admin
Pathisa Nyathi
IN the last article it became apparent that names, taken in their lingual and overall cultural context, have a lot to reveal, manifest, express, and tell narratives to those who understand the language, culture and historical times of the name.
If we really cared to excavate the meaning behind a name, we would get to know quite a lot concerning the people who gave the name. A name has a temporal dimension, at least in the African context, where a contextually utilitarian thrust is adopted.
Names capture existing circumstances at the time of birth of a child. Naming has a correlation between the underlying meaning and the temporal dimension. That way, a name may become a marker of historical epochs and the events that they are associated with. Where given names are associated with the names of iconic figures and events, the names become those of the individuals or events. A good example is how Jesus’ name has become a marker of time. People were born so many years before or after the birth of Jesus Christ.
However, we shall draw our examples from the African context in a broader sense and the Ndebele context in a more specific way. A name’s period may relate to a very specific event or a broader time frame. The naming or rather the named time or period does not have to be a pleasant one. As a matter of fact, both outstanding good or bad times qualify to render names to specific times or periods. Imfazo refers to the death of several people during a conflict. This happened to be the case when the colonial project was being introduced and implemented within the erstwhile Ndebele State. Many Ndebele people perished in the period towards the end of 1893.
For the Ndebele, the period was remembered for something painfully negative. About three years later a similar violent campaign took place resulting in the deaths of several people. There was thus need to differentiate between the two historical events. The 1893 events are taken to have occurred ahead, phambili, of the 1896 ones. Thus, on the basis of Ndebele concept of reckoning time the 1893 Imfazo is taken to be ahead of the later Imfazo of 1896. The Beginning of time is regarded as Source and is used to reckon time in relativity. Those nearer Source were born ahead of those born much later in comparison to Source.
We have, in the past, dealt with the Ndebele concept of time and its ramifications in terms of possession of power, wisdom, respect and veneration. For our purposes, Imfazo I (1893) happened ahead of Imfazo II (1896). Rendering of the future in the Ndebele context of time seems to differ from that of westerners. Inevitably, this will influence the manner in which development and progress are perceived, conceptualised and imagined. In the Beginning, there emerged the earliest forms of inanimate nature, the required medium for animate nature later.
Catastrophic events such as Gukurahundi become markers of time, in terms of birth of some individuals, birth of others in relation to time in terms of whether before or after the atrocities. Be that as it may, what is significant in such reckoning of time, is the memories that get invoked. The name is enough to remind those who experienced the events of what transpired long then. Many, when being interviewed, will break down as a result of what happened to them in the early to mid-1980s. Memory is invoked where the name was associated, spatio-temporally, with pain, torture, arson, abductions, humiliation and deprivation.
Thus, a given name is associated with memories, either pleasant or dreadful, and sometimes birth. The bad or good is judgmental position. Events are placed on a scale of pain-pleasure and mentally placed within the continuum. Institutionalised memories of those that survive through memorialisation constitute historical information. Names are short reminders or cues to otherwise forgotten historical information.
Let us now relate more specifically to Ndebele history. Where a community memorialises events through orature, the pronounced word provides a cue which triggers memory. The assumption here is that there is transmission of knowledge to future generations from those contemporaneous with the events. Sometimes this is not the case and a name then fails to provide cues for invocation of historical information.
Mzilikazi is quite a familiar name in Ndebele history. It is the name of the founding king of the erstwhile Ndebele State and Nation. The name was given to a baby boy born to Chief Matshobana of the Khumalos and Queen Cikose Ndiweni of AmaNgwe. The question is getting to know what the circumstances were at the time of birth of this particular baby boy. Cues should reveal events, cultural practices and the language applicable at the time of birth, inter alia.
Sadly, it is not the case that surrounding circumstances are always known. There was limited transmission of inter-generational knowledge about the birth of the boy who grew up to become an iconic figure. The first consideration is that the Ndebele, indeed other African peoples, gave names inspired by events taking place during, just before or soon after birth. So, naming became a form of documentation in its own way. Whatever name is called upon, there has to be some underlying meaning that inspired its coining, retrieval and adoption.
The next consideration is to know that raiding was a common feature at the time the baby boy was born. The language spoken by the community to which the parents of the baby belonged was Nguni, and that IsiNdebele spoken by the descendants of King Mzilikazi is closely related to the Nguni spoken then and now. In geographical terms, the place of birth was in what today is known as KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). Chiefs took part in raids in their mature and active lives. This was true of kings too. Naming was done by either one of the parents, and given the patriarchal character of society then, it was inevitably men who named children, though not always. Concurrence of the other spouse was solicited.
Grand and or great grandparents gave names to newborn babies. Names were given sometimes as commentaries on events or human relationships among the community then. On that account, naming became a corrective, ameliorative, restorative strategy to behaviour that was perceived as anti-social and or injurious to cherished social values and relationships. The family adopted a given name and were aware of the circumstances surrounding the birth. Naming provided a grand opportunity for those concerned to express their ideas in terms of relationships and broadly what is taking place within both the community and the family. In normal circumstances all the relevant and attendant historical and traditional practices and nuances were not only known to the family and sometimes the community, but were passed down the generations.
We clearly have not exhausted all the relevant knowledge surrounding the birth of King Mzilikazi. What is important though is that the name presupposes existence of all the factors enumerated above and a lot more. An appreciation of the underlying factors in a name helps to interpret the name and facilitate its acceptance prior to its transmission within the contemporary generation and future generations.
Indeed, Chief Matshobana Khumalo went out on a raid. Meanwhile, he was leaving behind an expectant mother Cikose Ndiweni. By the time he came back, he found a baby boy born. His name Matshobana had been incurred during the raid. He was thus keen to document, immortalise or memorialise his experiences through naming. Accordingly, he named the son Mzilawegazilikamatshobana. We learn from the name that his blood formed a trail (umzila), of blood, (wegazi). The blood was that of Matshobana himself and the son provided an opportune moment to immortalise the name of one who incurred injury during some fateful raid. The circumstances surrounding the naming are intelligible and in line with the language and naming tradition, practice and language of parents and their family and community.
It is known too, that names are in some instances shortened and assume a form that may no longer render fully the circumstances surrounding the birth. Damasane is said to be udakalwamasango. In similar vein, but probably taking place in earlier historical times, Mzilawegazilikamatshobana was abridged to Mzilikazi, in which both blood and path/trail seem to have been lost. Despite the shortcomings associated with shortening of the name, the full version of Mzilawegazilikamatshobana was successfully memorialised and transmitted to future generations who enjoy access to the heritage.
Online Reporter