By Burnett Munthali


Place-names are an important part of our geographical and cultural environment. They identify geographical entities of different kinds and represent irreplaceable cultural values of vital significance to people’s sense of well-being and feeling at home. Place-names are therefore of major social importance.

Most often the names of places are related to the original people that founded the settlement and they can often be attributed to the landscape, animals, vegetation or social activities of the area.

Place names are normally used as the indicator of places. Place names reflect variety of objects, both natural and man-made, such as huts, fields, streets, temples, villages, towns, rivers, tanks, hills, mountains, forests, regions, countries, and others which come under purview of human knowledge.

They are a special part of our cultural heritage in that they tell us some- thing about the place to which they refer and about the name givers. Thus they provide important supplements to the history of the places where people settled, as ties to the past.

Generally, the two variables that come into play when locations are named are (1) physical features, and (2) the language and culture of the race that names it. If a human, say an Anglo race were to name a place, they would name it after what it looks like, their history or mythology, or someone important to them.

In much of the “Old World” (approximately Africa, Asia and Europe) the names of many places cannot easily be interpreted or understood; they do not convey any apparent meaning in the modern language of the area. This is due to a general set of processes through which place names evolve over time, until their obvious meaning is lost. In contrast, in the “Newi World” (roughly North America, South America, and Australasia), many place names’ origins are known.

Although the origin of many place names is now forgotten, it is often possible to establish likely meanings through consideration of early forms of the name. Some general conclusions about the nature of place names, and the way in which place names change, can be made and examined. It is also possible to distinguish regional trends and differences in the naming of places.

Places change names for a variety of reasons: to erase a disgraced leader or honour a new one; to signal a fresh start or right past wrongs. These changes, though, are always unsettling, and often controversial. In some cases, entire nations are changing names.

Some cities also changed their names to match their local names in their respective languages, such as Mumbai from Bombay in 1995, Kolkata from Calcutta in 2001, and Chennai from Madras in 1996.

In conclusion, back in Malawi, President Reverend Lazarus Chakwera has renamed Phalombe Hospital to John Chilembwe Hospital. This has sparked a debate as to whether it was necessary for the President to do so or not while others are in support of the decision. I took social interest to look into this matter and decided to make my own research. I found interesting results in the name Phalombe itself. To my surprise, Phalombe – Means “number of sexual partners in one’s lifetime among those who ever had sexual intercourse”. And I just stopped on the way.

Could this be another reason Chakwera decided to rename Phalombe Hospital? I know the President’s main aim was to try and honour the great Martyr Chilembwe. Perhaps that’s not one of the reasons as I’m just guessing unfortunately I’m not President Chakwera to know exactly and explain the main reason for what he just did. I’m simply what I’m, just a writer.