AliORlGINAL PLACE NAMES, 719 



um-Bolomi30, and the point is whether we are to arrange it 

 under it, or c, or m, or B, or all. As a matter of fact, the prefix 

 itm might well be eliminated, in which case the word would be 

 Bolompo, but if we think it necessary to write the whole word, 

 the strictly accurate way would be em-Bolompo, the locative. 

 According to our English way, however, the temptation to write 

 Emboloiiipo is irresistible to many, while the common practice is 

 to simply crystallise the name into Mbolompo! 



An illustration which brings out another point is the place- 

 name Cumngcc. i-Cumngce is a tributary of the Umtata River, 

 and Buntingville, the Teacher Training Institution which has 

 grown up on the banks of the river, drawing its pupils from 

 far and near, is come to be spoken of as " At the i-Cumngce." 

 Now, in Kaffir, the locative case is formed by the substitution of 

 ktva for //, or c for the first letter of the prefix. Thus i-Cumngce 

 becomes c-Ciimngcc, and, similarly, Umgzvali becomes Emgivali. 

 So, to avoid unnecessary duplication, and even confusion, it has 

 seemed wiser to adopt the neutral form, such as Citmngce, and 

 Mgzvali, in the names mentioned, unless some one other form 

 has come to be widely used and better known, or the purposes 

 of clearness are better served by the showing of the prefix. 



Mr. Godfrey, in an appendix to his Dictionary, has faith- 

 fully given the prefix in every case, entering the place-name 

 under the initial letter of the root. Since the general usage (so' 

 far as postal addresses, official records, place-names on maps, 

 and all the usual places. where names are written, are concerned) 

 is to eliminate only the initial vowel and to capitalise the con- 

 sonant following, we have followed out this practice, except 

 where other forms have also gained currency. In some few cases 

 we have not hesitated to give more than one form if these were 

 well known, or any other good purpose were served by so 

 doing. 



The advantage of this decision wall be observed by reference 

 to the following extract from Bryant's Zulu-English Dictionary : 



" Capitals and Proper Names. — So far Grout seems to have 

 been the only one who attempted to formulate for us any fixed 

 rules in regard to this matter. The practice of Colenso was 

 constantly varying, showing that his own mind was not quite 

 settled on the subject. . . . Unhappily, Grout's system is 

 inconvenient and irregular. . . . He advises (Rule 5, para. 64, 

 Zulu Grammar) that ' All proper nouns, as names of persons, 

 ])laces. rivers, and tribes ' be commniced with a capital letter, 

 that is to say, that tlie capital letter should appear as the initial 

 letter of the prefix of the word, not of the root. Thus : Umuti 

 (a person), Utukela (a river), Inkandhia (a place). 



" He then proceeds to direct that, when such names of places 

 appear in the locative case, the first letter is still that to be 

 capitalised. Thus Otukela, Enkandhla. 



"Again, he directs that, when such a ])roper name is preceded 

 by a particle whose final vowel coalesces with the initial vowel 



K 



