Tswana language

Bantu language of Botswana and South Africa

The Tswana language (or Setswana) is a language spoken in southern Africa. About five million people speak it. It is a Bantu language. It belongs to the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho languages. It is closely related to the Northern- and Southern Sotho languages.

Setswana
Setswana
Native toBotswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia
EthnicityBatswana
Native speakers
(4.1 million in South Africa (2011)
1.1 million in Botswana cited 1993)[1]
unknown number in Zimbabwe
7.7 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002)[2]
Latin (Tswana alphabet)
Tswana Braille
Official status
Official language in
 Botswana
 South Africa
 Zimbabwe
Language codes
ISO 639-1tn
ISO 639-2tsn
ISO 639-3tsn
Glottologtswa1253
Linguasphere99-

Tswana is an official language of Botswana. Most Tswana speakers are in South Africa, where four million people speak the language.

References

change
  1. Setswana at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development." Impact: Studies in language and society, 14:78