Digital Atlas of the Toponyms of Trinidad and Tobago (DATTT)

Jo-Anne S. Ferreira

Jo-Anne S. Ferreira

UWI, St Augustine

2019

MapsToponymsOnmasticsPlace NamesTrinidad and Tobago

This project aims to document the toponyms of Trinidad and Tobago, via a series of customised Google maps. The project was conceived of a) in honour of the International Year of Indigenous Languages (IYIL) 2019, b) in response to a popular but erroneous map circulating on social media, and c) to graphically illustrate and further the research of scholars (such as Michael Anthony, Rawwida Baksh-Soodeen, Arie Boomert, Kemlin Laurence, CR Ottley, RW Thompson, Maureen Warner-Lewis, and Brinsley Samaroo) for academic and educational uses. While the diversity of the place names of Trinidad and Tobago is widely accepted, the actual depth of this diversity is not truly known. This project is expected to graphically account for and demonstrate the impact of a number of ethnolinguistic groups on Trinidad and Tobago's linguistic landscape, thus awakening a greater awareness of a fascinating phenomenon. In addition, the extent of intersecting and overlapping hybrid names, as well as little known etymologies will be uncovered (or where lost to history, documented or hypothesised). Underpinning this project is an appreciation and a sense of the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to make sense of a complex reality, often much taken for granted.