The study of names is known as onomastics. The study of the specific area of personal names is called Anthroponomastics while the study of place names is known as toponomastics. I have previously written on three Setswana names: Neo, Kabo and Mpho which semantically deal with something that is given. I am revisiting this discussion on Friday at a seminar at the University of Botswana. Some of my earlier views have been revised and others discarded. The three names are all common personal names with Mpho being the most frequent of the three names, followed by Neo and Kabo coming last. In terms of gender usage, Neo is largely a girl’s name, while Kabo is predominantly a boy’s name. Mpho is a true unisex name as it is given to both boys and girls equally. In my presentation I will explore the broader semantics of the three names with an aim to tease out the various shades of meanings associated to each.
The three names are deverbatives, that is, they are derived from Setswana verbs. Neo is derived from the verb naya (give), Kabo from aba (give) and Mpho from fa (give). The question of whether the three personal names are synonymous can therefore be addressed by dealing with the semantics of the three verbs.
The name Neo is from the verb naya or neela which means “to put something in someone’s hand, or to pass or transfer something from one person to another”. Matumo, (1993:280) defines naya as “give; present; offer” and neela as “similar to faa, give to; hand over, or pass to one”. The semantics of this verb therefore captures the physical movement of an entity from one person to another. It captures the meaning of handing something over. Therefore if someone is carrying a box and they hand it over to somebody, we explain such transfer with the verb naya or neela. This makes the semantics of the verb naya close to the English verb give. The name Neo therefore means the thing that has been given. Such a thing which has been given could be a gift or not. Setswana has lexicalised the concept of “a gift” as mpho (from the verb fa). What it hasn’t done is lexicalise the concept of “something that has been given” though it isn’t a gift. The closes term is seneo meaning the thing that has been given. Although the noun neo can be used to mean a physical gift that one receives from another it is rarely used in that way.
The word neo is instead usually used to mean a talent, a natural gift or a natural ability for being good at a particular activity. Batswana usually use the word neo to mean an ability that is considered innate, that someone is born with and does not have to learn it. That is why Tlhalosi defines neo as “bokgoni le kitso nngwe e motho a tsetsweng ka yone” (an ability and skill that one is born with). In normal speech neo occurs more frequently as a personal name and in the plural form as dineo to mean gifts. When it used as dineo, it refers to talents and individual gifts. While neo can mean a gift or a natural ability to do something well, the name Neo is given to girl children as a way of recognising them as gifts from God. The name Neo is therefore used with the meaning of “se motho a se amogelang a se fiwa ke mongwe kgotsa bangwe” (something that is received from someone). This meaning of Neo is almost impossible in everyday usage of Setswana. For instance: “O amogetse dineo tsa lenyalo (He has received wedding presents) is semantically anomalous while “O amogetse dimpho tsa lenyalo (He has received wedding presents) is typical.
The personal name Neo on the other hand has some religious undertones with a presupposed giver of children as presents. It is therefore synonymous with the name Mpho which means a present or gift. The present meaning and not that of talent is also demonstrated in other “Neo” names such as Neoentle (“a beautiful gift” and not “a beautiful talent.” cf. Mphoentle) and Neoyame (“my gift” and not “my talent/gift” )
The name Kabo is derived from the verb aba, which means to give something such as food, clothes, or money to a group of people or to one amongst many. That is why in Setswana we can say go abela batlhoki dikobo (to give/distribute the blankets to the poor). Matumo (1993:1) defines aba as to “distribute; divide; allot; allocate; arrange; give way as a present.” Aba could also mean to share an available supply of something such as money among people or entities. The verb aba suggests that something is given out from a large collection of entities or from that which is owned by a specific individual. So if someone gives away a farm (aba tshimo) there is an intrinsic suggestion that the farm that they are giving out either belongs to them or it lies directly under their authority for them to give. This means that it would be semantically incongruent to use the verb “aba” when the object given is given by one who has no authority to give it. Even more interestingly, it is possible to say go aba dimpho (to distribute/give presents). It is also possible go abela motho neo (to give an individual a talent. Intrinsic in this expression is a religious meaning ÔÇô that the creator or God is the giver). The Setswana name kabo therefore means distribution.
There is clear suggestion in the semantics of aba that its arguments are entities of value to the recipient. For instance, the verb aba in an 18 million Setswana corpus is followed by positive words such as ditilo, kokelwana, dimpho, dikobo, dibuka, dibolo, boswa, madi, ditsha, madi, lefatshe, dijo, dikgele, dipilisi and others. So for instance a free newspaper such as the Botswana Daily News when it is distributed to a group of people, such action doesn’t attract the verb “aba” but “fa” or “naya”.
The final name to look at is Mpho which is derived from the verb fa. The verb fa suggests a transfer of ownership from one person to another. So if you say: O mphile madi (He has given me money) it suggests that you now own the money that was given to you. The verb fa therefore includes transfer of ownership from one person to another. The verb fa means to to give someone something that you think they want, need or deserve. There is an intrinsic assumption in the verb fa that when something is given it is because it is needed or that it will be greatly appreciated. This is different from naya which simply means to give even if the receiver doesn’t want to receive that which they are being given. This makes the verb fa closer to the English verb give. The name Mpho is therefore equivalent to the English noun gift or present. This meaning of the name therefore opens a window into how Batswana look at the arrival of a child. They see a child as a gift from the creator. We have to stop the discussion because of space limitations of space. We must study our names to better the world view of those who came before us.
