English
Kalahari
Kalahari comes from Tswana Kgalagadi, and goes back to kgala ‘to abuse, revile’.
- Tswanamodernkgala‘to abuse, revile’
- Tswana, derivedmodernKgalagadi
- EnglishtodayKalahari
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Tswanamodernkgala‘to abuse, revile’
- Tswana, derivedmodernKgalagadi
- EnglishtodayKalahari
The story
An adapted borrowing of Tswana Kgalagadi (literally “a large, dry area”).
Every English word from Tswana kgala
Today it means
name A large desert in Southern Africa, including much of Botswana, and part of Namibia and Northern Cape, South Africa.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Tswana kgala / Kalahari