Glossary
Select the first letter of the word from the list above to jump to
appropriate section of the glossary.
- A -
- abitek
- pl. quarterheads, village-heads
- abeboen
- Heads of large compounds occupied by members of a
lineage. Alt. abebin
- Achain
- Achan (see also Kom), neighbouring community
- acisendasu
- pl. palace retainers (see also Cinda)
- agum
- Bum term for bark-cloth.
- Aghoem
- North-west Grassfields confederacy; Wum, Aghem
- Ajung
- Neighbouring community (see also Saf)
- Akun
- Group within Bum, formerly matrilineal
- Alung
- The 'royal' or founding dynasty of the Bum
- Ankermann
- German ethnographer and collector
- Ardo'en
- pl. Fulani chiefs, sing. Ardo.
- asutshisëndaso
- Recruited retainers to Kwi'fon - almost certianly a variant
of acisendasu
- asugwe
- pl. 'spies'
- atshinawüt
- Commoners (literally 'outsiders', i.e. not of the Alung
group). Alt. acinawut, atshinaghoet., sing. cinawut,
tshinawut
-B -
- babe
- Kwi'fon officer in charge of the masks and instruments of
kwi'fon
- Babungo
- Ndop Plain chiefdom noted for iron production
- Bafut
- Major Grassfields chiefdom
- Bafum
- Term used by northern traders to refer to Bum and its neighbours
- Bala
- Term applied to 19th century raiders penetrating the Grassfields
- Bali
- (-Nyonga) Major Grassfields chiefdom composite of Western
Grassfields, southern Bamum and Chamba elements. Early allies of German
colonial forces
- Bamenda
- Administrative centre of North-West Grassfields. German military
station established in 1902
- Bamum
- Largest and most centralised of all Grassfields polities
- bark-cloth
- Oral traditions indicate that bark-cloths preceded resist-dyed
cottons. (see also agum)
- Bem
- Village of Misaje group
- Benue valley
- Region (Nigeria) to north of Grassfields
- Bikom
- Chiefom of Kom
- Biimbo
- Nso' cinda sent to establish trade/exchange relations with
Bum Fon
- bundu
- Pidgin term see camwood
- Bum, (H.H. the
Fon) John Yai
- The Fon of Bum, died 1997
- Buwabuwa
- Village community
- C -
- camwood
- red dye from wood of Baphia nitida tree.Termed bundu
in Pidgin.
- Chamba
- In the early 19th century northern Chamba elements were at the core
of mixed raiding parties that entered the Grassfields seeking slaves and
loot. A number of 'Bali' chiefdoms claim succession from these Chamba
elements
- Chan
- see Nchan
- chaplet
- a garland or band worn around the head
- Cioekoe
- 'Sister' of Fon of Bum)
- cinda
- Palace retainer (Chinda)
- Cob
- 'Kob' (Adenota kob) medium-sized antelope
- coe
- Bum senior male staus category
- compound
- European term for an African dwelling or homestead comprising more
than one inhabited building
- cong
- Women's association
- Constitutional
Conference
- A meeting took place in London in November of 1958 to determine
constitutional change in Cameroon
- cowries
- The cowry is a small white sea-shell that was used as a form of
currency as well as for decoration and prestige
- cry-die
- Pidgin term for mortuary rites and death celebrations
- Chunji
- Village in Nchanti area
- D -
- Dane-guns
- Smooth-bore flintlock guns, as much for prestige as for warfare
- Din
- Village of Noni group. Alt. Iden
- D.O.
- Colonial District Officer, (A.D.O. Assistant District Officer)
- Domfuwan
- Cinda sent to Ibbi (British) trading station at end of 19th
century
- Doma
- cloth type reserved to Fons
- Dowry
- Dowry is used here to refer to bridewealth payments made to the
family of the wife.
- Dr Endeley
- First Premier of S. Cameroons during transition to independence.
- Dumbo
- Village area N.E. of Bum
- E -
- Esther
- 'Sister' of Fon of Bum
- Back to Top
- F -
- Fang
- Village chiefdom, palm-oil producer
- Federal
Native Authority Council
- Councils created by colonial administration
- finti
- A clairvoyant and predictive power ascribed to the leader of the
nda-asugwe and derived from a local herb
- Fio
- (see also Fiyo, Shuo)
- Fon
- Grassfields chief
- Fon's strangers
- It is customary for Grassfields chiefs to provide hospitality for
visiting dignitaries (including anthropologists!)
- Fonfukka
- Main village settlement of Bum. Alt. Fofuka, Fonfuka
- Fulani
- Major group of West African pastoralists linked to raids into the
Grassfields from the north in the late 19th century. Settlement of
Fulani graziers in the Grassfields since early nineteen hundreds
- Ful Mwancum
- Senior Bum titleholder
- fum
- 'Royal' grave or tomb
- fumbain
- Society
- Fungom
- Village area in north of Grassfields. Alt. Funggom
- Fuwang
- See 'Fang'
- G -
- Gilbert Schneider
- Baptist Missionary and promoter of Grassfields arts
- gongs
- Clapperless iron bells were important items of the sacra of local
Regulatory Associations (Kwi'fon)
- Griffin
- District Officer for Wum Division
- gwe
- See asugwe
- H -
- Hans Glauning
- German colonial military officer
- Hausa
- Major ethnic group in West Africa, centred in N. Nigeria, active in
long-distance trade
- Hewby
- Head of Ibi station of Royal Niger Co. (see below)
- House of Chiefs
- In 1958 Southern Cameroons became a distinct region within Nigeria
with its own elected Assembly and House of Chiefs and a regional status
within the Ngerian Federation
- I -
- Ibbi
- Royal Niger Company trading post. Ibi in eastern Nigeria on Benue
river
- ibin ilume
- Dry-season annual festival
- Iden
- see Din
- ifinti
- See finti
- isa'oenda
- Lineage, pl. sahinda
- Isu
- Village chiefdom. Alt. Bafum Katse, Esu
- J -
- Jos
- The tin mines at Jos in Nigeria attracted Grassfields male labour
- Jottin-Noni
- Village of Noni group
- juju
- Pidgin term for 'medicines' covering all kinds of transformative
agencies including ancestral stones, herbal medicines and masquerades
(ie associations, societies, etc.)
- Jukun
- Benue valley people linked to ancient state of Kororofa and trade
links with Northern Grassfield elements
- K -
- Kamine
- Neighbouring palm oil producing community
- Kentu
- German (and later British) colonial administrative post to north of
Bum
- kibay
- Nso' senior councillor title
- Kibo
- Village of Misaje group
- Kicusi
- 'Sister' of Fon of Bum
- Kijëm Kegu
- Chiefdom. Alt. Big Babanki
- King-Pikin
- Pidgin term for 'prince', i.e. son of the Fon
- kiroesi
- Nso' term for easy chair or resting place of a Fon or notable
- kisheer
- Nso' term for lineage or clan segment
- Kitu
- 'Nobleman' with trade links to Jukun in 19th century
- Kola
- Kola (cola) nuts are widely traded and consumed in West Africa - the
Grassfields variety was much sought after by Hausa traders
- Kom
- Large chiefdom. Alternatively: Bikom, Bekom
- Koshin
- Neighbouring palm oil producing community
- Kumbi
- River. Alt. kimbi
- Kun
- alt. Kunu
- Kwangga
- Fon of Bum who preceded Fon Yai
- Kwe
- Village on kola trade route to Takum
- kwi'fon
- Regulatory association
- kwo'
- Mortuary society
- L -
- Lagabum
- Capital of Bum following Fulani raids at end of 19th century
- langa
- Society
- Lam Nso'
- Language of Nso'
- Limbum
- Dialect cluster including War, Tang and Wiya groups to north of Nso'
- M -
- Mandibile
- Village in Funggom area
- Manggoe
- Kwi'fon title
- manjong
- Formerly warrior associations of local males (presently do public
works)
- Mankon
- Chiefdom
- Matrilineal Descent
- Descent traced through females
- Mawes
- Volcanic crater lake linked in myth with dispersal of Ring language
(central) Grassfields groups
- Mbamelo
- Small Bum sub-chiefdom. Alt. Mbamlu
- mbashua
- Society
- mbatsha
- See mbashua
- mbeng
- Society
- Mbesinaku
- Small chiefdom located between Oku and Kom. Alt. Besinaku
- Mbirribo
- Lake site linked in myth with dispersal of Wimbum, a large
north-eastern Grassfields group
- Mbot
- Wimbum chiefdom from which ruling Alung dynasty claims descent
- Mbororo'en
- Cattle-herding Fulani (including Aku and Jafun groups)
- Mbuk
- Small sub-chiefdom of Bum
- Mbuli
- A cinda at Fonfuka, Mbuli played an intermediary between the
Hausa and the Bum
- Mbunggwe
- Late Fon of Mbot
- menang
- Society
- Mendaboeli
- See Mandibile
- M.D.W. Jeffreys
- Colonial officer and anthropologist
- mfu'
- Nso' military society; also a distinct Bum masquerade society
- Misaje
- Language group
- Mmeng
- Village chiefdom. Alt. Mme, Bafmen
- Modelle
- Village group on western margins of the Grassfields. Alt. Ide
- Moseley
- Agent of the Royal Niger Company exploring Northern Grassfields at
end of 19th century
- Msa
- An otherworld containing all desirable things. Elsewhere Sawi
(Kom), Mse (Funggom), Wumsa' (Nso')
- Mukan
- Peace treaty
- mukong
- Society (mekong)
- Munggong
- Bum sub-chiefdom
- N -
- Nanambang
- 'Sister' of Fon of Bum
- nantang
- Society
- Nchanti
- Neighbouring group
- nda-asugwe
- Warrior lodge withinkwi'fon
- ndacum
- see Kwi'fon and nda-tshum
- nda' mfu'
- mfu lodge
- nda-tsham
- Village war lodge. Alt. ndacam
- nda-tshum
- Meeting place for Kwi'fon and the second council of state
- nda-tut
- Meeting place for Ntul (Tut)
- Ndifon Bala
- Major informant, elderly councillor and 'step-father' to Fon. A.k.a.
Ndifoba
- ndong
- Society
- Ndu
- Wimbum chiefdom
- nesugwe
- Inner lodge of nda-asugwe Lit. mother of asugwe
- Nfat
- Small sub-chiefdom of Bum)
- nggam
- Burrowing, hairy spider - used in divination
- nggambe
- Pidgin term for diviner
- nggili
- Prince's association
- Nggong
- Village sub-chiefdom on kola trade route to Takum.
Alt. Munggong
- nggun
- Guinea-corn medicine (farm medicine)
- Ngunabum
- First capital of chiefdom of Bum
- Nggunakimbi
- Bum quarter
- ngwonji
- Princes' association
- njang
- Bum women's dance association
- nji
- Title
- Nji Banga
- Senior Kwi'fon elder at end of 19th century
- Njito
- Bum Fon's trusted adviser, also acts as king-enstooler
- Njul
- Group within Bum, formerly matrilineal
- nkem
- woven cane-basket
- Nkom
- Kom language group
- Nkor
- Village of Noni group. Alt. Nkol
- nkwo'
- see Kwi'fon. Alt. ngkwo'
- Nsanguf
- Bamum chief "Nsa'ngu" killed in battle with Nso' in late
1880s, prior to arrival of German colonial vangaurd
- nsëm
- Institution most closely corresponding to tut in
sub-chiefdom of Saf
- Nso'
- Large chiefdom
- Noni
- Ethnic group including villages of Nkor, Jottin-Noni and Din,
eventually within Nso'
- ntok
- Palace (Bum term)
- ntul
- Principal cultic society maintaining reproduction of humans, planted
crops and hunted animals
- Nyos
- Village chiefdom on hills overlooking Lake Nyos crater lake.
Population wiped out in 1986 by catastrophic release of carbon dioxide
from the crater lake. In popular estimation this was not a natural
catastrophy but rather the West testing out a neutron bomb
- O -
- O'Kelly, Elizabeth
- Education Officer and Key figure in women's development projects in
the region
- Oku
- Central chiefdom noted for production of ironware and powerful
medicines
- Oliphant
- Ivory horn
- Omer Sitan
- Steward to Kaberry and Chilver
- P -
- Pastor Dom
- Local Baptist clergyman
- Peter Banga Lengga
- Baptist School Teacher
- Phyllis Kaberry
- Eminent British anthropologist, friend and collaborator with Sally
Chilver
- Plebiscite
- The United Nations Trusteeship Council held a plebiscite in 1961 in
respect of reunification of Southern Cameroons (anglophone) with the
newly independent Republic of Cameroon (francophone). Southern
Cameroonians voted by more than two to one to reunify with the Republic
See DeLancey 1989, pp 41-43.
- R -
- Rest-House
- Basic standard of accommodation set aside for visiting Colonial
Officers and others
- Royal Niger Company
- British colonial trading enterprise, established at Ibi in 1883,
performing certain basic governmental functions in advance of organised
colonial administration
- S -
- sacra
- Sacred objects
- Saf
- Sub-chief of Bum
- Sala
- Cinda at end of 19th century involved in dealings with
Germans
- Sally Chilver
- Eminent Oxford historian and ethnographer of the Cameroon Grassfields
- Sawe
- Fon of sub-chiefdom of Sawe
- Su-Bum
- Area of bum
- T -
- Tabenken
- Village chiefdom of north-eastern Grassfields Tang group. Alt.
Tameken or Tang-Mbo
- taakibu'
- Nso' term for enclosed audience court of palace where the Fon met
notables privileged to attend
- Takum
- Kola entrepôt to north-west of Grassfields
- Tam
- Early Fon of Bum
- tanto'
- Palace (kwi'fon) official
- Tanto' Wanke
- Kwi'fon title.
- tie-tie bridge
- Rope bridge (Pidgin term)
- Tikar
- The Tikar lie immediately to the east of the Grassfields in
Francophone Cameroun. The origin myths of some Grassfields chiefdoms,
including Bamum and Nso', claim dynastic ties with the Tikar kings. The
idea of a Bamenda-Tikari identity began to spread amongst the new elite
of teachers and others precisely at a time when the question of
re-unification between Anglophone and Francophone zones was being hotly
debated
- Tiko
- Major coastal town in south-west Province; Tiko Tea Plantation
- Tongla'
- Kwi'fon title.
- tshesu tshumsu
- Inner council of Kwi'fon
- tshesu tutsu
- hereditary officers of tut
- Tumabu
- Cinda sent to Ibbi (British) trading station at end of 19th
century
- tut
- Society. Alt. Ntul
- T/R
- Steelman tape-recorder
- tshong
- Women's association. Alt cong
- W -
- Waa Ba
- Local cinawut compound-head married to Fon's 'sister',
important figure in kwi'fon
- Wallace
- First head of Ibi Royal Niger Company
- War
- Wimbum group
- Wimbum
- Related groups including War, Tang and Wiya to north of Nso'
- Wiya
- Wimbum group
- Wum
- Grassfields chiefdom of an originally confederal character. Alt.
Aghem, Aghoem
- Y -
- yaa
- Title, Queen Mother. Pl. ayaa
- Yangsi
- Quarterhead of Fonfuka
- ye-gong
- Institution most closely corresponding to tut in
sub-chiefdom of Mungong
- Yibuwa
- Senior Cinda involved with peace negotiations with Kom
- Z -
- Zintgraff, Eugen
- First German explorer to reach and enter the Grassfields at the end
of the 19th century
For further information contact
Ian Fowler