Mapping Expressions for Cannabis (Cannabis sativa) and Tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum) in Tanzanian Languages with Special Focus on Tanzanian Rift Valley Area

The plant products of both Cannabis sativa (marijuana) and Nicotiana tobacum (tobacco) had been recorded to be common in Northern, Eastern, and Southern Africa; hence the smoking of tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum) and marijuana (Cannabis sativa) offers an interesting research topic in Tanzania. Some lacunas still prevail. First, the (native) names of diamba, -mogi, (n)jaga, nje(e)mu, -kambo and (n)konde (Cannabis saliva) and -ho(o)na, -konde, -sa(a)yo, -ta(a)ba, -tumba(a)ti, and tumbako (Nicotiana tobacum) occur in a given zones irrespective of the language family, i.e. Afro-asiatic, Isolate, Khoisan, Niger-Congo, and Nilo-Saharan. Mapping of the zones for these names is required. Second, in most cases, etymologies of such words is not completely established by du Toit (1974, 1976, 1996) and Duvall (2016, 2017, 2019), hence the call for the current research. On the other hand, foreign names for cannabis of Asian origin occur in African languages. Its nomenclature in many Tanzanian languages shows evidence of diffusion from Arabic, Indian, Persians, and Sanskrit bhang or banji, mainly along the coast to Mount Kilimanjaro areas. Also, there is extension of names for tobacco to refer to cannabis in north-western and central Tanzania. Given this semantic extension, in the current presentation, much attention is paid on the naming of the two products in the Tanzanian Rift Valley area.