Angolan Toponyms from Bantu Languages: Criteria for Spell Harmonization

ABSTRACT

This study presents some criteria to spell Bantu toponyms in Brazilian Portuguese following the language lending phenomenon. We understand that toponyms are lexical and therefore they should obey the target language spelling rules as much as possible. To achieve this purpose, we conducted a documentary and field research using focus groups to validate the collected information. From a spelling point of view, the collected data show that there are some divergences in the writing form of Bantu toponyms. Thus, we proposed some criteria for their standardization, avoiding the multiple spellings observed.

KEYWORDS:
linguistic contact; linguistic interference; spell harmonization; toponyms from Bantu origin