C. Lynch
TJ he elem ents from w hich scientific names are
made are often; however, not always very
descriptive o f the anim al. The origins are
m ostly Greek (Gr.) and Latin (L.) but also
include languages such as Arabic (Ar.). The
authors w ho described these anim als, mostly
during the eighteenth and early nineteenth
century, often did n ot state their reasons for
choosing a particular nam e, therefore in som e
o f the exam ples which follow only an
approxim ation tow ards accuracy was possible
by referring to Jaeger (1950), Wyld & Partridge
(1968),
K enneth
(1975)
or as
otherwise
indicated.
1. The scientific nam e for springhare, Pedetes
capensis, literally m eans a leaper or dancer
( = Gr. pedetes) o f the Cape C olony ( =
capensis)
w h ich
is
b e h a v io u ra lly an
appropriate nam e for such an animal.
However, the colloq uial nam e hare is a
m isnomer since the springhare is a rodent
and not a lagom orph (hare or rabbit). The
nam e p ro b a b ly
o rig in ated
w hen the
lagom orphs were once regarded as rodents.
2. The ground squirrel,
Xerus
(Gr. \e r o s = dry)
inauris (L. in = not, auris = an ear) is a
rodent (squirrel) o f the arid regions with
in co n sp ic u o u s
ears
and
is
called
a
“w a a ierstertm eerk at” in A frik aan s. A
m isnomer as a “m eerkat” ( = m ongoose) is a
carnivore; therefore this squirrel should
c o r r e c tly
b e
c a lle d
a
“ g r o n d -” or
“waaiersterteekhoring”.
3. The hippopotam us, H ip p o p o ta m u s (Gr.
H ip p o s =
h o rse,
p o ta m o s = river)
am phibius, or “seek oei” in Afrikaans, is not
pelagic and should rather have been called a
“rivierkoei”; how ever, Bryden (in Shortridge
1934) says hippo are n ot averse to salt water
and it is even possible that they may
occasionally venture out to sea and make
their way from one river m outh to another.
The hippo is also not related to the horses
(Perissodactyla) as indicated by its scientific
name but belongs to the Order o f even-toed
ungulates (A rtiodactyla). The D utch and
German nam es for the hippopotam us are
“ N ij lp a a r d ”
a n d
“ N i l p f e r d ”
( a ls o
“Flusspferd”) respectively w hich literally
means a horse o f the (N ile) river.
4. The giraffe or cam elleopard, Giraffa (Ar.
zaraf = giraffe) Cam elopardalis (Gr. kam elos
(
=
camel, pardalis = pard, leopard or spotted
M
like a panther) opposes another interesting
derivation.
The
D utch word “pardel”
( ^ l e o p a r d )
a s
o r i g i n a l l y u s e d in
“kam eelpardel” was derived from the word
pard (pardalis). H ow ever, in Afrikaans the
word appears to have been confused with
“paard” w hich is D utch for a horse hence the
“perd” in “kam eelperd”. The giraffe (also the
D u tch and Germ an nam e for this animal) is
an even-toed ungulate which carries horns
and is consequently not related to the horses
but belongs to a different Order.
5. In English the word m on goose (derived from
the Indian-Tam il word m onegos) refers to all
the H erpestinae nam ely Dwarf, Banded,
W hite-tailed, W ater, Slender, Grey and
Y ello w ,
m o n g o o se , and the su ricate.
H ow ever, in A frikaans only the suricate,
Su ricata su rica tta and yellow m ongoose,
C yn ictis p e n c illa ta are referred to as
“ m e e r k a t ”
v i z .
“ s t o k s t e r t - ”
o r
“g ra a tjie sm ee rk a t”
and
“ro oim eerk at”
respectively, w hile the remaining species are
called “m u ish ond e”. This word is also used
in A frikaans to refer to the skunks (white-
naped w easel and polecat - incidently the
la tte r
is
n o t
a
f el i d)
n a m ely
th e
“s la n g m u ish o n d ” and “stin k m u ish o n d ” .
A lth ou gh b oth the m ongooses and skunks
are carnivores, the former belong to the
Fam ily Viverridae while the skunks belong
to the Fam ily M ustelidae.
The word “m eerkat” might have several
origins. In earlier literature both the suricate
and yellow m o n g o ose are referred to as
“m ierkat”, “m ier” being the Afrikaans
co lloq u ial for term ite. Both species are
associated with term ite m ounds and can
occasion ally be seen perched upon these and
w hether they have been named after this
association or because o f the termites they
con su m e is n ot known; however, it is an
appropriate nam e especially for the yellow
m o n g o o s e
i n
w h o s e d i e t t e r m i t e s
predom inate (Lynch 1979). Miller (1972) is
o f the op in ion that “meerkat” was derived
from the D utch word “meer” ( = pond or
lake) and says no nam e could be m ore
incorrect as the suricate is restricted to the
driest part o f Sou th Africa. One can also
speculate that the word was used in a plural
sense, “m eer” ( = m any), since suricates are
g reg a rio u s a n im a ls. The Germ an fo r
“m eerkat” (S. su rica tta ) is Erdmannchen, an
a p p ro p ria te
n am e fo r these burrow -
i n h a b i t i n g a n i m a l s , whi l e in D u tc h
“m eerkat” is a kind o f monkey.
The w o rd suricate ap p ea rs to have been
derived from the Jav an ese w o rd s sura ( = a
chief) and catje ( = a kitten). W h e th e r this
orig in ated durin g the D u tch East In d ian
in v o lvem en t in S o u th Africa a n d th a t the
“chiefs” had these as pets (suricates are easily
ta m ed an d were frequently k ep t as pets) is
n o t know n.
A n o th e r m isnom er is the n a m e white-
rh in o cero s or “w itren o ster”,
C eratotherium
simum.
S hortridge (1934) w riting o f the
square-lip ped rhino says “W h en s ta n d in g on
a ridge exposed to the slanting rays of the
m o rn in g sun they look absolutely white, a n d
these
an im als
would
have
been
first
e n c o u n tered by the early D u tch h u n te rs — , it
is possible th a t its present fam iliar, th o u g h
in a p p ro p ria te , name thus a ro s e .” R o sso u w
(in S h o rtrid g e 1934) says “-this an im al
received its nam e merely because it was
slightly lighter in co lo ur th a n the so-called
‘Black’ R hinoceros, which im pressed th ose
responsible for the n am e to such an extent
th a t they called it ‘w h ite’ in co n tra d is tin c tio n
to the o rd in ary d ark er-co lo u red species.”
A n o th e r possibility is th a t the n am es white
an d “wit” were w rongly derived fro m the
w ords “wyd m o n d ” i.e. wide-lipped o r
m o u th ed (T .R .H . Owen in M ab erly 1967) a
c h a ra c te r which clearly distinguishes it from
the black rhinoceros,
Diceros bicornis.
C o lo u r between the two species is not
recognized as a criteria o f distinction,
c o n s e q u e n t l y t h e w h i t e - r h i n o s h o u l d
preferably
be called
the square-lipped
rhinoceros.
7. T h e
specific
n a m e
o f ihe
sp rin g b o k,
(A nlidorcas) m arsupialis is also intriguing,
as all m a m m als o f the A frican co n tin en t are
placental an im als, while m arsu p ial (p o u ch-
bearing) anim als, such as the k a n g a ro o ,
occur prim arily in A ustralia. Possibly the
n am e m arsupialis refers to the s p rin g b o k ’s
large dorsal gland. D o llm a n & Burlace
(1922) and o the rs described this gland to be a
fold or n arro w p o u c h (sic.) cap ab le o f being
tu rned partially inside-out d u rin g periods o f
ex citem ent (i.e. w hen pronking).
8 . Several v e rn a c u la r nam es originated from
nam es given to these an im als by the
i n d i g e n o u s
p e o p l e s
s u c h
as
k u d u
( H o t t e n t o t ) , i m p a l a ( Z u l u , S w a h i l i
Ndebele), an d quag ga. T h e A frik aan s word
“ k w ag g a” or “c o u a g g a ” from which the
English n am e q u ag g a is derived comes from
an o n o m a to p o e ic H o tte n to t word “k h o u a
k h o u a ” ( P e n z h o r n 1969) den o tin g the call
m ad e by the zebra. The word zebra in tu rn
has been derived fro m the Abyssinian, zibra
meaning striped; how ever, P en z h o rn (1969)
is of the o p in io n th at zebra is a Congolese
w ord. The A frik aan s word “zeb ra” or
“s e b ra” th erefo re has no historical or o th e r
right o f existence an d it is p roposed th a t the
correct A frik aan s n am e for the two e x tan t
zebra
should
be
;
“ b o n tk w ag g a” for
Burchell”s zebra
(Equus burchelli) and
“b e rg k w a g g a ” fo r the M o u n ta in zebra
(E.
zebra) and-“egte k w ag g a” for the one extinct
ze b ra
(E. quagga) (P e n z h o rn 1969).
9. T h e origin o f the nam e pangolin
(M anis
lem m in ckii) is fro m M alay, peng-guling ( =
roller i.e. fro m the h ab it o f rolling itself up).
H ow ever, the origin o f the Afrikaans nam e
“ ie te rm a g o ” o r “ieterm ago(g)” appears to be
d u b io u s. B o sh o f (1936) agrees b ut says th a t
it
is
p r o b a b l y
a n in d ig e n o u s w o rd .
S h o rtrid g e (1934) lists 22, and R o b erts
(1951) an a d d itio n a l nine “native” nam es for
th is
a n t -
a n d
t e r m it e - e a ti n g a n i m a l,
how ever, n o t on'e o f these resembles the
n a m e “ie te rm a g o ” , therefore the A frikaans
n am e rem ain s a n enigma.
S c i e n t i f i c
n a m e s
a l b e i t
n o t a l w a y s
a p p r o p r i a t e
a r e u n i v e r s a l , t h e r e f o r e
elim inate the co n fu sio n which might arise
w hen for e x a m p le referring to vern acu lar
nam es such as “r o o im u is h o n d ”
(Herpestes
sanguineus) a n d “ro o im e e rk a t”
(Cynictis
penicillata) o r “d ra a ija k k a ls ” which in some
area s is believed to be
Vuples chama,
how ever, is also the nam e used for the
“ b a k o o r ja k k a ls ”
(O tocyon megalotis). In
a d d i t i o n , t h e s e s c i e n t i f i c n a m e s a r e
system atically g ro u p e d to illustrate their
relatio n ship , so th a t even if a porcu p ine (L.
pocus = pig) is called an “y sterv ark ” its
classification show s th a t it is not a pig b u t a
ro d e n t (“k n a a g d ie r ”).
9
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