The name "basenji" is African, but beyond that, there's been considerable confusion about what exactly that name means in the native language. Scholar Peter Wakeham studied the name and the script in which it is written and came to some interesting conclusions. The art and text of *this* page have been adapted from an article Wakeham published in "The Basenji," Nov. 1976.
Contrary to some published opinion, basenji does not mean "wild and uncivilized," nor does it mean "the dog from old times." Instead, the ultimate meaning goes back to ancient Persian and Arabic. Today's confusion is due to the different ways words may be pronounced and written in the languages that led to modern Swahili.
Fig.1: "Shenji" is the Arabic word for "wrinkles."
Fig. 2: "Zenji," meaning "wild and uncivilized" is a Persian word. Arabic and Persian were as close in ancient times as English and American are now, and obviously the two similar pronunciations can be confused.
Fig. 3: "Shenzi" is the Swahili script of the word that means "uncivilized." People mistakenly assumed it was this word from which the name basenji derived.
Fig. 4: "Senji" is the appropriate name for the dog, harking back closely to the original Arabic, as can be seen in figure 1 above. So despite the confusion, the name BA-SENJI is perfectly apt. The dog cuddled on one's lap today is not now, and was not then "uncivilized," but the dog was surely just as "wrinkled" thousands of years ago as he remains today.
Fig. 5: Modern Swahili script for "basenji." Wakeham asserts that the word "represents perfectly the gazelle-like speed, grace and vitality of this aristocratic canine." Sure, why not? I am not going to ask where the little dot-clusters in his earlier drawings went to. And I am sure not going to try to fake them.
Fig. 6: Wakeham ends his article by reproducing this stylized basenji head, the written Arabic word "Khafre." It means "the one who beats them all," and also "protector." In conclusion he says: "The Basenji [have] also been called "Khufu dogs," and the head (with a small alteration) is also suitable for this name which comes from the verb "to know" and is cognate with the very appropriate word for the dog -- SILENT!"
The original material from which this page was adapted was graciously provided by Sally Ann Smith.
Jim Cummins, copyright © 1996