Still doubting that "Bechuana" means "Bakhwana" and not "Batswana"?
And so the group of tribes that spoke the language now called "Setswana" disowned the name "Bechuana" that the newly arrived British colonialists used to refer to them. They claimed, indeed insisted, that they were not one nation but different tribes (Bakwena; Barolong; Batlhaping; etc) who happened to share one common language. In Egypt Kalangas referred to those people as "Basuthu" while in Southern Africa, Kalangas referred to them as "Barwa".
Barwa were not our country's southernmost inhabitants that the British first came into contact with. It was "Bakhwana". Recall that our country's southernmost regions are what became known as "British Bechuanaland", and are now part of South Africa. British Bechuanaland is where the British encountered the "Bakhwana", and spelled their name "Bechuana".
Some might argue that the British could have written the name as "Bequana" rather than "Bechuana", if indeed it was "Bakhwana" that they were trying to write. Such an argument ignores the pronunciation of the English word "equal", which would have forced the British to pronounce the name so written as "Bi-khwana". Clearly that was not how the British intended to pronounce the name "Bakhwana". Hence they wrote it as "Bechuana" rather than "Bequana". As fate would have it, the spelling that the British arrived at, "Bechuana" was pronounced differently in the Sumerian/Coptic/Arabic/Sotho dialect that the Barwa speak. In that dialect the combination "ch-" is NEVER pronounced as in "character". It is always pronounced as in "change".
Therefore as the British advanced northwards and came into contact with Barwa, the latter changed the pronunciation of "Bechuana" to fit in with their own dialect of the Sotho language. Thus Barwa invented a hitherto unknown and nonexisting name. However the British stuck to the original (and genuine) pronunciation of the name, while Barwa went with their Sotho pronunciation.
The final nail in the coffin of the original (and genuine) British pronunciation of "Bechuanaland" was delivered when British Bechuanaland, where Bechuana had first been encountered, was incorporated into South Africa. Finally the scales were tipped in favor of Barwa's pronunciation of the name "Bechuanaland". Barwa ended up being triumphant with the newly acquired, albeit stolen and wrongly pronounced, version of the name "Bechuanaland".
But Barwa had no power to restrict even the Sotho-pronounced version of "Bechuana" to themselves alone to the exclusion of other non Sotho speaking tribes of this country. However, they achieved this feat by adopting the name "Sechuana" for their language alone, which automatically rendered all other languages "foreign" to the country "Bechuanaland".
The wretched history of our motherland reads like the story of an Arab Bedouin who was kicked out of his tent by his camel. Bakalanga, will you please wake up!
Barwa were not our country's southernmost inhabitants that the British first came into contact with. It was "Bakhwana". Recall that our country's southernmost regions are what became known as "British Bechuanaland", and are now part of South Africa. British Bechuanaland is where the British encountered the "Bakhwana", and spelled their name "Bechuana".
Some might argue that the British could have written the name as "Bequana" rather than "Bechuana", if indeed it was "Bakhwana" that they were trying to write. Such an argument ignores the pronunciation of the English word "equal", which would have forced the British to pronounce the name so written as "Bi-khwana". Clearly that was not how the British intended to pronounce the name "Bakhwana". Hence they wrote it as "Bechuana" rather than "Bequana". As fate would have it, the spelling that the British arrived at, "Bechuana" was pronounced differently in the Sumerian/Coptic/Arabic/Sotho dialect that the Barwa speak. In that dialect the combination "ch-" is NEVER pronounced as in "character". It is always pronounced as in "change".
Therefore as the British advanced northwards and came into contact with Barwa, the latter changed the pronunciation of "Bechuana" to fit in with their own dialect of the Sotho language. Thus Barwa invented a hitherto unknown and nonexisting name. However the British stuck to the original (and genuine) pronunciation of the name, while Barwa went with their Sotho pronunciation.
The final nail in the coffin of the original (and genuine) British pronunciation of "Bechuanaland" was delivered when British Bechuanaland, where Bechuana had first been encountered, was incorporated into South Africa. Finally the scales were tipped in favor of Barwa's pronunciation of the name "Bechuanaland". Barwa ended up being triumphant with the newly acquired, albeit stolen and wrongly pronounced, version of the name "Bechuanaland".
But Barwa had no power to restrict even the Sotho-pronounced version of "Bechuana" to themselves alone to the exclusion of other non Sotho speaking tribes of this country. However, they achieved this feat by adopting the name "Sechuana" for their language alone, which automatically rendered all other languages "foreign" to the country "Bechuanaland".
The wretched history of our motherland reads like the story of an Arab Bedouin who was kicked out of his tent by his camel. Bakalanga, will you please wake up!
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