Quote from one of the participants: "I speak Setswana. At least, I think it's Setswana." Great illustration of heavy contact influence in urban areas.
June 19, 2026 at 6:06 AM
Quote from one of the participants: "I speak Setswana. At least, I think it's Setswana." Great illustration of heavy contact influence in urban areas.
Ich: Begrüße die Pilotin auf Setswana (die nationale Sprache in Botswana).
Anderer deutscher Tourist: „Oh, Sie sprechen Afrikanisch?”
Ich habe bei so viel Ignoranz wirklich keine Lust und Energie mehr, noch freundlich zu antworten.
Anderer deutscher Tourist: „Oh, Sie sprechen Afrikanisch?”
Ich habe bei so viel Ignoranz wirklich keine Lust und Energie mehr, noch freundlich zu antworten.
February 1, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Ich: Begrüße die Pilotin auf Setswana (die nationale Sprache in Botswana).
Anderer deutscher Tourist: „Oh, Sie sprechen Afrikanisch?”
Ich habe bei so viel Ignoranz wirklich keine Lust und Energie mehr, noch freundlich zu antworten.
Anderer deutscher Tourist: „Oh, Sie sprechen Afrikanisch?”
Ich habe bei so viel Ignoranz wirklich keine Lust und Energie mehr, noch freundlich zu antworten.
random stray thought, in setswana the only difference between the word for piss and the word for pastor is the last vowel sound
September 22, 2026 at 9:06 AM
random stray thought, in setswana the only difference between the word for piss and the word for pastor is the last vowel sound
Data scientists: “OMG we had to learn a new programming language for this project”
Anthropologists: “We literally learnt two languages”
Anthropologists: “We literally learnt two languages”
October 5, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Data scientists: “OMG we had to learn a new programming language for this project”
Anthropologists: “We literally learnt two languages”
Anthropologists: “We literally learnt two languages”
actually interesting thing now that popeye's in the public domain, his name is Literally synonymous with the word "cartoon" in botswana, it is the tswana word for cartoon, so i wonder if there'll ever be a setswana version of that character/show (there probably won't be,,,,)
January 4, 2025 at 5:50 AM
actually interesting thing now that popeye's in the public domain, his name is Literally synonymous with the word "cartoon" in botswana, it is the tswana word for cartoon, so i wonder if there'll ever be a setswana version of that character/show (there probably won't be,,,,)
secondhand bookshops here in canberra often surprise me with languages that i don't usually see!
today we got:
- hiligaynon
- zulu
- setswana
- pashto
- bengali
- mongolian
- hawaiian
- plus collections of smaller melanesian languages
#langsky
today we got:
- hiligaynon
- zulu
- setswana
- pashto
- bengali
- mongolian
- hawaiian
- plus collections of smaller melanesian languages
#langsky
February 8, 2025 at 10:53 AM
secondhand bookshops here in canberra often surprise me with languages that i don't usually see!
today we got:
- hiligaynon
- zulu
- setswana
- pashto
- bengali
- mongolian
- hawaiian
- plus collections of smaller melanesian languages
#langsky
today we got:
- hiligaynon
- zulu
- setswana
- pashto
- bengali
- mongolian
- hawaiian
- plus collections of smaller melanesian languages
#langsky
A monument to Taras Shevchenko has been installed in Botswana, the first in Africa.
“During the ceremony, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities read his own translation of ‘Testament’ into Botswana’s national language — Setswana,” Sybiha wrote.
Source: Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha
“During the ceremony, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities read his own translation of ‘Testament’ into Botswana’s national language — Setswana,” Sybiha wrote.
Source: Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha
March 10, 2026 at 3:13 PM
A monument to Taras Shevchenko has been installed in Botswana, the first in Africa.
“During the ceremony, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities read his own translation of ‘Testament’ into Botswana’s national language — Setswana,” Sybiha wrote.
Source: Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha
“During the ceremony, the dean of the Faculty of Humanities read his own translation of ‘Testament’ into Botswana’s national language — Setswana,” Sybiha wrote.
Source: Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha
Wow! Reminds me of how pedagogically in the Setswana alphabet are pronounced with this really exaggerated high F0 youtu.be/YR9R7AkvvxY (unsure if this is more broadly reflected in the tonal system or just a convention)
Medumo ya Setswana | Ithute Setswana
YouTube video by Breakthrough Tutors Bw
youtu.be
December 9, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Wow! Reminds me of how pedagogically in the Setswana alphabet are pronounced with this really exaggerated high F0 youtu.be/YR9R7AkvvxY (unsure if this is more broadly reflected in the tonal system or just a convention)
I have family members born and raised in Botswana. They speak setswana. They would never say they’re of African descent- even though they’ve been there for decades. There’s a clear difference.
July 7, 2025 at 11:08 AM
I have family members born and raised in Botswana. They speak setswana. They would never say they’re of African descent- even though they’ve been there for decades. There’s a clear difference.
Helping produce #Setswana translations for this #Taung Child special issue from
@SAJS_Official
was a very special project for us.
Thanks to all for their support #languagematters
👉🏾https://sajs.co.za/article/view/20667/23562
@SAJS_Official
was a very special project for us.
Thanks to all for their support #languagematters
👉🏾https://sajs.co.za/article/view/20667/23562
February 7, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Helping produce #Setswana translations for this #Taung Child special issue from
@SAJS_Official
was a very special project for us.
Thanks to all for their support #languagematters
👉🏾https://sajs.co.za/article/view/20667/23562
@SAJS_Official
was a very special project for us.
Thanks to all for their support #languagematters
👉🏾https://sajs.co.za/article/view/20667/23562
thinking of how the seTswana word pula means rain and blessings
totally on the money
totally on the money
June 25, 2026 at 5:59 PM
thinking of how the seTswana word pula means rain and blessings
totally on the money
totally on the money
BTW, "tla" [spelled Ꮭ] means "no" in Otali Cherokee, and "atl" means "water" in Nahuatl. Not many other languages have the /t͡ɬ/ phoneme: Tlingit, Setswana, Levantine Arabic, a handful more.
So what about English? Why does the -ttle approximation make me shudder?
6/
So what about English? Why does the -ttle approximation make me shudder?
6/
November 30, 2024 at 2:27 PM
BTW, "tla" [spelled Ꮭ] means "no" in Otali Cherokee, and "atl" means "water" in Nahuatl. Not many other languages have the /t͡ɬ/ phoneme: Tlingit, Setswana, Levantine Arabic, a handful more.
So what about English? Why does the -ttle approximation make me shudder?
6/
So what about English? Why does the -ttle approximation make me shudder?
6/
I am very pleased to announce that my paper, "Quotative inversion as smuggling: Evidence from Setswana and English" has been published in Natural Language & Linguistic Theory! doi.org/10.1007/s110...
Quotative inversion as smuggling: Evidence from Setswana and English - Natural Language & Linguistic Theory
Quotative inversion (QI) clauses in Setswana and English—two SVO languages—show a marked OVS word order in which a quote appears preverbally and the agentive external argument appears postverbally. In...
doi.org
March 25, 2026 at 1:41 PM
I am very pleased to announce that my paper, "Quotative inversion as smuggling: Evidence from Setswana and English" has been published in Natural Language & Linguistic Theory! doi.org/10.1007/s110...
The phrase in Setswana is "T'samya tsentle". Travel well.
March 26, 2024 at 8:38 PM
The phrase in Setswana is "T'samya tsentle". Travel well.
Also in Southern African languages:
isiZulu umlungu 'white person' vs. -mhlophe 'white'
Setswana lekgoa 'white person' vs. -sweu 'white'
Ju|'hoan ǀ’hún 'white person' vs. !à'ú 'white'
isiZulu umlungu 'white person' vs. -mhlophe 'white'
Setswana lekgoa 'white person' vs. -sweu 'white'
Ju|'hoan ǀ’hún 'white person' vs. !à'ú 'white'
August 3, 2026 at 10:50 AM
Also in Southern African languages:
isiZulu umlungu 'white person' vs. -mhlophe 'white'
Setswana lekgoa 'white person' vs. -sweu 'white'
Ju|'hoan ǀ’hún 'white person' vs. !à'ú 'white'
isiZulu umlungu 'white person' vs. -mhlophe 'white'
Setswana lekgoa 'white person' vs. -sweu 'white'
Ju|'hoan ǀ’hún 'white person' vs. !à'ú 'white'
"It rains so little in Botswana that the country’s people revere precipitation. The Setswana word for rain – pula – also means wealth or blessing, and lends its name to the country’s currency."
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯❤️
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯❤️
All Protocol Observed.
Welcome to Issue 215 of The Continent.
Egypt’s bid to stamp out dissent has created a screen-to-prison pipeline. Children lured through gaming are jailed without trial — on terror charges.
Read it here: bit.ly/TC_215
Welcome to Issue 215 of The Continent.
Egypt’s bid to stamp out dissent has created a screen-to-prison pipeline. Children lured through gaming are jailed without trial — on terror charges.
Read it here: bit.ly/TC_215
September 30, 2025 at 8:31 AM
"It rains so little in Botswana that the country’s people revere precipitation. The Setswana word for rain – pula – also means wealth or blessing, and lends its name to the country’s currency."
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯❤️
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯❤️
none of this makes sense to anyoomf because not one of you has ever heard setswana in any context anyway, it's okay
March 2, 2026 at 4:34 PM
none of this makes sense to anyoomf because not one of you has ever heard setswana in any context anyway, it's okay
my friend just taught me my first conversation in setswana!
a: dumela! (hi!)
b: dumela, okae? (hi, how are you?)
a: ke teng. (i'm fine.)
#langsky
a: dumela! (hi!)
b: dumela, okae? (hi, how are you?)
a: ke teng. (i'm fine.)
#langsky
February 22, 2025 at 2:11 AM
my friend just taught me my first conversation in setswana!
a: dumela! (hi!)
b: dumela, okae? (hi, how are you?)
a: ke teng. (i'm fine.)
#langsky
a: dumela! (hi!)
b: dumela, okae? (hi, how are you?)
a: ke teng. (i'm fine.)
#langsky
AFP’s Nicolas Tucat photographs a woman holding the "Motswedi" a 2,488-carat rough diamond, the second largest in the world, at the HB Antwerp diamond company headquarters.
The Motswedi which means in Setswana, "water spring or flow of underground water", was unearthed in Botswana in August 2024
The Motswedi which means in Setswana, "water spring or flow of underground water", was unearthed in Botswana in August 2024
September 23, 2025 at 6:20 AM
AFP’s Nicolas Tucat photographs a woman holding the "Motswedi" a 2,488-carat rough diamond, the second largest in the world, at the HB Antwerp diamond company headquarters.
The Motswedi which means in Setswana, "water spring or flow of underground water", was unearthed in Botswana in August 2024
The Motswedi which means in Setswana, "water spring or flow of underground water", was unearthed in Botswana in August 2024
Leina lame la Setswana ke Kabelo.
February 7, 2024 at 8:23 PM
Leina lame la Setswana ke Kabelo.
THE Setswana GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO HIDE THIS FROM YOU: BdoubleO100 has said they have accelerated disordained to transmogrifying suncreams elkwmflwemftily. They said they had unblessed over 44 billion blackboards throughout everyone's last millennium alone! #worrying #emblossoming
September 30, 2026 at 8:11 PM
THE Setswana GOVERNMENT IS TRYING TO HIDE THIS FROM YOU: BdoubleO100 has said they have accelerated disordained to transmogrifying suncreams elkwmflwemftily. They said they had unblessed over 44 billion blackboards throughout everyone's last millennium alone! #worrying #emblossoming
it occurred to me for the first time recently that even though we tend to think of xhosa and zulu as languages with clicking sounds, setswana does have a relatively similar thing going on specifically with the "tl" sound
April 10, 2026 at 5:57 AM
it occurred to me for the first time recently that even though we tend to think of xhosa and zulu as languages with clicking sounds, setswana does have a relatively similar thing going on specifically with the "tl" sound
The amount of googling about the Botswanian language, setswana, I did for a silly joke. 😅
September 5, 2025 at 6:14 PM
The amount of googling about the Botswanian language, setswana, I did for a silly joke. 😅
ênê o bua Setswana le Sekgoa.
February 11, 2024 at 6:21 PM
ênê o bua Setswana le Sekgoa.
Spanish is one of the few languages I can speak. Another is Tswana.
Gape ke bua Setswana. Tau yame e thubile polo ya yone mo lebating la koloi!
That was a hell of a day!
Gape ke bua Setswana. Tau yame e thubile polo ya yone mo lebating la koloi!
That was a hell of a day!
February 9, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Spanish is one of the few languages I can speak. Another is Tswana.
Gape ke bua Setswana. Tau yame e thubile polo ya yone mo lebating la koloi!
That was a hell of a day!
Gape ke bua Setswana. Tau yame e thubile polo ya yone mo lebating la koloi!
That was a hell of a day!