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Languages of Botswana

{{Short description|none}}

{{Languages of

| country = Botswana

|image = National Botanical Garden of Botswana Timecapsule.jpg

|caption = Sign in English and Setswana at the National Botanical Garden of Botswana

| official = English

| national = Setswana

| unofficial = Kalanga, Kgalagadi, Shona, Mbukushu, Ndebele, Tshwa, !Xóõ

|keyboard = QWERTY

|keyboard image = 200px

|foreign = Portuguese, Danish, Swahili, German, Afrikaans, French, Arabic

|sign=American Sign Language
Danish Sign Language
German Sign Language{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awBEBgAAQBAJ&dq=botswana+sign+language&pg=PA13|title=Sociolinguistics and Deaf Communities|first1=Ceil|last1=Lucas|first2=Adam C.|last2=Schembri|date=February 12, 2015|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781107051942 |via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aUIqOlcbZ6QC&dq=botswana+sign+language&pg=PA306|title=Many Ways to be Deaf: International Variation in Deaf Communities|first1=Leila Frances|last1=Monaghan|first2=Karen|last2=Nakamura|first3=Constanze|last3=Schmaling|first4=Graham H.|last4=Turner|date=August 16, 2003|publisher=Gallaudet University Press|isbn=9781563681356 |via=Google Books}}

}}

{{Culture of Botswana}}

The official language of Botswana is English, while Setswana is considered to be a national language.{{Cite web |title=About Our Country |url=https://www.gov.bw/about-our-country |access-date=2022-04-17 |website=Gov.bw |quote=Botswana has a number of tribes across the country, collectively known as Batswana. The official language is English and Setswana is the national language, although there are other spoken languages.}} English, which was inherited from colonial rule, is the language of official business and most written communication. Most of the population speak Setswana, but over 20 smaller languages are also spoken. Some of the country's languages are in danger of becoming extinct.

Official and national languages

The official written language of Botswana is English. Most written communication and official business texts are written in English. The language of the Tswana people—Setswana—is the country's national language, and is spoken by most of the population.{{sfn|Mwakikagile|2009|p=75}}

Other languages

Aside from English and Setswana, other languages are spoken in the country. Over 90% of the population speak a Bantu language as their first language.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} According to the CIA's World Factbook, the most common Bantu languages spoken are Setswana (73.3% of the population), Kalanga (17.2%), Kgalagadi (2.4%), Shona (1%) Mbukushu (1.6%) and Ndebele (1%). 1.7% speak Tshwa (a Khoe language) and 0.1% speak !Xóõ, a Tuu language (both non-Bantu).{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/botswana/|title=The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|access-date=2016-09-19}} English is spoken by 2.8% as their first language, and a small number speak Afrikaans.

The number of individual languages listed for Botswana is 31.{{whose quote}} All are living languages. Of these, 26 are indigenous and 5 are non-indigenous. Furthermore, 4 are institutional, 9 are developing, 8 are vigorous, 9 are in trouble, and 1 is dying.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/bw|title=Botswana|website=Ethnologue|language=en|access-date=2019-07-17}}

= Languages spoken =

File:The distribution of the three major language families in the Kalahari Basin area.jpg area]]

{{bar box

|title=Languages of Botswana

|titlebar=#ddd

|left1=Languages

|right1=Per cent

|float=right

|bars=

{{bar percent|Setswana|darkgreen|77.3}}

{{bar percent|Sekalanga|purple|7.4}}

{{bar percent|Shekgalagadi|red|3.4}}

{{bar percent|English|black|2.8}}

{{bar percent|Sesarwa|green|1.7}}

{{bar percent|Sembukushu|darkblue|1.6}}

{{bar percent|Ndebele|cyan|1.0}}

{{bar percent|Seherero|darkred|1.0}}

{{bar percent|Afrikaans|gray|0.4}}

{{bar percent|Sesubiya|tan|0.3}}

{{bar percent|Seyeyi|lime|0.2}}

{{bar percent|Other Asian|violet|0.4}}

{{bar percent|Other European|azure|0.4}}

{{bar percent|Other African|yellow|0.1}}

{{bar percent|Other|brown|0.1}}

}}

  1. Afrikaans
  2. Ani
  3. Birwa
  4. Chichewa
  5. English
  6. Gana
  7. Gciriku
  8. Gwi
  9. ǂAakhoe dialect
  10. Herero
  11. ‡Hua
  12. [http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/603 Ju|’hoansi]
  13. Kalanga
  14. Kgalagadi
  15. Khoekhoe
  16. Khwedam
  17. Kua
  18. Kuhane
  19. Kung-Ekoka
  20. Lozi
  21. Mbukushu
  22. Nambya
  23. Naro
  24. Ndebele
  25. Setswana
  26. Shua
  27. Tshuwau
  28. Tswapong
  29. !Xóõ
  30. Yeyi
  31. Zezuru
  32. isiXhosa

References

{{reflist}}

Sources

  • {{cite book |last1=Mwakikagile |first1=Godfrey |title=Botswana Since Independence |date=2009 |publisher=New Africa Press |location=Pretoria |isbn=9-780-98025-878-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lnJ9cbY9cLEC&dq=language&pg=PA94 }}

Further reading

  • {{cite journal |last1=Chebanne |first1=Andy Monthusi |title=A Sociolinguistic Perspective of the Indigenous Communities of Botswana |journal=African Study Monographs |date=2008 |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=93{{ndash}}118 |doi=10.14989/66231 |url=https://doi.org/10.14989/66231 |ref=none |publisher=The Center for African Area Studies |location=Kyoto University |language=en}} {{free access}}
  • {{cite journal |last1=Chabanne |first1=Andy Monthusi |title=Where Are the 'Skeletons' of Dead Khoisan Languages? |journal=Botswana Notes and Records |date=2012 |volume=44 |pages=81{{ndash}}92 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43855562 |access-date=26 September 2020 |ref=none |publisher=Botswana Society|jstor=43855562 }}
  • {{cite book |last1=Ramsay |first1=Jeff |last2=Morton |first2=Barry |last3=Morton |first3=Fred |title=Historical dictionary of Botswana |date=1996 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham |isbn=0810831430 |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00rams/page/n7/mode/2up?q=languages+of+botswana |ref=none}} {{free access}}
  • {{cite book |editor1-last=Vossen |editor1-first=Rainer |title=The Khoesan Languages |date=2013 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=9-780-70071-289-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QvpwwRLYai0C&q=the+state+of+Khoesan+languages+in+Botswana |ref=none}}

See also

Khoisan languages

External links

  • [http://www.ethnologue.com/country/BW Ethnologue listing of Botswana languages] {{subscription required}}
  • A [http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/lang/country/Botswana list of endangered languages in Botswana] from the Endangered Languages Project (ELP)
  • [https://www2.hu-berlin.de/kba/ The Kalahari Basin area: a 'Sprachbund' on the verge of extinction], from the Kalahari Basin area project (KBA)

{{Languages of Botswana}}

{{Languages of Africa}}