One of the interesting features of Botswana is its multilingualism ÔÇô that is, the use of multiple languages within its borders.
Travel to the west and parts of northwest Botswana you will encounter multiple Basarwa languages ÔÇô yes not just one, but many. These include languages such as |Gwi, ||Gana, ||Ani, Khwe and ÔÇíHua. In the west again you will meet multiple ÔÇô again, not just one Sekgalagadi dialects amongst these Sengologa, Seshaga, Selala, Sephaleng, Sekgwatheng, Selaongwe and many others. Stick around the Ghanzi district, especially around the commercial farms, and then you will hear solid Afrikaans.
Travel to the Central District around the Bobonong subdistrict, around Molalatau, Semolale, Mathathane and Kobojango. This is the Sebirwa territory. In the Northwest district around Maun, Sehitwa and Gumare you can hear Seherero. Move into the Northeast district and certain parts of the Central district. You will hear Sekalanga. In the Northwest district, especially the Chobe subdistrict, is the area of Sesubeya, a tongue known as Kuhane. Stay in the Northwest district, especially north of Gumare, and you will encounter large speakers of Sembukushu. In the Central District, around the Mahalapye subdistrict Setswapong is spoken here. If you stay in the Central District in Serowe, Palapye, Mahalapye and surrounding areas, then you are in the Sengwato territory. Come down to Mochudi and surrounding Kgatleng areas, then this is the places in which Sekgatla is predominantly spoken. In Molepolole and surrounding areas Sekwena is spoken. In Kanye and surrounding areas, in here Sengwaketse is spoken. Selete is spoken in Ramotswa and surrounding areas. Move closer to the Ramatlabama border and here you will find Serolong. There are many other languages spoken in Botswana which I have not mentioned here ÔÇô including English of course.
However, my mentioning of languages here is not to place them accurately where they are spoken. It is to illustrate a single point; that we are a multilingual society. Since our multilingualism is not usually contested, what we however must grapple with is the question: How are we to speak to each other if we speak so many languages? How should Kalanga speakers, converse with the Herero speakers? How should Batswapong speak with the Subiya speakers? How should the Bakgatla speak directly with Sesarwa speakers? Should the different tribal groups in Botswana speak to each other through the medium of English? It would be most unfortunate if we spoke to each other across the different tribal lines through a European tongue especially considering our small population of less than two million. Hassana Alidou has demonstrated that in post-colonial Africa, in avoidance of ethnic wars, African governments ironically retained colonial languages which were viewed as neutral means of communication. That’s both a farce and a lie. As Ngugi has demonstrated there is no language which is neutral regardless of how practical it is. What we need is a local tongue which could assert our national identity as a people which can be empowered through Botswana’s education and central government systems and be used as a lingua franca – a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue. In many ways the Setswana language fulfils this role and it should be equipped to fulfil this role well. Every nation has a language that identifies it uniquely. For Botswana it is Setswana ÔÇô obviously this does not mean that Setswana is Botswana’s only language as I have demonstrated above, nor does this mean that mother tongue speakers of Setswana are superior in any way to speakers of other Botswana languages. What this means is that nationally a language which serves national interests has been identified.
In an ideal world this would be a language of national unity, after which everyone would rally. We however know that there are those who challenge this position of Setswana, not so much because of the function performed by Setswana, but mainly because their minority languages are not receiving promotion from government. They therefore feel linguistically marginalised. Their anger is understandable and perhaps we need open dialogue on two related matters. First, we need to discuss Setswana as a national language ÔÇô how it can be empowered in this role. Second, we need to discuss the subject of minority languages and how they can be developed and empowered. Interest groups should not argue amongst themselves indoors, instead they should engage openly on the role and position of languages in the country.
On the Setswana language we also need to come up with strategies of preserving dialectal varieties. What is usually promoted is usually the so called standard Setswana. Standard Setswana is the one that is discussed in grammar books and described in Mokwalo o o lolameng wa Setswana. It is not one of the regional Setswana dialects such as Sengwato, Sekwena, Sekgatla etc although it includes features from such languages. We therefore need to come up with strategies of preserving features of Sekwena, Sekgatla, Sengwaketse, Sengwato, Serolong, Setlhaping as well as the different dialectal features of Setswana spoken in South Africa. I conclude by answering the question I have posed for myself: How should we speak to each other? by answering this way: in Setswana.
