Toponimy in Spanish language and evasion of Cameroonians in the face of reality

Abstract

The graphic or scriptural environment of Cameroon is experiencing a process of hispanization through Spanish words and expressions. These imported words name spaces, structures and institutions. It seems that the authors of that practice do escape from the heavy socioeconomic reality they are faced with since the decade of ninety. The evasion consists of several ways. It is spatial when foreign toponyms are transposed into Cameroon context and temporal when glorious and idyllic moments of the past are brought into mind. However, escapism can be carried out through rewarding adjectives or the designation of purely positive realities. Consequently, Cameroonians use symbolic concepts like goodness, friendship, divinity, etc. in order to, according to dream or visceral wish, make positive their daily life and get out of the generalized crisis. The aim of this paper consists in analyzing that phenomenon on the basis of collected data from Cameroon towns.