Setswana mo Botswana - Your one-stop shop for Botswana Setswana

Seetebosigo (June in Setswana)

2024-06-04 TRK Comments 0 Comment

[ENG] The Setswana name for June is Seetebosigo. Although Seetebosigo [June] has been designated as the sixth month of the Gregorian Calendar in Setswana, it is actually the tenth month of the traditional Setswana lunar calendar, whose year starts with the onset on the ploughing season in September (Lwetse). In fact, it gets more complicated than that, since because the 12-month lunar year inevitably falls out of alignment with the seasons, and therefore the beginning of the planting season will not…

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Motsheganong [May in Setswana]

2024-05-02 TRK Comments 0 Comment

[ENG] The Setswana name for May is Motsheganong. Although it is the fifth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar Motsheganong (May) is in fact the ninth 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…

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TŠHEMA TŠHEMA

2024-04-14 TRK Comments 0 Comment

The recently launched Botswana government initiative, aimed at the economic empowerment of the informal sector is rapidly gaining both momentum and public approval. It is one from a barrage (or “mokgokolosa”, as President MEK Masisi prefers) of programmes aimed at improving the lives of Batswana. One thing that really bothers me about it though is the spelling: Chema Chema! For a long time, efforts have been made to emphasise that the Setswana alphabet does not include the letter ‘C’, and…

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Moranang [April in Setswana]

2024-04-05 TRK Comments 0 Comment

[ENG] The Setswana name for April is Moranang. Although it is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar Moranang (April) is in fact the eighth 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…

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Mopitlo [March in Setswana]

2024-03-12 TRK Comments 0 Comment

[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…

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Setswana – Mother of many Mother Languages

2024-02-21 TRK Comments 0 Comment

Today, February 21, is International Mother Language Day. So what better day than this to discuss our own vernacular? Setswana is the “mother tongue” (if is still considered politically correct to say mother tongue), of about eight million people living primarily in Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, where it enjoys the status of being a national, official, or recognised minority language. The geographic spread of the language is perhaps the widest in the SADC region after Kiswahili – ranging…

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Tlhakole [February in Setswana]

2024-02-02 TRK Comments 0 Comment

[ENG] The Setswana name for February is Tlhakole. Although it is the second month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (February/Tlhakole) is in fact the sixth 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…

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Mebala – Colours and Patterns in Setswana

2024-01-23 TRK Comments 0 Comment

The Setswana word for colours is mebala. However, mebala does not directly translate to colours, as it also means colour patterns. In particular, when talking about animal hides. Mebala is the plural for mmala (contracted from mobala – see discussion under Class 1 and Class 3 of Noun Classes). Most names of colours and colour patterns are gender-specific in Setswana. The masculine form is the default version, and is also used to refer to genderless objects, such as soil, trees,…

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Firikgong (January in Setswana)

2024-01-05 TRK Comments 0 Comment

[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,…

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Morule [Undecimber] – the 13th Month

2023-12-26 TRK Comments 0 Comment

Traditionally, Batswana used “leap years” to retain alignment of their months to seasonal markers. These leap years were somewhat different from what we use today, because they involved the addition of an entire intercalary month, rather than the intercalary day (February 29) that we are all so familiar with. Morule is the 13th (intercalary) month of the Tswana calendar. Batswana, like most of the peoples of Southern Africa traditionally used the moon cycle to determine their months, together with the…

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