[ENG] The Setswana name for January is Firikgong. Alternative spellings include Ferikgong, Hirikgong, and Herikgong (depending on dialect and other influences). Although it is the first month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (January/Firikgong) is in fact the fifth month of the traditional Tswana lunisolar calendar, whose year starts with the onset on the agricultural season in August/September (Lwetse).

However, this is not as clear-cut as my introduction above makes it seem. Traditional Southern African calendars were based on the moon cycle, as well as annual seasonal rotations. This tended to create complications as a 12-month lunar cycle is bound to fall out of alignment with key season markers, such as mid-winter, mid-summer, beginning of rainy seasons, animal and bird migrations and reproductive cycles, etc.
This therefore means the beginning of the planting season will not occur at exactly the same time each solar cycle, as each moon cycle is only 30 days, leaving an accumulation of days which do not fall within the designated months.
The “Morule [Undecimber]” post explains this in a lot more detail, and the measures taken to reduce its impact by different ancient culrutes across the world, including Batswana ancestors.

The etymology of the word “firikgong” is actually one of the more tricky ones, as it does not really require in-depth knowledge of both Setswana vocabulary and natural phenomena, but just one seldom-used word: mofiri. It also requires the appreciation of compounding words and contraction of nouns by omitting their prefixes. All of this sounds like almost like rocket science to a lay person, but it is really quite simple. Here it goes.

Mofiri (sometimes shortened to “firi”) is the name of a type dove. Around this time of the year (based on seasonal rotations), the bird starts nesting, and is often seen carrying sticks, which it uses as building material. Sticks, being small pieces of wood, often get refered to as wood (dikgong, in plural). At this point I think it is safe to assume you can see where I am going with this. Picture a dove carrying some small pieces of wood: ‘firi carrying ‘kgong.
So, there you have it. Whenever you see a dove with pieces of wood together, that picture translates to January in Setswana.

Of cause, there are those who choose “mhiri’ as the contraction of mofiri (which is perfectly okay, grammatically speaking). Naturally, these people will tend to use Hirikgong, rather than Firikgong. However, the latter is the correct standard spelling.

“Kgogolammoko” is defined as the first rains of the year. January is famous for its rains, and because it is the first month of the modern calendar, has often caused confusion especially among the younger learners of Setswana, because kgogolammoko falls some four months earlier. It is actually the first rain of the traditional year, and for some reason, this particular definition has failed to be updated for as far back as the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar.

Read more about the seasons on Dipaka [Seasons] and about the months on Dikgwedi [Months].

[TSN] Kgwedi ja January e bidiwa Firikgong ka Setswana, le ntswa bangwe ba kwala Ferikgong, Hirikgong kgotsa Herikgong
Kgwedi ya ntlha ya ngwaga wa moalo wa “Gregorian Calendar” ke ya botlhano ya ngwaga ka moalo wa Setswana sa Maloba. Ngwaga o wa Setswana sa pele o ne o simolola ka kgwedi ya Lwetse fa go ipaakanyediwa temo. Marara a kgang e a okediwa ke go re jaaka dikgwedi tsa Setswana di ne di balwa ka motsamao wa ngwedi, e ne e re morago ga dingwaga di le mmalwa, dikgwedi di bo di sa tlhole di lebagane sentle le dipaka tsa ngwaga. Go tila se, gatwe go ne ga tlhangwa kgwedi ya bosome-le-boraro, e e bidiwang Morule, e e neng e kgona go tlodisa dingwaga di le mmalwa e sa balwe. Polelwana ka kgwedi e re ka e bona fa tsebeng ya “Morule [Undecimber]”.

Leina “Firikgong” le dingalonyana go tlhaloganyesega, ntswa le le motlhofo. Fa o ise o le lemoge, o ka tseela gore ke kgang e e tlhokang bommantswitswidi go e rarabolola. Mme ga go a nna jalo. Se se tlhokafalang fela ke gore o itse gore go na le mofulta wa lephoi o o bidiwang “mofiri”. Bangwe ba atisitse go bitsa ba kgaotse ba re ‘firi’ (kgotsa mhiri).
Jaanong, mo nakong eno ya ngwaga, mefiri e a bo e aga dintlhaga. Ka jalo, e bonwa ga ntsi e tshotse ditlhokwa tse e aging ka tsone. Ditlhokwa ke dikgonyana. Ka jalo, o ka tswa o setse o lemogile gore golo fa re bua ka ‘firi a tshwere ‘kgong.

Mme jaaka re buile, go na le batho ba ba khutsafatsang lefoko mofiri ba re mhiri, morago ga phetogomodumo ya tshwaetsanololo. Ka jalo, ga go akabatse go bona go na le batho ba le mmalwa ba ba bitsang ba re Hirikgong. Le fa go ntse jalo, mokwalo o o lolameng o a re Firikgong.

Bala ka dipaka tsa ngwaga mo Dipaka [Seasons] le ka dikgwedi mo Dikgwedi [Months].

Featured Image credit: Ian Fox/Getty