Batswana
/bɑːtˈswɑːnə/noun
Batswana is the plural name for the Tswana people of southern Africa, especially Botswana and neighboring regions.
Did you know?The initial ba- is a Bantu noun-class prefix marking a human plural, so Batswana literally presents the group as “people,” while Motswana refers to one individual.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Bantu
Proto-Bantu
*ba-ntu
“people; human beings, reconstructed from the plural human prefix *ba- and the root *-ntu, “person””
Early Bantu period
Bantu
*ba-
“plural marker for human beings, inherited across many Bantu languages”
Proto-Sotho-Tswana
Sotho-Tswana
*ba-Tswana
“reconstructed plural ethnonym; the precise origin of Tswana is debated, though it is sometimes connected with a Sotho-Tswana root meaning “be alike””
18th–19th Century
SeTswana
Batswana
“the Tswana people; plural of Motswana”
Modern English
English
Batswana
“the Tswana people, or citizens and nationals of Botswana in appropriate contexts”