NAMES ON DOMINICA
BY
DOUGLAS TAYLOR *)
Dominica was occupied successively by speakers of Arawakan,
Cariban, French, and English dialects, all of which have left
their mark in place-names, as well as in the names of local flora
and fauna. African influence appears to have been minimal in
this respect. The Arawakan language of the island's early inhabitants survived that of the Carib invaders (from which, however, many words were borrowed), but the last native speaker
died about 1920. Two languages are spoken today: English and
a dialect of French Creole. The former, being the language of
prestige, is usually employed by the more socio-economically
privileged minority, the latter by the peasant majority, few of
whom know much English. However, members of the first class
often resort to Creole in their more intimate relations; while many
among even the poorest peasants may be heard addressing young
children in what they believe to be English, and chiding them
for speaking "Patois".
One curious result of this situation is that not only local fruits, trees,
fishes, birds, e/c., but also many places — probably most of those that have
ever been recorded in writing — have two (or more) names, the one employed in Creole and the other in English speech. So, for example, Grande
Anse or Portsmouth is the island's second largest town, Charlotteville or
New Town is a suburb of the capital Roseau (which has no other name),
Cachacrou or Scots Head is a peninsula at the island's southwestern
extremity, Cachibona of Clyde is one of its rivers. La Coudraie or Bath
Estate one of its citrus plantations. In some cases a rival name has been
defeated; Pointe Michel or Dalrymple's Point of late-18th-century maps
*) Author of "Diachronic note on the Carib contribution to Island
Carib", /ttterw. /oio-na/ y4»ter. LtngMts/tcs 17, 1951, and (with IRVING
ROUSE) "Linguistic and archeological time depth in the West Indies",
i&if 2r, 1955. (red.)
— 121 —
West-Indische Gids XXXVI
122
DOUGLAS TAYLOR
is now known only by the former designation, while another village,
formerly known as La Soie, has become Wesley to all except the local
parish priest! Two more villages, whose names are both written Marigot,
are distinguished in speech as [maerigot] (with English phonemes) and
[maigo] (with French phonemes and loss of [r]).
The Indian place-name, Kulihao, still so called by some of its older
inhabitants, is now usually heard as [koliho], and has been diversely recorded in writing as Coulihao, Coulihaut, Colihaut, Colliho. As a rule, the
best preserved names are those whose employment is most restricted or
localized. So, in 1650 RAYMOND BRETON recorded the Island-Carib name
of a small stream in the northern district as Aóya (three syllables); and
three hundred years later, when I crossed it, I was given the same name
by a peasant who lived nearby, although its meaning, 'guardian', must
have long been forgotten. It was amusing to be told later, by the local
school-teacher, that "Aóya is just the Patois corruption of its real name,
Roullade."
Indian place-names appear to have been mainly descriptive; so, Cachacrou is certainly a French adaptation of Island-Carib AasiAwrw (that which
is) chewed or eroded, as this headland is by the sea, whose root goes to
form the verb asaAwn» 'to chew'; while Cachibona most probably derives
from the name of a marantaceous plant, cachibou, Island-Carib Aasf&M
'pointed' (Aa-, attributive prefix, tsffcw 'face', or 'point (of a knife, We.)', in
reference to the shape of the leaves. Some other place-names whose
meanings are quite clear are: Baralsiri, a headland, meaning 'turning
point'; Burarati, a cove, 'notched or knobbly'; Séseti, a spring, 'flowing',
or 'it flows'; Büluku, a steep torrent, 'plunging', Isulukati, a stream, 'it
has crayfish', Tabatonakua, a cove, 'in between'; Pataukati, a provision
ground, 'it's flat'; Kulüluti, a steep ravine, 'it's collapsing'; Butari, a
piece of flat ground beside a river, 'cassava-griddle' (there used to be one
there, I was told); Sibüli, a hamlet, is the name of a species of fish, and
also means 'boil (tumor)'; Batibu, a hamlet, 'at (the) huts'; Berekua, a
village, 'fart' (sic/). Other, apparently Indian river or place-names, which
I shall not attempt to interpret or etymologize here, include (conventional
spelling, which is usually French, has been used when such exists and is
known to me, otherwise a broadly phonetic transcription is employed):
Akaiu, Araturi, Barakua, Battali, Bellibou, Biambouli, Boéry, Buétika,
Callibishi, Kasaiu, Kraibo, Kuahari, Kuanara, Kuanari, Kuaria, Kuérek,
Kuhara, Colabone, Coulibistri, Coulouacoa, Kusarakua, Kusaraua, Kusüna, Fibaukati, Frafrati, Hiroula, Layou, Litachi, Macabou, Macouchery,
Magua, Malalié (so French, but stress on 2nd syl.), Mamamelou, Mamelabou, Mayambaccaly, Pagoua (but now pronounced with e rather than a in
1st syl.), Pötöpi, Romanbaty, Salibia, Sarisari, Charounerouille, Sfneku,
Sfpiö, Tabieri, Tanama, Toucary, Touloman, Tümaka, Uainika, Uakamu,
Uakaresi, Uaraka, Uarisima, Ouayanary, Ouay-ouay, Waywayao, Uéti,
Ufkala, Ouyouhao.
Creole contains a number of names for local flora and fauna that are of
Island-Carib ancestry; these are given in French orthography. Balisier,
from Island-Carib ba/irt, is the name of two species of //e/icowia known as
"wild plantain" in local English; larouman, from Island-Carib wanima, is
that of the marantaceous plant, /scAwost/>Acm arouma, from which baskets
NAMES ON DOMINICA
123
and 'hfbichet' (sifters) are made; latanier, from Island-Carib
Aa/dta, is a fan-palm; Creole zicaque. from Island-Carib (A)t'A<iAu, is the
CArysofca/anus t'caco, or 'fat pork' of local English; and maho goujat or
Marie goujat (s»c/), from Island-Carib m^r^iuta (itself borrowed from
Tupf), is a wild species of passion-fruit. Some others, such as mibi, and
calabouli, which are both lianas or 'bush cords', and mouben, a large
forest tree called 'hog plum' in local English, have kept their Island-Carib
forms. The local opossum is still known to both Creole and English speakers
alike as the manicou, from Island-Carib mutifiu 'quiet one' (ma-, privative
prefix, a«*- 'do or say', -AM, a nominal collectivizer). Creole couliboui,
from Island-Carib Au/tótü 'bird (in general)', now designates the hummingbird, or a species thereof, as do French and Spanish colibri from the same
model. Another bird is called courapiaou in Dominica, and yet another is
called coulivicou in Martinique; and it seems possible that both these
names have been taken from the same Island-Carib model as is cited in the
preceding sentence. Creole vévéra, from Island-CaribftW^uera,or fcfr^w^ra,
is the name of a very ugly black sea snail that is sometimes eaten. The
Island-Carib name appears to be a compound of W/e 'soft, sticky', and
^ttera, 'tool, penis', and in Creole it is also called pi^is n«g 'Negro's penis'.
Also personal names of native ancestry appear to have been, in the main,
descriptive or reminiscent. Writing in the middle of the 17th century,
RAYMOND BRETON mentions a Dominican chieftain called liAa/c 'stickinsect', and a woman who named her baby girl t</t£6ana 'seaside-grape
leaf' (Cocco/ofco uin/era). Even today I know a man who is nicknamed
Aattirw 'turtle', and a woman known as Aa/etn/a, which is (or was) the Island-Carib name of a species of bird.
Place names of French ancestry fall into two main groups: those which
designate or once designated an "habitation" (French) or "estate" (English), and commemorate the family names of their first owners; and those
others that are, for the most part, descriptive of the landscape's natural
features. So, Beaubois, Dauchamps, Dilon, Dublanc, La Coudraie (despite
its also meaning 'hazelnut grove'), Robert, Rosalie, and St. Aromant are
still plantations bearing the names (so far as Creole speakers are concerned) of their first, long dead owners; while Laudat, Loubière, and Pichelin
are villages that grew up around the now defunct estates of Messrs.
LAUDAT, DE L'OUBIÈRE, and JEAN-BAPTISTE BARON — <2i< "Pichelin".
Indeed, nearly all the present inhabitants of Laudat claim descent from
that enterprising gentleman, who is said to have arrived from Martinique
alone, and to have settled on the high plateau overlooking both Caribbean
and Atlantic where the village named for him now stands. Mountains may
be named for their prevailing colour — so Morne Jaune, Morne Vert, for
the birds that frequent or once frequented them — so Morne aux Frégates
(for the frigate-bird) ajid Morne Diablotin (for a species of petrel now
probably extinct), for a species of tree found on their slopes — so Morne
Bois Diable (a Ltcama), a natural feature or striking appearance — so
Morne la Fontaine, Morne Brulé, Morne Canot, Trois Pitons, or for a
nationality, as in the cases of Morne Espagnol and Morne Anglais. The
same is true, by and large, of other natural features of the landscape; so.
La riviere Claire is noted for its good water, while the streams known as
Dleau (i.e. 'water', from French rfe /Vaw) Gommier, Dleau Manioc, Dleau
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NAMES ON DOMINICA
Morne Lorrain, take their names from adjacent vegetation and hill. Pointe
Ronde, Pointe Crabier, Pointe C'raibe, and Pointe Mulatre take theirs,
the first from its shape, the second from the crabier or Gaulin bird (a large
heron), and the last two from some early inhabitants of the place.
As might be expected, both villages called Soufrière are situated near
volcanic sulphur springs; Grand Fond lies in a deep hollow, and Grande
Anse on a landlocked harbour; Dos d'Ane bestrides a ridge, and La
Plaine straggles along a comparatively flat coastal stretch. Mahaut (Maho)
is the name of a village, and of several species of trees whose bark serves
as rope; Massacre commemorates the one-time destruction of a nativeIndian settlement by the English. Vieille Case is situated upon or near one
of the oldest known Carib settlements in the island; but whether or not
the name refers to this fact I cannot say. Marigot is a French word employed, in Africa and America, to designate low-lying ground subject to
inundation, or a river mouth which loses itself underground. The Gueule
du Lion is a large cave half way up a cliff, and La Sorcière a rocky pinnacle
from which, tradition has it, the Caribs used to cast faithless wives into
the sea. Such names as La Rivière de l'Or and La Riviere Belle Fille may
refer to one-time fact or fancy, while "Perdu Temps" and recently named
Fan CM (Creole, from French /emfre cu) refer humoristically to past mishaps. The name Cavalier is all that remains to mark the spot where once
a drunken horseman and his mount ended their days by falling over the
precipice; it would at least seem logical to suppose that Rasade, a hamlet
lower down on the same hillside, was the place of their undoing. Perhaps
only one who has climbed it can fully appreciate the aptness of the name
of Morne Paix-Bouche (Mount Hush-Mouth).
Names bestowed upon their plantations by English and other recent
settlers are, for the most part, nostaligic or pretentious: Bath, Belfast,
Blenheim, Castle Bruce, Castle Comfort, Clark Hall, Copt Hall, Geneva,
Hampstead, Londonderry, Melville Hall, Moore Park, Ryegate, Trafalgar.
Robert is known in English as South Chiltern, Fantaisie as Lisdara,
Perrot — the older form of French Pierrot — has recently been re-baptized
New Florida, and Dleau Morne Lorrain — "Norway"!
The above gives but a small sampling of names still current on the island of Dominica — udi-WAufcM/t 'tall her-body', as the Island-Carib
called it. Many of them — and among the most interesting — are known
only to those who have spent their lives in the immediate neighbourhood
of the features they designate, and have never been recorded. These will
soon be forgotten, for the general world unrest has now reached even this
tiny and secluded island.
Dominica, B. W. I.
•