Tswana language

Tswana language
Name	Tswana
Nativename	Setswana
States	Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe
Ethnicity	Tswana people
Speakers	~8 million
Familycolor	Niger-Congo
Fam2	Atlantic–Congo
Fam3	Volta-Congo
Fam4	Benue–Congo
Fam5	Bantoid
Fam6	Southern Bantoid
Fam7	Bantu
Fam8	Southern Bantu
Fam9	Sotho–Tswana
Iso1	tn
Iso2	tsn
Iso3	tsn
Glotto	tswa1253
Glottorefname	Tswana
Notice	IPA

Tswana language. Setswana is a Southern Bantu language of the expansive Niger–Congo family, forming a core part of the Sotho-Tswana group. It is an official language of Botswana and one of the eleven official languages of South Africa, also spoken in communities within Namibia and Zimbabwe. As the national language of Botswana, it plays a central role in government, media, and cultural expression for the Tswana people.

Classification and history

Tswana is classified within the Bantu branch, specifically the Southern Bantu zone, and is mutually intelligible with other members of the Sotho-Tswana group like Sesotho and Northern Sotho. Its development is intertwined with the migrations and state formations of Bantu-speaking peoples across southern Africa. Early linguistic influences and divergence can be traced through comparative studies with languages such as Xhosa and Zulu. Significant documentation began with European missionaries in the early 19th century, notably figures associated with the London Missionary Society, who produced early grammars and translations. The language's standardization was influenced by the work of linguists and the policies of colonial administrations in the Bechuanaland Protectorate and the Union of South Africa.

Geographic distribution

Tswana is predominantly spoken in Botswana, where it is the lingua franca, and in northern parts of South Africa, particularly in the provinces of North West, Gauteng, and the Northern Cape. Significant speaker communities also exist in the Caprivi Strip of Namibia and in southern Zimbabwe. Major urban centers with large Tswana-speaking populations include Gaborone, Francistown, Mahikeng, and Pretoria. Migration patterns, especially for labor historically linked to the Witwatersrand mining industry, have further dispersed speakers to other regions like Johannesburg.

Phonology

The sound system features a typical Bantu inventory, including a series of voiced and voiceless plosives. It is notable for its use of click consonants, a trait borrowed from contact with Khoe and San languages, though these are less pervasive than in languages like Xhosa. The language has a vowel system of seven vowels and employs phonemic vowel length. Tswana is a tonal language, utilizing both high and low tones to distinguish lexical meaning and grammatical function, similar to patterns found in Shona and other regional Bantu languages. Syllable structure generally follows a (C)V pattern.

Grammar

Tswana grammar is agglutinative, building words through prefixes and suffixes. It employs a noun class system, typical of Bantu languages, where each class is marked by a prefix that governs agreement with associated verbs, adjectives, and pronouns. The verbal system is complex, encoding tense, aspect, mood, and negation through a system of affixes. Word order is typically subject-verb-object. The language utilizes a set of demonstrative and possessive concords that must agree with the noun class of the head noun, a feature shared with relatives like Sesotho.

Writing system

Tswana is written using a Latin-based alphabet standardized in the early 20th century. The orthography was significantly influenced by the work of missionaries and early linguists like Robert Moffat. It includes special diacritics to represent certain sounds, such as the circumflex for vowel length. The current standardized orthography is used uniformly in Botswana and South Africa, governed by language bodies like the Botswana Examinations Council and the Pan South African Language Board. Literature includes translations of seminal works like the Bible, as well as original works by authors such as Sol T. Plaatje.

Sociolinguistic status

In Botswana, it holds de jure status as the national and official language, used in parliament, the judiciary, and public education. In South Africa, its official status is enshrined in the Constitution of South Africa, and it is promoted by institutions like the Pan South African Language Board. It is a medium of instruction in early schooling and is featured in broadcast media from the South African Broadcasting Corporation and Botswana Television. While facing pressure from global languages like English in higher education and business, active preservation efforts are undertaken by cultural organizations and universities such as the University of Botswana.

Category:Bantu languages Category:Languages of Botswana Category:Languages of South Africa Category:Sotho-Tswana languages