true to say that names often play an indispensable part in oral literature in Africa. Such names as ‘One who causes joy all round’ (Yoruba), ‘Its hide is like the dust’ (a man’s name after his favourite ox whose hide has marks like writing) (Jie), ‘He who is Full of Fury’ (Ankole), ‘Devouring Beast’ (Venda), ‘God is not jealous’ (Bini), or ‘It is children who give fame to a man’ (Bini) can add a depth even to ordinary talk or a richly figurative intensity to poetry that can be achieved in no more economical a way.

There have been many different interpretations of these names. They have ranged from the psychological functions of names, in providing assurance or ‘working out’ tensions (e. g. Beattie 1957, Middleton 1961), to their connection with the structure of society (e.g. Vansina 1964, following Lévi-Strauss), their social function in minimizing friction (e.g Wieschhoff 1941: 220), or their usefulness either in expressing the self-image of their owner or in providing a means of indirect comment when a direct one is not feasible (see below). As usual, there is some truth in most of these approaches.

One of the most striking aspects is the way names can be used as a succinct and oblique way of commenting on their owners or on others. Junod gives some good examples of this kind of use of nicknames among the Thonga. One is the instance of an administrator nicknamed ‘Pineapple’ or ‘The one of the Pineapple’. On the surface this was a flattering and easily explained name. But it also had a deeper meaning. The reference was to a custom (said to be followed by another tribe) of burying someone they had killed and planting pineapples on the grave—nothing could be seen but the leaves, and their crimes were hidden. The administrator’s name, then, really suggested one who shirked his duty and tried to bury matters brought to him for judgement—a fitting designation for a man who avoided responsibility and sought compromise. In another case a woman missionary was called Hlan-ganyeti—’The one who gathers dry wood for the fire’. In a way this was polite—it is pleasant to have a fire and wood gathered ready. But it also implied the idea of gathering wood for another to kindle, of bringing information to her husband who kindled the fire, of being someone who never showed anger herself but stirred up others. Many other similar nicknames were given to Europeans by the Thonga, an effective and quiet comment on their characters: ‘The fury of the bull’; ‘Kindness in the eyes (only)’; ‘The little bitter lemon’; ‘The one who walks alone’ (Junod 1938: 54–6).

[...]

Names can also be used in oblique comment. Thus the Karanga subtly give names to their dogs as an elliptical way of chiding another. A dog called ‘The carrier of slanders’ really alludes to a particular woman, ‘A waste of cattle’ reproves a bad wife, while ‘Others’ and ‘A wife after the crops are reaped’ are a wife’s complaint that others are more loved than she, that she is only fed in time of plenty, unlike her co-wives (Hunt 1965). Somewhat similarly a parent may choose for his child a name with an oblique or even open comment on the other parent’s behaviour—like the Nyoro Bagonzenku, ‘They like firewood’, from the proverb ‘They like firewood who despite the gatherer of it’, a name given by a mother who has been neglected by the child’s father (Beattie 1957: 100).

Names are also often used to express ideas, aspirations, sorrows, or philosophical comments. Grief and an awareness of the ills of life are frequent themes—’Bitterness’, ‘They hate me’, ‘Daughter born in Death’ are Thonga examples (Junod 1938: 53), and many other similar names could be cited expressing suspicion, sorrow, or fear (see especially Beattie 1957, Middleton 1961). Among the Ovimbundu a mother can lament a lost child in the more complex form of a name representing an abridged proverb ‘They borrow a basket and a sieve; a face you do not borrow’, in her knowledge that though she may have other children, there will never be another with that same face (Ennis 1945: 5). But names can also express joyful sentiments, like the Yoruba ‘Joy enters the house’, ‘The God of iron sent you to console me’, ‘I have someone to pet’; (Gbadamosi and Beier 1959: 6) or a sense of personal aspiration for oneself or others, like the Dogon name Dogono (from Dogay, ‘It is finished’), which expresses a wish that the son of a rich man may end life as he began it, in wealth; (Lifchitz and Paulme 1953: 332) the Fon assertion that the name’s owner is not afraid of his rivals, expressed in the form of an abbreviated proverb ‘Le crocodile ne craint pas les piquants qui servent de défense aux poissons’; (da Cruz 1956: 23–4) or the Bini name “The palm-tree does not shed its leaves’, which claims that its holder is invulnerable, cannot be caught unawares, and, like an old palm-tree, will stand against all opposition (Omijeh 1966: 26)—and similar examples abound in the many published collections of names.

Names contribute to the literary flavour of formal or informal conversation, adding a depth or a succinctness through their meanings, overtones, or metaphors. They can also play a directly literary role. We have already considered the studied use of names in Akan dirges; a whole series of different forms (day names, by-names, praise names, and dirge names) together enhance the intensity and high-sounding tone of the poems. The introduction of names in other forms of literature also— perhaps particularly in the case of those with a historical cast—can bring a sense of allusiveness and sonority not easily expressed in other forms. This is strikingly so in panegyric poetry, a genre that is in Africa so often based on an elaboration of praise names like ‘He-who-fails-not-to-overthrow-the-foe’, ‘Transformer-of-peoples’, or ‘Sun-is-shining’. Names also play a significant part in the drum literature discussed in the following chapter. In such a passage as

The ruler of Skyere has bestirred himself.
The great Toucan, has bestirred himself …
He has bestirred himself, the gracious one.
He has bestirred himself, the mighty one.
(Nketia 1963b: 148–9)

the names which describe and refer to the person being addressed are most significant. Names also have a close connection with proverbs; many names are in fact abbreviations or restatements of recognized proverbs and share some of their stylistic characteristics.

[...]

There are, of course, many names that are relatively straightforward, with little overt meaning. Others, however, are richly allusive. Among these, the most interesting are perhaps the abundant proverb names already mentioned. In these a proverb is either stated or, more often, referred to by only one of its words, and all the overtones of meaning and allusion inherent in the proverb can be found in the name. Thus we find several Nyoro names that refer to proverbs—like Bitamazire (a reference to the saying nkaito z’ebigogo bitamazire). ‘The sandals which were made of banana fibre were inadequate’ (in other words, small children cannot be expected to survive long), or Ruboija meaning ‘It pecks as a fowl does’—just as one does not know which exact grain will be picked up next by a fowl, only that some grain will be attacked, so one cannot tell who will be struck next by death (Beattie 1957: 101). Many similar cases occur among the Ganda who are said to have thousands of proverbial names— among them Nyonyin-tono (from Nyonyintono yekemba byoya). ‘A small bird, to appear big, must clothe itself in many feathers’, and the female name Ganya which comes from the saying ‘When a wife begins to disrespect her husband it shows that she has found another place where she intends to go and live’ (Nsimbi 1950: 209). In West Africa, Bini proverbs about wealth (among other topics) also appear as names in abbreviated forms that recall the full tone of the proverb. This is so, for instance, in the recommendation to go prudently about gathering property (‘It is with gentleness one draws the rope of wealth’, i.e. lest it break), or the satiric comment on the lengths to which men will go for money (‘If one is seeking wealth, one’s head would go through a drainage pipe’) (Omijeh 1966: 29).

Proverb names that are chosen by their bearers, as among, for instance, the Fon or the Ovimbundu, offer the opportunity for their choosers to express their own images of themselves.

[...]

Strings of proverb names can also be used to praise oneself. This is exploited effectively among the Ibo. When a man takes an ozo title he sings aloud a list of the names he now wishes to be addressed by. These are usually a series of proverbs which refer metaphorically to his various exploits and wealth:

I am:
The Camel that brings wealth,
The Land that breeds the Ngwu tree,
The Performer in the period of youth,
The Back that carries its brother,
The Tiger that drives away the elephants,
The Height that is fruitful,
Brotherhood that is mystic,
Cutlass that cuts thick bushes,
The Hoe that is famous,
The Feeder of the soil with yams,
The Charm that crowns with glory
The Forest that towers highest,
The Flood that can’t be impeded,
The Sea that can’t be drained.
(Egudu 1967: 10)

[...]

Praise names are a category of great interest for the student of oral literature. This is a convenient term used to cover many honorific appellations and flattering epithets.26 These names have already been mentioned in Chapter 5 as existing both independently and as a basis for praise poetry where they fulfil something of the same function as Homeric epithets. Thus the Yoruba oriki, Zulu izibongo, and Hausa kirari are praise terms that occur both as names and as elements in panegyric, and come in such metaphorical and evocative forms as, for instance, ‘Fame-spread-abroad’, ‘Thunder-on-earth’, ‘Father-of-the-people’, ‘Light of God upon earth’, ‘Bull Elephant’, ‘Weaver-of-a-wide-basket-he-can-weave-little-ones-and-they-fit-into-one-another’, ‘He draws red palm oil from the necks of men’, or (one of several praise names referring to Rhodes). ‘A powerful bull from overseas’.

[...]

The forms that particularly concern us here are the personal praise names applied to individual people. But their effectiveness cannot be fully appreciated without noticing the other, related applications of praise names and epithets. It is not uncommon for these terms to be applied also to non-human, even non-animate objects, and the succinct summing up in this form of the referent’s basic characteristics—or, it may be, of just one facet that catches the imagination—is part of the genius of these languages. Thus the Hausa have elaborate praise terms for animals or for general categories of human beings. The hyena, for instance, has its own praise name ‘O Hyena, O Strong Hyena, O Great Dancer’, the eagle’s reputed wisdom is alluded to in ‘O Eagle, you do not settle on the ground without a reason’ (i.e. without seeing something to eat there), while the general kirari of wife and husband is ‘O Woman whose deception keeps one upon tenterhooks (thorns), your mouth though small can still destroy dignity. If there were none of you there could be no household, if there are too many of you the household is ruined’. Similar types of praise names in various languages for particular clans, families, villages or regions, trees, deities, natural phenomena like rain or storms, masks, particular professions, or even tobacco. Some of these are expressed in short phrases or compounds only, but others come in fuller form and can be elaborated into a kind of prose poem, closely related both to praise poetry and to the lengthy salutations and the prayers mentioned earlier.

Like the generic praise terms for things, individual personal praise names take various forms, more or less elaborate according to context and area. Besides their use as an element in more lengthy literary forms, they also appear on many ceremonial occasions—terms of formal address to superiors, public and ceremonial announcement of the arrival of some leading personage by the calling or drumming of his praise name (very common in Nigeria, for instance), honorific pronouncement of a dead man’s praise name in funeral rituals, or utterance of a praise name as a part of personal aspiration or encouragement of another to live up to the ideals inherent in the name.

How elaborate praise names can be among certain African peoples is well illustrated from the Dogon tige of which several accounts have been published (de Ganay 1941; Lifszyc 1938; Lifchitz and Paulme 1953; 343ff.). Among the Dogon, every child is given three ordinary names; but in addition each man has his own individual praise name (tige), a kind of motto. Those of individual human beings refer less to personal characteristics than to some general truth; Dogon tige thus really blend the characteristics of praise and of proverb. One man’s name is translated as ‘Parole d’homme âgé’ (implying the wisdom expected of an old man’s words), another ‘(Il est) inutile (de faire) un cadeau (à celui qui ne remercie jamais)’, ‘(Même si) le plat (est) mauvais, (on peut manger la nourriture qu’il contient)’, (de Ganay 1941: 50). ‘Femme menteuse’ (aussi rusé qu’une femme menteuse), or ‘Hogon, chef de la communauté, ventre de Hogon’ (i.e. ‘Les meilleurs champs appartiennent au Hogon, c’est l’homme le mieux nourri’) (Lifchitz and Paulme 1953: 346).

These praise names are used on a variety of occasions. One is on any rather formal occasion in which polite exchange is expected. They are shouted out during the ritualized combats that take place in public at a certain stage in funeral celebrations; during other stages of the mortuary ceremonies it is the dead man’s praise name that is called—he is addressed by this full title and conjured to leave his people in peace. Praise names are also much used at a time of physical exertion, especially in the farms. When a group of young Dogon men join together to work, as custom demands, in their father-in-law’s fields, they cry out each other’s praise name to incite them to greater efforts, calling on their amour propre and evoking the names of the ancestors from whom the names were severally inherited and of whom each individual must show himself worthy (Lifchitz and Paulme 1953: 343–4; de Ganay 1941: 47ff). Though the outward contexts for these names are so different, they have something in common: ‘la criée du tige présente presque toujours un caractère déclamatoire ou solennel qui diffère nettement de l’énoncé du nom et du ton habituel de la conversation’ (Lifchitz and Paulme 1953: 344). These formally used Dogon titles are something far more evocative and meaningful than anything we normally understand from the everyday sense of the term ‘name’. As Lifchitz and Paulme sum up its uses, it is clear that the Dogon tige has relevance for their literature and could not easily be dismissed as a mere label for some individual: ‘il est en même temps formule de politesse, voeu, exhortation, flatterie, remerciement et moquerie’ (Lifchitz and Paulme 1953: 343).

Praise names in general, then, evoke more than just their individual referent on a particular occasion. Expressed through a conventionally recognized artistic form, often marked by elliptical or metaphorical language, they can bring a range of associations to mind and put the bearer and utterer of the name in a wider perspective—either placing him within a whole class of similar beings (in the case of category praise names) or (with personal names) invoking some proverb of more general application or referring to some quality which the bearer is believed, or hoped, or flatteringly imagined to possess.

There remain two other forms of names to mention briefly. First, the use of names on drums (or other instruments). By a technique described in the next chapter, long forms of personal names are very popular items for transmission on drums. Elaborate forms appear in this context, many of them very similar to the praise names just discussed. ‘Spitting snake whose poison does not lose its virulence, sharp harpoon, from the village of Yatuka’, ‘Chief who takes revenge, who stabs civet-cats, root of the neck of the elephant, son of him who sets his face to war …’, ‘The man who is to be trusted with palavers, son of him who bears the blame …’, ‘Bright light does not enter the forest, elder of the village of Yaatelia’ (Carrington 1949b: 87; 92; 99; 102)—these are all drum names or portions of drum names used in various areas of the Congo. In savannah areas it is not drums but whistles that are used for this kind of transmission. Nicolas has made a collection of such praise names from the Lyele of Upper Volta, names which in many respects resemble the Dogon tige but with the difference that they are thought most effective when whistled. The names bear some relation to proverbs, though forming a distinct literary genre, and include such colourful phrases as ‘Les pas du lézard sont sonores dans les feuilles (sèches)’, ‘Le vent de la tornade ne casse pas la montagne’, ‘Le tambour de l’orage fait sursauter le monde entier’, or ‘On ne prend pas (a pleine main) la petite vipère’ (Nicolas 1950: 89, 97, 92; 1954: 88). These names add to the prestige of chiefs and leaders when they are whistled by those who surround them or escort them on their journeys.

Secondly, a word about some personal names other than those directly applied to people. Besides the generic praise and drum names already mentioned, personal names are also sometimes attached to certain things which, for the particular people involved, are of special emotional or symbolic interest. Among some Congolese peoples, for instance, the drums themselves have their own names—’Mouthpiece of the village’, ‘In the morning it does not tell of death’, ‘Drifting about from place to place (as water in a canoe) it has no father’. (Carrington 1949b: 107, also 1956). Dogs (see examples above) and occasionally horses (see the noms de guerre of horses in Griaule 1942) may be given names, and another frequent object for evocative and metaphorical naming is cattle (see e.g. Hauenstein 1962: 112ff. (Ovimbundu); Evans-Pritchard 1934 (Dinka); Morris 1964: 24–(Ankole). In some cases these names reflect back, as it were, on human beings; with dogs’ names this is sometimes) with an insulting intention; cattle names are more often used in a laudatory and honorific sense, as, for example, the ‘ox-names’ given to human beings in many East African areas (see e.g. Gulliver 1952, Evans-Pritchard 1948).

[...]

The exact literary value of these names cannot be fully assessed without further research, particularly on their actual contexts of use and on the relationship between these forms and other literary genres in a given culture. But we can certainly find some literary significance in the occurrence of these condensed, evocative, and often proverbial or figurative forms of words which appear as personal names in African languages—sometimes appearing directly as elements in large-scale creations, sometimes affording scope for imagery, depth, personal expressiveness, succinct comment, or imaginative overtones in otherwise non-literary modes of speech."...

Excerpts From "Oral Literature In Africa" Book By Ruth Finnegan (Part I)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part pancocojams series that consist of excerpts from "Oral Literature In Africa" book By Ruth Finnegan.

Part I presents information about this book and excerpts from the section entitled "Oratory, Formal Speaking, and other Stylized Forms".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/09/excerpts-from-oral-literature-in-africa_27.html for Part II of this series. Part I presents an excerpt from the same section of that book which focuses on names in various African cultures.

The content of this post is presented for linguistic and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Ruth Finnegan for her research and writing and thanks to all those who she cites in her book "Oral Literature In Africa".

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE "ORAL LITERATURE IN AFRICA" BOOK
From https://www.amazon.com/Oral-Literature-Africa-World/dp/1906924708 Oral Literature in Africa (World Oral Literature) Paperback – September 17, 2012 by Ruth Finnegan (Author)
"Ruth Finnegan's Oral Literature in Africa was first published in 1970, and since then has been widely praised as one of the most important books in its field. Based on years of fieldwork, the study traces the history of storytelling across the continent of Africa. This revised edition makes Finnegan's ground-breaking research available to the next generation of scholars. It includes a new introduction, additional images and an updated bibliography, as well as its original chapters on poetry, prose, "drum language" and drama, and an overview of the social, linguistic and historical background of oral literature in Africa. This book is the first volume in the World Oral Literature Series, an ongoing collaboration between OBP and World Oral Literature Project. A free online archive of recordings and photographs that Finnegan made during her fieldwork in the late 1960s is hosted by the World Oral Literature Project (http://www.oralliterature.org/collections/rfinnegan001.html) and can also be accessed from publisher's website.

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EXCERPT FROM "ORAL HISTORY IN AFRICA" BOOK

[Pancocojams Editor's Note: The full text of this chapter is given at that link. The brackets with ellipses [...] that are found in this pancocojams post indicate the portions of this book's chapter that I didn't quote (including the ellipses at the end of this excerpt which indicate that there is more content that isn't quoted). Other ellipses are found "as is" in that book. This excerpt also doesn't include paragraph numbers that are found in this writing, including some of the reference citations.]

https://books.openedition.org/obp/1204?lang=en
"16. Oratory, Formal Speaking, and other Stylized Forms
p. 431-464

Oratory and rhetoric: Burundi; Limba. Prayers, curses, etc. Word play and verbal formulas. Names.

The art of oratory is in West Africa carried to a remarkable pitch of perfection. At the public palavers each linguist [official spokesman] stands up in turn and pours forth a flood of speech, the readiness and exuberance of which strikes the stranger with amazement, and accompanies his words with gestures so various, graceful, and appropriate that it is a pleasure to look on, though the matter of the oration cannot be understood. These oratorical displays appear to afford great enjoyment to the audience, for every African native is a born orator and a connoisseur of oratory, a fact that becomes very manifest in the Courts of Justice in the Protectorate, where the witnesses often address the juries in the most able and unembarrassed manner; I have even seen little boys of eight or ten hold forth to the court with complete self-possession and with an ease of diction and a grace of gesture that would have struck envy into the heart of an English member of Parliament (R. A. Freeman on his visit to Ashanti in 1888, quoted in Wolfson 1958: 193)

This comment on Ashanti rhetoric in the nineteenth century could be paralleled by similar remarks about the oratorical ability of many African peoples. Of the Bantu as a whole a linguist writes that they are ‘born orators; they reveal little reticence or difficulty about expression in public. They like talking. They like hearing themselves in an assembly …’ (Doke 1948: 284). We hear too of the significance of oratory among the un-centralized Anang Ibibio, (Messenger 1959; 1960: 229) or Ibo of Eastern Nigeria. Of the Ibo, indeed, Achebe has stated categorically that ‘the finest examples of prose occur not in those forms [folktales, legends, proverbs, and riddles] but in oratory and even in the art of good conversation … Serious conversation and oratory … call for an original and individual talent and at their best belong to a higher order’ (Achebe in Whiteley 1964: vii). Similar comments on the relevance of oratory could be multiplied. It is not in fact surprising that many peoples who do not use the written word for formalized transactions or artistic expression should have developed the oral skill of public speaking to perform these functions.

Yet for all the passing references to the significance of oratory, there seems to be little detailed documentation on the actual practice of public speaking as a skill in its own right. [...] Though little detailed material has been published and the account given here is thus exceedingly thin, it seems worth including a few points and examples, not least if this leads to further investigation.

In Africa, as in antiquity, one of the commonest contexts for public speaking is that of a law case, a formalized occasion which allows both litigants and judges to display their rhetorical skill. Their conscious aims, doubtless, are clearly functional; but aesthetic considerations are also involved, if only to add to the persuasiveness of the speech. Some of these speeches are highly sophisticated and skilled. We often hear of the use of proverbs on such occasions to appeal to the audience or make a point with extra forcefulness. In the case of the Anang Ibibio their famous eloquence arises largely from their skilful use of proverbial maxims, particularly in court. Long speeches are given by plaintiff and defendant to explicate their cases, lasting as long as an hour each and listened to with rapt attention. The Ibibio audience is particularly appreciative of a speech that abounds in original or unusual proverbs to capture their interest, or that cleverly introduces an apposite saying at just the crucial moment (Messenger 1959 and Ch. 15 above).

The formalized and literary aspects of legal rhetoric can even take the extreme and unusual form of a portion of the speeches being delivered as song. This is apparently sometimes the case in Mbala litigation in the Congo. The formal interchange between the opponents is partly conducted through spoken argument, but this is then followed by a snatch of allegorical song in which the supporters of each party join with voice and drum, the two sides drawn up to face each other. . An extract from one case is quoted as follows:

Quoted in Brandel 1961: 39–40, from Verwilghen 1952:
1ST PARTY

I was in my house and would have liked to stay. But he has come and wants to discuss the matter in public. So I have left my house and that is why you see me here.

(sings)

I am like a cricket. I would like to sing, but the wall of earth that surrounds me prevents me. Someone has forced me to come out of my hole, so I will sing.

(continues argument)

Let us debate the things, but slowly, slowly, otherwise we will have to go before the tribunal of the white people. You have forced me to come. When the sun has set, we shall still be here debating.

(sings).

I am like the dog that stays before the door until he gets a bone.

OPPONENT

Nobody goes both ways at the same time. You have told this and that. One of the two must be wrong. That is why I am attacking you.

(sings).

A thief speaks with another thief. It is because you are bad that I attack you.

[...]

Political discussions are also obvious occasions for oratory—indeed the two are often closely related. At the local level at least, there are not infrequently rules about the order in which such politicians must speak, and accepted conventions of style, content, and set phraseology which speakers more or less follow. Such political speeches often shade into other formal and public occasions involving, say, speeches of welcome, religious injunctions, sermons, harangues, or solemn marriage transactions.

A few of the orators seem to be real professionals, as in the case of the Ashanti ‘linguists’ described by Freeman in the quotation given earlier. These men were the spokesmen of kings and chiefs among the Akan. Not only were they charged with repeating the words of their patron after him, acting as a herald to make it clear to all his audience and to add to his utterances the extra authority of remoteness, but they were also expected, in the words of Dan-quah, to ‘perfect’ the speech of a chief who was not sufficiently eloquent, and to elaborate his theme for him. The linguist should not add any new subject-matter, but he may extend the phrases and reconstruct the sentences and intersperse the speech with some of the celebrated witty and philosophical reflections for which they are justly celebrated to the credit of both himself and his Chief …
(Danquah 1928: 42)

In another description:

When the Linguist rises up to speak in public, he leans upon the King’s gold cane, or a subordinate linguist holds it in front of him. He is going to make a speech now, and it is sure to be a happy effort. It will sparkle with wit and humour. He will make use freely of parables to illustrate points in his speech. He will indulge in epigrams, and all the while he will seem not to possess any nerves—so cool, so collected, so self-complacent! He comes of a stock used to public speaking and public functions.
(Hayford 1903: 70)

The use of heralds whose sole function is to repeat the words of the speaker and thus endow them with greater dignity or volume is not without other parallels in West Africa, and is a practice that has lent itself well to the situations, under colonial rule at least, where the speeches of administrator or missionary were transferred, sentence by sentence, through the intermediary of an interpreter.

Most speeches, however, seem in fact to be made not by professionals but by experts who acquired their skills in the course of carrying out their various political, religious, or just good-neighbourly duties in the society. Such men—like the Limba ‘big men’ described below—are recognized by others as skilled in speaking, reconciling, and persuading, and it is partly through such skill that they retain their positions; but this is merely one aspect of their specialized functions as political leaders, judges, or public figures. There are also those who merely possess a general ability to speak well—people skilled more in the art of conversation and the use of proverb and metaphor to enrich their speech than in the more formal arts of public oratory. There is no general rule about the background and training of those regarded as particularly eloquent, for this varies according to the structure of the society in question.

[...]

In Burundi, eloquence is thought to be of the greatest significance, both practical and aesthetic, whether it is used in legal cases, political transactions, petitions, the stylized phrases of polite intercourse, or the art of elegant conversation:

Speech is explicitly recognised as an important instrument of social life; eloquence is one of the central values of the cultural world-view; and the way of life affords frequent opportunity for its exercise … Argument, debate, and negotiation, as well as elaborate literary forms are built into the organization of society as means of gaining one’s ends, as social status symbols, and as skills enjoyable in themselves.
(Albert 1964: 35)

It is among the upper classes above all that the ideals of oratorical ability are most stressed. The very concept of good breeding and aristocracy, imfura, implies ‘speaking well’ as one of its main characteristics. Aristocratic boys are even given formal education in speech-making from the age of about ten. Albert describes the content of their training:

Composition of impromptu speeches appropriate in relations with superiors in age or status; formulas for petitioning a superior for a gift; composition of amazina, praise-poems; quick-witted, self-defensive rhetoric intended to deflect, an accusation or the anger of a superior. Correct formulas for addressing social inferiors, for funeral orations, for rendering judgment in a dispute, or for serving as an intermediary between an inferior petitioner and one’s feudal superior are learned in the course of time as, with increasing age and maturity, each type of activity becomes appropriate. Training includes mastery of a suitable, elegant vocabulary, of tone of voice and its modulation, of graceful gestures with hand and spear, of general posture and appropriate bodily displacements, of control of eye-contacts, especially with inferiors, and above all, of speedy summoning of appropriate and effective verbal response in the dynamics of interpersonal relations.
(Ibid.: 37)

As a result of such formal training and unconscious assimilation of the practice of eloquence, Tutsi men of the upper classes acquire a consciousness of superior education and elegance of speech. The accepted stereotype, quite often lived up to in practice, is that the aristocrat possesses grace and rhetorical ability in speech and bearing, marked particularly by his characteristic dignity and reserve in public address.

The formal speech of peasants is expected to be rather different. Social pressures ensure that peasants are aware of the tactlessness of producing an elegant aristocratic-type speech before a superior. In their own strata, however, they may speak with equal dignity and ability—for instance, as judge, in council, or in funeral orations. There are some set differences. The Hutu use a different accent, and the figures of speech tend to reflect a peasant rather than an aristocratic background and to be drawn from agriculture rather than herding or the courtly life. ‘The gestures of the muscular arms and heavy set body and the facial expressions will not be like those of the long-limbed, slim-boned … Batutsi herders, but they will not lack studied grace and dignity (Ibid.: 42).

The recognized stylistics in Rundi oratory, marked particularly in the case of the aristocrats, are dignity of bearing and speech, enhanced, on occasion, by effective use of the rhetorical technique of silence. There is also careful attention to stance, gesture, modulation of the voice, and grace and elegance of vocabulary according to the criteria of Rundi culture. The highest ideal of public speaking, in Rundi eyes, is that associated with an umushingantahe, a recognized elder and judge. He is expected to be intelligent, in complete command of the arts of logic, a fine speaker—i.e., he speaks slowly and with dignity, in well-chosen words and figures of speech; he is attentive to all that is said; and he is an able analyst of logic and of the vagaries of the human psyche.
(Albert 1964: 45)

The position of an umushingantahe depends both on a prolonged experience of legal cases and on wealth for the expensive initiation party. Others too, however, can use the same type of rhetorical style. It is one considered particularly appropriate in political speeches of advice or persuasion before a superior, or in serious decision-making and problem-solving. On the other hand, rhetorical fireworks are more to be expected when individuals are trying to forward their own interests as litigants in a law case, or in personal petitions to a superior.

A further characteristic of Rundi rhetoric is the premium placed on elegance and appropriateness rather than on literal truth. This has a practical value. It is known that a man is more likely to be able to defend himself on the spot by rapid and plausible falsehood, mixed with a suitable amount of flattery, than by a careful telling of the truth. But there is also an aesthetic aspect—graceful appropriate speech is considered attractive in its own right. Allusiveness, often through figures of speech, is prized in both speech-making and polite social intercourse. Even a slight request may be addressed to a superior with stylized formality and oblique allusion. Thus a petition by a poor man for a trifling gift like a new pair of shoes to replace his worn-out ones is expressed through circumlocution. ‘One does not hide one’s misfortunes; if one tries to hide them they will nevertheless soon be revealed. Now, I know a poor old man, broken in health and ill; there is a spear stuck in his body and he cannot be saved!’ By this he indicates his old shoes, so ragged that one is being held together by a safety-pin (the ‘spear’) (Ibid.: 50–1).

It is not only the style and content that are conventionally laid down for Rundi speeches, but in some cases the general setting as well. The rules of precedence are strictly observed, in keeping with a society in which ranked hierarchy is of such significance. Thus the order in which individuals speak in a group depends on their seniority:

The senior person will speak first; the next in order of rank opens his speech with a statement to the effect, ‘Yes, I agree with the previous speaker, he is correct, he is older and knows best, etc’ Then, depending on circumstances and issues, the second speaker will by degrees or at once express his own views, and these may well be diametrically opposed to those previously expressed. No umbrage is taken, the required formula of acknowledgment of the superior having been used.
(Albert 1964: 41)

The situation of making a formal request is also highly stylized. A special type of bearing is obligatory. If it is a request for a bride or cattle, the normal form is for the petitioner to assume a formal stance, often standing during delivery of the formal request. His speech has probably been carefully composed in advance. To follow the general formula, one refers to the gift one has brought, usually several pots of banana beer; one expresses love, admiration, and respect for the excellent qualities, real, imagined, and hoped for, of the superior; one expresses the hope that the affection is reciprocated; one again refers to the gift, this time as a token of affection; one promises further gifts in the future; one states one’s wish; one closes with a repetition of the praise of the superior and an expression of hope that the wish will be granted.
(Ibid.: 38)

Much remains to be investigated in relation to Rundi oratory. But it is abundantly clear from Albert’s publications so far that the skills of eloquence were highly valued and sophisticated in traditional Rundi society, and that they present a literary sphere which, though perhaps marginal, is clearly enough related to literature to deserve fuller critical analysis. Such skills were exhibited in their most extreme form in the elegant formal speeches of Rundi aristocrats. But that they were recognized in some degree at all levels of society is evident from the explicit aesthetic interest in these arts; even in their everyday conversation which is ‘near the bottom of the [aesthetic] scale, elegance of composition and delivery, figures of speech, and the interpolation of stories and proverbs are normally called for and employed’. (Ibid.: 49)

[...]

Unlike the Rundi, the Limba do not provide any specialist training in rhetoric. It is true that chiefs are sometimes said to be instructed how to ‘speak well’ when, as in the case of a few of their number, they go into several weeks’ seclusion as part of their installation ceremonies. But this represents more the explicit significance attached to oratorical ability than any real attempt at training. In fact all Limba—particularly the men— gradually assimilate the accepted tricks of speaking as they listen to their fathers, the local ‘big men’, and the chiefs officiating and settling disputes on public occasions. The young boys begin by making speeches among their peers at initiation, farming associations, and play. Then as they grow up they gradually try to speak in more public contexts and (if of the right social background) in legal cases and discussions. Finally they may become, informally but unmistakably, accepted as respected elders, responsible for speaking at the most important gatherings.

[...]

There are recognized conventions about the diction, phraseology, and form of Limba speeches, although these conventions are not very explicitly stated. Gestures are much used: elders in particular stride about in the centre of the listening group, making much play with their long, full-sleeved gowns, alternating for effect between solemn stance and excited delivery when the whole body may be used to emphasize a point. They are masters of variations in volume and speed: they can switch from quiet, even plaintive utterance to loud yelling and fierce (assumed) anger, only to break off abruptly with some humorous or ironic comment, an effective silence, or a moving personal appeal. Among the best legal speakers figures of speech are common, as well as proverbs, allusions, and rhetorical questions. These men are admired for their ability to express their points by ‘going a long way round in parables’. There are also many stock formulas that it is considered both correct and attractive to use in Limba speeches; in addition to the set phrases which introduce and close a formal speech, the speaker’s words also regularly include an appeal to what the ‘old people’ did, references to what Kanu (God) does or does not like (a convenient channel for moralizing of which some Limba take frequent, even tedious, advantage), personal appeals to members of the audience, and the frequent conventional expression of humility through referring to the grace of those present, of superiors, and of the ancestors. A good speaker, furthermore, makes sure of the participation of the audience in a way analogous to story-telling; he expects murmurs of support and agreement, muttered rejoinders of his rhetorical questions, laughter when he purposely brings in something amusing or exaggerated, and thanks and acknowledgement when he has ended.

[...]

Though surprisingly little work has been done on the literary aspect of prayers as distinct from their content or function, this is certainly a fruitful field. There is scope for many studies about the extent of individual variation, style, and content; about the way in which, in pagan, Christian, and Islamic contexts, prayer may be expressed through conventional literary forms; and about the relationship of prayers to the other literary genres of the language.

The same could probably be said of other formalized utterances such as blessings, instructions to a new king or leader, oaths, sermons (see Turner 1965), lengthy salutations, formulaic speeches of thanks or acknowledgement, and so on. Even so apparently trivial an occasion as that of a beggar approaching a would-be patron may, in certain communities, have its own expected clichés and form.

[...]

There are certain types of formal speech that, without being as lengthy and elaborate as formal oratory, have a tendency to become stylized. Just as stylized words in, say, the English Book of Common Prayer have a literary interest of their own, and must have had the same characteristic even before being crystallized into fixed and written form, so prayers in non-literate societies sometimes fall into a kind of literary mode; they may be characterized by a conventional form, perhaps marked by greater rhythm or allusiveness than everyday speech, within which the individual must cast his thoughts. The same is sometimes true of other forms of stylized expression—salutations, curses, oaths, petitions, or solemn instructions.

How far such utterances fall into a more or less fixed and formulaic mode varies according to the conventions of differing cultures. It is always of interest to inquire into this, not least because of the possibility that the fixity of such utterances has in the past been overemphasized.

It is clear that, in some cases at least, there can be both a conventionally recognized over-all form—a literary genre, as it were—and also, within this, scope for individual variation according to speaker and context. This can be illustrated, to take just one example, from the conventional mode of uttering curses among the Limba. (for further details see Finnegan 1964). In outline these curses are always much the same. The occasion that gives rise to them is when some unknown criminal is believed to have engaged, undetected, in any of the three crimes the Limba class together as ‘theft’ (actual physical theft, adultery, and witchcraft). Laying the curse is thought to stir up the object known as the ‘swear’ which pursues and punishes the unknown offender by its mystical power. The content of the curse follows prescribed lines: invocation of the ‘swear’; explanation of the offence concerned; instructions about the fate that the ‘swear’ should bring on its victim; and, finally, a provision that confession and restitution should be acceptable, sometimes accompanied by a clause that the innocent receiver of stolen goods should not suffer. Other details as to time and circumstance are also laid down.

The style and literary structure of these curses are clearly understood by speaker and audience. They begin and end with short formulas that are invariable and have no clear meaning beyond their acceptance as necessary adjuncts to ritual utterances. The main body of the curse is more flexible. It is usually spoken in a semi-intoned voice, particularly in the phrases describing the victim’s expected fate, and is partially expressed in balanced parallel phrases which, while not possessing a clear enough over-all rhythm to be classed as poetry, nevertheless from time to time exhibit a definite beat of their own. The rhythm is further brought out by the common accompaniment of much of the curse—a rhythmic beat of the speaker’s stick on the ground next to the ‘swear’, said to arouse it to action and power. The dignity of the occasion is further brought home by the singsong voice of the speaker and his controlled and rather sparse use of gesture. The key-phrases that threaten the victim are repeated in various slightly differing forms, and this repetition, sometimes repeated yet again by an assistant, enhances the serious and intense tone of the curse.

Provided these central points are included, the actual curse can be longer or shorter according to the wishes of the speaker, the heinousness of the crime, or—in some cases—the magnitude of the fee or the audience. The possible fates to which the offender is to fall victim may be only sketched in, or they may be elaborated at great length. The same is true of the phrases that safeguard the position of the innocent and the repentant. Provided the speaker includes the set formulas at start and finish plus the occasional prescribed points within the body of the curse, and covers the main headings mentioned above, the actual words he uses do not seem to be a matter of any very great concern.

The kind of form and content characteristic of these curses can best be illustrated from extracts from two Limba examples. The first concerns the suspected secret theft of a hen:

Ka harika lontha, ka harika lontha.
So and so bought a hen. He bought a hen at such and such a village. The hen was lost. He came to me. The man who ate it did not confess. I agreed. We are ‘swearing’ the eater this morning, Thursday.

The one who took the hen,
—If it is an animal in the bush, a wildcat, let it be caught;
Wherever it goes may it be met by a man with a gun;
May it be found by a hunter who does not miss;
If it meets a person, may it be killed.

But when it is killed, may the one who lulls and eats it [the wildcat] go free—fo fen.
—If it is an animal [that stole it],
Let it be killed in a trap;
Let it be killed going into a hole where it cannot come out.
—If it is a bird,
Let that bird be killed by a hunter or by a trap.
—If it was a person that stole and would not confess,
Let the ‘swear’ catch him.
—If it was a person,
If he stands on the road, let him meet with an accident;
If he takes a knife, let him meet with an accident;
If he is walking along the road, let him hit his foot on a stone and the blood not stop coming out;
If he begins farming—when he cuts at a tree with his cutlass, let him miss the tree and cut his hand;
If he has a wife and she knows about the hen, or two or three wives who helped him, let the ‘swear’ fall on them;

—If it is a man,
Let him always walk on a dangerous road, and when danger comes let him think about the hen he has stolen and confess.

If he does not confess,
Let him spend the whole night weeping [from pain].

When they ask why, let the ‘swear’ answer:
‘I am the one who caught the man, because he stole the fowl of the stranger’.

But if he confesses and says ‘I stole it’, and if the case is brought to me [the speaker] and I perform the ceremony [to release him],
—Let him no longer be ill.
—Quickly, quickly, let him be better—fo feng

If he does not confess,
—Let him suffer long, for he is a thief.

The stolen hen—if someone ate it who did not know [that it was stolen], let the ‘swear’ not catch them. But those who ate knowing it was stolen, let them be caught, for it was the stranger’s hen.

Ka harika lontha, ka harika lontha.

[...]

In Africa, as elsewhere, people delight in playing with words and on words. Tongue-twisters, for example, are sometimes popular with children—or even adults—and even these represent one type of awareness of the potentialities of language for more than just conveying information. They have been recorded in particular in parts of West Africa, though doubtless examples can be found elsewhere. Among the Yoruba, for instance, a favourite game, according to Ellis, used to be to repeat certain tricky sentences at high speed; for example:

Iyan mu ire yo; iyan ro ire ru.
When there is famine the cricket is fat (that is, considered good enough to eat); when the famine is over the cricket is lean (i.e. is rejected).
(Ellis 1894: 241)

and similar instances are recorded from the Fulani and the Hausa. Here are two Fulani examples from Arnott’s collection:

ngabbu e mbaggu muudum, mbabba maa e mbaggu muudum: ngabbu firlitii fiyi mbaggu mbabba naa, koo mbabba firlitii fiyi mbaggu ngabbu?
A hippopotamus with his drum, a donkey too with his drum: did the hippo turn and beat the donkey’s drum, or did the donkey turn and beat the hippo’s drum?
(Arnott 1957: 391)

Arnott also discusses the phonetic bases of these tongue-twisters. For Hausa examples see Fletcher (...)
ngdabbiimi pucca puru purtinoo-giteewu, e ngu aardini kutiiru furdu furtinoo-giteeru, e ndu aardini nduguire furde furtinoo-giteere; nde diwa ndu ðunya, ndu diwa nde dunya, nde diwa ndu dunya, ndu diwa nde dunya, etc., etc … .
I mounted a pop-eyed dun horse, he was driving before him a pop-eyed dun dog, and he was driving a pop-eyed dun duiker; she jumped, he ducked, he jumped, she ducked, she jumped, he ducked, he jumped, she ducked, etc ….
(Ibid.: 392)19

[...]

Puns are another common form of verbal play. These take various forms. In tonal languages the play is sometimes with words phonetically the same (or similar) but different tonally. This can be illustrated in the Yoruba punning sentence:

The rain on the shoes (bata) goes patter, patter, patter (bata-bata-bata), as on the rock (apata); in the street of the chief drummer (ajula-bata), the drum (bata) is wood, the shoes (bata) are of hide.
(Ellis 1894)

[...]

There are many other short stereotyped phrases and sentences that, in varying cultures, may be worthy of literary study. One could mention, for instance, various short semi-religious formulas—such as the Hausa expressions used after yawning, sneezing, etc., (Fletcher 1912: 68–9) market cries, (Fletcher 1912: 59) or the conventionalized calls sometimes attributed to bird, e.g. among the Yoruba (Fletcher 1912: 58). Formal salutations can also have a literary flavour. Thus Hulstaert has collected several hundred such salutations from the Nkundo, which are used formally to superiors or (in certain formal situations) to equals. These Nkundo forms to some extent overlap with proverbs and, particularly the more stereotyped among them, should in Hulstaert’s view be given a place ‘dans le trésor du style oral’, for they are marked by a certain rhythmic quality, by figurative expression, and by a use of archaic language (Hulstaert 1959: 6, 9). The salutation ‘Les écureuils se moquent du python’, for instance, is an oblique way of saying that only a fool provokes the powerful, for this is to risk entanglement, even death; while ‘La terre est un fruit’ suggests that just as a round fruit rolls and turns, always showing a different face, so too does human fortune (Hulstaaert 1959: 46, 50). Few formal greetings, perhaps, approach the Nkundo figurative elaboration, but further study of this type of formal wording in other cultures could well be of interest."...

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This concludes Part I of this two part pancocojams series.

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