Tswana:

The map indicates the areas where Tswana is spoken...


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greetings and courtesies
asking for help, emergencies
numbers, days, months, seasons
question words, quantities, weather and time
banks, taxis and restaurants
transportation and finding your way
touring and socializing
at the filling station
the human body and ailments
shopping and sport

 



What is interesting about the Sotho language group is that each language is mutually intelligible to the native speakers of the other languages. This means that their differences are phonological in nature. Setswana is spoken largely in the North West province, parts of Northern Cape, Mpumalanga, Northern province and Namibia and Botswana as a whole. It comprises various dialects including Sekgatla, Sekwena, Sehurutshe, Serolong, Setlhaping, Setlharo, Sengwaketse and Sengwato. The Setswana dialects are classified under the
following dialect clusters:

  1. The Eastern dialect cluster comprising Sekgatla and Kwena dialects and is spoken mainly in the Hammanskraal and Brits areas.
  2. The Central dialect cluster comprising Sehurutshe dialect and is spoken mainly in the Zeerust area.
  3. The Southern dialect cluster comprising Serolong, Setlharo and Setlhaping dialects and is spoken mainly in the Mafikeng and Vryburg areas.
  4. The Western dialect cluster comprising Sekgatla, Sekwena and Sengwaketse dialects and is spoken mainly in the Rustenburg area and in Botswana and Namibia.
  5. The Northern dialect cluster comprising Sengwato dialect and is spoken mainly in the Gaborone area.