The System and Concept of dyamu from Manding (Guinea), based on oral sources

Abstract

This article is devoted to one of the most interesting problem in African studies — the system of dyamu, clan names. The purpose of this article is a description of the system and its origin, dyamu based on how it is understood by the carriers themselves — representatives of the peoples of the Manding. The researches were based both on folklore sources, and on materials of expeditions to Guinea 1999 and 2014. The article presents the collected information about dyamu of Guinea (Siguiri district), their marriage prohibitions and preferences, names and legends of dyamu clans ancestors-founders, totems, as well as their senanku (families with whom the representatives of the dyamu clan is in ‘the joking relationship’). The dyamu system of castes division has appeared for the organization of relationships of the maden people, as well as joined to them Susu, Soninke and Fulani families in the Mali Empire. The Manden families occupied the higher positions in the hierarchy in according to their contribution to the victory and the establishment of the Empire of Mali. Dyamu names themselves are perceived as laudatory names and their main origin stories are recorded in the epic of Sundyate. Refs. 17.