Tswana language

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ə	This article contains nonstandard pronunciation information which should be rewritten using the International Phonetic Alphabet. Please see Wikipedia:Manual of Style (pronunciation) for help.

Tswana Setswana
Spoken in:	Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia
Region:	southern Africa
Total speakers:	4,407,174
Language family:	Niger-Congo Atlantic-Congo Benue-Congo Bantoid Narrow Bantu Tswana
Official status
Official language of:	Botswana and South Africa
Regulated by:	no official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	`tn`
ISO 639-2:	`tsn`
ISO/FDIS 639-3:	`tsn`
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key.

Tswana (Setswana), is a Bantu language. Tswana is the national and majority language of Botswana, whose people are the Batswana (singular Motswana). The majority of Tswana speakers are in South Africa (where it is an official language), but there are also speakers in Zimbabwe and Namibia. Internationally there are about 4 million speakers. Before South Africa became a multi-racial democracy, the bantustan of Bophuthatswana was set up to cover the Tswana speakers of South Africa.

Tswana is a Bantu language, belonging to the Niger-Congo language family. It is most closely related to two other languages in the Sotho language group, Sotho (Southern Sotho) and Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa). It has also been known as Beetjuans, Chuana (hence Bechuanaland), Coana, Cuana, and Sechuana.

[edit] Some simple Tswana phrases

Dumela, rra/mma - Hello, Sir/Madam.
O tsogile jang? - Are you well?

Formal inquiry after health:

O tsogile jang? - How are you? (literally, 'how did you awake?').
Ke tsogile sentle, rra/mma. Wena, o tsogile jang? - I'm well, Sir/Madam. How are you?

(Replace tsogile with tlhotse for afternoon greetings.)

Informal inquiry after health:

Le kae? - How are you?
Re teng, rra/mma - We're well, Sir/Madam. (Also used by individuals.)

Casual slang:

O a re eng? (pronounced 'wah-reng') -- How's it going?

Go jwang?- How's it?

Other useful phrases:

Ke a leboga, rra/mma. - Thank you, Sir/Madam (formal)
Ke itumetse, rra/mma." - Thanks, Sir/Madam (informal)
Ke bidiwa _______. - I am called _____.
Leina la gago ke mang? - What is your name? (formal)
O mang? - What's your name? (informal)
Ke tshwerwe ke tlala. - I'm hungry (literally, 'I'm held by hunger')
Ke tshwerwe ke lenyora. - I'm thirsty (literally, 'I'm held by thirst')
Ke rata ___. - I like ___.
Ga ke rate ___. - I don't like ___.
Ke batla ___. - I want ___.
Ga ke batle ____ - I do not want ____
Dijo tse di monate - The food is good!
A re tsamaye! - Let's go!
Kokelwana e ko kae? - Where is the clinic?
Ke nako mang? - What time is it?
Ke kopa thuso, tswee-tswee. - I need help, please.
A nka go thusa? - May I help you?
A o ya ko ____? - Are you going to _____?
____ ke eng ka Setswana? - What is _____ in Setswana?

Farewells:

Robala sentle - Sleep well
Tsamaya sentle - Go well (said to the person/group leaving)
Sala sentle - Stay well (said to the person/group staying)

Provinces of South Africa in which Tswana is spoken as a home language by a significant proportion of the population

[edit] Pronunciation tips:

The g is pronounced as a throaty h sound similar to the ch in loch.
- This is reflected in the pronunciation of Botswana's capital, Gaborone.
The th is like a hard t sound with a little more air as in tap rather than thick.
- The same is true for all other consonants used in combination with h (e.g., ph, sh, tlh, etc.)
The combination tl is pronounced as tɬ.
Vowels are pronounced as follows: a as in 'announcement' e as in let or hey, i as in fit, o as in show, and u as in dune.