Setswana – Mother of many Mother Languages

Setswana – Mother of many Mother Languages

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 from the south-western regions of Zimbabwe, across most of Botswana, to the eastern desert plains of Namibia, and spreading further south into the Northern Cape, North-West, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and Free State provinces of South Africa. Indeed South Africa is where the majority of the Tswana people live, and most of the ones in Botswana only moved here within the past 200 years.

Setswana is the largest and perhaps most central, member of the Sotho-Tswana language group, which comprises at least eight mostly mutually intelligible languages: Setswana, Sesotho, Sepedi, Sepulana, Sebirwa, Setswapong (which are highly mutually intelligible), as well as Sekgalagadi, Serotsi, and Selobedu (which are not quite as easy to understand to speakers of the other languages in the group.

This is because Setswana is the “mother” of these mother tongues: The oldest of these, Sekgalagadi is the language of Bakgalagadi, who were an offshoot of Barolong. Similarly, the Basotho nation was formed from a compendium of smaller groups, but under Moshoeshoe, who was of Bakwena. Bakgatla gave birth to Bapedi, who in turn mothered the Bapulane, Babirwa, Batswapong, and formed the Balobedu from combining witha Shona people. The Bakololo, on the other hand, trace their roots back to Bafokeng – another Tswana-speaking tribe.

Batswana have never been a single nation, kingdom, or empire, under the leadership of a single monarch or political leader. “Tswana-ness” is more of a cultural and linguistic identity, rather than membership of a certain monarchy. It is in this way, very similar to ancient Greek-ness. Like the Greeks of old, who had their Spartans, Athenians, Ithacans, etc, and were not united under the banner of a single king, Batswana also existed as separate small chiefdoms of Barolong, Bakgatla, Bakwena, etc.

As we have witnessed the birth of many new tribes in recent history, this shows us how Batswana have repeatedly splintered into smaller tribes, which then grow and splinter further. Some of the existing tribes now are so young that they did not exist when written records of this area were first kept. In fact, Bahurutshe, Barolong, and later, Bakgatla, and Bakwena, appear to have been the foremost tribes.

From Barolong came Bakgalagadi, Batlhaping, Bakaa, Bapong, and the several branches of boo-Tshidi, boo-Seleka, boo-Ratlou, etc.

Bahurutshe’s decendents include, among others, Bakhurutshe, Batlharo, Bakgatla and Bakwena.

From Bakwena we got Basotho (mixed with Nguni peoples from the south), Bafokeng, Bangwaketse, and Bangwato – who in turn gave us Batawana. Some Bafokeng migrated north and became present-day Barotsi (after combining with some non-Tswana peoples of northern Botswana and southern Zambia); and were at some point known as Bakololo.

Bakgatla begat Batlokwa and Bapedi. From Bapedi we got Balobedu (mixed with Shona people from the north), Bapulane, Babirwa, and Batswapong.

Let us therefore celebrate Setswana on this International Mother Language Day, as an international mother of mother languages.

Read the Setswana Language History part 1 post for a more in-depth look at the origins and initial distribution of the Tswana people and their language; and part 2 for the evolution of its orthography.

 

[TSN] Letsatsi la gompieno, Tlhakole a le 21, ke Letsatsi la Mafatshefatshe la Teme ya ga Mme. Ka jalo, a mme ga se gone gore re bue ka teme ya rona?

Setswana ba ba anameng le mafatshe a Botswana, Aforika Borwa, Zimbabwe, le Namibia. Mo mafatsheng a, Setswana se tsewa jaaka teme ya setšhaba, kgotsa ya semmuso, kgotsa nngwe fela ya tse ke teme e e buiwang ke batho ba ka nna didikadike di le robedi, di tsewang tsia.

Mafelo a kwa Setswana se buiwang teng a ikadile go tswa kwa dikgaolong tsa borwa-bophirima ja Zimbabwe, go ralala bontsi ja Botswana, go tsena kwa dikakeng tse di kwa botlhaba jwa Namibia. Kwa Aforika Borwa gone, se ralala dikgaolo tsa Kapa Bokone, Bokone-Bophirima, Gauteng, Mpumalanga, le Freistata. Bontsi ja babui ba Setswana bo nna kwa Aforika Borwa, ebile bontsi ja ba ba leng mo Botswana ba na le dingwaga tse di kwa tlase ga 200 ba nna kwano.

Setswana ke leloko la losika la diteme le le bidiwang “Sotho-Tswana”, ebile ke yone teme e e anameng thata mo losikeng lo. Diteme tse dingwe tsa losika lo di akaretsa Sesotho, Sepedi, Sepulane, Sebirwa, Setswapong (tse di utlwalang motlhofo), ga mmogo le Sekgalagadi, Serotsi le Selobedu (tse tsone di leng thatanyana mo Motswaneng).

Mme kana, Setswana ke sone mmaagwe diteme tse. Sekgalagadi ke teme ya Bakgalagadi. Ba simologane e le Barolong. Basotho le bone fela jalo ba bopilwe ka merafe e e farologanyeng, mme bontsi (ga mmogo le ene Kgosi Moshoeshoe) e ne e le Bakwena. Bakgatla bone ba re tsholetse Bapedi, ba bana ba bone ba akaretsang Bapulane, Balobedu, Babirwa, le Batswapong. Bafokeng bone ba re lerile Barotsi.

Batswana ga ba ise ba nne tšhaba e le nngwefele, e e okametsweng ke kgosi kgotsa mmusi a le mongwe. Ba tswa kgakala e le merafe e e ikemetseng, mme ba golaganngwa ke teme le ngwao e e tshwanang, ga mmogo le ditso tsa bone tse ba di tlhakanetseng.

Mo dingwageng tse di fetileng bosheng, re iponetse merafe e le mmalwa e tlhangwa ka go tswa mo go e mengwe. Tota motho o ka re merafe ya Setswana e mene, le bana ba yone. Ke Bahurutshe, le Barolong. Mme morago ga nna le Bakgatla le Bakwena.

Barolong ba re lerile Bakgalagadi, Batlhaping, Bakaa, Bapong, ga mmogo le dikarolwana tsa bone tse di itsegeng e le boo-Tshidi, boo-Seleka, boo-Ratlou, jalo jalo.

Bana ba Bahurutshe bone ba akaretsa Bakhurutshe, Batlharo, Bakgatla, le Bakwena.

Bakwena bone ba re tlhametse Basotho (ba tlhakane le merafe ya seNguni), Bafokeng, Bangwaketse, le Bangwato – ba bone ba re tsholetseng Batawana. Bafokeng bangwe ba ne ba jela lejwe go ya bokone, kwa ba fitlhileng ba ipitsa Barotsi (morago ga ba tlhakana le merafe ya seLozi e ba e fitlhetseng kwa dikgaolong tse di kwa bokone jwa Botswana le borwa jwa Zambia), ba sena go itsewe pele ka leina la Bakololo.

Bakgatla bone ba re tsholetse Batlokwa le Bapedi. Bapedi bone ba re naa Balobedu (ba tlhakane le merafe ya seShona), Bapulane, Babirwa, le Batswapong.

Ka jalo, tla re ipeleleng Setswana mo Letsatsing le la Mafatshe la Teme ya ga Mme ka kitso ya gore Setswana ke mmaagwe diteme.

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