Abstract

FILHO, Wilson Trajano. The workings of Creolization: naming practices in colonial Guinea-Bissau. Etnográfica [online]. 2008, vol.12, n.1, pp.95-128. ISSN 0873-6561.

This paper analyses the naming practices in the creolized villages of Guinea-Bissau during the colonial period. Based on a corpus of 496 names presented in a series of lists of deceased persons published by the Health Service between 1892 and 1900, this article describes the process of creolization in colonial society from the perspective of the naming practices. Comparing the naming patterns prevailing in Portugal and in the indigenous societies of Guinea, this paper shows how Creole naming practices were unstable, creative and multidirectional.

Keywords : creolization; naming practices; Guinea-Bissau.

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