The Influence of Multilingualism, Christianity and Education in the Formation of Bakalanga Identity

Abstract

Unlike many onomastics studies which focus on meanings of names and circumstances surrounding the way they are assigned, this study uses names as a prism for investigating the effects of multilingualism, history, education and Christianity on the Bakalanga naming practices and identity formation. The data used in the study indicates that the names used by the Bakalanga ethnic group are drawn from various languages (Ikalanga, Setswana, Shona, Ndebele, English) and reflect various socio-cultural and religious practices found in the region. The names point to a cosmopolitan and transitory society whose names and identities are very much responsive to changes in language use, socio-cultural and historical links and connections. Such an investigation and analysis of names is meant to further elucidate the far reaching effects of multilingualism which include bilingualism, acculturation, language attitude and shift. Further, the study is meant to present names as evidence or a map of a community's historical, social, cultural and linguistic course.

Stories Behind African Names: A Case Study Of The Setswana Names Of The North West University, Mafikeng Campus’ Students

“…God) (Mogapi 1994). This is also confirmed in (Bagwasi 2012) with regard to the Bakalanga ethnic group (one of the second largest ethnic and linguistic group in Botswana, found mostly along the Zimbabwe-Botswana border). They used names such as Unami (God is with me), Tinaye (God is with us), and Uyapo (God is there) to show that they have always been religious.…”

“…Other factors, including commands for family members, family setup, gender roles, etc., also affect the Batswana' naming traditions, although on a small scale. Since the researcher was interested in the participants' Setswana names, it was not possible for her to check as to whether the participants had two names, one being Setswana, and the other a translation into English for participants like, Mpho and Gift, and Dineo and Gifts; to reflect a bilingual and dynamic nature of the South African community as indicated in (Bagwasi 2012)'s study.…”

“…God), one of the participants, to give them hope and thank God for His intervention during those difficult and stressful periods of their lives. Such names, for example, Goitsemodimo (God knows), Omphile/Onneile (God has given me 'a child'), show that the Batswana believed in God or their gods even before the missionaries came to South Africa (Mogapi 1994;Bagwasi 2012). Furthermore, sad stories about family feuds resulted in names with messages of commands instructing family members to stop fighting and make peace for the sake of the newborn babies, hence names such as Kagiso ('Peace!…”

“…Members of the Lutheran church in Dinokana (a village of the Batswana community near Zeerust in the North West Province), in the late nineteenth century (Manson and Mbenga 2014), were forced to use Christian and English names when they were married in the church by the late Reverend Ferdinand Jensen, who took care of the Hermannsburg mission station. Since a name symbolizes the essence of a person, if you change the essence of a person, you give them a new name, so the purpose of giving such names, according to (Bagwasi 2012), was to show that they had been spiritually transformed.…”

On the semantics of three Setswana personal names : Neo, Kabo and Mpho

“…Additionally, the study also reveals that most names begin with M followed by those that begin with K, S, B, T and R. Few names begin with Q and Y. Bagwasi (2012) investigates the names of the Bakalanga of Botswana using 3 567 names collected from the villages of Masunga, Mapoka, Zwenshambe, Marapong, Nswazwi and Makaleng in the North-East district of Botswana. The study reveals patterns of multiple or composite identities among the Bakalanga.…”