Le nom du souverain dans les parlers « kotoko » du Cameroun

The so-called “Kotoko” group is located mainly in the far north of Cameroon, and marginally in Chad and Nigeria. It is composed of small fortified kingdoms built primarily in the West of the Lower Chari and the Lower Logone. Its fragmented geographical location in a flood zone has been conducive to the dialectalization of the language. Politically, these small units were torn between the Kanem-Borno Kingdom and the Baguirmi Kingdom. In the literature, the political units of Kotoko are sometimes referred to as sultanates, chiefdoms, kingdoms or principalities. This article systematically examines the names that the languages of the Kotoko group use to designate the sovereign. Contemporary scientific works attribute the origin of the Kotoko ruler’s name to Kanuri mây. However, this etymology does not explain all the present Kotoko forms. A detour through Ancient Kanuri *magi brings us back to Chadic languages other than Kotoko and raises the question of who borrowed from whom. Was it Kotoko who borrowed from Kanuri, or was it Kanuri who borrowed from Chadic before returning the loan to Kotoko? The name of the sovereign in Logone-Birni seems to give arguments in favour of the latter hypothesis.