Phukwi (July in English)

Phukwi (July in English)

[ENG] The Setswana name for July is Phukwi. The seventh month of the Gregorian Calendar (July/Phukwi) is also the eleventh month of the traditional Tswana lunar calendar, whose year starts with the onset on the ploughing season in August/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 occur at exactly the same time each solar cycle. According to some pundits, this is what resulted in the addition of a 13th month (Morule) every several years, to correct the alignment of the months with the seasons. The discussion about this 13th month will be included in the “Morule [Undecimber] – the 13th Month ” post.

The name Phukwi is one of the less obvious ones, as the meaning requires a deeper understanding of both Setswana vocabulary and natural phenomena. Towards the end of the peak of winter, trees and other indigenous plants start to have budding new leaves to replace the ones lost in autumn. This phenomenon is known as “go fukunya” and it is from this term that “Phukwi” is derived. A phonetical change of nasalisation occurs when the start of the word “fukunya” is concatenated onto the “latent N” (discussed in Class 9 and Class 1a of Ditlhopha tsa Maina [Noun Classes], for further understanding) to give the aspirated P sound (written as PH in Setswana). Hence Phukwi.

The period between late July and late September has become a subject of much debate, as there are no written records from pre-colonial times, and this is the time that has been assigned the season name Dikgakologo [Spring], which appears to have not existed in old traditions.
The problem is there seems to be a disparity in the definition of “the new year”, which was originally all agreed to mean ‘the end of winter [mariga]/beginning of summer [selemo]’, which occurred at the same time – so it made no difference which definition you chose. However, with the introduction of Spring, a gap was created between the two, resulting in some people holding to the notion that Phukwi is the last month of the year (as it is the last month of winter), while others insist that Lwetse [September] is the first month of the year, as it is the first month of summer. This makes things rather awkward for poor Phatwe [August] – so make sure to read about it in the post early next month.

Phukwi [July] is a month of weather extremes – which can vary from year to year, or sometimes within the same 31-day period. Although the winter solstice occurs in June, July has often beaten its predecessor to recording the coldest temperatures of the year, including the rare phenomenon of nocturnal frost in parts of the country. To make matters worse, cold drafts from the Indian Ocean can cause great discomfort during the second and third weeks of the month. These cold drafts are the ones responsible for the below-zero temperatures that sometimes occur.

July in Botswana can be cold and calm, yet at the same time can also have warm days (where no jersey is required), or have strong gusts of stormy wind, with sub-zero temperatures. One thing however, that I can say with almost 100% certainty is that despite the cold, cloudiness, and stormy winds, it never rains in July.

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

Better still, visit Botswana, a prime tourism destination in Southern Africa. Click here for bookings to Gaborone and surroundings, or here for the Chobe/Kasane experience. This link will get you to Maun and the fabled Ngamiland – home of the Okavango Delta.

Phukwi o tshabelelwa ke diemo tsa bosa tse di farologang thata, ka o ka fitlhela fa gongwe go le serame fela thata, mme gape go kgona go nna mololo, ebile loapi le iketlile, mme nako tse dingwe go kgona go nna le matsubutla a diphefo tse di tsididi thata ebile di kgona go gatsetsa metsi bosigo, go ganetsa tumelo ya gore Seetebosigo ke ene kgwedi e e serame go di feta, ka a le mo khubung ya mariga. Mme fela se ke ithayang ke re ke a se itse mo ke ka lo tshepisang ke gore pula ga e ke e na ka Phukwi.

 

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