Abstract
The names of 152 river courses and water bodies located in the same watershed in central Burkina Faso have been inventoried by the authority charged with implementing the Integrated Water Resources Management scheme. The purpose was to set up a base for a nomenclature of the hydrographic network. 125 of these water bodies are named in the vernacular (in mòoré). The meaning of these toponyms is indicated in French in the technical report which summarizes the survey results. This sample offers the possibility of comparing the meaning of the names given to natural (‘river courses’) and artificial (‘water bodies’, i.e. dams) features of the hydrographic network in this watershed. Water’ names were first intuitively classified on a logical basis. In fine, the database and resulting classification were discussed with three independent reviewers who were experts of the region and fluent in mòoré. Seven classes were identified, with river courses being present in each of them while small reservoirs occurred in only four. Clearly, water names vary, as do the perceptions local inhabitants have of these water bodies. These social representations of the two groups of these water bodies, considered here by our toponymic analysis, make a clear distinction between natural river courses, which are familiar and useful sites, and dams that are generally anonymous or even neglected. Explanations relating to the more or less claimed appropriation of artificial reservoirs and the methods of their development may be suggested. The study highlights the importance of involving anthropological studies in interdisciplinary projects focused on water resources.