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.
Manatesapuo ke bontlha bongwe ja teme nngwe le nngwe, jo bo botlhokwa fela thata, jo bo kayang mmui jaaka mankge wa teme ya teng. Jaaka leina la one le kaya, a natetsha puo – a dira puo gore e kgatlhise, e seng fela go nna motlhale wa go fetisa molaetsa.
Jaaka diteme tse dingwe tse di ntsi, Setswana le sone se humile manatetshapuo a a farologanyeng, go simolola ka puo e e bofitlha ya diane (proverbs), maele (idioms), dikapuo (figures of speech), dithamalakane (riddles), go tswelela ko dikapuong tse di tshwanang le tshwantshiso (metaphors), tshwantshanyo (similes), mothofatso (personification), le tse dingwe.
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.
Diane tsa Setswana [TSN]
Diane tsa setswana di tswa mo moeding o o penologang wa setso le ditso tsa Batswana, mme e bile ga ntsi di bua di dirisa diphologolo kgotsa batho, le fale le fale, dilwana le maitemogelo a mangwe. Mme jaaka mo ditemeng tse dingwe, diane di kgona go be di antswe mo temeng tsa merafe e mengwe e kileng ya dirisanya thata le morafe wa setswana. Mo makgethong a mongwe e bile, go kgonega gore bang ba teme e ka yone Batswana ba bo ba iponetse maitemogelo a ba tlhameleng seane ba a lebile, bone ba bo ba se na seane se se itebagantseng le kgang ya teng.
Sekai sa se ke seane se se reng “Mmangwana o tshwara thipa ka fa bogaleng“, se se tsetsweng ke polelo ya Baebele ya ga Kgosi Solomon a letlanya kgang e mo go yone basadi ba babedi ba neng ba lwela lesea.
Ntlha e nngwe gape ka diane, e ga ntsi e sa tseweng tsia thata, ke go re le fa ntswa seane se na le tlhaloso e e bofitlha, polelo e e buiwang ke seane le yone fa o e tsaya jaaka e ntse, e na le bokae jo bo feletseng, e bile e le ja boamaaruri.
Go na le karolwana e e itebagantseng fela le diane, kwa di tlhomagantsweng teng, mmogo le ditlhaloso tsa tsone. Go ya teng, tobetsa segolaganyi se.
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.
Maele a Setswana [TSN]
Lefoko maele le raya manateshapuo a puo e e bofitlha e e sikanang le diane. Mme fela maele a farologana le diane ka ntlha ya go re maele ga se diele tse di feletseng, e bile ga a na bokao jo bo tletseng fa a ikemetse ka nosi, a sa gokaganngwa le seele.
Go na le lefoko le lengwe le le kwalwang go tshwana, mme le bidiwa ka go farologana (ka go tsholetsa lentswe fa o bitsa tlhaka ya ‘e’ e e fa gare ga lefoko), maele, le le rayang dikitso le botlhale.
Fela jaaka diane, maele le one a kgona go kwatabololwa mo ditemeng tse dingwe; gape le fa go ntswa go dumelwa go re e nna e le mafoko a “motsogapele”, go etle go diragale go re le mo nakong ya segompieno, go tlhamiwe maele a a feleletsang a amogelwang ke sechaba ka kakaretso.
Segologanyi se se tla go gorosa ka tlhamalelo ko karolwaneng e e itebagantseng le maele.
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.
Dithamalakane le Manateshapuo a Mangwe [TSN]
Jaaka go nankotswe ko tshimologong ya tsebe e, go na le boidiidi ja manateshapuo a mangwe a Setswana a a santseng a go emetse go re o inaakanye nao.
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2 thoughts on “Diane le Maele”
What does Go nna mankge
Mean
It means to be an expert at something.