Semantic Typologies of Lexically Transparent Setswana Personal Names

African personal names, particularly those in Sub-Sahara, are generally motivated by external forces like the circumstances surrounding the family at the time of the pregnancy or the birth of the child. Consequently, these names are often lexically transparent as they derive from the vocabulary of t...

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Hoofdauteur: Ramaeba, Goabilwe Nnanishie
Formaat: Online
Taal:Engels
Gepubliceerd in: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego 2025
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Online toegang:https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/159859
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author Ramaeba, Goabilwe Nnanishie
author_browse Ramaeba, Goabilwe Nnanishie
author_facet Ramaeba, Goabilwe Nnanishie
author_sort Ramaeba, Goabilwe Nnanishie
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description African personal names, particularly those in Sub-Sahara, are generally motivated by external forces like the circumstances surrounding the family at the time of the pregnancy or the birth of the child. Consequently, these names are often lexically transparent as they derive from the vocabulary of the language, as well as the culture and traditions of the societies they exist in. Sub-Saharan naming practices therefore have a distinctive pattern because they reflect their societies, an observation made by Bangeni and Coetser (2000) regarding Xhosa names. Naming in these societies, including that of Botswana, is a well-structured process with the names deriving from semantic categories that are influenced by the local traditions. This article examines the meanings and motivations behind Setswana’s lexically transparent names. The data for this paper comes from a PhD study, which analysed 1,995 Botswana names and categorized them into 19 semantic categories. Six of these categories which have proven to be the most common in the data are outlined and discussed: situational names, which derive from events and situations around the pregnancy and the birth of the child, symbolic names and the names which derive from names of common objects of symbolic meaning, activity names, God-related names, occupation and position in society names, and virtue names. This analysis indicates that Setswana names are a direct reflection of the culture, traditions, and the overall structure of their communities.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1598592025-05-19T12:44:53Z Semantic Typologies of Lexically Transparent Setswana Personal Names Ramaeba, Goabilwe Nnanishie Botswana Setswana personal names lexically transparent semantic categories thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics African personal names, particularly those in Sub-Sahara, are generally motivated by external forces like the circumstances surrounding the family at the time of the pregnancy or the birth of the child. Consequently, these names are often lexically transparent as they derive from the vocabulary of the language, as well as the culture and traditions of the societies they exist in. Sub-Saharan naming practices therefore have a distinctive pattern because they reflect their societies, an observation made by Bangeni and Coetser (2000) regarding Xhosa names. Naming in these societies, including that of Botswana, is a well-structured process with the names deriving from semantic categories that are influenced by the local traditions. This article examines the meanings and motivations behind Setswana’s lexically transparent names. The data for this paper comes from a PhD study, which analysed 1,995 Botswana names and categorized them into 19 semantic categories. Six of these categories which have proven to be the most common in the data are outlined and discussed: situational names, which derive from events and situations around the pregnancy and the birth of the child, symbolic names and the names which derive from names of common objects of symbolic meaning, activity names, God-related names, occupation and position in society names, and virtue names. This analysis indicates that Setswana names are a direct reflection of the culture, traditions, and the overall structure of their communities. Published 2025-05-19T12:44:51Z 2025-05-19T12:44:51Z 2023-12-12 chapter 9788323374466 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/159859 eng image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://wuj.pl/ksiazka/onomastics-in-interaction-with-other-branches-of-science-volume-2#otwarty-dostep https://wuj.pl/semantic-typologies-of-lexically-transparent-setswana-personal-names Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego Onomastics in Interaction With Other Branches of Science. Volume 2. Anthroponomastics 10.4467/K7446.46/22.23.17287 10.4467/K7446.46/22.23.17287 b56389e6-bd6e-43b9-abc7-9af91c5afc6b e93deae3-b5ec-4abe-b483-2a536826b783 9788323374466 389-408 open access
spellingShingle Botswana
Setswana
personal names
lexically transparent
semantic categories
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics
Ramaeba, Goabilwe Nnanishie
Semantic Typologies of Lexically Transparent Setswana Personal Names
title Semantic Typologies of Lexically Transparent Setswana Personal Names
title_full Semantic Typologies of Lexically Transparent Setswana Personal Names
title_fullStr Semantic Typologies of Lexically Transparent Setswana Personal Names
title_full_unstemmed Semantic Typologies of Lexically Transparent Setswana Personal Names
title_short Semantic Typologies of Lexically Transparent Setswana Personal Names
title_sort semantic typologies of lexically transparent setswana personal names
topic Botswana
Setswana
personal names
lexically transparent
semantic categories
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics
topic_facet Botswana
Setswana
personal names
lexically transparent
semantic categories
thema EDItEUR::C Language and Linguistics
url https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/159859
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