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Tag: Desmond Cole

Ditlhopha tsa Maina (Noun Classes)

Ditlhopha tsa Maina (Noun Classes)

Noun classes are very important elements of Setswana grammar, and play a pivotal role in determining the correct syntax of a sentence. The spellings of verbs, adjectives, possessives, demonstratives, agreement markers, relative markers, and other grammar constructs are determined by the class to which the subject noun belongs. In fact, this is a characteristic that is common among Bantu languages in general, and creates for a scientific approach to learning them, which is particularly useful for first. To put the cherry…

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Setswana Language History (part 2)

Setswana Language History (part 2)

Setswana Language History Part 2: The Written Language The evolution of Setswana orthography is itself a story worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster, with plot twists and whodunits that would rival any Alfred Hitchcock mystery. It started with European missionaries, each not only struggling with learning the new African language from the point of view of their various vernaculars and Christian denominational perspectives. And then when it was all eventually falling into place and the native speakers were now on board, it emerged…

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