Unearthing the ancient root of the term �sha�

What it means is that since Sumerian is the earliest known written language, this is where their earliest documented form can be traced to. Indeed, even today, the Tswana language prefers sha while the Sotho language goes with cha for the verb ‘burn’.

 In Setswana, a further variation is discernible in the term ‘sa’. Bo-sa (early morning) is when the sun begins to “burn” in the sky. Here, the ‘sh’ and ‘s’ help in distinguishing related morphemes arising from  semantic shifts. It can also be a matter of dialect: for instance some Barolong (Tswana) and Pedi (Northern Sotho) tribes may pronounce wickedness or distaste as “boshula”’ while the Tswana tribes of Bangwaketse and Bahurutshe would say “bosula” (the now-standardised spelling).