Also Known As: Beetjuans,Coana,Setswana,Sechuana,Chwana,Tsiwaha,Chuana,Cuana,Tshwana,Tswana
Description:
Tswana (Setswana or Sitswana), is a Bantu language written in the Latin Alphabet. English is the national and majority language of Botswana, whose people are the Batswana (singular Motswana). Although English is the official language of Botswana, the majority of speakers also understand Setswana. 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, Sesotho (Southern Sotho) and Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa). It has also been known as Beetjuans, Chuana (hence Bechuanaland), Coana, Cuana, and Sechuana.
Formal inquiry after health:
(Replace tsogile with tlhotse for afternoon greetings.)
Informal inquiry after health:
Casual slang:
Other useful phrases:
Farewells:
Food:
Setswana speakers use many loan words in their day-to-day speech. These words are usually assimilated from the pop-culture in America, Europe, and South Africa (such as sharp or..... full article at Wikipedia |