Recounting History through Pristine Settlements: A Study of Selected Basà Toponyms in Nasarawa and Toto Local Governments of Nasarawa State

Abstract

This paper studies Basà toponyms in Toto and Nasarawa local governmentcouncils of Nasarawa State. Every place name in most Nigerian and Africansettlements has narratives which constitute the symbolic historical narrativebehind it. The study seeks to answer the question: What are the motivations andthe narratives behind toponyms in Toto and Nasarawa local governmentcouncils of Nasarawa state? Ethnographic data for the study were obtainedthrough interviews and metalinguistic conversations in Basà speaking domainsof Toto and Nasarawa local councils. The investigation adopted the linguisticdescriptive method using the Leipzig Glossing Rule to interpret the dataobtained. The facts in this study show that, while various approaches such asoral history, archaeology and other scientific methods can be used byresearchers to study toponyms, a linguistic approach can also be adopted as analternative complement. The findings from this study show that place names arehistorical preserving strategies and tools among the Basà ethnic group in Totoand Nasarawa local government areas. The linguistic approach used in the studyrevealed that the place names examined in the study involves variousgrammatical structures through complex morphological processes to derive theirsurface forms. The commonest sources of nomination of Basà toponyms aregeographical features, water bodies, vegetations, animals, ideology, personalnames, ideophones, transfer of settlement names and social factors. Theinvestigation unearths, reminds, teaches and preserves unknown storiesencapsulated in these toponyms.