Diane le Maele

Diane le Maele

Figurative speech [manatetshapuo] is an essential part of any language, and helps establish a speaker as a well established and competent consumer of said language. It basically turns talking into an art form, rather than just a basic means of communication.

Like many other languages, Setswana has a rich variety of artistic language, ranging from diane (proverbs), maele (idioms), dikapuo (figures of speech), dithamalakane (riddles) to poetic diction like tshwantshiso (metaphors), tshwantshanyo (similes), mothofatso (personification), among others.

Diane tsa Setswana (Proverbs) [ENG]

Diane (proverbs) in Setswana come from a rich heritage of culture, and tend to have their main subjects as animals, humans, and to a lesser extent, other everyday objects and concepts. However, like in most other languages, proverbs can be inherited from other languages or cultures that a people have been in contact with. In some cases even, the people who introduced the idea upon which such a proverb was born, do not even have an equivalent in their language.
An interesting example is that of “Mmangwana o tshwara thipa ka fa bogaleng“, derived from the Bible story of King Solomon attempting to resolve a conflict between two women who both claimed a baby as their own.

Another less appreciated characteristic about diane tsa Setswana is that although they are meant to communicate a “secondary” figurative meaning, the “primary” statement itself is a meaningful, logical statement, which can also be taken at face value.

The subject of diane has a dedicated section, at which a whole listing of them, together with their explanations can be found, by following this link.

Maele a Setswana (Idioms) [ENG]

Maele are Setswana idioms. The word has a homograph pronounced slightly differently (with a higher stress on the first ‘e’), which just means knowledge/wisdom. Maele (idioms) differ from diane mainly in that they are more of phrases used inside a sentence, than complete sentences/tales; and that they do not usually have a meaningful literal meaning.

Similar to diane, maele can sometimes be born of foreign concepts, or adopted/translated from other languages. And although it is generally believed that all maele ca be traced back to “motsogapele” (people from yesteryear), there are some which have been coined up in recent years and have received mainstream acceptance.

This link will take you directly to the maele section.

Dithamalakane and other Manateshapuo [ENG]

As said in the introduction above, there is a whole world of other figurative and poetic language in Setswana that still waits to be explored.

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