Algerian Toponymy : Settlement Toponymy. Geolinguistic and Anthropological Considerations

The processes of naming and renaming tribal territories, sub-tribal fractions, and their settlement sites in Algeria remain largely understudied. Yet, even a simple diachronic perspective that looks beyond the present reveals the existence of naming and renaming processes worthy of investigation: has there been change or transformation in toponymic and onomastic practices in the naming of Algerian settlement spaces? A transformation that writing alone is insufficient to preserve in the face of the fluctuating nature of speech (orality).

Settlement sites based on elements such as Ouled, Beni, Aït, Doui, Douar, and others—subjected at times to violent and at other times to peaceful processes of renaming, often disregarding traditional onomastic conventions—have resulted in significant spatial, genealogical, identity-based, and identificatory recompositions and restructurings.

As a continuation of the National Research Project (PNR) “Toponymy: Assessment and Perspectives,” the present research team will pursue its work along two main directions:

The first involves a systematic exploitation of onomastic categories related to settlement toponymy, based on the database developed in partnership with the National Institute of Cartography and Remote Sensing (INCT) within the aforementioned PNR project.

The second focuses on a systematic spatial distribution of toponymic bases (Beni, Douar, Taddart, Dar, etc.) and their frequency of use.

At the conclusion of this research, we will gain insight into how this toponymy is structured: What are the dominant semantic domains? How are settlement toponyms morpho-lexically structured (simple forms, compound forms of two, three, or four elements)? What types of treatment did colonial onomastic logics apply to this toponymy? What is the spatial distribution of these bases, and what anthropological insights can be drawn from it?