Work

Reconsidering the Etymology of the Ethnonym Balanda: An Oral-Historical and Linguistic Perspective from the Njo Viri Language

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The ethnonym Balanda has frequently been attributed in colonial and post-colonial literature to a Bongo-language origin, often glossed as “people of the mountain.” This paper presents an alternative explanation grounded in Balanda oral history and linguistic analysis of the Njo Viri language. Drawing on documented grammatical structures and morphemes, it argues that the name Balanda derives from an internally coherent Balanda expression meaning “people like us,” and that the commonly cited form emerged through colonial mistranscription and semantic reinterpretation.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.18038646

Author: Ujang, Weso J. B.

Language: English

Topic: Australian Indigenous Culture and History

Subfield: Anthropology

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7117157098

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