The Germans and Africa

[Don Niles]

John,

Thanks for putting me onto these sites. Interesting indeed! For what it's
worth here are Laycock's comments on the 'sanguma' and Africa connection,
or lack thereof:

Laycock, Donald C.
	1996	"Sanguma." In Papers in Papuan Linguistics, 2, pp. 271-81.
Pacific Linguistics, A 85. Canberra: Australian National University.

"As for sanguma, the probability is fairly high that it does come from the
Monumbo language. Not only do we have the first mention of the word only
seven years after the opening of the Monumbo Mission Station in 1899--or
probably six years, if we allow for the time Vormann's paper took to get to
Germany and be printed--but we have a number of other related words in the
Monumbo language. In any case, it would seem unlikely that the word could
have been imported from anywhere outside Papua New Guinea. I have wasted a
lot of time trying to track down a reported 'sanggoma', with approximately
the same meaning, from southern Africa; but I have been unable to document
this in any reliable source, and cannot find words even remotely like it in
a score of African language dictionaries. If the word 'sanggoma' for
assault sorcery does exist anywhere in Africa, I believe it must either be
a chance resemblance, or else a loan word into African languages, perhaps
introduced through the medium of SVD priests, via their headquarters in
Vienna. But I think we can ignore the African connection for the time
being." (p. 277)

As the sites indicate, however, there is a 'sangoma', now used in English,
perhaps deriving from Zulu, etc..

Laycock tries to go further, but lacks information for most other
Torricelli languages. He then asks how 'sanguma' (the only word in TP from
a Papuan language) could have come into Tok Pisin, considering the small
numbers of speakers of Monumbo:

"I can hazard a guess that the transmission process was related to the
German plantations (many of them mission-plantations) along the
Bogia-Madang coastline. Once the word entered the pidgin of other groups,
the SVD priests would be likely to preach against the institution of
'sanguma'--and thus help to spread the word. (It is even possible that SVD
priests preached against 'sanguma' before the word was in their area, and
spread it that way). The further extension of plantation labour from Madang
to the Gazelle would have carried it to that area, and the Sepiks--who had
the concept, if not the word--would have got it in the time of extensive
Sepik labour-recruiting following World War II. But this is something that
would have to be documented another time. The spread of the word 'sanguma'
in the post-World War II period is, I think, related to the spread of Tok
Pisin, via the plantations." (p. 278)

It should be noted that Laycock died in 1988 and he may have further wanted
to revise his paper for publication.

Regards,
Don
Don Niles
Head & Senior Ethnomusicologist
Music Department
Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies
P.O. Box 1432
Boroko 111
PAPUA NEW GUINEA

tel.:	[675] 325-4644
fax:	[675] 325-0531
email:	ipngs at global.net.pg


>Don
>
>I don't have access to much library material here, and the detail you give
>is impressive. Anyhow, if Laycock couldn't find any southern African origin
>what's all this on http://come.to/sangoma and similar sites ...
>
>http://allafrica.com/stories/200207180061.html
>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/620565.stm
>
>I see that sangoma principally involves traditional healing but
>nevertheless...
>
>John Burton