Pretoria Changes Name to Tshwane
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James Joyner | Thursday, May 26, 2005 |
Pretoria, South Africa is now known as “Tshwane.”
Pretoria name change is approved (BBC)
A recommendation that the name of South Africa’s capital be changed from Pretoria to Tshwane has been unanimously approved. The Geographic Names Council took four hours to back the change. Tshwane is the name of a pre-colonial local chief and means “we are the same”. Supporters of the change say the switch will underscore South Africa’s break with apartheid in 1994.
Changing from an highly established, pronouncable name to a new, unpronounceable one didn’t work out so well for the Artist Once Again Known as Prince. Perhaps Pretoria/Tshwane will work out better.
Of course, the main context in which the name “Pretoria” occurs to me is the song “Marching to Pretoria.” One wonders whether it’ll change to “Marching to Tschwane” or become a historical oddity.
via Steven Taylor, who observes, “I have no idea, for example, why Montgomery is called Montgomery, or Dallas is called Dallas.” Quite right. Which reminds me of a great exchange from “Pulp Fiction” wherein Butch (Bruce Willis) explains to Esmeralda, “I’m American, honey. Our names don’t mean shit.”
About the Author: James Joyner is the publisher of Outside the Beltway and the managing editor of the Atlantic Council. He's a former Army officer, Desert Storm vet, and college professor with a PhD in political science from The University of Alabama. He lives just outside the Beltway in Alexandria, Virginia.
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I don't care what they name their capital, but is it too much to ask that it be pronounceable.
Or, maybe Tschwane is perfectly easy to pronounce and South Africans don't give a shit about what Americans think about its pronouncibility.
I vote we pronounce "Tschwane" as "Pretoria."
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