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8: Language |
Provisional version by Neil Parsons April 1999
Setswana (Tswana) is the national language of Botswana, spoken by just about all adult citizens. English is the official language, spoken by a majority of the population. Among home languages Yeyi is the main language of the north-west, Subiya of the far north, Kalanga of the north-east, Birwa/Tswapong of the far east- central, and Tswana of central and south-eastern Botswana. There are, however, about 34 home languages which may be listed by language-family:
[Provisional list, with undoubted duplications and needing drastic revision, following Ethnologue's Languages of Botswana.]
[after Ethnologue/ Languages of the World]
Many questions of standardization, including vocabulary and orthography, are raised by the above classification. The major languages have all been invented and reinvented around a model dialect by missionaries, officials, and teachers through what has been printed and what has been taught in schools. The dates from which languages became standardized languages of literacy can be gauged from the publication dates of their first scripture translations - English Bible 1525, Tswana Bible 1830, Nama Bible 1831, Afrikaans Koran (in Arabic script) c.1835, Herero Bible 1875, Ndebele Bible 1884, Afrikaans Bible 1893, Kalanga Bible 1904, Tonga (Subiya) Bible 1911, Lozi Bible 1922, !Kung-Tsumkwe Bible 1974, Mbukushu Bible 1976, Yeyi Bible (in progress).
Examples of vocabulary (click here for alternative non-<TABLE> format)
| [LANGUAGE:] | PERSON | WATER | HOUSE | COW* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Herero | Omundu | Omeja | Ondjuo | Ongombe |
| Kalanga | Ntu | Vula | Nguba | Ngombe |
| Khalagari | Motjho | Maze | Eito | Kg'omo |
| Ndebele | Umuntu | Amanzi | Indlu | Inkomo |
| Tswana | Motho | Metse | Ntlo | Kgomo |
| Tswapong | Moth' | Maatsi | Nto | Kgomo |
| Yeyi | Moyei | Ami | Enjuo | Engombe |
(* In Southern African English a cow is often referred to as "a beast", from the Dutch / Afrikaans "beest".)
National culture has been promoted by the development of a common 'educated' dialect of Setswana, begun by Christian missionary recording and printing in the 1830s and finally standardized by the colonial authorities of South Africa and Botswana in the 1930s. This standard dialect was, however, divided again after the 1960s by minor othographic changes, which have isolated Botswana and South African Tswana educational markets from each other.
The official language is English, used for all government correspondence and as the medium of instruction from post-elementary primary education upwards. But the national language is Setswana. Setswana is the language of spoken official communications to the public, and is now also used together with English in parliament.
Ethnologue's Languages of the World 13th edition (Dallas Texas, 1996) has a page cataloguing 30 Languages of Botswana has fascinating details and (conjectured or guesstimated) statistics of numbers of speakers of languages. Tswana is said to the home language of 70% of Botswana's population. Some obvious typos persist but egregious mistakes in earlier editions, such as calling Birwa an Nguni language, have been corrected in early 1999.
Two sites on (Shi-) Yeyi people and language are Kamanakao Association (a cultural advocacy group) and "Language Development for Literary" by Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo.
For language training see the Botswana Orientation Centre
(8a) Tore Janson & Joseph Tsonope, Birth of a National Language: the History of Setswana (Gaborone: Heinemann Botswana, 1991) ISBN 0-435-91620-3
Copyright © 1999 Neil Parsons
The Botswana History Pages by Neil Parsons may be
freely reproduced, in print or electronically, on condition
(i) that full acknowledgement of the source is made.
(ii) that the use is not for profit
Last updated 19 August 1999
Performatted text alternative to <TABLE> formatted examples of vocabulary:
[LANGUAGE] PERSON WATER HOUSE COW* Herero Omundu Omeja Ondjuo Ongombe Kalanga Ntu Vula Nguba Ngombe Khalagari Motjho Maze Eito Kg'omo Ndebele Umuntu Amanzi Indlu Inkomo Tswana Motho Metse Ntlo Kgomo Tswapong Moth' Maatsi Nto Kgomo Yeyi Moyei Ami Enjuo Engombe (* In Southern African English a cow is often referred to as 'a beast', from the Dutch/ Afrikaans 'beest'.)