African World, Feb. 4, 2019
Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of the Southern African nation of Botswana.
This post also presents explanations for the terms "Botswana", "Batswana", "Motswana", "Tswana", & "Setswana".
The content of this post is presented for linguistic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the producers of this embedded video and thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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WHAT THE TERMS "BOTSWANA", "BATSWANA", "MOTSWANA", & "TSWANA" MEAN
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tswana_language
"Tswana, also known by its native name Setswana, and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people.[1] It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30), and is closely related to the Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi language and the Lozi language.[3]
Setswana is an official language and lingua franca of Botswana and South Africa. Tswana tribes are found in more than two provinces of South Africa, primarily in the North West, where about four million people speak the language. An urbanised variety, which is part slang and not the formal Setswana, is known as Pretoria Sotho, and is the principal unique language of the city of Pretoria. The three South African provinces with the most speakers are Gauteng (circa 11%), Northern Cape, and North West (over 70%). Until 1994, South African Tswana people were notionally citizens of Bophuthatswana, one of the bantustans of the apartheid regime. The Setswana language in the Northwest Province has variations in which it is spoken according to the tribes found in the Tswana culture (Bakgatla, Barolong, Bakwena, Batlhaping, Bahurutshe, Bafokeng, Batlokwa, Bataung, and Bapo, among others); the written language remains the same. A small number of speakers are also found in Zimbabwe (unknown number) and Namibia (about 10,000 people).[1]
[…]
The Tswana Language
Person- MoTswana
People - BaTswana
Language -SeTswana
Country - BoTswana”…
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Excerpt #2
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tswana_people
"The Tswana (Tswana: Batswana, singular Motswana) are a
Bantu-speaking ethnic group who are native to Southern Africa. The Tswana
language is a principal member of the Sotho-Tswana language group. Ethnic
Tswana made up approximately 85% of the population of Botswana in 2011.[1]
Batswana are the native people of south and eastern
Botswana, and the Gauteng, North West, Northern Cape and Free State provinces
of South Africa, where the majority of Batswana are located.
History
Early history of Batswana
The Batswana are descended mainly from Bantu-speaking tribes
who migrated southward of Africa around 600 AD, living in tribal enclaves as
farmers and herders."...
-snip-
Tswana are also located in Namibia and in Zimbabwe
Here's a population chart from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Botswana | c. 2,000,000[1] |
 South Africa | 5,000,000 (Tswana-speakers)[2] |
 Namibia | c. 10,000[3] |
 Zimbabwe | c. 97,500[4] |
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Excerpt #3
From https://www.everyculture.com/Bo-Co/Botswana.html
..."Formerly Bechuanaland Protectorate under the British, Botswana became independent in 1966. Bot swana means "place of Tswana" in the dominant national language ( Set swana), and the citizenry are called Bat swana, or Tswana people. The term Batswana, however, bears a double meaning. In government rhetoric, it refers to all citizens of Botswana. But the word also refers to ethnically "Tswana" people, as distinct from the other ethnic groups present in the country. This double meaning allows for both the expression of strong civic national sentiments and debate about the dominance of Tswana people and ideology over the broader population. The double meaning has also permitted the fiction, widely accepted in outside reporting, that Botswana's success as a multiparty liberal democracy is based on an ethnically homogeneous population, when abundant state resources based upon diamond mining, responsibly and equitably distributed, are the more likely source of stability. This fiction may indeed have supported the building of an officially nonethnic, state-oriented society, but has come under sharp challenge in the 1990s, as minority groups request the privileges of official recognition."...
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Excerpt #4
From https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/what-s-in-a-name-looking-at-language-in-botswana "What's In A Name? Looking At Language In Botswana" by Liana Mehring, Mrch 16, 2012
"What can language tell us about a country? Botswana means “place of Tswana.” The Tswana are the dominant ethnic group in Botswana, and the citizenry of Botswana are referred to as Batswana, or the Tswana people. Setswana is the language of the Tswana people and the dominant national language. To recap, you have the Batswana people living in Botswana and speaking Setswana.
The prefixes change the meaning of the word Tswana, with bo referring to the land, ba to the people, and se to the language. The term Batswana, however, bears a double meaning. In official government rhetoric, Batswana is an all-inclusive term for the entire country’s citizenry. Ironically, the word contradicts this rhetorical inclusiveness by specifically referring to the ethnically Tswana people as distinct from the country’s various other ethnic groups.
This double meaning highlights a tension in Botswana between an official narrative of national unity on the one hand, and the reality of a diverse population dominated by the Tswana people on the other. This double meaning also perpetuates the dominant, albeit debatable, assertion that Botswana’s success and stability as a multiparty liberal democracy is rooted in its having a ethnically homogeneous population. Although this homogeneity is certainly a contributing factor to Botswana’s national success, I would argue that the responsible management of the country’s valuable natural resources, including its diamonds, is an even greater source of stability.
Linguistically supported fictions perpetrated by the government, however, contribute to the myth of a non-ethnic society despite the presence of minority ethnic groups, such as the Kalanga, Kgalagadi, Herero, and Yeyi. In the 1990s, these groups challenged the Tswana majority for both recognition and influence in Botswana. At its worst, the Tswana majority’s non-ethnic rhetoric is superficially harmonizing and ultimately supremacist in effect. At its best, however, such this language could be a means to realizing a genuine ideal of civic participation being open to all individuals regardless of their ethnic identity. Thus it is clear that double meanings abound in Botswana."...
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