ABSTRACT
Intheliterature,thenameNyamwezihasbeengivenbothnarrowerandwider connotationswhichlargelycorrespondwithcontextualvariationsandhistorical changesinindigenoususage.1Writingin1845,Macqueenquotesanativeinformant whousesthetermtoincludeHacountry.2Burton'susageis,however,narrower andmuchclosertothatofmorerecentwriters.3Blohm,employingdatacollected between1897and1916,countstheKimbuandKonongoasthesouthern,andthe SukumaandSumbwaasthenorthern,majorsubdivisionsoftheNyamwezi,witha centralNyamweziarearoughlyequivalenttothatwhichIcallUnyamweziproper lyingbetweenthem.'Boschhasafundamentallysimilar,thoughmoredetailed,classification.5BothheandBlohmconsider,thoughfordifferentreasons,thatthename originallyhadadirectionalmeaning,servingtheinhabitantsoftheeastcoastasa generaltermforanumberofpeopleswhocamefromthewesttotrade.6Thisbroad usagehastosomeextentbeenperpetuatedbyatendencyofvariouspeoplesofthe regiontodescribethemselvesasNyamweziwhenseekingemploymentincoastalareas, sincethenameiswell-knownandrespectedthere.7
