
Mopitlo [March in Setswana]
[ENG] The Setswana name for March is Mopitlo. Although it is the third month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (March/Mopitlo) is in fact the seventh 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 cultures across the world, including Batswana ancestors.
With Mopitlo again we have a rather tricky etymology, as it requires both an in-depth knowledge of Setswana vocabulary and agricultural phenomena. But once you traverse that little barrier, it becomes quite easy to appreciate. Similar to Tlhakole, it is also based on the maturity of sorghum plants. This time, the sorghum plants have reached full maturity and both the leaves and kernels have grown to a point that they form a nigh impenetrable bush of plants, through which it is quite difficult to see the other side of the ploughing field.
At this, we say the crops are closely packed (for the want of a better translation), which in Setswana is go pitlagana. Mopitlo then therefore gets its name from the tendency of the adult sorghum crops to “pitlagana”.
Traditionally, this was the apex of the harvest season, and is what could roughly be translated to autumn. This season is known as letlhafula or legwetla (better known in its shortened form, gwetla). However, this is not really the end of the harvest, as we still have one more major exercise slated for Moranang (April).
Typical also to the Western definition of autumn, Mopitlo also sees a lot of fluctuations in weather patterns and the shortening of the length of daylight hours becomes more apparent as we cross the autumn equinox, around the 20th day of the month.
Read more about the seasons on Dipaka [Seasons] and about the months on Dikgwedi [Months].
[TSN] Kgwedi ya March e bidiwa Mopitlo ka Setswana. Ntswa e le kgwedi ya boraro ya moalo wa “Gregorian Calendar”, ke ya bosupa ya ngwaga ka moalo wa Setswana sa Maloba.
Ngwaga wa Setswana sa pele o ne o simolola ka kgwedi ya Lwetse fa go ipaakanyediwa temo. Marara a kgang e a okediwa ke gore 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 bo lesome-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 “Mopitlo” le lone le dingalonyana go tlhaloganyesega, ntswa le le motlhofo. Le tlhoka fela gore motho a bo a tlhaloganya ditsamaiso tsa temo le thobo, ga mmogo le kitso e e riling ya mafoko mangwe a Setswana. Fela jaaka la “Tlhakole”, leina Mopitlo le bopetswe bo seeming sa kgolo ya mabele. Mo sebakeng seno sa ngwaga, mabele a a bo a setse a godile, a lekane go rojwa. Ka jalo, ditlhaka tsa one di a bo di le dikgolo mo di kgotlaganang, e bile go sa bonale fo feta.
Kgotlagano e, e tshwantshanngwa le go pitlagana. Ka jalo, re a re mabele a abo a pitlagane, kgotsa a na le mopitlo.
Pele, kgwedi ya Mopitlo e ne e le yone e mo go yone legwetla le ileng magoletsa. Go a bo go rojwa, go kotulwa, go phothwa, e bile go fotlhwa! Letlhafula le a bo le gorogile kwa setlhoweng. Mme le a bo le ise le wele, ka go santse go na le tiro e nngwe e e botlhokwa e go tla itebaganngwang le yone ka Moranang (April).
Kgwedi ya Mopitlo e supa fa e na le dikai tsa “autumn” jaaka di kaiwa ka Sekgowa. Mo kgweding e, re itemogela seemo sa loapi se se fetogang kgapetsakgapetsa, ga mmogo le go khutshwafala ga malatsi le go lelefala ga masigo.
Bala ka dipaka tsa ngwaga mo Dipaka [Seasons] le ka dikgwedi mo Dikgwedi [Months].
cover image source: https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ec5d39_de028938e2d44be99f14807e240dc232~mv2_d_2272_1572_s_2.