- Official language in
- South Africa
- Also spoken in
- Botswana
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- 4.1M (2011)
Where it's spoken
Setswana is one of the official languages of South Africa. In the national census, about four million people gave it as their first language, and the census summary says that more than six in ten people in North West province speak it.
In Botswana, a legal study describes Setswana as taking the status and role of a national language, with English in the position of the official language.
Sources
- Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (as amended, 2012 revision) — Section 6(1)
- Statistics South Africa (2012). Census 2011: Census in brief. Report No. 03-01-41 — Table 2.5 and the summary under it
- Sello, K. J. and Chebanne, A. M. (2023). Legal Framework for Language Use and Linguistic Rights in Botswana. University of Botswana Law Journal, vol. 30 — Introduction
Script & pronunciation
The reference grammar used here writes its Setswana examples in Latin letters, and this app's cards carry no separate romanization: the card text is shown as it is written. Its verb prefixes are written disjunctively, that is, as separate words rather than joined to the verb. This app's card for "Thank you" is written Ke a leboga, and its note says the pieces are written disjunctively and never joined.
Sources
Grammar essentials
Setswana nouns have class prefixes that indicate class and number, for example motho becoming batho for "person" and "people". The same class prefixes are described as the basis of a system of agreement, in which the noun is echoed on the verb and on words that modify it, as in setlhare se, "this tree".
The word order is described as subject-verb-object. A verb form is built as in Ke a rema, "I am chopping", and this app's card Ke a tlhaloganya ("I understand") follows the same ke a + verb pattern. The negative is marked by ga, which is one of three negative morphemes described for the language; the app's card Ga ke tlhaloganye ("I do not understand") shows it, and the card notes that the final -a of the verb becomes -e in this negative.
Sources
Politeness & etiquette
Setswana has separate second-person pronouns for one person (wena) and for several (lona). This app's cards give Dumela for one person and Dumelang for several people or a respected person, and note that the ending -ng marks the plural or respect form and is also used for a single elder. The cards also advise greeting before asking for anything.