768 ABORIGINAL PLACE NAMES. 



(a) Name-Groups. 



It is. of course, impossible to give more than a few groups 

 of names, these being sufficient to iUustrate the principle. One 

 such group is seen in the names Nkau, Nkaukasi, and Nkazvn- 

 kasi. The first is the name of the vervet monkey {Cercopivhccus 

 pygerythrus Cuv.), and the suffix kazi forming feminine nouns 

 from the masculine. Nkaukazi represents the female. Nkawa- 

 hazi, then, remains to puzzle us, unless we conclude that the 

 spelling is at fault. A glance at the list of names reveals the 

 interesting fact that the hrst name occurs in Matatiele District, 

 and the second in Ngqeleni, in Western Pondoland. 



Another group for which I am not in a position to offer any 

 explanation at present is Ntsimba, Ntsimbakazi, Ntsimbini. The 

 first occurs in Engcobo, the second in Willowvale, and the last in 

 St. John's and Ngqeleni. 



A third group consists of Nqaba, Nqabane, Nqabara, 

 Nqbarana, and Kobonqaba, occurring respectively in the Districts 

 of Tsolo, Idutywa, Willowvale, Tsolo, and the Ciskei. From our 

 experience of other words, where we get duplications, such as in 

 Nqadu and Nqanqadu, Ncolora and Nconcolora, one mig'.it 

 rtasonably expect to find also a Nqanqaba. If such a place exists, 

 J have not yet come across it, but there is such a H.-B. word, 

 meaning a steep ascent, and this is an exact description of the 

 Nqaba Valley ! It becomes steeper and steeper, until a high 

 waterfall is encountered, and in any case the sides are strikingly 

 steep. Nqaba comes to mean a stronghold, so that Inkobonqaba 

 would be an empty fortress, a deserted stronghold. As a matter 

 of fact, by a process of corruption, the Inkobonqaba is known to 

 us as the Koonap, so far as the Ciskeian river is concerned, though 

 the correct Kaffir form of the name persists in Kentani. 



In the case of Nqabara, the suffix, as we have seen, is H.-B. 

 in origin, and has the force of toning down, and giving an impres- 

 sion that at the stream the ascent is steepish. Nqabarana being 

 possessed of the additional diminutive suffix ana, indicates the 

 small stream at the steepish ascent. Nqabane is not so clear since 

 one is not sure of the sense, but seems to indicate some difficulty 

 encountered by the stream at a given place. 



(b) Duplications. 



Another class of names are those which are duplications. 

 Probably quite a number of those which are now single syllable, 

 or single syllable + a suffix, are to be regarded as belonging to 

 this class originally, for there is a strong tendency to eliminate 

 the duplication, and the result has frequently been that the 

 tendency prevailed. While the evidence does not confine duplica- 

 tion to the Hottentots and Bushmen, and the names originating 

 Irom these sources, yet we know enough to be able to say that it 

 was a very usual device of theirs. In presenting a list of some 

 such name "ome purely Bantu forms are noticeable amongst the 

 H.-B. ones. 



