27.
SETSWANA: AN AFRICAN LANGUAGE UNIT
FOR THE CLASSROOM
by M. L. A. Kgasa
Southern Africa is frequently in the limelight for its political activities, which tend to overpower both information and interest in
other aspects of their cultures. Botswana in particular, an independent country of only 850,000 people, is little known to North American classrooms. One of the ways to stimulate further interest in the peoples of
Botswana is to involve school children in speaking its national language, Setswana. The following notes on Setswana are meant only as a brief exposure to the language. Teachers are reminded that. some language accuracy in this program has been sacrificed to brevity. A cassette tape accompanies this program. For further information contact: Outreach Coordinator, Center for African Studies, University of Florida, 470 Grinter Hall, Gainesville, Florida 32621.
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
STRESS
The main stress in a Setswana word is determined by the number of
syllables in the word. If it has two syllables the stress is on the last syllable (eg. bala). If it has three or more the stress is on the next to
the last syllable (eg. dumela; moruti).
VOWEL SOUNDS
a is like 'a' in father (aba give) e is like 'i' in bill (bela boil)
e is 1ke 'e' in sell (sela pick up)
i is like 'e' in tea (ila hate)
R no English equivalent (lcma bite)
6 is like 'aw' in awful (6ra sit by the fireside)
u is like 'oo' in ooze (pula rain)
Some Setswana sounds can have either a high or a low tone, thus
altering the meaning of a word. For example, 8 means "you" (singular)
and 6 means "he/she."
examples: 0 ya k.ae? (Where are you going?)
0 ya kae? (Where is he going?) Listen to the tape for the high and low sounds. Other difficult sounds
will be made clear by the tape.