OF THE SAME BREATH, indigenous animal and place names

365pp., illus., maps, paperback, Bloemfontein, 2017

Dr Lucie Möller on why and how the animals and places of southern Africa have been given the names they have today.

"The vast empty spaces of South Africa and Namibia are suffused with codes to the past. To the casual traveller, the -laagtes and -leegtes flash and roll past our windows, unexplained and undiscovered, but to the informed, these ancient names unfurl a history as old as man himself. This is Simon Schama's 'topography of cultural identity', which started with the San, and continues to this day. Lucie Möller's glorious exploration of these animal origins stands proud, with the work of Bleek, as reminder and tribute to voices now silent." Dave Pepler, zoologist and Research Associate of the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology in Stellenbosch.

Lucie Möller is a Research Fellow of the Unit for Language Facilitation and Empowerment of the University of the Free State and member of the South African Academy of Science and Art. She is co-author of Dictionary of Southern African Place Names.