Khoisan influence discernible in Sotho toponyms

Peter E. RAPER

Introduction The present investigation forms part of a wide-ranging research proj- ect into Khoisan influence on the toponymic landscape of . The term Khoisan (also written Khoesan and Khoe-San) refers to the Khoi (Khoikhoi, Khoe, Khoekhoe(n) or ‘Hottentots’) and San (Bushmen), and the languages spoken by these people. At one stage Bushman was regarded as a derogatory name and the term San preferred, but recently Bushman has become acceptable again, and San regarded as a derogatory Khoikhoi name for the Bushmen. A perusal of the Internet on 14 February 2009 indicated that “Although some consider the name Bushmen derogatory as well, it is less so than the term San” (www.diversitysouthafrica.co.za/khoi. html); “The names San and Basarwa are sometimes used, but the people themselves dislike these names and prefer the name Bush- men” (Kids.Net.Au-Encyclopedia>Kalahari Desert); “the name ‘Bushmen’ has only recently become acceptable to some speakers of Hei //om, Ju’/hoan, !X/uu, Kxoe, Nharo and other groups” (www. jstor.org/sici); “The different tribes and clans started using the name Bushmen. But political correctness proclaimed this an insult and declared they should be referred to as San. Where Bushmen merely means they are people of the bush (or close to nature), San was a Khoi word meaning vagrants, people who have nothing. And because of this misguided correctness we now use the more derogatory name for our first inhabitants” (www.southafrica.com/forums/open- board/5901-whats-name.html). For thousands or even millions of years the hunter-gathering Bushmen and their ancestors were the only inhabitants of the sub- continent of Africa (Parkington 2007, 77), and all toponyms (names of geographical features) were of Bushman origin. That remained the situation until about two thousand years ago, when the Khoikhoi and

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African peoples began to enter the region from the Great Lakes regions of Central Africa (Krige 1975, 595-6). The past four hundred years saw the arrival of Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, German and other peoples from Europe and Asia, and the emergence of the Afri- kaans language (Raper 2004, ix). Biological and cultural interaction between these various peoples, including language contact and lan- guage shift, also had an influence on the toponymy of the region. Some existing Bushman place-names were adopted but adapted to the phonological systems of the incoming peoples, some were replaced by other names, and some were translated into other languages, either in part or totally. In the course of time, and particularly over the past few centuries, the Khoisan peoples and their languages have become virtually extinct within the borders of South Africa. However, many of their place- names have survived, albeit in adapted and translated form. Some names were translated by later comers, but most were probably trans- lated by Khoikhoi and Bushmen people themselves, who not only learnt the languages of the ‘colonialists’, but adopted these as their languages of preference. The Khoikhoi peoples tended to favour Dutch, and later , as the preferred language over their mother tongues (Nienaber and Raper 1977, 18, 20). A shift also took place from San languages to Dutch in the Cape, the and Western Transvaal (North-West Province). “By the turn of the twentieth cen- tury … the shift to Afrikaans was almost complete” (Traill 2007, 132). As a result of this process, many Khoisan place-names were translated into Dutch and later Afrikaans, while others were adapted. The present study investigates Sotho toponyms in which Khoikhoi and Bushman influence can be traced, and specifically those in which translated names have preserved the lexical meanings of Sotho names comprising adaptations.

Aspects of Khoisan languages The Khoikhoi languages include Griqua (Xri), Kora (Korana, Koranna) and Nama. Bleek’s Bushman dictionary (1956, [iii-iv]) contains words from twenty-nine Bushman languages and dialects. On the basis of similarities in the roots of recorded words from dif- ferent Bushman languages (Traill 1978, 145), the Bushman tribes have been classified or categorized into three groups, namely the

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Southern, Northern and Central Group (Bleek 1929, i; 1956, iii-iv). These are referred to by the designations S1, S1a, S2, , N2, C1, C2 etc. In the present investigation the name of the Bushman language from which the word comes will be given, together with the reference number in brackets, e.g. /Xam (S1), Kung (N2), Naron (C2).

The Khoisan languages are characterized by clicks or suction conso- nants, described as follows: /: ‘This sign denotes the dental click’ (Bleek 1956, 266), the dental or alveolar fricative click (Bleek 1929, 13). ‘For this click the release is gentle, making almost a sucking sound. The click is like the Zulu click written c …’ (Bleek 1956, 266). !: ‘This sign denotes the so-called cerebral or palato-alveolar click. This click resembles the Zulu … palato-alveolar click represented by the symbol q …’ (Bleek 1956, 368). !!: ‘The retroflex click… It apparently lies between the palato-alve- olar and the lateral clicks. The tongue tip is released backwards, sliding along the palate, causing a harsh-sounding click which is not “instantaneous”.’ (Bleek 1956, 505). //: ‘The retroflex fricative click’ (Bleek 1929, 13); ‘the lateral click. … The sound produced is exactly the same as for the lateral clicks of Zulu or Nama’ (Bleek 1956, 512). ≠: ‘The alveolar click, formerly known as the palatal click. … The click is instantaneous and cannot be drawn out with friction’ (Bleek 1956, 640). Q: ‘This click denotes the labial click’ (Bleek 1956, 681). This click is usually represented by a circle with a dot in the middle, but here represented as Q. Each of the clicks is pronounced with distinctive releases, accompani- ments or effluxes, such as aspirated, ejected, fricative, glottal, nasal and voiced effluxes. The voiced efflux is indicated as in /gã, the nasal efflux as in /na, the fricative efflux as in /xã, the aspirated efflux as in /ha, and so forth. (Traill 1978, 138). The symbols “ and _ are used to indicate a high and a low tone respectively; a falling tone is indicared by the symbol \ and a rising tone by /. The colon: after a vowel indi- is used to indicate ٤ cates that the vowel is a long one, and the symbol a pressed vowel.

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Aspects of Sotho languages In common with other African (‘Bantu’) languages, Sotho nouns (and place-names) consist of a prefix and a stem or root. “The stem of the noun carries its ‘true’ or ‘real’ meaning, i.e. its lexical meaning. The prefix indicates whether the name is singular or plural; whether the noun is an abstract noun; and what set of concordial agreement should be used so that the noun agrees with the adjectives, pronouns, verbs and other parts of speech in a sentence” (Koopman 2002, 267). Sotho nouns are classified according to their prefixes and form their plural by changing their prefixes. In Sotho there are six different classes of nouns, with their prefixes indicated in bold type (Sharpe 1960, 13):

Singular Plural 1. motho (man, person) batho (men, people) 2. motse (village) metse (villages) 3. letsatsi (sun, day) matsatsi (days) 4. sefate (tree) lifate (trees) 5. nku (sheep) linku (sheep) 6. bosiu (night) masiu (nights)

Tracing Khoisan influence In tracing Khoisan influence, each place-name and its components or elements are tested for phonological and semantic correspondence against Khoisan (Khoikhoi and/or Bushman) words. Khoisan words and names are generally adapted to Sotho by inter alia the addition of prefixes. The removal of the prefix leaves the stem, which is then compared to phonologically and semantically equivalent or compa- rable Khoisan words. In some cases, however, what at first sight appears to be a Sotho prefix is an adapted Khoisan word, so that the prefixes are also subject to linguistic analysis. The same applies to locative and other suffixes. As Louwrens (1994, 40) points out, “the exact semantic factors which determine the implementation of the locative and diminutive suffixes … need to be investigated further.” Such investigation includes consideration of potential Khoisan influ- ence. In many cases the correspondence between Sotho elements and their Khoisan equivalents will be more clearly discernible than in oth- ers, since the clicks and other sounds of the Khoisan languages would

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have been altered and adapted to those of Sotho, resulting perhaps in misinterpretation due to folk etymology and analogy. The written rep- resentation of words is sometimes problematic, since different conven- tions of representing sounds are used in different periods and different orthographies. In adapting Khoisan names and words, vowels were reasonably clearly heard and imitated, but the clicks and other sounds less so, and the correspondences between the original words and the adapted ones are sometimes less obvious. Validation criteria are employed wherever possible to ensure the ‘correct’ or most probable etymology. The is a Bantu language and thus not cognate with Bushman languages, i.e. not descended from a common ancestral language (Gove 1961, 440). The term cognate is thus used in the pres- ent investigation in the sense of ‘cognate (word)’ given in Webster’s Dictionary (Gove 1961, 440): “Cognate: “c of a word: related in a manner that involves borrowing rather than descent from or as well as descent from an ancestral language - often used with with, sometimes with to” (Gove 1961, 440).

Bela-Bela is the Northern Sotho name that replaced Warmbaths and Warmbad in February 2002 (Raper 2004, 23). Said to mean ‘boiling water’, referring to the hot springs there, the name is a reduplication of the verb stem bela ‘to boil’ (Nezar 1994, 45), cognate with the Hie (C1) verb bela ‘to boil’ (Bleek 1956, 15).

Boetsap, a missionary centre at 29° 02' E., 27° 24' E. on the farm Groenkloof in the Ladybrand district, Free State, is also recorded as Buchap, and also known as Lesoaane, Lesowane, Lishuane and Lish- uani (Dreyer 2001, 85). The farm name Groenkloof is Dutch for ‘green ravine’. Considering that an original indigenous name was retained in an adapted form for the locality and in a translated form for the farm, it appears that both Boetsap and Lishuane are Sotho adaptations of Bushman names. The component tsap is comparable with the Hie (C1) word t∫abe green, and the Naron (C2) word t∫ã ‘green’ (Bleek 1929, 44), the latter written as tschã by Schinz (1891 in Bleek 1956, 224), and compare also the Koranna words !kx’am and !kam ‘green’ (Nie- naber 1963, 290) and the develarized Nama word !am ‘grün’, ‘green’ (Rust 1960, 28). The component shua or sowa is cognate with the Kung (N2) and !O !kung (N3) word !gwa ‘green’ (Bleek 1956, 390),

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and the Kung (N2) words _//hwã:, //hoa, //ho_a: ‘green, to be green’ (Bleek 1956, 543). “o before a or e has the same sound as English w, forming only one syllable with the following vowel; e.g. ho oa (ho wa), to fall, o oele (wele), he has fallen.” (Sharpe 1960, 1). The initial components Bo(e), Le and Li are Sotho prefixes (Sharpe 1960, 13). The component ne is cognate with Kung (N2) ne: ‘this’ (Bleek 1956, 144), or ni, a Hadza (C3) ending meaning ‘in’.

Bohlokong is the Southern Sotho name of Bethlehem in the Free State, and of a 6 km from the town. The name is said to mean ‘waar daar pyn is’, ‘where there is pain’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 70). The component hlo is comparable with a Hie (C1) word for ‘pain’, thoo ‘mercy, pain, repentance’, the verb thoo meaning ‘to be sorry for’ (Bleek 1956, 200), cognate with Naron (C2) tu, !kãu ‘pain’ (Bleek 1929, 64), and /Xam (S1) !kãu: ‘to be in pain’ (Bleek 1956, 411), and the Koranna words thû and t’hua ‘pain’ (Nienaber 1963, 424), Nama tsub ‘Schmerz, Pein’ (Rust 1960, 45). The component kong is a loca- tive suffix, the final ng cognate with the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative ∞ ‘this one here’ (Bleek 1956, 141).

Cocong is the name of a little stream reached on 14 or 15 by the mis- sionaries Arbousset and Daumas on their journey of 1836. “a little stream which they named Cocong (Gnu)” (Dreyer 2001, 77). Gnu, apparently given as an explanation of Cocong, is the name for the wildebeest, Connochaetes gnu or black wildebeest, but also for the blue wildebeest, Connoachaetes taurinus, for which Koranna words ghow and ghau were recorded in 1801 and 1805 respectively (Nien- aber 1963, 527). A /Xam (S1) word for the blue wildebeest, Conno- chaetes taurinus, is !au “ /ko (Bleek 1929, 92), which correlates with the component Coco of the river-name, the final ng being the locative suffix comparable with the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative ∞ ‘this one here’ (Bleek 1956, 141). The Nama word for the blue wildebeest is given by Nienaber with a dental click as /gaob, whereas Rust (1963, 28) gives gaob for ‘Gnu (Wildebeest)’, thus without a click.

Dikgutsaneng is the Southern Sotho name of , said to mean ‘place of orphans’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 75). If this explanation is correct, the component kgutsa is comparable with the /Xam (S1) word !kwetja ‘to orphan’, !kwetja ‘orphan, poor person or thing’ (Bleek

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1956, 463). However, it frequently happens that the Dutch or Afrikaans allonym of a place proves to be a translation of a Khoisan name adapted to Sotho. Aware of the danger of folk etymological interpretations and analogy, validation criteria must be borne in mind, such as topograph- ical congruence, translations as part of oral tradition, and the like. In this case both criteria are applicable. The town was established on the farm Vredefontein (Raper 2004, 134). Vredefontein is an Afrikaans name meaning ‘peace spring’,‘fountain of peace’. The component Di of the name Dikgutsaneng is considered to be the Sotho prefix, but is comparable to the Nama word ≠ kîb ‘Friede’, ‘peace’ (Rust 1960, 23), the voiced alveolar consonant D approximating the alveolar click with ejected nasal efflux ≠k. The component kgu is similar to the /Xam (S1) word ≠gou, ‘to be silent, quiet, at peace’ (Bleek 1956, 648). The com- ponent tsa denotes ‘spring, fountain’, similar to the Sehura (C1a) word tsa and the Hie (C1) word tsaa ‘water’ (Bleek 1956, 210; Bleek 1929, 90); the component neng the Sotho locative suffix comparable to the Kung (N2) demonstrative ne: ‘this’ plus the !O !kung (N3) demonstra- tive ∞ ‘this one here’ (Bleek 1956, 144, 141).

Dipelaneng is the Southern Sotho name for Hobhouse and its town- ship, meaning ‘place of dassies (coneys or rock-rabbits)’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 75). The component pela is cognate with the Hie (C1) word pela ‘rock rabbit’ (Bleek 1956, 157). In view of the reciprocal nature of borrowings it is uncertain whether pela is originally Sotho or Bush- man. The component neng seems to be comparable with the Kung (N2) demonstrative ne: ‘this’ plus the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative ∞ ‘this one here’ (Bleek 1956, 144, 141).

Ditlhake is the Tswana name for and its township, < ditlhaka ‘reeds, maize cobs’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 76). The component tlha is cognate with the //⁄ !ke (S2) /ã, Hie (C1) ≠a:ba ‘reed’ (Bleek 1929, 60), Nama and Koranna ≠a-b ‘reed’, ≠Khomani (S2a) //ka /∞ ‘reed’ (Bleek 1956, 564). The component ke seem to be comparable with the /Auni (S4) demonstrative ke and the /Xam (S1) demonstrative ke: ‘that one there’ (Bleek 1956, 85)

Entikoa, also Ntikoa and Nthikhuoa, is the Sotho name of the Bloem- spruit at 27° 58' S, 27° 28' E (Dreyer 2001, 85). The Dutch name Bloem- spruit and its Afrikaans equivalent Blomspruit mean ‘flower stream’,

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and translate the Sotho adaptation of an original Bushman name. The initial (E)n- of the name is the Sotho singular prefix of Class 5 (Sharpe 1960, 13), the component ti or thi is similar to the Nogau (N1a) word tsi-gu, the Ki/hazi (S4b) word “ ≠e and the Auen (N1) word ≠xe:≠xe ‘flower’ (Bleek 1956, 217, 643, 679); the component koa or khuoa is cognate with the /Xam (S1) word !ko “ ã and its synonyms !kwa:, !khwa: and !khoa ‘running water’, cognate with the /Nusan (S6a) word !koa ‘river’ (Bleek 1956, 437). (E)n- is the prefix; tiku is cognate with Nogau (N1a) tsi-gu ‘flower’ (Bleek 1956, 217); oa is cognate with //Kxau (S2b) !oa or /Nusan (S6a) !koa ‘river’ (Bleek 1956, 437).

Ikgomotseng is the Tswana name of the populated place known as ; said to mean ‘moedig julleself aan’, ‘encourage yourselves’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 80). Considering Soutpan ‘salt pan’ to be a transla- tion of a Bushman name of which Ikgomotseng is an adaptation shows ,the component kgom to be cognate with /o٤m ‘saltpan’ (Bleek 1956 indicating that the vowel o is a pressed vowel, the ٤ the symbol ,(750 component tseng apparently a locative suffix, tse comparable to the Auen (N1) demonstrative t∫e ‘this here’ (Bleek 1956, 227).

Kamohelo is the Southern Sotho name for , meaning ‘wel- come’, Kamohelo the deverbative form of the verb stem amohela (Gildenhuys 1993, 83). ‘To greet’ is Hie (C1) //xomako ‘to greet a person’ (Bleek 1956, 636); ‘greeting’ is kxo, Ki/hazi (S4b) “ ≠yma ‘greeting’ (Bleek 1956, 678).

Kei-cop is an alternative name for the Tikuane (Vet River) south of modern (Dreyer 2001, 79). The Afrikaans word vet means ‘fat’. The component Kei is comparable with the Auen (N1) and !O !kung (N3) word t∫i ‘to be fat’ (Bleek 1956, 229); the component cop is similar to the final element of river-names such as Auop, Nossop and Swakop, ‘river’, cognate with the /Auni (S4) word ≠õ ‘to run, flow’ (Bleek 1956, 675), the final consonant p the Khoikhoi masculine singular ending frequently used with river-names.

Koba is referred to by Dreyer (2001, 86) in conjunction with inter alia Oskop and Osberg, names meaning ‘ox hill’ and ‘ox mountain’ respec- tively. Koba is considered to be an adaptation of the !Gã !ne (S2e) word //owa ‘ox’ (Bleek 1956, 741), the Sotho unvoiced velar consonant

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K approximating the unvoiced retroflex click //, the bilabial consonant b in the second syllable frequently changing to w (Bleek 1956, 13).

Kurutlele, an alternative name for Biddulphsberg at 28° 17' 04" S., 27° 46' 03" E., is said to be derived “from ho kurutlela (to throw stones at), indicating the way in which mountain fortresses were generally defended. In reality, Kurutlele has never been described as a mountain fortress” (Dreyer 2001, 87). The latter statement by Dreyer indicates that this explanation of the name is a folk etymological one. Thaba Kurutlele is an alternative name for Kooaneng, Qooaneng, Qhowaneng, and Khoro-e-betloa, situated on the farm Zoutkop 75 (north end) (Dreyer 2001, 89). Zoutkop is Dutch for ‘salt hillock’. The fact that the hill Qooaneng (Qhowaneng, Kooaneng) is situated on the farm Zoutkop ‘salt hillock’ suggests a semantic correspondence between these names. The consonant Q in the variants Qooaneng and Qhowaneng is “a click (simultaneous k and t)” and Qh “is aspirated q” (Sharpe 1960, 2). This click Q approximates the Khoisan palatal or alveolar plosive click ≠ . Words for ‘salt’ include the /Xam (S1) word “ ≠ ko: (Bleek 1929, 71), also /Xam (S1) “ ≠ k? “ o: and the Nama word ≠ ob, which approximate the component Qo, Qho and Ko(o) of the name. The component aneng (ana-eng) of the name is comparable with Hadza (C3) han-!a ‘hill’ (Bleek 1956, 57), Afrikaans kop, plus the locative suffix ng, corre- sponding to the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative ∞, n, meaning ‘this one, this is, here’ (Bleek 1956, 141). East of Kurutlele is Suringkrans (Dreyer 2001, 94 fig. 25). Suringkrans means ‘sorrel hill’, sorrel being “the English equivalent of the Afrikaans suring and adapted to the South African species of Oxalis especially” (Smith 1966, 429); suring is “a general name applied to several … species that have an acidulous (Afr.: suur) sap …” (Smith 1966, 429, 446). The Afrikaans word suur means ‘sour’, German sauer, for which the Nama Khoikhoi word is /kuru (Rust 1960, 51). The topographic and linguistic proximity of Kurutlele and Suringkrans indicate a possible semantic correspondence.

Kwakwatsi is the Southern Sotho name of Koppies and its township, stated possibly to take its name from kwatsi ‘miltsiekte’, ‘anthrax’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 76). Ellenberger (1962, 68 in Gildenhuys 1993, 76) gives Kwakwatsi as the name of the Renoster River that flows past the town. The name Renosterrivier means ‘rhinoceros river’, and the all- onym Kwakwatsi has the same meaning, the component Kwa-kwa

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cognate with the /Xam (S1) word //xwa-ka: ‘rhinoceros’ (Bleek 1956, 638), //xoa:k¢n (Bleek 1929, 70), the second component -kwa of the name with the /Xam (S1) word !khwa ‘water’, and the Kung (N2) word k’oã ‘waterhole’ (Bleek 1929, 90). The component tsi appears to be comparable to the Kung (N2) demonstrative tsi ‘this (one) here’ (Bleek 1956, 227)

Lephalale is the Sotho name that replaced the name of the town Ellis- ras in 2004. Lephalale is an adaptation of Palala, the name of the river flowing past the town. The name Lephalale is a deverbative, based on the development1 lephalala of the Tswana and Pedi verb -falala ‘over- flow’, meaning ‘that which overflows’ (Louwrens 1994, 23; Raper 2004, 204). Louwrens (1994, 23) points out that “The resulting dever- bative can … not be translated in a sensible way.” This statement, coupled with the seemingly anomalous derivation of (le)phalala from falala, casts doubt on this given explanation of the name, which seems to have been suggested by the similarity in sound of the river-name to the verb falala. An alternative name for the river is Rhooebok R. (Skead 1973, 175), an attempt at rendering the Dutch name Rooibok, Afrikaans for ‘redbuck, impala antelope’ (Kritzinger 1954, 403). Rooi- bok has the same meaning as Palala, the root pala being cognate with the Hukwe (C2b) word pala ‘roibok’ (sic) (Bleek 1956, 156), from which the name of the impala antelope is also derived. The suffix -la of the name may be an adapted generic term meaning ‘river’ that also occurs in river-names like Tugela and Pongola, but the components -la of Palala and -le of Lephalale are also comparable to the Xegwi (S3) and Sesarwa (S5) demonstrative adverbial locative morpheme la and its synonym le ‘that, there’ (Bleek 1956, 129).

Mahlatswetsa is the Southern Sotho name for Excelsior, said to mean ‘Die/dit wat was vir’, ‘that which washes for’, referring either to Voortrekkers who washed in the Lengana stream, or to two hillocks that look washed clean by water flowing from springs in wet seasons. One of these hills is called Mahlatswetsa, the other Belabela ‘boil- boil’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 73). Based on this explanation it is possible to identify Bushman words cognate or comparable to the elements of

1 Louwrens (1994, 23) uses the word ‘development’ to mean that the verb falala became the noun Palala and subsequently the name Lephalale.

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the name. The component Ma is the Sotho prefix; the component hla is comparable to Auen (N1) //k’a, Kung (N2) //ka, !O !kung (N3) //k’a, Hie (C1) !kaa, //kxaho, Naron (C2) //k’a:, Nama //a: ‘to wash’ (Bleek 1929, 90); the component tswetsa with Hadza (C3) tset∫a:ja, tsetaja, dzetaja (Bleek 1956, 215), dzeta (Bleek 1056, 769), this last indicating the permissibility of tset∫a:; also the Hadza (C3) word hutsit∫a ‘to wash’ (Bleek 1956, 65). If an explanation be sought in terms of which the Latin name Excelsior ‘higher, lofty’ is a translation of the indigenous name, the component hla would be comparable to the Kung (N2) word ≠xã ‘high’ (Bleek 1929, 46), tswetsa with Hie (C1) tsitsi ‘to enlarge, exalt’ (Bleek 1956, 218).

Majwemasweu is the Southern Sotho name for and for its township, said to mean ‘white stones’, from white-washed stones surrounding a concentration camp during the Anglo-Boer War (Gild- enhuys 1993, 71). Considering the name to be of Bushman origin allows the component jwe to be comparable to the Hie (C1) word hwehe ‘white’ (Bleek 1929, 91) and the component swe(u) to the Xegwi (S3) word ze ‘stone’ (Bleek 1929, 80), the concordial ele- ments Ma a Sotho adaptation. Brandfort is stated to have been so named in honour of J.H. Brand, fourth president of the , but it is sometimes said that the town was so named because a fort on the nearby Keeromkoppie was burnt down by Bushmen or Basotho. The latter explanation of the name casts doubt on the verac- ity of the former one, since documentary evidence thereof would have left no room for doubt or dispute. It also opens the way for a possible Bushman origin of the name Majwemasweu. In so many instances has the Dutch or Afrikaans name been shown to be a trans- lation of an adapted Bushman name that such a possibility must be considered here, unlikely though it seems. The name Brandfort means ‘burn fort’; a Hadza (C3) word for ‘burn’ is manje (Bleek 1956, 135), which correlates phonologically with the component Majwe of the name Majwemasweu. In the component masweu the element ma is a Sotho concordial agreement with the prefix Ma of Majwe, interpreted as the plural class prefix, so that the stem of the component is swe(u), comparable with the Kung (N2) word kwe ‘place’ (Bleek 1956, 112), although sweu is comparable to the Auen (N1), Kung (N2) and !O !kung (N3) word t∫u ‘house, hut’, the Hie (C1) word dzu (Bleek 1929, 48) and the Sesarwa (S5) word t∫u, t∫?u

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‘hut, nest, house, home, place, hole’, metonymically ‘fort’, also encountered as tschu, tchu, tsu (Bleek 1956, 236).

Mangaung is the Southern Sotho name for and for a township (Gildenhuys 1993, 70). The explanation is frequently encoun- tered that the name Mangaung means ‘place of cheetahs’, Acinonyx jubatus, from the Class 6 noun lengau ‘cheetah’, plural mangau, with the addition of the locative suffix -ng giving the noun and name Man- gaung (Louwrens 1994, 25). The root of the name, ngau, is thought by some to be cognate with the Hie (C1) word khao ‘cheetah’ (Bleek 1956, 88). However, as in so many instances where Dutch names prove to be translations of original Bushman names, Bloemfontein means ‘flower fountain’. The component Ma- of the name Mangaung is the Sotho prefix; the stem -ngau is comparable with the /Auni (S4) word _//au ‘flower’ (Bleek 1956, 518), the retroflex click // approximating the voiced velar nasal ng. The Sotho locative suffix ng of the name Mangaung is comparable with the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative adver- bial locative morpheme ∞ ‘this, here’ (Bleek 1956, 141).

Maphodi is the Southern Sotho name for and its town- ship, said to mean ‘koelheid’, ‘coolness’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 80). The component phodi is to some extent similar phonologically to the /Xam S1) words kworrekworre:, kworre, kworre:, kwo۳۳e, kwerre and) korre ‘to cool, be cool, become cool’ (Bleek 1956, 115). The name Springfontein means ‘artesian spring’, literally ‘jump fountain’. The component Ma is the Sotho prefix; the component pho is similar to the /Xam (S1) word “ po: ‘to arise, jump up’ (Bleek 1956, 158), the component di to the San words ate, ati ‘water’ (Bleek 1956, 769), Hie (C1) dzinaa ‘well, fountain’ (Bleek 1956, 33), Kung (N2) sija ‘pit’ (Bleek 1956, 169), Sesarwa (S5) t∫e: ‘well (water)’ (Bleek 1956, 227), Hie (C1) dzinaa ‘waterhole’ (Bleek 1929: 90).

Matlakeng is the Southern Sotho name for and its township, meaning ‘place of vultures’, taken from the nearby mountain Aas- voëlkop (Gildenhuys 1993, 83), a name meaning ‘vulture hill’. The component Ma of the name Matlakeng is the Sotho class prefix, the component tla cognate with the Eastern dialectal word ≠gha ip, recorded in 1780 to 1783 for ‘vulture’ (Nienaber 1963, 204), and the //Kxau (S2b) word //’ara∞ ‘vulture’ (Bleek 1956, 517), the component

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ke similar to Old Cape koe, khoe, k’koe ‘mountain’ (Nienaber 1963, 217), or comparable with the /Xam (S1) and Ki/hazi (S4) demonstra- tive ke: ‘that (one) there’, the final component ng a locative suffix comparable with the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative adverbial locative morpheme ∞ ‘this, here’ (Bleek 1956, 141).

Matwabeng is the Southern Sotho name for and its township, said to mean ‘Plek van die groot jeuk’, ‘place of the great itch’, Sca- bies, Jollie jeuk, jeuksiekte (Gildenhuys 1993, 79). The component Ma is the Sotho prefix, the component twa cognate with the Hie (C1) word _∫wa, t∫ware ‘to itch’ (Bleek 1956, 183, 238), and the /Xam (S1) ٤t¢n ‘to itch’ (Bleek 1956, 329). The component (be)ng :word /kwai is the locative suffix, the final ng comparable with the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative adverbial locative morpheme ∞ ‘this, here’ (Bleek 1956, 141).

Mautse is the Southern Sotho name for Rosendal and its township, meaning “Onheil. Waarskynlik a.g.v. die miswolke op die berg wat koue of onheil voorspel”, “Evil, probably as a result of clouds of mist on the mountain that presages cold or evil” (Gildenhuys 1993, 79). A number of Khoikhoi and Bushman words can be seen to be similar to the concepts expressed in this explanation of the name.The component Mau is comparable to the /Xam (S1) word !kãu: ‘a waft of mist’ (Bleek 1956, 412), or the Nama word ≠ kawa ‘böse (schlecht)’, ‘evil (bad)’ and Kung (N2) //kãwa ‘evil’ (Bleek 1956, 564); the component tse perhaps like Nogau (N1a) ‘sharp, cold’ (Bleek 1956, 214) but more probably comparable to the Auen (N1) demonstrative t∫e ‘this here’ (Bleek 1956, 227).

Mokwallo is the Southern Sotho name of Vredefort and its township (Gildenhuys 1993, 82). The component Mo is the Sotho prefix; the component kwa is comparable to the /Xam (S1) word ≠ gouwa ‘to be silent, quiet, at peace’ (Bleek 1956, 648), the velar consonant k approximating the palatal click with velar accompaniment ≠ g. The component llo is comparable to the !O !kung (N3) word tsh?o ‘vil- lage’ (Bleek 1929, 89); tsh?o, s. tshu ‘village, home’ (Bleek 1956, 232), tsho, bo: ‘village of the chief’ (Bleek 1956, 16), and the Auen (N1) and !O !kung (N3) word tshu /ko: ‘village, home, hut’ (Bleek 1956, 317), also including ‘fort’, a concept unknown to the Bushmen.

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Monuana is situated to the east of Doringkop (Makhuabane), … either at Retreat 272 or Rietfontein 164 near the Klipspruit” (Dreyer 2001, 91). Linguistic evidence points to the name of the latter farm, Rietfontein ‘reed spring’, having the same meaning as Monuana, the component Mo being the Sotho class prefix, nua cognate with the Kung (N2) word //nua ‘reed’ (Bleek 1956, 623), and the final compo- nent na of the name Monuana cognate with the Auen (N1) word ≠ ha ‘spring, fountain’ (Bleek 1956, 650).

Mount Mopororo is on the farm Doringberg 384, in the district, at 28° 16' S., 27° 16' E. Dreyer (2001, 91) refers to “Maphoro- rong (the waterfall) or Doringberg, … also known as ‘ha Mabitle’…” From this it would seem as though ‘the waterfall’ is what Maphoro- rong means. However, considering the numerous times the Dutch or Afrikaans name proves to translate the indigenous name, the alternative name of Doringberg ‘thorn mountain’ can be seen to translate the name Mopororo and its variant Maphororong. The component Mo and Ma is the Sotho prefix; the component p(h)oro is cognate with the //Ng !ke (S2) word //goro ‘thornbush, hakdoorn’ and the /Xam (S1) word //gorro, //goro ‘tree, kameeldoorn’ (Bleek 1956, 533); the com- ponent rong the locative suffix.

Mpharane, also recorded inter alia as Umparane, Umparani and Imparani, is the Southern Sotho name for a mountain situated some 5 km outside the town of Ficksburg, and for the town itself (Dreyer 2001, 95). Gildenhuys (1993, 73) refers to Mpharane as “die plat berg naby die dorp”, “the flat mountain near the town”. This description also provides the meaning of the name, an adaptation of the Bushman name, the component p(h)ara cognate with /Xam (S1) barabara ‘flat’ (Bleek 1956, 15). The component ne is cognate with the Kung (N2) demonstrative ne: ‘this’ (Bleek 1956, 144), the variant ni a Hadza (C3) locative ending -ni ‘in’.

Noka Tlou would at first glance seem to be a Southern Sotho name and to mean ‘elephant river’. However, in discussing the route fol- lowed by the missionaries Arbousset and Daumas in April 1836, Dreyer (2001, 77) mentions “three little mountains … near the Noka Tlou (Rietspruit)”. The provision of an alternative Afrikaans name for the indigenous one indicates synonymy, Rietspruit ‘reed stream’

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translating the Bushman name misinterpreted and adapted as Noka Tlou. The component Noka is an adaptation of a Bushman word sim- ilar to the Kung (N2) word //noa ‘reed’ (Bleek 1929, 69), the com- ponent Tlou similar to the /Nu //en (S6) word !nau and the Sesarwa (S5) word !na: “ u ‘river’ (Bleek 1929, 70). Another possible inter- pretation of the name Noka Tlou as ‘reed stream’ would see the name adapted into Southern Sotho to such an extent that the generic term Noka ‘stream, river’ would indeed be the Southern Sotho word, and the structure generic + specific already in operation, while the second component of the name, Tlou, would be the specific term adapted from the Kung (N2) word //kau ‘reed’, Noka Tlou thus a hybrid name with the Sotho generic noka ‘river’ + specific //kau ‘reed’, translated as Rietspruit.

Notsi is the Sotho name for Moordkop on the farm Heldenmoed 82 in the Ladybrand district, south-west of the present Maseru (Dreyer 2001, 69). Moordkop is Afrikaans for ‘murder hill’. The alveolar nasal consonant n approximating the dental or alveolar click with voiced efflux /g permits recognition of the component No of the name Notsi as being cognate with the Hie (C1) words /goo ‘to murder, kill, defeat, conquer, drive away’, and the noun /goo ‘war, slaughter, conquest, murder, an enemy’, s. /goothi; and the Hie (C1) word /goo and /goothi ‘murderer’ (Bleek 1956, 281). The component tsi is comparable to the Kung (N2) demonstrative tsi ‘this (one) here’ (Bleek 1956, 227).

Ntha, also encountered as ’Nta, Enta and Entaap (Raper 2004, 92), is the Southern Sotho name for Lindley and its township, and for the Valsrivier (Gildenhuys 1993, 64), the name Valsrivier meaning ‘false river’. Nienaber & Raper (1977, 331) point out: “Ons weet dat rivier- name in hierdie … gebiede in baie gevalle vandag voortlewe in hulle Afrikaanse vertaling, bv. die name Harts-, Modder-, Vaal- en Vetriviere. Dit wek die vermoede dat Valsrivier die vertaling van Enta en Entaap kan wees”, “We know that river-names in these … areas survive as Afrikaans translations in many instances, e.g. the names Harts, Modder, Vaal and Vet rivers. This arouses the suspicion that False River may be the translation of Enta and Entaap.” The compo- nent t(h)a is perhaps comparable to the Kung (N2) words “ k”an, “ k”a∞, “ k”ã∞ and “ k”a∞’a ‘false, to speak falsely’ (Bleek 1956, 119). The variant ’Nta indicates that the initial component of the name is

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’(E)N, the comma denoting a Khoisan sound difficult to render in writing, namely the glottal croak k”, this component comparable to the /Xam (S1) words k”ê:i, k”ê:i:jã ‘to evade, get away, tease, deceive’ (Bleek 1956, 122), the nasal N the realization of the nasaliza- tion represented by the circumflex, and by the nasal n in the synonyms k”enk”en, k”eink”ein. The component ta(ap) is comparable to the Eastern dialectal word ≠ aap ‘river’, recorded in 1780-83; the Koranna word /kahp ‘river’ recorded in 1805 (Nienaber 1963, 430); the Nama word !ab ‘Fluss’, ‘river’ (Rust 1960, 22); the /Xam (S1) word /k’a, the Auen (N1) word ≠ ka: and the Kung (N2) word “ !kã ‘river’ (Bleek 1929, 70).

Ntsuanatsatsi, at 27° 20' S., 28° 48' E., on the farm Helena, Frankfort/ Vrede, also spelt Intsuanatsatsi and Ntsoanatsatsi, has the alternative name Tafelkop (Dreyer 2001, 86). Tafelkop is Afrikaans for ‘table hill’, referring to the flat shape of the mountain (Dreyer 2001, 78, Fig. 19). The component (t)swa is cognate with the /Xam (S1) noun swa:, ts?wa ‘flat’ (Bleek 1929, 39); the component natsa is cognate with the Naron (C2) word !noa∫a ‘hill’ (Bleek 1929, 47; Bleek 1956, 620). The final component tsi is comparable to the Kung (N2) demonstrative tsi ‘this (one) here’ (Bleek 1956, 227)

Qhoweng is the Southern Sotho name for and its town- ship, said to mean op die kruin, ‘on the summit’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 78). The component Qhow is similar to the Nama word ≠ aob ‘Berg- spitze’, ‘mountain peak’, and the adjective ≠ go {spitz' ‘pointed’ (Rust 1960, 58), the Sotho aspirated palatal click Qh approximating the Nama palatal click ≠, b in the second syllable often changing to w (Bleek 1956, 13); and also comparable with the /Xam (S1) words !gwã∞ and !au∞ ‘top’ (Bleek 1956, 391), !kao, !kau ‘mountain, stone, pass’ (Bleek 1956, 408), and //xau ‘hill Brinkkop’ (Bleek 1956, 633). The component eng is the locative suffix.

Qibing is the Southern Sotho name for and for the township there, said to mean ‘place of the otters’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 83): “Die area kry sy naam van die Jammerberg in die omgewing met die naam, Qibing” ( ‘The area takes its name from the Jammerberg in the vicin- ity with the name Qibing’) (Gildenhuys 1993, 83). The Afrikaans word jammer means ‘sorry’, Jammerberg meaning ‘sorry mountain’,

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‘mountain of pity’. The Hie (C1) noun thoo means ‘to be sorry for’, the noun thoo means ‘pain’, cognate with Naron (C2) tu ‘pain’, also !kãu (Bleek 1929, 64), the /Xam (S1) word !kãu: ‘to be in pain’ (Bleek 1956, 200, 411), and the Kora !gou ‘jammer’, ‘sorry’, from which another name for the Jammerberg north of Wepener is derived, namely Kouwe (Nienaber and Raper 1977, 782). That the same word is used for ‘pain’ and ‘to be sorry for’ shows that the component Qi of the name Qibing is cognate with the /Xam (S1) word !ku:i ‘to burn, smart, pain, be warm, be burnt’ (Bleek 1956, 449), the /Xam (S1) word !kui, the //Ng!ke (S2) word kia∞, the Auen (N1) word “ kwi, and the Kung (N2) word “ khwim all meaning ‘pain’ (Bleek 1929, 64). The component (bi)ng is the locative suffix, the final ng comparable with the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative adverbial locative morpheme ∞ ‘this, here’ (Bleek 1956, 141). The explanation ‘place of otters’ (Raper 2004, 315) is thus a folk etymological one.

Seopi, at 28° 42' S, 27° 49' E., is given as an alternative name for Sebopi, on the farms 939 and Abrikooskop 80, Clocolan district, at 28 44 5 S., 28 55 E. Other names for Sebopi or Seopi are Makoatlane, Makuahlane and Makwatlane. Some confusion exists as regards the application of the names. As Dreyer (2001, 93) points out, “Sebopi (an oven) may refer to Seopi (Guarriekop), east of Senekal”. The confusion between Sebopi and Seopi applies also to the interpretation of the names; it would seem that the name Seopi means ‘an oven’, the com- ponent Seo of the name cognate with the Hie (C1) word /keo ‘oven’ (Bleek 1956, 309), the unvoiced alveolar fricative consonant S approx- imating the unvoiced alveolar fricative click with velar release /k.

Sisique is the name of a river between Kroonstad and Lindley, and may refer also to Klipfontein 684 adjacent to Doornkloof 25, Lindley district, at 27° 44' S., 27° 43' E. (Dreyer 2001, 94). Following the pat- tern of the Dutch or Afrikaans name being a translation, Sisique, also encountered as Sisiu and Sisque, should mean Klipfontein ‘stone spring’. The component sisi is comparable to the Bushman word \≠ kii “ si ‘rooiklip, a red stone’ (Bleek 1956, 662), for which no specific language is indicated. The component -u of the variant Sisiu is compa- rable with the /Nu //en (S6) word ≠ u ‘spring’ (Bleek 1929, 79), while, considering that the feature in question is a river, the component -que

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of the variant Sisique is cognate with the Hie (C1) word kwe ‘river’ (Bleek 1929, 30) and the //Ng !ke (S2) word !kwe ‘river’ (Bleek 1929, 80). The most obvious correspondence would be between Sisique and Kung (N2) sisi ‘waterhole’, que cognate with the Kung (N2) word kwe ‘place’ (Bleek 1956, 112), ‘place of the waterhole’.

Thaba Nchu has the Afrikaans allonym Blesberg ‘bare mountain’ or bald mountain.’ A Kung (N2) word for ‘bare’ is /۸ha, the click / being‘ the dental or alveolar fricative click approximating the Sotho aspirated ’dental consonant th, the symbol ۸ pronounced like the u in ‘bun -Bleek 1929, 12), /۸ha thus adapted and interpreted as Thaba ‘moun) tain’. The component Nchu is an adaptation of the Xegwi (S3) word zu: ‘stone, mountain’ (Bleek 1929, 80).

Tikuane is an alternative name for the Vet River south of modern Winburg (Dreyer 2001, 79). The word Vet is Afrikaans for ‘fat’. The component Ti is comparable with the Auen (N1) and Kung (N2) word t∫i ‘to be fat’ (Bleek 1956, 229) and the !O !kung (N3) word t∫ei ‘to be fat’ (Bleek 1929, 37).; the component kuane has been interpreted as the Sotho diminutive suffix.

Tikue is the Southern Sotho name of the Sand River (Dreyer 2001, ). The component Ti is cognate with the Eastern dialectal word IJ, explained by Beutler in 1752 as “beteykenende soo veel als Zandriv- ier”, (‘meaning as much as Sand River’), referring to the present Kei River (Nienaber 1963, 437). The unvoiced dental or alveolar conso- nant T approximates the unvoiced retroflex fricative click //, //IJ and Ti thus cognate words meaning ‘sand’. The component kue of the name Tikue is comparable to the Hie (C1) word kwe ‘river’ (Bleek 1956, 112).

Tikwe is the Southern Sotho name for the Vetrivier (Gildenhuys 1993, 82), an Afrikaans name meaning ‘fat river.’ The component Ti is cog- nate with the Auen (N1) and Kung (N2) word t∫i ‘to be fat, plump’ (Bleek 1956, 229, 225), and the !O !kung (N3) word t∫ei ‘to be fat’ (Bleek 1929, 37). Of the alveolar or dental explosive consonant t Bleek (1956, 184) states that “in the Hie language it is often aspirated th”. The component kwe is cognate with the Hie (C1) word kwe ‘river’ (Bleek 1929, 70).

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Tsekoaneng or Tsekuaneng is situated on the farm Kleinfontein 375 in the Senekal district, at 28° 25' S., 27° 35' E. (Dreyer 2001, 95). The Afrikaans farm name Kleinfontein, meaning ‘small spring’, translates the adapted Bushman name, the component Tse cognate with the Hie (C1) word tse and ts’e: and the Kung (N2) word ts’e ‘small’ (Bleek 1956, 214). The component koa or kua is cognate with the /Xam (S1) word !koa ‘running water’, also written !khoa:, !khwa: and !kwa: (Bleek 1956, 437), /Xam (S1) /kohaa ‘spring, water’ (Bleek 1956, 318), and Naron (C2) /gõãsa ‘fountain, spring’ (Bleek 1929, 79). The component neng seems to be comparable with the Kung (N2) demon- strative ne: ‘this’ plus the !O !kung (N3) demonstrative ∞ ‘this one here’ (Bleek 1956, 144, 141).

Tulama is the Southern Sotho name for Tweespruit, said to mean ‘om skuins/skeef te lê’ (Gildenhuys 1993, 81). Tweespruit means ‘two streams’; the component Tu is like the the /Xam (S1) word !u: ‘two’ (Bleek 1956, 492), the /Xam (S1) and //Ng !ke (S2) word !ku ‘two’; the Xegwi (S3) words //ku: and !ku ‘two’ (Bleek 1929, 88); and the Xegwi (S3) word //ku ‘two’ (Bleek 1956, 591). The component lama may be compared to the disyllabic Kung (N2) words !!kaã ‘riverbed’ and !!ka?a ‘to flow’ (Bleek 1956, 506).

Tumahole is the Southern Sotho name for Parys and its township. The name is said to mean ‘ver bekend, bekende plek daar ver’, (‘far known; well-known place far away’) (Gildenhuys 1993, 78). The component Tuma is cognate with the Ki/hazi (S4b) word /۸ma ‘to know’, the unvoiced dental consonant t approximating the unvoiced dental click /; the component ho is cognate with the Auen (N1) word /o: ‘far away’ (Bleek 1956, 355); the component le is comparable with the //Xegwi (S3) and Sesarwa (S5) demonstrative le ‘that, there’ (Bleek 1956, 129). The explanation that Parys is well-known because it is a “gewilde kuierplek langs die rivier vir mense uit alle oorde”, (‘a popular resort next to the river for people from all quarters’) may have been true for early inhabitants of the area as well.

Conclusions An analysis of Sotho toponyms reveals that many of them are either adapted Bushman names or derived from Bushman loan-words, their

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lexical meaning frequently preserved as Dutch and Afrikaans transla- tions. A substantial corpus of Khoisan words and place name compo- nents has been accumulated as fossilized elements in these place- names, which may well cast light on perennial problems in African languages such as the utilisation of nominal suffixes in the formation of names and the precise semantic factors that determine the imple- mentation of the locative and diminutive suffixes. Comparison of a large number of phonemes in borrowed words and name components may also reveal regular sound-shifts. Speaking of the question of the relatedness or otherwise of the different Khoisan languages, Traill (1978, 145) noted that vast amounts of data on a number of San languages had made more extensive com- parisons possible, which “hold the promise of exciting new directions for an issue that has remained unsolved for the past century.” West- phal (1963, 239) questions the classification of some African lan- guages on the basis of their phonology and grammar, since “it is not known whether this classification will be upheld by a comparison of their vocabularies. Some dialects suggest that a study of the lexical sources of the general vocabulary would be most rewarding.” The extended corpus of Khoisan toponyms and loan-words embedded in African-language place-names may well provide unsuspected items of vocabulary. Furthermore, in view of the restrictedness of knowledge of the Non- of Southern Africa, and the fragmentary nature of published material that prevented comparative work to be based on it with any confidence (Westphal 1963, 239, 242), the emerg- ing corpus may also be of significant value in this regard. A crucial factor to emerge from this and similar investigations is that the Khoisan toponymic heritage has managed to survive where Khoisan languages and even the people themselves have become extinct. As Möller (2010 personal communication) phrases it: The Bushmen, as well as Griquas and other Khoikhoi peoples, learnt and adopted Dutch, and later Afrikaans, as their language of prefer- ence, and translated their own place-names into Dutch and Afri- kaans. In this way they ensured the survival of these names, so that they could be retained in the language of the conquerors. They prob- ably did the same with Nguni and other languages as well. It was a natural process. A very shrewd move, the shrewdest onomastic move ever.

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References Bleek, D.F. 1929. Comparative Vocabularies of Bushman Languages. Cambridge: University Press. Bleek, Dorothea F. 1956. A Bushman Dictionary. New Haven: Amer- ican Oriental Society. Dreyer, J. 2001. Thomas Arbousset and Francois Daumas in the Free State: tracing the exploration tour of 1836. Southern African Humanities 13, December, 61-96. Gildenhuys, J.G. 1993. ’n Etimologie van die name vir Vrystaatse dorpe en Swart woonbuurtes in die Afrikatale. Nomina Africana 7 (1 & 2), 60-84. Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. 1961. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged. Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam Co. Koopman, Adrian. 2002. Zulu Names. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press. Krige, Eileen J. 1975. Zulu. In: Potgieter, D.J. et. al., eds. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Vol. 11, 595-601. Cape Town: Nasou. Kritzinger, M.S.B. et al. (eds.). 1954. Groot Woordeboek Afrikaans- Engels, Engels-Afrikaans. Pretoria: Van Schaik. Louwrens, L.J. 1994. A Linguistic Analysis of Sotho Geographical Names. Nomina Africana 8 (1), 1-42. Nezar, W. 1994. Amptelike Noord-Sotho Plekname. [Official Northern Sotho Place-names.] Unpublished M.A. dissertation, Rand Afri- kaans University. Nienaber, G.S. 1963. Hottentots. Pretoria: Van Schaik. Nienaber, G.S. and P.E. Raper. 1977. Toponymica Hottentotica A. 2 volumes. Pretoria: Raad vir Geesteswetenskaplike Navorsing. Parkington, John. 2007. //Kabbo’s sentence. In: Skotnes 2007, 76-89. Potgieter, D.J. et al., eds. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, 12 vols. Cape Town: Nasou. Raper, Peter E. 2004. New Dictionary of South African Place Names. & Cape Town: Jonathan Ball. Rust, Fr. 1960. Deutsch-Nama Wörterbuch. Windhoek: Rheinischen Mission in Südwestafrika. Sharpe, M.R.L. 1960. Everyday Sotho Grammar. Morija: Morija Sesuto Book Depot.

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Skead, C.J. 1973. Zoo-Historical Gazetteer. Grahamstown: Cape Pro- vincial Museums. Skotnes, Pippa (Ed.). 2007. Claim to the Country: the Archive of Lucy Lloyd and Wilhelm Bleek. Johannesburg: Jacana. Smith, C.A. 1966. Common Names of South African Plants. Pretoria: Government Printer. Traill, Anthony. 1978. The languages of the Bushmen. In: Tobias, P.V. (Ed.). 1978. The Bushmen. Cape Town: Human and Rous- seau. Traill, Anthony. 2007. !khwa-ka hhouiten hhouiten ‘The rush of the storm’: the linguistic death of /xam. In: Skotnes 2007, 130-147. Westphal, E.O.J. 1963. The linguistic prehistory of Southern Africa: Bush, Kwadi, Hottentot and Bantu linguistic relationships. Africa 33 (3), 237-265.

Kids.Net.Au-Encyclopedia>Kalahari Desert

www.diversitysouthafrica.co.za/khoi.html

www.jstor.org/sici

www.southafrica.com/forums/open-board/5901-whats-name.html

Peter E. Raper Department of Language Management and Language Practice University of the Free State Bloemfontein South Africa [email protected]

Summary: Khoisan influence discernible in Sotho toponyms Many names of towns, farms and natural features in the Free State province of South Africa have two names, one Sotho and the other Dutch or Afrikaans. Linguistic analysis of these names shows that in many instances the Dutch or Afrikaans name has the same lexical meaning as Khoisan (Khoikhoi and San or Bushman) words of which the Sotho name is an adaptation. Since the Khoisan peoples and their languages have become virtually extinct in the region, the fossilized Khoisan elements embedded in the Sotho toponyms pres- ent a valuable corpus that could be useful for studies of dialectal variation,

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sound shifts, language classification, linguistic phenomena to be considered in name standardization, and further investigation into the use of locative and other suffixes in Sotho toponyms.

Zusammenfassung: Der in Toponymen der Sotho wahrnehmbare Einfluss der Khoisan Viele Bezeichnungen von Städten, Farmen und Naturcharakteristika in der Provinz Free State in Südafrika haben zwei Namen, einen in Sotho und einen anderen in Niederländisch oder Afrikaans. Linguistische Analysen dieser Namen zeigen, dass in vielen Fällen der Name in Niederländisch oder Afri- kaans denselben lexikalischen Sinngehalt hat wie Worte der Khoisan (Khoik- hoi und San oder Bushman), von welchen der Name in Sotho eine Adaption ist. Seit die Khoisan und ihre Sprache in der Region praktisch ausgestorben sind, präsentieren die versteinerten Elemente in Khoisan, die in die Toponyme in Sotho eingebettet sind, einen wertvollen Korpus, der für Studien dialektaler Variationen, Klangveränderungen, Sprachklassifikation, linguistischer Phäno- mene bei der Standardisierung von Namen und weitere Untersuchungen im Gebrauch von lokativen und anderen Suffixen in Toponymen in Sotho genutzt werden kann.

Résumé: L’influence Khoisan perceptible dans les toponymes Sotho Beaucoup de noms de villes, fermes et caractéristiques géographiques dans la province d’État libre de l’Afrique du Sud ont deux noms, un sotho et l’autre néerlandais ou afrikaans. L’analyse linguistique de ces noms montre que, dans beaucoup de cas, le nom afrikaans ou néerlandais a le même sens lexical que le mot khoisan (khoikhoi et san ou broussard) dont le nom sotho est une adap- tation. Depuis que les peuples khoisan et leurs langues ont pratiquement dis- paru de la région, les éléments khoisan fossilisés fixés dans la toponymie sotho présentent un corpus précieux qui pourrait être utile pour les études de varia- tion dialectale, d’évolution phonétique, de classification de langue, des phé- nomènes linguistiques qui doivent être pris en compte dans la standardisation du nom et une enquête plus approfondie sur l’utilisation des suffixes locatifs et autres dans la toponymie sotho.

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