TO

TS\MAI\'IA
ALEXAI.IDER SAITDILAT{DS

{\ tff#,!

THE LOh{DON MISSIOI\ARY SOCIETY

TIGERKLOOF, CAPE PROVINCE
SOUTH AFRICA
1953

F:

li'

'.
:rih::ii-ij'-I i:.:-:-*--.-.-.;;
.-i
e_:

#i='*5*'

t''
":

COPYRIGHT

All rights in thisbookareresenred,andnopart

ithoui the
anY waY w.
'
lr i, ttt"v be reProd":"1 inpublishe-rs.:
except rn
the
of
written p"tmi"ion
articles or
the case

"f

in criticd

#;ie.t*.6;

revlerys'

MoRIIA PnTNTING WOBI$

MoEtlA

'

BA$I'rror AND

:!:'.+!::'

:.,.83',"
'

PREF ACE
booh

against the making of such -a

There are three things which militate
il;; lt 'tili"o great volume of
this on the Tswana language' In the first-ph*
ii"t i" a grea: d""l tno* thal
antfientic written tr*"* ?, existence, "lth"";i.
tt'e.texicogmpher'';
there was ttrenty years ago; eonseluel$l 'il ;;;*"Jai'
A conl\ntiout writer

t"*h"';";

t;iifdilg

theiiway'

':

"

un$ h3 knows just '

"u
to
hence experiences a o",riring desiqe
3t;1n"t" n"iircation
;' that elnlalation' and'hs ' a tittle more himself, ;;;:;;;'i*q;d''
of the language. one has a rluctance':' ' '"
a little r"rtrr", il'to trr" ,rry.t"d"*
U" pr"*re, tcorrrpletel'or nh-t "ggolyflX'""-.,,
;fir't . what may l;;d;io

and the language

*Tf;;*rd

of rswana
adverse factor is the multipticrty

' '

1P*1.6"'ortrcngtlt
the ig$orance' wttlnq;

i"-"it'"oa to rvit*p""t"rs; and

'
tnl ilnot !v anv me1ry^-onU slrirstllQt';.
cach dialect, of most ri,rtl J"lira*".
es
:i
such
to
*Fo'
words and many
',
of consonants and vowels; it aficcts manyr
ho*ogeneous 1nd compretersive '
xtent that one i- *J;1".il;il;;iarry
A Twma

*fth;;;;;;J;;

'

forging'ilfi;;-i["-*"rti'"aq 9i d:u"tg""t
!11: aod usages ' ' '
shormany.yo.tdt
will
book, for example, *,ii"ii"-oo" .*F,:"t*'
ttt"
qb"l ceotr' rrybich
rbich are not known, "' *t t"g*aed'ap incorio'i"
"Tt
contrasted d6 ' ' '
hand,
O; t'i; other
mey be no rnore *i'Ut"';il
"*y,
Banhr lanfW- "
*o.tt
i" th" tendency.:f
dhlectical variety and virility in rural """t"'
and commercialcentres' whero great
ges to collapse **pf.,Jfiii A" Ufg mining
tog.iho divorced from their natural aurmrmbers of Bantu p*;l'";;;toi""
Jttt *y hotch-potch of speech that
rumdingp, *a o'rr",J'*t'i;;; ""te;

Itosuse ever

',

mry'evotve in anY location'

Thethirdtbingwhichirviktbthewnturedifrcult'inde:qTky'isthepreseot
has-resulted'P:
q".Yttt"t g**th-which
mertainty of tbe #;;nht:
ycat!'': ' '
the
of
Past twenty
and unofficial'
the many s]tstems *J;;"i;"'
9fr"t+1
would'
The
poJ"d' efiective medium'
,"a'i"JJ i" *y
hns not yet been

i!-lsi'7. obvio'dv lcft meav

bc nniversal *d
"m#:;;';A;'i""ia"J"po" within its exaggqratioas'and
dfngs in a highly unsatisfactciry ,*g *Ju"i",
It is'most unfortunate that a worh ' 'j
loomistencies, the seeds of its own decay'
**'of'"t polemical' aod that
ftc the present one has got to b'-in 9l t*;;
qd " P.t*' I have tried'
rgumots,rpo. o"t"'iq':;;'i*
to say
"q*fni'v
tfto" totnJeppenaix' Here it is sufrcient
r hr as possible, to Li"g"t" this
centirr5fs
a
of
guartr
a
work i" tie tesult of
|srr the system adopted.for
tbe lwels of literature aod'"
hnguagel
od5r, and a"ilv *"ic,n"
"trv-"pon correspondence; and' lifb'
""a
*oy1pf A"ilv "1""itt":ton'
cuhre, but in the
compremtuc
"1""'i'

""*;ii
r. b iotor r,""o.i.r';#;

i*t

'#;it ;;ilt * t:"'.1workable

"

I#$1!l'*'*mpqix;T'';itLT*$tffini$'er.p
,"
ill

.-*''

=_
''.
::
"'T_-=a="'-,,
--.

'-

,,,,at--____---=-

a--:::,,:a,r:,

aa'

tttjt-=-.'-

=-tt.

=.--

"''-'-t
,,.=.:.'.'

,, ,,,.'-']iii1-..i,,

I tt I a:::itttt

::

at.rtt]-

,,:::::ara

'::

:t':

::: :: :

::t:a:

I :i:t t:

,:

t:

:a::

':

:t::::::::::

:::

::::

::

::
:

t:a

:
ttt:::

t:tt.t:::t

:a:

. ':::::.:

::

Prelace

viii
trial. Ia particular it

is to be hoped that the modern vested interests

in AfrluD wrnacrrlars, represented by Universities, Government Educational
pcpedn@andhrblishing Houses, will approach the system in a broad-minded
and scft:ntific spirit, and forbear a not unnatural outcry against a system other
rhen ttcir own, rmtil it has been given fair consideration and fair trial over a
number of years.
This book is in no way a scientific grammar of the language; indeed the
writer's aim has been to keep formal grammar and grammatical language in the

oficred for

life interest is in Setswana as

thought, culture, literature
medium
of
growing
as a living and
a. lattgaage
specimens in testinteresting
a
set
piece
or
of
and religion, and not as a museurn
(ard
the not-so-newintroduce
new-comers
is
to
his
aim
so in this book
tubs
in such
language,
Bantu
and
eSpansivc
expressive,
this
flexible,
comers also) to
its
uuin
accuracy,
speed
and
reasonable
with
may
mastr,
fq|u:",s
a way that they
and principles. It is primarily a book for the missionary the government official,
tfie trader and the school-teacher; if it is also found useful by the African people
whose beautiful language it attempts to describe, the author will be very pleased
and proud. But it does not attempt or pretend to be a book for the linguistic
techmlogisi.
Moieover, grammatical terms which are really adequate for and apposite to
tlre Tswana language, have yet to be evolved. In many cases I have accepted
Doke's trms as set but in his BeNru Lrrvcutsrrc TSRMTNoLoGJ* and in his Zulu
Gnmduen, fourth edition; in other cases l have suggested alternative termg;
in others I have simply avoided the use of any term. In spite of the desire to get
away from European.linguistic terminology, it is in practice very difficult to do
so; witness for example the elaborate list of Tswana grammatical terms published a few years ago by the Cape Education Department. Most.of these terms
i are nothing else but highly fanciful (if not fantastic) ttanslations of English or
classical grammatical terms: many of them 4re quite inapplicable to a Bantu language, and as a. whole they leave Tswana gralnmar still largely unexplained. But
I suppose they provide examirters with something in which to exarnine unfortunate
as much as possible. As the writer's

candidates.

Somethi"g ought to be said in explanation of the plan of this book. The

methods and Jtyle Lf the usual grammar-book were not indicated, since a manual
like this has to be kept interesting all the time, and the student rnust be led progressively on from one polnt to another. In a formal or technical grammar there
can be no progression of thought or linguistic ability.

(1). Now of course there can be no delnite or accepted 'order o{ prgcedgnce', or of 'priorities', in the grammar of a languagg; any order adopted for
a purpose such as that of this book must be arbitrary, and subjective, and open
to criticism. The order in which I have taken the various features of grammar
would not have appealed, probably, to another writer. The plan as a whole might
be described as a'oerbo-cmtrie' one; the Tswana verb has been taken as the
* But the entire ignoring of Tswana as a highly significant Bantu language very greatly
.
reduces tlre value of Doke's book for students of Tswana.

Preface

lX

m--ework of the whole stru'cture, and all tJre other component parts, merlrbet's, '
d pieces have been gradually added and built into that framework' The
hporance of the verb has been rrgarded as supreme'
(2) The exercisei are long, and have been constructed with m19h 3are;
ft.y; indeed the second main feature of the book. Admittedly, diSjointed
connected prose, however lim.de; P"'
-m*"o are much less interesting than
qnccted prose can never give the intensive drilling .in the particular. points '
tcins considered that specially constructed or selected sntences can do' In

6c Lfy

stages especially, whiie the student's knowledge is meagre, a good' deal

attificiality is inevitable; a Motswana would regard many

*
"nd
""*t"rAi"rs
d rhe early sentences as lacking in idiomatic qirality. But after these initial'
qes, both the e*amples of usage and construction in the lessons, and the senre in the exercises,tt*" U"""Lken fromlextant Tswana literaturel 1.11 'h:
(Wookey revision of r9o8), from the Padiso series of School
thernders, which give a fairly wide range of dialect as written by Batswana
in
by
I.
schaprcra
collected
writgrs
drcs; from the articles by u,arious'Tswana
and
Seboni's
DrpnosnopnosHo,
nftr;A r,r Mrr,eo Borr*n*o; from Plaatje's
"o
It is gratifying to see new books in Tswana appearing;
lrmonn s'A, Keeu,CAor.
malthough they feature different dialects and orthographic vagaries; -but tfe
$! is still by iar the greatest Tswana classic, and represents,-apart from its
Tswana
Fi[nry and supreme u"lo" ," the word of Life, a minetoofsayauthentic
not
does
it
that
isnot
Which
else.f.n l" not to be found anywhere

g".lo"rr" Bible

red

revision

(3) In the third place, oery full notes are supplied to th1 le-ssory and exer'
eir+ i" tr5r to ,clean ,rp' *y little difficultiee or anomalies which might pu2zle
rb trdej. Much teachin! and explanatiOn are concentrated in these notes,
d thc student is urged to master' them as completely as he masters the lesson
lr:riel itself. The Ltes are cross-ieferenced *" far as possible' Because of
tt full explanations given in these notes, and beclruse it would have added very
FcdX to the

size of

tie

book,

I have decided not to provide

full

separate voca-

ffidu1r.

{4)Thefourthmainfeatureofthebookisitstreatmentoftone,T9f

on the importance of tone study. No precedents have been available

i*;
[Eqrdtheline of lone study suggested is pragma ic rather han theoretic o1
the lesson
".i'*ilic I 'one is .t rdi"d from a grammatical point of view (following
has
treatment
This
of
oi"*.
poittt.
tonetic
a
purely
frc) rather than from
of
tongrammar
separate
a
to
construc-t
try
than
rathei
fu &ldnntages. But
6b *tilc my own study of tone is still incomplete, I have thought it best
features,
;l;b b draw attentiol irom time to tirne to certain obvious toneticown
conhis
up
build
and
study,
orvn
his
do
student
d fr. the rest to let the
lEs ad rules.
lr for the Tswana language itself, it is a pity that,. owing to inadequate
the.past, it has always been grouped as a j.unior member of the so}}fuin
.-i +tho clustef' For theri sedms nb reasonable-doubt that Setswana i'
it evidences$
-.mber of that group of languages, and that
bf
"rrth"ntic

"rm1pt

p.rcJacc
in its cbborate tond structurc, itr noun-crasscl and rmwer+ptco,
nuyfr.'nr
which have dfonppcared elsewhere. ,
t1 is a very flexible and expressive and extensive langqag'e.
Thc pcrcut
-book-is
deliberately termed an 'introduction', for it wtu o'i
r!.a an" shdcrt r
certain- dirq* abng his path. It wil taraty qualify hh
;-; ritL frtr
D. M. Ramoshoana's prose, or to g.""p. ti" grannaticrt
ltrocrc
of the language of the 'm6dkd'. But it i, a*ig""a a
{GT,,hb
rt"iffi

f9r his own td"lstud11f those higher reaches of the language. Nc, of *'
-tnJ
g4n a manual such as this- cater firfly for the
speciotist;
aooa 6c mrq
,1fe gmlter, the trader, the tradesman" the veterinary ofrcer, each roquinr b
dcvglop his or her ovm range or vocabulary of special nouos and
vcrta

I think of Setswana as a vast trad,, aontin4

,^_-l::-TL:'"t"
country' and?"1
of m)rye$.as a settlcr or immigrant

lor'st

have lived there

of vftSin
living in one coracrof iL

-gofd

fot a

nurnber

tn" --,t y fte uuy

n
of
"" ""*;tr;;j,o'rn:,p
exploration into the interior. But there still remain
rqions ,fris ere rergdy
qoexpl"d and 'uomepped. There
nBsesses whcrc r hrc rwr
Pelc and innumerable bills and"r"-"ourr,lo"
valleys which I have ncrtr Od-

ini$ ar.oun{ me I

9f

arn wen acquainted.

y_""o, and with

'r

yanuary, 1952.

LuhW
Knf,

NOTE
JhroughouJ

by narne,
its forms

this book, when referring to the language

have used, as

of equal validity, both

long-estabtished prefixial form .Se-.the

tswana', and
the modern 'dehydrated'form .Tswana',
which has gained currency of recent years.;

B.p.

ffi

ACKNOW.LEDGMENTS
I can';#J'i?'"fiil,1T*1"pf;ffi
onlr
8"";;;ffi
Here

tafght me what I hnow

of-t"i.

t;;;;;

*J:H,l#"*l1t*d:

*"r".l
b,rrdenedTith a shockingry
bad memory' much more
Tot
bf ,rr"ir ,?"fririg
have
been bu't into this book.
y::tq
To mention names wourd
long rist: truri trat those
rlrem who read
of
this u""t
contributions, *J-""""p, this
F.""j* of my sincere
ex.i

-;;;"#ilty
t
tr"yl";*fJiil:t
"ppr""Lriorr-irJurlj*0".
In earty aays .Wo&ey
t nro*i;*':u::ir^e the onty printed mentor;
in
spite
of
its
obvi'ous
-d
der"*-*jta"fr*d:
text-book,irr. *riu useful,
rd the studentis advised rtpd;irro?a, p a g;il;.-b;;*a,needs:
ir.
oplete revision
r**ti*iglt]ilil p*,
*rrvbadrv done'-a
n"t it ioJi*:.;;.TFv r"g'"'i-i"i*1r", is partic_
cd ro continue . .,i ;";d i"'r##.. tr!*"*,i"r'i,*, and w'r
Dr. .{. r.t r,r"ke, of r,ondm
ILfivesity firet introduced
1"T
me to ,n" orlo'r"J"" . tone;
r i]r.""rr.*dy men,; ;;;;"#;::T. M. Doke *a
or
the
university or thi
Hmfbtedness
_of

Ifc

Gnateful acknowledgment
is made to the following authors
and firms :
London Missionary Society
for innumerabre
:.LrvrNcsrol\f,8

berue

ff*

excerpts from the

Rraorns' lpeolso series of school
books). -

f*#fi:

and

tte

|'#'ri;f*;:.

Lovedare press,

for excerpts frorn ilftrcwe

rs

Nasionare Boekhander Beperk,

for

exceqprs

and Nasionale Boekhandel

Beperk, for excerpts from
Motrw'wa.

excerpt from Sir Harry

H. Johnston,s Colr_

AND $EMI-BANTU LervcuecES.

nr C. M. Doke, and Messrs. Longrqans,

t*ru Lrxcursrrc TERrtrr;;;; and Green &
TExr_BooK
t. lU, Tucker, and Messrs. Longmans,

ftru
a

on p.xii, rrom

f;

Beayru Lelrcuecns.

Green & Co.

CoivrpARATrvE pHolwrrcs

Co. Ld., for excerpts

oF Zutv. Gneruruen.
Ltd., for permission to
oF.TrrE Suro_CrruANA
\.'

tt

:il:'#"3:3*,y:_Jl:,n"'*

zyrcher and the staff, African

Tffi#:,
*j:*,'*:j::,,'o'i;;.ii;-"'i j#:H.#:#

T XnT,.m:rTG-

111;; ir.

;. ;d.

,"d#ffinT"r,l.:ff:"'ffi fr:

i1i,,l

irfi ;,
tifii.

iiffi,;

,ffi
"ffiii
riilffiu,

,0,ffil
i.t]lt

,1.

r,

.t

1
?

-1

COIVTEIVT,S
LESSONS
l

simple sentence: Present tense, Indicative . .

Fuhrre tense Indicative: Conjun,ction le .^. . .
3 Extended Present: the y
& nouns
+ Present tense, negative : vor,vel change s:!i- nouns

aa

))

6
7

t;
9

t0

l+
l5
t6
t7
l8
19

m
2t
a2

a..
..

'

10

..
.

14

:.
..
..

..

2:7

32
AF,

..'

.: :: :. ..

..

Perfecttensefo{mations(1)'objectivalpronouns(1)..
Verb 'to be', i*p.t onal: Interrogatives und I)emonstratives.
Yerbs.tobe'and,tohave':EryphaticpronounS..o.
objectival pronouns (2): Applied for* of verb (1)
Perfect tense formations (z) t irregular
.rrji' g-. in e . .
Past-indefinite tense : impersonal go 'erb,

18

..
..

..

..

!Question and answer: eng? bg- ma- and b ry- nouns. . . . .

The tone system, of Tsw ana
..
Future tense, negative: mo- ba-, mo- Ttw- and mo- rna- nouns
Subjectival pronouns: noun Classes
.
rnperative, and negative: Adverbs 'thus' and .hou,l . . : :
Perfect tense, and negative: the Infinitive . .
..
Possession: Possessive concords and pronouns
..

'-.
C-onversationinTswana.. ..
lt il{otion 4nd Location: Prepositions
t2 Verbs of motion: consonantal changes
r3

J/
41

46
52

s7
.

..
..

62
66

7l

//

,L' E

..

82

Passive

..

91

RelativeConstruction

..-.96

Past-definite tense: Narrative: Permissive and Exigent Imperatives

and Perfect: Agent and Instrum"ent
- Present Present,
Potential mood
Past, uid negatives . ., . . . . : : :

..

..

. .'

B Qualificatives(Adjectives): otlhe: verbalconcords..

z+ Numbers (cardinal): 'how many ?' (kae ? .
)
w Other-ngweusages: Kinshipnouns
rj
'Which one?' (-ft) and 'no-on r' (-pi) . ,

:: :: .: ..

..

Subjunctivemood: PresentandFuture .. ..
Ahence or non-existence : teng and 1d . . . .
a, Auxiliary verbs lala, tlhdla, salar Nouns from verbs (l)
30 'Not yet' (itt): Nouns from verbs (2)

..

3l aualificatives (Adverbsof manner, time, place).. .. ..

!2 Auxiliary verb ba: I.{ouns from verbs (3i ' . .
..

'

xiii

..
..
..
!.

::
..
..

121
125
130

13+

,141

..

Auxitiary verb s re (1) and sena

.'.
.
3# Pluperfect Indicative, and negative: Diminutive-.rrfn* : : : :
35 verbal derivative forms: Applied form (z), right and left
<- .
' '^.
36 Causative form of verb : se- adjectives
. . .-.
t.t

JJ

10s

.. .. .o 115.,,

x
tr

'100'

.' 146

.. 151
.. 157
.. 163
.. 16g
. . 1,12

xlv
3;:I

38

39

40

Yerb nna, ntse, as independent: esi, alone or only

Pre.,continuous (sa ntse): Auxili"ry kile: ordinals
Post-continuove (nna,, ntse): other Numeral usages
Anxiliary verbs tlhdla (negative), dika, tsoga

+3

++
45

46
+7
48
49
50
51

52
53

54
55

t77

aaataaaaaa

.o
a

.o

.o

..

..1
a

ta
.l

aa

..

..

.e ..

181

186

I:92

aaataaaaaaaa

4t Habitualmood,. .,
42

iten

Co:

r97

.aaaaaaaaaaa

., .. .. ..
Auxiliarybo: probabilityorinferetlce.. .. .o .. ..
OtherDousages: Comparison .. .. ,.. ., -.. .. .,
Reflexiveform: Auxiliaries tlogaand akofa
.. .. ..
Reciprocalformi reintentional .. .. e .
.. ..
Reversiveform: saresepiand tshoganaha .. .. ,. ..
Stativeforms: Positionalverbs .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
ImpersonalAuxiliary e.rerwhenorwhenever

IntensiveandRepetitiveforms:othetreconstructions

..
..
..
..
..
..
..

..
..

204

o.

2t6

..
..
..
..

223
230
236
243
258

.. .. .. .. .. .. ..
tln,. .. .. -.: .. .. .r .. .. .. .. .. o.
Contingent mood: concord sequence, Present and past . . . . . . . .
'Until' (xiam*ya, fitlha, etc.f : lsince' (sa Ie)
Conditionalorcontingentsentences .. .. o. .. .! o. .. ..
Idiomatic usages: otto*topoeics, ideophones, enclitics, etc. . . . . . .
Other Auxitiaries: other ha construetions

Vagarigsof

2Il

257

26s
271,

277

286
29;S

a,

APPENDIX ARTI
I Ondescribingrrowelsounds.. ..
2

The extended Present

Secondpersonsingular,Classl:

Diacritics.. ..

Thgsymbolf

..

..

ootu
.. ..

.. .. ., .. ..

6_ Dialectical variation benveen s and sft

7

I
10

..

..

.o ..

coniunctive or disjunctive . .,,

..

..

CLES

Comparison of orthographies. .
Vowel changes in Tswana . .
The Tswana noun Classes

Thetermsetshoandrona

..
..

..
..

..
..

.o o. .. 309
. ! . ., 310
,. .o .. srz
.. .. .. 315
.

..
..

317
318
319

322

aaaoaataaoaaaoaaaa

.. .. .. ..

ending . .
cognition . . . .

327
32s
329

11

Consonant changes with locative

T2

Verbs of perception and

13

Sig"ifi.cance of knka, term for domestic fowl

331

T4

Imperative of verbs in -tsa . .

The terms 'active' and 'passive'
Sex or gender terms . . . .

aaaaaaataaaaaaaaaa

333

oaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

333

15

16
17
18
19

ThePotentialmood .. ..

334
33+

aaaaaaaaaataaraaoa

Counting on the fingers . .

Tswana kinship terms . . . .

Regrqsiveeffqctof.openvowgl/-.. ..
2t Nognsfromvgrbswithstem-vowelg..
22 AltgrnativePluperfectnegative .. ..
20

330

332

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

..
.. .. .. ,. ..
.. .. .. .. .. .. ..
.. .. .. .. .o .. ..

',

335
338
338
33e

L'FTa
-.i

Contcit*
B

Diminutives

xv

n
a
a)
30
31

340
340

2+ The termg bolsi and bongaka

?s Verbgkgopargakartlhaml&rete... o. ro .. .. .. .. .o
% Tswaqa cattle terms: Sexes and ages: Colour and marking terms:
Horns of cattle: Terms for small stock:
Sound-words used for domestic animals . .

The Kgatla dialect

r!

341

3+2,

350

Tswana idioms, etc.

The vowel combination c

* i
.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ., ..

Tswanajournalese
The tones of dissyllabic verbs

KEY TO EXERCISES ..

aoaaaa

. -,

3s2
360
361

362
373

A CON.TRIBUTION TO
RACIAL UNDERSTANDING

DBDI CATBD

ro THE MEMORY

OF

A GREAT MAN

ROBERT MOFFAT
OF

KURUMAN

gHEJ
qo-9

;.F

sg
\'r
o
tllt

' sg E
-9 ol$
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s '
ct

g ..?!

i*
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tr

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o^
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S cd ,; si
-

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a
q

FE

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\-'

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x

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tc

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E!e

eo

orrS

'r.

to 4
lr!

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ri
-a

'

AI

fig

E
E E

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;J

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old

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a J- ct

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i:

lo

fe

et

?
i'E- a.
iitE

Hle
H$

LESSON

r3

ir
rE

SEI{TEI.{CE: PRESENT TEI{SE INDICATIVE

!.a

fo

i"r

o
:E
ff,
il'
il
.

F
F
I
I

[]
i;
I

iP lly that language deals with two types or sets of ideas

my b.e designated ,!igJ, und the set Jia.",

iY,Y:l_
l!red actions is' an over-simplification;

the set of
which may

but for our present purpose

qhtruth:::juseful..Jh.,t,i,,gideasarerepresentedinlanguage
Eds we call Nouns and Pronouns; grouped they become ,S,rii?.rr'
h ideas are represented by the words we call Verbs or, grouped or ex-;

Il ?rEdicates'. The effect, result, or aim of the Action is called the ,Object,.
trs start

with a very simple sentence, in both languages.

hc rika thipa, I bry knife, or, I am-buying (")
knife.

thipa I am-buying a-knife.

pronoun'
riha ii a verb in the Present tense, and thipa is a noun
lrnal
eGe words representing subject, predicate and object.
he

rika

h$or let us add another idea, that of the plural, so

that we can advance
in the building of setswana sentences.

nte

thipa,

knife:

dithipa, knives.

i,ffir: that the plural of this noun, thipa, is formed by prefixi ng dito
frttD.

the

V' most nouns in Setswana have a prefix both in the singular and in
and the plural is formed by the .h"ttgu of the prefix. *
r' the
case

* md other nouns of its 'Class,' the singular form has no singular prefix,
hr of the '1tem' only; and the plural is formed Uy ttr. prefixing of the
Ffi- to that siem.
he rdka dithipa,

I't

f am buying knives, or, I am buying

the knives.

us now complete the Present Indicative tense of this verb

rika,thus;

:,ff
T

'#{i nft 'ff l'h#r ?l;i:

/

+=

y=
F
.E

ts

..*=

5E

ltE

.E
G

Lesson

thipa, we are buyrtg a knife,

thipa, you (plu.) bre buying a knife,
ba rika thipa, fhey are buying a knife.
re rika
lo rika

Now build all the possible sentences you can, using this.material.

EXERcISE

bdna

Translate into English

- look up the two new words
tionary ; kgosi forms its plural exactly as does thipa.

in the Dic-

1 Ba riha dithipa. 2 U bona hgosi: 3 Re b6na difuosi. 4 Lo

thipa. 5 Ke bdna dithipa. 6 Lo rika thilta. 7 o bdna dikgosi.

Ba bdna kgo$.

Setswana:
t I see a chief. 2 Hesees a chief. 3 We see the chiefs. +
They are seeing the chief. 5 He sees chiefs. 6 you (plu.) are seeing
a chief. 7 You (sing.) see a knife. 8 I buy knives. g w. are seeing
the chief. 10 You (plu.) see knives. 11 He sees a knife. 12 Th"y
ExERcrsE

Translate into

see chiefs.

il

Now pause to study the sounds which, in setswana, the various letters
represent. (Formerly the name of the language was written 'sechuana',
the'ch'being soft, as it is in English'church,;
or,Secwana,.)
The 'values' of the letters are often not the -same as those in modern English.
vowEr-s Roughly speaking, in setswana, the vowels have the 'continental, or

Italian values.
The vowel in rte is near to what is called the ,short i, 6 F.rglish, as we hear
it in words like 'pit', 'sit', or 'tick'.
The first vowel in rlka has a diacritic or accent which indicates that it is
not the same as the vowel in Ae. It is pronounced as the French i with a grave
accent, as in phe, father. In English it exists only as a short vowel: the nearest
the CoNcrst Oxrono DrcrroNeny gets to it is the vowel in, e.g., .wreck', (p. *r),
which is short; if it is lengthened it is about the same as the Setswana sound.
(A better example would be the first vowel in the words 'sending'and ,selling'.
see Appendix, Article 1.) This vowel needs practice, for most Bitons. (In
the International Phonetic Association,(I.P.A.) alphabet, it is represented by
the Greek c, epsilon.)
The second vowel in ftka, the same as the second vowel in thilta, ot the vowel
in Da, is easy; it is the same as in English 'father'. (coNcrsn oxrono Drcrroxmy
bah.)

is'i' as in Italian or French, generally represented

by double '"'as in 'meeting,.
The first vowel in bdna".g.,
is like the English 'aw' sound, as in 'raw', or 'caw';
see Oxrono Drctroxlny: or as in the word ,bought,.
The first vowel in hgosi is as in English ,mote, or ,moat,,
The first vowel'in thipa

in English

Lesson

fun- 'Tone' is a feature that runs all through Setswana and other
UfBcs; the student ought to be aware of its existence, and ought to

hfu

rt, from the very start of his studies. ft is very difficult to ucl,rir.;
nqr ir to listen, and listen, and listen, until the ear be6omes trained to
in the tones as well as in the consonants and the vowels.

The 6 in bdna is the same as that letter's sound in English; but

netch that it has no taspiration' or emission of breath.

ftrlrmts no difficulty.
ilrrhtlus''as always in Setswana, is'sibilant'. Pronounce it as a double
fd;dJiouwill besafe. ft is never a 'z', asa single's'often is in spoken
! fr h &ust' is a difficult sound. The g is the same as in Dutch 'gaan,,
ffimi$ loch', a guttural sound which will need a lot of practice ,rnles,
[l

xrlff

-vYa-

6uwuurc.r

v\.rr-.rl\l

vvlll\,ll

YVII'I.

ffggU

aa IUL

Ul

PfaUtl

African. The kg is this sound with a h in front of it.

r if frirly straightforward, but is more trilled than in Southern English,
t t it is pronounced in Scotland.
* L ffipa, th" .p in that same word, and the k in rika, raise the whole
d trryiratea' and tunaspirated' consonants, and it may as well be
- liler.
il or S.

Wantst,P,andkalllooksimple,butaremoredifficultthanthey

UtEf

are not the same as, though they resemble, the English consonants.

ar important difference is made between these consonants when

IEG' or unaspirated, and when aspirated. tipa and thipa are two
kwords,thedifferencebeingclearlymarkedinthepronunciation
fu @mant. So pala and phala are quite difierent, as are kubu and

ft might naturally seem to us that the aspirated consonants those

- ons.
H ty e puff of breath i.e., th, ph, and kh are the difficult
ndfr4 they are perfectly easy for Britons; it is the'pure'or unaspirtt present the difficulty. For, the practice in modern English is

{ thee consonants without being aware of it. When a Motsw ana

F!nce.twopowerfulkings',hehearstheinitialconSonantsaSthoo
Hiints'
- which is actually what we say. (A common English
r red in Setswana is 'ticket'; it is invariably written,
ns an African

+
hears us say
advprtisemdnt

Lesson

it,

tlukhethc.
.Similarly, in Nernor ye Berswlx.r appeared an
for Tootal Ties
"irrHer rse, Toorer,,. If the firm,s name,

as well as the article, had been Tswana-iseJ,

the advertisement would have read
"DITHAI tse Tnurner,,'.)

The difrcult sounds for u3 are actua,y

the pure or unaspirated
-therefore
t: P,
k. They can be acquired with practice,
once the stuaent ,eatire, wt er"
12d
the difficurty lies. To.test one's 'aspiration'
and to practice thi, ,it"i;iff;;;;;
inconsonants, take a little strip of li$ht thin
paper, about 4,, x 1,, and hold it
in thb fingers, by its top end, verticail!, about an
inch in front of trre rpr. Hold.
ing it t!y, hanging loose, when yor,. pronounce
the aspirated ,, o; p, or k, the
paper will swing rapidly out, blown ot
i by the ,aspiration, or emission of breath;
when you pronounce thei unaspirated consonant,'th"
pup", ;;;";.
show no
movement. So practice this until you can say co*ectiyl
thata,- and, phEa, and
hhaka. (The last is an imaginary word.)
(And remember, of course, tlat the'English consonant ,th,
as we have it in:
'there', 'these', 'thither', etc., is not an aspirated t';
it is not a ,t, at a1. In
Tswana it does not exist.)

lLl
)
I
\-->'l.'
il^o ^,il^ @' z \b4)a.L '&mn kx-x 3. O ul"< ko1o
Ba q^,^+ d-pA, , s. b^1"? Ay );*
b 4+*!,; .(
9,
'Vu
,!'k^ ,l;W^. . ) BL+k^ b""n d)*tt'" U a;+e;V
B. KL nn'vL4 ka^ a, t L )r,^^ podt'i , ro o *c^<
ilJw4.^^ U d;k?t-D 'tt, Ba- 4-0oo,' 'L*'o ilkf,sn, tz' b

Lb

,Atl,^
s:^.b.. [/,. nOqcwn*
I^
,/:.^l'
rrr
l*-,--^
lv' lY
t). LB-^h-d<o d;t\k'^.Ut3.
d;po&.
d-kti> s. Bn- nnlu ua;t*lt* L d;y"a;4' t1'*,'

/-'L-O

LESSON
Ited
ll

here

hce

ilit

Dld-

R-TTURE TENSE

INDICATIVEi

u tlaa rika thipa,

hnd
i
;

ir,.

trt

bdna.

rika thipa, I shall b,ty a knife,

you(sing.)...
o tlaa rika thipa, he (or she) . . .

he tlaa

ith;
ioo

CONJUNCTION Ie

illG harr already had the Present tense .of two verbs, riha and
ffitrlrma expresses the simple Future thus:

lthe

re tlaa rhka thipa, we shall buy a knife,

Io tlaa rlka thipa, you(plt.)...
ba tlaa rika thipa, they...

lilffir hilc word or 'particle', tlaa, is the

means by which the Present tense

into the Future tense. At least, that is what it looks like; tlaa can&n as equivalent to 'shall', or 'wi11', although here it has virtually that
tr other connections and usages it means other quite difierent things.
thiq tlnn is shortened into tla,but it is more correctly written as above.
hil it is a long vowel ; at the most it is a double vowel with lower tone on
a-

Ttc

is used for joining nouns and pronouns; podi le nhu,

nr gS and a sheep, or, the goat and the sheep. It cannot be used for
ffie verbs, clauses, or sentences.

C-onjunction

/e

Utiog the Dictionary, translate into English:

I Translate into Setswana:

il &tl b,ry a goat. 2 You (sing.) will see the chief. 3 She is
r Hmket. + They are milking the goats. 5 You (pl,r.) will
rfr rLGGp and the goats.
6 We see the oxen. 7 They will see
and
I am sewing a blanket. 9 You (sing.)
the
knives.
8
ih
;;r ;5f0 She seeb sheep and oxerr. 11 They will see the chiefs.
il n h!-ring sheep. 13 He is milking the goats. l+ You (sing.)
S..Lrts. 15 They are buying the sheep and the goats and the oxen.

Lesson

16 I'll brry
17 They are herding oxen. , 18 We are buying
'lgblankets.
knives.
He will see the blanket. 2A We shall see the chief and the ox.
Notes

1 A kabiis really a skin 'kaross', but the word is applied to the European
blankets which have been in use for many years.

The word kgomo, and its plval dikgomo, is used both in a general sense
for all cittle of both sexesl and also, more strictly, for the male cattle. (Strictly
speaking, to indicate a 'cow', it is necessary to say, hgomo e namagadi, a 'female
ox'.. But this distinction can be neglected at present.) (There isalsoafurther
division of male oxen into stud bulls and trek-oxen
3 See Lesson 5, Note 5.

ilI

Lesson 30, Note 17.)

SOUNDS

Of the new words, .nku is the only one likely to give trouble. In this word,
in many others in Setswana, the a is a syllable: the pronunciation is something like 'a!9o', if you can make the 'i' vowel very short and light. The plural,
dinku, is reallj' three syllables
ng- ku', ('dee-ing-koo'), although the first
- 'ditwo syllables naturally flow almost
into one. Note that this word nku hrs high

'as

ione on the last syllable, as has kgorno,' the tone-pattern is low-high.

And once more, be careful of the g in gama, and similar words.

It

is never

the'hard g'of English'gather', or the'soft g'of 'gender'; it is always Dutch or

Afrikaans sound of 'g', or the Scottish 'ch'. If you can say, 'Lochaber no more',
liou have the initial syllable of gama.
STRESS

In English, the stress or emphasis can fall on difierent syllables in difierent.

words
it
- may fall bn the first syllable, or the second, or the third or fourth; .
occasionally there are two stressed syllables.
(The word 'accent' is used, e.g. in the CoNcrsr Oxrono Drcrroivenv, for this
stress or emphasis, but is a word to avoid in our work, as it has other meanings:
sometimes it means a diacritic, and sometimes it means a dialect. The word
'stress' is more accurate and less ambiguous.)
In English, again, the same word can mean two different things, according to
whether the stress falls on the second or first syllable: the noun is 'permit', with
the stress on the first syllable, the verb is 'permit', with the stress on the second

ittt"?ti;,

in setswana, the rule is that the stress is always on the second-last

syllable of a word, or a phrase, or a sentence. There is an important apparent
exception to this rule, but it will be dealt with in due course.
(Note that in some dialects of Setswana, e.g. Sengwato (the dialect of the
Bangwato tribe) the compound consonant l/ has become simplified to a t, and
instead of saying he tlqa riha the people generally say ke taa rika)

5Y
\r

ng
ox.

LESSON
)an

,ffiTENDED

PRESENT: THE se- di-

NOUNS

&r, we have used the Present tense of the verb in conjunction with a
$frFb direct object. When there is nothing following the verb, the Present

nse

mr

tly
ale

lrea,slight1ydifferentform.Kerikathipais,Iambuyingaknife.
ffi pg want to say simply, 'I am buying', you must s?Y, not just, ke
ffit, b a rika.
lnc lide particle e, which characterises this form of the Present, can be
b cih:r conjoined to the pronoun (kea, etc.), or disjoined as above. Both
F;nn fibund; before the L937 Orthography decisions the conjunctive writing
lnnr-mt used. (The pros and cons are set out in Appendix, Article 2.)

ler

rydf lessons in this book, the a is written disjoined, as above; later, for
hr mmns, the conjunctive writing is used.

b e rihn, I am buying,
r E, rdha,

t a rlka,

you (sing.) . . .
he (or she) . . .

re a rika, we are buying,

lo a r\ka, you are buying,
ba a rlka, they are buying.

rer

t'.1c only sort of noun we have had so far, has been that in which the plural

or

h frrmed by adding the prefix di- to the singular noun. The next Class
qer#.d is difierent, but *ot. typical of the majority.

b"

selrudi,

a duck

dihudi,

ducks

1',ffiilr Sat the plural is not di-sehudi, but di-hudi. For in this case the singh of the noun also consists of prefix and stem - se-, prefix, and -hudi,
,,pt b form the plural the prefix is changed from se- to di-. There are
oogrmon nouns "which form their plural in this way. We call them
d- C1ass of nouns, or Class VI.

5 Translate into English:

n & t tdftpa. 2 Ba senya tir6. 3 Ke a ja. + Re tlaa ia diid.
n mr stlhare le dikgomo. 6 Ba ja namA. 7 U tlaa bdna diid.
Ft

tt

nt
l

he

rd

[i,'

ril;;
I

mfat

Re bdna

ditlhare. 19

O a bdna.

20

Re a

ja,

qtri, the singular, means a certain food; the plural,

Erore common, as meaning food in general.)

re

ia

dry'd,

diid-

is much

:'

Lesson
ExERcrsE

Translate into Setswana:

i t am_working. 2 You (sing.).are eating meat. 3 They see the

trees. 4 You (plur.) will obey (hear) the chief. 5 He will destroy the
work. 6 we are eating. 7 we are eating ducks. g I hear an ox.
9 They are milking. 10 T'hey milk the goats and the cows (oxen). ll
You (sing.) are destroying the blanket. 12 I hear sheep (plu.). 13 you
(plu.) are herding. l+ we herd the sheep and the goats. 15 she is
working, she is sewing a blanket. 16 They will see the sheep (sing.). 17
I hear. '18 He is milking a goat. lg we see. z0 iou (sing.) will
spoil the trees.

III

souNDs

(1) The z sound, as it occurs in utlua, and in sehudi, is the 'oo' sound that
is familiar to us in such words as 'too', 'contour', etc. It is not the ,yoo' sound
which we have in, e.g., 'reputation'.
(2) The first vowel in smya, the e, is difierent from the vowel e we had
in &e and also from the vowel d which we had in rika. It is like the sound we
have in the English word b'
(exampled in preface to concrsr oxpono Drc-

rloNenv), or in 'mange', 'main'. Much care and practice should be given to

getting good vowel distinctions betwden d and e.
(3) The e of the prefix se, and the final e of such words as setlhare, is like
this last-mentioned e, but is a little shorter and less definite.
(4) The consonantal compound, tlw of utkra, hear, Iooks difrcurt, but is
not really so. Pronounce the word in two syllables, the first being the long vowel
'oo', and the second the syllable tlwa, taking care not to get breath (aspiration)
with the consonant. Try it out with the slip of paper, and listen to a Motswana
pronouncing it.

(5) The ny of. smya, similarly, is not difficult; you get the exact efiect
if the two English words 'can you' are spoken together.
(6) The sound represented by j here, is less 'heavy' (such adjectives are
however very unsatisfactory) than'j'is in Eng{ish
'jail'; it.is a ,lighter,
-'.g.,
sound generally. It is something between a
J' and a 'y'. But the sound does
vary in the different dialects, and the student is advised to listen to it carefully
as pronounced in his area. In the south, and in the l9t0 agreed orthography,
it was represented by the letter 'y', and is so in present Dictionary, Bible,-etc.
Thus; when you see this letter J' in books using modern orthographles, you need
to look for it in the Dictionary under Y. It is certainly better to represent this
sound by ,, thus leaving y free for its semi-vowel, semi-consonant use, and for
the compound consonant zy.

(7)
(8)

The t in tird rs of course the unaspirated t

see Lesson L
The tlh of setlhare probably looks msls -difficult than it actually is.
The t/ is really a well-known sound, occurring in, e.g., 'settler', or 'Rutland'.
It does not occur in English as an initial consonant, as it frequently does in Tsivana :
its use in this capacity will take a little practice. But once again, remernber that

Lesson
r the

I the
, oX.
11

You

pis
17

will

has both tl. and tlh, the former with no emission of breath, the latter
pdderable
breath, and that it is the former which the student wiil find
fru
rmfitfficult.
Ttc student should check all the above descriptions against the actual pro-

ilin of his African teachers and colleagues. These ,rot., represent a more
tcneral rule, but thg dialects of the tribes and areas vary considerably,
ts
I frc

only sure way to put oneself on right lines, is careful local study, *iif,
rdlnactice in listening to Africans reading and speaking, and in readin! aloud
l $er and seeking his corrections. It takes a long time to train one,s ear.
tt q,tit Prepared for the comment that "We don't pronounce it as the book
a b Pronounced !" Dialects vary, and all teachers, naturally, are not equally

ft-

Generally speaking, every Motswana holds that his own dialect and his

Frmunciation are "correct Setswana"

that
hnd
had

'we

)tc-

rto
:

like

lis
wel
Dn)

lna
Bct

10

LESSON

PRESENTTENSE,NEGATIVE:vowEl-CHANGES:Io-di=NOUNS
complicated
The Tswana method of forming the Negative is rather more
insert the
to
necessary
than the English one. In the iatter it is merely

after, the verb

word ,not, _ generally l"for", but occasionally immediately
affirmatile
The
one'
to convert an affirmative statement into a negative
This
-statement,
writing''
not
am
iI am writing', becomes in the negative, 'I
holds good for all tenses and moods'

negative' There
But in Tswana each tense has a difierent way of forming the
the negative'
make
to
tenses
is no one word, like our 'not" which can be used in all
Each tense must be studied by itself'

A
"

Negative Present tense.

ftka thiPa, I am buYigg a knife'

gakerckethipa, I am not buying a knife'
ke

rika',
gaketeke,
ke a

I am buYing'
I amnotbuYing'

Noticefirstthattlrereisoneform,gakercke,tonegativeboththesimple
object' ke rika thipa'
(absolute) statement, ke a rlka, and the statement with
The complete tense in all persons is:
ga ke rehe, I am not buYing'
ga u reke, You (.ittg.) are not ' '
ga a reke, he (or she) is not ' ' '

From the above

ga re rehe, we are not buYing,

ga lo reke, You (Pln.) are not ' ' '
ga ba reke, theY are not . . .

it will be seen that the Negative of the Present tense

exhibits two chief features:

(1) The little word ga is placed before the complete verbal phrase:
fural
(2) The verb-word itself undergoes a double change of vowels: the
chahges

vowel changes from the ,,,.,"1 -o to -a, and the stem+rowel -r}_
to -e-,
It will also be noticed that the third personal pronoun, singular, undergoes
a is often
reasons'
change from o to c. This is apparently ior euphonic
. The
and
sound'
to
tends
phrase
in sieech elided into the preceding ga, and the
become, ga reke.

case of the verb

Now the change in the stem-vowel (which we notice in the
(or the
stem-vowel
for
law
rika) doesrrotl"pp"r, with all verbs' The
the

penultimate vowel in

*oia. of several

syllables), is as

follows. When the

stem

Le"sson

11

'rwel is i, e, ai o,'or u, no change occurs in the negative; when it is d or d,

bwever,tt changes to e or o.

The vowel-diagram, given below, shows that these changes occur only in
the vowels on either side of the central low vowel c, and occur in an ,updirection. Put otherwise, the fairly 'open' vowels C and d change to the

qrd'

Dre

'close' vowels e and o.

Later we shall find other cases, grammatically, when the same changes occur.
These two vowel-sounds, i and d, although very common vowels and very characuristic of the language, seem at the same time to be less stable than the others.
ffie practical result, from an orthographical point of view, is that in the negative

rc

b
r

ls

llcsent tense, any stem-vowel diacritic disappears. This is not at all a

.rieatific way of describing the process; it is only a useful rule-of-thumb de-

urption for a learner.)

re
B.

The vowel-diagram indicates roughly the relative positions of the vowels

in the mouth
looked
- in this
c from the left side. It is useful to practise repeating the Tswana vowels
erdcr, taking care to get them as distinct and as true as possible. The higher
as they are formed, between tongue and palate,

Mels

are referred to as 'close' vowels, the lower ones as 'opeln' vowels. t

le
a.

dotted lines

show

approxinate tongue
positions, for vowels

The close vowels

e

es

IfT

)n

aaaa,araaaaa

aaaaoa

BACK

o
a

The open vowels

rb

le

The following examples show the affirmative and negative Present tense
of typical two-syllable verbs with all the seven vowels in their stems.

trr

::i
l

Lessott

L2

.te a dira,

we are working,
we are trying,
re a rdha, we are buying,
re a bala, we are reading,
re a bOna, we see,
fe aw, we are watering,
re a utluta, we hear,

ga re dire,
ga re lehe,
ga re rQhe,
ga re bale,
ga re bone,
ga re nose,
ga re utluse,

reaW
t\

we are not working,

we are not trying,
we are not buying,
we are not reading,
we do not see,
we are not watering,
we do not hear.

nI

There is a third Class of nouns which, like the two studied before, forms
the plural in di-., :In this Class the singular has the prefix /o-, which is
changed into di- in the plural.
Iohu:ald, a letter or

book,

dikwah, letters or

books

- (Ar we shall see later, this is an example of a noun formed from a verb.
The verb kwala means, write: the noun lokrpal| means anything written, a letter
or a book. More than one noun can be formed from this verb, as indeed from
most verbs.)
rxsRcisE'

Translate into English:

1 Ke batla dikgomo. 2 Re tlaa twsa ilitkarc. 3 O a bala, o bala

hkwald. 4 Ke kopa tird. 5 U tlaa kwala lahwald. 6 Ga a senyc
hgetse. 7 Re kopa ilithipa U ry& b dimad.2 8 Ba a bala, ga ba kwale.
9 Ga re je nama. 10 Ga rc bonc dinku, re bdna ilipodi. 11 Ba tlaarika
dinad. 12 Ga re batle dikwald. 13 Re hopa dimati, kgosi. 14 Ga u
bone kgo$. 15 Ga ha kwale lokanld. 16 Ga re reke serne, re rika d.i@4ft
U aftpa. ' n Re bdna dihgan. 18 Ga re bone afiffi'
19 Bafi,
ga ba dire tird. 20 Ga ba dise d,bodi. 2I Re tlaa batln dihgono. 22.
Ga fu gmta
ExERcIsE

Translate into Setswana:

I I am not sewing the blanket. 2 You (plu.) are not watering the plants.
3 We are looking for oxen. 4 You (sing.) see the trees and the forest.
5 I shall read a book. 6 I am not eating food. 7 He is not spoiling
the needle. 8 You (plu.) are not obeying (hearing) the chief.' 9 We
beg meat. 10 He is not watering the plan-ts (trees). lf You (sing.) are
not milking the goats. 12 I shall herd the sheep. 13 I don't see the
needles. 14 We shall buy planks..and an axe. 15 He is not working,
he is eating. 16 He does not see. 17 You (plu) are spoiling the books.
18 We are not buying sacks. 19 We buy axes and knives. 20 He is
not reading, he is vniting a letter.

Notes

Beeides the seven vowels here shown, which are suficient for a practical orthography, there are two others, called 'half-open' vowels; one which might

Lesson

13

hc reoresented C. is between e and 2; the other, which might be represented d,

r b.fo""n d'and o. They tend to be variable, sometimes approaching the more
,ilrf,nite vowels e and o above them, or the d and d below them' The scientifidl.v-minded student will find a long discu.ssion of Tswana vowels in an article
lhm Mr. D. T. Cole (of Witwatersrand University) in ArnrceN Sruorcs, Sept.
ug9, entitled NOrrS ON THE PnoXOr.oCrCer, RrurroNSHIPs OF TsWeNe VOWrm'
2 Thi word lotnad which appears in Exi:rcise 7, and. is translated loosely
.needle,
r
in Exercis 8, is really the long setswana eye-less needle which is
mch more of an awl than a needie, and is used for piercing holes in skins when
rmting them up into karosses or garments, the thread used being a long thin
rnhel- sinew. It is also used for the making of the reed or rush mats called
ilGan-,when the thread or string used is of vegetable
z nulc, but this is not a true Setswana word'

ofigln. A European needle

'b
:

l.

r
I

souNDS

,Ttere are only two new consonants in this lesson, and they should not present
rm mnch difficuliy. There is the ls in kgetse, which is fa,irly easy, as it occurs
h trlglish, for^ example when the consonant I closes one syllable and the consoin words like'Whitsunday', 'hot sand'. (Note
ntr-commences thi next one
like 'cats' or 'plots' is not quite the same
plurals
*r 6c 'ts' at the end of English
which could be written with more
consonant'
it tends to be a heavier
d

- accuracy 't '.)

"' d.
T
Itc other new sound is the ftgo h the word sehgwa, a forest. we have
&dt had the compound consonant kg, a1.d this new compound is that sound
rflL ; o after it. This compound, ftgzo, will require some practice. It often
{E s the initial consonant of a word.
|l

t
IF
l

e
e
?

?t

I,

f,

h
rt

I4

LESSON
QUESTIOI\ & ANSWER: eng?

In English

,5

bo- ma- & Ie- ma- NOUNS: mme

a positive or affirmative statement can be turned into

a question

by (a) inversion of the subject and predicate

- e.g., 'John is eating' becomes 'Is John eating ?' and also (b) by employing'interrogatives, such as, what ?
when ? where ?
'What is John eating !'
- ".9.,
In Tswana it is not
very dissimilar ; but there is no such inversion as occurs
in English. 'There are two principal methods of turning a statement into a

how

question.

(1)

A positive statement can be made into a question by putting a lowfone a before it, thus;
rika selipi,
& o rlka selipi?
o

ga ba reke dil4pd,
ga ba reke dilipi?
C

he is buying an axe.
is he buying an axe ?
they are not buying axes.
are they not buying axes ?

(2) The significance of 'what !' is expressed by the little word eng? which
is put after the verb: o fika eng.? 'What is he buying ?'
Now, since verbs always end in a vowel, and eng? begins with a vowel, it
often happens that elision takes place between these two vowels, and, o rlha eng?
becomed o rikang? That is, the e of the eng has become lost or elided into
the a vowel of the verb.
ba dira eng ? what are they doing, becomes ba dirang?
la tlaa rhka eng ? becomes lo tlaa rihang ?

(3) Note that the word eng? is really two syllables, not one; it is e-ng,
although the two syllables are pronounced so much together that it sounds to an
untrained ear as if they were one syllable. Similarly dirang ls not two syllables,
but three
- di-ra-ng.
This is the 'apparent exception' to the rule that stress always falls upon the

second-last syllable, mentioned at the end of Lesson 2. When d.ira is pronounced,

it is easy to hear that the stress falls upon the di-; bfi if dirang is pronounced,
it sounds at first as if the -rang gets all the stress. Actually, however, the stress
is upon the syllable ra-, or, one might say, upon the vowel a; and the -zg is the
unstressed last syllable. The rule that stress falls upon the second-last, or penultimaie, syllable, still holds.

There are other cases, as we shall soon see, when -ag forms the ending of a
I in all these cases the stress actually falls upon the

word, either noun or verb

yowel preceeding the:ag ending.

Lesson
i

ne

ln
ct?
rS

,ihrs are very much as in English.

frd fu b or ee it is not two distinct vowels, but often written as a double
b indicate its- length; it is a very long vowel, with a downward glide.
ilL it starts fairly high-tone, and slides down to a fairly low tone: this can
crsily heard in any Motswana's speech.
Th' is nnyAa. It is really three syllables, n-nya-a, but the three are run
rn ordinary speech. (Some writers write it nyaa, and in former times
6nerally written nya. But it ought to be rempmbered, even when that
iJ used, that the vowel is long and has a pronounced downward glide,

6e affirmative

ee.)

f]ffiffitre are two other negatives, which may be mentioned here as the student
them sometimes in speech; for his own purposes he may neglect them at
I{nyaya is arl emphatic negative, meaning 'not atall!'or'certainly not!'
flfrtn written nyaya, but is really three syllables. And there is a conversanngetive, i i/ equivalent to nnyaa; the two vowels are distinct and separate,
fo a f"i.ly high tone, the second a much lower tone.)

T'b

Tswana word mme (formerly inaccurately written me),

ilrer b a Cumulative conjunction,

f'

i. a conjunction;

and is only used with nouns; that is,

hd

is a Contrastive conjunction; it is used only to connect a statement

uede with a following statement which contrasts with the first one, or
or diminishes its force. Hence its meaning is never 'and' ; it is 'but',
,, ff 'nevertheless'. (It has been, through a mistaken literalness, wrongly

it

i!
b

fo Sc Setsrvana Bible, and has unfortunately passed into speech, to some

fo that, wrong usage. See Lesson 32, Note 10.) Observe the use of
surds:

ftono le dikotoi, mme ga ke

I see the oxen and the wagons, but

I do not see the sheep.

]ou E'ant to say, 'I see the oxen and the wagons, and I see the sheep
or, 'He struck the boy and pushed him into the water', you cannot use
&- c ffiiu for these English 'ands'. To render them into Tswana, either
'm,d re jalo, thus, or le gdni, also, must be used i or, much better, an auxilSo such connected sentences will not be used until much later in

l
)t

n
I,
e

rrhen these usages have been studied.

l,
l,

other

iii

t-

i Uhl in the
i

h&-ra-

Classes

of nouns can now be added, both of which form the

same prefix, r/ta-.

nouns

'

bosigo,

night;

m,cuigo,

noruu: legapu, water-melonl

nights.

magapu, water-melons.

Lesson

16
EXER_CISE

Translate into English:

L U senkang? A u senha thiPa? 2 Ke tlaa botsa ?o*d.r 3 A Io

koloi?z 4 Nnyan, re tsaya dikgdb Iel4.3 5 A o iala peo? 6 Ba
tha kwala po*d le karubd. 7 A ga.ba age ntb?a I A b a aga? Ee, rc
aga matlo. 9 Ga re smhc dinapd. 10 Ga a bolaye Podi.a 11 A ba
tkila bdna diltiba? 12 Re tlaa aga dihagd. 13 A Io a batb?a A Ee,
re batla dikgomo. 15 A lo tleo gana dipodi? 16 Ga ba iale peo. 17 O
phunya kobd ka thipa.z 18 A u tha nosa ditlhare? 19 Ba senka tsela.
'A
20 ga u rcke ki lgnad lc tlhalc? 2l Rc tlaa aga ka lotlhoh*.s 22 Ga
ba bolaye dikgomo, dme ba bolaya ttipoili. 23 Ba jang? A ga ba ie
magapu?s 24 O tlaa kwala loktpal| bosigo'ro
tsaya

'*/t
p

F"

ll
tp
.!

nxrncrsr

10

Translate into Setswana:

1 What shall we build ? Shall we build a house ? 2 Will they kill the
? 3 I am taking the seed. 4 Am I not obeying the chief ? 5
6 No, we see a wagon only. 7
Do you (sing.) see the riems and axes ?
I am asking for a wagon, Chief. 8 Is he kiling a sheep ? 9 You (sing.)
willhear the answer. 10 Are you (plu.) looking for a well? 11 No,
we are looking for the road. 12 She will ask questions. t3 Is he writing
14 Shall I water the plants (trees) ? 15 What are you
the answer ?
16 Don't you (plu.) see the needles ? 17 Is she not
(sing.) building ?
18 I want a knife, and an axe, but I dontt want a whip. 19
sowing seed i
They will eat food tonight. ?I He reads, but he does not write. 2l
ducks

They will go through (pierce) the forest.

Notes

. 1

Note that the noun parsri has obviously much in cornmon with the verb
botsa;'the one is formed from the other. An object which thus rePeats the verb
or its meaning is called a 'cognate object', and is a thing of very contmon occurrence in Tswana. Thus we have such phrases as kc dira tb6, lit., I work a work;
he aga hagd,I build a building, etc.
-2 iroyo, to take, was formerly spelt tsaca, and so aPPears in the present
Dictionary and in all literattire before 1937' (The. e is a 'semi-vowel' or 'gemithere are two such, now represented by the letters y and nr, but
consonant'

formerly represented by e and o.)

9 The very common word liln means.'only' or 'just', and it generally
occufir, as here, at the end of the sentence or clause. But it has other meanings.
(For the pronunciation of the consonant, see III, 'Sounds', in Lesson 7.)
. 4 ntlo, a hut or house, is an irregular noun in that its plural is not dintlo
b* matla. There are a few such irregular nouns.
5 The word podi appears in some dialects as pudi. We shdl find other
cases in which tlis vowel o (the closed 'o') varies to z in some dialects. For example, plnti nd plwti, z duiLer.

Lesson

T7

,i t t&" n seek or look for, when used like this in an absolute or unqualiha5 the technical meaning of looking for strayed cattle.
iffilq,
I'
b
means 'by' or. 'with', when some action is done with or by means
Ll
knrnent.
It cannot be used of the agent; when.an action is done
llil.i'!fiffre, one must use Ae, not ha. (See Lesson 20.)
iil,

n Wuka, a reed, is also used in the collective sense, as here. The

d shich grows in great beds in Ngamiland
and used to grow in many
- is stilt extensively used for
where the water has now dried up

Slru

hrrc and walls.

fi The verb nwn, drink, is often used, instead of ja,

for the

eating

fuigo, used as here in an appositional w?y, has the force of an adverl:

it means 'at night' or
night'. Other nouns indicating times of
-ds be used in this way. 'by I

]u@r

ih

eat,

18

THE TONE SYSTEM OF TSWANA

On". o, twice already it has been mentioned that a certain word or syllable
should be given a certain tone or pitch of voice, relative to that of the other words
or syllables in the context. And the student, especially if he has had a good
Motswana teacher, will have discovered that, apart from consonants and vowels,
there is a mysterious right way and wrong way of pronouncing the language.
Now English is not at all a 'tonal' language in the sense that the Bantu languages are tonal; and some languages, like Chinese' are even more tonal than the
or at least are tonal in a different way. Yet English does employ
Bantu ones
tone or pitch to indicate some special'shade of meaning : generally higher ione
than the surrounding words or syllables. When we wish to emphasise any word
in a sentence, we generally raise its pitch: although sometimes the same effect
can be obtained by lowering its pitch below the level of the surrounding words.
For example, a single phrase, "What are you doing ?" although it has a general
and obvious meaning, can be made to express variations of that meaning by raising
or lowering the tone of one of its component words. If we indicate the hightone wordly the use of capitals, we could have all the four variants:

(1)
(3)

'iWHAT are you doing ?"

"What are YOU doing ?" and

(2)
(4)

"What ARE you doing ?"

"What are you DOINTG ?"

Although admittedly no two persons would put quite the same pitch into these
emphasised words, yet the phrases, when so treated, do convey generally-accepted
differing shadtls of nieaning. The first one expresses more urgency, or more
surprise,'or more desire to find out, than if the words were all said in a level tone
of voice. The second contains a note of expostulation or perhaps rebuke, as if
to say, "What on earth is this strange or foolish thing that you are doing ?" The
are doing.
as distinct from other people
third asks more pointedly what you

The fourth concentrates attention upon the action of doing, as contrasted with
speaking or talking, etc., as if one would say, "You talk a lot, but what are you
doing about it ?" Still, in English, such use of tone is a very individual thing;
there is no uniformity, or system, about it.
Now in'Tswana one cannot indicate shades of meaning, excePt to a small
degree, by similar variations of the tone-pattern of a single phrase such as the
English example above. Such shades of meaning are normally given by amplifications or modffications, more in the style of the above explanations. of the four
variants.

The reason is that, in a Bantu language like Tswana, intonation is not at all
a matter of an individual's habit of speech; it is a regular systematic feature of
everyone's speech, and it occurs in every utterance. Every word carries a more
or less precise tone tir tone-pattern, which does not depend, in relation to the
surrounding words, upon any personal idiosyncracies. In any particular sentence'
each word has its definite tone-pattern, but that pattern almost alwalo dep6nds

Tone

19

qm the context; it is not generally inherent unalterably in the word itself.

l b govertrCd by various factors position in the sentence (beginning, middle,
m tn4 pause or period), nature of the seritence (affirmation, exclamation, commd or question), and by the prese-nce or absence of fixed or determinative tones.
Tld b to say, it depends upon sevegal factors, mostly of a grammatical nature.
[lace it

is.generally quite ineffective to attempt to study tone in isolated words

rFrB of speech: tone must always be studied in the living sentence, with words
@ring in a normal and natural and meaningful context. (Professor Daniel
frc's work mentioned below, done some thirty years ago with the assistance
,ef LIr. S. T. Plaatje, suffers from this fatal misconception: but it was pioneer
,nrt. in 4n unexplored field.)

Intonation being such an integral and important feature of the language,

n method of representing it is essential for any serious study, and various
mrs hare been proposed, no one of which, so f4r, is free from serious disadvan-

,ttlF

One method uses marks, such as the apostrophe and the French acute and
6f,e*c'accents, etc., over the vowels or below them, i.e., above or below the line
d typc or print. This method can, at best, only give -a very rough indication
of
ti[" medium (unmarked), and low tones, and of rising or falling tones. . It canr idicate the many intermediate levels, nor indeed show the actual pitch of any
1:rirrhr tone.
otmther method is to draw or print, in the same line of type, but following
& 6c word or phrase, a series of short horizontal strokes at different hgights,
b &r the 'tune' of the words: very much as the notes on'a staff-notation stave
fu 6e tune or air. The same method is sometimes employed in the form of
lcFrrt parallel line of marks below the sentence. This method can be fairly

fficin
its indication of tone levels; but it is cumbersome, involving as it
*rr fre @nstant looking backwards and forwards between the tone-marks and
fr rords to which they apply, with the risk of making errors by applying the
q
me-marks to a word. It is a method which is useful when dealing, as

f
h
tu

use of these methods,

ill
he

fi-

ur
all

et leisure the laws of tone .and their exceptions.

Tswana, which is not only absolutely necessary to
hing, but to accurate hearing of what is said, is both fascinating and
If a person has not a naturally acute ear for pitch, he will require a
b train his ear to recognise and distinguish Tswana tones, and only
hc sill enable him to reproduce them well. One difficulty for Euro-

mr"b of intonation in

rof

nds

with single words. (For examples of the

TLc method used in this book is the most effective that the author has yet.
h ttre indication of tone: but it cannot be printed or typed. (Moveable
ililh all the possible tone-markings would be too expensive to make as well
pfr-'+ difficult to use.) The method requires photographic reproduction,
ilh- books are concerned, from an original hand-marked text. But, for the
b odyhg the language, it has the very great advantage of making him do
b'rffi bne-listening and his own tone-marking: from which, once done, he

t'
ft

lCt

does,

r IL tones, ToNrs on SncnueNA NouNS, and A. N. Tucker, Connpenetrvr

hcrcs or Suro-CnuANe, and SorHo-NcuNr OnrnoenapHy AND ToNnknrc.r

r-

)re
the

ln{i'nrry

fl

Tone

20
peans is that the quality or nature

of a vowel itself tends to be mistaken for, or to

as
its tonef e.g., the vowel I as pronounced in Setswana often sounds
being
of
impression
"o.rfrrr",
if it were high tone,-because it produces a certain mental
,sharp,or higt. Actually it may be high tone, or it may be low tone; or anywhere
b"t*""rr.. Ii takes some pru"tic" before a person can isolate, aurally and mentally,
the tone of a syllable from its actual vowel-sound'

Anothercaoeatmaybegivenhere;itisnotwisetodependforalongperiod
tone-usage
upon one single Motswana teacher. There are slight variations 9f
what
dialects
in
different
to be discover.d i.r difi"r"nt Batswana speakers, and
is,
however,
(There_
is correct for one may not necessarily be generally correct.
and consonants,
much less dialectic variation in tone than there is in the vowels

and consonants'*)
and hence good intonation is more important than good vowels
ofAfricans
speaking
the
One,s studf with one teacher ought to be checked against
from other tribes and dialects.

.Again,asineverypeople,voicesvary.Somepeoplearenaturallydistinct

lower. And
.p.uk"?r, some indistinct; some voices are higher than others, some
thgY
others;
do
than
pitch
some Batswana seem to cmploy a greater range of
the low ones more obviously
seem to make the high tones mo.e obriorr.ly high, and

low. other speakers appear to have normally fairly level, or even monotonous,
The former type makes
voices, in which it is difficult to detect tone variations.

if otherwise reliable. (Let no one make the mistake of thinking

much as others,
that because some Batswana apPear not to use tonal variation as
there; it is
is
always
Tone
that therefore tone is not of very great importance.
and its
range
its
catch
to
fails
or unaccustomed hearing that
"*rained
""r
""rv
significance.)
tones more
Children's voices are often clearer than those of adults, and their
answering
little
children
of
audible and distinguishable. A Sunday-school class
hearing
of
opportunity
good
th" t"""h"i'. qrr"Jiorr. can sometimes provide a

the beiter teacher,

clearly differentiated Setswana tones'

really only one prescription for a good Tswana pronunciation;

listening to the speech of Batswana men and \rr'omen
and that is, years ol
""r"frl
and tonean{ children, with one's ear on the alert, all the time, for tone-patterns
and laboa
classroom;
in
sequences. It cannot be learnt from books, or acquired
to do
attempts
this
like
a
book
ratory investigation is of doubtful value. All that

ih"re i.

i. to prrt the student on sound lines of study and of practice, and to draw attention
to the necessity for continual personal investigation'
rs{t*tFi(C

o,f this. We have tgf,.in ttre'piblg School here' along

it.*:the Chobe district in the extreme north
.rrra""r.i'.ii-"'."f]i"
with the Batswana
^""
b.rt speaks it fairly well : his vorrels are
Jiin"..ii,
i.**l
ioirnJ
H"
nu"
of Bechuanaland.
are
ot"t. Now such faults in vowels(e'g',
op.tt
into
vowels
--L"t-irrt"p"5.the.wrong
il;;il;G.;
#;ffi;d;;;on
a word
tones
iti?r-.t"J""t.;
trr"
uv
usuallv overlook a
;#;i;ii;;;h"tt ut"'q"i"t to point outhis mistake' That is to sav' true tones are more

*The following is an instance

important than true vowels.

TONE MARKING
The technique of tone-marking is not difficurt, and the student can modify
as he desir-es. An efiective method is to type out, in duplicate, the phrases
or sentences that are being studied, so that the Motswana helper can have one

it

copy and the student the other. Hand-writing can also be used, but is not nearly
so good as type. The tone marks are super-imposed on the type in red ink,
rith a fine-point pen. A very sharp red pencil is also useful, but is not so accur-

r&

as the pen and

ink. In the earlier stages capital type is better than lower case,
it presents a broad strip on which to

rs ttre letters are all the same height, and

pbce the marking.

The help of a literdte Motswana who knows enough English to understand

is expected of him, is absolutely essential. He should be asked to pronounce
tbc v'ords slowly and distinctly, while the student compares his speaking with
ttc marked rone-tgxt, and then, later, marks his own typescript to the reacling
of his teacher: that is, he takes a tonal dictation. He wiil also read back to his
hdper, trying to imitate the latter's pronunciation. A lot of repetition will be
oceded, and at first the student may well find that he cannot hear any difierence
ft*trr-een his way of pronouncing and the African's. He should practise until he
Fts some result, even if a meagre and disappointing one to him.
In the early lessons, it is a mistake to attempt too much. Two or three
phrases are enough to concentrate upon, but they shiiuld be practised until they
are right, or nearly so, and memorised.
Remember that the African helper should not speak the syllables too slowly,
nur there is a risk of his not putting normal
speaking tone on them: the syllables
ucey become so isolated that they lose their pitch relative to the others.
when
ur phrase has been marked for tone, it sho;ld be repeated at normal speed, to

rtat

tsl

its accuracy.
And remember that, unless you have an unusuafly highly-trained African
- cher, it is quite useless to give him a tone-marked text and expect
him to read
metically from it. It will only confuse him: he will find it difficult, if not imgu$sible, to pronounce the words as.they are marked.
Do not expect him, either,
tm be able to mark tones on a written, printed, or typed script.
To represent
s@ds
high or low tones
by marks on paper, is not easy: if it is to be done,
- to be done by the
- student himself. And with patient
r rill need
study it can be
rdtmc- It is the only way in which one who is not born and bred to the
language
,m study effectively its tone-structure.

:-T. 1

lvrilrr ARE YOU DOING

l'I}!\{' A^RF-TOTI DO.TNG

:qE, R}ffiA T+[PT

3E R}TKA EITHIM

II
rc

IAIILT fiRE gOU DOT}IG

IAIH*S

Tstfr
}TTHIPft

A&E

YOU

lotlrG

]c- Nhffi

TSIPA

Tfr HfuTA }LTHIFA

7'ono

22

TONE-PRACTICE

given different
The English phrase which, as we have seen' can be
be tone-marked
could
words'
the
of
of meaning iy raising the Pitcil of one

shades
as

intoalthough some people would grve slightly different

;il;io*"-t"*il,
nations.
*:
** copy in duplicate

the Tswana phrases of the ToNr-Trxr, without their

your assistant to read them to
tone marks (by typewriter if possible), and get
distinguish high and low tones'
to
begin
yot can

*i airtirr.tty, ',ttitl
Comparethetones,^Vo"hear'them-fromhim'withthosemarkedontheText
attempting to get coffect intonation'
- Then practise speaking the -phrases'
-"b";,
following practice phrases, and get
the
of
Th"r, make, similari, tw; copies
untilJou can make an
you, t"""h., to read them to yo", pt'h"p" many times'
ied pencil' When
sharp
a
or
ink'
red
and
at marking th" to""t *itn i"tt
"
"*"*p, certain yJu have them rigtrt
not before then - mark the tones on the
;;t;
print in the book.

yor, .to*ty

O BONA KGOSI
KE BONA KGOSI U BONA KGOSI
BA BONA DIKGOSI
RE BONA DIKGOSI LO BONA DIKGOSI

'

fit{u.iel:

LESSON

FUTURE TEI\TSE, I.{EGATIVE: mo- ba-, mo- me-

& mo-

mta- NOUI{S

we have seen how the negative of the Present tense , ga ke reke, is formed
in relation to the affirmative, ke a rika. The simple Future tense, ke tlaa

riha, etc., forms its negative thus:

ga nke ke rhka, f shall not bry,
ga u nke u rika, you (sing.)
ga a nke a rika, he (or she)

]I

ga re nke re r\ka, w shall not bry,

ga lo nke lo rika, 1'ou (pl,r.) . . .
ga ba nke ba riha, they . . . r

(Sometimes the form of this tense is ga re nka re rika, instead of. the nke
ebove. The nka form is dialectical, and in some areas regarded as moreemphatic
tino the nke form.)
(In the southern tribes of Bechuanaland, particularly in the Union, a slightly
&fierent form is used: the student should familiarise himself with the form used
ir the areas where he will be working or living. The southern form, which
res taken as standard in the older books, owing to the fact that the south was
cengelised and investigated before the north, is as follows:
ga nhetla he rika, I shall not bry, ga re ketla re rlka, 'we .
ga u ketla u rika, you (sing.) . . . ga lo ketla lo rlka, you .
ga a hetla a rlka, he, she . . .
ga ba hetla ba riha, they

.)

I{OTE these points:

(l) In the first person singular, the pronoun seerns to disappear, or rather
n bc absorbed: the type for all other persons is, e.g., ga i nke u rlka, but in the
ftirg. it isga nke kc rlka. In the southern form the pronoun ke has become
n-ad becomes prefixed to the ketla; ga nhetla ke fika.
(2) In the 3rd person singular, ga a ... generally elides into one syllable,
#fi3 rs ga nke a rLha, or ga kethi q rDka. (See Lesson 4, I A.)
(3) Notice that in this tense, the stem vowel of the verb does not change,
ra did in the case of the negative of the Present tense, nor does the final a change

tc-

Wb can now add the remaining Classes of nouns. They all have the
eingular prefix rno- in common, but the plurals are different.

[lO- ba-

nouns:

mOtho,

a person;

moftna, a man;
mosadi, a woman;

batho,
banna,
basadi,

people, persons.
men,
women.

Lesson

24

This Class of nouns consists almost entire.ly of people, human agents; it

includes'the large number of nouns formed from verbsltoindicate
doer or agent.
Just as English makes the nouns worker, maker, teacher, from the verbs work,
make, teach,_ so Setswana forms modii, badii, (i.e., worker, workers,)
from dira,
to work or do or make; and so it forms moruti, baruti,.(teacher, teachers,)
from

ruta, to teach.

rno.-rne- nouns:
mohp6,

ariver-valley; metnpd

river_valleys.

'rhis class comprises a very wide.range of things with

no particurar characteristic in common.
,riiili
:ij:lilr'

mo-ma-nouns:

' 'itl
. 't:!4.:
.

moshu, mosu, a common

thorn-tree;

,llii r.,
.di{li;,1

mashu, masu, thotn-trees, 6

'il;"
),1
tffi
ti, ''

'ri

'rhis class comprises the names of nearry a[ trees

and shrubs and prants.
.
-It is.a
,botanical,nouns.
very striking and comprehensive
class

tree is the Acacia benthamii, very common

in

of

The Moshu

,iitr',

r1 jii, '
t:::.
.,,ili{'il
,{lir'
r

..,il

:1[H]rl

Bechuanaland.
:i

11 '.franslate into English:

1' A re tlaa bdna basimane Ie basetsana? z Nnyaa, ga re
re bdna
batho. 3 A ga lo nle sega-nama ha thipa? a Ri a ximaya;nhe
re
tsanaya.
lo
ha dinao. I
5 Ga lo ketla
lo bdna dijd. 6 Re tlaa go *rrlrr.2 7 A u
bdna monna le mosadi le ngwana? r
g Nnltaa, ga he bine ngwana. 9 Ke
senhamoruti le bana. l0 O tlaa rima setlitare ia eng?
1i A ga a nke a
rima setlhare ha sehpi? 12 Ba ruta bana ha a*uita.
13 A ga ba nke
ba araba dipotsd? 1+ Nnyaa, ba tlaa araba.4 15
nhe ke hztala
dikoald. 16 Ke botsapotsd, rnme ga a arabe. 17 A gaGa
lo bon *rgo*o?
18 Re tlaa rima mashu (masu) na i;upa. D A ga a in" o noyo basetsana
nelemd?, 20 Ga re bone dipodi re-badisa. 2r Lo ttaa wgaig ka
thipa?
22 A ga re nhe re roka kgetse?
nxrncrsr

nxnncrsr

12

Translate into Setswana:

people. 3 Will she not draw water ? + No, she will not draw.
questions. 6 They .urite letters, b* ;;;ii
not answer. 7 Do you (plu.) not want a plough ? g yo,
* want a
plough and oxen. 9 He wil not give the boy medicine.
l0
will she
not ask for food? 11 Ishe not going to eat (i.e., will henoteat)themeatl
12 we shall walk. 13 I hear th. &ild..r, 'they are *.wriog questions.
t4 No, they are reading books. 15 Do you .e" the tea"h", *'d the girls
I
and the

They do not answer the

l:

Lesson

25

16 will you (plu') not destroy the wago.ns ? 17 I shall not give the boy a
book' 18 we shall ask the men and the women. rg rhey are *orkirrg
with axes and knives. 20 Are they not taking riems ? 2l you (singj
will cut down (rima) the moshu-trees with an axe.' 22 Do you (plu.) not see
the herd-boy and the sheep I
23 we don't want w4gons, we want houses.
24 We heai the teacher, he is teaching the'children.
Notes

t
2

The Setswana for 'walk', is ,go by feet,, tsamaya ka ilinao.

metse is an irregula. ttoun, -meaning water; there is no singular. But
there is a similar noun, ,notse, a town or village, which also has its plural metse.
The difference is in tone; the tone-patt ern of metse (water) is low-high; that of
(towns) is highJow.
ngwana is another irregular
-noun; the plural is bana, chir,Jren. It is
treated as if it began with zo-, instead of ngw-.
4
'In Answer to a negative question,
English, thi answer to a question like 'Do you not see the prough ?' can
be either 'Yes, I see it', or, 'No, I do not see it'.
But in Tswana the 'yes' and the 'no' go the other way round. If the persorf
being asked such a question does see the plough, he wilr ansv/er Nnyaa, ie b6na
nogona (literally, 'No, I see the plough'). If on the other hand he does not see
it, he will answer Ee, ga he bone ,angoma (lit., 'yes, I do not see the plough').
In a way, the Tswana is more logical than the Fnglish: the answerer, when
giving his initial Ee or Nnyaa either agrees with, or disagrees with, the negative
i" the question just put to him. It is as if he said, seeing the plough, ,No.
l"lb
I-do-not not-see the plough'; or as if he said, not seeing anyprough, ,yes-I-do
not-see the plough'.
. After thus having, by his Ee or Nnyaa, agreed or disagreed with the questionett negative verb, he goes on to make the appropriate statement, just as ih. nrrglish speaker does. Bur, remember that this.second part, the statement, may
just as well be omitted; and often is omitted. The answer may just be-the Ee
or the Nnyaa
- and then, if you are not careful, you will think he means the very
opposite of what he actually does mean.
(This usage is exactly parallel to the refrain of an old music-hall song,
'Yes! we have no bananas!')
Among Batswana who are familiar with, and accustomed to, English, this
characteristic Tswana usage is often dropped, and they answer a negative question
as an English speaker would.
To a straightforward question, of course
e.g., A lo bdna m^goma? ,Do
you see the ploughs?'
the answers are also straightforward: Ee, re bdna. ..
or Nnyaa, ga re bone . .-.
metse

5 molernd, rnelemd, literally means ,!ood'; as here, it also very often

means 'medicine'.
0 The word moshu or lnosu iritroduces us to a dialectical difficulty.
wiren the consonant s/sz is followed by the back vowels d, o, and. z, the southern
tribes (roughly speaking) pronounce

it

sh; e.g., shdma, leshomd, rnoshu.

But

'

26

Lesson

the northern tiibes (again roughly speaking) pronounce it s; e.g., sitma, Ieso,nl,
mnsu. The same sort of variation occurs with the allied consonant chltsh; the
southern dialects say choln and chuba, the northern ones tshola and *huba.
The practice adopted in this book is to print these variant words in both
their forms for the first two times that they appear and thereafter to use s only.
If, therefore, the student lives with ir tribe which uses the sD and cft sounds, he
should note that fact, and emploli these forms of the consonantal sound in all the
variable words.

(Fora fuller discussion of this,

T-I .

TJ{IR&.

TItIPft

2
.

TM'

trTLhtA,

E:[+ll{+.

see Appendix,

Article 6.)

nme*'
I ffi Ttaa frb?ffi TJJTPA. 2 lr EAa EhKfi
EAA
RE
.
TIJIPft
L'
dra
Tt-A#O
3
-t@b.
5 Ks BbNA $llff- rE" PeDl' . 6 re
I "o .tr f,tr o fA DrJb.

ToNE-PRAcrIcE 2
After studying the Toxr-Tnxt above as in the previous Lesson, make copies
of the following Tone practice phrases, and mark them for tones from the dictation of your helper.

]. nB TLAA.REKA DITHIPA. 2 LO TLAA REKA DITHIPA.

3 nE TLAA. REKA DITHIPA. 4 KE TLAA REKA DIPODI
6 UTLAASENYA
LEDINKU. 5 UAJA,UJADIJO.
8
u rLAA urlwA
DrJo.
7
BA
TLAA
DrKoBo.
JA
KGOSI.

27

LESSON

SUBJECTML PRONOUNS: NOUN

CLASSES

So far, all the sentences which we have been making in Setswana have
been those in which a personal pronoun is the subject
I, you, he, etc.
[t have not been using nouns as subjects of sentences, the-reason being that,
tlt \r can do so, we must master the Subjectival Pronouns, or Subjectival Concords, appropriate to each type or Class of noun. l
In English, when a noun is the subject, the sentence is of the type, 'The
'ntn sees the chief', or, 'The axe cuts well'. But in Tswana it is necessary to say
'The man he sees the chief', or'The axe it cuts well'; and in each case the pronoun (he, it, etc.), has to correspond, or accord, or agree, with the prefix of the
noun it represents,

The subjectival pronouns for the Present and Future tenses

- we shall
of the pronouns
are
as in the following table. (On the significance of the various Classes of nouns,
see Wookey & Brown, pp. 19-26.)
(The numbering of the Classes here is different from that in Wookey &
Brown; it is also different from that now being used in Zulu & Sotho. On this,
see that the Past tense necessitates a modification

see Appendix, Article 9. Any order is arbitrary. Students who wish to compare Tswana with other Bantu languages will probably prefer to use the classification set out in the Appendix: but for a proper study of Setswana as. a literary
medium, that classification must be adopted which best displays the nature and
the features of the language.)
Subjectival
Subjectival
Class
example
pron., sing.
example
pron., Plu.

I
II

III
IV

IVa
V
Va
VI
WI
VIII
VIIIa
IX
X

moruti, teacher; o
uncle;2 o
-malome,
mogoma,
rnosu,

plough;

o oa

mosu-tree; o

oa

o oa

m}su,

-nhu,
-nku,
selipd,
lokwald,
legapu,

oa
oa

sheep

axe;
book;
melon;
lolasapa, court ;
bolwetse, illness;
go lema, to plough;

se

lo
le
lo
bo

go

a
lo a
lea
loa
boa
goa
se

baruti,
bomalome,
megoma,
ITlEsu,
Iosu,

ba ba a
ba ba a
e ea
a aa
lo lo a

di
dinku,
ITIlnku, a
di
dilipD,
dikwald, d.i
rrltgapu, a
lTttlwapa, a
Intlarctse, a
malemd, a

di a

a,

di
di

aa
aa.

aa
aa

Lesson

28

NoticctlratClassesII,I\ra,VIIIa,andXhavellotyetbeenstudiedS(rl:i1]-]

is a collcctivc plLrrai
Class II consists of the hinship-nouns; Class IVa
very sma1l one; Clr:ss -=i '
meaning a forest of mosu-trees; Class VIIIa is a
there are no 'participLs'|1r in sirrgilor, thc verbal-noun, the Infinitive, for -nvhich
have been stutiicri ii: I
tswana. But all these behave as do the nouns
courseofthelessons.(oncoliectives/o-anclma*secAppendix,Articlt:9,rr' *
at all in tlic singr:
There are tu,o Classes, II ancl V, rvhich have no prcfix
Notealsothattherearet\\.ocolumnsofthcpronouns'inbothsingui:rr''
in,thr: ertcn-'
plural; for, just as l\'ie saw in the case of the per:sonal pronouus
thc pronour'
r"erb,
follolling the
Present, Lcsson 3, tvhenever there is nothir-rg
lengthened b-v the zrddition of an a'

the clifie rcnt clas-'

Iixamples of the r-rse of thcsc subjcctivai Prorlourls in
of nouns, singular ancl Plural'

mortrti o Q rtda, the teachcr is teirching'

bart.tti ha (t ruta' the teachers are tcachirlg'
ltttrtr.ti btt rnta bana, the teachers zrre teaching childrerr'
maktme o a bala, my uncle is reading'
btloks'
lxtntalome ba bala clihualb, my uncles are rcaclirrg

I
lI
tl

lV
\'r
VI
VII
\'riII
IX
X

morafe o a utlwa, the tribe obeys'

thc cl-ric1's'
,nrro1, ga e utlrte tlihgosi, the tribes ckrn't obey
3
grou'ing'
not
is
rnrtrulu ga o gole. the morula-trec
mttula a a gola, the mortlla-trees afe grorving'
(raining)'
lntla e u na, the rain is falling
falling rr'cl1'
not
is
pul.a ga e ne serttli, the rain
'
chops'
selipi se a rima, the axe
ditip) ga tli reme sentld, the axes clon't chop properly'
lohwald kt ruta batho, the book teaches pcople'
dikzuald di a thtna, books helP'
legotlu le a tttsua, the tbicf steals'
magotlu a nua magal)lr, the thieves art: cating melons'
5
holuetse bo a bolaya, the sickness kills (or harms)'
thc tribc'
m.alwetse a senya mora.fe, the illnesses destrov
6
good'
is
gtt lema go siame, to plougir
malemd a siame, the ploughings are good'

EXERCISE

13

Translate into English:

sha' 3 'l[ga:
Batho ga ba nke ba bina kgosi' 2 Ditlhare di a
r)ka rmrna' 5 Dininvane '
e tlaa alafa miuti ka melemb' 4 Badiri ba
a ri= '
a lela.7 6 Mosadi o tlaa apaya bogdbi. J A monna ga a nke
moruti
bina
tlaa
ba
3
dijd? 8 Badisa btt senha bohutd'8 9 A bana
b'ha
bdla
tlaa
e
Nama
mpieno? 10 Kgosi ga e nhe e bolaya legotLu' 11
lvgtr...
13
(mosr)).e
nakd. 12 Basimani le basetsana ba tlaa ya ka moshJ
kang? 15 Ka mosd kg.':
I1q o (t lela, mma. 14 Basath ba tlaa aga
1

Lesson

29

17 Agaba
16 Basadi ga ba tltuse banna sentli.
thata.
19 Re tlaa
': ha aga ka lotlhaka? ilJ Gompieno basimane ba leha
':!tt megoma, re lema tshimo.lo 20 Pula e tlaa na sentli bosigo'
21 Rra,
o
tlaa
sala.
:. gtt u nke u bitsa modisa? 22 Bana ba tLaa tsamaya, mme moruti
thata
gompierto.
-: Li tlaa utlwa ma;t'oko ka mosd. 21 ligwana o ithuta
--i "ltiama e a bdla, mme mafoko ga d bole." 11

llaa roma mosimane.

.'luctsn 14 Translate into

Setsr'r.ana:

2We
1 The teachers teach r'vell, but the children do not obey (hear)'
I dcr
the
?
+
for
u'agons
you
(piu.)
tr-ait
3
Won't
pouring
rvater.
not
=:r
:r 'i see morula-trees, but I see moshu-trees. -5 The boys are trying hard,
:.,rv rvill learn we1l. 6 To-day rve sl.rall leave on foot (i.e., go alvay by foot).
- \\'hat rvill you eat tomorrow, sir ? s'ill you etlt porridge ? 8 liain lvill
.ri in the night. 9 \Ve are calling the boys, but they do not answer. 10
-i:s, the
woman i,vill cook the clucks. 11 No, thc teacher \\'ill not send thc
rrcl-i:roy. 12 'lhe men arc ploughing r'vith the ploughs. 13 Will she
: , rvith the people tomorrow ? 1't No, she rvill remain, she u'iil ccrok the
' ,t1. 15 \\re shall plough the garclens but rt'e shall not sow the sced. 16
--.'c bircls eat the seed, they clo a lot of clirrnage (they destroy much). 17
-'rc doctor is healing the child rl'ith (ka) rnedicine. 18 Wc shall givc the
- .rtor 2l sheep ancl r gozrt. 79 T'he houses arc burning, the boy's bring rrater
20 \\'irn't the chief call thc u,orkers to-day ? 2I l)on't
---ickly. 1e
,u (sing.) hcar the rain ? It is raining hard. 22 'fire thieves rvill stea.i the
rd rrt night. 23 The rvorkman is going ar\ray, but hcr rvill bring the planlis
. -n)off0\\'.
2+ \\ri1l not the grass bum l
\otes

1 Dr. I)oke, in B. L. T., pp. 7'f, 179, 202, holcls it rvrong to apply the
::n1 rpronoun'to these concords, ancl uscs thc term'sul-rjectival concorcl'. They
,:; ccrtainly concordi:rl in lbrm; but cqually certainly they have the function
-::.i value of pronouns, as that rvord is commonly unrlerstood; r'vords usecl in-::ircl of, and standing for, their respective nouns.*
2 Notice that this word malome is a singular, although it looks as if
Several u.ords begin in ma- in the singular.
- bcgan r'vith the plural prefix za
There are other terms than this for 'uncle', as lve shall see.)
3 T'he Morula ts the Sclerocarya caffra (0. B. Miller), a large wild tree
rich is fairly common in Bechuanaland from the latitude of Kanye northrvards.
--rc fruit is edible, and also makes a drink.
4 na is a verb r.vhich is not translatable by any one rvord in English; it
- -:ans ito fall as rain does', so one can translate it by either of the verbs 'to rain'
- 'to fall' according to the context.
5 bolaya this u'ord does not only mean to kill; it is also used fortvound- animal or person.
: or hurting an
x Throughout this booir, the initials "B. L. T." staud for B.rNru LrxcursTrc Tnnrrlxby Dr. C. N1l. Doke, Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd., 1935. Although norv slightly
,:-of-clate, it is very useful.

-,cr,

Lesson

30

which we shall study latcl' it

7 lela means to make any sort of squeaky or shrill noise: it.':=r.:
used of the crying of human beings, or of animals and birds; of the noist -

Siame is a verb
for granted at present.

Perfect of siama

bell or an ungreased wagon-wheel.

If you t'ail to hnd in the Dictionary a rvord which begins l\iri,

or ba, then behead it and you $'i11 be left with the verb-stem from rvhich i:
I

formed, rvhich will then supply the meaning. E.g., badisa thus beheaded 3:
dis-, i.e,, the verb disa, to herd; so the noun means 'herdsmen'. ('fhe prar.|
of forming nouns from verbs will be dealt r'vith in a later Lesson')
e Remember that ya (co) appears in the old orthograph,v as ea, .:!..
tsamaya as tsama.ea.
ro tshimo is an irregular noun, with its plural masimo'
11 A Tswana proverb in a simplified form; its import is that e\.rsome quarrel or case is not decided at the time, it will be broiight up at a ,date; it r.on't go bad, as meat does. lefoko, word, is used, especialiy ir:
plural, in a collective sense, meaning nelvs' discussions'
12 IJse tlisa for bring. There is another common vctb (lere), bnt i'.
an irregularity rvhich makes it adviszrble to leave it till iater'
,,

,:

II

souNDS

There are tu,o ciosely allied sounds, consonants, which are heard ir
as:="
worcls morafe (tribe, nation), atdbohuld (pasture, gtazing )' In the 1910
bet'
distinction
ft,
the
letter
the
by
represented
orthography they'"vere both
"':
them being ignorecl. In the 1937 orthography they are represented by ./ =:,'
respectively, although often the /r souncl is rvrongly written./'
The souncls of these two consonants are quite distinct' The one lj
::r',
appears in a ryorcl such as mtsrafe is rvhat is knoi.vn in phonetic parlance -'
i-'
r:"''
and
'f'
fair,
(fat,
the
English
from
different
quite
'bilabial f', and it is
Doke, B' L' T', p' 136') l'r
rvhich is the 'labiodental f'. (Or 'dento-1abia1'
,rLr

-''1

Tsrvana sound is produced by bringing the lips almost together, r'vithout the t-:':
in the English sound the upper teeth are almost closed on the lon'er iip. lrr

;di::'
'bilabial f'r,vill therefore need some practice. (Do not practise it u'-ith a i
tr'
ior
have
plobably
rvill
lvho
orthography,
1937
the
Motswana brought up on
f')
English
the
non-Tswana
and
use
authentic sound altogether,
In this booh the inaccurate symbol / is used. A better symbol is ti,. ;:
E rograph fh which has been common in the B.P. for many years, and is used in
,,e
o:
and
letters),
(two
a
ciigraph
of
being
*uio.- But it has the disadvantages
consonants.
aspirated
other
the
of
analogy
the
ot
ing like an aspirated.f
The Southern and Eastern Tswana tribes, holvever, have alreadv i'-==,'

lost the true Tswana bilabial f , and use a consonant not far removed fro- llEnglish f. The student lvho wishes to develop a good pronunciation sho:;r=
with this consonant, and study its nature in the area lvhere he is lir''-*
"

"ur.frl

working.

t-.-.==

=
=
:,

Lesson 7

3t

The other consonant, that hcard n bohulit or tn sehudi, is fairly adequately

:epresented by the letter h. (To 'drop one's aitchcs' may be possible, if reprerensible, in English; it is impossible in 'fswana.)
There appears to be a definite phonic larv that, before the vowel zz the sound
is always h, and never .f . Before other vowels the sound is generally, but not a1s'ays, /. (This does not always hold in Sekwena, however.)
The sound nE, as in ngaka, doctor, will need some practice, but is not really
difficult. It can be produced in English by isolating the'ng-a' in such a phrase
the words separately
as 'sing a song'. Or if you say 'sing a carol'
- not speaking
and then cut olT the 'si-' and the '-rol', you are left
but running them together
u'ith '-ngaca-', which rvill be almost identical with the Tswana word ngaka.
'I'he consonantal souqd s/2, as in sha, to burn, moshd, morning, has the same
r-alue as in English. (The Afrikaans 'sj'.) (It has been called the 'hushing
fricatir.e', to distinguish it from the sibilant 's' or 'hissing fricative'.) (Doke,
Zuru Gneunten, p. 15, describes it as the "pre-palatal fricative", "pronouncetl
much as in the linglish r'vord 'ship'." It is there represented by s/2.) In the
1937 orthography it is represented by i.
Tire consonantal sound lsl2, as heard it tslinto, field or garden, r'vill also ne;tl
care. It consists of two elements, one might say -- of the ls rvhich rve havc
aiready learnecl, and of aspiration, represented by the ft. That is to say, it is t'r
be regarded and pronounced as ls ! h: it is not to be regardecl or pronouncec! as
i."., as a sound like 'ch' in Iinglish 'church'.
(an apparent alternative) t { sh

(It

is not LP.A.

il)

(In the 1937 orthography the real ch souncl is represented by the trigraph
t{h, i.e., r,vith an inverted circumflex over the central s, so that immediately the
diacritic is omitted -- and diacritics ahvays suffer that f'ate sooner or later, rnore
the trigraph loses its essential nature aud becomes indistinguishable
or less
frcrnr the trigraph tslz u.ith no diacritic, the souncl \\.e find h tshimo.) (See also
Appendix, Article 5.)

2 Ga T 1it*ire
L Ga K"e rek &ilffislb' rpsr'
*i-ilhare.
fl6se
f-'e
l+
Ga
ksj-.
3 Gp tJOrre dr.nlc*.
ktrlei
?
? Aea
fka
Io
5 ,q u bbna selbPUQ? A ln6r Btvts.
mng.
r--.hb*r+ar
?
fre.,
b-a -age t+tlo ?
?
fO JI batJ-emg, -ria
9 lffIfaa, ga re bTne.'

T*T. 3

e-

rvr

9E+ej!vvr.s

TONE.PRACTICE

-t
te

re

]I

tird. 2 Ga he kope tird. 3 Ba a

1 I{e kopa
-batla
dikgomo. + Gi ba batle dikgomo.
bat\a, ba
5 A ga ba bolaYe nku ? 6 A u tlaa nosa ditlhare
I A ba tlaa kwala
7 Ke"tlaa kwala lokwalo bosigo.
?

dikwald

LESSON

THE II\IPERATIVE AND ITS NEGATIVI': AD\IERI}S

.THUS'AN]D 'HOW'

Cotrr*ands are expressed in Setswana very much as the1. arc in Englis:

although the negative commands are rather more diffrcult and complicatcIn severai cases there are duplicate forms, and the usage of these can only i.
learnt by study of Setsrvana speech and prose.
The simplest ancl commonest commands are of the type:
leka !
lekang

leka thata !
lehang thata

'lhat is, thc verb-rvord is the

try harcl! (singular)

try hardl (plural)

sanle as in tire simple Prescnt

at least.
(In tone,

1n Spc

r'hicli is all-irnportant, it may not be the snme; it may be ncar.

the same, or it nray be quite clifferent. I-et thc student listen to his Afric;,:
teaclier or helpcr pronouncing the Lnperatit'es he u,urnts to use.)
'lhc

complete Imperatir,e miry be set out thus (r'erb,

Singular

Dual
a re rikd

2 (r,) rdka

Plural

a re reheng

(r,) rdkang !

(n) u rikd !

(n) kt rekeng ! or lo r)ki

a ba riki !

ttailki!

The 'dualt is only usecl in first pers. plurerl, rvhen the speaker is referring :
himself and thc one he is speaking to; e.g., a man may say to his fr-iencl, a r;
tsanmyi ! 'Let's go arvayl'
meaning only the trvo of thern.

Sequence, or series, of Irnperatives. 'lhe larv is, that rvhen rr numh.of commands follorv one another, the first one is of the A-form (see abo,,
tabie) and the following ones are of the B-form. For example :

llisa selipi, u rimi setlhare;

bring an axe, cut dorvn a trcc

tsama))ang, lo g? metse,

go, (and) clrarv rvater, (ancl)

rvater the plants.

lo nosi tli.tlhare;

(ot . . . lo geng m.etse, lo noseng

ditlhare.)

This only applies in the second person, singular and plural, as it is in ti:,
person alone that there are the two forms of Imperative. In the third perscsingular and plural, when commands (indirect) follorv each other, the a u-hi:,
precedes the pronoun and verb is not repeated:

ntsrt!

Lesson
a a riki loktlald,
a ithati thata!
a re yA, re senki mokmd
a ba diri dipolzrana,
ba agi ntlo !

JJ

let him buy a book,

and study hard!
let's go (two of us) and get medicrne
let them make bricks (and)

build a house!

When the subject noun is mentioned, it comes after that

in the third person, thus:

little a that intro.

duces the imperative phrase

a moruti a tsamayi !
a badiri ba diri thata

let the teachcr go away I

let the workers work hard

Remember that this introductory a of the Imperative 3rd person is high

distinguished from the a which introduces a question, which
is lon' tone.

tone. It is thus

Negative Imperative ('do not buy', etc.).

Dual

Singular

I
2 usekawariha!
(or, se rCki !)
3 a a se ka ariha!

a re

se

rdki

Plural

a re se reheng (riki)
lo se ka lwa rika !

(or,

se rekeng !

a ha se ha ba rika !
(or, a ba se rihi !)

(or,aaserihi!)

)iote that in these rather confusing negative forms, there is no ga, as there
in the negative of the Present and the Future. Its place is taken by se,
which is generally (not always) low tone. We shall find other cases in which
rnas

;r. and rrot ga, is the negative element in verbal constructions.

a bashnane ba se ka ba utswa!
se ha lwa senya dikwald !
(or, lo se senyeng ilikwald ! )
se bitsl monna, bitsa mosima,ne ;

lo

let the boys not steall

clon't destroy the books!

don't call the man, call the boy.

xI

^\DVERBS

The interrogative adverb'how?'is expressed by jang? and in Tswaaa

it

always

-(1hus'

and 'horv'.

follows the verb.

u tlaa kwala jang? how r.vill you u'rite
lo tsogile jang?
how are you I

This n'ord jang, exactly like its English couoterpart, can be used in

an

"r^-irmatory way as well as in the interrogative way:

setlhare se

lm

thata jang !

how hard the tree isl

m such an example involves the use of the verb 'to

6e esercises at present.)

be', and will not be

used

Lesson I

31

The adverb of manner, tthust, is expressed in Setswana by 3ma"n* r:r.1+-:

according to the shade of meaning. These tu-o wordS are quitte ":11st:-

and the student should note carefully the difierence in meaning and :ir .-:''
jaanahas the sensc of 'like this', rvhen one is, for example, sholving a:,,,i
person how to do something, or drar'r'ing attention to something close at 1,.tin this wayt, or, 'as I am dcing'.
near him. It means 'thus' in the sense of
kwala jaana . . .

write like this . . . (shorn'ing how to do

::

jalo on the other hand has the sense of 'like that', u'hen the action refer:.
to is not that of the speaker, and not near at hand, or is not to be imitated' I:
'thus' in the sense of in that wayt, 'similar to that', etc.
lo se ka lzua kwala

jalo,

do not (plu.) write

tln the same wayt, tas', tliket,

are expressed

like that.

by jaaka:

morttti,' I am w-riting as the teacher (writes).

no, do not write like that.
hzuala jaana, jaaka ke kwala; w-rite like this, as I rn'rite.
ke kztsala jaaka
nnyaa,.se kwali

ExERcISE

15

jalo;

Translate into English

jaaka banna. 2 Gama dipodi ka bona|

1
3 Bitsa banna le badiri; a ba tli gompieu tlisi mashi ka (in a) hopi.
jaana,
jaaka
ke rima. 5 Lo se ha hta bolaya dit:'
4 Lo tlaa rima ditlhare
u rohi kobd. 7 Re tlaa aga jc' ;
lomad,
nyane, bana. 6 Tsaya tlhale le
jalo?
ba thus) morttti; ba se ka ba tsama" A
basetsana
8
ha batho ba tsamaya
10 Re tlaa tla ka mosd, re set::.
jalo,
ruta
bana
sentli.
lo tlaa
9 Fa lo dira
yi
rimi masu; re tlaa aga lesaidilipi,
lo
Io
mashi le nama. 11 Tsayang
jalo,borra;
dira ialo.2 13 A bana:.
lo
tlaasenyatirdfalo
12 Sedireng
jalo;
1+ Salang sentli, bon:"
ba
utlwa.
ga
ba
nke
batho
se ha ba bata dikwald
3
16 Nnyaa, lo se 'bomrna.
sentli,
Ee,
tsamayang
15
re a tsamaya.
jaaka
o
tlaa
bala
sentli. 18 A '
jalo.
monfti,
a
bala
17 Fa
lwa tsamaya
4
ngwanaha,
u tlaa bdna dijd :.,
Se
leli,
19
yeng, bomma, re bueng le kgosi.
u
nama;
mme
se ka zuaaptla'pitsa,
u
apiyi
mma,
bonah6.5 20 Tsaya
lo leteng kg.:
reetsa
baruti,
basimane;
lwa
se
ka
(or le) letswai.a 21 Lo
bdna
tird.
tlaa
lo
ka
maphahila,
22 Tlang gapi ka mosd,

Lekang thata, basimane,

rxrncrsE

16

Translate into Setswana:

1 Do you (plu.) not hear the birds singing (lela) nicely?z 2 Do r'
buy an .axe no\\r, sir, you will buy to-morrow. 3 The men will come ag-- to-night. 4 If you (sing") work like that, you will not get (see) money.
Write (ptu.) letters to-day (now), the man rvill come to-morrow. 6 Br:::
(sing.) water and milk and a pot. 7 If he speaks like the chief, will the peo: -,
8 Cut the merit with the knife, mma. 9 Go, boys, look :,
listen ? I
the oxen. 10 Take (sing.) the boy, and look for the horses. Ll If r':
"

Lesson I

35

i1ury;/ lfutea, you will hear the children reading. T

12 Let the teacher read
f,tr ier.
13 Will it not rain to-night ? (i; : rain) No, it won,t rain. 14
'gl'd-byq teacher, we are going away to-day. 15 How wilr tngy r.ritJ r,o,rr.. i
w[ en build like that ? 16 water ihe prants like this, rri as you see I
mnflur lthem). z
17 If we call the herd-boy, he will not answer. 1g I
pf,c,ighing, but how shall I sow seedt 19 Answer! (sing.)
I win notask
20 Do not (sing.) call the boys and girls, they are *-oikirrg. , ,

umr

urpr
hr

1 w

is a foreign word, transliterated

smmrttd the language, mostly from

- a cup. Many such words have

,
Afrikaans.

2 no, mma, (plu.

bomma/, so frequently used in addressing
.borra,
m etact

people,

equivalent in this usage in English. The root meanings of-"orrrr.

umu "'u[rtl-rer' and 'mother', but they are used
when addressing young oi"old people.
'l* =erer addresses people as banna, basadi, although th"]or*"r-"""
,";.;;;;
tbur irscd to inferiors, or.in familiar
and jocular speech.
uuum{h

sala sentli, (lit., remain well), is the parting greeting of one going
!o one who remains behind; the latter answers it by, tsarnaya senti|
1gi
mdll : if addressed to more than one person, the greetingsur" ,ohig sentli, ;;ufim'nnrni

'www

senth.

4 Ie here, as often, means ,with,

3 trgzaanaka is ngzoana, child, with a suffix which has the force .my,
of
::ne'.
11"
(More fully in Lesson 10, I c.) The plural is not banaka, b.,t
II as we shall find with other Kinship nouns, such as
'm*'rywanaka
- class
ilnna' Note
also, that when addressed to a child,

ttttt"tt:r-

mmm

the word is ngutanaka;

it is used of or about a child, it is ngwanakd. E.g.,

,M frfisd,

.
T
rorn r:t

'I

shall see my child to-morrow'.

letswai,

he tlaa bdna rrgwanaki

saltl former spelling was lecwai.

'singing',,.here, must be translated

by a present tense in Tswana:

verb. Note

an extended Present, even although no words may follow the

ilr,mr:r.rllv

the following examples

hc utlwa dindnyane; di a leta;

hc utlwa dindnyane di tela;

I hear the birds; they are singing.

I hear the birds singing.

The second is all but equivalent to 'I hear the singing of the
bird.s'. So,
[l, R%tence 16, 'as you see f watef', or, 'as you see me watering';
simple, not

*anm*Jed, Present.

When 3rd pers. sing. o follows

rymrallv becomes a, not o.

fa, (if) or ka, (because, since) it

lit:

Lesson I

J6

T-T. 4 I -B,r*, g, nke ke- ret<*". 2 SitJ&are. dt -a =-:

3 A Ca T Rke rr bbea norfn& ? I+ Nggafta o -+ }ela, .="
5 Ffagedu-a-*-utsrda, utsfia jb. 6 g U* tl*s, EF =
t-s+ ?
7 }t-rqf, ga ba lilrs ba ga asts.e-. & ffi!*:=
ne se+Llh. 9 Ga Io k-et*a to blna d_ijb. 10 :i;
b6t*a, rufc ga ti.arebe. tI A ga re Tke re r,bns qas=
ToNE-PRACTTcE +

t Galo
u arabe.

dijd. 2 Ke a botsa, mms :

3 A g" re nke re rdma mashu ka dilep,
+ Ba ruta basimane ka dikwald. 5 Pula e tlaa thata bosigo. 6 IJ tlaa utlwa mafoko ka mosl
7 Bana ba tlaa tsamaya, mme moruti o tlaa
il Moruti o ruta sentld, mme bana ga ba utiwe.
ketla 1o bdna

Sa.,_

b}}
.dl

37

LESSOT\i

AND NEGATIVE: .I.HI] INFINI"TIVE

PERFECT TENSE,

It is.rvell to recall the exact connotation ofthis tense, the Perfect Indicative.
As in English, it indicates an action which took place in past time, but
rvhich is, in a way, not finished, in that its effect still persists. 'He has helped
me' may be said when the giving of the help has stopped; butthe effectof the
help then given is still existent. (T'he Past Definite, or Past Historic, 'he helped
me', or 'he did help me', indicates an action u'hich rvas clone, completed, and
finished, at some point in the past.)
A

PERFECT TENSE, INDICATIvE, AND NBGATIvE

rekile, I have bought,

u rehile, you (sing.) . . .
o rekile, he, she . . .

ga ke a

re rehile, we have bought,

gcr

la rehile, you (plu.) . .

ba rekile, they . . .

re a
ga lo a

riha,
rika,

ga ba a

riha,

ke

rika, I

have not trought,

gauarika, you...
gaaariha, he,she...
we have not boughtn
you . . .
lhey . . .

Notes on this tense

(1) Unlike the Present, there is only one affirmative form of the Perfect,
rrhether there is an object following the verb or not; there is nothing corresponding to the 'extended'Present.

(2)

The verb-word itself, rika, has undergone a double change:

the ending -a has changed to -ile, and
the stem-vowel i has changed to e.

(u)
(b)

(3) In the negative ofthe Perfect, the stem-vowel of the Present re-appears.
Indeed the Neg. Perfect looks like
ga pius. the
and may be memorised as
Present affirmative: i.e., ga plus Ae a rika.
The main thing to note, however, is the change of ending, frotn a to ile.
This is the most general way of forming the Perfect tense from the Present.
But as we shall see, there are several others, which are not irregularities or exceptions, but are regular ways of forming the Perfect, for certain types of verbs,
As for the stem-vowel
- exactly as we saw (Lesson 4, I B) in the case of the
negative of the Present tense ._ this change only occurs when the. stem-vowel
si either.e.or d. Examples of this are these verbs;

38

Lesson
o a dira,
o a leka,
o a rima,
o a batla,

he is working;
he is trying;
he is cutting-dovrn;
he is looking-for;
o a ldra, he is dreaming;
o a roma, he is sending;
o a ruta, he is teaching;

Ir

dirile,
lekile,

he has worked.
he has tried.
o remile, he has cut-dolvn.
o batlile, he has looked_for.
o lorile, he has dreamed.
o romile, he has sent.
o rutile, he has taught.
o

In English, there are two principal verbal forms lvhich

can be u-.t:

nouns; they are the Infinitive and the present partici

iciple. One cai ,
either, 'to buy is pleasant', or, ,buying is pleasant,.
But in setswana there is no present participre, a'd
the Infinitive is use:
all such bases. Note the follorving types of usage:
ke senka

go rdka,

ya go nosa ditlhare,
ba tlaa tla go rdka ka nnsd,

gO rdka go siame,

go fora bafio ga go a siama,

I rvant to buy. (I seek to buy.)

go to water the plants.
they rvill come to buy to-morron
to buy is good (or right).
to deceive people is not good.

Thus r,r-e have what amounts to another Class

of
those list.
ciass X in Lesson 7. The plurals, those rvhich
have the *o- pr"fi*, ur, grammatically the plurals of
no p,
th1 Infinitive, w'hich in its nature
but they are verbal nouns rvhich
in turn have no direct singurar,
'u,so trrer.-,,,,r,

conveniently be grouped as a Class.

The Subjectival proncun for the Infinitive
amples
go rika lla riame.

(T1"

Negative Infinitive ('not to

1s

go, as seen in the abor-.

ccme...') is not much,used iri

indeed there is no proper direct negative Infinitir.e.

o".
;;;";;;;
verb, e.g., go bisa go tta ...:r
';i;;;;il;.
ttkdka go;
..
s;
hears go sa tle .. ., it seems a farse und
ung.:u**atical

form

exBncrse

17

.::,

Ts,.-.-r*

au\._
""some:._

ori.gulu. Infir:.,.

Translate into English

Dumila, fta, u tsogile jang?z e

2 Maabane
ba leki.. t:
Moruti. 3 L:,:, lwa-lshlga mosetsana.A I basimane
A
ba
gamih'-di:,.;.
f: S, i,
Nnyla| ga ba a garni,a dipo_di.
,r"gitr,
rnnte ngwanaki ga a a :;.._.
sentti' 6 Kgosi e rekite dikotoi natdbal ;mma,
r
,r,iii"ii';;;; E;"ain;,*,
ga e a rika ka madi.s g A_ga u bue
mafoko? Ke tlaatoonf,io n* Utit**
bane?6 9 Monna ga a a iua sentli, o tr;t, ka bonakd.
10 Re itirnr,
dithutd gompieno; re traa ithuta gapi ka xtasd
maitseboya.T 1i Mosca .
rokile mosese, mme ga a a roka senti, 12
Ga ke a xaia to,kwatd-, vwna.
qo," o alafa ngwanaki?B lq lr.,gaka , in;U tho,tr', m*, eo,,
!.ngaka
hgdna go fodisa nguLana_. 15 A ga
to a utrwa, basirnane? n
sentli, rra.e
16 Mophatd o on*il, pata ka dilipi. 17 );""riri""rii.--*
nke ga?i go rima ka mosd?to
U dirang fa, m*)? Ga ke dire'sepi." It
Rra, u dirileng? Ga ke a dira sepi. zi'Magodu
a utswite fat )isurc) di:,ra*
thusa

,n,

::.

Lesson
t,
.1
,i

:.i
't

fl

39

jang?

21. Re agile ruatlo maabane, jaanong re aga lorahd.

22 Ka mo$ re tlaa ya go rima masu, re aga lesaha. 12 23 Se direng ialo,
borra; fa Lo d.ira jalo, ntlo e tlaa wa. 2+ Ba tsogile jang? Ga b'a a tsoga,ba

bosigo, re tlaa gol\ga

lutala thata.

1{

axnnclsn

18

Translate into Setswana:

1 Come and take (eat) porridge, boys. 2 I have written a letter (last)
night. 3 Will you not send the boy with (ka) the letter to-day ? 4 Do
not eat the meat, it has decayed. . 5 No, it has not rotted, it is all right (e
siame). 6 Good-day ladies, how are you keeping ? 13 7 Good morning'
sir, we are all right (tsoga sentli). 8 I am not well, but the chief is very ill.
9 The teacher has taught the girls to write nicely. 10 Come quickly (plu.)
and see the horses. 11 Don't come (sing.) to-morrow early in the morning,
n The sacks have rotted, what shall we
come in the middle of the day. Ia
1+ No,
plough
(Perfect) the garden the other day ?
do ?
1,3 Did you not
15
The
chief
has
sent
a man
yesterday.
garden
sir, we ploughed (Perf.) the
like
that,
will
16
If
you
(sing.)
build
goats.
to look for the.sheep and the
I
tried
hard.
tried
well,
have
17
No,
I
have
to
build
you not spoil the wall ?
18 My children are not well, I want to see the doctor. 19 Rain has not fallen
last night; perhaps (gongwe) it will fall to-day in the afternoon. 20 Don't
speak (plu.) like that, the teacher will hear. 2l The women have begged
water to cook food. 22 Will not the doctor come to give the children
medicine to drink ? (give to drink, nosa). 23 Have you (sing.) not deceived
24 Let us not deceive people, let us (plu.) speak thetruth.
the teacher again ?
Notes

go siame is a very common expression meaning, it is right, it is good.

it is almost equivalent to, 'all right!') Pending fuller
grar-amatip-al explanation later on; the student can take it that go is a Subjectival
pronoun here, and siame is the Perfect of the verb siama; the verb is used in the
Perfect, therefore the negative Perfect, ga go a siama, means, it is not right.
2 dwnlla, pfu. dumilang (lo dumlli, etc.), is a general greeting that can
(Used by itself ,alone;

be used at any time of the day, meaning, good-day, good-morning, good-afternoon,

and so on. Good-night, however, as a parting greeting, is different
- it is either
rdbalasentli!which means, sleep well! (plu. rdbalang...) ot, bordkd!whichis a
noun meaning sleep. (dunita also has the meaning 'believe'.)
3 , tsoga is to rise up; hence, to'get up'in the morning; hence, it is
used in the Perfect, ke tsogile, to indicate how one has got up, i.e., how, in what
state of health, one is. ke tsogile, or ke tsogile sentli, meanq I am well; and the
negative Perfect, ga ke a tsoga, or ga ke a tsoga sentli, rrreans' I am not well. (Corir-

pare English, 'How do you do ?' and French, 'Comment vous porte"'vous ?')
4 tshiga can be used either as an intransitive verb ('to laugh'), or as a
transitive verb ('to laugh at'), with the thing laughed-at as the direct object.
Here therefore it must be translated 'do not laugh at the girl'.
5 madi, in form a plural, with no singular, means, blood: as a plural,
(its singular ledi, a cotn) it means money.

40

Lesson

6 ka, among its several meanings, can ntean 'because, for, since , .
7 maitseboya, afternnon, is also variously spelt tnaitseboa, maitsehowa.
u oWo is to treat or to doctor; fadisa is to cure or make-better {lir.
rneans to 'make cool'). Watch the distinction between these two verbs.
e utlwa in Perfect may be either utlwile or utlule; zlszua similarlv
,

have either utswile or utsule for Perfect.

t0

ol

Class

a ga o nhe... the o here, being the Subjectival concord or pronol:r

III noun, not the 3rd sing. personal pron., does not change lo a af-;

the negatir"e ga . , .
ll selDl means,

nothing; take it on trust, for the present;

explanati..

later.

12 l{ote that rvhen one Future tense follorvs another, the tlaa of ti:
Future is not repeated after the first verb, although the meaning is still a Futur:
re tlaa ya go rima, re (tla) aga... Note this characteristic, for it appears Tmost tenses, (As in Imperative, Lesson tt, I B.)
13
14

'ladies'

bomma.

'middle-of-the-da1", motshegare (used like bosigo, maitseboya, etc.,

.tself, as an adverb of time).

2 lffir Tr se.
I trk&, :ePa, if feke that-a !
ra-+++ *j:ra $als.
3 T r-e tsalsaf+r lqafiili. 4 BbPe'
u d'Irb' jean+, Seek- ke di-r.5 II diryfte eng ? @
6 }te{.lanakt} ga-a-a t3-09* se*tJh. =
Ke -& GLra Seps.
I Durn-EX*, lra, a tr tgi1*
G+ Ttsr'+* ga gb "a- s-i-anas.entfb. ?
9 m tsoFle :ang-' xrn* ? fu b-a + tsoaT-T. 5

TONE-PRACTICE

1 A re yA, re senke molemd. 2 Lo tlaa tsamar-e

jurg, borra ? 3 Rekang dikwald, bomma, 1o ithuii
+ Tsaya pitsa, mma, u apeye nama. 5 Re utlui=
mafoko maldba. 6 Ke rutile basimane maabane matsebowa. 7 Ba tlaa ya go nosa ditlhare. 8 Gs
1o a utlwa sepe.

41

LESSON

10

T,OSSESSION: POSSESSIVE CONCORDS

ti

PRONOUNS

in one way
The idea of possession or ownership is expressed in Sctsu'ana
irand"
man's
("lhe
English'
of
only * as contrasted lvith the trvo ivays
rnd 'the hand of the man'.)
seatla sa rrTonns' hand of man; i'e'' the man's hancl'
rvorcls'
mafoko a kgosi, rvords of chief ; i'e'' the chief's
knife'
boy's
the
i'e''
thipa ya mosimane, knife of boy;

T.

AND

.lhe little worcl callerj a Possessive cnncord

rvhich seems t0 correspotld
It is dominated
examples'
'rith the English '6f'
is difierent in each of these
and it mus'
possessed:
is
which
.r1-the noun which precedes it, i.e.' by the thing
Concords
Possessive
The
noun'
agree or .o.r..por,d with the prefir of that
case *'ith
the
be
to
saw
\{e
as
,il"r.fore ch"nge rvith the difierent Classes, exactly
the Subjectival Pronouns.

The Possessive Concords for all noun

Classes'

Plural

Singular
i

a
7
4

I
II
III
I\-

motafe'
maruti wa motafe, the tribc's teacher; baruti ba
lekgoua
ba
bonche
ostrich;
wa lehgau:a, r'vhite man's
-nche
moLapn wa noka,
morula wa moruti.

\i

\.I
VII
VIII
VA

:4.

\-IIIA

IX

1e

ritA

ld motho,
sa motse,

-kgomo

sediba

Ionao lwa

mosimane,

the Person's ox;

the town('s) rvell
the boY's foot;

dihgorno tsa ntotho.

didiha tsa motse.
dinao tsa mosimane.

marula a maruti.

la hgosi,

Class IVa is unusual, except

noka.

melaPd

the chief's t'ord;

lot*opo lia mosadi, woman's court-vard;
botwitse jwa ngzaana, rhe child's illness;
jo lema ga monn,a, the man's ploughing;
Iefoko

fd

the river valleY;

teacher's moruia;

in some such phrase

mafoho a kgosi'
malwapa a mosadi'
rrtdl'ztetse a ngwana'
malemd a monna'

as losu htta Mababe' the mo-

magomo
forest of the Mababe flats. Class Va, also uncommon' is of the tyPe,
p. 34'*
B',
&
in
w
plurals'
'collective
* morafe, all the tribe's cattle. see a note on
ja
many
concord,
possessive
class vIII has a very common alternative
:=ople say lefoho ju kgosi.

:lu

for SocH"tx'q Gn'u{Ntln b1' Rev

* Throughout rhis book, the initials "W. & ll."
tt'"tttstand
puhlislred hr the l" NI S'
Bi'o*n'
Rtt
2nd
J
\\'ooker',
\ I.

T:aerklool, C. P.,

"aitioi,';t;sej';'
Impression, 1951.

o11't

Lesson

+2

10

IX

has, in some tribes, the possessive concord 6a instead of "irlr.,i

are in the plural, it makes no difference to the p{r$r:,jrr:
nouns
both
agrees only with the preceding noun:
which
still
concord,
Class

If

dikznald tsa

\
t

basadi,

malwetse a

banna,

mnaJe

ya mafatshe, etc.

Note two things, which help to memorise these concords; (a), the vowei -'
them all is -a; and (b), their consonants (if any), have some sort of agreeme!:-or concord, with the prefix of the noun to which they are attached. "fhis holceven for the semi-vowels, y and zc', which hide the full vowels e and o: in the o1d;:
orthography these were written moruti Oa sekole, IOkwald IOa mosadi, mera.fe ee
Setszaana, etc., r'vhich made the correspondence even more obvious.
(Note however that the possessive concord for the di- class is not da, but lsa'

The Possessive Pronouns. Now, when the possessing a$ent is eri'"., when we want to express 'mY i ' '
'his...','your...', etc., it is done like this:

pressed as a personal pronoun

selipi sa me,
selipi sa gago,

my axe,
your axe,

seldpi sa

his(her)

selipi sa rona,
sellpi sa lona,
selipi sa bdni,

axe,
dilipi tsa rona,
my axes,
dibpi tsa lona,
your axes'
ditipi tsa gagwi, his (her) axes, dillpi tsa bdni,
gaguti,
dilipi tsa me,
dihpi tsa gago,

our axe.
your axe'
their axe'
our axes.
your 4xes.
their axes'

(The last pronoun, bdni, is, in the south, 6dza.)

When the Possessive pronouns, as above, are used with any of the mani
ther
the kinship nouns
nouns denoting family relationship
undergo a shortening, and are suffixed to, or incorporated into, the noun. (\\-t
have had already ngwanaki, my child.) The commonest nouns of this typt
are those for father and mother; others will be studied later'
rra, (rara,

hara),

rri,
rrago,
rraagwi,

my father;

mma,
mmi,

thy father;

mmago,

his (her) father;

mmaagwi, his (her) mother.

father;

rraetsho, rraarona, our father;

rraeno, naalona, your father;
rraabo, rraabdni, their father;
(See Appendix,

Article 10 on rraetsho

mother.

my mother.
thy mother.

mmaetsho, xTmaarona'
mrnaeno,
mmaabo,

our

mother'

mmaalona, your mother'

mmaabdni, their mother'

and rraatona-)

(In the first and second plural, the forms yratttetsho and traweno, etc.t are sometime'
found, instead of rraetsho, rraeno, etc')
The plurals of these nouns are formed by prefixing bo-, thus:

borri,

my

bommi, my

fathers;

borraagwi, his

fathers; borraabd,

mothers; bommago, thy mothers;

their fathers.

bommaetsho, our mothers.

Lesson

+3

10

These ,kinship nouns" together with the names of some animals (like phokoji, jackal), and some birds (like nche, ostrich), form Class II' In the singular
thlre-is no prefix, in the plural the prefix is bo-; and the pronouns and concords
those of Class I' that is, they are personal ones'
are the ,*rn"
",
('Father' and 'mother' are terms which are not confined' as they are in
family
English, to actual progenitors; they often include guardians or other

*rrp".riorr; anyone wftJ is taking the place

of a parent'

Familiarity with the

l.ng.rug. will iispel any difficulty that this may seem to present')

just menNow, when the possessing agent is one of these kinship nouns
must be
there
noun"
tioned, or is the nam" o.-f u p""on, i'e', a 'Proper

following, or owner' noun'

inserted a 94 between the possessive concord and the
be confused with
This ga which is higi or high-mid in tone' must not
tone'
low
is
which
the negatiie ga, found in Les*ont 4,6, and 9 already'
sa !P. rri,
dikgomo tsa ga rraetsho,
bolwetse iwa ga mmi,

seVpA

matlo a ga mTnaeno,
thipa ya ga Diile,
lokwald lwa ga Mareko,

my father's axe'
our father's cattle.
my mother's sickness.
your (plu.) mother's houses'
Diile's knife.
the book of Mark, N{ark's book'

their
often prefixed to the names of people to indicate
that
(Note
father'
jon'''i' mother, Ra,-i/rthane' John's
parents: Mma-Johane,
(The
intact.)
remains
mma
lhe rra is generaily ,ho.t".,"d to ra, while lhe

mma and

rra

are

the same mean-

can also be used,with

for^, m*ofizod Johane, or rraagwt
"firsiJohane,
parents are known' even to each
the
child
the
of
i.rg.) After the birth
other,asMma-JohaneatdRa-Johane;theyseldomusetheir'Christian'names

to each other.
which incorporate the rra ot mnxa' tlne rra being
. Proper names are common
pattern Ratlou' RammdnD' Rapula'
shortened to ra-t men's names follow the

rvhilewomen'snamesateMmathibi,Mmapitse'Mmapulane'
agents, the ga must be used,
When such compound nouns are the possessing
just as with the simPle rra or ?n'ma:
masimo a
EXERcISE

go

19

Translate into English:

Ga ke

o kopile
ya ga Mma-Montsho' 2 Mosimme rj)a lne
dikgomo
golegeng
re
A
4
rona?
ya
t" riha mesese
A ga i
po"l*to tsaya tshimo ya mosad:i' o tlaa bdna kae dijb?

bone ntlo

tsamaya. 3

tsa ga

ga Mma-Pule' Pule's mother's fields'

rraetsho. i

lema masimo a ga mmi maldba?

6 Ga re a tsaya tshimo ya gagzti' 7 A ga lo a mafoko
a me' 9 Lerua ka
reetsa
go
3 Ke lekile go bua le bonni; m'n' ba gana
\0 Ga ba a aga ntlo ya bdni sentli;
nngoma r'le gago, rra, ka ga ke bone wa me' 12
te tlna ya go kop-a dijd'r
bomma'
e a wa. . 11 S"h;; i; b bana ba lona'
thata' l+
Ai o d'ira sentli' 13 Mosadi zla me o lslala

Baruti ba

i*

T
e

sekole

go

r
+4

Alnyaa, tnoruti, gu

esso

10

'{'t!;t.
maJ'oko u gago. 15 Ke utrz,;a rupsa ro
.4a
narta, lo ithurileng gompieno? 1l ga lo a ithutu septil .LI tlaa baakanya dild ts, gago le tsa me; re tlaa
1>hakira hu nosi re tsawt.aytr.
A h,na ga ba a arahtt di1>otsd tsa moruti zca hdni? 19 Ke a lutala,.]!t.rtd, t.,
lwa.ltt bolwetse jua letshoroma. z{\ Molemd uta ngaka ga o thuse moizuetsr. .
21 Bnsimane hu ga Ratltdli ba epile sediha. sa gagwi nalr)ba. 22 ]le flt;itutnila go utlnta bana ba sehole ba dpila dipina tsa bitni rtuitseb.ra.3 2j G
ke rate go d1ila, ke ra.ta go ttata ;fdta. 2+ Dikgomo tsa ga rraeno tli tlaa g,t.i
koloi ya ga mmi sentli fila.
e hogob.

rxBncrsri

*'c

h.e

a utlu:u

thata.T 1(r

20

T'ranslate into Setsg'ana:

1 Let us (2) dig a ri'ell here (and) get (see) rvater. (consecuti'e lnrpcr,s.; .
n4y mother's children are vcry ill, I am going to call the doctor. 3 sha
not sing songs (this) e'ening ?
'l I am learning to speak setswana, mm;:
I see vour (sing.) ploughing, but you ha'e not pioughecl u,ell. 6 Gooc-

night, teacher, *'e shall studv (learn) again to-morrow. 7 'rhe Batswan.,
tribes are learning the works of rvhite people.s lJ Don't vou (sing") sr.
the dogs eating (they eat) our meat? 9 The rnen do not come; thev refusto come. 10 No, thev do not refuse, they are ill (u,ith) fe'er. 11 D
not call your: husband, I shall trv to do the u.ork. 6
L2 \ve shall be r,er.
glad to see your lvife and mother this evening. 13 If they want (like) to refuto u'ork, let thern refuse! 1+ Good-morning, children; bring your book.
and read your lesson. 15 sir, rve have not learned our lesson of yesterdar
16 Has a thief stolen my axe ? I do not see my axe. 17 speak rvith (/a
your (plu.) mother,

to inspan the oxen,

I want to buy her sheep (sing.). 18 Hor.v shail we managi

il Rathipa's bcys go away ? s
rg Let us put our mother':

things here, the herd-boys rvill not steal anything (wilt not steal nothing).:
20 Take your beds at mid-day, and go arvay. 21 The boys are crying, bu:
their father reluses to listen (to) their rvords. 22 we shall hear your (sing.
children singing (they sing). 23 -fheir mother has dreamed a clream in th.
night.

Notes

1 Some dialects make a distinction between

,here,, and.
hu, ,if,. Th.
fa,
others use fa (i.e., bilabial 'f'), for both ,if, and ,here'.
2 Notice that there are two nearly similar nouns (both come fr'm veri
lwala, to be iil)
bolu:etse, malaetse, sickness; and. molwetse, balwetse, sic';

- molwetsi.)
person. (Sometimes
3 ituntila, to be glad; it is also used in giving thanks. (In this latte:
meaning it is generally used in the Perfect tense, u'hich will be dealt with later,
It comes lrom tlie same root as dumdlaa Remember that in consecutive Imperati'es, Setswana does not use tl :
conjunctions ('and') rvhich English generally puts in.
s Use tekgo,wa (or tekgoa) fir 'whiie'rnan,, at present: the words ca
also be literallv translated (and often are), but our grammar cloes not go th::.
length yet.

Lesson l0

45

6
7

'wife' and 'husband' are just mosadi and monna.

This word is variously spelt mpsa (northern B.P.), nt{a, or ntsa. Former spelling was nca, and some orthographies irave used (giving the French
value to 'j') ntja.
e The jang? may come at end of sentence or immediatcly after the verb.
g baya in the Imperative forms biyi, beyeng, instead of the bayi, ba1'eng
rvlrich one nrculd expect. Sometimcs indeed they are spelt Ddi and

beeng.

1 Mqs-fmafte ua tae 6 keB-fte go tsnaya.

T-T. 6
3 Mqseei na
itikpne- tsa gB xra-ebshe.
g+f.egplrg
f re.
gege'
wa
ka
rsege,s*
Ir"&- 5
)+
!ma
that"al
ne- A lraG
ba
ga
-a'litl*ra
6
bolca.slonar
brra
rnegpm+
feng'n$ K-a
5E
7 Ke tJ.ea bdn-a }okwalb ffr-a ea Ttr+&'
mafko :- m-.
TONE-PRACTICE 6

fa ie bana ba lona, bomma. 2 Ga ke a

utiwa mafoko a gago. 3 Bongwanaka, lo ithutileng
+ U tlaa baakanya koloi ya ffie , ie ya
gompieno ?
5 Re tlaa phakela ka moshd, re tsamaea.
gago.
7 Lefoko la
6 Go dpela ga gago ga go a slama.

d
11

-il

It

fi

I
I

fiI

#
&

=
5=1

==

r==

Salang

kgosi le siame sentld.

+6

CONVERSATION

IN

TSWANA

The danger of a text-book on a language is that the stud"ent may depend i

much upon the book itself, and concentrate upon sentences which he can rc,,
or write, to the neglect of the spoken language. No mistake could be more fat...
It is absolutely necessary that the learner should be constantly training his ;by listening, and constantly practising his orvn speaking. Tsu,ana is tota-.
unlike 'classical' languages, in that it is essentially a living spoken language, r.
a body of literature. The study of tone has this aim in view, that the stude,,
should be carefully listening to the spoken language from the beginning of :
stud ies.

Conversation is of course difficult at ttre beginninq, especially with Batsrvr-,

other than one's teacher: for not much can be said within the lirnitccl vocabul;:
at the student's command; nor do people ahvays take care to speak slowly a: distinctly and in short phrases. Common casy conversation is made up of sorts of grammatical constructions rvhich, to a learner, are puzzling and difficu
even although the subjects of it may be the simplest and most ordinary thin.Even for a teacher it takes quite a lot of care and attention to put his thou:
into such a form that the learner will be able to grasp it and to reply to it. Bprogress and success depend upon fighting one's way through these dificulti..

(1) It is most important to keep one's vocabulary in constant rcpair, ne-,.

losing a word that has once been learnt. The student should keep a specnote-book for u.ord lists, and con it frequently. He should also try to make 'nerv sentences of his own after every lesson, practising the newly learnt constru-.
tions with the help of his formerly learnt rvords. A list of the r.vords learned .
far is appended here, and the student could do r'vorse than give himself a thorou.test, to make sure that he has a complete mastery of this material.
(2) Again, for the grammar, writing out paradigms or tables of ver:is very useful. The ne:
moods and tenses, in all persons
constructions
making of such tables helps to impress them upon the memory; and every refe
ence to such a table, to verify some point, is rnore valuable than a reference :
some table or lesson in the book,
(3) Memorised idiomatic phrases, even if imperfectly understood fron
grammar point of view, are very useful to enable one to converse with peop-.
A short list is here given; they should be tone-marked carefully, so that tLwill be memorised in as perfect a form as possible. The grammar of them c;
be ignored; it will be dealt with in due course. By the use of the questic:.
(seld) se ke eng? (what is this thing)? a person can find out many new nour-.
names of common objects: and by using a question of the type, go phahlla ke :
reng ? (what does go phakila mean ?) he can find out the meaning of any u:

familiar verb.

FI
F;
b
d

47
leina Ia (ja) gago ke mang
rrago ke mang, rra?
mmago o kae ?

,'l
ly

)t
It
is
la
ry
rd

ga re itse hzla o ileng

all
llt,

(4) wono Lrsrs so

gs.

Iht

lut

\OUNS:

teng,

FAR

answer, awl, axe, bag, bed, bird, blanket, book, boy, building,

hog, \r.*n,
ecial

eup
ruc-

dso
ough

'erbal
mere
refertce to

mma
eople.

t they
can

estion,
nouns,

rkego

ry un-

we dontt know where she has gone.

cattle, chief, child, cupr day-before-yesterday, disease, doctor,

gir\'
[uilr, utr\-ntsnnrg, \tNtt, ttltt, tn\{" ttt(' too\' toTtst'

ies.

ever

what is your name I

who is your father, sir I
where is your mother I
when will he (she) go to the lands I
do you know Setswana, mma I
I do not know it well.

o tlaa ya leng hwa masimo?

a u itse Setszaana, mma?
ga ke se itse senlli;
he se itse go le gonnye,
I know it a little.
he leka'go se ithuta,
I am trying to learn it.
rnolato ke eng, mma?
what is the trouble (what's wrong) ?
a go na le mae a a rekisiwang ? are there (any) eggs for sale ?
ke smka go a rika,
I want to buy them.
ga go na mae gompieno,
there are no eggs to-day.
u nq le mae,a le kq.e?
how many eggs have you I
,nae a, a lopa,bokae?
these eggs, what do they cost ?
dipodi tse, di tsusa kae?
where do these goats come from I
ga ke itse kzla di tswang teng, I don't know u'here they come from.
mmi o ile hae jaanong?
where has my mother gone now ?
,

t_

"grass,

gtazing' hand' horn' horse' house' knife'

granimother,
*oat, grandfather,
*lut"-ufternoon'
men'
lessoni letter, maker' man' meat' inedjrine' melon'
Li,
nothing'
night'
nid-day, milk, morning, morula' moshu, mother, mud-yall'

porridge'
,:st ichi ox, oxen' pasturl, path, people, plank, plant' plough' ploughing'
road'
river-valley'
t"gi*tnt' riem' river'
po', qrr"aiion, qrri"kn"..,' rain,-

'""d,

*.k,rult,seed,-Setswana;school,sheep,shepherd'shirt'sickness'sick-person'
*irt, song, sorrow' sourness' stone-wall, ieacher' teaching' thief' thing' thread'
white-person' wood'
iree, tribe] truth, uncle, wagon' wall, water, way' well' whip'
uord, work, worker, woman' yesterday'
be-sick' beagree' a9k, answer, bake, bark, be-glad' be-happy'-be-i11'
burn'
build'
thankful, become-broken, become-rotten' believe' -bring'
dig'
destroy'
depart'
3ur, call, chop-down, come, cook, cry' -cure' cut, deceive'
grow'
go-away'
give'
5',*ot, d."*-*ut.r, drink, eat, fall, fell, fetch, get-up-early'
makei*r'|, hear, help, herd, inspan, kill, laugh, learn, like' listen' look' love' make'
preplough'
place'
pierce'
nnise, make-dri.tk, make-ready, manage, milk, obey'
try'
teach'
take'
steal;
sing'
@re, rain, refuse, rernain, right' rise, see, seek' send'

I-ERBS:

wmt, work, write,

Yoke.

ilTHER WORDS:

again, and, as, because'

but' by' for' hard' how ? if' just'

liie-this, like-that' much, nicely' no' now, perhaps, to-day

@-, Sus, very much' well, what, with, yes'

+h

LESSON

11

MO'|ION AND LOCATION: PREPOSI'|IONS

{aN'lotiontoorffomisexpresseclinSetst.ana,irrconjunctirrrrll.ithtlre
trvo components' Oue comverbs of mQtion, by u

rvhich has

"o"st'u"tion
or
(there are several of these), r,vhich, as in English
Ponen! is the preposition
is a suffix which is added to
Latin, precedes the noun: and the other componerrt
called the 'Lncative' ending'
the end of the nciun. 'lhis ending is sometimes
cattle-kraal'
a re )ietry kwa lesakeng, lct us go to the
,lhe .niotion to, is ctrnveyecl by the verb, in conjunction rvith the prepositir,n
noun'
lnuu, atr| i.r'ith the -rrg sulfixed to the
causcd a change of vowel - the {inal
has
suffix
this
that
Note horvever
xn e' A similar change takes piace
vonel d of the worcl lesaka \as ciranged to
thai i and lz $'henever this sulfix or ending is
rvhen the {inal vorvel is any other
usirrg the comtnon prepositirln
to thc noun. F)runiples ttl illustrate this,
acldctl

tnl,

are these :

I,'inal

von'el i,
e,
i,
tl,
,i,
o,
1t'

kr'tbi,
me^e

(u'agon)'

tn koloing,

(u'ater)'

rto

seLiPd (axe)'

lesaka

(kraal)'

lokwald (book)'

ntlo

(house)'

teguPu (nrelon)'

in the rvagon'

metsing, in the 'lvater'

in the axe'
in the kraal'
in the book'
nn ntlttng,2 in the house'
nn lega\ung, in the melon'

mo selePeng,
mo lesaheng,
mo bhwalong,

'lne the conruronest' But'

These tlvo prcp<lsitions, hutu ztlrtl tno'

iu

con-

trasttoEnglishp'"pt''itit"tt'cachofthesecanindicateeither'to'trr
the tlvo is a dilli'from'; cither 'in ttl' or 'out t'f'"fhc distinctitln bettr'een
(like 'to' antl
motion
of
direction
of
the
it is not at all a rlistinction
cult one
'lhe
preposition ftrua
T;;;;t, but a clistinction of the amount of motion.
ol clistance, ri,itlr regarcl to tlre speaker
intlicates gerrerallv a con.siderable clcgrcc
of distlnce, rrnd vcry little, if an-v,
amount
,'r"^pr"p"ri ion inu i[ciicates a srnall
'inside of" or 'outsicle of"
position
rnotion. Hence it inai.ui.. often n,crelv
or 'at', some thing or Piace'
Sctsrvrlna
'lhe 6nl.v $,ay to -a.t", this is irv noting carefully the authentic
:

the usage'
prirctice, ancl trying to understand
to the garden'3
kwa; a re yeng kwa tshimortg' let us gogoing
itl
\-/
to Serorve'
are
we
re ya kwa Seroue,
Kanyc'
from
corne
they
Kanye'
ba tszaa hwa
the oxen are alvay in the veld'
kua iogn'g'
dihgomo di

off you go to school!

yoig h*a seholeng !
batlaasalahzua-*n,akrng,theyrr'illremainatthecattle.post.

lllliii

Lesson 11
(2) mo;

o nosa ditlhare mo.tshimong, he is watering prants

tsinamo

sekoleng

49

in the garden.

go into the school! (the teacher would

tell a child who was playing outside it).

tlung!

tswang mo
come out of the house !
fologa mo setrharing
come down from (or, out
thila metse mo pitseng
pour water into the pot!
mosadi o apaya mo lolwa- the woman is cooking in

of) the treer

the

yard,.

Peng,
ngzpana o

lela mo tlung, the child is crying in (inside) the house.

nhha dikgdli mo kgetsing, take the riems out of the bag.

sometimes, but not often, either ma or kwa can be correctry

used in the same
context:

(u)
(b)

ba rima ditrhare kwa sekgweng, they are cutting trees

in the forest.
ba rirrta ditrhare mo sekgrteng, they are cuttinl
trees in the forest.

But even in such a case as this, (1) would normally imply that
the forest was
far away from the speaker, and (2) would imply that tire
.p"ut", was near, or even

actually in, the forest.

It is arguable that mo, kwa, etc., are not really ,prepositions,. They mighr
be called 'Locatives'. But it is admissible to use the term ,preposition,
if one
remembers that these parts of speech are not exactly
what Englist, prepositions
are, See e.g., Lesson 1,2, I B.

when the prepositions are used in connection with proper

Nouns
or with personar pronouns
there
must
be
inserted
-

names of persons

a go between the preposition and the noun

or pronoun.-

This is exactly parallel to the usage we had in Lesson

r0,

ga ntmi, thipa ya ga

Diile. And' the prop.,

ba tswa kwa go Diile,

he ya kwa go mmi,
ya hwa go rrago,

borwetse

-ng

jwa

suffix.

go to your father"

Place names, however, (see exampres

21

D,

they come from Diile.

I am going to my mother.

either the go or the -zg suffix.

nxnncrsn

noun does not take the

in B (1) above), do not generally

take

Translate into English;

1 Mophatd o tlaa bolola ka mosd, o ya go bolaya tsii kzoa

Z A
yi kzaa sedibeng go ga metse. 3 Monni o traa phak,o o nageng.
yi
hzaa ngaheng.
1 Letsatsi Ie phiri.mite, bo*a, a re gororeng. s A ga ro nke ri ya kwa serozoe
ka Mantaga? 6 Lo tsztsa kae, boima? 5 6 7 n, xwla'ngahala,
*a,
le tsu)a kwa moraheng wa ga Rapura. g Tang ro bdni
mabili,'a tsuta kwa
nasimo maldba.T g
bongwanaka! Lo ttaa ya kae gompieno?
-Dumilang,
10
re

:--5

==

:-_::=

::.:

Batho ba rata go r,bala mo lolzuapeig

senkD

kopi ya me rno

tafoling.B rz

selemd. 1.1 Trina ,no tluig, mma,

Ramadi o a tsamaya, o ya ga senka tird

Lesson

50

11

kz.aa mahgoweng.s 13 Jaanong pula e tlaa na, re tlaa bdna bojang krL* r-"
geng.lo 1+ A di.kgomo di tli! re diegile thata. 15 A ruri re tlan. gitr*:.
kwa legaeng ka mosd? 16 Fa re phaklla, gongwe re tlaa gdrdga maitsebo.,,,
17 A re yeng hwa hgosing, re yi go sika le legodu. lt
18 Dikgoma di hu.,
mo molapong.lz 19 Rri o ya kwa nokeng go hula dihudi. 20 Dipodi ,::
rata go ja ditlhare rno masintong a batho. 21 Re tlaa sala fa, re hula ta:.
fa e tstta mo sekgweng. 22 A malzletsi ga nke a ya gapi kwa ngakeng? 2
Borraetsho ba buile mafoko a bdni maldba kwa kgotleng kwa Taung. 2+ Ga r.

ye

hztsa masimo,

ExERCISE

22

re ya gae,

Translate into Setsu'ana:

1 It is raining, we nill sieep in the house. 2 Shall \\,e not see the children as they come out of school ?
3 If the sun has set, I shall go home.
Where will the herd-boys sleep ?
5 'lhe wagons u'ill arrive at the cattleposts to-morrorv evening. 6 The lions arc destroying Maruapula's oxen a.
the cattle-post" 7 Outspan (plu.) the oxen and let them go to drink at t1:.
river. 8 My child, go to your mother and ask for food. 9 I like mother'.

porridge. 10 We are going home to Molepoloie on N,Ionday. 11 Th.

burningl Come out quickly! 12 Take the meat out of the pot, an:
put the pot in the yard. 13 The men r.vill go to the kgotia to listen to th.
news (mafoko). 74 Go into the house, and look for your medicine. 1:
We shall go to plough at Manthe in spring. 16 Their children wiil not he;
the grrls' songs. 17 Locusts are destroying our gardens, so what shall r.
eat'? 18 f'he doctor will take your tooth out to-morrow morning. 13 1She has waited-for the wagon to come, but it is late (has delayed). 20 G
(plu.) to Diile's mcther, and ask for her pots. Ia
21 We are very sorry (utli,c.:
botlhoko) because you (sing.) are going (will go) to Mafeking. t5
22 Wher.
house is

shall rve go, and what shall we do

Notes

Notice that in every case, under the influence of this -zg ending, thfinal vowel becomes more close than it was
the vowei diagram on p.i 1
- or (see
it moves upwards: a becomes e (not, hou'ever,
l), d becomes e, e becomes i;
becomes o, o becomes z: and i and z, unable to 'move up' remain unchangec
(See Appendix, Article 8, on vowel changes in Tswana.)
2 ntlo, house, w-hen the locative ending is added, often in speech drop:
its initial n- andbecomes tlang. (See Exercise 21, no. 11.)
3 The word tshimo seems to vary in different tribes, from tshimo t.
tshim6; but the locative seems to remain tshimong
- it does not become tshimun:
as one rvould expect from tshimo.
a lolwapa is sometimes shortened to lwapa or, in some places, to lapa.
5 kae, where, always comes after the verb; note also its tones, highmid. There is another Aae (sometimes spelt kaye or hahe), neaning 'how manl- i
the tones of which are the opposite pattern
- low-high.
s The syllabic n, m, r, zg, should be carefully
sounded in all words wher.

Lesson
4-

)r

ii
'!i

V.
,la

ri

di
m
23

te

11

51

they occur : e.g., monna is three syllables, not two : mo-(i)n-na, with the stress upon
the second-last, the syllabic z in this case. mma similarly is two syllables, as
ts ra; and bornnta and borra are each three syllables. Listen carefully; it is
important to get accurate pronunciation of these common words. (See Lesson
5, r A (3).)
7 masimo when used in the locative frequently omits the locative ending
-ng; the word legaeor gae does the same : ke ya gae, I amgoing home.
8 tafole is another imported word (table), like hopi. (bojild, lit. eatingplace, is also used for a table.)
9 makgowa or makgoa are 'r,vhite folk': and when a Motswana goes in
search of work outside the reserves or Protectorates, he is said to go, or to be,

kta

makgoeng.
I

boiang is one of the few Tswana nouns which actually do end in a closed
(Remember it
-ng. The latter is not here a locative ending at

all.

s,vllable, i.e.,

is three syllables, not two.) When the locative ending has to be added to such
a rvord, e.g., 'in the grass', the word becomes either bojangnyeng, or bojangnye.
11 siha is generally used with le, with. 'He will sue me' is, o tlaa sika
le nna. The verb of course does not refer to European legal proceedings, but to
the laying of a complaint or charge before the Chief and his advisers in the public
kgotla or tribal meeting place. But the one who brings the complaint can also
sav, he sekisa legodu, I bring proceedings against the thief.
12 hula can mean, according to its tone-pattern alone, either to graze or

to shoot.

13

'to-morrow morning' is 'to-morrow

in

the mornitg'

mosong.

- ka mosd mo

14
ls

Remember the difference between kopa (or ldpa) and botsa.

'Mafeking' is one of the many corruptions of African place-names:
its proper form is Mafikeng. There were here some well-known rocks, maf.ka, so
rhe place-name became 'at the rocks', kuta Mafikeng,

I A- re yb Ffr-a m"otsi4g,
- lffia gg nsb- 2 Ee
i:sra kwa raelaffs4& Wa EE Rap*f-a. 3 TSne ft t$rnr rt
-"SEyb kopi no taf-oting_. h tr re yeng- ]ffi-a kgt+en. tt
l-T. 7

),
d

kg";t.
-di tlaa

Ya go ga rggtse- kwa sedibesg

lffie eag49:.
beiaas
b'dna

'

DiBpree

TONE-PRACTICE 7

Mmd o apaya dijd mo lolwapeng. 2 A gu lo nke

3 Tlang lo bdnd mabClb
lo ya gape kwa ngakeng ?
a me l. + Koloi e tswa kwa masimo kwa Macheng.
5 Yang gae, bana, letsatsi le phirimile. 6 Ntlo e a
sha! tswang ka bonakd! 7 Rrd o tlaa rdka koloi ya
ga rrago. 8 A ga ba a araba moruti wa bdnd?
1

I
I
I

!ii Jiiliiiliiili 'r " ""

LESSON t2
Vl.RllS OF hIO'I'ION: CONSONANTAL CHANGES

'fhe commonest
are these:

'erbs

of motio*,

some

of which

u,,e

have had aire;:

tla,
!4,

come;
Perfect, t$le or tlile, have come.
go;
ile,
have gone.
tsamaya, go away, depart;
tsamaile, havedeparted.
tswa, come out of, come from;
dule,
have come fron
Isina, go into, enter;
tsenye, have entered.

(1)

F'rom these last two we have two derived transitive verbs:

tsenya, p\t in, put into;

tsentsi, have put in.
ntsha, take out, or put out; ntshilse, have taken (put) out.
tsenya comes from tsina, and means literally to 'make to go i',; simrirntsha comes from tswa and means to 'make to go out', or 'make to come r--.r,

(These are 'Causative' forms of the verb.)

Note that none of these verbs forms its Perfect tense by adding -ile ta :,,,
stem, like the verbs rve have used so far: tla and tswa. are irregular verbs in :",
respect, but the others are types which are quite regular but which we have :j1.
yet studied.

(2) The very common verb tla has a special usage in the exte'ded prer=
indicative, i.e., when it is a simple unqualified statement. Instead of the i.
tla, etc., which we should expect (Lesson 3), we have

,,,

tla, I am coming, re e tla, we are coming,

u e tla, you (sing.) . . .
lo e tla, you (plu.) . .
oetla, he,she...
baetla, they...
he e

'lhe monosyllabic verb swa, die, also generally exhibits this formatior.

I
t

In the last Lesson we saw the use of kz.oa as a preposition standing befor.,,
noun; but it can also be used without any noun following it, and then :
means 'there', 'over there', etc.: ya hwa! go over there! ke tswa kzna, I com
trom yonder. if the hzoa is very much raised in tone it indicates increased d-*,
tance -- 'far away over yonder'.
Its opposite, in this sehse, is kwano, which means ,here,, in the sense :=
'to here', 'to this place': tla kztsano, rra! 'come here, sir!' (mo and rflo teng x+,t
nono c4tr be left over at present.)

fI

For some reason, Tswana finds the syllables li- a..d /z- highly una:ceptable. Put otherwise, we might say that the consonantal sound repr+.

_l

1-

Lesson 12

53

vowels
sented by the letter / strongly dislikes being followed by either of the upper

ioru.

Now we have already seen that when the locative *ffix (-ng) is added to a
noun, it always tends to change the final vowel in an 'upward' direction; and
nouns ending in -/o or -/e, with ihat sufix, would end in -Iung or -ling respectively'
But Tswana dislikes that lu- or /i- so strongly that the consonant itself tends
to resolve or change into another consonant which is very closely allied to it,
but which has no repugnance to these closed upper vowels - i'e" into d'1
This is the reason why a word like pelo, heart, is generally written, in the locative,
these spelmo pedung; and why mmele, body, is similarlywritten mo mmeding;
But the
pronunciations.z
lings seem to represent fairly accurately the actual
of
spelling
style
neither
Probably
spe-llings pelong ind *melrng are also found.
changes')
vowel
(See Appendix, Article 8, on
i* q"itJ

l-

".",rrui*.

'such as this of

I to d, are a feature of setswana.

a little dificult to master, but
are
These 'permutations' of consonants
the student should be on the look-out for them as he increases his vocabulary,
noting their laws and conditions. For example, in the plurals of nouns of
ChssJs yIT (lo- di,) ail. VilI(te- ma-) some permutations occur which are

Consonantal changes,

trpical.

(1) In Class VII,

(a)

Ie

is

amongst other changes, we have these:

a D in the singular changes to a p

lobdni, lamp, candle,

lobala, flat plain,

Dt

(b) , C in the singular

nt

changes to

Iogaga, cave,
Iogong, piece of wood,

.I

(")

an

in the plural
makes diPdni in the plural'
makes dipala, in the Plural.

kg in the plural'

makes d'ikgaga in thq Plural.

makes dihgong in the Plural'

lorud,

changes to a th in the plural

something owned, makes dithud in the plural'

lorah6,

stone wall,

r in the singular

makes dithakd in the Plural.

Xhere are others, not very numerous or important (see W & B', p' 31), of which
aerhaps loleme, tongue, is the most important. The plural is diteme, tongues.
ea

Q) In Class VIII

r in the plural
lesapd, bone, makes marapb in the plural'
lesama, cheek, makes malama in the plural'

an s in the singular changes to an

'it
lne

Es-

of

smcrsB

md

re-

I
+

;F
=
'---=

23

Translate into English:

Tlang hzuano, bana, lo thusD maruti ka

dituld' 2

Mmi le rri ba ile

hzoa

4 Lo tlaa
wwah,eng gompieno. 3 Mosimane o gana go fologa mo setlharing'
5 A
mosd'4
ha
bothologa
phakila
re
,r*,ro1,o" [ing?" Ke a bdna re tlaa
badisa?6
hae,
ile
6
Ba
Morolong'1
w tsiyi tet[aU U phuti, re yl kwa go

Lesson 12
Gongwe ba ile go senka

mmidi. 7

e tlaa utlzua mafoko a baseki ka

A ga ba a ya go batla kwa nageng

E ..
mosd kwa kgotleng.
rriro,g bomnt,i

ruti ua sekole o tsile- 10 o gorogile maabane, a tla ka pitse.te

ga a a tla ha diholoi tsa ga rrago? 12 Ke senkile setuld sa me nxo ii:.
13 Ke a bdna ba ntshitse setuld sa gago, rra. 11 A borri ba tsi.le? Gt;,.
tla; mme ba e tla gompietrc. 15 Fa u dure mo rwapeng rzua ga mmago, :,
rdbala kae ?
1,6 Ke tlaa tsamaya fila, ke ya kwa monfteng *o *r.
17 ._
"j

lo a tsenya tafole mo sekoleng? 18 Montti, re tsentsi ditutd

fita. 19 :
ni tsa rona di a tuka, di tuka setttld; re tlaa bdna go tsamaya ma lefifing. :
monna a fatsi dikgong ka bonalzd, ke rata go apaya bogdbi. 21 Fa pult;
thata, a ga e nke e senya dithakd? 22 pula ga e,ke e senya lorakd, ka ba.
agile ka setena.s 23 I{gaka e rishitse letnd la mosdtli ua ?ne. Z+ A.
fatsa kang, ka mofinytna zra selipi sa ine o robegile?s 25 Bo_Molef :
gae go sika le bo-Magand. 26 Ke tswa go rika ntosese kua benkeleng ya
g.,
thiPa, to

Bxnncrsn

24

Translate into Setsrvana:

1 The lions have entered the caves. 2 stand (pru.) here, ancl .
the lion if it comes out of the cave. 3 Let the girls come out of the sc
let them go into our house. 4 will you (si'g.) rvalh in the forest in the :_
ness ?
5 The chiefs ha'e set out this morning, thev have go'e to vlaf..
6 women, take your water-pots and go to dralv $,ater at the wells. l
(plu.) will pour water into the tank (tanka) in the co*rt-vard. g Nlolatll-.:
people have left (corne out fro'-r) the iou,n, they ha'e go'e to the Aodi

(to the river of Aodi). 9 Come quichiy (to a boy) I I,m coming, mo:
10 To-day I ha'e made a handle for (of) the axe. 11 Ilaven't thel- _.
their houses r'vith bricks ?
12 Do vou rike poiririge of mealies or (got,:,
of mabili? 13 His gurns are (ha'e) srvollen'ery much. 14 The *,,
have come to see the towns of the *hite people" 15 we ha'e milked our
:
(and) nou- we shali drink miik. 16 She is sorry (her heart is ...) hc-_
(ka) her husband has gone far au,av to u'ork :rt vrvburg. tr
17 \\rhat

you (sing.) taken out of mv bag ?

18 The minister has not preached (ta.:.
well to-day; he rviii preach again in the afternoon.r2 lg rhe oxeir
gone out (come out) of thi: r:attlt-kraals, and liave gonr to graze in tlre r:
20 I do not see the duiker, I trrinrr (ke a bina) it has gone into (entt:

the forest. 21 If you come in (plu.), ri,e shal1 go out. 22 Good_,

teachers, horv are you ? \\rhere ha'e vou corne from (pres. tense) to-dav ? ::
have just seen birds killing a snake in a tree. 2..+ l,amps give people
:

at night.
Notes

l, d and, r are three closely related consonants in many African ..

uages; indeed they are sometimes interchangeable. The earlv mission:
wrote the word for God Morima, presumabil, becanse they heard i, .o pron._ _

Lesson

55

12

md: the French and German missionaries of Basutoland and theTransvaalwrote

it Modimo'
fu Nalinn; and Batswana in modern times pronounce
which constitute a subfew
a
very
of
on"
is
a The word mmele (body)

dlrision of class

III,

the mo-'/ne- nouns. Its plural is mebele, which indicates

ffimoriginallythesingularismobele.Butasweshallseeinotherconnections
formation of nouns from verbs'
ffict-"; objlctival p-.ro,,,,', Lesson 16, and
but meb- is allowable'
mm-;
becomes
t *oo 29), an initiil mob- always
.l",c,meaning.when,,alwayscomes(likekae?)attheendofthesentenie.
examples' There is
{F5* the tines of this word - high-low: see Tone-text
;der s'ord. leng, meaning 'what rlgiment' (age-grade)' which has the opposite

itlaa

6go
Dipd-

)A
cna

bba

flrhf,n, low-high.)

i tlaa
b ile

exceptional
mded Present tense, although other words fol1ow the verb; this is an
1-2' on
Article
Appendix'
see
cognition;
of
verbs
tie
mege, and is confined to
ffics rerbs.
JiotealsointhisSentencethatconsecutiveFuturetensesdonotgenerally
mcpat the tlaa after the first verb of the series'

aheabdnausedlikethismeans'.Ithink...,Notethatitistheex-

t Ra-

s See Lesson 5, Note 5.

6 This sentence shows a sort of appositional

shoot

fiool,

F'k-

iking.
You
hegi's

river
rther

built

xrJ"
'goats
ecause

have

rught)

r have
ralley.
rtered)

d-day,

23 I
e light

r langmaries

rloun-

inversion which is fairly

mean 'where
{mnmon; it is exactly equivalent to bail:isa ba ile kae. It does not
?'
hme they gone, O shePherds
Tsetuld,achairofseat,comesfromverbduta;butoftenthewordtakes

fu

form selib.

setena

or

setene,

from Afrikaans, brick'

Here used collectivelY. (A

Tinn"ena sun-dried mud brick is a polwana')

knng is a contraction of ka eng?

s
1o

Lo* ' ' ' is an idiomatic way of expressing

just bought ' ' ''
ffic ltea of Just' oi Just recently' or Just nsry' - 1111s' 'I have
of expressing this in Tswana.) Fot henhele see
he tswa go . ,

. lit.,I

come

(There is however another way

I"cmeon 15, Note 2.
Ir
Most up-country places in S. Africa have two names - an English
that area' Thus
m' Afrikaans name and an African name in the language of

T'ryburgisHuhud.i,PretoriaisTshwane,BloemfonteinisMangaung'etc'
- 12 ,minister'
(of a church) is moruti wa phuthigb, teacher of.the church;
howeverheisgenerallyjustmoruti,andaschoolteacherisdesignated

In
n|rdi wa sekole, or, *rrch oftener, moruta-bana, i'e'' 'children-teacher"
or
thichara
oJ.s. the word nxorutintshi is used also; and the Tswana-isations the word
use
ffioa and mistirisi (mistress) are fairly common' The Bakgatla

npho

or mogokane for a teacher.

lThe

wo:ra phuthAgd,

from verb phuth\ga' to come together' means literally

word 'ecclesia'
a.grthering, of people,"thus corresponding very closely to the Greek
out")
a'calling
lit', originally'
i,14fu tSt IO, +t;, an assembly or congregation Perfect
the
in
13 Frequently, us in thi, ."urnpl", the second of two verbs
kobd,
thNe assumes a Past tense form: you can say either manna o tsile o rekile
blanket'
the
w nnwt o tsile a rika kobb, for, the man has come and bought

Lesson 12

8. I Mosln_ane b Eana ee fe-1oea nO set:harj*g=

T-1_
,
2 U tsil-s
pk
maabane, ffie o.. tte-a tsemayg-Leng_ ?
t1a-3a ffia noTThagvl6x0-. L Rnaeg, b.owe, molu*k

6' t-s-ile.
nostrong ra

Ue"ka

e *rts-h:itise ldnb- G sonna- 6

diffLe diLiri tsa

ToNE-pRAcrrcE

k-=

ron+.

1 Lo tlaa lema ka_.9ng kwa tshimongl

2 Bana, tluo=
kwano ; tlang le dikwald tsa lona. 3 Ba ile go batl*
tird kwa Makgoweng. + U ntshitse eng mo kgetsins
ya mel 5 Fa lo tsdna, re tlaa tswa.
6 Ke a bdnc
phuti e tsenyelmo sekgweng.

i: ti:ltit:

F
57

LESSON
PERFECT T'ENSE FORMATIONS (1)

13
OBJECTTVAL pRoNouNS (1)

we saw in Lesson 9 that the Perfect is formed by changing the final -a

of the Present tense to -ile, accompanied in some cases by a change in the
vowel. But this, although the commonest, is not by any means the only

wev in which Setswana verbs form their Perfects.

Taking first the verbs which end in *la, we find three difierent wavs in which

r*.

Perfect is formed.

-Ja

becomes

-dile.

tr'Iany two-syllable verbs ending in -/a (in the Present) form the Perfect by

ctaoging this into -dile, thus:

bala, read,
kwala,

bdla,

becomes

badile in the Perfect-

write,

kztadile.

decay,

bodile.

This apparently irregular formation has the same explanation as the change
mhich we found in last Lesson (12), rvhere what should be mmeling becomes mme&; ttrat is, the incompatibility of the consonatt I with either of the upper
mels j'or zr. Here in this case of formation of the perfect tense, the -a woultl
hccome-z%, therefore balashouldmake balile
- but to avoid that -Ii- in the lvord
ffic onsonant changes to d, and we have badite.
Some other common verbs which form their perfects in this way are

fila,

-Ia

becomes

gola, hdla, hula, jala, lela, mela.

-fse.

l:erbs of three or more syllables ending in -raform the perfect by changing

ilfldr-lc into -tse. But there are three distinct sub-divisions in this group.

(l)

verbs ending in

um*ubdivision.

-ila

d?ilo,

sing,

itumila,

be

make -etse

in the perfect; this is the most impor-

becomes opetse in the perfect.

onogila, receive,

glad,

amogetse,

itumetse.

ahoa few two-syllable verbs have Perfects of this type; e.g., slla (pick up)
qn&m rctre (or sedile), and thila (pour) makes thetse. (Arso zpila,
zaetse, and. jiia,
,dhe-)

!{dice that the penultimate vowel of the stem changes from

to

e.

58

Lesson 13
(2)

Verbs ending in -ala also make _etse in the perfect:

rbbala, go to sleep, becomes rabetse in the perfect.

And a few dissyllahic verbs arso
(lie dorvn) becomes letse,sala(remai:
- rara/zrlelse.
becomes setse, and lwala (be ill) becomes

(3)

Verbs ending in -ola make ,otsl in the perfecr:

golola,
bolola,

make free, outspau oxen,

set out

with a fer'v dissyllabic

II

verbs

becomes rofsl.

becomes golotsi in the perfec

bolotsi.

e.g., rola (take something

of

heacl or 1e..

Hence, until the verbs are knorvn, one cannot tell in nhich
rvay a particui:
verb rn'ill form its Perfect simpiy by noticing that it ends in la-

,a/a

becomes

-ajle

or

-ej/e.

verbs cnding in -aya, of whicrr

in either of tll'o ways:

(1)

bolaya, kill,

r,ve

have had se'erar arready, form the perf.

becomes bol.aile in the perfect.

tsamaya, go away,

tsamaile.

(2) naya, give, becomes neile in the perfect.

baya,

place, put,

apaya,

beile.

cook,

apeile.

(The common verb tsaya, lake, is irregular; its perfect is tsere..)

Notice that rhe only diference in these two subdivisions is in the
vo*..
which precedes the -ile
either a or e. These two sets of verbs also fo'n tht :
negative Present tense in a corresponding way:
ga ke tsamaye,
The

and gake holaye: but, ga ke rrc1te (or nee), ga.

lar.v therefore is

that verbs which

ke

beye, ga

ke

ape.,,

-aile in the perfect make _a:.

in the negative Present tense; and those rvhich make
-eile in the p;rf; m;.,
-eye or -ee in the negative present tense.

Itr A
English'

make

The object of an acti'e or transitive verb need not necessarily

be expresst_
in full, by a noun, or a verb in the Infinitive: it may take,h"
for,',

of a pronoun. such 'objectival pronouns' or ,bbjectival

ur,

concorc.

vary according to the class of the noun which they stand

for o. .epresent _ ,_
is the case with the subjectivar pronouns (Lesson 7).
They are, indeed, identic.
in form with them, except in the case of the singulars of classes
I and II, ar__
these we shall leave aside for the present. The personal
objectival prorrou.,. _
me, him, us, them, you
will be taken by themselves in u future

t"*u.r.

badisa ba bolaile dikgomo, the herdsmen have killed

the cattle:
ba di bolaile,
they have killed them
i."., the cattle.
mosadi o apeile bogdbi,
the woman has cooked

-porridge:

Lesson 13
bo apeile,
monna o remile setlhare,
o S remile,
o
I
I

59

she has cooked it

- i.e., the porridge.
the man has felled the tree;
he has felled it, i.e., the tree.

ftn)
*

These Objectival pronouns or concords always come before the verb, as

in these above examples, r'hereas the full object (noun, etc.) always comes
after the verb. It arises from this fact that, in the case of the present tense, the
i;tual rerb-word often ends the phrase or sentence, and hence is in the Extended
::,rrn.

h.t)
rrle

ke batla dikgomo,
ke a di batla,

I am looking for tlie cattle.

I am looking for them.

But rvhen anything follows the verb, the Extended form is dropped;
he di batla

fect

thata, I am looking

for them hard.

Other examples of this usage are as follows:

roka

mosese,

o e roka

sentli,

mesese ke e rokile,
ga ke a e roka,

she is sewing a dress : o a o roka, she is sewing

she is sewing them (dresses, mesese) nicely.
the dresses, I have sewed them.
I have not sewed them.

it.

It rvill make things a little clearer, henceforth, if we write the extended Present
:,ujunctively: the above phrases will then be, kea di batla, ga kea e roka, oa e roka,
m-el

::c.

(See Appendix, Article 2.)

heir

.t+rcrsa
eye.

eje
ake

sed

sin
:ds'

-as
lcal

rnd

25

Translate into English:

1 Tsala ya me o itumetse thata go bdna digomo tsa gagzai.t z 2 Re

:;eE di bdna ka maphakila m,o lesakeng hwa morakeng.3 3 A ga loa bala
-,*,krald lrta me, bomma? 4 Lokzaatd re lo badile maabane, rra.4 5 Mma;g':i o iteile mosimane mo lu:apeng,s 6 Ke utlwa dindnyane di lela mo ditlha'rrg. 7 Bomankgodi ba tshzaenya (chwenya) dtkgogo tsa ga mmi.6 7 g
Rri o tsere tlhdbdld ya gagwi go ba hula. 9 o hudile dihudi maabane kwa
r,^bcng. 10 U bolaileng, rra? Ke bolaile tshiphi kzoa lobaleng, kwa. 11
Rt golotsi maabane maitseboya, mme gompiyeno dihgomo di timetse.B 1,2 A
? Nnyaa, ga aa rdbala. s 13 seme sa me, lo se beile hae ? a
garea se tsenya mo koloing?t 1-5 Fa lo se tsentsi mo tlung, ke tlaa se
:r:qa lang, ka mong wa ntlo o tsamailelts 16 Ke utlule dimpsa di bogola borigo.
-- Gongzae di bogotsi ka di utlule ditau mo sehgweng. 18 Ke arnogetse ni6
t:wpiyeno, e tswa kwa go mmi. 19 Ditsala tsa me kea di rata; ke di rata
rru"bgt:eetsi o robetse

--r

^1

:ir."ita. 20

Ngwana

neile

o setse kzoa

ha a godile jaanong. 2I Re
motshegare. 22 N6ga e lomile
thupa. 23 Mabili a fedite; mmidi o

morakeng,

bogdbi mo mosong, mme legodu le bo utsule

rnasadi mo lonaung, mme o e bolaile ha

{ac,f}la ka mosd.8

-:=
=
==
E=-

Lesso"n 13

60

nxnnctsr

26

Translate into Setswana:

fhe dog has bitten the driver's hand, because (ha) he has struck it.
discr-rssions finished ? (lit., the words have they not . . .)
3 .a
owncrs of the n,ago' have lefi it in the road. ,f Didn't you (have you not
see the springbok (plu.) in the plains yesterdav I
5 -fhe goats
Are not the

aie lost (h"

strayed), boys,
straveo.),
Doys' do not delay to go to seek them.
them.
6 The women ha'e plougi,.
their fi-ids and have sorved mealies and kaffir-corn. 7 when did vou
you ger
ser :ietter ?
I Call (sine.) your father quickiy, the boy has taken my things.
'r'hc rnen have outspanned the oxen, and have cooked
porridge. 10 T:..
will eat it quickly, for the sun has set. 11 Don't (plu.) enter the house,::,
child is asleep. 12 The woman has left her waterpot at the river. 13 S:
will gt, to get (rake) it in the evening. lq Have you (sing.) not shot ducli ,
u'ith my gu' ?
15 where have the sick people gone ? 16 Their feet h:srvollen, foi-they have walked alot (thata). 17 Let them not give the teaci..

my books. 18 I *'ant (rata) to read them again. 19 where do

'i_
friends come from ?
20 Mogamiotsile has remained at home with his gran:.
rnother, but his father and mother have gone arvay. zr If the oxen come :
day, the ou,ner of the wagon wiil inspan i' the afternoon. 22 Get up ea.
in the morning, girls, as you ha'e done to-day. 23 Her mother's melons h=.,
finished, but mine have not finished. 2+ He has left his gun in the hou-.
but it is not right to leave it thus. zs on Monday oneile (has) killed d. sn:ri:
with Rabojang's stick, he struck (Perf.) it on the

head.

Notes

o'e could also say tsala ya me e itumetse . . . tsa ydnd; but

haps more natural to take tsala ya me as a Class I or personal noun.
2

itutnila is generally, as here, used in the perfect to indicate a

present or continuing joy.

it

is p.:-

state

Note the rwo allied words, resaka (pru. maraka), and moraka (pi,

nteraka); also mo, in, and kzoa, at.

a rypical oppositional usage; see, e.g., Rev. 2: 2 in setswana Bibr.
Kea di itse, ditird tsa gago
I know them, your works, i.e., I know your wor!=
5 There are three -commonly used forms of this word ilaya,
ntar;
and ditaya.
6 mankgodi

nkgodi.

or

man.kgwedi

is a kestrel or

kite.

Class

II

noun, plu. 6om;-

7 kgogo or hoko is the general term for domestic fowls, cocks and her-.
The former rvord is held to be authentic for south and East Batswana trib*
(D. M. Ramoshoana); the latter is more general in B.p.
Note that this is not an imported word from Engtish or Afrikaans: it occu:,
in most of the Bantu languages (over 200) in one form or another, from the souti-,
ern Sudan to the Cape Province of S.A. (See Appendix, Article 13.)
e ilmila, rdbala and fila are all Initiative verbs; in the Infinitive c_Present tense they connote an initial action or movement, not a state, conditio:
rrr position. timila is to go astray, so its Perfect means ,has gone astray', i.e.

Lesson

13

61

is astray, is lost. rdbala is to fall asleep, or to go to sleep; so its Perfect

'has gone asleep', i.e., is asleep, is sleeping. fila is to come to an end;

means
so the

Perfect means 'has come to an end', i.e., is finished.

e mong (sometimes spelt mung) plu. beng, is another word which ends in

he closed syllable -ng.

T-T
A
I Bad'fsa ba dS belaite kWa nageng.. 2 !&Tra'
a
3 Mosese wa
th-usr ngr{anakb, tioga e me lomAns lenea.
Gaa
U Aoadtbatl+?
me, ke e rrcldls reabanerane
dt be1,1-. 5 Thipa ya- nts Io -e trei-l-e kae- ?
uogbub jna Iofta' l-o ba ji ka benakh, bongr+anaJ<a-

TONE-PRACTICE 9

1 A ga re a se baya mo tlung ? 2 Ditsala tsa me ke

di rati thata. 3 Mabele gu u a fdla, mme mmidi o
fedile gompieno. 4 Dinku tsa gagwd di timetse. 5
Se tsdi6 mo tlung , rra, ngwana o robetse. 6 Rrd o
tsamaile, mme mmd o setse mo gae.

62

LESSON I4
VERB .TO BE', IN{PERSONAL: INTERROGATIVES AND
DEMONSTRATIVES

fna

verb 'to be' has several forms and functions in Setswana. In thL
Lesson we will deal only with two of these, the commonest forms, ani
confine ourselves to the Present tense.

A very comon usage is represented in the words, ke setlltare'it is a tree':

in the negative, 'it is not a tree', this becomes ga se setlhare. Here the
s, represents the English 'it-is'. (It can also represent 'they-are', for there
Ao plural form quite corresponding.) Notice also that the negative is ga se fc..
i_o

ningular or plural:
ke ditlhare, they are ftees; ga se ditlhare, they are not trees.
(And note that the tone of this Ae is high, which distinguishes it in a simplr
statement from the Ae meaning 'I'. But remember that ke meaning'I' can alv,
be high-tone when it follows the low-tone negative ga. The tone of the negatirt
se, following the low-tone negative ga, is also high.)

Another form of the verb (16 fe'

the fact of someone being somethin:or not being something
is expressed thus :
ke

u
o

moruti, I

moruti,
moruti,

am a teacher; ga ke moruti, I am not a teacher.

you are . . .
ga u morttti, you are not . . .
he is a . . .
ga a moruti, he is not , . .

But more often the third person, although rvith a very slight change of meacing, is ke ,noruti, and ga

baruti,
lo baruti,
re

ba

baruti,

se

moruti,

we are teachers; ga re baruti, we are not teachers.

you are . . .
ga lo baruti, you are not . . .
they are . . .
ga ba baruti., they are not . . .

But, as in singular, the 3rd pers. plu. is more often ke baruti, or ga se baru:;In these forms, the personal subjectival pronouns or concords seem to i,ncorporate in themselves the significance of the verb,

Note the usage

Setswana).
ke rnang

u mang

? who am I

he mang
o mang

of the Interrogative 'u'ho ?' (singular and plural differ

who are you I (sing.)

? who is it

who is .he I i.e.,

this person.

re bomang

rvho are we

::
?

lo bomang? u,'ho are you ? (plu.)

ke bomang? who are they ?
ba bamang

rvho are they

people.)

I (i.e.

thw;
=:

Lesson

14

63

There are four distinct Demonstratives in Setswana, of which three

II

are

in common use.
e, this sack; kgetse e-o, that sack beside you; hgetse eJe, that sack
yonaer. Notice that these denote degrees of nearness or position relative to
ih" speuke, and person spoken to. The other form, not so common, is kgetse
hgetse

e-nO, this very sack here.. it is not so much used, for generally kgetse e expresses
'this here' with suftcient emphasis.
These demonstrative"s (they are often regarded as pronouns, but are much
ntlarer to adjectives both in sense and usage), correspond (like the pronouns and
concords) with the prefixes of the noun Classes.

that
Class this that
near me near You Yonder
yoo't
I yo 1
Yole
yoo
II yo
Yole
ole
ooo
III

ooo
e
se
lo

IV

v
VI
VII

ole
ele

eo2
seo

sele

loo

lole

tt(ie) leo(jeo) lele(iele)

lole
loo
lo
jo
iolt
ioo
mole
moo
nn

WII
VIIIA

IX

In the older

these
me
ba
ba
e
a
tse
tse
tse
a
a
a
a

near

those
you

near

those

Yonder

bao
bao
eoz
ao
tseo
tseo
tseo
ao
ao
ao
ao

bale
bale
ele

ale
tsele

tsele
tsele

ale
ale
ale
ale

books the demonstratives for 'that/those near you' were written

eoud, seud, tseud, baud, etc' This is still

in a lengthened form with a u in it

heard in the southern dialects of Setswana, in the Union'

ExERcISE

27

Translate into English:

2 Motho yole ke mang?

bosigo, di duma mo sekgzaeng !
ga
se Bakwena? 4 Ee,
?
A
bate
basadi
kae,
tswa
Ba
3
molaud.i.
Kea b6na ke
5 Seld se, ke eng,
Macheng.3
kuta
tswa
ba
maabane
gorogile
he Bakzoena, ba tsele ke dihudi?
dindnyane
A
7
rra.
gago,
lwa
Ke
lofuitald
6
bongwanaka?
I

Ditau re di utlule

"Nnyaa,

ga se dihudi, ke dindnyane tsa noka

10

fila'

Rra, tsaya marumd ao'

u tlaa di bdna kztta

lobaleng lole'
yi go
72 Ngaka
ole.
motsing
kwa
tswa
lo
gompieno,
lo
lokutald
amogila
ll' Ii.e tswa go
mma'
a
gago'
ao
Magapu
13
thata'
jo,
batho
bolaile
bo
ga e rate bolwetse
se moruti'
yo
ga
(J
jalo,
tnonna
rra,
wa
bua
ka
se
14
a
me.
a,
a gaisa magapu
i fr;no"ti gago ke mang, mrna?s 1,6 Leina ja me he Motlalepula. 17
A mosimane yi a imi fa; ke tlaa bitsa basimane bale. 18 Tlisa dikopi tseo, mma,
u di biyi mo tafoling e. 19 Monna, a ga u mosirnane wa ga Tirili? 20
Nnyaa, morina, ke ngzoana wa ga Maduba; he tsile go rekisa kgogo e'6 21'

tsima diphdtdgdld.

Gongwe

Lesson

6+

14

hgogo ya ga mang? 22 Ga ke e senke gompiyeno, ke senha mae fila.

23
Letsatsi je, ke letsatsi ja boitumilo, ha-go-bo ditsala tsa rona di gorogile.T 2+
Re itumetse thata go di bina. 25 Mong zna dild tse, ke mang? a ga a nke a di
tsaya? 26 Mafoko ao, a gago, rra, ga ke a rate. 27 A ga u bone tshiphi
ele, e eme kafa setlharing? a

Ke

:!
j:

,i:

rxEncrsE

:i,

{
ii..

lli

fr
lfr'

tr

i:.i

&i

tH.

;i.

3
JI

ii'
:ir

,!

Translate into Setswana;

1 John, do you see that wagon yonder ? 2 Yes, I see it, it is going
(: in) the road. 3 Take this flour, and cook it ; and that meat of
yours, cook it.
4 As you have received these letters, when will you reply
to (answer) them ? 5 They have taken my lamps; where have they put
them ?
6 Are theiy melons, these things ? 7 No, they are not melons.
they are pumpkins. 8 Where are these girls of yours ? What are their names i
('who' are their names). 9 My father has killed this duck, he has shot it with
his gun. 10 Mother will cook it to-morrow in her pot. 11 Let us (two)
take these books, and our mother's, let us go to church, 12 Don't let the
sheep and goats go into the forest (lit., the s. and g. let them not go . . .); they
will stray if they enter it.
13 These oxen of Morolong's don't pull hard1+ I want (rata) to speak with those boys, they have struck this dog of mine15 He has left his whip at the cattle-post. 16 Will you (plu.) not sell ::
this pumpkin ? I (would) like (rata) to buy it.
17 The magistrate has gone :
to hunt game (diphdldgdld) on these plains yonder. 18 Who is that woman
along

!i{

rf
:,
:
i.,i

28

il
l

She is my grandmother.
The girl has come to sell these

there

2Q

mine. 22

19

This, is it not flour ? No, it is mabeleeggs. 21 This knife of John's is better

I It is goat's meat (flesh).

The teacher is standing beside the door, and calling the children.
than (gaisa)

Do you like this meat

2:

Notes
t In the 1910 Orthography

yo, yoo, and yole rvere spelt as eo, eoud, ani =

=
eole; they appear so still in Bible, Dictionary, etc.
=
2 This eo is two distinct vowel syllables.
3 Note the way the tenses follorv each other here. One couid translate, =
=
'they arrived . . . coming from Macheng.' But the idiomatic English translatioa E
is 'they arrived . . . from Macheng', In such a case, Tswana has to put in thr
verb tsuta (come) before kzua Macheng; you cannot say ba gorogile . . . kwa Ma- =
=
cheng, that wouid mean nothing.
4 lerumd, m.arum6, originally (and still) meaning a spear, is to-day ul* =
used for a bullet or cartridge. (A spent cartridge-case is a 'paterone'.) Th
==
word segai (Zulu assegai) is also used for spear.

'Who is your name ?' not 'What is your name i :

morina (from verb rina, to rule or have authority) is commonly used E
in polite address to any superior, where we would say 'sir'. Apart from use is ==the vocative, as address to a superior, it is used as the designation of a chief:,E

5
6

Setswana always says

B.P. African Advisory Council (1947) recommended that

chiefs.

The word is also used for 'Lord'

in the New

it be reserved 16r luli'S

=
Testament usage (Gre* ====

Lesson 14

65

'kurios'), and Sunday is frequently called letsatsi la Morina, generally shortened

to Lamorina.*
7 hagobo, for, because, is generally now written as one word'
8 eme is the Perfect of ima, to stand up or take a stand (Initiative); so
means 'is standing'.

T-T. tO 1 Tlisa lol{wefb }oo-, ke rata go 1+ bbna- 2

Sil-rs, Ir qqg, bada" ? K lelswai' mon*i. 3 A ga
u bons lshbpkb ele- ? l+ A nonr,+ yo k Rgaf{a- ya dikgoma ?
i Bin.onyane l51q, -a ga se iLi'ML ? 6 Pe.lq
ya me e botlhoke th$a.
7 Mot,s:: +' Ire vra ga ftsg; ?
TONE-PRACTICE

1O

1 Motho yole ke mang? ke a bdna ke molaodi- 2

Leina la gago ke mang,-ffa? 3 U mangl a u moruti
dikgetse tseo mo koloing, lo di
wa sekole"? 4 Ntshing-Ke
utlule botlhoko mo pedung.
5
bdyd mo tlung e.
"
6 Ga ke ra{e bogdbe joo jwa gago. 7 Mae ke a,
autlaaareka?

* There is an intriguing similarity between the Aramaic _expression 'Maranatha' in

1 Corinthians 76:22 -=whiih should'probably be divided'Marana tha" and seems to

be an invocation meaning'Lord,

come'-

and

iti

Setswana eguivalent, 'N{orena, tla.'

Itu

llil

ilt
li
li
t'

66
i

LESSON
VERBS .TO BE', .TO HAVE'

15

: EMPHATIC PRONOUNS

lfn. two forms of the verb 'to be' which we had in Lesson 14 are realiv
not authentic forms of that verb. They might be treated as ,border-linl

cases',

in that they imply rather than express the actual verb.

The real verb 'to be'

use, but

'to sit'

in

setswana is go.nna. It is not in very common

explains what now follor,vs. The verb also means
this is perhaps its original meaning.

it should be noted

as

it

go nna motho,
he tlaa nna moruti,
ga nke ke nna moruti,
he tlaa nna

fa,

to be

a person, a human being.

I shall be a teacher.
I shall not be a teacherI shall sit here.

The Perfect of this nna is ntse, but it will be dealt with later. other cases of
the use of nna can be seen from the following examples from the New Testament:
. . . gore ba nni le Yesu, . . . thar they might be with
Jesus (Mk. 3: l4).
' . . ba ne ba nna le Yesu, they had been (lit., they were) with Jesus (Acts
...fogo hanna jalo,
... if it can be so (I peter t: tZ!.

4: 13).

From this develops a set of forms which, apparently meaning originally ,to
be with . . .' have come to mean .to have . . .'

he na le thipa,
I have a knife; I have got a knife.
ga he na thipa,
I have not a knife, or, f have no knife.
baruti ba na le dikwald, the teachers have (have got) books.
baruti ga ba na dikwald, the teachers have not got books.
koloi e na le maoto,
the wagon has wheels.
ga e na maoto,
it has no wheels, it has not got wheels.

Now, there is a common idiomatic usage, intermediate between the usages

mentioned in 'A' and 'B' above. when, instead of the subjectival pronouns' we have the impersonal pronoun go the phrase conveys the sense of ,there
is . . .' or ,there are . . .' Thus:
.

go na le thipa no tafoling,
ga go na thipa mo tafoling,
go na le batho mo tlung,
a go na le metse mo sedibeng Z

there is a knife on the table.

there is not a knife on the table.
there are people in the house.
is there water in the well ?

Note particularly that this go na le . .. is not the Infinitiv e of ke na Ie , . .

although in form it looks like that. we will find this so-called ,impersooa!'

tl
:l

Lesson 15

67

in other-connections. It is higher in tone than the go rvhich indicrtes

the Infinitive of a verb.

go

again

The Emphatic Pronouns. In addition to the subjectival and the com-

monobjectivalpronouns,thereareinSetswanaspeciallongerprono.

I
minal forms, for each ,roun-.lu.r, which are best called 'Emphatic Pronouns''
They can be used either subjectivally, in apposition to the noun or pronoun which
examples'
is the subject of the verb, or objectivally. Their usage can be seen from

a lona loa tsamaya? rona re sala mo gae: Lte you going away ? Wetre staying at
'lhe
home. (Lit., are you you going away ? We we are staying at home')
lana and the rona add emphasis to the /o and the re, without r'vhich the phrase

t'ould be more indefinite.

I want You. Burit is You I want'

senka;
he senka wdna;
u ilirang, wina?
nna, ke bua jalo;

kea gu

-+

what are you doing, you

baruti bdni, ba buile ialo;

mme dni ga aa bua sepi;

The Personal emphatic pronouns are these

me,
you (sing.),
ini,or ina, he, him; she, her.
nna,
ztsina,
It

I, I say so (I, for my part' say so)'

the teachers have spoken so;
but as for him he has not said anything'

I,

Tona,
lona,

we' us'
You (Plu'),
bdnd, or bdna, they, lhent

is these pronouns which are used with Ae,

it is, thus:

ke rona, it is u'e;
nna, it is I;
ke lona, it is You;
you;
it is
ke bdni, it is theY'
she;
ini it is he,

ke
he wdna,
he

(Compare these rvith the pronouns of possession, in Lesson 10)'

The emphatic pronouns for all the noun Classes are as follorvs:

Class
I
II
III
IV

Plural

Singular

moruti
nche

ini
ini

baruti
bonche

bdni
bdni

molaPd
morula.

dni
dni

melapd

ydni

IVa

V
Va

VI
VII

kgomo ydni

marula
lorula

adni, dn
lbni

dihgomo tsdni
magomo adni,6n)

selipi sdni, shdni diliPd

dihwald
lokwald ldni

tsdni
tsdni

Lesson

68

VIII legapu ldni, jdni

VIIIa lolwapa tdni
IX bolwetse jdni
X go lema g6fu

1S

maga?u a6ni,6ni
malztsapa adni, dni

malwetse adni, dni

malemd adil,

dni.

In the south, and amongst the Bakgatla, the final vowel of these pronouns
generally a
ydna, Idna, etc.

a ke setlhare? ee, ke
a he ditlhare? ee, ke
nnyaa, ga se tsdni;

sdni;

tsdni;

Is it a tree ? yes, it is (it).

are they trees ? yes, they are.
no, they are not (trees). (Lit.,

rs

it is not them.i

Note that, r.vhen the prepositions are used with these pronouns * e.g..
expressing 'to it', 'from them', etc.,
the go must be inserted, as it is u,hei
- (Lesson
prepositions are used with proper nouns
11, C) :
a ngzuana o mo ntlung ? ee, o mo go ydni; Is the child

EXERcISE

1,

29

. yS, he is in it.

Translate into English;

Ga go na sukiri mo benkeleng letsatsi jeno ! z

Z
Rona ga re nrt mabili, lefa e le mmidLs

ya go b:dna fa g,
+ A u na le ma.i:
a go duila podi ytt me?a 5 Ga ke na madi, rra, madi a me a
fetrile. r
Diphdldgdld tsele, a ga se ditshiphi? 7 l{nyaa, ga se tsdni, ke dipodi
firu
na le

dijd. 3

8 Mosimsne yo, o lebetse go nosa ditlhare tse. 9 Rra, gd go na ?iletse mo tattkeng, re tlaa nosa jartg? 10 A metse a bedile, ng*oninn? s
11 Nnyan.
mtna, ga go na dihgang; metse ga aa bela. 1,2 Rapula,
tlikgong
lseo.
u di tsenyi mo kitsheneng.2 6 13 Ditshipi tse, di na rifatsa
tird
eig?z e

la
1+ Di tlogili, ga di na tird.s 15 Banna ba traa phahita ba ya kwa
masimo.
ba na le dikgomo.lo 16 Koloi ydni ga ba nke bi e tsaya, kogobo
e robegilt
leoto.tl 17 Fa u ithuta thata thata, u tla nna ngaka. 1d Bafuetse bc

ya bdni. 1,9 Ga re senhe mafoko a bitho bao, re senka go utrzra

mma. 20 Tla kzuano, wina, u tlisd lohwald ho lzna gago. Zl -j
gouna podi, lefa e le nku, lefa e le kgogo? 22 Dikgomo n umiti, mme modi.,a
wa tsdni o ile go di batla. 23 Mung wa pitse o e tlogetse *o ,ngrog, kagobo c
tshabile ditau bosigo. 2+ Bogdbi bo budure, m?ne n"ama ydnd g:a ea butszaa. 12
25 A ga ua baya diphati tsa me mo bolaong? 26 Ee, mma,-ke di beilemogc.
duetse melemd

a gago,

jdni.

rxsnclsr

30

Translate into Setswana:

1 This girl will be a teacher, but I wil be a minister. (Lesson 12, Note 12
2 rf a person is sick he goes to the doetor" 3 The doctor heals people
because he has medicines. 4 This medicine, it is no use. 5 If the
porridge is ready, pour it into rhe plates (poteite).z 6 There are no tabies
or chairs. 7 What will the people sit on I (mo go eng?) g your father
will shoot a buck and make a sleeping-m at of (ka) its st in. ' s rake this sack

lili

Lesson

15

69

,i corn and sell it at the store. 10 come out of the kitchen, boys, I want
:, cook. 11 The children have approached the wood, but they have not
:ntered it'
1'2 Run arvay (tsamaya) , boy, leave these things here. 13
Sit here (plu.), I shali not forget to come again. 1r rhe rvater is boiling,
'.'rat shall I do with it ? 1-5 Do you not hear the bell ringing
? 16 We
:rall not go to church to-day. 17 what are you (plu.) afraid of (tshaba) l
-\ These rvorkmen rvill soon prepare the wheels of the wagon. 19 rhe
-rildren are glad because there are no lessons this afternoon (rnitseboan.o). 20
Lct the towls (dihgogo] go into the yard (Imperative). 21 I don't like sugar,
rut she likes it very much. 22 Have you lorgotten (sing.) to pay for vour
:ooks

23

We have no books, we have not bought them.

)iotes

1 Doke, in B" L. T., uses the name ,Absoiute pronouns, fbr these, but
:irnits that they are often used to give emphasis. on the whole, the r,vord ,Emrhatic' best describes their nature and function in Tsrvana.
2 sukiri (sttkere) , benkele (bentlele) (Afrikaans 'winkel'), .poleite, kitshene,
.re all imported words; sugar, sirop or store, plate, ancl kitchen. (The A in such
':r importation generally becomes a ll; e.g., class becomes tlelase.)
3 lefa e le '.. means 'nor', in the construction'no... nor...'or ''either
... nor...' (Itcan also beused byitself
le sepi!
to denote theentire

rbsence of something; 'not a single thing'.)-kfae

Tswana generally inserts a possessive concord, as here; Iiterally,

for...', r.vhere English rvould say, ,rnoney to pay for...,
5 metse (water) has a for its subjective pronoun, possessive concord,
and
.r:monstrative: metse (towns) has e.
6 fa*a is to chop up wood, e"g., as firervood.
7 tshipi means either iron or a piece of iro'; ditshipi, pieces or articles
r; iro'. ('lhe word has also come to mean 'sunday', since that was the day when
i:e 'iron' was struck the iron wagon-wheei axle or tyre that was hung on a
::ee near the church, -and used as a bell on sundays to call people to church.)
e di na le tt)rd (and similar phrases) are idioms meaning- 'be useful,, ,have
. use'. so di na le tird ya eng? Lit., they have use of rvhat, means,whatuse are
:::er. i' or 'what are thev for I' and ga di na tird means 'they are no
good, they
.:e of no use'.
':noney of to pay

tlogila is to 'leave (something) alone'; it does not mean 'leave, in the

::transitive sense of someone departing "* e.g., as a train, or a person ,leaving,

: : a certain destination.
r0 ba na le dikgomo, lit., they have the oxen, i.e., with the oxen.
I e robegile leoto is very like the English usage, 'the wagon has broken
1

.',''heel'. one could also say, more explicitly but less idiomatically,
..

leoto Ia

- t'.ti Ie robegile.

12

buhwa (Perfect budule, like that of tszoa) is an Initiative verb; used

: :ro.l it means to become fully cooked and ready for eating; used of fruit, etc.,
: ::reans to become ripe so that it can be eaten. The perfect must be used to
:-iicate 'is ready', 'is ripe'.

Lesson

70

15

T-T. 11

1 fe T bbnb fa go ns lqmabblbrfr-o kgetsing_

ns te raa+g kna morake4g ?
3 Ditsffitri t-se, E
na b f,irb ya gr+g ?
l+ Rena ga r-e fta mab_elb, lefa =
1 {midi.
5 A }ie- bp", sel,b se ? de., }f jbns t_bt a"
6 NriE ke tlaa-a*a fer lr+.
7 A ri tlag -rrna- rnoagi- 2

Lcr

ToNE-PRAcrrcE

11

1 Nna, ga ke na madi, madi a me a fedile.

2 Dilc
Batho ba tlaa ner
+ Ga go na ditild mo sekoleng sa rona
mo go eng ?
5 Nna ke senka baagi, mme lona ga lo itse go aga
6 Bdne ga ba rate letswai, mme nna ke a le rata.
tseo,

u di tlogdld, ga di na tird.

7t

LESSON

16

OBJECTIVAL PRONOUNS (2): APPLIED FORM oF VERB (1)

lr, Lesson 13 we saw that the objectival pronouns immediately precede

the verb; o bo apeile, etc. But we left for another Lesson the objectival
pronouns of the 1st and 2nd noun Classes.

Taking for example the verb tshiga, to laugh at, the Personal Objectival
pronouns (me, him, etc.) are as follows:
oa

ntshiga,

gu tshiga,
oa mo tshiga,
oa

+\

z:;:
oa

ba

he is laughing at mc.
he is laugling at you (sing.).
he is laughing at him or her.

w, ll
tshiga,

'i-

iil--r,x? 1l i'",, ro*

he is laughing at them.

The second personal pronoun, gu,'is pronounced go. It is written gz,

exactly as in the case of z (Lesson 1), to avoid confusion
in this case with the
- objectival
similarly sounded go of the Infinitive, and go which is the
pronoun of
the tenth noun-class. (See Appendix, Article 3.)
These pronoqns are. all straightforward except in the case of the first person
singular. Here the pronoun (nna?) has become reduced to a syllabic n joi,ned to
the verb-word itself, as a prefix
ntshiga. (Recall ga nke (or nketta) ke riha

of Lesson

6.)

(1)
action

When the emphasis resides in the objectival pronoun, and not in

of the verb itself, the emphatic pronouns are used :

the

ntshiga?
are you laughing at me
gu tshiga;
yes, I am laughing at you.
BUT
a u tshiga nna ?
is it me you are laughing at
- ee,
ke tshiga wdna; yes, it's you I am laughing at.
(2) It was noticed above that the nna of the first person objectival pronoun
ua

ee, hea

had dissolved into a prefixed n-, the verb itself, tshiga, remaining unchanged.
Verbs which commence in the consonants clt, j, k, n, and l, take the prefixed zwithout any change. For example:

chola:
jalila:
haila:
nosa:
tima:

oa nchola (ntshola),
oa njalila

he receives me.
he sows for me.

oa nkaila,

he instructs, directs, me.

oa nnosa,
oa ntima,

he makes me to drink.
he stints'me.

Lesson 16

72

in many cases the prefixed n- has an upsetting effect upon the verb:;
it causes a change in the beginning of the verb, or necessitates a further
insertion. Taking firsi the case when the verb begins in a vowel, we find that

(1) But

a A has to be inserted between the pronominal prefix and the verb;

araba: oa nkaraba, he answers me'

iPila: oa nklP\h, he digs for me'
oa nkitse, he knows me'
itse: *
dpila: oankdplla, he makes a song of me (lit', he sings me)'
(* But rhe reflexive verbs, which also begin in

i, follow a difierent rule.) 2

(2)Whentheverbbeginsina&orp,then_itselfundergoesachange'
becoming

al- instead; the 6 also changes to

bdna:
patika:
(3)

oa
oa

mpatika,

he sees me'
he persecutes (oppresses) me' a

when the verb begins with I or d, the latter consonants change to a t:

duila:
leta:
(4)

mPdna,

ap

ntuila,
oa nteta,
oa

he pays (rewards) me'

he waits for me'

When the verb begins in

(i'e',

the

fh or bilabial /)' ot g' or &' the

tbl^

lowing changes take Place:

fodisa:
gaisa:
humisa:

oa rt4hodisa, he heals me'

oa nkgaisa, he excels me'
oa nkhumisa, he enriches me'

('the following verbs are of less usual occurrence, but show the three differenr
initial consonants with practically the same stem:

fod.isa:
godisa:
hudisa:

oa
oa

mqhodisa, he heals me'

nhgodisa, he rears me'

oa nhhudisa, he makes me graze')

Noticethatverbsin/makeph,thoseingmakekg,andthoseinhmakeh*i
when nouns are formed from verbs that begie
,u*.

We shall find the

with these consonants.

"hung"s

(5)Whentheverbbeginsinrors,theprefixingoftheatakesplacethrrs:

senya:

he teaches me.
he destroys me.

oa nthuta,
oa ntshenya,
l

As in ({i
That is to say the / changes,,to a th, attd the s changes to a tsh.
whicb
verbs
from
formed
are
nouns
above, we shall find the same c(ttrg"t when
begin with these consonants.

L,esson

73

16

hea mmdna, I see him (not, ke a mobdna) '

ba tlaa mmolaya, they will kill him (not, ba tlaa trlo balaya)

'

Note carefully the distinction, therefore, between ua mpolay4 you kili

me, and ua mmolay4 you kill (or hurt) him: between ua mpdna
hurt)
ror
and ua mmdna.

The suffixing of :d/a to a verb-stem (changing to *etse in the Perfect

tense), broadens the meaning of the verb by adding the idea of the action
being donr: to or for a person, or place, or thing.
This is called the 'Applied form' of the verb, (or, in Woornv & BnowN,

ff

p. 111, the 'Relative form'.) It is here introduced because it is very common and
very useful: BUT, the student must remember that there is much to he learnt
about it which is not in this Lesson. Nor can the -ila be added to all verbs.
Exan-rples of the usage of the Applied form of the verb are these:
kea

I am writing to (or for) him.

mo kzoaldla,

they witl plough your field for You.

they work (do, make) for me; hence,
they serve me.
he has made a chair for me.

ba tlaa gu lemila tshimo ya gago,

baa
a

ntirila,

ntiretse setild,

basetsana ba tshabila

the girls flee (run) to the town'

kwa motsing,

Whether the Applied form

is to be translated 'to' or 'for'

easily be gathered from the context as

double Applied form,
ExxRcIsE

3l

-ilila,

in the

examples

can generally

above. (There is also

which can combine both ideas.)

Translate into English:

Lesang

go

rra;

tshameka jaanong, he nakd ya go tslna sehole.s

mpitsa.lG 3 Mmaagwi o mo reketse letlole

Ntesa

la tshipi.
1 Mmi o nthoketse mosese, ke o.6 5 A ga loa nkutlwa sentli? Nnyal
moruti, ga rea gu utlwa. 6 A Oneile ga a nhe a gu gaisa, Gopolang? Ga a
nke a rthgaisa, lefa a leha jang.7 7 Mohgweetsi ga red mmdna mo gae; rri
o ile hztsa morakeng go mmatla" 8 Fa lo mpatla, lo tlaa mpdna. 9 Bana
10 Ngzcana o
lo se ka lzua ntebala, etswa ke tlaa tsaya lobaka kzoa moseja. E
ngwegile gapi; kooteng o ngzaegetse kzta nokeng go tshameka. 11 Ke rata go
mtnotsa potsd e.
1,2 Ba tlaa ntuila ka go nkagila ntlo. 13 Abaa gu tima?
Ee, baa ntima, ga ba mphe dij6.s l+ U lelilang, ngwanaka?lo 15
Ke lela kagoba mosimane yo o ntshegi,le ha thipa ya gagwi' 1'6 Reetsang, lo
1,7 Ba ntshigilang, basetsaila
ntheetse thata; ke tlaa lo bolildla dihgang.tl
18 Bana ba ga m.mago baa ntshzuenya ka go tsosa
haoil Ga ba tshege wdna, rra.
modumd mo lwapeng. 19 Didimalang, basimane he lona, loa re tlhod,ia. 12
2A Mpsa ya gago e ntomile letsbgd; ke tlaa slha le zaina.l3 14 21 Mpo'
lilila,una le eng?16 Gakenasepi,rra. 22 Dikgogo tse, di gana go nkatamila;
dia ntshaba. 23 Fa ba mmdna ba tlaa mpolaya. 24 Lokwald ln, lo tlaa
ntlrusa, lo nthuta rcntli, 25 Fa u nkgolola mo dikgoleng tse, ke tlaa leka gc,
ke tsamayi,

baa

74

Lesson 16

tshabila kwa nageng

u

nthlklli sukiri;

ExrncIsp

32

bosigo. 26

Lotlaajang, phakilita kwa benheling ka

mosd,

madi ke a.15

Translate into Setstvana:.

1 These men are working for me; they are my workers. 2 There
are no lions at Kuruman nou,. 3 We have money, but we have no food.
4 These boxes are no good i put them in the yard. 5 The Sebinas are
suing me (sekisa), because I took their oxen. 6 Where has my mother gone i
I rvant her at once (quickly). 7 I don't lvant these things, they are no use
to ..'e. 8 The \\romen refuse to be quiet, aithough I have spoken with them.
9 Let me aione, I *'ant to play *ith my friends. 10 Father, I can't find
(.,onr seeJ your herd-b.y; perhaps he has siipped away to the town.
11 The
doctor will treat me, and probably he will cure me.
12 Tell me (plu.), mr
friends (ba-ga-etsho), have you not left them (the riems)
at home ?
13 Ther
- 'ii
have refused-to-give the herd-boy milk, but me
they have not ."frr.J
Do not (sing.) leave me here; rvhat shal I eat ?
15 I have neither flour nor
meat; (and) rvhere shall I get milk? 16 The giris have heard
me readins
their names to you. 17 The lessons are finisheJ nor,v;
f., pf"y.'"*';;
The chief will receive me we[, for my father has rvritten
",
u r"it.. ,o nm.
w
My child, put your money in the box. 20 what are the birds
making a noise
f?r (lek) ? Perhaps there is a snake in that tree. zr
rhere,s no snake; I
don't see it'
22 The men have gone witrr the wagon to fell trees for me.
far away in the veld' 23 Hns youi (sing.) mother refi
you, and gone overseas l
Notes

dpila is to

itive

sing.

(dpa diatta is

to ciap one's hands;

dpa as an intrans-

is used of the throbbing of a sore head or other part

of the
'erb
can be used also as a transitive verb, taking, for
direct object, either

body.)

dpitc

a thing,

such

as a song or hymn, or a person. In the latter

usage it means to make a song
(generally a ribald or disrespectful one) about
someone
just *rrr, i.
in the second clause of Psarm 69 :12; theratter could "**1"".c

very welr be translated in

Tswana, matagzDa aa nkdpila. If it is desired to
indicate trr" .irrgirrg of songs to
crr for- a person' the Applied form of dpila
(or the doubre Appiii iorm of 6pa,
nrust be used, dpllila; ba mo dpilila dipina, they sing
him .ong*.
2 I' the case of a ferv verbs beginning in z- which
are Reflexive in form
but are used in a transitive sense, the first plrson singular
objective pronoun

is inserted

afterthe initial i-,

ther.

z-

i,

no A, thus: ikanyais to trust; Daa

inkanya is, they trust me. so ichwarila or itshwarilais
to forgive; oa intshwarira
is, he forgives me. (The Reflexive verbs are dealt with
3 The substitution of m for n before b and. p is ina iesson 45.)
natural one, since rzi
and np are awkward to pronounce. The same thing
happens
and.

in Engrish. Fo:

example, following Latin, generalry through Frenchl

the' prefix
'into' or 'not') when it precedes a stem beginning in b or p,.hurrg..

tn* (meaninr
to ra.. imbibe.

imbrue: impede, impenitent, lmperf"ct, impolitic, imprecation, etc.

similarly with the prefix 'con-' (conduct, etc.);
combust, compare.
i^Tb:.,-

"o*Li.r.,

Lesson

75

16

compel, complain, compress, compromise, etc' Again, the common

(cp. the
sa"on place-rru-" pr"fi* 'dun-' meaning originally a hill orrnound
Dunlop,
it"l';,
Dundas,
,"hich is seen in the familiar names Dundee,
Arabic
Dumbarton'
Dunoon, Dunstable, Dunstan, Dunster, becomes 'dum-' before a'b';
in spelling if not in proDumbuck, etc.; although one also gets
Anglo-

Dumbreck,

Dunbar and Dunblane.

nunciation

apatikaisaverbwithnosingieequivalentwordinEnglish;itcombully' perbines shades of meaning contained in our words oppress, distress,

secute, aggravate, annoy.

see Note 4 of T,esson 15. tsina can sometlmes

nakd ya go tsina
instead of
be used, as here, with a direct object - the thing being entered ,mo, and the locative ending : go tslna sekole means to attend a school.
using
; he o, literally 'it is this'; a common idiomatic usage u'ith the force
ko o in speech'
of 'here it is', or'this is it'. The he o generally becomes
.no matter how he tries'.
.although...
how,; i.e,,
l tefa. ' ' jan{,lit.,
a moseja i, iorrjo *.ur* u side or shore of river, lake, sea, etc. moseja o
means
used adverbially th"reiore means 'on this side of' ; moseja o/e similarly
,on that side of;, or 'on the further side'. Hence the expression moseja ole ot

kwa moseja has come to mean 'overseas''

e The verb tima has two distinct meanings. (1)

It

can be used of fire,

flame,candle,etc.,transitively,w-iththesenseofextinguishing;usekawa
of the
tima moleld/ do not put the fire out; and it can be used intransitively
to
means
It
also
(2)
out!
flame itself, a moleld o se timil let the fire not go
other
or
food
generally
stint, or deny to, or keep someone short of something;
they starve me.
necessities of life: bantima dij6, they don't give me food, i.e.,
to someopposed
as
eat,
to keep or use or
./a means to give someone something
'thirrg
is niila'
latter
that
girr"r-, iemporarily or merely-'handed to' someone a more
imply
sometimes
tt"re ip"ptiea form o;f niya. (niila, hou.ever, can also
permanent giving than merely handing to.)

ro

The Applied form of the verb, rvhen used i,vith the eng? meaning

,u,hat ?' acquires ih" for." of 'why'? Thus u lelilang? means 'you are-crying-for
'rvhy'
u,hat ?' i.e., u,hy are you cryir-rg i (But there is atlother \ria-v of exprcssing
in Tswana.)

botita is a simple form of the verb; it is not, as it might seem' an

Applied form (from boli)' It means tell, relate, etc', and can take a direct
ouj..t; o bolila mafoko, he is telling or recounting new's. To express',a telling
he is
to anyone, the Appiied form of bolila .,'..st be used - o ba bolilila mafoko,
he
mpoleletse,
o
him;
telling
,lling them the news. (so baa mmolilila, they are
1

has told me.)

It is more
basimane ke lona is something Iike mosese Ao o above.
of 'Will
force
the
has
lona!
ke
emphatic than lona basimane: diilimalang, basimane
you boys be quiet!'
13 e ntomile tetsdgd; Tswana prefers to say'it has-bitten-me arm', rather
l'rs. lritt"-n.*.r r.r-''. I.tlyould.npj. hpwe-ver be wrong to say e lomile leth..--'irtnan lt nas DlLLfIr rrr) arrrt
12

tsdgd

la

me.

14

(tetsdgd has an

irregular plural' mabdgo')

See Lesson 11, Note 11'

Lesson

76

16

15 phakila, Iike bolila, is a

simple verb, not an Applied form, and

means to get up early in the morning. Hence the Applied form, phakilila, means
to get up early for or to somethitg: go phakllila kwa sekoleng is to get up early
(and go) to school, i.e., to go very early to school.
t6 ntesa ke tsarnayi, lit., 'leave me alone that I may go away'. If the
sentence had been addressed to several people, it would have been ntesang ...
But it is only in the case of the shortened first person objectival pronoun, z or
m, that these A-forms (see Lesson 8, I A) of the Imperative are used. When
any other objectival pronouns are used, the longer or B-forms, ending in the
chara.cteristic -i or *eng, must be used. Study the following examples and
memorise the usage:

nthusi; help me. (Addressed to one person.)

nthus|; help me. (Addressed to several people.)
re lhusi, or, u re thusi; help us. (To one person.)
re thuseng, or, lo re thuseng; help us. (To several people.)
nthusa, or, u

nth.usang, or, lo

Thus, if sentence 2 had been addressed by one person to several, it would

have been either ntesang ke tsamayi or Io ntesi ke tsamayi. If it had been spoken
by several people to one, it would have been either re lesi re tsamayD or u re lesi
rc tsamayi: and if it had been spoken by several people to several people, it would
have been either re lesmg re tsamayC or lo re leseng re tsamayi.
But in the case of the reflexive verbs, e.g., itshwardla, to f.orgive, the Aforms of the Imperative are never used; never intshntarila, forgive me, but
intshzparili.

T-T. 12 I Ge kE n-a diJb, ee ba a mph& spb. 2 A

ga Io a slfitlw+ ?
3 Bbna, Jlraag+ A grr r.okelse m.os.es

l+

Oampbn+, rfinre-$na ga ke rnntone- 5 Be ba

l-ettle. thatar rffne ga ba + tfa6 $tgsa ke- tseneJie,
rra, ba * epitsa-, 7 Medi ltc 1 Jnlr!&' n athrbkult rnae.
Ke e-

TONE-PRACTICE 12

Rra, u nthusd, ndga e ntomile lonao. 2 Lo ntudld

ka bonakd, ke rata go rekdla bana ba me dijd. 3 He,
+ Nnyaa, ga ke
mosimane ke wdna, a u a ntshdga i
gu tshege, rra, ke tshdga dnd yoie. 5 Ga go na ndga,
ga ke e bone. 6 Didimalang, bana, lo a re tlhodia.

17
I

I
L:EssoN

17

IRREGULAR VERBS

(2)'
PERFECT TENSE FORMATIONS

The following four types of

Perfect tense formation can

and
,ho.. .., out iir Lessons 9' 12'

If the verb ends in -sa this

nosa,
ilro',
,riiro,

changes to

rehisitse,

(sell

make to buy)'
- lit''

If the verb ends in -fsa this changes

reetsa,

If the verb

ends in

be added to

-sjfse:

(water' m1k3 to drink);

(herd cattle);

boditse,
reeditse,

_E

13'

nositse,
disitse,

botsa,

IN

to -djfse:

(ask);

(listen to)'

-nya this

changes to

-nfsd;

sentsi, (destroy' sPoil);

sewa.
"iollo[)n
o, iaakantsi, (p'"p"tt' make ready)'
@
the verb ends in -na this changes

If

bdna, bonYe, (see);

gana, ronni, it"itl*lt

-nye or -nrd"

tsenYe'

?A:"'
kgdna' hgonni'

(enter);
(manage to do)"

the usual
formation is accompanied' in
Note that the last type of Perfect
to e' and
changing
]
vowels

two cases of the open

r)

to o.

(As

with

tilf,L;;';""s;

"r.i1*"
in Lesson

tne -lte Perfects iisted

9')

form Perfects in
A number of monosyllabic verbs

-/i'

thus:
(drink) makes

ne.Ii' sfta (burn) makes sfteli;

(eat)makes jeli; na (tain)makes
away' of night
ia
'noli;
(dry up) mak"" chel': sa (pass
lusa(fight) makes*'i"ia' 'nt
zzua

or of clouds) makes

l
:

t
i

(u)

selJ'

less usual' are these:

Other forms of Perfect tbrmation'
heador feet' makes rwele"
rwala, toput something on one's makes tswele'
garment'
tsv,tala, to put on lowl'

"

{b)

hold of' makes tshwerel

tshznara, to hold, catch
m'akes apere'
abata. DtJton any body garment'
48')
Positional verbs' Lesson

tS." "i."-aft"

Lesson 17

78

(.)

siama, be good or right, makes siame;

pagama (palama) , climb up, makes pagame (palame).

(See also Positional verbs, Lesson 48.)

The Applied forms of these verbs will be studied later (Lesson 35); \1-e
may simply note at this stage, that the types noted above (except I, D) make
the Applied form by changing their endings to -setsa, -tsetsa, -letsa, or *nyetsa.
These will not be used in the exercises until after Lesson 35.
The following very common verbs are irregular in that they end in an -e
instead of the usual -a. The negative Present, ending as it does in an
-e, is the same as the positive or affirmative.

il

/ere

(Perf.

lerile), to bring.

lere metse, rra!

ke tlaa lere metse,
ga ke lere sepi,

bring some water!

I'll bring some water.
I am not bringing anything.

ke lerile metse,
ga kea lere metse,

I
I

have brought water.

have not brought water.

In its Applied form lere seems to follow the types mentioned in I A, B' ani
C above, but the irregularity of its ending persists there too; the Applied forrc
is leretse (bring to or for), not leretsa; with its Perfect tense lereditse. It is a
lvord in common use.

I shall bring (for, to,) you some water.

metse, I have brought him some water'

ke tlaa gu leretse metse,

ke mo lereditse
u se ka usa nteretse metse

don't bring me any u'ater!

(The 'some' and 'any' are necessitated by the English idiom, but not by the
Setswana usage.)

ifse

(Perf.

dsi/e), to know.

oa itse,
kea mo itse,
ga ke itse,

he knows.

a loa nhitse?

do you (plu.) know me I

they know him well.

ba mo itse smtli,

I know him (her).

I don't know.

The Perfect itsile is not common; an example is

Applied form is itsetse, and is rare.

re

in lohn 17:25,

The

(Perf. rrTe), to saY.

This verb is commonly employed in conjunction with its Applied form, rata
(Perf . reile), to say to or tell' Study the following usages:
ke re . .." . . . I say to you . . . (Mathaio
(I.e., two consecutive Present tenses; 'I say to you,

". . . ke lo raya,

: 22).
say ..

.')

lililrr

Lesson 17
'Jaaka ke lo reile, ka re

.. ." as I have said to you, saying . . .

(A Perfect tense followed by a Narrative)
o tftheile are..." he (has) said to me... (2 Bakor. 12: 9)
. . . ba mo raya, bare .,.". . . theysaid to him. . .
(two Narrative tenses following a preceding Past or Perfect tense )
But re is also used by itself,
ua reng ?
what are you saying ? (or, r.vhat do you say
ga ke re se1ti, I am not saying anything.
o ile a reng? what did he say I
(But, o gu reile a reng? rvhat did he say to you ?)
ba rialo (contraction for re jalo), they say so.

(Look up also, e.g., Psalm

1 and Luke 23: 3, 4,

5,

?)

22, 30)

(Note. The student should not worry about these diltrculties of sequences
of tenses here; they had to be used to shor,v the very common idiomatic usage
with regard to re and raya.)
EXERCISE

33

Translate into English:

Letsatsi le fisa thata

gompieno. 2

Ee, mma, le nna he bdna jalo.

moruti sentli, morwaaka?3 4 l{na kea mo nyatsa, motlco yoo,

kagobo o sekisitse tsala ya gagwi. 5 Mmi o ganni go nkapiila dijd. 6 Ke
lekile go adima nkgzaana la ga Mma-Mmusi, mme o ganni ka ydni. 7 Ga he
dumele go re ba ntlhalogantsi sentli.a 8 A lo sweditse go baakanya dipampiri
tseo ?
9 Banna ba, ba tsile go latola morzoadia-Kgari.3 10 Ke ba reile ka re,
ga ke itse sepi. i1 Baeng ba mo lereditse dimphd. 12 Kgosi e mo nyaditse

A u dumedisitse

sentb. 13 A ua re, rrago o tsenye mo sekgweng?

rialo. 1+ Morwadiaha, u se ka wa tshaba, u bui boammaaruri fila.

thata, e mo rcile ya re ga aa dira

Ee, ha

15 "Mo lefatshing lo na le pitlagand; mme nametsigang, nna ke fentsd lefatshe',

33). 16 O ikantsi hhumd ya gagwi fdla, o ganni go ikam,a Modimo. 17 Ba mpoditse gapi, ba re, A ga u itse lekau je? 18 Mme gapi ke
fetotsi ka re, Ruri ga ke mo itse, borra, 1,9 Pitse ya me e sianye thata, e siile
ydni ya ga Molobeng. 20 Lo intshwarili, bomma, ke fositse. 2l Ke tsrta
go mmitsa mo tshimong, mme ga kea mmdna. 22 A ga lo bone? motlhwao jeti
ditlhako tsa me bosigo! 23 Rra, ke reeditse mafoho a gago, mme ga kea a tlhaloganya sentli. 21 A ga loa leretse rnolzoetse ngaka? 25 Re e mo lereditse
(Johane 16 :

mo mosong ono.
I

{r
axERcISE

34

Translate into Setswana:

1 Your son has brought me my sleeping-mat, and put it in the hut. 2

Run to your father, my boy, and ask him about (kaga) this thing. 3 Will
you (sing.) not bring me your books ? 'l I do not understand these discussions
(kgang). 5 The horse has run a\ ray from its master, and fled to the plains.
6 I do not know if he will conquer them. 7 Take your paper and pencil

Lesson I7

80

('petldldtd), and write to your mother. 8 The men are greeting you: do ,vo9 I too have greeted them, but I don't know where they com.
know them ?
from. (Lit., 'don't know that (go re) they come from where'.) 10 Cheer u:
(be comforted) ; the sun is burnin g (lela or fisa), but it will set ; night rvill com.
11 He (has) answered his father (saying), I have not taken your axe. 12 li-.

son has told me that he has no boots ('that', go re). 13 The rvhite anr
(motlhwa) have eaten the reeds, so the house has fallen (wa, Perf. oli) .
7+ D
vou not know me, John ? Come here and shake-hands-with-me (dumedisa) .2 t'
Do not turn your back on me (hularila), I want to be your friend. 16 Th.
other day the driver refused money (Perf.), he said to me (Perf.) he wants an or
17 Do not make (raise) a noise, you boys ! 18 I have seen his daughter =:
the well this afternoon. 19 Take off (pI,t.) (rola) your shoes if you enter tLhouse, for (ka) the children are asleep. 20 Do you (sing.) say you r'vill bea:
21 Yes, I say so, because I have beaten the boys at schoo.
me (gaisa) |
22 He has dnne me much harm (patika) , but now I have forgiven him.
Notes

One would expect tt reng? here, but the usual phrase is ua reng? (etcseems to prefer ha to ke, etc., even in the Present tense, and or.
never gets the extended Present, for the reason that this verb, in its nature, mu-.:
ahvays have an object or extension.
2 dumedisa is the Causative fbrm of dumila for fuller treatment -.
this verbal form see Lesson 36.
3 moru)a, son, and morwadia, daughter, can be prefixed to a person's
name, just like mma ar'd rua (Lesson 10)" With the singular possessives the,.
appear as follows:

'fhe verb re

morz.oaaki, my son;

morwao,
morwawi,

son;
his, her, son;
thy

norzoadiahi, my daughter.

morwadio,
morwadii,

thy daughter.
his, her, daughter.

Irr the vocative morwaaki and rnorwadiaki are ntorwaaka and morzuadiaka
'l'fre plurais are bornorwa and bomorwadia, etc., although barwa and barzlatii;
are also found"

nyatsa means to despise, and can indicate either the silent despising c:
a person in one's mind, or the vocal imputing of blame to that person; the upbraiding or reproving of him.
5 gana, refuse, can be used with the Infrnitive, as here, of a person refu.ing to do something; it is also used with Aa (see sentence 7) and an object, meanin:
refuse to give, or withhold. The ka is then untranslatable in English, unless yo'stretclr it to mean 'with' -- e.g., o ganni ka nkgzlana might be put 'she refusec'
to-part with the-water-pot'.
6 adima means either to borrow or to lend, according to the context.
t go re here (lit. 'to say') means'that . . .': it is generally written in tu
rvords when what follows is (as here) a statement in the Indicative mood; whe:
it is a Subjunctive (e.g., he came that he might see) it is generally written as or::

word, conjoined.

Lesson I7
I
9

dumAh here (and often similarly)

means ,agree, or ,believe,.

ei:!::,,::!
or pdttdbt; _pap"r, pencil.
;.
ro tatuta is to deny
tettdrd:a
the existence
.";.;;d,

thing: t,
it is also used to
',1,

"f
sav th2r
e^ma^na
say
thar.someone

;;;",

""
*:,n:f
Note 4.)

12

that one has some_

,^_^^._
-^ i;;;'";tfi11"::'lj;ila:
:::l::^":*
-,,i".ti*ry;
";
to i'".,i
1"" 1i,1,-,", *un
i:"l
iiy;rr,,
or 1^,,l.ii]:.li
thing rrusted-in as the" ;bj.;'

F."T:'::'T.}]',,?#'ill"X'ii

siana (perf'

means

to run; it-is practicalry synonymous

with

taboga' Its Applied form-is

^sianye) sianlla,.un
,o'o,
to out-run' or outstrip in running,
or run

tor.

But sia (perf.

szzTe) means

from. s* r*-"}.-fr" 1on., ,o, o

in Setswana bible
. . . a sia Firrrr, fr.
p.,.r.
13 moilhzoa is a co'ective
""i.* white ants
or termites; it thus
takes singular pronouns
"o"" -.u"i.rg
away

and concords

14

Note carefu'y,.and memorise, the.

order of the objectivar pronouns,
direct and indirect, in this sentence.
crr.^air.., one comes first; the indirect
one comes second, immediately

gave" (contrast
donne', etc.)

before the verb.

the varying ,rsage in r'..n"r,

I."., T.*uru."y.',*. it to_him

.il me res
donne, and ,il les rui

's hurar,a with first.person objective pronoun is nkhurar,a: but mphut{::;r::^it";,i:#;."it#.;"ri

t"'u'-"" lnco*ect r"'**
i, ,eaily
'e"m

rir'"

T-T. 13 l U a
rr- ? a:+ Hmoletetsa.iala ?
seu ka ri:at-ei ica_'.gng,
?
no rEya ka G,- kgoma
Ghsitse3 A 1e ankitu.r, U."g.?" Nnyfr;_**?, "*;
sa re guTt,se_ L
3a gann-go r:teret** *iig-og-*'5
ofr**rJ*
o
o, ou*
tsa me ffi seetsb t"+lor*
ilEe'b- d

;'#;il*Jr,r, .*

To-\E-pRAcrICB

13

i Ke ba reile ka re, ga ke
sepe. 2 U se ka wa
nteretse mashi, ga k; a .itse
batle.
3 Lo intshwardlA.
f,crra, ke fositse. - 4 Ga ke
dumele go re b, ;;h;;:
Eantse sentld. 5 Badisa ba re
ba mmonye kwa Ma_
ldnonong. 6 Kgosi.
reile
ya re, ga u i diru.."tf[.
-o

82

LESSON

18

PAST-INDEFINITE: IMPERSONAL go

I 'l.n" Past-indefinite, or Imperfect,

tense, indicates an action which ri.,continuously going on, or was being frequently repeated, at some time -:
the past. It is very frequently used, also, in connection with the Past-defini:.
tense, to indicate some continuous action rvhich i,vas taking place at the time n-hr:'
some other definite action took place: e.g., 'I was sewing l,vhen she enterei
the room.' (The translation r:f such sentences ivill be delaved until next Lesso:
when the Past-definite rvill be studied.) I

rika I was buying, ke ne ke sa reke, I rvas not buying.

rika, you werc buyirrg, u no u sa reke, you were not . .
onaa sareke, hervasnot...
onaariha, hervas...
re ne re sa rehe, we were not . ,
re ne re rika, we were , . .
lo no lo sa reke, you were not . .
lo no lo riha, you were . . .
ba n.e ba sa reke, they were not . .
ba ne ba rika, they were . . .
ke ne ke

u no u

The verbs for 'being' and 'having' use this tense in preference to the P..(see next Lesson).

Definite

ke ne ke le

u no

xt se

mosetsana, I

moruti,

rvas a

girl (then).

You rvere not a teacher (at that time).

And the impersonal he, ga se, is also common in this form:

e ne e I.e
e ne e se

ndga,
baruti,

it was a snake,
they rvere not teachers.

The verbal form for 'to have' uses this tense extensively:
ke ne ke na le thipa,
ke ne ke se na thipa,

I had (or used to have) a knife.

I had not a knife; I had no knife.

And also the impersonal go na le . . .:

go no go na le
go no go se na

Note

ff

noha,

there rvas a river.

sedi,ba, there was not a well, there r,vas no well.

that ke ne ke le.. or ke ne ke.. oftenappears as ke le ke le or,ke le ht

There is a common impersonal usage r'vhich may be classified under r

verb 'to be', as it has similarities with the form go na Ie. It consists

go . . . and an abstract noun, thus:

go thatal it is hard (or difficult)l
nyaa, ga go thata; no, it is not hard (difficult).
go mogote . .. go tsididi. . . it is hot. . . it is cold . .

_T

Lesson 18

83

ga ga nxogote .. . ga go tsididi .. . it is not hot . . . it is not cold . .

go bosigo, mme ga Co kfrt thata, it's night, but it is not very dark.
(Notice how thata can be used either as noun or adjective')

Referring to past time these expressions become

go no go le thata,
go no go se hffi,

it was not dark.

na: wa: nw4: jo, sa: sha:

35

it was dificult.

Look up the Perfects of the following verbs

ExTRcISE

shwa (or swa).

Translate into English:

na, se ne se se na tird. 2 E ne e le mokgz'ua wa gagui

diapard.z 3 Ana dihgomo di tlaa jang ngznaga ono (or,
+ A u no u le kwa Kudumane
monongzlaga) , jaaka bojang bo sheli jaana?3 4
ngdgdla,rra? 5 Ga go tsididi jaaka maldba a maabane' 6 Ke ne ke mmolllita mafoho a ga morwadiaki. 7 Go no go na le batho mo lwapeng. 8 Bana
ba ne ba sa tsltamehe, ba ne ba ya kwa nokeng. 9 Re ne re bua boammaaruri,
rra, re nere sa ake. 10 A ga se nakd ya 8o ya go rdbala? 11 Ee, he ydni.
Rbbalang sentli, bongwanaha. 12 Maabane go no go le bothithd thata, jaaka
re ne re bdna basimane ba tshameka kgwele ya dinao. 13 A re tsogeng, bagaetsho, bosigo bo seli. 1+ Go no go le mogote maldba, mme tsatsi jeno ga go mo16
gote thata.s 15 O na a sa bone sentli mo tlung, ka go no go le lffi'

Selipi

sa gago,

go ba tima dijd le

Go no go se na sepi mo bentleling. 1.7 Batho ba tlaa ya go lema kgwedi eno,

19
ha pula e neli sentli. 18 Motho-etsho, a u no u sa mphore mosong o?
Mind a me a ne a ntshwenya thata ngdgdla, le marinini a me a na a ruruga, 20
Jaaka re ne re feta kirik\, phuthigd e ne e dpila sefela.6 21 Dikgomo di ne

di gdga koloi sentli.

EXERCISE

36

Translate into Setswana:

The doctor was trying to heal the child, but the sickness was very severe
2 Go (plu.) to him, and say to him, "The chief is calling you."
3 This year we will not plough, for there is no rain. 4 We were looking for
our cattle far away in the veld. 5 Is it far to the cattle-post ? No, it's not far,
it's quite near. 6 Have you (plu.) not brought me the money-box ? 7 : We
8 As the
have brought it to him, but he has taken the money out of it.7

(thata)

boys were reading, the girls were

I
,
:

=
==
==
:

singing. 9

Last year the grass was growing

nicely, (and) the cattle were finding (bdna) pastute' 10 Now the grass is
(has) burnt up (Perf.); it won't grow (use tlhoga) again'this year. 11 The
12 I saw (Perf')
\l'omen had their sunshades, but the girls had no sunshades '
13
your son as he was going along (in) the road with his dog. (. . . a na le . . .)
-lre you a school-teacher, sir ? No, I am the magistrate's clerk. l+ She was
running to school with her father. 15 I was only a boy, I did not know
16 My horse has died in the night. 17
(Past Indefinite) anything (sefu).

Lesson

84

18

is not right to annoy your mother so. 18 Sir, my money is finished (Perf.).
has refused to lend me money again. 20 Where do these
oxen corrie {rom ? He had no oxen last year. 21 There was a snake in the
grass, (and) it has bitten me. 22 There was no time (lobaka) to go to the store
to gct shoes for him. 23 He (emph. pron.) and his wife were not Christians
at that time. I

It

19 VIy father

Notes

Woor<py & Bnor,vN (Grammar, p. 92) cali this tense the Imperfect:
Doke, in B. L. T., p, 122, uses the term 'Past Continuous'. The word 'continuous',
however, is (in Tswana at least) much more accurate and more suitable as a description of the tenses or moods which specifically denote non-stop action, and

which do so more explicitly than does this Imperfect or Past Indefinite.

l,essons 3ti and 39 in this book.)

(Sec

Actualiy, the tense now being studied is not much used in Setswana, because
these other verbal forms are generally preferred instead.
2 mokgwa is a word with rather a wide meaning; it means a manner or
way of life or of action, or a personal characteristic or idiosyncracy. used rvith-

out qualification or explanation (e.g., o na le ntokgzaa) it generally indicates a bad

custom or trait of character.
3 ana is often prefixed to an interrogative sentence, and often shortened
to uu. It can also be used enclitically at the end of such a sentence, although in
that case it has a slightly different force.
4 ngz.uaga, year, has its plural either dingwaga or dinyaga. In the singular ittakes the pronouns and concords of class III, as if it began in the rao- prefui.
There are several derivative nouns, meaning 'last year', 'next year', etc.; ngdgdta
is one of these.
5 tsatsi, i.e., letsatsi with prefix omitted; fairly common.
a kDriki, from Afrikaans 'kerk'. The word is used both for a churchbuiiding and for a denomination. The Tswana term ntlo ya thutd, lit. house o!
teaching, can also be used.
7 Remember that 'take out' and 'take' are difierent verbs in Tswana.
8 'Christian' is modumedi (dumila, to believe or agree), a believer. Thc
word Moheresele is also used. A non-Christian is a motho fila
a Just-a- i.e.,
person', mereiy a human being: a penetrating and illuminating
descriptioni
The Tswana-isation moheitene (heathen) is also in use. (The noun tumild mean:
faith or belief.)

T-T. llr

B rre e }e Apkgwa wa

gAgrare

ga b+ lilna dia-

peri.
2 &e ne rsbua bommaaruni--, r ne re sa A.ke3 A Ca Fe re, go thale- go bpt.l* satte ?
4 Ba ne
ba na te dikgomo k-E, lobaka-Leq. 5 Nnyaq, ke ne ke se
mrH.ti, ke ne ke le meegi- 5 Go no go fe botbilhb.

Lessctn 18

85

TO\E-PRACTICE 14
ro\E-PRACTIcE

- A u no u le kwa Kudumane

ngdgdla, rra ?
no go le lefifi, jalo ke ne ke sa bone sentle. 3
Eolo go no go na le sediba mo sekgweng sele.
ke ne ke se na lobaka lwa go kwala maabane.
honye motho a tsdna a tsaya pitsa ? Nnyaa,
mmdna.

E=
=
=

2Go
Bogolo-

+ Aitse
5 Au

gake

86

LESSON

19

PAST-DEFINITE: NARRA.|IVE PAST: PERMISSIVE AND

EXIGENT IMPERATIVES

I A ttr"

Past-definite (sometimes called the Past Historic) indicates a defi-ri:-'or finite action which was done bnd completed at a point of time now Pa--T^
Lesson 9.)
(Contrast the meaning of the Perfect tense
ke ne ka rika,

bought, did
you . . .

buy,

riha,
he...
onaarika,
we . . .
re ne ra rika,
lo no lzua (loa) rika, you . . .
they . . .
ba ne ba riha,

u no tDA (ua)

Note

ga kea ka ka rika, I did not buv.

ga ua ka wa rika, you . . .

he...
gaaakaarika,
ga rea ka ra riha, we . . .
ga loa ha lwa rika, you . ' .
ga baa ha ba riha, they ' . '
variation
of ke tte ka . . .)
ka.
is
a
dialectical
(ke le
..
the ke ne ka. . . as colltrasted with the ke ne ke. . ., etc., of the Pas:=

indefinite. This is the only thing rvhich distinguishes the two tenses in the afl-mative. But the negatives of the tenses are quite different. Note also the dif:rences between the pronouns in the negative of the Past-definite; i.e., between i:;
ua, and loa and the ka, wa, and lwa. This distinction is seen even more cle-*
in such cases as the bo- and di- nouns: bolwetse ga boa ka iwa fila, the ilbt:x
did not end; dikgomo ga dia ka tsa gdga, the oxen did not pull.

fa, ka, etc., there is another form of the negative of this tense; --lstudent should note its existence, although ra'e shall not use it muci, =
this stage. In this, se takes the place of ga as the negativing element.
you did not buy; but,
ga loa ka lwa rika,
rika,
if you did not buy.
(or
ka
lzra
ha)
lo
se
fa
(Not, /a ga loa ka lwa rika: that could be said only if the./a meant'here'-

kfter

In a continuous narrative, employing a series ol verbs denoting ac+-lr

that took place in the past one after another, the so-called Narrative :r,ia'
is used, a shortened form of the Past-definite. This usage is very commol The thief left his house at night, *m=
legodu le ne la tsll)a mo tlung ya linzi boto the store, got in by the rtind.-e=
tsina
ka
ya
bentleling,
la
la
kzna
sigo,
fene-

setere, la utswa dilwana, la ngwiglla kwa

gae mo lefifing . . .

stole some things, and sneaked ;*-m,'

home in the darkness . . .

se ka a diiga; a ruTna-ruma a
tsaya paka ya gagwi, a ya go e apara."

smiled and took her dress, and rres:H.

(Padiso 2117, foot.)

put it on.

"Lengau a

The Leopard did not delay; ljr ==

I
h
1
I

l
Lesson 19

87

Notice that the Narrative tense pronouns all exhibit the

-a,

tsa, etc.

vowel

- a, sd,

There are two other forms of the Imperative in fairly common use.
The first is the Permissive rmperative. Its for'ce is that of a request
to be allowed or permitted to do something.

ama he bdni mma ke uttzoi !

qtma ke gu thusi, or, u nmi ke gu thusd
_

wmang (lo mmi) ke tsamayi !

"'u mmi ke bui le batho ba" (Ditird 2I
: 39),

let me see! let me hear!

al,low me to help you !
let me go away!
allow me to speak to thes people.

Actually this is not a true Imperative, in regard to the main verb; only the
'umo or mmi, etc., is the Imperative, and the main verb is in the subjunctive. The
literal translation is, 'permit me that r may see', etc. (For the subjunctive,
see

Lesson 26.)

The Exigent Imperative.

a u ko u mpolilili

rlo) ho lo reetseng, basimane !

"eu ! a u ko u nthuti, rnma
!', (pad. 2 l9ltop. )

do please tell me I
will you listen, you boys ! |

oh! do teach me, madam!

This has in the past been called the,polite'Imperative (W. & 8., p. 12If)
The name is a mistaken one, for the general import of the form is that
or i-p"tient or exigent request, almost always with the suggestion that the person
addres-

sed is refusing wilfutly to accede to the request, or is at least reluctant

to grant
The form is not properly used to superiors; and the usage in the Tswana
1t
Bible, rvhere it is frequently (especially in the psalms) used in" address to God,
is-quite wrong and quite improper: although it has crept into the
church language
of many Batswana. It is true that it can often be iranslated by a .please, -_
'rrut not
that of mere politeness. It is, for example, as when an exasperated
parent might say to a child,'will you please do exactly as
I tell you, at once!,
The setswana word which most nearly corresponds to ,please', as an urgent
':r pleading request, is tswii-tswiil used with the ordinary I*p.rutirr"; but it is
not very commonly in use.
(In the first and third persons of the Exigent Imperative the ho becomes
ie, and the phrase becomes, a nhe ke b6ni! (Se,e, e.g., padis| 2f112, top;
anke
hc mmdni mind ! which is difficult to transrate into English efiectively.)
This
usage will be left till later, as far as the Exercises are concerned.
This bxigent
Imperative is more fully dealt with in Lesson 50.

mclsa 37 Translate into English:

1 Ngdgdla he ne ha rikila ngwanahi baki re hempi. 2 A ga di tshwane
chtlne) le tsdni tsa ga olebeng? z
3 u mmi ke ii bdni, he tria gu borilila.
* fnyaa, baki ya gago e onetse, ya me e siame fila.3 5 Jaaka re ne ra
attmila motse, ra ftlhila batho ba t$vra nxo go dni, 4
6 A lo-ho to re bolilili

Lesson 19

88

sentli fa lo rnntonye mo mosong o, 7

Ga rea rnmdna gopi, kgosi, re fi,tlhetse go no
go se na motho mo gae.S 8 Mma ke gu thusi ka nkgwana yo gogo, ngwanaka.
9 Pitse e gaisa tonki ka lobeld, mme tonki e na le tird: ya me he e riti thata. 10
Moruti o bokoa thata gompieno, ga a nke a bdnala kwa hereheng.6 11 Di_
kzr:ena di tshela mo nokeng, di na le ditlhapi. 12 Mpsa ya mi ya taboga, ya
tshwaralegodu ka baki ya ldni, ya gana go le lesa.7 1.3 Monna o na a tta
fa,
a bua le rona jaaka re tshameka, a re botsa a re, Rraeno o ile kae? 74 Nna hc
re, lo molato, kagobo gc;-loa ka lzta mo fetola sentli.e 15 A ko lo se ka ba

banna; lo re boliliti boammaaruri. 16 A seroto sa gago ga se

u mtni ke se gu thusi. 1.7 E ne e re Lamorina fa baeng ba gbrdga
18 Ba fitlhila basimane le basetsana ba ne ba tswa nto malwapeig,
ba ya kwa seholeng sa xhipi. 19 Rri o na a fittha mahba; mme maabane a
fet4la kzna motsing, a palame pitse.s 2A Mmang re lebi mo dikzaalong tsea
tsa lona, bona. lo
2l Fa a ntebile jaana, ke go re oa reng?
bua maaka,

bokete, mma?
ma motsing:

ExERcISE

38

Translate into Setswana:

1 When rvill you (plu.) look for your books and pencils ? 2 He is
telling lies, he did not see the chief at all. 3 Wild animals live in the forest
4 Please (sing.) stand (Applied form) over thereand on the plains. I t
don't stand here. 5 Whose jacket is this ? I did not see it here this morning6 Last year we went to Gaberones, (then) we went on (fetila) to Molepolole.
we saw our friend, (and) returned (boila) home. 7 When (fa)'we got to the
house, we found the woman in the back-yard, cooking porridge in her pot. S
We said to her, "Please give us some water to drink." 12 9 She said to u,*.
"Sitdownhere"; soshe went into the house and brought us some food and milk"
10 Let me see if (fa) your shoes are the same as her's. 11 No, they are not
the same; yours are getting old, but mine are worn out, they are no use no\r,
12 It was not Tebogo's fault, because she did not hear me properly. 1-1
He will come back here quickly, for he is on horseback. 1,+ My motherdo listen to me! I said to her, "Don't take these fish, we want them." f-i
But she refused to do so: she put the fish in her basket and wentoutofthehouse,
and went home. 16 Let me read, teacher! I know (how) to read nicelr17 Will you please be quiet (plu.)! I am trying to lister tc this child. 18
Is there any milk ? Where (lvould it come) from ? It won't be available, for there
are no cattle here. 19 There are only wild beasts and game in this countrr20 The hunter did not catch (tshwara) the ostrich, although he was on horseback; the ostrich ran away from (outran) his horse.
Notes

The first pronoun is frequently omitted in the Exigent Imperatire:

e.g., a ko lo reetseng, instead of the full a lo ko lo reetseng.

tshwana (chznana) (be similar, like, the same as) can be used bot!
intransitively and transitively: when the latter, it is followed by le; motho yo t
tshwana le motho yole, this man is like that maft; ga ba tshzoane, they are not alike-

Lesst,rt I

89

3 6nala, an Initiative verb; to become, or gro\\., old and worn-out.

is used of things, such as clothes; other verbs are used for the growing old of
oeopie, or of large composite things, such as carts or wagons.
It

a ftlha as an intransitive verb, means to arrive and in that usage is

- verb, to hide soneslnonymous with gbrdga; but it also means, as a transitive
thing, and hence, to bury a dead body. The applied form fitlh)la does not mean
ro arrive at, but to find something (person, state of things, etc.) on one's arrival;
e,g., he mo fitlhetse mo gae, I found him at home (i,vhen I got there). The word
'discover' often translates it rvell. But note that it cannot be used lbr the finding
or picking up, unexpectedly, of some article, lost or otherwise: the verbs 6dza,
sila, thwala, and bega are used for that, according to the context.
5 go?D (similar tc sepi), means, not at all.
6 bdnala (from bdna, Peft. bcnetse) is to become visible, to come into
sight, to appear. It can also mean to become available.
7 lesa is to let go a thing, or to leave it alone.
I molato can mean debt, fault, or blame; it can be used as a noun, or
in this verbalway; lo molato,lit., you-are fault; i.e., you are at fault, you are to
blame. Ga go na molato, there is no fault, i.e., there is nothing wrong
equivalent to go siame. Similarly ga ke molato or ga ke na molato, I am not-to blame.
e palama or pagama (Perf . palame, pagarne) is an Initiative verb meaning
to climb, climb up, mount.
10 The Initiative verb leba means to look at i.e., the initial act of
turning one's eyes torvards, or setting one's eyes on, something, It is not the
continued looking which may lbllow that initial act. Herce ba ntebile means,
they are looking at, or starirrg xt, me.
Notice the correct use of this verb in Acts 1: 10, ba lebile thata kwa loaping,
looking (steadily) up at the sky: and in Acts 3:1, re lebi ! k';ck at us!
The difference between leba and bdna ts almost exactly similar to that betwecil
reetsa and utlwa. Leba atd reetsa being Initiative verbs, the other two, bdna
and utlwa, might be designated 'durative' or 'durational' verbs.
11 The Batswana divide u,ild animals into tr,vo main classes the
ilesh-eating or carnivorous ones are the dibatana and dibata; the grass-eating or
graminivorous ones
ali the buck and antelope
are diphbl\gdld.
12 siila is to- give anyone something to drink;
it also means to set aside
or reserve food for someone.
Additional Note
There seems to be still another forrn of the Lnperative, u'hich resemble:s
the Past-indefinite-/o no lo kwala sentld! You mustrvrite welll It seems to be
stronger than the sirnple Imperative, k'i.aalang sentli or lo kwab sentlD" It is distinguished from the Past-indefinite by its tone pattern
- the initial /o of the Imperative phrase is high tone, and the whole phrase is higher pitched than the
Indicative statement. This Imperative does not seem to be very common, and
I am not sure whether it is a dialectical form.

Lesson 19
ke donb lokwalb lwa gaga. 2 -F
u-Au rgpot;fli-b-krapra"aerrlri ! 3 Uonna3 ne a tle' f--,
h }&lrc a ga lo+ ha ll+a mo Fetela-eea- txla fe rsna.
+t& ? 5 Re ne ra me sibla mqtse. 5 U mmU ice gu
thislb ka gp si-anbl* icilra motsing-, ke bobfblb H,ha.

T-T. 15

ToNE-PRAcrrcE

Mna,

-mma

15

1 Seld se, ke sa ga mang ? 2 Ga ke itse mong wa

sdnd. 3 Re fitlhetse go no go se na motho mo gae.
+ Mmang ke lo balele mafoko a dikwald tse. 5 Ra
ba raya ra re, ba re thusA ke dijd; mme ba gannA ka
tsdnd. 6 Re ne ra utlwa kgang eo jaaka re le kr,+'a
kgosing ka Mantaga.

llltlii
iit

gt

LESSON

20

THE PASSIVE, PRESENT AND PERFECT: AGENT & INSTRUMEN..T

e In Setswana,
is in English.

the Passive form is important, and is more used than it

t

oa se rika,
he is buying it, becomes in the Passivese rAkzoa ke ini,
it is being bought by him.
o se rekile,
he has bought it, becomesse rekilwe he ini,
it has been bought by him.
o tlaa se rika,
he wiil buy it, becomesse tlaa rikwa ke ini, it will be bought by him.

The Passive in both cases has been produced by the insertion of the semivowel-or semi-consonant-zo just before the final vowel. The majority of
verbs form the Passive in this way.

But in many verbs the final -a of the Present is preceded by a consonant

which would appear to be awkward to pronounce with this inserted zo,
In such cases, either (1), an z is inserted, making another syllable:
- e.g., the
passive of disa rs disizoa; or (2), the consonant in question undergoes a permutation into another consonant, either simple or compound
e.g., the Passive of
loma

is

longwa; the m has changed

to

Typical examples of the insertion

ng.

of i in the Passive:

Present:
Passive

aga

agizta (build)
agile
alafiwa (doctor, heal) alafile
dituaa (herd)
disitse

diitswe

ntshizoa

ntshitse

ntshitszpe

lerile

itsile

lerilwe
itsilzle

tlhatswitse

tlhatszpitsw

alafa
disa
ntsha
lere
itse
tlhatszoa

Perfect:

Active

Active

(take, put,

leriwe (bring)
itsiwe (know)
tlhatszpiwa (wash)

bitsa bidiwa
baya biwa

:e-t

alafilzle

Perfect:
Active

Passive

(ca11)

biditse

biditswe

(place, put)

beile

beilwe

bolaile

bolailwe

bolaya bolawa (bolaiwa) (kill)

'-i

agilwe

Typical examples of permutation of consonant in the Passive:

Present:
Active Passive

ott)

Passive

[,esson 20

92
lema
senya
leba

lengzact (piough)
senngwa (destroy)
lejwa (lebiwa)s (look at)

lemile
sentsi
lebile

lemilzp.
sentswA

lebilwe

Note that in all cases the Perf'ect Passive is 'regular' and shows the insertior:
of the serni-consonant za into the ending of the Active. It is only in the present
that different verbs foilou, difierent methods of Passive formation.
(Note these three types of passive:- bdnwa, frombdna; rongwa, fron.

roma, senngwa, from senya.)

il

setsrva'a uses the Passive much more than does Engrish; it muci-r
prei'ers to say, for exarnple, ua bidizaa (you are being called), rather
than baa gtt bitsa (they are calling you).

'Agent' and 'Instrument' are clearly indicated in Setswana by a particic

(or 'adr.erbial formative' as Doke calls it). we have already had one of these.
the ha, meaning 'rvith' or 'by' : this is the 'instrumental, one. Lesson 5, Note i_
The 'agent' one is Ae.'
o biditswe he rraugwd,
dipodi. di gangwa he basimane,

ditlhare di tlaa ringwa ka dillpi,

lokwald lo kzoadjlwe he dni,
go kzoadilwe ka enke,

he has been called by his father.

the goats are being milked by the bo-vs
the trees rvill be felled with axes.
the letter has been n'ritten by him.
it has been written in ink.

(English would idiomatically say, 'the writing has been done

is the same impersonal go which we had in Lesson 18,

II.)

in

ink'. 'fhi.

setsu'ana also has a fondness tbr putting feelings, etc., in the passir...
Instead of saying 'I leel hunger', setsrvana says, 'I am kiiled by hunger.,
Note the following examples:
ke bolazua ke

tlala,
I am getting
tlala,
lenydra,

hungry.

ke bolailwe ke
I am hungry.
he bolailute ke
I am thirsty.
(ke tshzlerwe ke lenybra) tB
ke opiwa ke
I have a headache.

tlhdgd,4

(Lit., I am throbbed

b,r

(my) head.)
T'he irnpersonal tbrm is also in common use:
goa tsamaiwa,
go no gorekisizpa dikgomo,

people are

leaving. (Lit., it is being gorle

oxen $rere being sold"

(Lit.,

away.)

there was being soi:

oxen.)
axancrsn

39

Translate into English:

I sekole ga se nke se bulz,a tskipi eno. z Gongwe se tlaa bulwa it,

moruti ka Mantaga. 3 A re itlhaganeleng, batho betsho, re ttaa phirimitwa h.
letsatsi.s 6
4 Legodu le ne la ntshiwa mo toronkong, la i$wa hwa kgotleng

Lesson 20

93

U lzaalang, mma? Ke rurugile lebdgd, rra, ke lomiLue ke phepheng motshegare.

Lokwald lo, lo kwadilztse ke mang?7 7 Ga go itsiwe go re mokwadi he mang.
Lehuti le, le epilwe ke banna ba me ha dikepu tsa bdni.e 9 Ke fitlhetse
,nabili mo kgetsing a senyegile, a sentszri ke tshupa (chuptl .s rio 10 Re tlaa.
reng ka mafoko a bo-Boitumild? 11 Ga ke itse; kgang e tlaa ya so buiwa kwa
e"gotleng ya mong wa motse. 12 A u botsa go re mmidi o tlaa biwa kae? A o
oezti mo mahureng gompieno.ll 13 Masimo a rona a tlaa lengwa ka megoma e.
i+ Koloi e robilwe ke sesana, mme e tlaa baakanngzoa ke mothudi. 15 Diapard
he tse, mma, di tszua go tlhatszliwa ka moldra. 12 16 A tafole e ntshiwi mo
iamoreng e, e tsenngzni mo go ele. 17 Basimane ba ne ba holildlua go ipa
nesima, mme ga goa dirwa jalo. 18 Dikgomo di ne di rikwa ngdgdla; mollotgzaaga ga di rekzae gopi. 19 Metse ga aa ka a fitlhilzta mo sedibeng. 2.0
.Setswald se ne sa tszlalzoa ha selotele, mme selotele sa tsdwa ke mung zua ntlo^13
)I "Ph.ala ya re, ga ke disiwe; mrne lomipi lwa ydni lo fetzoa he lwa Pudi." ta

'
'
'

F-XERCISE

40

Translate into Setswana:

mother. 2 Do you know that

? 3 These plates have not been

He was called John by his father and

,go re) the child has been struck

with a stick

broken by us; u.e don't knorv rvho has broken them. (We don't knor.v that they
have been broken by rvhom.) 15 .[ Have you (plu.) not been sent (Applied
iorm) to Maun by your chief ? 5 It is very hot, I am very thirsty; please
qive me a drink of water" 6 "I was hungry but you did not give me food."
(\{att. 25 . +2) 16 7 "I was a stranger but you did not receive me." 8
Our gardens have been spoiled by your oxen. 9 Who has taken my axe I

It has been borrowed by Gaogakwe. 10 Horv was the

buckkilled? (i.e., r,vith w-hat). It rl,as killed r'vith a gun. 11 I don't like to
be laughed at by rvomen. 12 Just look! The house has (been) burnt, (and)
the doors have been stolen by people. 13 We are plagued (tshwenya) by goats,
our trees in the garden have been eaten by them. 14 As I was coming
home, I was greeted by strangers; I did not knou' them. 15 If they ask us
(put in passive) about you, rve will say we don't know you. 16 Let me go
a\I,ay now. Don't you hear them ? they are calling me. 17 Put off your
shoes, and try these of mine. 18 The sun set upon us in the plain (put in
oassive); (and) it was dark rvhen rve entered the forest. 19 If rain comes,
lput in passive).

ploughing
eggs, sir,

will take place ('it will be ploughed') in spring.

for our hens have been killed by the hawks. 17

20

There are no

Notes

1
2

See W. & .8,, p. 89, 90.

w and y are generally called the semi-vowels, and this is a reasonatrle
'*av of regarding them. But in as much as they generally have a consonantal
tunction and value (forming, together with a following vou'el, a syllable such as
t::a or

ya), the term 'semi-consonant' rvould seem to be equally descriptive of their

sigriificance and usage.

::-

94

Lesson 20
3

bolawa and lejzaa or lebjwa are the usual forms, but bolaizua ar.d lebizaa

are also found.

a
5
6

Note that d?a changes its stem vowel in the passive

opiwa.
batho betsho is the same as bagaetsho; the latter is preferable.
phirima is to set, of the sun; so the passive of the Appiied form, as
here, rneans literally 'u,e rn''ill be set-upon by the sun', or, 'the sun will set upon

us'. 'lheHebrewidiomisalmostidentical; see Genesis 32: 3i and Judges 19 14.

7 ke mang ? often takes the form emang ?
8 lehuti is a hole, or pit, in the ground: mosinm is used for a small hoie,
but really means a small anirnal's burrorv.

senyiga comes from senya

ruined or destroyed.
r0
tshupa (chupa

it is an Initiative.r.erb meaning to

in Dictionary), a

become

collective noun rneaning u'eer-ils.

Cp. motlhwa, termites.

mahure and segdtld mean nearly the same, but the latter refers generally to the back-yard itself, behind the main huts, rvhile the former means huts or
out-houses in it.
12 There are three verbs in 'lsu'ana for 'rvash'; their meanings are seen
best from typical examples of their use. (a) tlhal>a; ke tlhapile, I have rvashed
(myself); ke tlhapile diatla, I have n'ashed my hands; ke tlhapile mo matlhong,
I have washed my face. (b) tlhapisa; tlhapisa ngwane lr,o, rvash this child i.e.,
make him to wash himself, or help him to wash himself . (c) tlhatswa (tlhacwa),
t

is to wash clothes or other articles.

13

selotele (an imported rvord),

key; but the Tsr,vana

a thing which locks or fastens together, is also

either tsztsetse or tswadile for Perfect.

used. The verb

r:vard sek,Lpild,

tszuala can haye

14 The

meaning of the proverb is that lan-s and restraints may be irksome and may even be thror.vn olT; but they producc better results and better
persons than does unregulated anci uurestricted freedom. feta, pass, or pass
by, can be used as equivalent to gaisa.
15 There are very many T'srvana verbs - uprvards of a score of thc-m
u'hich mean some sort of 'breaking',
be verv careful horv you translate
-this English lvord. It is an instance of thesorichness
of the language ir-r certain
directions. Here use the verb thuba.

16 When an Initiative

.,'erb, the Perfect cf u.hich is uscd to indicate

a present or existing state, ha-e to be put into past time e.g., I u,as thirstv
the form becomes ke ne ke bolailue ke lent,ira. It looks
-tense, but u'ith the Perfect form of the lcrb-t'ord instead of thelike the Imperfect
Present: actuallv
it is the Pluperfect tense, br:t its meaning in this case is a sirnple Imperfect.

17 'for' or 'because' can also be rendereJ l>ti !:xtue or ka gonne.

t8 Some consider that bolailzrc ke !e:rfittta shorrltl only be uscd of crtreme thirst, and use rather ke tshwerue ke len1,dra, or ke nyorilwe for ordinary
thirst. The last is perhaps the cornmonest expressior-r. See, hor.vever, Padisd
21114, and Mat. 5:6, 25:35, John 4:13-1-5, 7:37, 19:28, Isaiah 49: 10,
Romans 1,2:20"

Lesson 20

95

r-e tlaaI tr re ttlbag{F}eng, bagoelshe;

T-T. 15
ke
2 Ke.a ]falan mrna, -egit<e Letsatsi.
"r+i.ffi]lsa
ale- a -a$ilwe }<e n+oag1 Ta mo*" f" t}lebeb. 3 Mathnxets'
re-*tshft-anra lce lenfora'
l+ t *"-"i+i;
Laed+ ,
-oo
Ie clitonki ' 6
&ipitse
ge
reldsiwa
g
5 l,tO- nesng-

Setswela 9a Ifte s-e e[sfrttswe ke

Lerrae

bolra

ntllng ? A lic
ga ke no ttse-

ma.ng m'o
Yteame trLlwa, mnre

ToNE-PRACTIcE 16

Siana, ngwanaka, u a bidiwa. 2 Ke bidiwa ke

3 Ditlhako di ne tsa ntshiwa mo tlung, tsa
mang ?
ya go buiwa kwa
+
Kgang e tlaa ya
bewa mo letloding.
5
i Ke
t{.e ne ke le moeng,
keotleng ya mong wa motse.
6
Fa pula e na sentlC,
tti-. gi io a ka lwa ntshola.
go tlaa lengwa thata.

lmfra legodinong, letna la gage

begosi
:
iwa gag+ a bo llb, 8o raia ge
a Amueptstr^b
g"t**=godirwbmbl-efatshingiaake-tffiaLegodir'tong-R-e
}etsatsi; jr reitsl**afty* sdpr** dj.Je tsa rone tsa jjshffar"eta
ua ba raela-t+
r-"itt i.ritl y* 6.*iaaka re
u r+ gol:ole'
ffiIrg
ttraelong'
gug-Ib'r1o.
re'
se
f
le r-an*.
that'a' I-e

T-T. 15a Bra ron*, yo u

mT go

fo o bequlsi gu*"-pfrsb

kgaif-bl*it, ka bes-er:abokhutlb'

tre )F& gag+, I-e

I-esson

21

97

lvhen the conjunction /e (meaning 'and' or 'r,vith'), is used

with some of
r5), a curious amalgamation g.n.."tty

the Emphatic pronouns (see Lesson

trut not ir-rvariably) takes place.

le zpina
becomes
le ldni
becomes
le ini
,,
nai,
le jdni
le dni
nad
,,
le bdni
le shdni
nashd, le tsdni,
and le goni becomes nagd, but is uncommon.

This usage is

nald,

najd,
nabit,
natsit,

commoniy founcl rvith verbs of motion

- e.g. *,hen ooe
and also s,ith the verbai form he na
- _
have . . ., For Example

'ery
terson or thing accompanies
another
.'e

. . . meaning

'I

nau, I want to go away with you (: le zuina).

they have come with him or her g: te ini).
kgomo di kae? he tsile,atsd, where are the
oxen r I ha'e come rvith them.
a u na le lokzoalo? ee, ke rm nald; have you a book
? yes, I have it.
rOne seidorn if ever finds, ke na le
ldni.)
ke senka go tsamaya

ba tsile

nai,

\otice the negative of this carefully

nnyaa, ga ke na nald, no, I hai,en,t it. (Ileferring

to tdni, book.)
selipi, ga ke na nashd, an axe, I haven,t it: i.e., I=ha,.en,t
an a"e.

euncrsn

4L

Translate into English:

Ba ktt

mpdna,

mme ga ba kake ba nkutlzau. 2 A ga rtke

ke rakana
nai ka nosd ? 2 Ke eretsa ga mtnina kaga madi
a tlikgottg tsa moidba. 3 riakd
he mang, moruti?t
ttakd ya"go y{t kzca gae? I Basimane,
a lo ka
4 So se,ro,
tsJmmeka 'football'?, Nnyaa,
go- ,, lo ilrr. 5 La ka tsaj,a hdld e,
lwa ya go
tshameka ka ydni : a
6 Maitieboyi f" t" tltt gapi, to tk nlry6, lo e lere kwano
?o nna. 7 Katse ya ga mmi e ka tshwat.a tli.piba thata. g
Monna yo,
'':'a -a sa kake a kgaeetsa mariga, mme gompie,o a ka kgueetsa serftrd
.f,a. g
Bogologolo, fa ke ne ke re mosimane, kr
* i, ka siana thata. 10 A tt kankgaisa,
;ta ntshia? 11 Nama e, ea nkga: a e ratrhusi.
12 Motokara rua moraodi
', tlo ?./re rdbiga maabane-, mme mothudi o ganni go leka go r,t baakanya.s
13
" ";;;;;,dka
1re, ga a kake a o baakanya gopi; ga ait* diti
tseo. i
ditshi?i
t'ta dni; di tlaa sen.kzua kzaa Gauteng..

h,'rdthi

15 Ke tsua go nlmotsa fa a na re
gompieno.T 16 A nthayi a re,,,Nttyaa, tntna,"ga ke
trc najd: ga go

ka apiw. jang ?"

17 Bo,,a, ga go kake gi noui*o tlitrhare mai_
kagobo tanka,e 1>han.yegile,
.ialo metse i trlrotog;t, (chotogite).8 1E
t-'gopolt jang, motlnetslto? Fa re ka'hdna
tlhdbdtd,
iro*o mndgd?
i9 A dipitse tsa ga rrago. tli ku palangua ? 20 aEe,re"ka,iiokagobdnala,
re ka di
fa
la.lama; mme di kzt;a kgakara oro nogrng. 21 Bogoro a ga re
kake ra reka go
adima tsdni tsa kgrsi? 22 Bosadi bibo;t,
*o *orikrng, b,"a boetse kzaa motsing:
he gorogile nabd mo mosoltg.e 23
Matthd a tte A botrhoko thata, ga nkake
ha bdna sentli. A ke
fivti molemd zna matlhd, tswii_tszaii, morina. 1a
'ia _dikgong, go

tsehctaerLo,

Lesson 21

98

nxsncrsn

42

Translate into Setswana:

1 If it is so desired (impersonal go ancl passive) the singers can sing again

in thc evening. 2 Take this monq,, go to the store. buli
(some)
it, and wash thc cl.thcs u'ith it. i ii-r"y courd not be washed soap rvith
yesterdar,.
because there was no soap in the shop. 4 what
is rvrong (morato),u,.hat are
you crying for ? 5 As I rvas putting my hand into this"sack,
I leit (utrwal
something (sengue) bite me. 6 Let me see your
hand: yes, I think that (go
re) yott have been stung by a scorpion. r r
7 T.he dogs could not kill the
lion, but they were barking furiously (thata) to cali theii
master.
8

The young men went to the other side of the river to hunt
buck, but they coul,1

them. 9 It is far to Johannesburg, we cannot get there (arrive) quickrv.

tell me your name, miss, I will see if they ca.-n herp yo., rvith
1!
a book.
(Put in passi'e.) 11 These beds can't be taken out of
th" -orrr. 12 rhe
girl fell as she was coming from the weil; so the water
(rvas) spilecl. 13 who
haseatenmyb.ad
not find

Please

? themicehave eaten

it at night. g.rt roth parts into passive.)

you
can,t)
manage tH.;ol prop.rly, if you work
!+
like that' 15 It (impersonar go) cannot be done rike
that. 16 when I
arrived I found them short of riems, so they were not
abie to inspan the oxen.
(Be short of , tlhdka.) 17 They went to puontle,s
cattre-pcst to borrow them,
but he had none: 18 His had been eaten (di ne di jetzne)
by the white ants
in rvinter. 19 Tn"l:.yu. a key for (of) this door, but I.urrlt
find (bdna) it.
My child, you *.iil never

20 why, I

(-

saw the children ptaying

with it the other day; but now it is lost

'fhey say they know
b,.rt ..utty f do not
,2i th"^e,
know them. 2?. We knorv
w.il, fo. ,u" stuciied
with them. 23 Did
you teli him about your games, boys ? U No,
1ve were unable to tell him
(latlhiga, Perf.).

tz 13

about them, fbr lve did not see him.

Notes

1
2

See

Appendix, Articie 17.

rakana can be used of either an acci<iental or an

intentional meeting.
Like tshwana it is used with le, not t,ith a dircct object
as in English; ke rakatn'e
nai, I have met (with) him.
3 when enquiring the time, Tswana
nakd ke mang? notnak, ke eng?
4 bdl6 (ball) is a transliteration; u,esays
have also had Ih"
-or" authentic
Tsu'ana word kgwele. katse simtlarly (cat) is a transliteration.
5 A motor-car is a motohara or mmotohara or motorokara,
pru. mebotokara. That is' it is treated as a crass III noun beginning
rvitrr doubre ru
like mmele, mmala, mmila, mmushd, mmutra, etc. (Look
up ii Dictionary.) (o'

mmele see Lesson 12 Note 11).

Gauteng (lit., at the gold), or

Johane, is Johannesburg: Kimberlel,,
similarly,_is Taemaneng or Teemaneng, at the diamond(s).
-z bordthd (an imporration) is bread. Although there is a Tswana word
senhgzai which is also used.
phunylga and tshologa (ckologa) are Initiative verbs,
from phunya and,
tshola' They mean to become pierceJ, and to become spilt
or
out, see

forrr.a

t1
Lesson 21
I

latlhiga belorn', The significance of the

also

later

g-

-iga

99
ending

will be dealt with much

Lesson 48.

It
boa, bowa, boya is a verb that needs some care'
back occurred.
turning
the
rvhich
at
point
or
back; and it refers tJ the place
you have got
when
back:
going
am
I
ot
bu"k
kea bozaareally means I am turning

.-f

means

to turn

homeyouruy,krboile,Ihavetu"rnedback,i'e''Ihavecornebackorreturned'
is is a deceptive trans(The E'nglish'rvord 'return' here does fit the meaning, but
does denote.)
iation unless you have a clear idea of what bowa actually
Whenusedwithapreposition,again,referencetothebasicmeaningwill
indicate how

it

ought to

i. t,u"tl't"d' If you go to Mafeking'^and there instead

homewards' you can say after that' ke boile

journey with the intention of turnkwa Mafikeng. If you set out on your initial
I shall turn back
ing back from Mafeki.rg, 1'ou szy, ke tlaa bowa kwa Mafikeng'
at Mafeking.

of

proceeding further,

turn back

Toindicatethereturntoaplace,theappliedtormboilaisused.Itrequires
ttai bolla kwa go mmi' I shall go back to my mother:

preposition and iocative; ke

keboetsehznaMangaung,IhavereturnedtoBloemfontein.LookupinNew
cases'
Testament Luke 8 : 39 and 40 for typical
-ie
to Tswana can say either c fiwi . . . or u mphi . . .;
is often preferred.
| 1 Same verb in Setswana for 'sting' as for 'bite"
"12 rJse kana for 'why' when thus used as an interjection'

but the

passive

(i'e''
latlha is to thr# away-literally, of a thing, or figuratively
to
become
means
form latlhiga
abandon), of a person. Hence theinitiative Stative
to a passive, but it is not
similar
somervhat
is
It
ray,
or abandoned.

13

lost,
thrown a\
quite the same. (For the Stative form, see Lesson 48')

a'

lhslal A u k6 s+Tn+ ? SJ ke ka siana

T-T, 1?
ke ka
n
v"e
3
2 lftryaar ga u lake w- siElra s-ent}}-'
r k+
/+
FA
s+-anasi+na, ffinA bnb-O-"* = a kake-&
5
?
A Sa
r
soiTra
nnbgb
bbna tlhbbb]-o-. a re ka I'a gQ
k+
adfuca
a
T-a
6
rs kaks ra l--eka A "ff-J *+pit'se r ? Nk'5 tTq
tlhb,bfo* r*bLyb r,a *=*
ka npona
I Ba :"t3:1
" ,n*, # gu fe- '*l* l-"a-q'>'rtaC--*'
kE selbpb .-*
yb kwa
I
9 T5l;T
mmF o: F,r kalt- 'Oa IkuLIl'l;"}ie
eFs ?
llete'lo
l-o
ke -bn'
bentlet.*rs r jt;! ;;;
TONE-PRACTICE

2
mmdna kaga madi a dikgong tsa maldba '
?
gae
kwa
Nakd ke mang, moruti ? a ga se nakd Ya go Y^
3 Nama e, e a nkga, e bodile; a e latlhwe' + Gago na
dikgong, go ka apewalang ? 5 Matlh-d 1 -".u botlhoko tt?T'
6 A ke fiwd molemd wa matlhd,
ga nkake ka bdna sentle.
tswdb-tswdd, mordna.

1 I{e eletsa go

r9

*!

t7

i00

LESSON

22

REI-ATIVE CONSTRUCTION
The Relative construction is a term for the clauses which rerate
to, ,: qualify, some previously-mentioned idea or thing. They
generally begr
with 'who '' or 'r'r'hich . .'', e.g., 'the rnen ruho-a.el*orking-i11"-1h.-*arden,.'
This construction is even more common in setswana than iri Engiish,
becauso

as we shali see, setswana_has no Adjectives proper,

and all adjectivai qualificatio:
of nouns, etc., has got to be rendered by a Relative construction. you
can,t sa.,
in setsrvana, 'a black man', or 'a beautiful umbrella,. you have to .;y ;; --who-is-black','an umbrella rvhich-is-beautifirl'_

Horvever, we will take the generar case first, in which the qualification
i.
indicated by a verbal clause.

Present:
ba ba batang,
lo Io balwang,

basimane

lohzuald

the boys who are reading.

the book which is being read.

Perfect:
basimane ba ba badileng,

lokwald lo lo badilweng,

the boys who have read.

the book which has been read.

Future:
basimane ba ba tlaa balang,
lokzuald lo lo tlaahakaang,

the boys who will be reading.

the book rvhich will be read.

Past fndef.:
basimnns be ba ne (neng) ba bata,
lokwald lo lo no (nong) Io balwa,

the boys who were reading.

the book which was being read

Past Definite:
basimane ba ba ne (neng) ba bah,

lokwald lo lo no (nong) lzta balzaa,

the boys who read.

the book which was read.

From these examples it will be seen that the characteristic

constructiol
of(1) a double pronoun or concord, and(2) a suffix,
added to the
-ag,
verb. Notice horvever, that in the case of the pasi ienses the
-z!'ending eithe.
disappears altogether (which is generally the case), or is
added to'the ne or no oconsists

na of the verbal form.

The double concord is not always quite as simple as the 6a ba

or ro r,
of these examples, but all are easy to master, as they follou, the
patten:

already learnt:

JI

I.esson 22
rikang, I who buy;
rikang, you who . .
mi yo o rikang, he who . .
II nche yo o ...
nna y0 ke
zoina yo u

III

moraJeoo..,
IV morulaoo...

dithipa

..

di . .
di . .
dikwald tse di . .

dilipi

tse

tse

magapuae...
malwetseaa...
malemdaa...

bonche ba ba

we who buy.

yourvho...
theywho...

marulaaa...

rona ba re rihang,
lona ba lo rihang,
bdni. ba ba rlkang,

merafeee...

V thipaee...
\4 selipi se se . .
VII lokwald lo kt . .
VIII legapu le le (je k) . .
IX bolwetse jo bo (bo bo) . .
X golemamogo...

101

The negative forms, when used with the Reiative construction, ernproy
the sa or se instead of the ga as the negative formative. we have arreadv
this alternative negative formative in Lessons g I C and 19 I B.

Present:

Perfect:

Future:

banna ga ba epe,
fa banna ba sa epe . .
banna ba ba sa epeng,

banna ga baa ipa,

fa banna ba sa ipa . .
banna ba ba sa dpang,

the men are not ciigging, do not dig.

if the men arc not digging . . .

the men who are not digging.
the men have not dug.

if the men have not d*g . . .

koloieesardbigang,

the men who have not dug.

the wagon which has not become
broken, i.e., which is not broken.

banna ga ba nke ba ipa,

the men will not be digging,

ha banna ba se nke ba ipa. . .

hanna ba ba se nkeng ba ipa,

Past Indef. : banna ba ne ba sa

epe,

will

dig.
since the

rne' will not be digging . .

the men who will not be digging.

the men were not digging.

fa banna ba ne ba sa epe . . . if the men were not digging . . .

bannababane (neng) basaepe, the men who were noi aigglng.
Past

II

Def.:

banna ga baa ka ba ipa,

habannabasehabaipa...
banna ba ba se kang ba ipa,

the men did not dig.

the men did not dig...
the men who did not dig.

as

Relative construction with the potential Mood, and rvith ke na le.

basimane ba ba ka dirang,
basirnane ba ba sa kakeng ba dira,
dilipi tse di sa haheng tsa rCma gopi,

nor

(the) boys who can work.

boys who cannot work.
axes which cannot cut at all

Lesson 22

102

Note here the differing incidence of the -ng suffix

on the verb, in the negative it is on the hake.

- in the affirmative it is

banna ba ba nang le dili;pi,

le ba ba se nang tlilipi,

the men who have axes.

and those who have not axes, i

rona ba re ne (reng) re se na madi,

those lvithout axes.

rve rvho had no money.

ExERcrsE

. r

43

Translate into English:

rshipi e e .fetileng pula e ne ya na sentli.

z Dikotoi tse di se hang tsa

nats6: 3 mme tsditi tse di robegileng, ga ke itse go re tli tlaa
tlisiwa leng. 4 "IVguana yo o sa leleng, o sltzoila tharing.,'2 S Bana,
lereng kzuan. diltwald tse lo tli kwadileng.3 6 Ke senka go rakana. le motho
yo o iteileng ngwanaki. i Gare kahe ra itum)la gr.t lema ka megomg e e udimilzueng J'ila; re batla meguna e e tlaa ttnang y{t rone tdta.45 g Se se
rdbiga, re tsile

nkgang ke eng? gongwe ke rtamtt ele, e re e rekileng mtldba, e gompieno e bodileng.GT

,,yo o utlwang lona, o
Ruri kgasi e agile ntlo e e se nkeng e wa
utlzoa nna; yo o ganang lona, o gana illkt: mme yo o gailang nna, o gana hti yo o

gopi. 10

10:16.) i1 Lo se ha lwa tla kwano, ro re tlhodia ha

kgang eo, e e sa .feleng. 12 Dikgomo tse di se nang tird ke tse! tse di sct kakeng
tsa gdga gopi! 13 Ba lo ka lekang go apaya maphutshe, he bomang? 1+
Ba ba neng ba nthusa ba tsamaile; ba ke nang nabit jaanong, {a ba nthuse sentli.
15 E hae kgomo e e ne ya tlhaba mong wa ydni? 16 Ke ydni e e emeng fale; ke
e e tlaa tlhabizoang ka mosd.8 77 Ba lo sa rateng bogdbi, a lo na le se lo tlaa se
jang?e 18 Ditlhako tse di onetseng tse, di tshzoanetse (chzaanetse) go latlhwa
nthomileng." (Luke

fila. 19 l,{nyaa, rra, a di se ka isa latlhzaa; a ga dia tshz.uanila go fiwa ba ba

di tlhdkang?tott 20 Go na le batho ba ba ka di itumibrang thata, ba
ba se nang natsd. 21 Yo o tlang kwa moragd, ga a nhe a bdna bordthd.r2
22 Ba ba neng ba tla pele, ba bdna madi, ba ile kae jaanong? 23 Fa re
se

na madi a a lekanyeng, re tlaa rekisa maphutshe a re nang nad,13

pxencrsn

44

Translate i.nto Setswana:

1 Here are the ducks we have kiiied. 2 Let us go and find boys who
can play with us to-morrow. 3 The men rvho will be here to-morrow are
not those whom r.ve saw yesterday. ,t He is my friend, who has helped me
greatly. 5 Take these jackets, u.hich have been made by olebetse's mother,
to the shop u'hich is on the other side of the river. 6 The women rvho had

no water-pots could not draw rvater. 7 If the rvater has dried-up (hgala)
in the pans (mogobe) ,let the oxen be herded near the river. 8 we are rucky
(segd) we rvho have a well which does not dry-up. 9 The chief has sent
me to pay the men u'ho returned yesterday from the cattlepost. 10 will the
money be enough ? No, it won't be enough to buy the things which we desire.
11 Probably the girls who went away will come again. 1,2 Who said so
(it is rvho, who has said so) ? I do not agree that it will be so. 13 come quickly

?
Lesson 22

103

(plu.) and take those chairs; put them on the wagon which is standing near the
corn, it has been ruined by the mice. 15 It is
difficult to help a boy rvho refuses to heed his mother. 16 tr like those who obey
me, and those r-ho serve me.
17 Who is it rvho ought to go to bring the post
(pdsd)? 18 If you (plu.) trust me, I u'ill not do you barm (utlznisa botlhoko) .
19 I cannot remember (gakologiiwa) the name of the rvoman who told me these
things. 2(\ 'I'hose r.vho have been forgiven their flults should try to do better

house. 1+ This is useless

(botoka).

Notes

On the Relative Construction see Doke, B. L. T., p. 187. Setsrvana is

in this respect extraordinarily homogeneous and consistent, in that all qualificatives follow the same rule and patter:n.

-f

2 A proverb; it means that crying, compiaining, making oneself heard,

rnay be a nuisance to other people, but it is a heaithy sign, a sign of life. The
thari is the soft phuduhu.Cx (stembuck) skin rvith four long ends or taiis, by ivhich
the mother or elder sister carries the child strapped to her back.
3 Notice the otder of the subjectival pronouns and concords in these cases
tse lo di kwadileng; and also e r e rekileng in sentence 8. Contrast the posi-tion of the objectival pronoun in sentence 19.
4 tbta (real, indeed, etc.) is one of these very idiomatic little rvords
Iike fila and thata
which can be translated in numerous ways. Here one would
translate, 'our very ou'n'.
5 In northern B. P., when an zg precedes an / or h, the tendency is to
pronounce as if the ??g rvas an m; in this case it would be as if written e e adimik:em-fila. This does not always hold in the south.
6 Remember that nkga is to give off a smell: a quite different verb must
be used of the person who smells the smell. 'fswana usage is here much more
precise than the English, which has one word, srneil, for at least three meanings.
7 Notice the gompieno sandwiched adverbially between the relative concords: but it would not be wrong to s y e e bodileng gompieno.
a tlhaba is used of any piercing action, as of an ox's horns; and also in
the technical sense, of slaughtering cattle for food. One would not in that connection use bolaya. The other form of the passive, tlhajwa or tlhabjwa, is more commonly used than tlhabiwa.
9 Notice this common usage; the.re stands for seld sengwe or sejd sengzne,
some thing or some food.

to ba ba di tlhdkang
note the position of the objectival pronoun di,
as contrasted with the subjectival pronouns in sentences 5 and 8. Nouns are
often left out, as here; the full construction would be batho (or bdni) ba ba di
tlhdkang, the people vrho them lack.

+-r

11 tshwanila (chzaanila) generally used in the Perfect, is commonly

of 'ought to' 'should', etc. It can also be used with the
go tshwanetse go nna jalo, it ought to be so. (Neg. of course
impersonal go
go goa tshutanila go nna jalo.)
12 pele and morag6, with or without hwa, can be used as adverbs of either
used with the meaning

Lesson

104

22

time or place. (When pele means first or before in point of time, it is much
higher in tone than lvhen it means first or before in point of space, or place
i.e., in front of.)
o tsile pele,
o tsile pele ga roila,
o eme fa pele 93. moruti,
o tsile kwa moragd ga rona,

he came befbre, first.

he came before us (in time).
he.is standing in front of teacher.
he came after us, later than us.

ke mo fitlhetse kwa moragd ga ntkt,

I found him behind the house.

Note thatpele and moragd behave as nouns, although they can be used adverbially. They are used u'ith the possessive concord Ea e.g., Tnorago ga gagzad,
lit. the after of him. It is identical rvith the Hebrew- usage, which instead of
saying lihe English 'after him', says 'his afterwards'.
13 lekana is to be similar to, or the same as, something. (The nouns
derived from it, tekana and molekane, mean companion, equal.) If two pieces
of stick are just the same length, it can be said', dia lekana, or dia tshwana, lhey
are the same. Like tshwana it is used with le; logong lo, lo lekana le lole, this

log is the same as that one. The phrase go lekanye, using the impersonal

go

and madi a a lekanyeng

or understood.
purpose,
expressed
some
for

'it is enough or sufficient',

rvith the Perfect tense, means

means enough or sufficient money

Lgrl+ b-a 1T s+ ratsng b.Sbb' a li ne Ic 5c

jaFg
2 &Lna, lerepg kif-an ciilcna]-b iFe
?
}s tf,a& se
R
na rc dikolo'i t6e dl *a kalrengt-o *i kw-adtl-gn&. 3
L+
Dikol-ui tse di ra rbbbgengl rs t-ealLsa rleoge..
nqtsb, 5 r,mG tsbnb tTe rli robegileng, 89 kTtse g+
i, e+ llaa llisi'wa.I4&. 6 D+kg.qm+ t-tre di s+ 4&ES
bi'rb KE ls-g I t5 dl sa kalrcng lsa eqga gope t 7 U

T-T.

18

g:"t tre-leleLe-el+g- dif-b- tse

76rc mgol:eltsglg ke mang-

kEe r+osadi yo

itse gp re,

TONE-PRACTICE

r:

GA

ke

18

o utlwang
yo o sa leleng, o swdla tharing.' 2
3 mme
gana
nna
lona,
o
:
lona, o utlwa nna ; yo o ganang
yo o ganang nna, o gana 6nd yo o nthomileng.' + E kae kgomo
e e ne ya tlhaba mung wa ydnd ? 5 Fa re se na madi a a
lekanyeng, re tlaa rekisa maphutshe a re nang nad.

'Ng"nvana

oYo

105

I
LESSON

23

QUALIFICATIVES (ADJECTIVES): otThe: VERBAL CONCORDS

We noted in Lesson 22 that there are no Adjectives, properiy speaking,
in Setswana, and that the adjectival effect was accomplished by the use of
the Relative Construction. (See end of this Lesson for a possible exception to this
generalisation. )

still obviously verbs, are very nearly adjectives, and in

the Relative Construction have that effect. One of them, the verb siama,
we have had already, in Lesson 9.
Some verbs, while

motho yo o siameng,
a good man. (Lit., a man who has become good.)
motho yo o sa siamang, a bad man. (Lit., A man who has not become good.)
mosadi ya o lznalang,
a sick woman (a woman who is ill).
tshipi e e fetileng,
last week (the week which has passed).

The Stative verbs (which generally end ir -)ga) are of this nature, and when
used in the Relative Construction correspond to adjectives in English, rather than
to qualificative clauses beginning with 'who' or 'which'.
holoi e e robegileng,
the broken wagon (wagon which has become broken).
basadi ba ba rutegileng, educated women (women who have become taught).
basadi ba ba sa rutigang, uneducated women.
thipa e e latlhegileng,
the lost (has become cast away) knife.
hgdrd e e bulegileng,
an cpen doorway (buliga, fuombula, open).

In the second place, there are a number of abstract nouns which can be
used with the Relative Construction, and then have the force of adjectives
of quality. Many are of the bo- ma- Class, Class IX. Examples of these are
yo o bonya, a slow person.
bogale, fierceness, sharpness; thipa e e bogale, a sharp knife.
bonya, slowness;

motho

6oAda, weakness;
as adjective,
botlhale, cunningness, cleverness;
bokete, weight;
bofefo, lightness, swiftness ;

weak,

botlhoko, soreness, pain;

motlhofo, lightness;

sore, painful.

molemd, goodness (cr, medicine)

6oz, bluntness, cowardice;
tsididi, coldness;
bothith\, heat, warmth;
mashwi, dirtiness, nastiness;
Tnonatet s\Meetness, niceness;

clever,
heavy.

light, quick,

easy.

light.
;

good.

blunt, cowardly.
cold.

hot, warm.

dirty, nasty.
sweet, pleasant, nice,

Lesson 23

106

All

tlsese are used as

in the two examples above. The nouns themser'e"

are not declined or inflected in any way

'agreement' according to th.
- isthe
class of the noun which is being qualified
efiecied solely by the concords
dithipa tse di bogate.
The negatives shrulcl be noted, but they are not common,
for there is usuarlr
another adjective-noun to express the opposite:
thipa e e seng bogale, a knife rvhich is not sharp : thipa
e e boi.
koloi e e seng bokete, a wagon which is not heavy : i e
motlhofo.

Thirdly, there are numerous other abstract nouns which have an

alter.ative form, a sort of semi-adjectival form, which is used with the
Relatir.o

Construction.

Abstract noun

meanlng

bokima
bontli

adjectival form meaning

thickness;

hima
rzl/i

boshweu

beauty, prettiness;

(boszueu) whiteness;

bogolo

shzaeu,

greatness, bigness; golo,

thick, stout.
beautiful, prettr.
tshuseu white.

kgolo

big, great, large.

'
redness;
hibidu: klxibidu ."i.
bontsho (bonqho) blackness;
ntsho, ncho, black.
botala
greenness; tala
green.
bonnye
smallness; nnye
small.
bobdtlana
smallness; pdtlana
small, little.
bohibidu (bohubidu)

bokhutshwane (khuchwane)
boleele

(botelele)

shortness;
length;

longness,

khutshwane (khuchvtane) short.

telele long.

leele,

'fhe last word has two forms, *reere and.

-terere, both of which can take the
prefixes, as shown below. The r,vord
-hibidu often has the alternative forrr-

-hubidu;

and -shweu and. -ncho vary dialectically to

-sweu and. -ntsho respectivei\"
(See Appendix, Article 6.)

There are other abstract nouns which can be used

adjectivally; there i.
further the large class of colour-marking-nouns or adjectives
which describe the
markings and colourings of cattre, and by which it is possible
to describe in :
word aimost any type and corour of cattre-hide. (A^ instunc"
of the richness c,:
the language in one particular direction, that most important
to a pastoral people.

(See Appendix, Article 26.)

The characteristic of this last group is that the personal (Class

I) concords
are slightly different from those used in the nouns listed
in B above. E.g..
yo mo. . , takes the place of yo o . . .

monila,
ntli,
selipi se smtli,
lokutald lo lontli,
motho

yo

thipa e (e)

Similarly

a beautiful or handsome person. batrto ba bantri . .

knife.
dithipa tse dintld.

a nice
a nice

a nice

axe.
book.

kima, tala, nnye,

khutshzaane, etc.

dilep,i tse dintli.

d.ihwatd tse dintti.

I
Lesson 23
Note the following
place

107

.takes
"[d th.i, usages; in some cases a permutation

bogolo: motho yo mogolo, thipa e kgolo, dithipa tse dihgolo, etc.

bohibidu: motho yo mohibidu, thipa e khibidu, matlhd a mahibidu, etc.
bosweu: motho yo moshweu, katse e tshzteu (chweu),lomapd lo losweu, etc,
boleele: mogoma o moleele, thipa e telele, dithipa tse ditelele, etc.
(mogoma o motelele, etc., also.)

Note that in this group the second

e of the concords e e is omitted.

Ir

The qualificative 'a11', 'the whole of' (and sometimes 'every'), is covered
in Setswana by the adjective -otlhe, which takes a concordial prefix according to the Class of the noun being qualified. Examples:

I
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX

(&

II)

rona rotlhe, u'e all, all of us.

lona lotlhe, you all, all of you.
bdni botlhe, they ali, all of them.

morafe otlhe, whole

morula otlhe,

tribe;

merafe yotlhe, ali the tribes.

marula aotlhe (otlhe).

thipa yotlhe,

dithipa tsotlhe.

selipi

dilipd tsotlhe.

sotlhe,

lokwald lotlhe,

dihwald tsotlhe.

legapu lotlhe (jotlhe),

magapu aotlhe (otlhe).

malwetse aotlhe (otlhe)
malemd aotlhe (otlhe) .

bolwetse

jotlhe,

X go lema gotlhe,

'lwo remarks may be made on the above table.

(1) There is no doubt that aotlhe is the underlying form, and therefore
the correct one. But in modern Setswana it is almost invariably pronounced
and written otlhe. (The same applies to the emphatic pronoun adnd (dni), Lesson
A

15

II: the initial a has been, or is being, lost.)

(2) This qualificative -otlhe, and other qualificatives of the same nature

which rve shall study, seem to be the only authentic adjectives in setswana: if
indeed one can at all press the idea of a 'pure adjective'. The latter is a grammatical concept drar'vn from European languages, and Bantu languages are radically
different from those outside of Africa.

Notice lastly the way in which the concords (see Lessons 14 ancl 15) can
be used with verbal force (verb 'to be'):
di bogale, dithipa tse!
dithipa tse, di bogale!
But, dithipa tse di bogale;
motho yo, o botlhale thata;
But, motho yo o batlhale;
motho yole, o mokima jang!
Blrt, motho yo mohima;

they are sharp, these knives !

these knives, they are sharp !
sharp knives.

this person, he is very clever.

a clever person.

what a thick-set person that

a thick-set person.

is !

lilili!

Lesson

108
EXERCTSE

45

2.1

Transla+e into English:

Tsaya

lofiild lo, u -fiili

matlahala aotlhe a a no kamoring.t 2

wa me! A ga se mosese t montri thata? 3 Batho botlhe
ba :.
siallns ba tshzoanetse go dbamila merad.z I seritsi se se metse
se, ga se ka.,..

ko u bdni

mosese

sa dira setena se se tl.tata.3 5 Re tlaa aniga

tliapard tsotlhe
re di. tlhat,:_
tleng'a 6 Dilipi tse, tsa ga r{id, tri boi tsotrhi, di na re gotserrodizna.s
-

Bana ba ba yang kwa sekoreng ka maratsi aotrhe, ke bdn.i

ba ba lba ithutang sett:
sekole se segolo, se se tlaa agiwang ka ngwaga o o trang, se
traa tsinwa ke bti:..
tsana ba lefuxhe jotlhe. 9 Lo se ha rwa tshwenya (ctnainya)
bana ha dithuto ;:,
ba sa kaheng ba di tlhaloganya. 10 Diph\tdgdid tsotrhe,
tse'crinnye

di

tshaba moleld.6
moldra otlhe o fedile.

re

tse

dikg,;..

11 Mma, se nkgaiemiti; ke gu boleletse maldba, ka r.

12 Naga yotlhe e, e ntli thatal g Ee, kea gu dumti;

ke naga e ntli'
1+ Ke mang yo o traa rekisang nrc bentrering e ncha? ' .
Re ttgile ?notse o mogolo o mofsha, gaufi te morapdi motona. "16
Metse aot;i"..
a a neng a le mo tankeng e kgctro, a tshorogile (chorogile).
17 Lona rotrhe ba ,
hzaa moragd, lo tshusanetse go kgarametsa iotokara;
rona rotrhe ba re kzaa pt,,,
re tlaa o gdga. 18 Mosimane yo mokh,tshz.uane yo
mokima yo, ga a kake a -,:,:
mokkane wa gagzai yo o maoto-mareere.T 19
"Bi ba oprrrri i;iond *e ditsht::,
,,Ka mo raya,
tse, Re
r.te,
ke oomangr
bomang, 0a
ba tswa kaelt,'u
kae?,,a
20
Z0
ha re, Morina zDa n..
go itse usina."g 21 ',A nthaya a re, Ba, ke ba ha tszaang
tswans mo
mo pitlagarrcng
hitla.oauonq "
kgalo." (Tshenolt) 7: l,?, 14)

sxsRcrsr

46

'l'ransiate into Setswana:

1 Where are all the white boxes, and their keys

(mokgwa) should be reproved (kgatemita) by the

? Z All bad habi..

chief. 3 All those who ::.
weak, and those who cannot walk, will go on (by) the
wagons. 4 Loo.,:
we have all got new books !
-5 We h;;" u new tlacher, and rve a
I",h_":,
like him very much. 6 The blacksmith is very slow
in his work, but he is :
trustworthy man (ikanyiga). 7 Do you think 1h".. o*"r,
can haur this hea.,wagon ? 8 I want (rata) to get you a neN, broom,
but perhaf. _" _o.,..
will not be enough. 9 'fhe girl who was crying was afraid
to go into ti_
yard at the back of the house.6 10 she rvas ifraid.
(tshabal of the rarlfierce dog which was barking. 11 I rike black peopre
ur""r.-""a-.rti..
""a up (kgala)
horses. 1,2 All the grass is green, but the water has dried
thewelIs.13Al1thosewhocouldnotworkweregiven(/a/1ittlebooks.

All

in

2..

small children love their mothers and fathers. 15 vo'

o,rgrr, ail to gtogether and help Gaefhere's mother to plough. 16
M.r, .u.r.ror .oor. * ,r,
they need women who have learned ttt" *o.t
1.; of the home. 17 what ve;r
nice (monate) porridge! who has cooked iti'1n,rt in passive.)
rs"^-ilr-..
was a black snake in the backyard, which was eating the
eggs.' rg All tr.
white shoes have been stolen, 20 Is he not a very clever
hunter, who cahunt all day in the forest ?

._

Lesson 23

109

Notes

1 lofiild is the short setswana broom or switch used for the floor; in

it is a bundle of motshikiri grass tied together, in north nrokolane (palm)

fibres are often used to make it. It cannot be used (the rvord
Wiild) as a rule
to translate the English word 'brush'.
2 dba (transitive) means to bend something; 6bama, intransitive, is tcr
bend oneself or assume a bending position ; dbamila means to bend down towards
I
and hence, to respect, to reverence or worship,
the south

3 metse, water, is often used as an adjective meaning wet or watery.

a aniga is to spread anything out, or hang it up, to dry
or to air.
5 di na le -. . in this usage corresponds curiously enough
to a simiiarusage in English-they have to be sharpened. It is equivalent io di
tshwanetse
go loodizua.
6 tshaba is to be afraid of anything andior to run away frorn it. ,llhere
is another verb for (fear'

- Lesson 26 - butbeusethetshaba at present.

maoto a maleele (or matelele) u,'ouid
fuli form, but it is also pos_
sibie to use noun and adjective together, as if it \vere one compound
word, long7

legged.

apara (Pf. apere), the (initiative) i,erb il.orn which comes seaparo; it
garment; hence, in per{'ect, to be rvearing. It is not used for
plitting on articles of clothing on head or feet.
means to put on a

e Note the idiomatic go

itse zuina-the irnperso'al go. 'fhe phrasc

to the same thing as ua itse, but it brings the emphasis on to the
wina, i.e.,'it is you (not I) who knou,.
r0
'what I' as an exclamation is a high-tone a
A bogdbi jo bo monate !
comes nearly

mm
l-t

tv
I A KO-t} b6n} mosese wq tfte I a gc, se nrosgb mo:+ilb lh-a.t+ ? ? Djlbpb tse, tga e" mtU, di bo*
l36ll-1es, di na Le eo Ioediwa3 Be ;LgAle nrots_e. 6
illogolo 3 ruqfs]+a, ggutri lE melepb b nrctona- l+ St+tsb_
se se taq_lse re, gA kake sa dila s_el-ena s-e se t-ltata*
5 tso-ilh-e ba b-a bokoa, fb Lr& tra sa kalrcng b-a t*anra1,a- k?.
tlinao-, ba tlaa pa.lane dikoloi.
6 4 qogiinb 3ea tro mo_
nale ? 7 T hogobL JO Uo a.onale- I ito;pd},re.lG
mang.?
L/

se

TONE-PRACTICB 19

1 Tsaya lofdeld lo, u fddle matlakala aotlhe a a mo kamoring.

Re tlaa andga diapard tsotlhe tse re di tlhatswitseng. 3
?
Lo se ka lwa tshwenya bana ka dithutd tse ba sa kakenj ba di
tlhaloganya. + Mma, se nkgalemdld; ke gu boleletse maldba,

ka re, moldra otlhe o fedile.

110

LESSON 24
NUMBERS: HOW MANY? (kae? )

ilt. numerals in Setswana ought to be known, although this is one aspec:

of the language which is not proving equal to the demands of modern life.
The old Bantu system of numeration was logical, and adequate for the limite:
demands of a pastoral and unlettered people : but it is too clumsy to be an effectir.:
instrument for modern trading or money matters. Especiaily is this so in tht
case or numbers upwards of twenty; the English numerals are increasingly beine
I

used, often r'vith modifications of pronunciation. (E.S., dikgomo di le naene,

oxen; dihgomo di le sehesetini, di le toenteter#, sixteen, trventy-three oxen.)

nir'.=

I
II
r III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X

.fila,

motho a le mongwe fila,

nche a le mongwe fila,

of'

motho mongwe

of,

morafe o le mongwe fila,

mokala o le mongwe fila,
thipa e le nngwe fila,

or,

of'

fila.
morafe mongzoe fila.
mokala mongue fila.
thipa nngute fila.
selipi sengzue fila.
lokwald'longute fila.
legapu lengtae fila.
bolwetse bongzoe fila.

of,

go lema gongwe Jila.

selipd se le sengzte fila,

lokzttald lo le longwe fila,
legapu le le lengwe .fila,
bolwetse bo le bongute fila,
go lema go le gongwe fila,

of,
oft
of,
oft
oft

one person.

nche mongwe

The root is -ngzte, meaning one, to which the noun prefixes of tire variou.
added. fila, meaning just or only, is added generally to emphasis:
the fact of the unity, but is often omitted. (As we shall see, this -ngwe has oth.
uses and significances.) In some tribes this -ngzae or nngzae has an open vontClasses are

-ngwi or nngwi. l
TWO TO TEN
TWO

I batho ba le babedi, two people;

II bonchehalebabedi, 2 ostriches;
III merafe e le mebedi, 2 tribes;
IV makala a le mabedi, 2 makala;
V dithipa di le Pedi, 2 knives;
VI dilipi di le Pedi, 2 axes;
VII dihu;ald di le Pedi, 2 books;
VIII magapu a le mabedi, 2 melons;
IX malwetse a le mabedi,2 illnesses;
X malemd a le mabedi, 2 ploughings;

batho ba le bararo,
bonche ba le bararo,
merafe e le meraro,
makala a le mararo,
dithipa di le tharo,
dilipi di le tharo,
dikwalo di le tharo,
magapu a le mararo,

three people.

3 ostriches.
3 tribes.
3 makala.
3 knives.
3 axes.
3 books.
3 melons.
malwetse a le mararo, 3 illnesses.
malemd a le mararo, 3 ploughings

Lesson 24
Similarly, the other numbers up to ten are

111

FouR,

batho ba le bani, merafe e le rneni, dild di le nni, etc.

slx,

...balebarataro,

FrvE, ...balebatlhano, ...

e lemetlhano, ... diletlhano,etc.

.,. e lemerataro, ... dile thataro,etc.2
. , . ba shupa (supa) , . . . e supa, . . . di supa, etc.3

sEwN,
ErcHr, ...babafirang mebedi,..-. e e.firang mebedi,... tse difirangmebedi.
NrNE, ... babafirang mongzne fila, e e.firang mongwe fila, tse difirang ...
TEN, ...bale shomi (somi), ... e le somi, ... di le somi, ... a le somi.
Alternative forms are these: for 7, ba ba shupang (supang),
ba ba rdbang mentl)ana mebedi, ba ba rdbang monzlana mongwe
mebedi, ba ba rdbang tnongwe fila. (Read W. & 8., pp. 79-81.)

etc.; for 8 and 9,

fila;

ELEVEN UPWARDS

11
12
73

lesomi le motsd mongzne .fila, lesomi le motsd.

lesom| le metsd mebedi"
lesomi le metsd meraro.
lesomi le metsd meni And so on, up to 19.5

20

masomi
masomi
masomi
masomi

14
-

3l
32 *
30

100

468

or ba ba rdbang

mabedi.

tnararo.
maravo le motsd mongzne
mar(tro le metsd mebedi'

fila.

lekgolo.

makgolo a le mani le masomi marataro le rnetsd e e .firang mebedi.

There is a verbal use of the numerals; really it is just the verb ,to be'
as we had it in Lesson 14, I B.

re batlhano; we are five (:.e., there are five of us).

dihgomo di thataro; the oxen are six (in number).
nnyaa, ga di thataro, di shomi; no, they are not six, they are ten.

'how many?' is expressed by kae? (or haye?) usually sounded asha-e?

Do not confuse this with the kae? meaning 'where ?' The consonants and
vowels are identical (unless it is pronounced hahe) but the tonal pattern is quite
B

different.

kae meaning'where' is high-mid, low-mid:

hae meaoing 'how many' is low-mid, high-mid.

In the first, the voice drops on the last vowel; in the second, the voice is raised
on the last vowel.
pald (from bala, to count or read), is a 'number'.
patd ya tsdni e kae? what is their number ? (Lit., number
many ?)

of them is how

Lesson 24

112
EXERcTsE

47

'lranslate into English:

Borrago bana le dikgomo di le kaye? 2 Ga ke itse pald yatsdni, m,rt

3 Gongwe di ka nna rnahgolo a a firang rnebedi le rnas+**
matlhano. 4 Go batliga basirnane ba ba godileng, ba le masomi mabedi le rw-,
mebedi,T 5 ba ba ratang go ithuta go tshameha 'football' ; ga re batle ba :,"
sa go rateng. 6 Maabane ke rekile mae a le somi le metsd metlhano. .7 Gompieno ka re, ke a apaya, mme ka fitlhila a le mar;,.
sheleng le tiki.8
a bodile.e 8 Mma?itsd, a u ko u ald tafole, u biyi dipoleite le dikopi tsaba:;.,'
balebani.to 9 Ga nhake ka ya motsing, rra; ke lapile, he berekile lets,;-:,

di dintsi thata.6

jotlhe.tt rz

10

Menwana yotlhe

ya me e botlhoko; o

le

monguse

fils

rurugile thuta. 11 Ditshedi tsotlhe dia tshztsana; di na le tlhdgd e le nngwe -ft.12 Ga go na phdldgbb r '
le matlhd a le mabedi, le molomo o le mongwe fila.
pedi.
13 Motho yo o nanE i
nang le melomo e le mebedi, lefa e le ditlhdgd di le
leitlhd le le lengzae fila, re mmitsa moitlhd. 1'+ Bontsi jo bcgolo jzoa ba;n'
gompiena bo rutegile; le gali, go na le ba l: bantsi mo lefatshing ja Tshireletso ba :,'
sarutigang. 13 15 Ramadi o tlhabile dinku di le pedi tse ditshweu (chweu;. .'16 A ga se mosadi yo montld thata ! le bs,,,
podi e le nngzre fila e ntsho (ncho) .
17 A basetsana ba le batlhano ba nn| fa fats;,t
ba gagwi ba bantli jaaka ini.
ba le bararo ba imi ka dinao. l8 Go no go na le dilotele di le pedi tse ditek-:
19 mong wa tsdni a di tsaya, a di tsenya mo letloding, jalo a le tswala. 20 :.,
tshwanetse (chwanetse) go tlhdkdmila ditlhare tsotlhe tse di mo tshimong, lo di r';,
'netse malatsi otlhe. 21 A go apiwi bogdbi.io bontsi: lo na le dipitsa di s:i:,"
(shupa) , a cli tlhatliwi tsotlhe. 22 Dihgetse tse, tsa boupe, le tse lhataro ts-:;*
tsa sukiri, di na le go rekisizua ka mosd. 23 Ga goa tshwanila {o supa mo:it
ka rnonwana.
EXERcISE

48

'franslate into Setswana:

1 How many days will you take to go to Sefhare and to return i 2 -'
we can get three horses and haif-a-dozen donkeys, we should take three da;.
or four days. 3 Bring me (sing.) five eggs, anC (some) clean (-ntli) c:,..:
water. 4 Last month I bought (Perf.) twelve donkeys for (ka) thirty pour::
5 Two men with blunt axes can:,r
(ponto) ; they were very dear (tura) .ta

trees. 6 All these seven boys are to blame (ba molat:

truth. 7 How many red books were there ?
She says she does not remember the number of the books. 9 Are you cr:
tired (plu.) ? Are you not thirsty ? 10 How many small ploughs are ther= '
and where shall I get them? 11 I will call the three girls to theschool, (ar:
they will tell me about their father. 12 This is a very dirty book, Jor 13 Hurry up, mma, wash youi hands quickly, =':
where did you get it I
wash all these things with boiling water. (See Lesson 20, Ncte 12.; ts 1+ -lj
the long poles (mepakd) should be put on the ground. 15 Also there are ri=
which are short: let them be placed at the back of the school. 16 16 -:-i
the boys who came to-day have made their beds 1: laid down their sleepir.mats) in the yard, in front of the house. 17 Why do you (sing.) not take ca::
of the things you have been given by your teacher? 17 18 Those who cercut down all these high

they did not tell me the

Lesson 24

113

not build, can bring the bricks and the mud for the builders. 19 The
of boys like work which is not difficult. 20 How sharp the black
dog's teeth were! 18 2l "We are twelve brothers, we are the sons of our
father; oneisnot(gaayd), andthelittleoneis nowwith('has') hisfatherinthe
land of Canaan." (Genesis 42: 32.) ts
22 "They arrived at Elim rvhere
majority

there were twelve springs (motswedi) of lvater, and seventy palm (mokolane) trees."
(Exodus 15: 27)zo

Notes

it

The Class V numeral is generally now spelt nngwe; in the 1910 system
was spelt ngzae, and engwe has also been used: ngrtgwe has been proposed. It

first is a syllabic z or perhaps sometimes ag. Btt mongzae,

etc., are but trvo syllables;the syllabic nor ng disappears with the prefix,
Ieaving the root -ngzle. (There is much to be said for spelling the Class V form
engwe.) In some dialects it is nngwi.
2 Notice the permutation of the r into th; see Lesson 16.
3 supa is to point at anything or any person, with the index finger; such
pointing at a person is, to Tswana thinking, extremely rude: it is more than rudeness,
it is often regarded as one way of bewitching or casting an evil spell on a person.
'fhere is nothing wrong, however, in using the index finger to point to a
thing, e.g., an ox; but the old men say that during a thunderstorm, or while
thunder and lightning are near, it is dangerous to use the index finger to point;
one must use the thumb.
supa also has the broader meaning of showing, proving, witnessing. For
the Setswana method of counting on the fingers see Appendix, Article 18.
a shupa and shomi are dialecticalLy supa and somd, and very often so
is

tr,vo syllables, the

sengwe,

u'ritten.

(See Appendix, Article 6.)

But the word

metsd

is often dropped, and the form then becomes

etc.

/e-

for example Mareko 3: 14 in Tswana

Bible, ". .. ba le somA b bobedi", (he chose) twelve (men). Also Genesise 14: 4,
" Ba dirila K. dinyaga di le somi le bobedi, mme ka ngxnaga zua motsd an boraro ba
isuolola." "They served K. for twelve years, but in the thirteenth they rebelled."
Or 2 Dihgosi 23:31 , "dinyaga di le masomi mabedi le borero", "twenty-three
vears". Indeed the original meaning of the word motsd would almost seem to be,
not 'unit', but 'unit-above-ten'.
6 ntsi, with prefixes (same group of adjectives as ntli above), means
many; so bantsi, either with or without batho, means many people. With the
abstract prefix 6o-, i.e., bontsi, the word indicates a crowd or number of people,
,r, the majority or most of people.
7 telele (-leele) is used for horizontally long things, not generally for
:rose which are tall or high, i.e., long in a vertical direction. For the latter the
', erb gola,
grow, is used. You don't usually talk of a motho yo mohe.le, or motho
; '' rnotelele; you say motho yo o godileng. The same usage holds for all high things,
somi le bobedi, lesotni Ie boraro,

See

.':ch as trees, houses, mountains, etc.

8 teke or tiki is the Tswana-isation of the S.
:enny piece.

A. 'tickey' or silver three-

114

nur

J,esson 24

e Notice that ka re . . . used in this way

is equivalent to ,I intencled tc
out
'1^^:,:,r::: :p.*"9,,raying,or tay_do'"n u'*i.ffi:;;;';; ;#ff1J:

a table croth, ;; ;"r;il; ;;J;i",.

j:Tis"*1f::
::-.
11 lapa
an Initiative verb meaning to become
tirecl.

12 hirika is a Tswana-isatio', to
rv''ork for pay or lr,age. Nouns fro:
are in commorl use, mmirikd (pfu. mebirikd),
u.ork u. ._f?oy..r.rr,, miltt,:
bab er eki, lr.orkman, r,vorkmen.
13 tuhireretso is a'oun meaning

protection from; from the verb s.li.r;.,.

(This does not seern to come from"si)a,
tn shade or ro stand-in-the-righ:ancl there seenls no ve,b siretsa.) It
is useci as the
of the Bechuanal.
Protectorate.
'ame
14 'dear'; there is a rnuch used ,l
ernpioved here; like those in 23 rB,it
takes
cxprcssing_'dear' (of purchascs, ctc.) in propcr
"'fi::oXl""r,KJ;,:"lll":::
,l,suanir.)
ls Reflexir.e
of
which itlhagor)b i".rn", in the second
perso:.
the Imperativc, encr 'erbs,
in -i, not in -a; s.'t.r.ry,-,p!'is either
itrtaganiri! or ii.
.gurte/eng !

16
17

'also', here, translate by

te

g6ni or

le gdna.

'rvhy'here can be_translail ke eng ..,?

lit., *,hat is it...? Tlie:_
rrlso another rvay of putting this, used
in Lesslon 32.
t8'ho*'r'
- use here atta, . . jang ! seelesson g II A ancr Lessor:

Note

10.

19

'brothers', in a case like this, is i' Tsrvana

'ch'dren of a person
'children of a man,. (There are, holl_ever,
other ways of ,r""rf"A.rg ,broi:._
as we shall see.) Here translate, ,trvelve
;';;,."'20 'where', when it is not an interrogative,
"hildr"r. "f
involves the Rerative c, ,_
truction; in this case, kua... reiative constr,iction
...
gdni.

mm

I_1.

4U

yo o 4Ang te l-eftlhb fE le
'rygt't,thb, . 2 Bor.r,aga. ba
re d+kt,-,
"a
Ca lte tl.se palb-ta tsans,
3^
rn'nE
ne
I

nr

lller,no-

:r3di T
(a+ ?
te +ffii-

n+e

cftlts+
dintsi tlral;+_
ttrad.a*

^
o'
Ier
r
i*T*",u'L.,Iilff
t--,t-fl#tHf*H
ffiJ
r.:q
pa nnr) 1T- I'+\shj t,.r" t-c ]+arars_ ba
ka clin_
I

__

vO

-''vvucu
ermt+

"" ruil#""

L-

:-

leae

T'oNE-pRACTrcE 20

_Vlmapitsd, ala

,if:l:, u beyd dipoleite

le dikopi tsa batho .

Ditshidi rsoth; dia'tshwana di na le
;
tlhogi, .
le- nngwe fdla, le matrhd a re
mabedi, re
i.

le

band. 2

mong-,':
-rr"*"
3 Ga go
phdtogdld . ,rurrg le melomo"e le
fdl".
.
_
la
mebei
" Ga
lefa.e le ditlhogd di le ped"i. +
goa tshwandla go su:,

motho ka monwana.

llilllll

115

it

LESSON

it

25

OTHER -ngwe USAGES: KINSHIP NOUNS

.ltr"

V.

expressions 'some one', 'a certain one', 'another one', 'others', ,each
one', are all expressed in Tswana by constructions employing forms of
-Egg,e, nhich as we have seen has the root meaning of 'one', or'unity'. There are
::ree distinct usages, which can be learned more easily from examples than from

f;
'd

Jt*-riptions.

)e

;f

In the first rsage, -ngwe denotes a certain or a particular thing, but without
the emphasis on that thing being a single unit which fila implies (e.g.,
:n the numeral 'one'). Indeed the indefinite article 'a' can often be idiomatically

rf

::anslated by some form of -ngzoe,

'"aa lobaha

longwe..." (Pad.11116); at one time...

"'gt no go le letsatsi lengwe..." there was a day...
Tabi 2: 1) ;
"d mongwe o ka itsa metse?"
can anyone (one) forbid
1

Ditird 10:47);

"a

mo ldlta sel6 sengwe . . ."

JIath. 20: 20c);

water

asking (asked) a certain thing of him.

Similarly the plural forms correspond to ,certain', ,some', etc.:

'^bangwe ba bdni ba re ne re na some of those rvho were

with us.
,tnbi..." (Luke 24: 24);
'"'t tlhdla malatsi mangwe le barutwa he stayed some (a
few, certain) days
..

."

(Ditird 9:

19);z

with the disciples.

In the second usage, forms of -ngzae are used in dupricate to indicate

... another', of 'some.., others':
'^fungwe ba re letsatsi ke monona (rnosome
, ngwedi e le mosadi;
bangwe ba re ke ngzpana wa mose-

u.nal

fu

txana.,

otherssay...

wfatshe mangwe a bothuthd;

some countries are warm;

others are cold.
in these ways, and in others . .

nnnWe a tsididi;

^-ha mekgztsa e, le ha e
Pad. II l2a) ;

mengwe . . ."

tifuomo dingwe di na le go rekisizra;

I
r=

:
=
=
3--.===-

say the sun is a man, the moon

being (his) wife;
others say it is a girl-child . . .

fu bangwe ba re . . ." (Pad.II|2S);

a

,one

some oxen must be sold;

@ dingwe tsotlhe di ha boila hwa

all the others can return to the cattle-

morakeng;

post.

Less6n

116

2S

In the above

examples, yo mongil)e, se sengwe, a m.angwe,

etc,, express diffe,
'another',,the others', etc. But there is a
din"inr*ora,

sele, which,
use; it indicates a greater amount of difierence
tt un th"lrrc*e constrr_
tions
- a difference in 'kind' rather than in 'degree,. It translates trre
also in

*.c;-

'different', rather than the word ,other,.

ke phdldgdld

e sele

fila;

"ba simolola go bua ka

(Ditirb

2:

(See,

4)

cli

it is quite a different (kinct of) anirna

began to speak in difiere:_.:

sele,,, they

for example, yohane 4:4g,

In the third

"Xb:!i

ha,letsatsi
(Padiso II135) ;
leJatshe

di1>nit

usage, forms

lengwe Ie

lengwe Ie lengwe

kgosi ya jdni (tdni);

','setlhare sengwe Ie
k.a loungd lwa shdni,,

I0:

languages . .
19,

tiia

65: lib.)

of -ngwe correspond to ,each,, ,every,:

lengwe,,

le busiwa he

sengwe se itsiwe
(Luie 6: 44) ;
"a re latlheng bohete bongwe Ie bongwe" (Bahebera 12: 1);

twice each day.

each (every) collntry

(oitn) chief.

is rulecl by i:_.

every (each) tree is known by its frui:

let us throw away every rveight.

(some dialects of
however, always xse e nngz,,e instead
of nngut
.Tswana,
"Rammdni a tswa legoligzla
la.kg.arebi e nngwe go twe. . .,, Rammone
became the
slave of a cerrain damsel callei . . .
@ainmaia, p, 2z). S,_ii;;i;,
"'--'t instead o:
nngtte le nngwe (each one), they say,
"

e nngwe

le)

nrgl*r.1--

There are many nouns which express

Kinship, of which so far we havt
rra, trma, ngwana, mor,)a, morutadia, ,romogolo,
A*r, " sometimes
used instead of rra, but it is a Sotho
term, not u T.rvuiu o.r".)
had.

children in a family. The brother-sister

rerationship is a rittle dificurr.
in Setswana
it
is
regarded from ,;";j;;"., point oi
T":ql

because

view as well as from the simpry'Jbjective'

vierv which the

"

Engrish language takes.

In the latter'brother' or'sister'.
only the sex of the person spoken of:
"*pr.a...
but in setswana the words to be used are
conditioned both i, ii" sex of the
person spoken about and by the sex
of the speaker. (The issue rs further
complicated by the fact that there are
different terms
v-sv^ brother
-- for
urvlrr (or sister,
-vr elder
and younger brother (or sister).)

(1) when children of.the.same fam'y, irrespective of sex,

are talked about.
Tswana says, ue bana ba motho (monna)
a le'mongwe fila, they
.hii;;;; ;;;_
person. (See Exercise 4g, sentence 2i.)
"r.
(2)

There is also an inclusive and generar term

for any other ch'd of one,s
* ngwana-wa-ga-rri, nga)afta_z,oa_ga_mmi,
,ihild

own parents

of my

father,

Lesson 25

117

mother'. These terms are used in- a general way; when they
are used in direct
address (vocative), rra.and' mrna takethe place of rri,
or mmi
rrywana-wa-garra, etc' sometimes they are shortened to ngzDana-a-rra, ngwana-a-7nma, my
brother, my sister.

(3)

The other brother-sister terms are forms of three root-words:

mogolo (root

-goh),

monna (root -nna),

kgaihadi (kgantsadi),

is elder brother of a boy, or, elder sister of a

elder child of the same sex as speaker.

girl.

I.e., an

younger brother of a boy, or younger sister of a girl:

a
younger child of the same sex as speaker,
any_ brother of a girl, or sister of a boy: i.e., any
child of
a different sex from the speaker.

The plurals are all formed by the bo_ prefix.

The possessi

my...
thy...

rnogolole nnaki
mogoloo monnao
his, her . . . mogolowi monnauti
our. . .
mogolo-a_rona lnonna_a_rona
your.., mogolo-a-lona monna_a_lona
their. . .
mogolo-a-bdni monna-a-b6ni

kgaitsadiaki
kgaitsadio

f,gaitsadii, hgaitsadiagwi
kgaitsadi_a_iona
kgaitsadi_a_lona

igaitsadi_a_bdni

The ttin-laws" and others. It is important to realise that the

setswana
family is never just 'father and mother and the chiidren'; it
is a wide and
rather indefinite group, embracing not only the present
fatherls family and the
mother's family, but groups and families ihro,rgl marriage
ties of many many
vears ago. A child often stays for long periods with
the ,in-laws,, sometimes
grows up rvith them entirely; and uses rri, mmi,
of others besides his actual
parents. A full treatment of the family, and the terms
used, r.vould take a long

B'

article.

From the children's point of view, the most important person

apart from the
is the malama, or maternal uncle
the mother's .hi.f lrotir"r. He is
often more important than the parents themserves,
e.g., in a girl,s marriage arrangements' The next in importance is the rakgadi, o,. put"r.ri aunt
the father,s
parents

sister.

Motswana refers to his other uncles and aunts thus:

mogolo-a-rri, father's elder brother rangwane, father's
younger brother,
mogolo-a-mml, mother's elder sister; mmangwane,
mother's younger sister.

There is some variation in the use of the kinship terms among

the difierent
tribes: the student should study the chart of Kinship Terms
in tlhe Appendix,
Article 19, and make himserf familiar with the terms; they
are important. rrinogoll and mmi-mogolo arc the grandparents on either side of
ltogolo,

mosadi-mogolo, refer to any ord man or

the family

flronna-

woman; they are terms of respect,

for age is venerated and its experience and opinion ."specied.

118

Lesson 25

The possessives are

malomi
rakgadi
rangwane
malomago rakgadiago rangwanago
his, her . . . malomaagwi rakgadiagwi rangwanaagwi
our...
ntaloma-a-rona, rakgadi-a-rona,rangwana-A-rone,
etc.
etc.
etc.
etc.
my...
thy. . .

(The first

r of what is certainly originally a double

consonaltt,

/r,

..

generally omitted.)

Amarried woman (and her people) refers to her husband's people as ti.,
bagwi, arrd a married man (and his people) refers to his rvife's people as the &r;guagadi or bagwagwadi. Any one member of these groups can be referred to
=.
mogwi or mogzuagadi, but these words are generally used ontry of the most importai
one, i.e., the father or the mother of that family.
The term mogatsa, meaning spouse, can be used of either a man or i
woman: but itis not held to be so proper or fitting asm.osadiortnonna, 'u,ife'o"
'husband'.3

sxrncrsr

49

Translate into English:

1 Dinyaga tsa gago di kae, ngzoanaka? A ga di shotni le bobedi? 2 Mnt,;pula le monnauid btt ile kwa Shoshong, ba biditswe ke borangraana-a-bdni. :
Kgaitsadiaka, a ga ua utlwa jaaka rakgadiago a gu laya? a
4 "Lo nni (be
pelo e le nngwe ;fila; a nrcngwe le mongwe a sa tlhdkitmili dild tsa gagwi fila, a .;
tlhdkdmili /e (also) tsa ba bangwe." (Bafil. 2 : 2, rl. ) 5 Ralokae, u na le boxntrtt,;
kae?s 6 Ga ke tn bonnahi; ke na le bcmtgolole ba le bararo, le b, kgaitsadiaki ha le ba.rataro. 7 Ba re ga ba ntt borraabd le bommaabd; ba r;

ba le

botlhe. 8 "Setlhaye sengwe le sengu.te se se ssungweng loungd lo lo m,lemd sea ringzua, se latlhilwa mo m,olelong." (Mathcio 3: 10.)
9 Battni;bagolo ba ne ba bilediwa botllte kwa kgotleng go akanya molad o mofsha. 10 A.
tttlrta go re mogoloo o tlaa tsaya, ngwaga o o tlang.6 11 Ee, o bua jalo; ke ,:
bdna o senketswe nosad-i ke bomalomaagwi. 12 lVgaka nngwe le nngwe e batiba shule

fa e ala;t'a motko. 13 A mosadi yole o iserzoe? ltlnyaa, ga aa tsiwa..

l+ "Lo gopolang? lll[ontta mongwe o na a na le bomrtruarai ha le baheCi; 1-.

tuild

jalo a tla

lno go zla

tttlka (the first), a mo ray{t a re, Llorctaaka, ya tt diri nto tshinor:1

gompieno. 16 Eni amo.fetola a re, Kea gana, ga ke ye; mme morago ,,

ikzaatlhaya (repented), a ya.
17 Le goni monne e tla tno go wa bobedi (th..
second), a bua nai ka mokgwa o le mongzoe fila:
i8 Eni jto a rnhetola a rt.
Kea ya, morina; mme a se ka a ya go?i.7
19 I{e rnang mo go bdni yo o dirileng go rata ga rraagwi?" (Mathaio 21 : 28 31) a
20 Lotlhe lo sianili kt,:
gae; a mongwe le mangwe a kopi teke mo go mmaagui. 21 Tsatsi lengwe k;
ne ha ya go lekola mmanguane ktua sepateleng. 22 A ua ye u senka bokgaitsadi;..
mma? Ga go itsiwe kwa ba ileng teng.e 23 Ga ke rate ndtd ya ga monnar):
e bokete thata. 24 Fa e le ndtd ya me tbta, e adimilzte; jato ke ua le go rik;
ya

me

e nngwe.

i19

Lesson 2r
EXERCISE

50

Translate into Setswana:

?2
How many hammers and axes have you got in that box' -Thomas
the
Let
all
3
blunt'
very
is
It
?
When is your uncle going to sharpen his axe
dead
the
eating
vultures
many
I
saw
4
dirty rubbish be thrown T,-tto th" ht"'
6 This
horse. 5 The old man is very sick; let us all go to see him'governThe
7
i11'
are
who
many
and
year there are many rvho are ht
"g'y,
of
hundreds
many
bought
it
has
mefi (gorominti) is ltyingto helitn" ptoplt;
they
people;
father's
wife's
my
visit
bags oimealies.'Io 8 Let us (2) goto
1

run and.tell the chief that

live on the other side of the river. 9 Quick (sing'),
everything' 10 Take
up
eating
the red locust(s) are in the gardens and are
brother; 11 tell
little
your
to
all these things on the table and give them
face' 12 Kohis
and
hands
his
him to brushishutlha) his shoes, 1u""a; to wash

were ill'
that
loi,s wife has come to see you, *ott.r, she says she heard
.(fa) .you
rvho
child
A
week'
every
13 Every worker should receive his wages
!4

doesnotobeyhisfather,slawwillobeythatofthevultures.lt15Wehad
fruit; i6- but the other
seventeen good trees, which bore ("sei to bear) nice

17 This woman
six were .ti good, they bore fruit that could not be eaten'
fromDinokana'
away
far
live
others
but four are dead, the
had eight
(The
"hi'ldr".t;
brothers'
big
grown-up
three
18 I have a very pretty little sister, and
work:
for
look
to
white-folk
the
tz
go
to
19 Many men
speaker is a boy')
married man
.o*" get a lot oflmoney, but others get just a little' 20 Every
Every child
2t
people
wife's
tt;t
'
orrght io take care of his'wife, and to ft"tp
has only two Parents. t3

Notes

1
z

from ilse' know'

day: see
The root meaning of tlhdla (tlhotse) is to pass or spend -the
to go
means
and
common'
also
is
it
much later, Lesson 40. But as used here
see
to
something'
at'
look
a
have
to see, go to look-up' a person; or to inspect,
oxen,
and
servants
tlhdla
to
horv it is; e.g.' a man .uy go to his cattlepost
'lris
itsa (iditse), forbic{; distinguish

other.hand' is chiefly
'tekola (tekotsi)'onthe
is ill' (The
someone..rvho
for
going to see or to enquire
used of sick-visiting
met with in
be
will
person,
sick
a report about a
causative form, Iekoilisoi
^ui"
45')
Lesson
in
Irsson 36, and the Reflexive of that, itekodisa,
3 rnogatsa has three other endings - mogatsaha(-ki), my " ' ' nxogatsd'
a good word
rour. . . mogats|, his or her " ' But it is not generally considered
i.e., to see how they are gettini

on' "

touse;perhapstheEnglishequivalentwouldbetorefertoaman'swifeashis
'rsoman'. But some trii"s .lt" the word without this sense of impropriety'
alayaistoexhortapersonseriouslyabouthisbehaviourorconduct_
to give important informnot necessarily because he has already done wrong, but
ation so that he will not make mistakes'
5 Note the way that Tswana uses these terms - it saYs, for examPle,
'how many your-younger-brothers have you''
two his-sons', not just'two sons'.

See also sentence

\4r',.,

he had

r20

Lesson

2S

6 A man always
(tsaya) a woman, but a r.voman
.takes
does not lr_,
a man; she is always ,taken
by; fti\zla ke) her husband.
or, the tatter. Note in this sentence
atso that
i ,"*:^1,:, .^j}^:i:,,
t:,:,;i:f

,y2.TI:;h:;;:;Xf
ry;i:'L::::::l*':::"i:;::;i"_t""";##"u"ff i[""zli:":*;

,.g., ke mhitlhetse,l tnu"

:::,:li,_:.,Ji..;;;;:;.[Ji,XiJi*".!,]ffXJ"r,{i
f;";;;.

t, 1 ralher. i.,,., *uy of putting ,which

of
rraagzti
I2::::.^,:,::::::,f
1."",,.reinvolved,o",,,"#",1J,ffi:-"":l#Jt".,t:l
o-ught really to be ga go ,roog*i.)
i

22

r*!:.7:::^:-:T,.

. . teng is the sime

^:d^fff
lo gorominti

nouns and concords.

i" pjjir"

12
13

is treated as

ur'n*i'

. . . gdni_ see Exercise 48,

senten::

personal

or

Class

noun in regard to pr:-

A Tswana proverb to lvarn a disobedient

boy or

girl.

See

the

sto:_

See Note 5 above.

ba*adi (sing. motsadi) are a person's

actuar parents; from tsara
whic.
means to beget.

T-T.

21

: ffi:l":T

be bld.ibswe ke borangtnftaa-bbnb.
ffT""*'ry2 +1leiltr shoshons.,
sngue
}* senswe Ja'Jr",":$irleinaa-Qoft-'.
- lo 'ffi'l&are
mggeng lrsungo Io
molemhr.
meleqb,
3
.on
+:*"u^
ib-_
ff: , s-e latlhblara_mo ,"I*frAe_:,
3 Tsats-i lenge

*oi""ffif- ?ru
? ffi*Iltr *T*'*.o*i#ma
c&:;ildffiffi"
*
5 *" E
F _ffr:tr*?*
_.*+-ffi**
tJl.Bua, J-e ;""##
- " J-v'*s!s
Cbrh.OgglA}e
n ff*g3i;-"*
ba I-e bar+fO_ :oa flnp
ba gedileRg- 6 c+
st ga
d

..1

borreoaba- rE,
J-E benmgqbb_,
rm-*.
6;5"sur-i=ffifnc.
:3lF
$na
/
kena
rri le une; rlo* u c- ;-;;;;ff'****ot*Tlr-ff*lIA
n

ToNE-pRAcricE

na

21,

1 'Lo nnd pelo e Ie nngrve f6ra; a mongwe

le mongrve a se tlho,
kornele dild tsa sagwe"f.ru,
*
t',,or.airere re rr"";; bangwe.,
2 'Enb yo a mhetJlu u.",'X"u'yul_ordna;
"
gopd.' 3 'Ke m.1ng_mo go bin6 yo o mme u." tu o y"
dirileng go tata ga ga
rraagwe ? 4 Lotlhe to siaiele
krv:;r gae' a mongwe le mongn'e
a ko!. tiki mo gl- *-uug*".

121

LESSON
'WHICH ONE ?' ( -fe

The interrogatives

'r,vhich

l'

26

) AND ,NO-ONE'

( _pd )

'which one(s) ?' 'which of these ?, are all

to which is prefixed the class concord

expressed by the syllable -;t'e,

,i the noun(s) referred to.

|.: ofe

zua

bbni yo o tsanmyang?

which of them is going au.ay ? l

(Note that he martg yo o tsamayang? would, not be quite the same thing;
ma'g ? simply makes a general enquiry without having in mind any particular
Eroup; ofe? has just such a group in mind:)
I't tlaa rima setlhare sefe

(mo

go tsdni)? which tree (of these) rvill you fell?

ts

similarly, 'none', 'no one', 'not any', are expressed by the syllable -pi,
to which is prefixed the class concord of the noun(s) referred to. Bur,
.r-henever this syllable is empioyed, the verb must be in the negative.
(Look
back to Ex. 17, no. 19 and the Note upon it
where u,e had sepd meaning

nothing.)

gd go na opi: mo tlung;
a u na le madi ? ga ke na api:;
.fa Io sa dire sepi (seld sepi)

2u lo nke lo bdna dijd dipd;

there is no one in the house.

I I have not any.

you don't do anything,
you won't get any food at all.
have you money

if

This last sentence rright equally r,vell have been put, ga lo nhe lo tli bdna
gopd: the word gopi is an adverb, qualifying the verb bdia. The meaning is

eractly the same, for all practical purposes, as that ofthe previous sentence but the
;
srammar of it is slightly different, A very similar adverb is gotlhe, ,altogether,,
'compietely', compounded from the prcfix goancl the syllable -otlhe meaning,all'.

There are many ways of using the Relative construction, for example
those expressing 'in which . . ., ,through, by, for rvhich', etc., and the
student ought to master them. The Relative construction is really a very flexible instrument, and to be able to handle it r,vell is valuable.
e

kt kgdrd e ba duleng ka ybil,

ntlo e ke hinang mo go ydnd;

aatho ba re *wang kwa go bdnd,.
nasimo a go lengzuang mo go adnd,'

this is the gatervay by which they went

the house into which I enter. [our.
the people from whom \4re come.
the lands in which people are ploughitrg.

hanna

ba tird

e dirilzaeng

ke bdnd;

the men by whom the u'ork has been

done.

nttse o go iwang kwa

go dnd;

a town to

which people are going.

Lesson 26

r22
lo ke

lokzt:ald

/dnd;
se.diba

.lo go

no go barzua

mo

go

this is the book in rvhich thev

-;r,,

reading.

se

Lo

tlaa yang go ga metse mo

sdnd,'

go

the well u'hich you rvill go to

c_--

water in.

Nc.rte also JuL,a . . . teng, or kwa . .. gdni, and,

mo .., teng, withthe verl :
tlre Relatir-e Construction form; ke gdnikwa re agileng
teng (: he gdni kwa
agileng gdnd), this is.where u,e drvell. z (Litera'y,
out.,i. *,Jh)ve built.) Tr"-is no exact word for'drvell'; tshera is to live; nnaistobe;

agais genera'y

us,.:
in Perfect. (Every Betsrvana family normally chyells in iheiouses
it
has irr-..
erected.) 'fhe question therefore, '*,here cio you rive ?' is
either u agile kae :
rt nna kae ? 'fhe latter has a more rocar reference
than the former.)

nxnncrst

51

Translate into linglish:

Ke ofe mo go rona basimane yo o t,tamekileng ka serd se?

2 Fa ret:;:,,
le ne la phirima, ra gorora kafa mogobing nrcngz,e.
3 A kwa ro agileng i,,,.
go na le bojang jo bontsi? 4 Monna, a ho u riti
hutshe ya gago opi ga aa tsJr:_.
nila go ts)na mo tlung a rzuele hutshe.3 5 LI ka e ,*it" ;
g.pi f, u tszta *:
go 1dni. 6 Fa u nthaya u re ke tshuanetse
go rima ditilt;;, u raya di.ft . ,
7
a Lt boifa mmangwanago?s g Kgosi e ;..:t
- !:, engwan.a-wa-ge-mma,
phakila
roma motho go ktn banna botihe.a 9 Batho ba
ba neng ba re i:.: :
gompieno, e ne c le bomang?7 l0 Gongwe
le gongz.ae hwa re ileng teng. .
fitlhetse tsii e sentsi mabili, gotrhe fila.e
iJ -Mlsadi mongwe re mongu.t
gopola go re ga go na ngu)ana opi yo o tshzaanang
le wa gagzai. 12 Ba re .,,
,

t_laa gotsa moleld kafa tseleng e koloi ya

bdni e emeng mo go ydn.i. 13 A gu
boitumild, kgaitsadiaka! borangwane ba tsile go re
trhdra. 11 Fa moruti a k:"^
seleite sa mosetsana, a gakgamala thata;s
15 a ftthita go no go sa kual::.:
sepi mo go shdni: 76 jaro a simorora go kgaremila
,g*oro, i **ot&au 7o a sen-;.
lobaka. 10 17 "Mongzae wa bdnii i*otro
a re, Moruti, taold e kgolo m
molaong ke efe? 18
Jesu a mo raya a re, U rati Modimo *o' g!;;; ko pelo yotlr..
la gago, le ka mozua otlhe wa gago, le ka tlhaloganyd yotlhe y, ;.C". 19 E |-,
ydni taolo e kgolo le ya ntlha; e nngue ya bobia; i ,-ut
*ororf ioya n, e, (f rc:.
..,

wQ ga eno jaaka u ithata." (Mat.

nyatsa opi zr'ta ba babdtrana ba." (Mat.

22: 3S_3g) 11 12
iO lLo ,, ha l:;-:
1g: 10) 21 r{ama e, ke ya ph6tdgc.
efe? Ga go na mahura api mo go ydni. 22 Rra, u
ntshenkili dild tse ke i:
kwahlang ntsalaki ka tsd_ni. 23 Ke di gu senk,i
kae? Tse di ne di re mo g;;
di

fedile; 2+

Exrncrsn

52

le mo bentleling ga go na i;pa, A; rekisitswe tsotlhe.

Translate into Setstvana:

There is no work at all by which l can get money.

2 Which booi
give you, from among (mo go) those I received last
week I
3 I woul:
like (desire) the one which terls about (kaga) a[ the
diseases.
4
All
my wife.=
people live far away from our home. - 5 which
of these men is it who li:
a fire in the forest ?
6 The whore forest is burning, *na all ti. animars i:
shall

Lesson 26

t23

it will die. 7 Doesn't every girl think that she is pretry ? 8 What a
hrge kitchen you have ! there are many things in it.
9 There are cups and
phtes and knives and pots, but I don't see any table at all. 10 The tree beside
rhich the phala is standing is a large morula-tree. 11 I'm surprised at your
coming (you come) to see me to-day; you know that I have no time. 13 12
He is a man who helps people wherever he goes. 13 Come and let us play
rith the new ball which Monare has given us. (Put in Passive.) I+ Every
{xe (tshikd) is difficult if you do not know the laws of the country you are living in.
n,i The chief who was ruling at that time was a very wise man. 16 I think
Sere are nine horses which will run to-day. t 3
17 The chief has seen them
all, but he said there isn't one among them which is fast. 18 We saw many
[rlrck in the road by which we came yesterday, but we only shot one. 19 These
mea have told me that the town to which they are going is known by everybody.
3l \Iyself I cannot believe (agree) that it is known by all men of all tribes"
ll The eggs which you (sing.) could not buy, have been bought by your
lnternal aunt. 22 But she says there isn't one which is all right, so she r,vill
&mw them all away.
FSotes

1 In speech, ke ofe becomes ko ofe, as ke dni becomes ko dni arrd. ga o

a: the one vorvel tends to become assimilated to the other.
2 But he gdni can also be used with another meaning. (Lesson 37.)
3 rzlala (rwele) is to put anything on one's head or feet hat, boots,
- of dress.)
etc- (\\re have already hadrola which means to take offany such article
bemmes ga

"

h1 1r" verb is also used for carrying

loads on the head, as women

do;

re

rzoele

mas means we are carrying water on our heads in our water-pots.

a Remember the two allied meanings of raya to say to and to mean.
5 he/ is a common interjection; it might be translated
'I say!' or ,Look
foare!'

kua, to call or shout,

is

used specially

of the high-pitched shout of

ffiE tribal 'town crier' as he circles the town in the early morning calling the men,
{m some regiment, to the tribal meeting place. (It also means to give ofi smoke,
m, e

fire does.)

7 ita is to take a journey-Initiative; re etile, we are on a journey.

is to journey to or towards, and often means a visiting to see someone or

place, if a certain distance is involved: moetiis a traveller, loit6 a jowney,
a gongwe le gongwe, like gopi and gotlhe, is an adverbial, and means
whtterer, anywhere, everywhere. It is the same construction as mongwe le
mryr, but with the go prefix, referring to an understood gold (or fetd), a place;
ffim* it really means in every or each place.

dtrrdr

mnne

gakgamala (gakgametse) is generally used as an Initiative verb; he

I am surprised, I wonder at. (Note that the English idiomatic expmflmn'I wonder!' now-a-days means something rather different.)

g@wcrse,

to

labaha

or nakd. The latter generally refers to a time of day; lobaka

word of wider meaning, and includes the meaning of chance or opportunity.

[a rlnis sentence neither word would be wrong.

rir e

f,essott 26

124

lI zoa ga eno, u)a ga etsho, can be regarded as shortenings of r*--.,

wa legae la ga etsho, etc., a person belonging to your or my home-toli'n. :.
the French 'chez nous, chez vous', etc. kwa ga gabb is 'at his home', kt';,; =
bdni, at their home. Thus z.oa ga eno means your neighbour, your fel:.':
citizen, etc.
12 ithata is to love oneself.
'r3 Verbs of knou'ing, thinking, etc. (we have had hett bdna in this se-=.
generally use the extended Present followed by fo . . . (See Appendix, Articlc -

T-T. 22

Fa

n -tethayalt re ke tshwanetse go rbi

2 Mssa*i menS'dl
tsh+ag:o
tQr ga ngJalan&lplyo.-d
Le ntongweo gopel-a B-+
-ya
plrbtigblb--ef+tce
3 Narna-eo,
U*ang G-o+a gagti*
ga go fta mahfira-6pb.rrc=o #bnb. 5 Easfuans b&ngw-:a
ffit# sekole-s tra- rr+tbfvra.rrg fi-o go'abnet b-a be4gw-e 5
6 Ga Eo rra t'irb--epL-e :tka-e bbqe=:'
s.e Tat geptl-

&-e-dt

!e pe#, -rr ra),'a dif-- ?

TONE-PRACTICE 22

1 A kwa lo agileng teng go na le bojang jo bontsi ? 2 Ba:=''

ba ba ne ba re Ctdla gompieno, e ne e le bomang ? 3 'E ['
ydnd taold e kgolo le ya ntlha ; e nngwe ya bobedi e e tshrvan::::=
nayd ke e, U ratd wa ga eno jaaka u ithata.' 4 Monna, a h
u rold hutshe ya gago ; opd ga aa tshwandla go tsAna mo tlL-r=
a rwel'e hutshe.

t2s

LESSON

27

TFIE SUBJUNCTIVL MOOD, PRDSENT AND FU-fURE

Lesson 19 III A we had the'Permissive Imperative', mmahe boni,,,
iet me see . . . and noted that only the first part of this, the Auxiliary verb
ntna, \\as re ally in the Impcrative; the main verb bdni being in the Subjunctive .
Now the Subjunctive is rather more used in 'Iswana than in English, for
not only has it to do the same duty as in the latter, but it is employed in many
cases v.here English would use the Infinitive. Where English would normally
say, 'he sent a man to tell the people', Tsrvana lvould prefer to say 'he sent a man
that he might (or may) tell the people'.

In

The Present Subiunctive is as foilorvs:

gore ke ril<i, that I may buy, gore ke se riki,
that I may not buy.
goreuriki, ...you...
grtrett seriki,
".. you...
gorearik|, ...he...
oritmaytaketheforrngore ke se ha ht rika,
gore re rihi, . . . we . . .
gore u se ka wa rika, etc.
etc.

This forrn of the verb, then, is characterised by two features: (1) it is preceded by grore, which here corresponds to the 'that' of the English Subjunctive;

(2) the verb ending is d not a; asin the Imperative.

")fetola are,Enikemang,Morina,gore He answered, Who is he, Lord, that
ke dumili mo go ini?" (Yohane 9: 36) ;
I may believe on him ?
" nnaya lobakt l,/.aa gore ke gu tlhaloga- give me time that I may understand
and

',_1'e." lPadisd II

II

l.J)

"-fa u ntshira gore he se ka ka leba kztsa

moragd, dira gore di se ka tsa nkgagan'tatsa matlhd." (Padiso II1114)

you.

(Eng. would say, 'give me time

to...')
if you shade me (i.e. rvith blinkers)
so that I should (may) not look behind, do it (so) that thcy don't (may
not) press on my

"Jesu a ba laya thata gore go se itse opi

seli se; le goni a laola gore a fiw) dijd."
)Iareho 5: 43)

eyes.

Jesus strictly charged them that no

one should know this thing; also he
commanded that she be given food.

There is another form of the Subjunctive, which may be regarded as a

Future or Imperfect tense of it; it is less common than the simple or
Present form, and is seldom found in the negative. Its significance is often not
r-erv different from that of the above form, but it does generally seem to have a
reference to future or merely possible conditions and actions. It often has the
sense of 'might' or 'should', and it often follows an Imperative or another Subjr-rnctive,

!{ t

Lesson 27

1,26

gore ke tli ke rihi, in order that I should or might buy.

gore u tlo u riki,
you
gore a tld a riki,
he

In the 2nd person singular and plurai, the l/d is generally, but not inr.ar.,i
assimilated to the o sound of the concord or pronoun: l/o.
(Do not confuse this Imperfect or Future subjunctive with another coi:-::
verbal form, the Habitual mood, kea tle ke reke, which we have not yer s:_:,
but which the student may come across in his reading. It is dealt with in L...,,,,,
41.) Examples of this second Subjunctive are:
"Jesu a tlhaola ba le somd le bobedi, gore
ba nnd nad, gore a tld a ba romd, ba
yd go ruta Mafoko a a Molemd, Ie gore
ba nn6 Ie thata . . ." (Mareko 3: 14f) r
"E rile ha ba ne ba kumanegile segolo, ka
a rika gore ke a godlsd, (gore) a tld a
dl'rd/d bana ba me." (Diphoshdplrcshd,
p.3.)

Jesus chose trvelve, that they

mis-:

,,,,,

with him, and he might send th.:.r

preach and to have power . . .

,r

(T-,n.

subjunctives for Eng. infinitir-es

Since they were very very

bought them (a

to bring them up,

so

that thel'

serve my (orvn) children.

(There is another case of exactly the same thing on p.

F\:+

:':

mazailanq .rirr'
c4mr:

x of the same :.,,,,r,

It

is probably north rvhile to distinguish the trvo uses of gore anl 1. r.

by so spelling; the one rvhich introduces the Subjunctive, anfl the or. !:rr=:
introduces an Indicative statement. (See Lesson 17, Note 7.)
"ke ratt gore bontsalakd ba bini go re
le nna ke lnonna . . ." (Padisd II I I S) 3
ga ke itse go re ke tlaa reng !

I rvish that my cousins mav si:

I too am a man..^
I don't know what I shall sai'l
that I shall say what.)

Further examples of the different Subjunctives are these:

"l[abdkd a Setswana a mantsi, a mathata; go ilitsiga a ka nna le bakwadi ba ba ka a hznalang, gore basha
ba a ithuti, a se ka tt nyilila, a tld a
lemd

itsege sentli.

"

(Padtlsd

III I 57)4 5 6

"A

mo rapila thata gore a se ka a e ldlika mo lefatshing jro . . . ya mo rapila

ya re, Mma re yi mo diholobeng, gore re

tsini

mo

go

EXERCISE

1,

tsdni."

53

(Mareko

5: 10, 12)

Tsll'ana praise-songs . . . it i. ;:.:rulllr.

able that they can have u'rit.:- n"r

can write them down, that

;.inmm

people may learn them, (an: *ia

p
they may not disappear (butl
=.r
(miglrt bc) r,i'ell knon-n.
He besought him much that hr ri:i:nr:ruF:
not drive them out of that cor]:-

they prayed him, Let us g, : =

pigs, that lve may enter into -":nE. .=

Translate into English:

di rata go nna mo majeng le mo dikgageng.T 2

yo o buileng nau? Ke motho yo o itsegeng thata.e
,'
nyane dingwe di aga ditlhaga tsa tsdni mo ditlharing tse di gotlileng,

:=

Ditshwene

mo lemoga, mosadi

,.iMfie--

Lesson 27

727

5 Mmangwane o na a tshwett
6 jalo a adima dikatse
di le pedi mo go mogolowi, gore di mmolaili dipiba tseo. 7 Gompimo ga go na
piba epi, lefa e le nngtae fila; di nyeleletse ruri.12 8 Ke ne ke sa gopole go
mae a tsdni a se h,a a tslwa ke dibata le batho.s
nngwa thata ke dipiba, tsa mo jila dijd bosigo;\o

di

re dihatse

le pedi

fdla di ka bolaya dipiba tse dintsi ka lobaka lo

lokhutshwane

-fdla.ts 9 Badisa baa ngdngdriga, ba re ga baakaba bdna tuil6 epd kgwedi e

e fetileng. 10 He, bana, a lo fitlhile hutshe ya me gore he se ka ka tsamaya?
1 Rra, u ko u layi u gakololi lekolwane la me gore a tli a lemdli batsadi ba gagwi.la
1

12

ya re a go kuizod batho gore ba phuthigi ka bonakd, ba phuthigili taold e

gorominti. 1.3 Borra, ve tsamaile thata, re lapile, re bolailzoe ke tlala;
a go leriwi dihgong gore re gotse moleld re a?iyA bogdbi, re itse go rdbala.1s L+
A go phuthzui dilwana tsotlhe ha maabanyane, gore koloi e dlilwi go le ka maphakila.
15 "Modimo ga oa ka zt)a romA Morwa dni mo lefaxhing go sekisa lefatshe, mme
e le gore lefatshe le bolokwi ka ind." (Yohane 3: 17) 76 "Se ke shdni
Kgosi

ncha ya ga

fologang se tsusa legodimong, gore motho a se ji, (mme) a se ka a sltwa."

: 50) 1.7 "Jesu a ba laya gore ba se ka ba tsidla loitd lwa bdni
sepi, .fa e se tsamma .fila ; a re ba se ka ba tsaya senkgzoi . . . Iefa e le madi: 18
a re, ba rznali ditlhako ; mme ba se ka ba apara dikobd di le pedi." ( Mareko 6 : 8, 9 )
19 A u gakologilztsa bontsalao, bana ba ga malomago, mma? 20 Nnyaa, rra,

senhgzai se

se

(Yohane 6

ke ba lebetse, ba ne ba re tlogila bogologolo, ke le

2l

mosetsana

Ke mhitlhetse a lela, a re mogolowi o rno tseetse teke ya

O e mo tseetse gole a se e niili mosimane yo rnongwe.
pxrncrsn

54

yo monnye fila.

gagzoi.ld

22

Translate into Setswana:

2 She is afraid to go
1 A man's voice is not the same as a woman's,
.l
near the house, she is afraid that the dog will bite her. (Put in Passive.)
Let everything with which we shall build (put in Passive) be got together soon;
let every one bring his own. 4 He is well known to people wherever he goes.
-5 You are bad boys, I shall teil your father about you. 6 Take the hammer
lrom that child, so that he may not spoil my boxes,
7 There were two hundred baboons in all,the caves. 8 I told the teachers to tell the boys (Subj.)
to take their hats off. 9 The big school in which all these children study
rvas built by Khama. 10 This woman says her husband has taken two oxen
from her, in order to sell them and get money. 11 James, take care of these
trees, and water them every day, so that they may bear-fruit nicely. 12 Is
there no one here who can read to me this new book of mine ?
13 My wife's
people have gone to live at Gaberones, to be near the school to which their girls
go. 14 I have seen you before, but I don't'remember where I have seen you,
15 Yes, they know (recognise) me, they know it was I who built the magistrate's
house. 16 All my father's brother's people will set out to-morrow to go to
the cattle-post to see how the oxen are. 17 Ducks build their nests in the reed,
n-here they cannot be seen. 18 I shall buy you a brush (seshutlhd) so that
\-ou can (may) brush my shoes for me every morning. 17 19 "They said
to him, Who are you? That we may,answer those who have sent us." (John
1:22) 20 "He said to his disciples, Gather up (sila) all the scraps (dihabetla) which remain (Perf.), so that nothing may be lost." (John 6: 12)

lllltir

t2B

Lcssott 27

Notes

r::m:

,r..ffi.1

Ls

to

:::t:::f

send^; but it is also used in a

sort
r a ser\.ant ; g.., * o, i_ on; ;:';

:.." on errands ".

ani gi"."

;'"Y,:.::11:t'_r:"T:lis the simple orr.

ho*'e'er
ln. T,.*tlg
2

;"r,

Ji;;;",

r;

i""a".

of

technical se:

;,;
;
""1;";f";;.::",:
"ffi .*, Jf,..-

.nawilana (lit., ones rvho fail together) means twins; the worc

l//za is also used.

3 mon.na here
speaker trr:,f:-""

ilitsiga

is

used as meaning ,capabie iike a

man, _ actu.
means ,I- am not a .,."1... helpless
p;;;;".,
,ft to
ought
be eletsiga, f".
:
open
n",-"",.,i"*,..,""

,l* ,;;;'*ril'ri"rrrrr,.
;t#,::.:^-:l:"^":o]:g:
llt,n-its
"",".1
"rji,,i; .;
:i:"::: "l::. ,^ vorvers. p"1 ;"_" o."0,. ;; ;;,;,#g":"il,t"f'H;,.
correct.

(See Appendix, Article 20.)

clo not take the

i,,.,i:::.,ii":,:,:".T^p".11:.
*Tl.lll.' itsege isthe Stati'e form, a'd
be well-knorvn.

-d vo,r,et in the rmper:

;;;",,"

n.

0""*"i,.'l'1.

lit., new ones, is commonly used for,young

people of : -and tlre noun bosha or bofsha can be
used Leaning recent time: mo b,,:;
a frequent newspaper term, meaning
Just recently,.
basha.,

Note the trvo rather sim'ai ..,o.d., rentszt,i

(or kjd) (pru. majt
or rock' and lentswe (p\u. mantswe) r,oice.
Apart from the final vo'el:-,
distinguished by the tone-pattern;
in the former rvord it is (roughly) h::
in the latter it is low-high.
I lemoga is to knorv by intuition or
insight, to perceive; see Luke _
and ,'\cts 10: 3.{ in Setsrvana Bible,
r,vhere ,il..uo.i l. *.r..rifr..a.
-means to recognise a person, as distinct
from the knorvredge of t,i- -.,,
conleled by thc r,i.ord ilse.
9 dibata are the small carnivorous
animal ., tlibatana are the iarg_.
(we shall see late r that this is a reversal
of the general usage; Lesson 3*.
]0 Note the narratit.e tenses in this
sentence.
11 iila and bolaila,-typicai
Applied forms. Lit., they ate her i ,,
her, i.e., simply, they ate her food.
bne could 4rev
ol.o raJ'
,uy, Lrq
iri 'lu
aUa t.r,; j,.__:
i" utJ
but it would not be such good Tsrvana
12 ruriwhen used iike this i'ith bolira
or nyitita requires that the::
be in the Applied form, hor,,a and.
nyitititn. o ts,.meetse ruri,he has gor.. , -,
sone away for ever; so nyetetetse ruri, disappe."d f;;;;;;,

r:::

,,,

.",-.

i?lf,ili.
13
14

lJote dipiba

tse dintsi
the rse can oftt.n be used instead of t:_:
.:;
lekau is a lad, a stripiing;
lekolwaneis a big strong young
ma:_
v'ith dibatana above, note 9, this is u.-.e'e.rur
of the usua"r r.-"?rii."'_,

15 re

itse go

rdbala:

itse, followed

:::

na i-=:r:t..

b1, the f"n"i,i".,"1, an ij: :;=.

usage meaning ,then', ,after that,,
tubsequently,. S."
ioiiri"tit, p... tili:i
tadi ... a itse go boile kzaa ... th..,
.h. returned ...".g.,Or p. 91, sar:_ ",:i
Digoja ka goliga... tsa-itse go tslma))c,,...--and
jj,

16

(But

_tsiila, Applied

see Lesson

32, Note

t":T
11.)"f

after that they went ari-=:

tstja,
rrEv the
J ' agenerally
------J has
!'v r'rLt
force er
of ,taking:__"
f,2

Le ssoit 27
17 'every morning' is either
l3ie, orI better, ka mesd-mesd,

129

ka mesd yotlhe, or, ka mosi ntongue le mo-

1-T. 23 I Matbde-a SetsfiSna-a rrrarft'sia mo snb-t+at;

7- gq-l*tsbgA-a lra ru-ra-Te bakt\i6&i b-d ba- ka- kwal-Angl-a
g+re-"basha G-a-lthi*b: 3 a t+b-a a-tsege--se+tlb'
-a ke u J:ayb-u ak-ol-ol- le; k"; nyb6Xa_ - )+ gr-, 1'qAlii-batsa&i
ba g-Jgwb- 5
z.
pru-*tfb
rne;
kofUa,t* kr
re
rtang
r-e,.
U.
b=ctblblb_S+
ne
ba
re,
BA De rAy-a
] Sa+e
t
$
r^rbto
u"""-t-"
se
riI A ailbb
]'ma
\a regale"o**tseos
tsh-el-'s'
:c
-rnb-t
bbn+
diJ,
Fe
pril+
ge4q
3e b+.tle
ToNE-PRACTTcE 23

1 A ga ua mo lemoga, mosadi yo o buileng nau? 2

I(gosi
ya re a go kuiwe batho gore ba phuthege ka bonakd, ba phuthBgele taolo e ncha ya ga goromdnte. 3 A go phuthwe dilwana
tsotlhe ka maabanyane, gore koloi e dldlwd go le ka maphakdla.
+ Mosimanyana ke mhitlhetse a lela, a re mogolowd o mo tseetse tiki ya gagwe.

=-.:=

*:-_:

==
:

130

LESSON
PRESENCE, ABSENCE,

28

AND NON-EXISTIiNCE: teng AND

yi

There is another u'ay of expressing the absence or the non-existence

anything, besides the formula ga go l1a sepi . . . dipi . . . etc. (Lesson i"
This takes the form of a sort of negative verb ,to be, ; ga se yd, etc.; the r,,,
verbal in nature.
(There is an affirmative form of this, but it is hardly ever used; the *c,
le-yd means being, existence. For instances of its use, see yohane I: 1, 2, 1,
The negative form hor.r'ever is very common. study the following examp__,
carefully, which show the rvay in rvhichyd is used, and also rvhat corr.,ponds to its affirmative, the rvords teng and gdni.
a dilipi di teng (: gdni)? are there anv axes here (there)?

(It

should be explained here that teng and gdni can be translated either heri
The u'ords do not indicate nearness or distance, but simply the p..,
sence or absence of something at whatever place is being spoken of or thous:about. The context decides.)

or

there.

nnyaa, ga di yd; no, there aren't any (they are not). (This has
the same force as, ga go na dipi.)

pula ga e yd !
tt madi a ten.g? i i, ga a yit;t
a moruti o teng gompieno?

ga a yd, o tsamaile;
batho ga ba yd mo gae;

there is no rain

ab,,

is there any money

? No,

none at all.

is the teacher here to-day?

he's not here, he has gone away.

there are no pcople at home.

In the past, these lr,ere rvritten conjunctively

seems, however, no good reason for this practice,

gtt seyd, ga tliyd,

etc. f i:.:

When prececledby t'tt or ha, etc., the negativc ga changes to sa as ir.r otr
noticed:

cases already

fa a se yd mo gae, re tlaa tlirang?

fa boupi bo se yd mo bentleling; 2
And in the Past, the

a u no u le tcng

maabane

i i, ke ne ke se /d,.

se

if he's not at home, u'hat shali u'e ;

if there is no flour in the store.

negative is alivays used, thus:

bommi ba ne ba se yd mo masimo;

le dipodi di ne di se yd mo sakeng;
a kae, mafshi? a teng, mma.

\vere you here (there) yesterday ?

I wasntt here (there).
my mothers were not at the lands:
and the goats lveren't in the kraal.
rvhere's the milk ? there is some.

no,

Lesson
tntaa, ga a yd;
ir maabane a ne a se yd;

2B

131

no, there isn't any:

and yesterday there rvasn't any.

Note the following idiomatic usages:

(1)

he mo fitlhetse (mhitlhetse) a se

Lit., I found him

yd; I found he was not there.

he was not there; setswana prefers to say

than say, ke fitlhetse a na a se yd.

(2)

it this

way, rather

Another usage, fairly common in use, can best be seen from examples:

ra go kopa thusd kztta go o-rla Yohane; go to ask for help at John's place.
dihgomo tse, ke tsa o-rra (tso o-rra) to whom do these oxen belong ? (Lit.
mang? (or, he tsoo mang?)
to whose home or place ?)
nna ke birdka kzra go o-rra Shaw, I work at Shaw's (shop, store, place, etc).

The above are generally spelled goo-ra, tsoo-ra, or even as one word,
rxrncrsn

55

Translate into Engiish:

7 Kgogo ya me e elame mae a le somi le metsd meraro. 2 A

nyi dipampiri tsa me tsotlhe, gore tshikd e simologi ka bonakd.3
ba ba tshrpanetseng go nna teng, ga ba

Morina,

Ga go itsiwe go re ba diilwe he eng.a

Kana shagt ya me e ile kae? E ne e le teng maldba.s 6 Kea gakologilaa jaanong ; ke ydni e ke e rehisitseng. 7 Fa ke sa mo kwalele, o tlaa
gopola go re ke mo lebetse. 8 Mme ruri ga kea mo lebala ; ga nhe ke mo
lebala gopi. 9 Rra, nkadima digarazae di le tharo mo go tsoni tseo tsa gago.
10 Kana u na le di le dintsi; nna ke na le e le rutgwe fila.s 11 Mme
go tlaa epizaa jang, fa digarawe le dipeke di se yd ?
12 Mobentlele a re, dipekere
ga di yd: mme ruri ga a bue boamnzaaruri.G 13 Di teng, tse dintsi; ke di
bonye ka matlhd. 1'+ Ke phahetse ka romila mosimane kwa moselaging gore
a re rikili nama ya tusheleng. i5 o boite motshegare o mogolo, a re, nama
ga e yd: ga baa tlhaba kgomo gompieno. 16 A re, moselagi o mmoleletse go re
nama e tlaa nna teng ka mosd. 17 Mrna, a go tlhatswizri difdrdkd tse le dintslnrana tse, tsotlhe; dithipa tsdni di ha lesiwa jaanong.T 18 Ke tsoo-ra
mang, ditonki tse di gu jetseng mabili? 19 Ke latile motlhalawa tsdni go ya
kzoa goo-ra Babinang. 20 A dikgetse di teng tse mmidi o ka tsewtgwang nxo go
tsdni? 21 Ba re ga di ltd jaanong ; tnme ke itse sentli go re di ne di le teng tshipi
e e fetileng. 22 A di adimilwe ke mrngwe-gongr.'e di utszailwe-ga ke itse.e
23 "Judase a batla lobaka lo o tlaa mb ba ndilang ka ldni, kzpabontsi jwa batho
bo tlaa se ydng gdni." (Luhe 22: 6)o
24 "Ga a yd;t'a; gonne o tsogile fila
jaaka a na a bua: tlang lo bitni feld fa Mordna o na a letse gdni." (Mat. 28: 6
)ro
rxBncrsn

yd. 4

ko u baaka-

56

T'ranslate into Setswana:

1 As r,ve were gathering at the kgotla this morning, lve heard the cocks
crowing. 2 The case was very long, so we are all hungry. 3 The sun
\\-as very hot also, but there was no one to fetch us water. 4 please let me

Lessdn 28

13'2

see your letter again, that I rnay not forget the namc of youl husband.
These naughty boys have taken all the eggs that rvere in the duck's nest. 6 T
other day they were ali there together (mmdgd), now they aren't there. 7 I
this hammer and this saw in that box; leave the other two saws (put in Passi,
on the table that they may be sharpened. 8 She is looking for work at Joh

son's so that she can get a lot of money. 9 Lock (plu,), here's a liou's ti,
(track, trail, spoor, motlhalt) ; let us follow it rvitli the dogs. i0 Some
the men are rvorking with picks, others are using (dirist) spacles, and othcrs r,
,doing nothing. 1.1 How many large nails have you bought, Olehotse ?
I've bought twenty-six large ones for 2f3, and some other smail ones for sixpen .
13 I asked for them at Parker's but they said there weren't anv. 1+ \..
15 We rvcrc dclar-girls, why have you come late (diiga, Applied form) ?

(dia) by i'r,aiting for our big sisters. 16 We don't like this ncu' store-keei',-:
he is very cross (bogale) .
17 Also there is nothing that u.e rvant in his str':.:
1tJ We r,vent to the school to look for the teacher, but we found he wasn't th.:.
19 Some tribes like to build rvith brick and stone, others like reeds rvhich gri'=o
in the river-valleys. 20 We can't buy fish here(mono) for there are no ri'r't i
in rvhich fish could be found. 11 2l Let's go to the church this eveni:::
to listen to the two ladies singing; they have very nice voiccs. 12
Notes

1 i i is a convcrsational forrn of nnyat-see Lesson 5. The trvo --parate vorvels are dilTerent in tone
the second much lower than the first.
2

bupe, bctupe, boupi,

are alternative spellings reflecting dialectic proru:-

ciations.

3 simologa is the intransitive verb corresponding to simobh and is u-<.:

of anything which starts, or commences, or begins, of itself.
a dia is the simple transitive verb from which diiga comes; it means:.
retard or keep back anyone or anything; lot ntia means, you are delayinq :u
detaining me.

5 Note

that kana

is used to introduce a statement with a ccrtain t-. -

clamatory or expostulatory force; frequently it is untranslatable. It is similar ana of Lesson 18, Note 3. This ivord, however, has other uses besides tt:.
and other meanings.
6 mobentlele or mcbenkele or rabentlele is a noun (Class I) from the ii:*
ported word for store or shop
i.e., it meanS store-keeper.
7 dintshwana, irregular-plural of dushwana a small spoon; dusho a la-.
(porridge) spoon. (There are various forms of this word.)
e This construction corresponds to 'rvhether , . . or whether . . .
e lobaka in the sense of opportunity, occasion, chance. The actual rr=t
reads "kwa . . . bo tla bong bo se yd gdni." This is better Setsrvana, but the li::l
given in the Exercise is also admissible, and avoids the difficult idiomatic r"'
which will be studied much later.
10 o na a letse is really in form a Pluperfect tense where he had L,:,
1 1
mono mearrs here, in this place, but refers to a large place or ai:;*
such as village, town, countryside: ,fa and fano refer to a small or limited a;e*-

.,"'.,rlti,rl,

Less0n

2B

133

or the immediate vicinity of the speaker. You don't say tla mono; yov say tla
i.e., in these parts here u-e have
kwano, But you can say ffiono ga re bone pula
no rain. Inside a house one could say, Jano go lef.f. jang, how dark it is in here.
12 There is another common word for evening-time, besides maabanyane i it is rnaitisd, which comes from go itisa, meaning to spend the evening hours
before bed-time in some social occupation. Its reference seems originally to be
to sitting round the fire in the front court, talking or telling stories: maitisd is
this pleasant evening-time, or the actual occupation or conversation itself. (The
verb is used in Lesson 45.)

1 Kdna shage ya ee e !l'e iN_'ae 2 2 fi q9.

T-T. 2L
3 fiq, mae-a Eeag, ':mnre rpuc*i go
-TE_Iirlg ftat-bue ,
-u.
t+ Drpotqane-t-5, 6-e t'so-gra-nra:ag ?
-a rbka--d
yil.
5 ne fitttt-"t*- rlroruL! a *a -a se yn n-o g"t" rulrE rmrn-a&6 f" .phnrcts-e ka Eombl-a'msio ""-a t" i4g-.
-a
re- r-kblb*nanq, 7 fime -o
Uatto lffa noselag+4g gLe
bcil* notstega";;*"g"f* tuTg, ns4a ga -c f gor$qn-;
$re

e-

tlaaTna- lqne ke rygs+.

TONE-PRACTICE 2+

Kgogo ya me e elame mae a lesomd le metsd meraro. 2

l\{ordna, ba ba tshwanetseng go nna teng, ga ba yo; ga go itsiwe
go re, ba diilwe ke eng. 3 Fa ke sa mo kwalele, o tlee gopoll
go re ke mo lebetse. I I{e tsoora mang, ditonki tse di gu
jetseng mabdld, rnma ? 5 A dikgetse di teng tse .mmidi o kn
tsenngwang mo go tsond ?

t3+

LESSON 29
AUXILIARY VERBS lala, ilhdta AND
sa/a:
NOUNS FRONII VERBS (1)

S.u..al
l,erbs are usecl in an auxiliary capacity,
as u,el.
their olun'issyilabic
right as indepencient verbs.

/a/a has the basic meaning of ,lie sleeping,

or remain, all night,. i:
be used in different tenses ancl moocls,
and can bc variously tr.ar._..
as the following examples sirorv:
"Jakobe
(Genesise

a lala gdna bosigo joo . . .,,

24: 54); r

". . . nnyaa,re tlaa lala mo mmilettg,,

2);
". , . setoto sa gagzoi a se sa l.ali mo se_
tlharing" (Dutero. 21: 2,3);
(Gen. 19:

Jacob loclgecl there that night.

. . flo, rve rvill abicle
night.

in

the StI-:

. . . let not his bocly remain all

upon the tree.

(1) From this basic meaning deri'es that rvhich it

shorvs when us.an Auxiliary, of doing something d"uring
the night
g",r..uily'Jr**

the :-.
The Aux'iary is not it..r ai."luy transratabre,
- except
by
the
.uo... _
night" 'all night long" etc. It can be ,rr"a past
i.r
(narrative) or Future, a:.:
Imperative; and it is generally follorved
by the main verb in the present Indic.e rile ngdgdla ke tswa MaJikeng ke tJa
last year rvhen I came home g.o:.,,
Iala
ke
tsamaya
bosigo
Mafeking I travelled all throu.::,:
\"
.Joilne; 1
the night.
'.'Ba lala ba tsamaya bosigo jotlhe,,
( Mo_
they rvent during the rvhole nie. .
kwena, p. 56); e
re tlaa lala re [*a bosigo jotthe;
we.shall

night'

rvork throughout

Io

tshzaanetse

sigo

gore

jotlhe;

Io lald Io dira

nrght.
lto_

Frequently the main verb (especiaty

one) is in the Perfect tense:

". . . ba lala ba mo laletse . . . ba lala

fila,' (Baatthocti 16: 2) ;
"Dafide a tsina a lala a totometse
fa
ba_ did.imetse

fats\-bosig-o jotlhe',

(II

Sam.

tZ: ti;;

re tlaa lala re dlsjlse magoligwa

aotllte;

you ought to work

if it

happens

the..

all night icr'l

to be an Initi.

. . . they lay in wait for him all :

. . . and were quiet all night.

David entered and lav

(stretched out) on the earth.

all

we shall keep guard over

all

prisoners throughout the night.

:."tlrti

Lesson 29
"me ba se ka ba lala ba tshwere sepi
joo" (Yohane 21: 3);

sigong

Iala u robetse sentld, rra!

bo-

135

but all that night they caught nothing.

sleep well (all night), sir!

(3) This Auxiliary is more commonly used, however, in the perfect

/efse, rvhich indicates

tense,

(u)

something which took place during the last

followed by either Perfect or Present tense:

or previous night;

it

can be

ke letse ke robetse sentli;

r (have) slept well (all) last night.
"Morina, re letse re leka bosigo jotlhe, Lor<l, we toiled (: tried) all night,
mme ra se ka ra tshwara sepi" and (but) we took nothing.
(Luke 5 : 5);s
". ' . o lemoge . . . .fa ditlou di letse di
he realises that the elephants
tsile ..." (Padisd IIl9);
have been there during the night.
(b) or, much

more generally, something which took place during the day previous to last night
i.e., during yesterday;

rrioletseagorogile;a

my father
day.
Moegepeto

l{a-

came (has come) yester-

. . . as you (have) killed the Egyptian yesterday.

Surely I have seen yesterday the
blood of Naboth . . .

tlhdla we have had in Lesson 25 (see Note 2) in the sense of ,visiting,

or 'having a look at' something. Actually this verb has many meanings:
here we consider its use as an Auxiliary. Like tala it implies duration or passage
of time; but in this case day-time instead of night-time; it means,pass the day',
'spend the day', 'continue doing', or 'carry-on,
"Bogolo o tlhdla ha kzua ga gabd"
(Mekgwa le Melad, p. 1S);
ba tlhotse letsatsi jotlhe kwa nokeng;

(1)
"ba . . .

mostly he spends the day at home.

they have spent the whole day at the

river.

Used as Imperative or Indicative:

tlhdla ba dira jato go ya

IIIISS);8

tshokologong" (Padisd
"go no go se na opi yo o

ka tlhblang

they went on doing so

until the afternoon.

all

day

there was no one who could any more

bind him.
"tlh6la u re femetse mo bosuleng,,; defend us all this day from evil.
"ka ba tlhdla ba ntse ha nthaya ba re for all the day long they continue
. . ." (Pesalema 42:3); e
saying to me . . .
mo

goliga" (Mareko

5: 3);

(Note the main verbs in the Perfect in these last examples.)

'$

f,esson 29

136

(2)

Like lala

it is used much in the

Perfect, generally follorved by a Pr:

fect, but sometimes by a Present:

ntoruti. o tlhotse a rutile bana;

the teacher has been teaching childr.:

(all day long).

(The otl"rer common use of tlhila, in tl"ie negative, meaning 'r1o more
longer',
is dealt lvith separately in Lesson 't0.)
'no
meaning remain or stay bchind, lve have had from Lcsson 7 ons'irrselse, is used, zrs an Auxiliary l'erb, to indicate that son:
tiring has already been clone or acccornplished:
.sa,la,

But its Perfect,

thcy havc already corne.

bu setse ba. tsile;

rona bu re setseilg re lemile;
nttn.e

'nve

ini o ilo a setse a ngwegile;

(In forrn this last is really

Pluperfect:

rvho har,e alrcady ploughed.

but he had by this time run

a\vA\

see Lesson 3'1.)

II

[{any cases of nouns u,hich are obr.iously formccl from 'n'erbs have alrr;see, for eranple, the Note
occurred in the coursc of thc Lessons
cognatc objects, Lesson -5. Nearlv all verbs can make nouns, some of them:
veral ciifferent nolrns; to grasp thc principles of their formation is 1o acquir- host of ne\v nouns to aclci to one's vocabulary.
In this Lesson r,i.e shall consiclcr the Agent Nouns, those n'hich indicetc :
doer of the action of the verb; they naturally fall into the first noun-cl:rss.

Tl-re general practice has alreacly been noticecl; i.e., a mo or ltt is prefi'-.to the active r.erb, and the final r.orvcl of the lattcr is changeil to ar:

trom go aga,
to builcl.
from go ntta,
to teacir.
{rom go kopo, to bcg for.
nLotshameki, hatsltanteki, playcr(s), from go tshamekt, to pl:r,v.

baagi,
builder(s),
nnruti, haruti
teachcr(s),
mttkapi, bahopi, beggar(s),
rnongi,

I nouns rvhich encl in -a, Ior no apparent reas

rnorin.a,
a ruler; from r/rsa antl ri.na.)
lierclsman,
e.g., modt|sa, a
thc
nouns are formed from the Passive ofthc r.:
as
is
often
the
crse,
\\rhen,
(But there are a feu' Class

tlre final -a vorl'el is olten retained'. ?norongllLt, one u,hri is sent; moriltu{t, , u,hr.r is taught, a disciple or student; ancl sornetimcs both cr-rdings arc fou:
e.g., moratwa tnd moral:wi, one lvho is lovecl.

An initiai 6- in a verb, hou,evcr, cloes not ilccord rr,ith the rz of the n

prefix, and tlte mob- is cliangecl to ntm : this has alreacly been tnentic,: .
(see Lesson 12, Note 11, and Lesson 16 I C). But notice that the piural p:.'
6a is retained in full beforc the 6- of the verb:
mmatli, ba.batli, seeker(s), from go batla, to seek, seeh for.
mmaahnnyi, babankanyi, preparcr(s), from go haakanya, to make readr'.

tI

Lesson 29
C

t37

When the last consonant of a verb, before

the final vowel _a, rs l, this has
chanEe
p8e to a -d before the now changed end_vowel _a,
in order a

to

the syllable{da,rwhich is anathema to SetswanJ:

Jr

*ok*iii,
t

il

moremi, baremi,
ntmoni, baboni,

I
I

F
b
F

hewer(s),
seer(s),

mmadi, babadi,
mmoledi, baboledi,

to write.

to sing.

from go

rlma,

fuom go

bdna, to see.

and the

to hew or chop down.

reader(s),
teller(s),

I both these
,; ;;;;";;:
from go bala, to read.
from go

boliia,

to t"ii.

There is one set of exceptions to the rure of

the i ending for the noun.
{hen an object is intimatery connected with the predicate verb,

the finar
vowel- of the latter remains o and. ti"
noun and verb together form a sort of compound noun, which is best written hyphenated:

!
!

moruta-bana,

masupa-tsela,
mntla-pele
motla-moragd
mosala-gae,

m o - n - t s amais a - b o rig

o,

a children-teacher, i.e., a school teacher.

a way-shower, i.e., a guide.

an early-comer, forerunner; a late_comer.

a home-stayer, a stayer-at-home.

one rvho makes me go

from a proverb.)

by night.

(personal name,

Lastly, take note of the nouns formed from

the two different classes of
verbs ending in -aya _ naya, baya,
tsaya, apaya, form the agent nouns
.
monei, mmei, motsei, and moapei;
itr. verbs tsamaya and, bolaya form motsam.ai
and mmolai.
erencrsr

57

Translate into English:

1 A re itlhaganeleng,
ba bangwe ba setse ba simolotsi go tshameha.
!o*T!,
Bana
tapile jang! ba
trhotse ba tsTzamekile letsatsi lotrhe.
-ba
3 Batsomi
ba letse ba
ile go tsoma kwa makaleng:to 4 ba re
ba letse ba tlhotse mo
kgakala le batho, mme ba se ka-ba b6na refa
"ageng'
e re sepi. 5 Mosimorodi
::a
ts/tamekd ko ofe? A ke nna, gong.re
ini yote? 6 Mojadi ini o iala pen ya
Eagtti; Modimo ko dni o o noyirg-pulo. 7 Kzoa ntli ga pula peo
ga e hake
''a gola, lefa e le go mela
tdta.I1 - 8 Nna ka re, mmui yo o buileng peJe, ga
se
rnosupi yo o siameng; 9 kana
o setse a boreretse morauii g" r, *";"bwi he ini
io _o mo-gakolotseng go utswa: I0 gompieno o
gapi,
2

zakolodi opi.
ena ga ba yd.

*}

so when a verb begins with a 6 and the last

consonant is an
last mentioned modifications have to operate,

from go kwala,
from go dpila,

Notice that there are in the rast case changes

in the vowels; the
change to e and o under the influence
of that final i:

writer(s),
singer(s),

bakutadi,

moopedi, baopedi,

"*ia

o ,, o io o ,, na mo_
fetogile
Babereki ba-ne bi te-teng kgwedi, ,jriirrng,
mme mo hgzred.ing
1.2 Masupatsera te Maxaiatsera a tetse o air;t,

11

ditird

tse dintri,

Lesson 29

i38

tse batko botlhe ba ne ba di itumerila thata.lz B ,,Mosalagae,a

moleld c
timi !" t3
1+ A baopedi ba imi kwa moragd ga ba bangwe ;lnmadi zoa roh:..:
Iwa kgosi e kgolo o tlaa drna kwa pere. 15 Morutii trt* a
fitrhile mor:.
baphuthegi ba le bantsi ba ne ba re teng kwa phitrhong. 16
A L itr, ,ron,
se reng, "Khudu ya mariga e itsiwe ke mmei?" t4
17 Mosadimogolo yo, mr,:r,
uta gagwi o sule, le bana ba grywi Ie bdni: 1g ruri ke
molattTregi flla, i
tshelang hc sengwe le sengue se o se
f.utang ke ba bangwe. 19 A go ronti.:-:

morongua ffiong?re kwa goo-ra Mojamorag\, gore a tli a re kopili iipitr,

,t,
Morina, aitse re retse re tsamaile bosigo jotrhe, gore re se kr; "
diiga mo nageng.1, 21 Jaanong lte, re senk,-r gorr-rr-o*ogiri*nd; e ror(1. itse go baila kwa re tswang teng. 22 ,,O na a tla mo ga gibd,
*r* ba e net::
le ba ga gabd ba se ka ba mo tshola.,, (yohane 1 : 11)

thataro' 20

Bxrncrsp

58

Translate into Setsu,ana:

1 Aii of you who are witnesses, each one must speak the truth which
knorvs. 2 A11 day we have been thirsty; at noor we came to (zoita) a cerr:-:
rvell, but there was no water in it at all. 16 17 3 There is no one
who c.:

plough in the winter; no ploughing can be done (impersonar, passive)

withirain. ,l Wherever this great singer goes, people rejoice to hear him. :

My aunt (father's sister) yesterday borrorved (perf.j four of our pots she
;
she r'vill bring them next week. 6 There are twelve months in each

s.

vea--

7 each month has thirty days or thirtv-one days : g but there is one mon:.
rvhich is called February which has oniy twenty-eight days. 9 Five
monri
of this year have already passed; there remain
1go ittsts slven months. rB
ourteacherto-dayhas toldus two new proverbs, tut I have forgotten one
of the::_
11 one of them told about a lamp and a pioneer. re 12 Do you rememt"=:
it? No, I also have fbrgotten that one. 13 The traveller travelied all winte.
in the month of August he began to return to his own country. r+ ye.
I slept rvell last night, but all day I have been troubled with (by) .rry ears; thr-r
are very sore. i5 The magistrate and his three clerks have been
ajl dar-.:
the case about r'r'hich they rvere tolcr by the chief, 20 16 when the
lanwent out, I{otlalepula had already washed up all the plates.2r 17 To"_
toises live in the long grass; they walk very srorvly. 1g when
the messenst:.
arrived, he found that the thief had already made his escape (ngusigo).
Have you (sing.) seen all the tultures eating the horse which was killid
turt .,ie..
by the leopards ? 20 our scouts (pathfinders) will play football this afte. noon r.vith those rvho corne from Mochudi. 21 I tt,int that the policemervill keep guard on (disa) the prisoners all night. zz
..

Notes

For other instances see Genesise 28: 11 and, 24: 54.

For e rile see Lesson 33.
For similar examples see I Sam. lS: II and, 31 : 12.
4
lala u rdbali sentli co.Jd be used in special circumstances only;
by a nurse to a patient, and would mean, 'rie clorvn, and go to sleep niceiy'.
t

e.E

Lesson 29
s
in A

Compare this with the other construction given

139

in

Yohane 21

I J, quoted

(2).

6 Note the

ahvays o letse a ' ' ' Note

3rd pers. sing. pronouns
hours of the night, at least
the
during
arrival
may
include
gorogile
a
that o letse

until midnight.

7 The word maabane here is redundant, as the idea is included in the

Auxiliary verb letse. One could correctly say either, jaaka u letse tt bolaile Moe'
gepeto, or, jaaka u bolaile Moegepeto maabane.
8

tshokologd (chokotogd) means the turning point

- i.e',
mid-afternoon.
but
however,
not midday,
s ba ntse ba. . . is a verbal form r.r'e have still got to study.

of the

sun:

lo mokala is the Acacia girafiae, generally knou'n as the camel-thorn.

In the North it is called the mogdtlhd tree.
11 kwa ntli ga, without ; it means literally, and is used in that sense,
to the outside of. (Exactly as 'v.ithout' also used tr) mean 'outside of'.) Note
the difference in tone between ntli meaning beautiful and rili meaning outside.
12 Literally the 'rvay-shott'ers' and the 'way-takers', the Tsu'ana forms
of the names 'Pathfinders and'V,Iayfarers', rvhich rvere given to the African Scouts
and Guides in the earlier years of the movements. The prefixes le- antT mafollow the pattern of the Tswana age-grade or regimental names.
13 See the modern Engiish equivalent K"y to Exercises.

1'4 Another proverb; literally, 'The- rvinter tortoisc is knorvn by the

one lvho placed it there.' (Tortoises do not move about in tl-re winter.) The

implication of the saying is that, rvhen ar.rything cannot be fbund, the only person
likely to find it is the one rvho has kept it.
15 aitse, aitsane, are idiomatic semi-exclamations, difficult to render by
one or two lvords ; they have the force of 'please remembe r that . . ,' or 'you must
realise that . . .', or 'I'm calling your attention to the fact that . . .', or, 'I'm tell-

ingyou...'

16 nyirwa (from tvhich the noun lenydra) is an Initiative Passive verb,

nith no active form; it means to become thirsty. (See Lesson 20, Note 18.)
17 wila, Iit., to fall on to-i.e, to come across, find unexpectedly. (See
also Lesson 35, Note 12.)
II Notice the trvo cases

in this sentencc, rvith different meanings'

lobdni lwa owa-bi, (better, Moengnyana o
on come
pele , .,) the pioneer iights the rvayfor, or is alantern to, those
"vholater

of

salse

re 'fhe proverb is Motlapele

after

him; as English rvould say, he blazcs the trail.

tlhotse-tlhotse (see Kev to Exercises) can bc used of an activity

20

d'

that

took up all or most of the daytime. Such reduplications of verbs are common in
Tswana, but one cannot use them u'ithout some experience. (See Luke 24: 18.)
2r Note (see trans. in the Key to Exercises) that 'lsrvana often puts in
the impersonal 'it is'- in cases like this: 'u:hen (fa) ... it is that (ke'
a ke
. . .' Or it can be regarded as a shortening of he go re . ' .
22 A prisoner is either a mogolegui (plu. &a-), or a legoligwa (pl.u. ma-)'
Actually the latter is the commoner of the two.

Lesson 29

140

T-T. 25 I

bpi1e ia4g ! fa tlhptsb ba tshe-2 'fusrlagag, a mo].elL<r ;+

rrurre tra-e-n-qng-6:
3 tO tra a t*a mo gagab
t
-f
Barra ba

nrekile- l-etqatg'i

jet,}bg.

+imL lt
h retblhagacetragagaB b-a qc l ba mo tshola.
l-eng, ba5lnrane-, ka tta baqgr,*e{:a sctse t-a s-funo}.etr*, S=
tsnameke' 5 MefUta-benao lEtse-a ba*il" lokn'alb ::
6 Rona'o-a r-e setse=
grla k setE-epg k 1o ba*ilere lenlle, re tlaa tfhb mo gae-r*ala-tsi -te. mabec::7 K-e tJ.a 1ala xe rofetse s'entlb, k-a ke tfhet+ iG dl1ts thatai- jaaneng, ke Stse l"e fapit-_q bhata*
ToNE-PRAcrrcE 25

Molemi dnd o jala peo ya gagwb ; Modimo ko dnd o o nesary

pula. Kwa ntld ga pula peo ga e kake ya gola, lefa e le go meEa
tdta. 2 Masupatsela le Matsayatsela a letse a dirile diti:+
tse dintld thata, tse batho botlhe ba ne ba di itumdldla. 3 -
go romdlwd morongwa mongwe kwa goora Mojamoragd, gore a
tle a re kdpdld dipitse di le thataro.

l!!rtri l| |
i1 ,;,i
1

14t

LESSON
'NOT YET' ( re ) :

3O

NOUNS FROM VERBS

(2)

much-used verbal form is of the type ga. ba ise ba je, meaning 'they are
not yet eating', i.e,, 'they have not yet eaten'. It has three elements; (1)
the chief characteristic is the word ise, (2) the negative ga generally (but noi
always) precedes the phrase, and (3) the main verb itself is in the negative.
In practice this becomes a sort of negative of the Auxiliary setse which we

have had; but grammatically it is not actually such. The ese cannot be regarded
as an Auxiliary verb.
sometimes (as in most pre-1937 literature) this word is written ese, but it
is probably better to spell it ise, and this is the custom to-day.
The phrase we are considering is used very commonly in the present tense,

fairly often in the Past-indefinite, and occasionally in the Future tense. Its
purport is clear and definite, although variously translatable in English as ,not
yet', 'never', or 'before', according to its context.

Present tense:

"lobaka lzaa me
(Yohane 7: 6);r

ga Io

ise

la tle"

"a ga lo ise lo lernoge?" (Math. 16:

9)

my time has not yet come.

do you not yet perceive

ga ke ise ke bone motho yct o tshzaa- I have never seen anybody like himl
nang nai, gopi!
-fhe ga is omitted when
the phrase is in a dependent sentence or clause,

and the meaning is then best rendered by the word ,before':

a re tshabeng ka bonahd, ba ise ba re
let us run away quickly, before they
bone;
see us (or, while they have not yet

"

seen us.)
ga Kgame a busa dingwaga Kgama's son reigned two years, and
di le pedi, a swa a ise a tsale ngzoana" died before he had begotten a son.
(Padisd IV 139) ;
(Lit., he had not yet . . .)
"

)igwana

zaa

Past-indefinitetense:

"lobakalzt;a gagwilo no lo ise lo tle',

his time had not yet come.
(Yohane 7: 30);
"Yesu o na a ise a fitlhe hwa motsaneng" Jesus had not yet arrived at'the village.
lYohane 11: 30);

There is also a Future, which, however, we will only note in passing at

this stage, as it involves a usage of bo, to be studied much later:
ba tlaa bo ba ise ba goroge ha mosd;
to-morrow they probably will not yet
have arrived.

Lesson 30

142

il

NOUNS FROM VERBS (2) What might be called 'neuter roui.:

nouns which are neither active agents like those formed by prei.

_"

or ba, nor necessarily passive as those formed from the passive verb), ar.
from many verbs to indicate the action itself of the latter. These nou:,.
no prefix, i.e., they fall into Class V, having their plural in di; the onlr _ -_
in the verb itself is that the final a is changed to cr-and occasionally to o.
from phuthiga, to become gathered, rve har.e pluthigd, a gathering; fror:mila, Io care for, rve have tlhdkdmild, care or attention.
But, in the case of most verbs, a permutation of the initial consona:.: :,,
place rvhen a nourr of this nature is formed; these are identical rvith thc p. tions rve hacl in l,esson 16.
i::

Typical
verb:

rneaning

araba

to answer;
to tell;
to reward or

bolilu,

tluila,
fodisa,
gopola,

htonaniga,
lekola,
rekisa,
simologa,

(shupa,2
(fenya,

V noun
lbrmed from it:
Class

of verb:

karabd, an answer.
polild, a telling, storv.
pay

tuild,

reward, payment.

to cure or heal;
to think;
to become poor;
to visit a sick person;

phodishi, cure, hcalinq.

to sell;
to begin, commence;
to point to, shou';
to conquer, subdue;

thekishd, sale, seliing.

kgupoli, thought, opinion.

hhumanigd, poverty.

tekold,

a sick-visit.

tshimologd, a beginning.

chttpd, shorving, evidence.

phenyo, conquest, victon-.

All verbs which commence lvith the other consonants k, kh, :-:
- initial c, :n, ng, ?ty: p, plL: and, t, th, tl, ///2, etc.-suffer no change in the

:
ir:r:::

when the neuter noun is formed. 'fhe verbs ending in -aya form th. - - ,r:
noun in either of two $,ays: tsaya, baya, etc. form the nouirs lsdd and:.
tsama))a and bolaya form the nouns (w)tsamai and polad. 'fhis is . _.
might expect, from the negative Present and the Passive forms of thc.. i:*::L:
:::::

(Lesson 13

C.)

There are a very ferv irregularities in the formation of the type of .- -..
have been considering, but they can bc mastered ."r,hen they appear.
ExERCISE

59

Translate into English:

7 Bogologolo, Batsz.oana ba ise ba tle mo lefatshirLg le, banni ba line .

lV[asarzua.S 4
2 Morafe o, o no o sa itse go tshela ka go lema; o il. . ;,ii.
tshzaara diphdldgdl| fila.
3 Masarwa a ne a sa itse mashi, ka le ka. -, i =
...

a se na nayd. 1 Gompieno re bdna phetogd e kgolo; Masarua a le tt6:'- ", ,,t=

temd, le go rdba th6bd, le tishd ya dikgomo.s 5 Mma, ke letse k, r -- r'-

thata.6 Kea leboga, Mokwena; -; . ri(i::,

a 7 E i, ga ke ise ke mhetole; ke tlaa t/i:,,.'.- .. .hwaletse motshegare o mogolo. I Fa u mo hu,alila, u. mo romili ti!::""t,ru*s:,
ts@ me tse dikgolo: 9 u mo rii u re, re tshzoaregile thata ma paak;-., vl,.=
ke Katamild; a re u dumili thata
u mo rometse phetold?7

Lesson 3a

10 A go baahannguti kitsisho e e ka pigzaang

gorebotlhe, bagolo le bannye, ba ithuft molad o mosha
Llotsei le mosadi zoa gagwi ba letse ba ile go piga maina a bdri,

tsid ya ga kgaitsadiarona.e
nn ponong ya batho,l
zaa

tsid. 12

1+3

10

11

gore a bolilzai mo kereheng ha Lamorina le le tlang. 13 Babedi ba, ba re ke

bdni ba ba letseng ba tlhaetse go tla maabane; 14 ba re ba ne ba gopola fa maina
a setse a pegilwe ke batsadi ba bdni. 15 Mma-Kgakolog)lit, rtosa montxa ua
gago molemd o, ka maabanyane, a ise a rdbale; 16 fa u ka o ilrc ?tosa jalo, ha
loshwana lo le longwefila lo lo jang, o tlaa lala a robetse sentli.t2 17 Dingdtryd-

rigd tsa monna-mogolo di ne tsa utlwiwa ha tidimald e kgokt. 18 Fa kgori

e sa epe pitsd gompieno, gore go akanngwi lekgithd le lesha, ba pttsd ba tlaa e ngongirigila tiigd ya 1dnd.t3 14 ts
79 Bomma, ka tshzoanild paakawd yotlhe
dild
tse
go
tlaa
lengwang
ka
tsdn),
e na le go fila dipholo di ise di tle.16 17
1'a
20 "Kala tsa mole re letse re le mmdgd; a.na selipi se tszua hae?" 18
EXERCISE

60

'Iranslate into

Setsr.vana:

1 Mother, let me come inside quickly before the boys catcir me. 2 T'he
church-people (mophuthegz) were praying in silence before the minister entered.
3 Notice of each marriage must be made on (ka) three Sundays (tshipi), before
the wedding takes place (ima) .
4 This man, r,r-ho has already been paid by
us, has told his chief that he has not had anything. 5 'fhe rvoman's daughter
says her mother is not yet sixty-five. 6 "Jesus said to his disciples, The
harvest truly is great, but the workers are fe-'v: 7 so (ke gdni) pray to the
Lord of the harvest that he send workers into his harvest." (Luke 1O: 2) te
8

You must know that, by rights, the receiving of strangers is a great thing for

Motswana. 9 The beginning of the poverty of many people is the drinking

ko . . .) of beer. 10 We who have remained in this place, it is because we have

not yet had release from our debts. 1i A good victory is that rvhich is obtarned (bdna) without the killing of many people. 12 Will the prisoners not
rejoice in the day of their release? 13 Yesterday lve heard the sad story of
the loss (destruction) of all my father's (elder) brother's huts.2o 14 In
nyopinion it rvas a nice ivedding; the bride and her bridesmaids (basupi) were
dressed in beautiful white dresses. 15 Why doesn't your elder brother thank
his uncles (father's brothers) for all these fine gifts ? 16 The woman, who
has been kept busy (tshzlariga) all day at her work(s), did not hear the thief coming
in. l7 Let us (two) hang up the springbok on that tree there, so that we
can skin it.
18 What's the time, Tshwene ? Haven't you gone to get the post
yet ?
19 I am afraid to ask for medicine for you without a letter and some
money to pay for it.
20 He has changed a lot, your young brother; I failed
to recognise him.
Notes

to

In these examples from the Bible tbe

Whenever the

s is dialectically

(as

consonant of the noun is the corresponding ch

It

ese

of the latter has been changed

ise.

in the Southern tribes) an s/2, the

chupd.

Lesson 30

t+4

3
4

is long ago; -kgologolo, with prefixes, means old.

Masarwa (singular Mosarwa, not Lesarwa), are the Kalahar :
Kgalagadi) bushmen. (These four sentences are more intent on grar:_
on history!)
5 rdba is to break off something; hence, to reap or harvest, i_-- .
of grairr or the cobs are broken off the stalk. The noun thdb6 means - .. ii
bogologolo

,,

of grain.

Note the u dumili, greetings to you

second person singu-. _ ,
- meant
,greetings
ative. If it had been a a dumili, it r,vould have
to :,:ba dumili, greetings to them. ('I'he one rvho is to convev the greetine. -r,,,,r
Ee, ba tlaa dumila
they will be greeted.)
7 leboga, to -give thenks, is used both in the present and p.: ._
leboga, ke lebogile. The latter however, just like the French ,merci', o.'-:'no thank you', when one is offered something. Note that leboga takt. *

object the person thanked

hea gu leboga, I thank you: the Applied thanks are given fbr something ; ke lebogila niit ta gago, I give thanks fo:

..

a It is polite to address, or refer to, a person by his tribal n.:_,

that of the tribal totem, the serdtit or sebdko. You address one of th; : "
tribe as Marolong or Thdld; one of the Bangr.vato (Bagammanglvato) as -'_' .",,,:.
or Phuti (or Mophuting); one of the Bakgatla as X,Iokgatla or Tshwene; . :
The chief of a tribe is of course in a special sense the Mokwena or -,
or Mokgatla, and is often spoken of as such, rather than as Kgosi. the designation of the Scottish clan chiefs, the Nlacleod, the Macphe:. :,,,,

r:::rr:::,:l

s tshzoara (chzaara) is to catch or hold or keep; the Stative fc= ,,,i,,,

riga is to be in a held or caught position; hence, to be busy with, or - :..:r,i,,,
leave, something.

t0

lsio is a marriage or a marrying; the wordkimd is used for t---. ,*.

rvedding ceremony, from go ima to stand, because of the standing of l.-.. ,:ri::before the minister or magistrate. The verb itself is used of this .:"::i
in this technical sense. (The word nyald is also used for a marriage.)
11 piga is to hang up anything; it also means to mount a pi:_i..:
vehicle or riding animal
Luke L0: 34, a mo piga r,to peleseng )ta a_,_-,:i:
mounted him on his own beast. (onpelesa see Note 17 below.) wher - -,,r,,,r,.
:i;:i:

wants a'lift'from a car or lorry, the request is,mpiga,rra! Theverb i_.

-,
of the recording of names of persons \vanting to be married, for the crl'-::

:rF:

.:

banns.

12

jang, an 'eating spoon', is the Tswand for .dess.:: ,:lr=

as loswana lo lotona is a 'table spoon', and loszaana la tee is a ,tea sp , _ Note last Lesson on this word; luszuana is the form in many places.
13 ipa (dilg) is also the term for the summoning of the pil,,,
or tribal gathering at the chief's kgotla. The latter is not often reje ,
-.
loswana lo lo

:r,;inii,!rc,,
,,,

phuthigd.
14 kg\tha is to pay a tax, lekgithd is the tax so paid.
15 pus6, from busa to rule or reign, is norv-a-days generalll'rf,i.: iri
Government or Administration rather than of the rule of a chief.

:ii:

Lesson 30
16

ka tshwanild can be translated 'by rights'

properly as they ought to be done.

17

pholo

is a

t4s

i.e.,

if

things are done

castrated trek-ox; an uncastrated animal, kept for stud

purposes, is a pd6. (The word pelesa is also used of draught animals, but strictly
speaking refers to a ridden animall see Note 9 above. It comes from go belesa
to saddle.)
18 (See Key to Exercises.) The proverb expresses surprise or expostulation at some unexpected disagreement between close friends or colleagues;
'what has caused this division in our ranks ?' The word more rfieans a tree-it
is often synonymous with setlhare-and also a tree-root or plant-root. Hence
means concoctions rnade from herbs or trees' not so much healing medicine as
those to work harm -- tnere is practically equivalent to poisons'
"fhe word kala has three meanings. (1) It means a tree-branch, as here in
this proverb . (2) It means the tick-bird rvhich accompanies the rhinoceros,
or other large animal, and lives on the parasites which infest it. Hence, (3) it is
used of the confidential advisers or retainers of a chief, those men who are always
round him to serve or seek favour, and incidentally to get a living out of it" So

it

*,hen a retainer or sycophant falls out with his master and leaves hirn, the proverb is quoted, kala e kgaoganye le tshukudu! the tick-bird has deserted its rhino.
19 Note that, as in the case of leboga,yourapila a person, andyourapilila for something.

20

Notice the distinction between nouns from Active verbs and those
from Passive or Stative verbsl tshenyd ya me is my destroying, i.e., the destruction I cause ; tshenyigd ya ilxe is my being destroyed, i.e., the destruction I suffer.
And tshenyigild is the loss itself rvhich I bear: the word is often used (in plural)

for'expenses'.
=

ljl 26
ffi-pbsL

lfukb k ma.ng, Ts&r+ene ? a ga u fse t* ye

r 2 Ruri ge ketss ks bone nolho- ]ro s
tslrv*ang:a nab gopb- I
3 l&rar mn& ks tsbn! me teng h:a
bonak.o, basiqane- ba i-ss ba -ntslx*are4 Ke tshaba go
gfr kbpt-fg ne].erTD' ga1 lara -otlb ga lckwalb- Le ma*i a g-o
o dub]-a. 5 ffe ql+g fa mogloe-a sa lebo$sle borangluanaagwb dinib ts-e lsotlhe tse dint,lb ? 5 Mnra-KgakelegbJ-L, nosa nornla wa gage molenL-o , ka ma.bantrlne' -a Tse
s lebal-r kE loshwana to !o iCpg.

=
=

=
tr

=
:.

=
I
=

TONE-PRACTICE 26

==

1 Mma, ke letse ke kwaletswe ke Katamdld ; a re u

=
=
&
-='

botlhe ba ithutE molad o mosha wa ga goromente kaga tsdd.

=
=,

dumdld

2 Kea leboga, Mokwena ; a u setse u mo rometse

thata thata.
3 E e, ga ke ise ke mhetole; ke tlaa tlhdla ke
phetold nt?
o mogolo. + A go baakanngwb
motshegare
mo kwaletse
kitsisd e e ka pdgwang kwa batho ba ka e bdnang, 5 gore

#='

l+6

LESSON

31

QUALFICATIVES (ADVERBS OF MANNER,

'fIME,

PLACE)

We have already had, in tire course of the Lessons, a numbef of adl'erl.

but rve have taker-r them in our stride rvithout considering their natr::Suclr are jalo, jaaha, jaana, jaanong, jarLg? gap|, sentli, thata'
56s', just as we sa\\i that there are ver-v few true Adjectives in Tsrvana, su:
larly there are not many n'ords that couid accurately be called true Adver:'
'lhere are ho."r.ever a number of them, such as those listed above. For the rc.
qualification of a verb or a predicate is effeetecl in one or other of the follor.''-.
lvays.

ka

and an abstract noun.

ka bonya,

slowly (lit., rvith siowness).

ha senya,
ka bonak6, ka bofefo,
ka botlhale, ha tlhaloganyo,

gradually.

quickly, speedily, iightly.

ka boeleele, ka bosilo,
ka bogale; ka bondld,
ha pelotelcle, ka bobelotelele,l
ha pelokhutshutane,
ka potlakd,
ka botswerere, ha matsitsiliho,
ha pelot shutpu, h a b ob elot shzo eu,

ha bomo,

rvisely, understandingly.
foolishly, in a stupid way.

angrily;

gently, softly.

patiently (lit., longheartedly).

impatiently (shortheartedly).
hastily.

cleverly, skilfully.
sincerely, honestly.
rvilfully, of set purpose.

-ng. Another method is the use of a verb, generally ir -::",,

Perfect tense, taking the Relative ending -ng and the Class X concc::

mo go . . .

well, rightly.
ill, badly, not well.

ka mo go siameng,
ka mo go sa siamang,
ha mo go lekanyeng,

enough, sufficiently.

very much, exceedingly, excessively.

ka mo go feteletseng,

'I'he Aa is often omitted in this construction, and abstract nouns can be

"Petere a tswila kzoa tftli, a lela
go botlhoko" (Luke 22: 62);

the

mo

Peter went outside, and wept

'-.'!

bittee

kafa . . . -ng ka teng (gdnd). This apparently clumsy construi=o*{'

in which the verb, taking the Relative -ng ending, is sandwiched bei-t'*lltl
ka,fa and. the ha teng (or ka gdni), indicates the *ay or manner of an a-=nm

=
=f

I*
I
I

-:

Lesson 31

=
=
=
=
*.
:=
:=
=
=
..:

kafa lo dpilang ka teng,

let rne hear how (in rvhat manner) you

sing, children.

kafa re dPilang ka teng (ot

this (that) is how we sing, moruti.

mmang ke utlwi

bana;
/<e

gind

ka gbni), rnoruti;

milk
fa i mpotsa kafa mafshi a tshologileng if you ask me how the
.
.
.
spilled
kagdnd...
Note that in English one r.vord does duty for ail the three 'horn's' similar usages:

I see (him) where he has gone.

I don't know where I am.

ke mmdna kwa a ileng teng (gdni);

"ga ke itse fa ke leng teng"
(Padisd III199)

;
gbnd, rra;
ke gdnd ke la bolililang ' . .;
ee,

=
=

ke

gangzne, gangwe

:
=

.fila,

gararo,

gani,
gatlhano,
garataro,

=
=

yes,

once.
twice.
thrice.
four times.
five times.
six times.

go le gannye, go le gobdtlana;
go le gotona, go le gogolo;

gali;
le gali;
ka gali;
mo go

=
=
-:.

tell you " . .

gasu?a'

seven tlmes.

gabofira-mebedi, eight

times.

gabofira-mongwe, nine times.

'gasom\,

ten times.

gasomi-le'motsd, eleven times.

etc"

etc'

many times (-zlsi, Lesson 24, Note 6).

how many times ? (Lesson 24 Il B).
a little, slightly.
much, a great deal.
formerly.
just so ! but even so . . .

gakae, gakaye?

=
:
=
=
=
.

sir.

Notice also the foilowing:

gantsi,

::
:
=

just so,

so (therefore)

From the nurnerals are formed, by prefixing ga-, adverbs which indicate
the nunrber of times an action has been done:
gabedi,

=.
=
:

got

the
,descriptive how', the 'interrogative how ?', and the 'exclamatory how!' In Tswana
the first is quite a difierent construction from the others' Note also the following

:
=:
=
*
:=

t47

always.
as much as that.

kalo;

if they can properly be so called:

they have gone far away.
ba ile kgakala thata;
the town was not far from the river.
le
noka;
motse o no o se kgakala
town was near the river.
the
naka;
gaufi
le
motse o no a le
of, behind, the house.
front
in
ntlo;
pele ga, moragd ga,
above...,below...
ga
.
.
kwa
tlase
hwa godimo ga. . . ,
Adverbs of place

inside the house.

mo teng ga ntlo;
fa gare ga sehgwa;

(:

mo bogart'ng (garing.) ga . .
fa gare ga sekgwa Ie noka;

inside, in the middle of, the forest.

.

in the middle of . . .)
bet'ween the forest and the river.

Lesson 31

148

'l'lrere are also one or two adverbs of time

on';

kganteli and kgabagare, l\ic-

the iatter word indicates a rather 1o:..

used rather loosely. These are -,:,
they
are
but
former,
the
than
lapse of tirnc

ing'presentlv'or'by and by','later

ac1verbs,asdistinct{rorngare,pele,morag6,etc.,u'hicharereallynounS.
Lesson 22, Note 12.

51

prsrcrss

'l'rar.rslate into linglish:

1 Llotho to t, tlolarig moLad ka go tlhdha go itse, o ka itshutarilwa pho:'

gagzoi:2 2 mme ind )'o re nattg nai J'a, ke mmelaila thata; kea bdna o :'
3 Mma, leba lokwald loa lzaa gago ka tlhdkdmild, gore il
ka br,rm.o .fila.
I Thila metse a a lehanyertg ntogopo o l:
u
ka.ftt
lemogi
.fositseng ha gdni.
mantsi.3
a
le
gct
batlege
gu
-\ Mo mafatshing mangwe go ka '
ngwe fih;
(thdb()) gabetli ka ngwagd mongL\e !.e rtongwe. 6 Maabane re letse re tt)'
bt,tthata go tlola noka mokdrd o ise o nwele.A 7 Ga go bantsi ba ha ka t,
mmetli yrt; 0 betla ka botsza:rere jo bogolo.s 8 Batsomi botlhe ha na le ga t.
go tsamulta ka boiketlo te ka tidimald, le krtmo go sabonweng; 9 gore di:
6
gdtd tli se ka tsa ba bdna, tsa tshaba, motsomi a ise a atamele kzaa go tsc)ni.

,,Androcles a kgarakgatshiga mo bfrt"S nrc sekgweng ka lobaka lo loleele, a ,..

kuta o yang teng. 11 Kgabagare a senkafa o ka lalang a sabonwe ke Llic-"
teng. 12 Moragd a bdna ktgaga; a setse a lapile tkata, abil'e (also) a tsl:-'
he bordkd. 13 A tsina a rdbala mo logageng loo; ka a na a lapile a t:,.'.
bordkd kabonakd, a thwlamila." (Padisd II111) 14 "Ke gdni ke gu rayunl '
tli.be tsa gagwi tse di teng dintsi, o di itshz.uaretswe, gonne o ratile go le gogolo;
mme dni yo o itshwaretsvreng go le gabdtlana, o rata go le gobdtlana." (Luke i

"Yesu n ya gap| kwa Kana wa Galilea, kwa o fetotseng metse bojak'gdni.7 77 Go no go na le motho nxongu)e tna kgdsana, yo tttt': ':
o lwalang kwa Kaperanama. lu Eni yo, fa a utlwa.fa Yesu a tsile,a"-' r'l
go ini a mo rapila gore a fologi a yi go fodisa morwaztsi. 19 Yesu a mo r':

16

mofine

f,F,alosahoneditsIrupdledikgakgamatso,galonhalodumdlagopi,2it
tho wa kgdsana a mo ra))a a re, Morina, a u ko u fologi, ngwanaki a ise a
21 Yew a mo rd,va a re, Tsamaya.fila; morwao o tshedile." (Yohane 4: -'- "

rxrtcrsr

62

Translate into Setswana:

2 But why do vou I 3 The fault is yours. '. . ',.

too impatient; you do not study patiently. .t Without patience you -r:i-ri
..
become educated people. 5 Of course, your teacher should not de. r:
you hardheartedly. 6 This year \ve have ploughed only a little; tr-:
were tveak, they r,l'orked very slorvly. 7 When I went to the kgotla this
ing, an old man u'as speaking angrily, but nobody paid any attention :
8 Horv do you know where your (sing.) mother is living ? 9 Durine :-'
1

When shall we get a nice kind teacher ?

grumble wilf1lly like that about your teacher

::r:

ye:
have been looking for that letter many times, but I have not found it
Yesterday the magistrate spoke sincerely with the people, and advised the:: :rrr"
they should act. 11 The minister also begged the people not to do a:-- :

irrrilri

liiiitiii

Lesson.]l

t49

hastily. 1'2 The clerk says he had great difiiculty to hear what the old woman
saying. 13 "simon Peter said to the other disciples, I am going to catch
fish. 1.4 They said to him, And we will go with you. 15 So they set
out, and went into a boat; L6 But that night they did not catch anything."
(John 20: 3,4)
1,7 Let us see what you have in that bag, Moremi; is it
something that can be eaten? 1s How often did the bell ring? was it six
or seven times ?
19 I did not count carefully, s but I think it rang nine times.
(Either Perfects or Past-definites.) 2a I taught this girl yesterday how a fire
is lit, but she has forgotten it already.to 21, you (sing.) who have not yet
rvas

learned, tell me how you can manage to drive a lorry

?t

Notes

Very many human qualities are ascribed. to such-and-such a sort of

heart. Look up pelondld, pelonorni, pelontli, pelotshweu, pelonamagadi, pero-ethata, pelo-e-maszai, etc, All these can take the bo- prefix, in which case the p
of pelo is often assimilated to the consonant of the prefix, so that the word becomes
bobelonomi, etc.

2 Note the adverbial phrase for unwittingly i.e., ,by lacking to know'.
3 Lit., equal to one bowl. One could also- have said., metse a a hanang
ka mogopo o le

mongzae,

tshutara bothata is a common idiomatic phrase, meaning

difficuity in doing something.

to have great

etsa means to imitate consciously; it is therefore not quite the same

. Moetsi is one who imitates another.
motsomi appears in some dialects as motsumi. (cp. motaudi, pudi, etc.)

as tshwana le .

6
7
I

Lit., beer of the vine.

Note the importunity, in face of Jesus,s apparent reluctance to

act,

correctly conveyed by the exigent Imperative here.

e There is a compound verb, go ila tlhdhd which means very much the
:ame as tlhdkdmila; its noun is hildtlhdkd.
l0 Note the objectival pronoun of Class X here.

lt

Note how the

ise

takes]the Relative Construction ending -zg.

Lesson 31

150

}tnang lfe rTtlwb l<afa lo bpbfang ka _ Ke gbrrb kafa r"ebpbtang lra Cbn'b, i.*--3 Bqtsoxri botl-he ba rta fe go itffi,a go lsa:nayCL .-- ikobl+ I k6 fl*imal-i:., I ka fr'o go sa bonraeng, - .r4et.:-pnb}bgbl-b- di ca ka tsa bs bbna, tSa\ lshabar
r\ r \
fse e--alanrele- ltra Bo tcbnb-.
s I0- _:
) lJoroKo
kae' ? g - ne . le gar*tarq, gongraie gaslJp+ ?
5
-u
+srrg
a
*thute,
6
ieo
u
kafs
upofbfbf+
ka
u
k;=
;
tb
go kgweets+ l,erl ka te-ng ?

ToNE-PRAcrrcE 27

1 Go no go na le motho mongwe wa kgdsana, yo -o",r' ',,,

lwalang kwa Kaperanama. End yo, fa a utlwa fa ]esu a :!-:"
ya krn'a go end a mo rapdla gore a fologA a y6 go fodisa rn{,:-;: '"a
3 Jesu a mo raya a re, Fa lo sa bone ditshupd le dikgake=*,-.
ga lo nka lo dum$la gop8. 3 \'{otho wa kgdsana a r-- .,..
a re, I'llor6na a u ko u fologd, ngwanakd a ise a swe.'

151

LESSON

32

AUXILIARY VERB ba ; NOUNS FROI4 VERBS (3)

Another important Tswana Auxiliary verb is 6a. It is a 'pure' Auxiliary,
in that it has no other usages or meanings; it stands alone among tlre Auxilcan
iary t erbs in this respect. It exhibits the various forms of a true verb and
a copulative or
be used in the difierent tenses and moods. Its force is that of
follow one
conjunction, and it is used to connect verbs expressing actions which
be transanother or are connected with one another. sometimes it should not
lated; at other times it can be translated by'also" or'again" or simply'and''

Present tense; not

in very common

he smha go rika borohgzae; ke ba

he smkila mosadi wa tne sehhukhu;
"Mongwe le mongwe yo o dirang bosula
o iLa lesedi, oa ba a sa tle leseding .
{Yohnne 3: 20) ;

' '"

want to buy trousers; also I want

a sunshade for mY wife,
Everyone who does evil hates light'
and does not come to the light ' "

Past or Narrative is in common usel

'iJalo mmaagwi a belaila, a ba a bolilila

monna" (Padisd III 116) ;
"fuIme ba se ka ba tlhaloganya lefoho
Im, ba ba ba boifa go mmotsa" (Mareko

*a ba a imolola go tlhda Pudi" (Pad.

rr t16) ;

use:

her mother became suspicious, and

told her husband.
But they did not understand that

So

word, also they were afraid to

ask

him.
and.she began to hate Goat-

The Perfect is used frequently, with either Present or Perfect significance

-,ke bile ke na le dinku d.i sele, tse e I have other sheep also, which do not
belong to this fold'
cng tsa lesaka je . . ." (Yohane 10 : 16) ;
,.. .
he
was already tired, and was overtshwerwe
a
a
bile
a
lapile,
' o setse
come with sleeP'

tu lrlrbkd" (Padisd II111);

The impersonal form ebile is often used, instead of bile with the Class conrords or pronouns:
"'- . .

bite ba le pelotshitlha, e

bile e

also they were envious' as well

as

quarrelsome people'
h iligagapa" (Padisd III135);
correct')
equally
been
have
ffu bilz. . .' would

The Future is in use' but is not very common' Here the ba is definitely
three syllables, the two vowels being difierent in tone:

Lesson

t52
"

Mongwe le mongwe yo o wt)ang metse a

o tlaa baa a nydrzoa gapi" (Yohane

4: 13);
"Gonne ke tlaa baa ke o baka . . ."
(Kobamild

p.

,72

Every one who drinks this

rwr

(also) become thirsty agair

For I shall yet (also)

prai''.=

We shall be glad and

(als,

118);

"Re tlaa itumila, re ba re ipela

ldni" (Kobamild p. 50);

mo go

in it.

The Infinitive mood is found, but is not common:

"Mogolwane mongvJe . .

gila

bogosi,

. a ya go amo-

Ie go ba a bowa" (Luke

19:12);

certain nobleman . . . \\ s.
ceive a kingdom, and then :
(Lit., and to also return.)

Imperatives are fairly common: I

"Nkotla, u nnosi, u bo u. ntlamili"

(Padisd IIl107)

Give me food and drink.

".. , senkang dinama. . .Iobo lo re laletse" (Padisd IIIl85)

after me.
get a lot of meat . .
invitation.

The Subjunctive mood (or third person Imperative)

"gore a

bd a tshili

hobd" (Padisd

mabili fa godimo

IIIllJ);

ga

is

q*nr

. and :-. '

,r,,

De..

so that she might (also)

po';:

,,

on top of the blanket.

(And in the Habitual mood-see Lesson 4l-ba, as might be . r-,',,,,',

form be. There are cases of it on pp. 110, 1i1 of Padisd Ii.

takes the

II

NOUNS FROM VERBS (3). We have already seen hot- C--+

Class V nouns are formed from verbs. But nouns of almos:
':
can be formed from verbs: and feu', if anv, hard-and-fast rules can h. ,
about their formation or their meanings.

Class

III

mogopol| (: kgopold),
motshamekd, game;

thought; from gopola, think.

tshameka, plar.

mokwal6, a way of writing;

Class VI

Class

VII

setlhabi, a 'stabbing' pain (chest)

.tetshedi (sexhidi), animal; 3

kwala, write.

setswald, door;

tlhaba, pierce.
tshela, Iive.
tswala, shut.

lokwald, letter, book,

kwala, write.

loratd, love, liking;

rata, love.
swa, die.

loso, death;4
Class

VIII

legoligzaa

(:

mogolegwe/,

lenydra, thirst;
letagusa, a drunkard;
lehgith|, tax;

prisoner;

goldgwa,

be bou:-:

become --tr,rfi:r
tagwa, become c:--:r+
hgitha, pay tax.
nydrztsa,

Lesson 32

153

(There are one or two more; but rnost of the numerous nouns of this Class
are not derived from verbs at all.)

Class IX boitumild, joy,

iturnDla, be glad.

gladness;

boikany\, trust (activelY) ;

ihanya, trust.

boihanngd, a being trusted;

ikanngzla, be trusted.

boikany

igd, trust-worthiness

ikanyiga, be trustable.

tshela, live.

botsheld, life1,

Class X

makwalb, (a whole lot of)

malemd,

ploughings;

rvritings;

htttala, write.
lema, Plough.

Note the days of the week, and months of the year.:

Sunday. Ferihgong, Mekono, January.

February.
Monday. Tlhakoli,
March'
Mopitlztti,
Mopitld,
Tuesday'
Lusabobedi,
Wednesday. Moranang (a naztta), April'
Lwaboraro,
May.
Thursday. Motshiganong,
Lzlaboni,
Etabosigo,
Seitibosigo,
Friday.
June.
Lwabotlhano,
Jr.tly.
Matlhatsd, Maapid,s Saturday. Phuhu, Phukzai,
August.
Phatd,
Phatwi,
Saturday.
Satertaga,
SePtember'
Lztsetse,
October.
Phalane,
(Labobed.i, etc., is also found,
Ngwanatsili, Mositlha, November'
as well as Lwabobedi)
Lamorina, Tshipi,
Mantaga, Mosupologd,

Moruli,

Sedimothula,

December.

All the names of the months have some relevance to the season; e.g., Phalaneisthe month when theyoung Impala(pha!a) are born; Mosbtlha is the month
when the yellow flowers of the Mosetlha tree (Peltophorum africana) are out.
The student should elucidate as many of the other names as he can. ProbablV
ngwanaaitslili is the full form underlying ngwanatslli'
ExERcisE

63

Translate into English:

Marigago tsididi thata bosigo; ke gdni kafa kgznedi nngrue ya rnariga e

bilizlang ka teng, go twe 'seitibosigo';6 2 ke go re, 'U se ha wa Dta ka koloi
go Ie bosigo ka lobaka loo, 3 fa u sa rate gore ilikgomo di swi di bolawi ke
seram\.' 4 Mma, bdna dild tse ke ts'znang go di r\ha hzoa goora Tshosa! A ga
di dintt\ thata! 5 Morekisi o bile o mphile dilihiri ke tse! A re u dumlli.T
6 Ke gdni, ngwanaka; a ga se go re, ke motho yo o pelo.8 7 Banna botlhe
ba ba hglthang, ba tshwanetse go le ntsha mo tshimologong ya ngwaga, kgwedi ya
Ferikgong e ise e fele. 8. Ka mosd o mongzae ke tlna lootsa selipi sa gago, ffa,

he tlaa baa ke se betlila

mof.nyana. 9

phakillli

hutano go nna ha Lwaboraro,

"Aberahama a mo tshola ha bobelo-

u bo u tti te madi a sdni, go se duilila. 10

nomi., a mo naya setuld, a mo tlhapisa dinao kafa
a mo tsholila dijd gore a jd;'

ha Matlhatsb,

mokguteng wa lcfatshe

leo; a ba

(Padisd II 160) 11 Rangwanaagwi o sule maldba,

12 Mosimane yo o fatsang dihgong
o bile o setse a fitlhilwe.

Lesson 32

154

jeno; 13 mme o na a le teng ka Lzoaboni, a ba a re bolilila Ja a

tshwerwe ke ditlhabi. 1+ Kgzaedi ya Phalane e bidizaa jalo hagobo he y6ni
kgwedi e diphala di tsalang ka ydni. 15 "Jesu a re,'Fdla jalo a lesedi la lona
ie phatsimi Ja pele ga batho,s 16 gore ba bdnt ditiri tsa lona tse di molemo,

ga a yd tsatsi

ha bt ba galaletse Rraeno yo o kwa legodimong." (Mathaio 5: 16) 10 lj

"A ipiletsa (calIed to himself) ba ba somi le babedi, a simolola go ha roma ka
bobedi le bobedi; 18 a ba laya gr.rre ba se ka ba tsiila l&td hpa bbni sepi,
fa
e se Lsqmma fila;rt
19 a re, ba rzpal.i ditlhako, mtne ba se ka bu apara
tlikobd di le pedi. tz
2ti A ba a ba raya a re, Gongwe le gongwe kua lo
tsinang mo thmg gdn.i, la nni gdtti hong (Joa) , go tsarnaya (: until) lo tswa gini,"
(Xlareka 6: 6-10)te ta
ri\ERcISlj

64

'franslate into Setswana:

What rvill you make (betla) fbr me rvitit your ne\v sa\,\. and hamnrer,
2 Please cut up this cloth for me rvhich rny mother sent rne yesterclay (pr-rt in Passive) ;
3 cut it carefully, and sew it witli skill, and use rhese
buttons (konopi) and this thread" 4 For my part I don't beiieve that this
letter comes from your uncie (mother's brother), lbr it is not written in his
liandrvriting. -5 We began to plough in the month of November, but now
the u'ork is at a standstill (e eme) for u'ant of rain (ka go tlhdka . ..).ts
6
He is a bad-hearted boy, and he does not speak the truth, and aiso he is verv
],Iolefe

greedy. 7 I

have been bothered u'ith a pain-in-the-chest all dav; 8 I

don't think I shall sleep to-night if you refuse me medicine. 9 Tell the rvomen
that u'e do not knou'r,vhere \\'e are, that is rvhy (holv) we are askir.rg the \\,ay. 16
10 [s it vou rvho spoiled this honey, Sechele ? 11 No, mistress, it rvasn't
me; I don't knorv hou' it got spoiled like that. 12 i\Iy friend, you have made
a great mistake; tell your father, and ask forgiveness" 17 13 \{y grandfather
died yestcrday, before my father came home. 14 He said that all Moselesele's oxen have died, and he said also that he rvill have great difficulty to get
(senka) tax this vear. 15 Last year it u'as very hot in l)ecentber, before the
rains fell. 16 Monare, rve cannot grind our mealies, because our arms are
sore. 18 1i My husband's people live between \llolepolole and Gaberones;
18 they live near the lands which they plough, 19 rnoreover (thev are)
near their cattle-post, they are not far from the big river. 20 I tvas unable
(: failed) to come vesterday to see you about my son.

Notes

ha appears in second plural Imperative in Ruthe l: 11, Naomi a re,

Baang lo bo|, bomorwadiaka. There seems here to be little or no con junctir c
irnport in the verb.
2 There are two r,vords, spelt in the sarne way, trut with different meanings; they are distinguished by their tones: setlhabi meaning a sharp pain (generally in lungs or chest) is loiv-high or low-mid in the last trvo syllables; while
setlhabi meaning a thing u'hich pierces, an instrument to pierce with (a 'goad';
I Sam. 13: 20, Acts 26: 14), is high-mid or mid-low on the last rwo syliables.

Lesson 32

155

Compare the two words spelt mctlhcba; the word meanin3 slttzC is high-mid
'rn the last two syllables, that meaning the shoot or sprolrt of a plant is lo*-mid.)
3 When nouns are formeci from verbs of the type tshela, sepela, etc.
i.e. stem volvel or penultimate von'el e), the fitral I of the noun generally has a
:etrogressive effect, raising the stem or penultimate e to at i, The result is
:etshidi, tshepitli, etc.; indeed the usuai forms of the latter rvord is xhipidi. These
:re not abnormal forrns or ercepticns; altircugh setshedi, etc., are also found. The
:hange in vowei is exactly parallel to that rvirich occurs \a'hen bolila forms
:he noun mmolecLi. (This change r,vould be clearer if the 'half-open' vor.vel
retween i znd e
lvere given a special symbol.)
a In some -dialects the /o prefix seems to be disappearing, or at leest to
re very unstable, its place being taken by /e" Thus one finds in eastern peripheral
jialects of Tsin'ana leratd, leso, lekztald, etc, The longer the trvo prefixes can
-'re retained and kept distinct, the beti.er; the loss of /o is an impoverishment of
ihe language.
5 The words for Saturday are, respectively 'rvashings' (i.e., the lvashingjay, when clothes were washed and ironed for Sunday), and 'cookings', i.e.
'cooking day'.

6 go tztse (in past go tztse), is the Passive of a re, he says. It means there:ore, 'it is said . . .' : a re re yi sekoleng, he says we are to go to school; ga t?.ae re
..i sekoleng, it is said we are to go to school, or, they say lve are to go to school.
The phrase gatwe-gatwe means hearsay, as against certainty or knon4edge.

7 dilikiri (likiri) is an Afrikaans word; s\,veets.

, o go se? either with or r.ithout go re, is a common form of question
sceking agreement-'isn't that so ?' It often occurs at the end of a statement.
L similar phrase, often occurring at the beginning of a sentence, is a ga ke re . .?
I say...?' (a ga se? corresponds closely tothe French 'n'est-ce
:as ?')
n fo pele ga, before, is a Hebraism, it is not natural Tsnana.
10 ba bi ... The copulative Auxiliary verb ba is one of the most im-

.iterally, 'don't

:ortant conjunctions in Tsrvana: the English copulative 'and' really needing

:everal different translations, according to context
lnme, or le, or 6a (in some
:inse or mood), or an adverb" In the Setslr.ana Bible,
unfortunately, the trans.ators follo.l,l'ed slavishly the originals (English 'and' from the Greek 'rcr,r'), which
:erive from the characteristic Hebrein' 'lvau-consecutive', the idiomatic Semitic
'.. av
of connecting sentences. Hence every other sentence in the Bible com:rrences n.ith this m?ne . . . ?n?ne. ^ . mnrc. It is very bad translation, for ntme is
:ar more of a disjunctive than a connective. .A11 these 'ands' should have been
:ranslated by (1) omission, (2) Auxiliary verb ba, (3) jalo, jaanong, foo, etc. The
Sesuto Bible translators seem to have got over the difficulty successfully within
::,e Sotho idiom.

1 tslila

here means 'take for'; frequently, as we have already seen,

Note 16, Lesson 27, and Mareko 4: 25, etc.) it means to take alvay from.
12 a re is often used, as here, as prelude to indirect speech; it is not
:ecessarily followed by the actual words of the speaker.
13 hong the form of this word used in B.P. is /oo. Here it adds emt

see

I.e.rson

156

phasis

to

,12

the gbni, which would aimost have been sufficient rvithout

it'

G"

.foo or hong means 'then', 'thereupon', 'after that'.

14 g(r

tsamaya rneaning

of similar import.

15 ntlha by itself

means

'until' rvill be studied later, rvith other ph:'

'end'-(i.e', an extremity of

something, :'

tcrnrirration) ;also cause, account; so the phrase katttlhaya ''. means'on aci
of', i.e., because of. Ka ntlha )'ang'i (because of what?) thus means 'u'h:'

'16 Notc'that botsa ofren takes,

as

direct object, the thing being enc-

about.

17 rtaitslruarild is more idiomatic than the singular boitshzuarild.

tB Mortare or Monere is a term used of European missionaries ::-

said to derlve originallv from the Afrikaans 'meneer'.

T-'I. 28 1 Gonpiane- ke- senka go *ka borokgwe, :- 2 Maabgte --=

6 "ent<'tfa- mosedi wa nre skhlakhuhe senka- go rka nosesr ka ba ka batlbta- rrgirarra'rii t]*bake.
3 Ka mosb o mongl'$e-ke tlaa loots.a selt:-

Edg+, TTe; ke tlaa- baa ke se bet}bl-a^ nof4nyane'

Lwabore.ro, 11 bo t tle ry -**
phteflfb kr+ano go
- nfta ka
E go se duL-lufa5 Bt aagv# e. Its--* sulbr -o H - 5 I f.ositse t'hata-ngwanlda; bei! --.
f*tlhilwe-.
rrager u bo t* kopb nattshr*apelfrTONE-PRACTICE 28

1
2

I-eba u bdnb dild tse ke tswang go di rdka kwa goora T= ""

-Worekisi o bile o mphile dildk6rd ke tse i a re, u dumeldl
'Jesu a ba ruya a re, Gongwe le gongwe kwa 1o tsdnang mc : gdnb, 1o nnd gdne foo (hong), go tsamaya 1o tswa gdne"
Bagwd ba me ba agile gare ga .VIolepolole le Gaborone; b: :l'
gaufi le masimo a ba a lemang.
::

157

LESSON

33

AUXILIARY VERBS re (1) AND sena

'i't" u"rb ri, rile, whtch we have been using since Lesson 17 II C in its
primary meaning of 'say', is also used extensively as an Auxiliary verb,

with a different import. In this Auxiliary usage it is sometimes difficult to translate; but always there is the underlying idea of 'the time wheer' some action
took place.

There are a number of highly idiomatic tenses of it, but most of these (such
as e re, e tlaa re, e tle e re, etc.), necespitate the use of the Habitual Mood, which

rve have not yet studied. For the present we rvill leave these aside, and confine
ourselves to two common forms which take the Indicative Present tense.

e rjJe is the impersonal concord e with the Perfect tense of re; and ya re
is the same concord and verb in the Past-definite or Narrative tense. Although thus grammatically different, these tu'o forms are used interchangeably;
there is indeed no difference between them. They both indicate that the action

of the main verb, which immediately follows, happened in the past; and, generally,
happened as a prelude to, or in connection with, some other action.

"e rile

ba

fitlha (kwa)

moseja

ga

Lengau a raya bontsalai a re . . ."

rrlle);

noha, When they arrived on the other side

(Pad. of the river, Leopard said to her
couslns . .

a tla ka selipi, a fitlhila ba setse When he came with the axe, he

found they had already gone.
ba tsamaile . . ." (Padisd III|38);
"Jalo e rile a fitlha mo Galilea, Baga- So when he arrived in Galilee, the
lilea ba mo tshola . . ." (Yohane 4:45); Galileans received him.
"yarebammdnakwamosejagalewatli, When they saw him on the other side
of the sea, they said to him.
ba mo raya ba re . . ." (Yohane 5: 25);
"e

rile

(Note that, in the third person singular, the pronoun rvhich follows the
ya re or e rile is always a, not o.)

But frequently the e rile or ya re is used idiomatically in a way that defies

translation; it indicates the fact of past time, but in a way that has no
English equivalent. Consider the following cases, where it rvould be unnatural
to put a 'when' or a 'then' in English:
in the corn-time he said to him.
"e rile mo nahong ya mabili, a mo raya
a re . . ." (Padisd II 17) ;
" e rile hwa moragd a fitlha hwa setlhaIn the end he came to the tree.
ring" (Padisd IIl27);
In the beginning the word . . .
"e rile mo tshimologong lefoko
(Yohane 1 : 1);

Lesson 33

158

"ya re ka mosd a bdna Yesu a tla kwa

on the morrow he saw Jesus c r

ini . . ." (Yohane l: 29);
to him . .
"ya re mo lobakeng loo barutzaa ba rno At that time the disciples prare:
_:
rapila ba re . . ." (Yolzane 4: 3I);
saying . . .
"e rile ha letsatsi ja boraro, ga bo go re on the thircl day there lvas a
nyald . . ." (Yohane 2: 1) ;
ding . . .
All these sentences embody so're phrase or other descriptive of a _.*:.;
point in past time. In English the me'tion of that time is sufficie't;
but T.
go

prefers to prefix such a phrase by e rile or .va re.

The verb which immediatery folrows the e rile or ya re is in fo:;

Present tense, and its pronoun or concord is in the present forithe exception, if it is such, of the a third person singular me'tioned
in ,,A', .,
but, after that first verb, all subsequent verbs in tl-," r"q.r".r"" are in
the N,-*-

tive form:

"E rile segwaba se bdna dilo tse, sa when the merchant sawthese :,
ithaya sa re . .." (Padisd III2S).13 he said to himself . .
"Ya re mpsa e bdna mong ua y6ni, ya When the clog saw its mas:._
su_pa boitumdlo . . . (Padisd II
showed its joy . . .
l2Z) ;
"Ka mosd e ri/.e re tsamaya, moengele Next day *,i,"., *. went awa,
a utswa senutild seo . . ." (pad. II lai) ;
angel stole that cup . .
"E rile ditsala tsa gagzui di go utlwa, when his friends heard tiris, : ,,
ts| ra so mo tshwara, gorme tsa r, oa
went to take him, because thei ;ers,,
.

r::

tsinwa" (Mareko

3: 21);1

He is mad.

The normal subjectivai prono.ns can be usecl rvith rile

as the impersonal e.'

"Mme Bafarasai ba re bq utlwa . . .,'

(Matltaio 22: 24) ;
"Hong Judase, lo o mo okileng, o rile

But the
hearci . .

pharisees.

and.

re. -,

when

Then Juclas, rvho betravec

abdna.."" (Mathaio2Z: 3);
whenhesai\....
In both the atrove cases, ya re and. e rile c.our,J equarly werl have beer
with no change in the meaning.

The re or rile can takc the R:lative c:'struction cndirg -rrg,-lus:

other A'.rxiliary verbs can:

"Yo, e rileng a fitlha, a

itumila . . ." (Ditirb

"Jalo le boui ba

11

23)

bAna

...

ba jadikueng

fa go matlapa, ke ba ya reng ba setza go tttlua

lefoko . . ." (Marekrt 4: 16) ;
and

trVho whcn he carne, and s:;

rvasglad...
So also those r,vho were so$rn b,,- :- ,:,,,r,
plares are they uho, r.Ehen tL.
-

heard the u,ord . .

"

And notice the use of the Auxiliary rile, etc., r-ith the other Auxiliai*
zse.'

iir:,"

nr--

I
Lesson 33
"Ya re a setse a le gaufi nabd . . , (Pad.
rrrl38);
". . . e rile Dimo a ise a fetse ftLetse mo
. . ." (Padisd III|38);

molapong

159

When he was already near them

when Dimo had not Yet finished the

water in the river-bed . . . i.e., before
Dimo had finished.

The second example in "8" above introduces another Auxiliary verb,

the
S46t, v,hich is of ve.y frequent occurrence. (Distinguish it from
,has (have) not" rvhich, in much printed setswana, is also written
se na meaning

as one

word.)

This sena conveys the iciea of a finished action; and it is always followed

by the main verb in the Infinitive mood

"Fa a sena go nna fa

atta " sin;p;a;

fatshe, o 6pa

ia+1;

ja thatadi

di-

mo

sena go

bdna

(Tshipidi

'il

(Pqdisd

IIHT);

"Fa go

sena

Iapile

When he completes

lT:i;*

fa
kgingwi a le ..."
137);2
'1. . . , ,rno go bdna fa mong zoa ydni a
se ka aitse..." (Padisd II127);
". . . he sena go thruba ntlo ya gagwi . . ."
". . . di

go baahanngwa ba setse ba

. . ." (Padisb IIIIB5);

they eat

to sit on the
sat down

il*"iT.has

it after they have seen that

thekgengue melons are ." '

when it saw (had seen) that its master

didnotknow'''
after (when) I had broken his house

"

'

When the preparations had.been completed they were already tired '. ' (lit.,

it finished to be PrePared.)
One day after he had hunted for

when
"Letsasi lengwe fa a sena go tsoma ka
lobakanyana . .

."

(Padisd

III|97);

awhile...

be seen from the above examples that the best translation is generally
the English Pluperfect, and is of the type, 'when or after someone had done
.o**thirrg . . .; The idea is always that of some action being completed, and
being succeeded by some other difierent action. Note that sena plus the Infinitive
can sometimes be followed by a Present tense, as in the first two examples; aithough generally the actions are both in past time' 3
There is no direct negative; for that the Auxiliary ese is generally used. Thus,
the translation of 'before he sits down' or 'before he irad sat down', would be
pele a ise a nne fa fatshe.

It will

This Auxiliary

'"8 rile

tla . . ;'

TshiPo

sena is much used

sena go tsaYa ,nega'

(Tshipidi 162);

"Ya re bosigo bongwe, go sena go fibalzoa

..

."

(Padisd

"E rile a sena

IIll1);

go bdna madi ao, a

tse-

nya mn kgetsing . . ." (Padisd IIl2S);a

with e rile

and ya te:

When (after) Springhare had got the

tails . .
One night, when everybodY had gone

tosleep..,
After (when) he had received that
money, he put it in a bag . . .

Lesson 33

160

". . . yo re a
tseng . .

."

rxonctsr

sena

(Padisd

65

E rile

go e ntsha mo letsa-

. . . when he had got

III|35) ;

of the hole . .

it (his horsej +;

Translate into English:

mosimane

sena

go lebogila thusd ya monna-mogolo, a palama

!:,::.r,

tsamaya. 2 Fa ditau di mo tlhasila, o na a se na tlhdbdld, refa i

sepi. 3 Fa re sena go swetsa mmirikd o, re tlaa tlhatlaya metse a bog,;t ^,!

ya gaguti, a

Monna yo he rahanyeng nai kafa mogobing ole, o mpoleletse

neli

hzpa

M(a)halapye. 5 E rile

maabane

jaaka re ne le

fa pula e lei;:
ra zoila rd: ::

,,

tsorna,

letona fa gare ga sekgwa: 6 ra ba ra bdna dinotshe di le dintsi, d.i

fofa-..:,,
hwano le kzla:67 7 mme ya re re leka go ntsha dinotshe mo lejeng, ra r!
di ja, tsa re palila. s
8 Ga go na opb yo o ha dirang sengwe le sangt:t u,,
o ratang go se dira: 9 mongwe le mongwe o tshz.aanetse go gopola mongti._
ini,s 10 le go baa a mo thusa kafa o ha kgdnang ha teng. 1,1 Ban,;_ .
se ha lwa ba lua tlhaila go tla ka nakd e sekole se tsinang ka ydni.
12 Fa b,,;*r,
bo se y6, ana re tlaa rulila matlo ka eng ?
13 Borutitd jo bo mo godimo ga n;:.
1,:

a tne gompieno, bo senyegetse ruri.

1+ Fa lo sena go sQga bojang jo bo lekan.,:'r'r
lo bo phuthi, lo bo lo bo bbfi dingata. 15 Re tlhotse re tshzuere tird e e h,'.:::r:.

mo

bojangnye: 1.6

jaanong ka letsatsi le setse le phirimile, re letile dikok:i r.

tsaya. 17 Ga di ise di tle; fa di sa tle, re tlaa lala re tshwere both;:;

re bolailwe ke tlala. 18 Moragd ga a sena go ja, Modise a nna fa fatshe *,"
tla go re

tlase ga mohgalo mongz.t)e; 19 ya re kganteli, ka go no go se na batho, e bik r.

no go le mogote, ka bonakd a simolola go dtsila. 20 Ya re fa rcaagzld a :";_
a mo senka, a rno fitlhila a setse a thulametse.lo

ExERctsB

66

Ttans\ate into Setswana:

1 Tell me (sing.), how many bundles of grass have you prepared to-a=
2 As I was going to the store, the Browns came in their motor-car, and i:-s,,
qave me a lift.
3 Thank you for these beautifui eggs, Mmaphuti; gir-e :''
greetings to your sisters. 4 The doctor came to visit the old man th::':r
last Friday, and came again on Saturday. 5 If the rain comes before u-e L-i-',,
finished thatching we will be in difficulties. 6 When (fa) yo:u (sing.) i-*.,.
i

finished washing these pots, pour water into them, and put them on the :-:
7 Your hat is very old, and it's worn out; when lvill you buy another one i :
My wells have fallen in, Chief (Bangwaketse tribe) ; can't the Chief (i.e., ti-::r
person) help me with a water-barrel (shwaki) ?
9 After his father died. r:
went to live in Mafeking, and he stayed (nna) there a long time, 10 at*.*:
fifteen years, before he returned to Phitshane. 1 1
11 When he arri-, tr
home, and had greeted the chief, 1,2 he tolC his mother that (fa) he :,pr:
(has) come tq take a wife. 13 In this place there is no green grass, there a:r
no trees, birds don't exist; there is nothing but houses and people. 11 G;lr
greetings to the strangers; they can go anywhere they like in our town. .r
When the old lady was (already) fast asleep, the girl slipped away (ngwlga), un-:w:
by anyone (not seen by no-one). 16 She is a woman who knows well (h,:w.'

Lesson 33

161

to thatch, but she asks a lot of money. | 2 17 The whole tou''n was in great
sorrow on account of the death of the chief's mother. 18 One cannot
(impersonal go and passive) travel by wagon in September, for the pans have
all dried up. 19 Each bundle of reed is 1/3, but they are very small bundles.
20

The ants were running hither and thither, looking for their food.

Notes

tsinwa,

Iit.,

'entered'

as English has it, 'possessed'.

botsind, Padisd II126.

kgingwi, the edible

also an inedible

II

sort.

-- by some superhuman influence or spirit;

A mad person is a setsind.

See also tsenywe ke

wild melon of the Kalahari desert - there is

it is treated as a singular Class I or Class

For some reason

noun, as in this quotation.

3 It can also, when used with fa (or as rve shall see later on, with e tlaa
re), be followed by the Future tense; see sentence 3 in Exercise 65.
a Notice that in this and numerous other cases, sena plus Infinitive is
practically equivalent to setse and the Perfect Indicative. go sena go rdbalzaa is
almost the same as go setse go robetszoe; and e rile a sena go bdna madi eould also
be o rile a setse a bonye madi.
5 tlhatlaya is to put anything on a fire to cook it is used either of the
cooking-vessel or of the food in it. But it is r-rot used for, e.g., meat 'rvhich is
put in the fire itself, or on the embers, to roast.
6 Tswana often doubles verbs in this way, as rve have already seen
Note 20 of Lesson 29. Here the reduplication indicates repeated or continuous
e.g., rumaor ub:quitous action. Some verbs are habitually used like this

ruma, Padisd II f 17 .
7 kwano le kwa or kusa le kwa, etc., means 'here and there', 'hither and
thither', 'back and forward', etc.
a palila (paletse) is Applied form of pala (padile). The latter is a useful
and rather idiomatic verb rvhich has not an easy English equivalent; it means
'to be too much for', 'to be unmanageable', etc. For example if a man returns
from an unsuccessful attempt to persuade someone from doing something, he
could say, o padile, or o mpaletse. Or if a book is beyond one's understanding,
one could say, loktuald lo lo mpaletse, or ke paletswe ke lohwald lo.
9 mongwe ka ind is 'his neighbour' lit., 'the one by him'. So barttti.
- baruti ka bdni 'their . . .'
ka ini are'his fellow-ministers (teachers)', and
ro dtsila is to become drotvsy or sleepy; to nod u'ith drowsiness; but
thulamila is to fall definitely and soundly asleep. The latter is an Initiative verb;
itsila is seldom used in the Perfect tense,
lt 'about fifteen years' is e ka ne e le dinyaga di le 15.
12 The old Setswana thatching r'vas done, and still is, by women: the
modern proper driven thatching is men's work.
t3 segwaba is a merchant, one gaining livelihood or weaith by trading.
(See Diphcshbphoshd, p. x, Agione '&-a seguaba, Aegeon the merchant of Syracuse.) The word does not mean a rich man, as such, or one rvho inherits wealth;
it means a 'self-made' man, one who has used his brains and ability to enrich him-

162

Lesson 33

self or advance himself. (The Bangwato use the term segwabanyana of z

being sought in marriage, where the Bangwaketse would use mogametle
M. le M. p. 23, 26.)

2-T. 29 I T file-a tle I sellpb- a fidhbla_ ba tse ba t*a:natle2 Ta ps npsa e bhrra mung wa y;=
ya .supa boi.ounbli:- jffa t'on3 F-a re sgna go slrt_-:
t-irb- e, pe tl-aa tthatlays metse a bgbbh
L T :__
l4o&isa a sn* &o ja, :^Ttna Fa fatshe, hma tlhase g-- -*
tlhar..e sengwe sa mokgalb. 5 yE re
a sl= a
s14&r a- ya ga -aga ha MaFikengj a ba a nna lepg Lo:= _
f5 lel-esle-.
6 E r."tle fa a grbga" a bile a ser4_
duroedis.a- kgesi,
7 e^ bolilbla mraagr*b fa a teil=
traya nosade.
ToNE-PRAcrrcE 29

1 Ga go na opd yo o ka dirang sengwe le sengwe se o ra:=

go se dira;
2 mongwe le mongwe o tshwanetse go gu:,
mongwe ka dnd, 3 le go baa a mo thusa kafa o ka kgdr-::ka teng. + Fa lo sena go sega bojang jo bo lekanyens
bo phuthe, 1o bo lo bo boft dingata. -5 Re tlhotse re tshir.-.,,
tird e e bokete mo bojangnye. 6 Ngata nng"\,'e le nngs-. ,
sheleng le tiki, mme ke dingata tse dinnve thata.
:,

r63

LESSON 34
PLUPERFECTINDICATIVE,&NEGATIVE:DIIVIINUTIVESUFFIX
is not, apart
There is a definite Pluperfect tense in Tswana, although it
The
occurrence'
from the Initiative u.rb. (... below), of very common
following are examPles of its use'
Norv Elisha had sPoken with the
"Mme jaana Elisha o na a buile le

.." (il

8: 1);
letshoo, Ya
alafile
"Ka ,ke ne ke e
IIl15);
itumdla . . ." (Padisd

mosadi ,

Dikgosi

". . . go kea ka ka bbna makau a morina

,u)a nxe, a u no u a romile" (I sam,
25: 25);

"...fo

maoto a me a ne a se
mpoloka" (Padisd III 182) ;

ka

woman whose son . . .

Because

I had healed

its Paw,

it

was

delighted.

I did not

see mY lord's Young

met"t

whom you had sent.

if

m1' legs

had not saved rne'

The tense is conjugated thus:

ke ne ke

rekile, I

had bought

rekile, You .
onaarekile, hc...
re ne re rekile, we . . .

u no u

ke ne ke se ka ka rika'
il' no u se ka wa riha'

onaasekaarika,
re ile re se ka ta rdka'

I had not

you...
he...
we..,

compounThe student may note that this tense has the appearance of being
rekile,Iooks
he ne ke
cled of other Indicative tenses; the affirmative Pluperfect,
Pluperfect, ke ne
negative
the
and
tense:
Perfect
the
plus
like the Past-indefinite
ke se ka ka riha, look. Iik" the Past-indefinite plus the negative Past-definite'
to memory'
Such a statement is not a grammatical description, but an aid

The commonest use of this verbal form is in the case of the Initiative
verbs; u'e have had one or two cases of it already' (See Lesson 20'
Note16.)ThePasttenseoftheseverbstakestheformofaPluperfect:

A
-

robetse,
ba tte ba tobetse;
ke tapile,'
lu ni ke tryite;
se ne se rabegile;
(se ne sa rbbiga;
ba ne ba se ka ba rdbala;
se ne se ka sa rdbiga;
ba

(or, ba ne ba sa rdbala;

se

they are asleep (have fallen asleep)'

they were asleep (had fallen asleep)'
I am tired (have become tired)'
I rvas tired (had become tired)'
it was broken'
it was breaking')
they u'ere not sleeping then'
it was not then broken'

ile se sa rdblga, etc')

For the alternative form of the negative Pluperfect, see Appendix, Article

22.ThenegativePluperfectisnotinverycommonuse;aninstanceofit

Lessott 34

\6+

is gi"-en araong the exanp\es rn \ above. For geneta\, .had not..,, meaf,.
'had not yet . . .' ; i.e., it refers to some action which had not then happenec
but which did finally happen; and in all such cases the Auxiliary
-- ha n.e ba ise ba tle, they had not yet come.

the Pluperfect

z'se

is used, n;

Remember therefore that the Tswana Pluperfect only co'ers on dsper

corresponding English tense. The latter has to be rendered r:
Setsu'ana accordirrg to the context.

of the

(1) he had dug the tre.ch

(2)

before

the o na a epile

mosili pula e

ise

e t:.

rain came,
because he had dug a trench,

he ka a na a epile mosili, a se ko rain,

tshaba pula.
(3) when he had dug the trench, he e rile (or fa) a sena So dpa most,.
went away,
a tsama)la,
Note that if an English Pluperfect is preceded by ,because,, ,since,, ,tb:
it corresponds to the Tswana Pluperfect; but if it is preceded by 'when', ',;
'after', it <ioes not correspond rvith the Tsu,ana Pluperfect, but is translated bdid not

1'ear

senago....

II

DIMINUTIVES. In the last Lesson we had, in one of the examples, !',

word lobakanyana, translated 'a little time'. The ending -nyana, sufrr.to the word labaka, indicates smallness or shortness. (It can be added to otL::
parts of speech besides nouns.) It is also possible to use pdtlana,
-nnye, -ki:itshwane, and other adjectives; but this 'diminutive' ending is a very comm.:
and useful one.

to t\re unmodrit:
majoritY of cases the -nyana ending is added
noun thtts:

In the

t1""u,9,,nn4.

lefatshenyana

djiAtytnn4' lnkzoali,ryttanq: /abakaryvanq: katsenyar':

ti")2vnn4'

madinyana

kgangnyana

In another large number of

cases

logongny ana.

bnl -ana; - with-the last r-o;-

the sufftx is not -nyana

in this case, its first vor,vel -a- absorbs-or

coalesces

of the noun, thus:

tsela, tselana; sediba, sedibana; hgetse, kgetsana; thipa, thipana; ndga, ndg,i't
thupana; tlhdgd, tlhdgwana (tlhdgd-ana) ; ntlo, ntlwan,a (ntlo-anai-

thupa,

When the noun itself ends in -na, this is generally absorbed in the -zla";
mosimane, mosim.anyana; mosetsana, mosetsanyana; ngzlan.a, lxgwanyana; ses;l'L
sesanyana.

lVhen the noun ends in -mo, -tttu, -me, this coalesces to form -lgrlctti
thus:

kgomo, kgongzuana; molomo, molnngwana; loleme, lolengutana,

Lesson 34
\\'hen the noun ends in -re, -ri, this

coalesces

165

to form -tshana; thus:

-rcre. setlhatshana; phiri, phitshana; pampiri, pampitshana.

\\'hen the noun ends in -pi, -pi,

-pi, this coalesces to form -tswana; thus'.

:"." selitswana; tshipi, tshitswana; molapd, molertswan.a. ('fhele is di{liculty
-: the correct spelling of these diminutives; they also vary with the dialects.
::- mogobe one can have mogojana, ruogojwana, and mogobjwarru; from mogopo,
:,.trn bo\.vl, tnogocana, and mogopyana or mogopjwana.)

\\'hen the noun ends in -le, the ending often, but not always,

becomes

-jana; thus:

kgojana; letlole, letlojana; kgakala, kgakajana (also

',",.
'-;;le. botlhajana; mmele, mmejana; mebele, mehejana.

kgu.kalanyuna) ;

The foliowing very cornmon instances shouid be memorise<i; they

rather in the nature of special cases than types:

are

hobd, kdjana; p;tse, petsana; (pitsana

phdldgdtswana.2
phdldgdld,
--::nutive
On the Diminutive formations, see W. & 8., pp. 27,28, and see Lesson 27,
r=s 9 and i4.)

pi)tsone; nku, kwana, kzaanyana;

of pitsa)

Translate into Engiish

-- Ka lobaka lo molaodi o na a tla ha ldni, ke basadi ba ne ba setse ba ile nog3

2 Batshameki bangwe ba ne ba apere dihimpinyana tse di tala le
';)4:e a maszl)eu; 3 ba bangzae ba ne ba rwele dihutshenyana tse dikhu1 Banyana, a ga ke re kbnsata e lo letseng b ile hzua ga ydni, e ne e
'thata?a 5 Ee, ruri, moruti, re letse re itumetse thata; re bile ra e tsina
*^;din)'arru a a kLla tlase thata. 6 "Sedibana se pele ga se ikanngzae."s
r;:rr hA, mophatd ztsa bolola, jaaka o no o laotswi ke kgosi. 8 Ya re ka
|i:.dt!,a zre ftlha kwa mogobenyaneng o o gopotseng go bdna metse mo go dni;6
w'r:t ta fitlhila metse a kgadile, go setse seritsi fila,7
l0 se se ne se sa
t ;.6 no'zca, lefa e le ke dipitse tdta. 11 "Jalo ba itlhaganilila kwa segotlong,
t,..:!a dipotsane, 12 ba tshztsara mangawana ba a phutha fila jaaka Lengau
r',' ; fhuthile dipotsane;8 13 ba ba ba baya moplruthd fdla jaaka o no o ntse."
,.i,t::o I I i 18)
14 Mmakhudu, ke letse ke gu tlhohile jaaka ke tsile go gu tlhdla;

kae?e 15 "Jalo ba fitlha mo Kaperenama; rn?ne a re a le mo tlung,

nitsa a re, Lo no lo ganetsanya eng mo tseleng?Io 16 Bdil ba didimala
t lrnne ba ne ba ganetsantsi rno tseleng kgang ya go re, yo mogolo ke mang?"
i,*:!,o 9 :33f.) 17 A u no u (or wa) se hawalapa,rra? Ee,mma,hene ke
18 Go no go le ditlhatshana
w\,c thata; mme jaanong ke lapologile.ll 12
ta
19 "Pltala e se na phalaintinyana
gdni.l3
mo
re
letseng
felong fa
'c
i, ile

'r,:

x'.;.

t:iht;

'L

botlhale bo tswa

*r: u tshatsi madi

Fhalaneng."ts 20 E rile fa u ya

bentleling,

Lesson 34

166
nxrncrsp

68

Translate into Setsrvana:

1 These little blankets are no use; we shall be cold all night.

the little girl had eaten all the honey, she ivashed the spoon and put ir

,: -:.

,,

board (kdbdtli) .
3 I found no sour milk in the small basin; it had i';:. -,i
by the littie boys. -[ Do you (plu.) know a little animal u&ich ha-. _,,_., ,,.
a littie rnouth, and a little short tail ?
5 Let him go to hercl the k-i;, .:

boys. 6 Aren't you (sing") rested norv I *i'

been sieeping ali day. 7 I couldn't do anything rdth that littte :yours, Galekhutle (transpose, using palila); 8 he .et'used to list::, :
and slrut (kaba) his ears r,vith his fingers. 9 The leader had order.:
diers to cross the little river, 10 but when they had tried six times :-". :
it up 1- despair, tlhdbdga); l anc{ retired (returned) in hast. :
bushes on the top of the hill. 12 'lhe kittens were playing with ti:.-: :.,,',,
in the vard in front of the little hut. 13 We lvere prevented (p.;...,
lambs with other little

,,,,,

,,

going to the lands yesterday, for the trek-oxen rvere lost,

1-l fi,,
wearing a beautiful new dress at the shrw (tshupd) th s mrrnir.:g.
one who san'it rvas very surprised, 16 tbr she had sewn that;:..,.
beautilully (botswerere) in only a ferl, days (malatsi $dth dim.). t6
,carpenter had made (betbla) me a Small table before he rnade that ch.,llt Do let me help you to put on that big pot; it is too (bobe) liear.r. : - ,

19 The little

snake had a littie thin black tongue. 20 At

these old nails ? I don't think they are any good.

you buy
little dogs tare (gagola) his trousers and also bit his

rvhicl .:

2I

legs.

Notes

1 alafile is better than the ngakil.e of the poem in Padisd II

-- ..- ;,,,,,,,,r,
jwa pud, p. 62.
2 Note that the diminutive ending often tends to make the s:.-,,,,,,,,,
more open; thus AoDo becomes hdjana and podi becon:es pdtsane
*: ::::
dialects which use .pudi instead of podi, the diminutive is potsane-::- ---r lnrr
vowel has 'moved don'n' one place. (But kojana is fcrund as weil as- i: :,..r .*
3 Note again the idiomatic ke . . . , meaning 'it u,as when
29, Note

17.)

a transliteration of 'concert', than whicir Dothini ,

popular in school and village life. Note madi a a kzua tlase, low mo.:at a low price.
kdnsata

5 A proverb;

rr,,
=::

something like the proverb, 'a bird in the ha:-- ,. ,st:

two in the bush'.

6 mogobenyana indicates a smaller pan than does the word r:.'i..:@

so the two diminutives of this word are not synonyms, rnogojana or F;._::::,im-s#ii
means 'small pan', and mogobenyana means'very small pan',
7 sala, remain, is an Initiative verb; therefore go setse, there ::i:,,riuim,,,,
and go no go setse, there remained.

8
e

mangawana, dim. of mangau, plu, of lengau.

tlh"ohile, lit., lacked
i.e., missed, did not see.

?
Lesson 34
'lo
11

t67

Notice the way that Tswana puts a sentence like this.

The old Setswana speech would here, I think, have undoubtedly

said, Nnyaa, mma, ke ne ke lapile thata, in answer to this question.
12 lapologa is the Reversive form of lapa., and therefore means to 'become
untired', i.e., to become refreshed.
13 dintsinyana, diminutive of dintsi i.e., a little many; hence, a few,
or not very many.
14 feld or gold, a plzce; it takes the concords fu go ; Jelb fa go siameng,
a good place.

t5 Proverb, the meaning of which is that an animal with young is much

more \r'ary than one rvithout.
16 botswerere or botswiriri, according to dialect.
11 bobe mears'too much' or 'very'.

pul,a e ase e. ne. 2

!-I_,-E I O na a -epile nres}lL,
K-a a ea a .effIe mes!f+, E Fe l.a t3h-aba pu.la3 T
l+ tSedibana se
ti-le a sna go bpa nesltb, -a tssqelya.
pe1e. ga se *kanngrae. I
5 }eradikhudu, ke l-etse ke gu
it r."lrile jaaka k" t*if. g gu tlS,ble; u no -rr ile kae- ?
6 tCe r1e ke lapile bhata, r6rne iaarcn& ks l3pelogj-La. 7
I
F frle fa u fa bentleleng-, a u no r* tsffisU rAacli ?
l.e
-a
Kpsi
nolwb
]{c
rre

9
aotl&e
beLsirunfanaUasl$
di_tcgq$an*ts-a yinb *i ne &i seLse d'f buile jalo nr*lbba.
TONE-PRACTICE

3O

Jalo ba itlhagandldla kwa segotlong, ba golola dipdtsane, ba

tshwara mangawana ba a phutha fla jaaka lengau a ne a phuthile
dipdtsane. 2 Phala e se na phalana, lesilo ; botlhale bo tswa
phalaneng. 3 Dikdjana tse ga di na tird, te tlaa lala re tshwenve ke seramd. + A a yd go disa dipdtsane le dikwanyana
mmdgd le basimanyana ba bangwe.

**

168

LESSON

35

VERBAL DERIVATIVE FOR1\{S: APPLIED FORM (2):

RIGHT AND LEF'I'

Fror' Lesso' 16 o'wards rve have constantly bee' using t6e 'Appli.that which has -ila fot ending instead of the -a
form, of the verb
the Simple form; e.g., rikila, hwalila, dirila, etc'

Now this 'Applied form' is only one of several derivative forms which t;-,
'ls*,ana verb can assume. If l,r,e take dira as a typical simple verb, we have thc"
do]' t::
examples of the clerivative forms; the causative form, dirisa, make to
each
otir.:
make
dirana,
Reflexive form, itira, make oneself ; the Reciprocal form,
undot::
become
the Reversive forms, dirolola, unmake, undo, and dirologa,
the Stative forms, diriga, be makeable, and dirala or diragala, become dor"
happen. These forms will be dealt u,ith in separate Lessons. There are al.
lurther derived forms.

'fhe meaning of the Applied form has already been indicated; it is t:,
a:
performance of the action to or for some person or thing, or in or
situations.
to
certain
some place: it is literally, the verb 'applied'
we also saw, however (Lesson 16, Notes 1, 11, 15), that the -ila ending'form; for exan: I
a verb does not necessarily indicate that that verb is an Applied
are all simp .
etc.'
tlhasila,
dpila, phakila, bolil'a, timila, 6^ah, rapila, tlhaila,

form verbs.

turther mentioned (Lesson 17 I D) that verbs ending in -sa, eii

clo not conform to the general rule of the -ila ending for the Applied form, -'
i=:
so
used
we
have
type
of
this
take endings of the type -efsa. The only verb
r;"
sireletsa
13,
Note
24,
Lesson
has been the irregula. one leretse. (And in

It

u,,as

mentioned.)

In this Lesson we complete the study of these other endings of Applied for.

When the verb ends

in -nya, *sa,

and

in a fet{

'.tsa- thefinal-4ofthesimpleverbischangedinto-e/sa,thus:

senya

senyetsa.
baakarrya, baakanYetsa.

-tszl)d, -ntsha

tlhatswa,

tlhatswetsa.

ntsha

ntshetsa.

disa, disetsa.
fodisa, .fodisetsa'
gotsa, gotsetsa.
.fatsa, fatsetsa.

the tlvo
When the verb ends it -tsa (except for a few cases' such as
thus:
to
changes
-letsa,
tioned in B above), the -/sa ending

bitsa,
botsa,

biletsa.
boletsa.

reetsa,

reeletsa.
kgweetsa, kgzaeeletsa,

cas.-

Lessorr
D

169

.Js

Notes on these APPlied forms.

There are also double or even triple Applied forms - e'8'' gihla and
gitilita, from ga, draw water; and simple forms ending h -ila look (in the Applied) like the double Applied, e.g., bolillla, rapilila, etc.
(2) In some cases an Applied form acquires a special or technical meaning;
,.g., ni\h, hand to, or give to temporarily, is used in a technical sense of the giving
oicalue, and kids to their mothers at milking-time; and titnes of day are called
maniild-a-dipod.i,etc. Tsiilu, as u,e have seen, generally has the meaning of 'taking
from' someone. Similarly tbpila, fotogila and atlholila have special meanings.
(3) supa, to show, generally makes in the Applied form supegetsa although
supetsa is also found ; ke tlaa e mo supegetsa, I shall show him it'

(1)

Right and Left are expressed thus:

expressed in three ways; the first, curiously parallel

European usage! uses siama in Perfect with Relative Construction :

Right can be

siameng,
lonao lo lo siameng,

seatla se se

the

the right hand,

the right foot'

The second way is by using the adjectives great or big

Letsdgd

to

tona, gol'o:

the right arm, or side of anYthing.

le letona,

The third is
seatla se

se

the hand (by) r'r'hich (one) eats.

.iang,

Left is expressed by the word molima, used with the possessive concord;
seatla sa molima,

lonao lzoa molima,

hafa go (letsdgd) je le siameng,
hafa go ja molima,
( aIso, ka.fa molemeng.

EXERcISE

69

the left hand.

the left foot.
on the right (hand or side)
on the left (side or hand).

Translate into English:

yoo kzoantli, gore,o tletse eng?l2 2 Bana,

di beyeng mo letlojaneng le le kwa
moragd ga setswald. 3 Fa u tsilla bana dildnyana tse ba ratang go tshameka
ka tsdni, ba tlaa gu ngdngdrigila kwa go mogokgo wa sekole.3 4 Monna,
u mphatsetse dikgong, u bo u nkgotsetse moleldnyana fa. 5 Monna-mogolo,

1, Ako

umpoletse motho

se latlheleng dipampitshana tse mo molelong;

u kake wa re supegetsa tsela ya legae? re letse re timeletswe ke tsela bosigo. 6

ke tlaa e lo supegetsa ka bofefo, ka e bile e gautshwane fbla'a 7 Fa
Io ntshala moragd, ke tlaa lo baya mo go ydni:s 8 mme fila, fa lo fologiln
mo molatszoaneng ole, kwa dipata di kgaoganang teng,6 9 lo tsii ydni e e
ktfago jele siameng: 10 kagobo e e kafa go ja molima e kgologob thata, ga e

gi

ioriro,

Lesson 35

r70

jaanong. 11 Nthusang, bagaetsho, he latlhegetswe k:

talama tsa rne; di z.aetse mo rnotlhnbeng.l2 12 Motho yo, o setse a nkg;:t
tlitse ngzaaga o o tletseng.T 13 Mosimarte ke wina, u tshwanetse go be!,:
mehgztanyana eo ya gago e e rnswi;8 1+ mme ka u mpoleletse go t:
bahile, u tlaa leka ga dira botoks,e 15 ke tlaa gu itsrruarila gutnpitt;.
ba ke gu rapilila gore mogokane a se ka a. gu betsa. 10 3
i6 Mma, bu;,molel6, gore dijd di tli di btdswi ka bonakd.ll 17 KAne, rra, go butsu-i.,. .
tlaa thtrsang, ka e le Ja dittharapana di se yd? i8 !{tumetlisetsa bomalont;-.,
'ngwanaka, u ba riyi u re, ke tlaa ba baakattyetsa mtgoma
,,1-:
zaa bdni. l9
tsamaiwe ke batho

Yesu a fitlha mo lefatshing ja gagab6, a ba ruta mo tlang ya bdni ya trrutd, bu :

tla ba gakgamala, ba re,
20 Monna yo, o tsltatsi botlhale jo, le ditiri t:.
nonofd, kae? 21 a yo, a ga se morwa mmetli u:a dikgong? a mrnaagwi g: .
twe Marie? le bonto.;inazni a ga se bo Yakobe, le Yose.fe, le Simone, l.e ywdasel
I'e bokgantsadii a ga re na nabd botlhe? Ana tnonna yo oa ba a tshdsi ka, -

tsittlhe tse?" (Mathaio

nxpncrsn

70

13: 54-56)

Translate into Setslvana:

Look, this bucket (imird) of mine has a hole in it at the bottom ._:,:.
nyiga... tlase); can you mend it for me? Z When I got to him I founr
left leg was broken. 3 He has bought me eighteen beautifur large b.= -.
4 The doctor has put me outside, and refused to heal my child fbr me.
If you (-sing.) want to ring rhe bell, pull this rope r.vith your right hand. 6 ,
me open the dool for you, mother; I.rvill also call my little brother fnr vou.
Mary, wash those dishes (dilwana) for me, I am tireci this evening. ,! _' ,

sand was very heavy, so the l,r'agon $.as too much for the small oxen. 9 Rr:,
I won't do it again, sir; please fbrgive me. l0 At d.sk just a feiv pe .,,
had gathered at the little i.vell in the valley. 11 "Now- in that place thert . ,r,

grass. 12 Jesus said to thern, Horv manv loaves (senkgu;i1 :? go and see. 1:l When thev kneg.(had knorvr), the1, said, They are =-.
and tvro fishe-"." (Mareko 6: :g)
l+ After the calves hacl grazed for..:r,
little time, thev heard their mothers lo'"ving. '15 The men clicl not hear :,.
master calling them to lvork, for thev r,vere sound asleep .
16 on Frida. :
14th of March he fell into the river; also in that place the water wa-q dee: :
17 The man rn'as afraid that the thief u...ld kill him, so he gave him the .
of the room in which the money-box 14'as. 18 'lo part is painrur, my fri.-*
much green
-vou

but we shall meet again after a fe\4, years have passed. 19 Run (sing.) t, .
post with these letters, and hand them to the rvhite man. 20 The NIas.-''

who u'ere in the little village n'ere herding oxen for other people. 2:
vou blow that little fire, prohabl.r it will go out; better (bogoto) leave ir alo::
Notes

botsa, to

mpoletse

is z-, the objectival pronoun, before the Applied

ask; hence,

ask for me.

for-_

2 tletse is perfect of tlila, Applied form of tLa, come; i.e., has come for
tletsehowever might also be the Perfect of tlala, to be fi.ill; it is used in this n:';:ing in sentence 72 of Exercise 69.

illrflimilll!

Lesson 35
3

mogohgo, head-teacher, arrd mogokane,

(See sentence 15 below.)

gautshzaane is diminutive

of gaufi; it

171

teacher, are Kgatla terms.

means nearer than

gaufi.

See

Appendix, Article 23 on this.

5
6
7
e
9

sala . . . rnoragd is to follorv (behind or after) someone.

kgaogana is an intransitive verb meaning to become parted or divided.
See Note 2 above.
beledizpa, Passive of beletsa, which

is Applied fbrm of betsa, beat.

one meaning means to praise, or give praise to; it is the same
as bdka, from which comes the noun lebdkd, a praise-poem of a chief. Its other
meaning is to give up a bad habit, or give up something one has been punished
for; to never-do-something-again: ke tlaa baka means'I won't do it again'

)luL

his

ads.

baka

in

and u baki ! means 'never do that again!'

10 rapilila, i.e., pray for or on behali of.
I 1 butswila has nothing to do with butswq,
ripen or become cooked:
it means to blcw up a fire, with one's breath, to make it burn.
12 wilais to fall onto or into something; wa is to fall from something.
Thus selipi se oli mo koloing, the axe has fallen from the wagon; selipi se wetse
mo motlhabeng, the axe has fallen onto the sand. . . . a wila
fa.fatshe . .. (Ditiri
9: 4) he fell to (or on) the ground,

.;

Let
7

The

illv,
rple
was
taVe

ive,
)me

heir
the

t12

ky

T-T. 3f

I A ko r: nfelsbss netho yo- s l.nra nt,t_b ge TEr

u tleise &g: ? 2 Mor:ns, rrfipbets-ebse <likgengr
rr b+
t r:kg-dbset$e m'al-elbntsarre fa-. 3 l&ta1 b+ts*ei; reol__eli
g'ere dijb di lle dt tut,svA ka bon*k!. 4 Le l]-ea- bsafa
tsl.a-se kafa.gp be }e jaF-r s_esg yonbe-e, kafa g6
ree.lbna- 5 $frunedis-gb$.a boq_lffiaege, lr b u be rbb+ar
Pe, ke l}a ba heknyetsa, *eggr*& wa.-bbnb,ka tshipi e e
blaag, i< *ena go k,sa inb o-ke o dtraag gogrpletlo_

:nd,

the
rwa

If
e.

.of
xan-

TONE-PRACTICE 31

1 ]Ionna-mogolo, a ga u kake wa re supegetsa tsela ya legae?

re letse re timeletswe ke tsela bosigo. 2 Mor6nu, t
tlaa
lo supegetsa ka bofefo, ka e bile e la,rtshwane f6la. 3" Ruri,e
moruti, ke bakile jaanong ; u intshwardld, moruti. 4 Tabo_
gela-kwa posong u na le dikwald tse, u di na6rd lekgowa la teng.
5 A monna yo, a ga se morwa mmetli wa dikgon!?

llilil|ntil]rll

t72

LESSON
tlAtiSA'fIVE

FOR"N'I

36

OF VERB: se ADJEC'I'IVES

.lhis1brrnofther,erbisnear1yasimpr:rtarrtastheApplied1brm.\.
the name indicates, its meaning is conveyed if one prefixes the *-orc,
'make to' or 'cause to' before the Simple form. For example, the verb /silg':

laugh, which is a root or Simple form, becomes in the Causative tshegisa, to makr
or cause someone to leugh'
But there is sometimes a slight twist of this primary causative meaning: e.s'
rekisa is to make to buy, and hence means to sell; lrom tla, come, we have t'
causative form tlisa, literally make to ccrme, i.e., to bring; and from the ve:.
to go, i'e', to send'
-!a, Eo, u'e have already had the Causative isa, make
is this change of ti''
Causative
\oou the tvpical or standard encling for the
forms of Causati. '
other
original ending -a into -esa; but there are several
verb'
the
of
ending, acc,ording to the ending of the Simple form

(Two-syllable verbs.) If the -esa ending \\e:Verb ends in -Ja.

substituted for the hnal -a in a verb llke bala, such verbs would devei- '
endings of the type -lisa (batisa) ; lvhereas we hal'e already seen that this combi
simil''
other
as
in
So,
ation of I aod, i is a thing that Tswana does not tolerate.
cases, the / is changed to a d, and rve have:

bala, rearl, makes in the Causative bailisa, make to read'

makes bedisa, make to boil'
bela, come to boil,
bodisa, make rotten'
bdta, become rotten, makes
Note that the vowels, I and d, coming before the high front v<lwel ri, char::
(as elsewhere noticed), to e and o respectivelv.

Verb ends in -d/a. verbs of more than trvo syllables ending in -e-r
form the Causative in either of two ways:

B
(1)

(2)

in

timila, go astray' makes

nyilila, disaPPear,
atamila., come near,
come to end,
Also, Jila,
fall on,
wila,

-efsa; e.g.,

in -edt'sa; e.g.,

duila,
ipdla,

Verb ends in -aJa.

ative in -atsa:

atame.tstt.
.fetsao
wetsa.

pay,

duedisa.

sing,

opedisa.

itlhagan,ila, hurry,

timetsa'
rryeletsa'

itlhaganedisa.

Verbs of more than tlvo syllables form the C-:=

Lesson 36
robaia,
lebala,

go to sleep, makes
forget,
makes
didimala, become quiet, makes

(One or tr.r'o dissyllabic verbs also

and tlala (become

full),

r,rhich

lorm

Verb ends in -ola. Verbs

ative in -ofsa or -odisa.'

rdbatsa,

Iebatsa,
didintatsa,

this Causative ending,

use

latsa

make go to sleep.
cause to forget.
make to be quiet, silence.

ard

lala (Iie)

tlatsa.)

of more than two

syllables form the Caus-

gopola, think,
nakes gopotsa or gopodisa, cause to think.
bolola., set out on journey, makes 6olo/sa, or sometimes bolodisa.
lekola, pay a sick visit,
rnakes lekadisu, r'epolt on a sick person.
Verbs of more than two syllables form the Caus-

Verb ends in
ative irl -O^sa:

descend, come down,

nakes Jolosa,
bring down, lorver.
lapologu, become rested, refreshed, makes lapolosa, give rest to.

Jologa,

(T'hese verbs are in form Reversives

Verb ends in -nd. Verbs

ative in -anya or -antsha:

Lesson ,lT).

of more than two syllables form the Caus-

lekana,

become equal,
makes lekanya, make equal, measure.
hdpana, meet, come together, makes kdpanya, join, bring together.
tlhabana, fr,ght,
makes tlhabantsha, make to fight.

('fhese verbs are in lorm Reciprocals

Lastly there are a number

of

Lesson 46.)

cases

that do not seem to conform to

anr

definite rule:

!d,
tua,
ja,
tra,

go,
fall,
eat,
rain,

makes isa,'
makes osa,'
nakes jesa;

makes
nwa, drink, rnakes
itse, knorv, makes

nesa;

nosa;
itsise;

rzoala,
apara,
tsaya,

put on
put on

head, makcs rzoesa.

body, makes apesa.

makes
makes
bolaya, kill,
makes
boa, boya, bowa, turn back, makes
take,

tsama)ia, go away,

tseisa.

tsamaistt.
bolaisa.
bosa, busa.

(losa, from lzta, has a different meaning.)

Remember that there are many verbs which do not in their nature take the
Causative ending; and there are other verbs, e.g., baakanya, rvhich look like
Causatives, but which are actually in the Simple form. There are exceptions
to most of the types and classes listed above, and the student should verify from
Dictionary in any case of doubt.
It should also be noted that the Causative derivative form can still take, in
addition, other derivative endings, such as the Applied; for example, rekisa,
sell, the Causative of rika, buy, can take the Applied ending and become re&jl

i{

s*
t

Lessan 36

l7+

,Sgtsa, meaning to sell to someone; bosa, make io go back, or send back, becon,.:
emilarly boSetSa, send back to some person or place. (Dialectically, busa, busets;

I{

ADJECT'MS. There is an adjectival usage we have not yet

it ernploys the possessive concord and the se- prefix:

studie:

pu6 yusetszoalv,
pud ya seeng (se-eng),
puit yasekgowa, y(z Seburu,
rnehgwa ya selefatshe (seJ'atshe)

the Setswana l:nguage.

a foreign language.
the English, the Altikaans l:nguage'

ssadi,
setild su segosi,

rvomanly duties.
:r roval chair.

ditird tsa

worldly ways.

Notc horv these adjectives rvith the prefix

te

are tbrmed fronr the nou:.

moeng, lefatshe, mcsadi, bogosi (kgosi).

Tw-o

fbgls

are allorvable, as a

rulel

e.g., either mekgwa ye Setswana, Tsli-.i:,,

\{'ays, or mekgzua ya Batswana, t}re "ways of t}re Batsrvana.

There is also a double prefrx seha -. ivhich carr occasionally be prefixed :.
a noun to turn it into an adjective: moth.o sekatshzletrc, a baboon-like man. It '
correct usag;e, but not common; Tsrvana generally uses instead jaaka .. . or c:.:
of the verbs conveying likeness or similarity (etsa, Ishwana, etc.).
For instances t-rf the se- adjectives, s'liich are, apart liom one or two $'trri
uncommon, see in the setsrvana Bible 1 sam.27: 5 (segosi), Ps.49: I0 (seho.
hdld), Diane 16: l0 (semodimo).
EXERcISE

71

Translate into English:

Letsatsi le tlhotse le ledile thattt,

le

rnpolaisitse

lenydrtt.l

fuIos;:
(aTi

I tLt--,
o ila a tthajwa ke ditthong ka tilha ya ditird tsa montta wa gagwi.2 3
11:
28)
(Mathaio
lo
lapolosa."
tlaa
ke
kwano go nna, lotlhe ba lo lapileng,
wa gagwi:
trLULrE La
le mosadi
hgdsana ya
emisitse KEUJuttu
a effrlJrLse
)ta re:
o LeLSe
letse U
Moruti O
IUIOTULX
)/u motse
',t'ureeL
di
sianter:
tstt
diatla
tsa
lona
Kipanyang
a
re,
eme fa pele ga gagzui a ba raya
Modinto
ba
kgaogany)
bdni
a
se
A
motho
phuthigd
a
re,
6 Kwa moragd a raya
ba kdpantseng. 7 A ba a khutlisa tiritd ya kimt, ka thapilb le tshegbfatsi,.3 '
E Ke utlule fa babereki ha ne ba ngdng\rwa ke mela6 1,a sehgowa, e ha ne ba : '

ba e tlhaloganye sentli. 9 Mme dingdngbrigb tsa bdni tsa didimadiwa ke n;.'

hwaled.i, a ba phuthololdla melad ka puit ya Setswana.s 10 "Ke ne ke ':
.
apar(t, mme lwa nkapesa: he ne ke la:ala, lwantehola; ke ne ke le mo tlung ya ka

tigeId,tzaatlakzaagonna.,'(Mathaio25:36)(SeeAppendix,Artic1e22")

Kwa Johone u ka fitthita batho bangwe, e le Batszuana, ba ba sa itseng Setszca' :

lefa e le go le gonnye.6 12 Goa gakgamatsa; le gali, fa batho ba agile botsl:e'
ja seeng,
13 go tshzuanetse go ba lebatsa puo ',:
iotlhe jzt:a bdni mo lefatshing
tlaa
bolotsa mephatd e e yang ntweng '';
e
segabdni.T 14 Kgosi e re itsisitse fa
botlhoko fa mephatd e ka bolodi::utlwisang
se
se
Liabobedi. 1-5 E ka nna seld
pitsd
ya
morafe otllte, 17 gore rot.'.
ga
go
ipa
ka potlakd, 16 kwa ntld
18
A ke boammaaruri u timedi:::
ise
e
bolole.
c
re tli re e dumedisi sentli,

Lesson 36

t7s

batlrc mo gare ga naga fila, e bile e le ka bomo?8 e 19 Mos,imane ya re a

ba utluta ba mmiletsa kz,a sekoleng, 20 ka. a le bosilo, a gana go fologa mo
setlharing se o palatneng mo go sdni;to 21 ke gdni mogolowi a se palama Ie
ini, a ba a rnoJohsa ka thata.
ExeRcrsr

72

Translate into Setswana:

I When he showed me the letter, I said to him at once, That is not my

writing (mokwalo) .
2 It surprises me (go-and Cats. gakgamala) to hear
him make the children sing like that. 3 cannot the magistrate put (make)
this thing right, for it is causing the people to grumble ? 4 Yesterday the
kittens made us all iaugh as.they played with the puppies. 5 ',He will make
the goats and the kids stand on his left hand, the sheep and the lambs on his
right." 6 It is God who makes the rain fall: when it has fallen it causes the
seed to sprout in the ground. I I
7 Thekishb, climb the rock and ring
(Caus. lela) the bell, to call the people to church. 8 Are you not ashamed,
you a soldier, to be in prison like this !
9 we cannot lbrgive him, for he has
broken (tlola) the law wilfully, and also caused his son to break the law. 10
Mogamedi, put that bucket near (caus. atamila) so that I can put this rubbish
into it.
11 You (sing.) will rest when y.u har.e tied up these nine bundles.
12 I like 'setswana, also I can speak Afrikaans a little, but English is too much
for me. 13 war divides many peopie from their homes, it makes them reave
(caus. tlogila) their wives and their children. 14 which are the girls who
went to the concert on Thursdayl 15 I will measure the table, so that I can
(may) make you another one like it.
16 It will cause much joy (caus. itumita)
to your parents if you can finish your studies this year. 17 Put the children to bed in the hut behind the shop. 18 won't we send him back to his
lbther at Maun I
19 The messenger took the little (piece of) paper from the
girl, and handed it to the magistrate.
Notes

t
2

Literally, it made thirst kill

me.

tlhong is a hedgehog (also setlhong); in the plural, however, the word

also means shame, and to be ashamed is go utlwa ditlhong or go tlhajwa ke ditlhong,
to be pierced by hedgehogs! To make ashamed is go tlhabisa ditthong.
3 tirild is used in a semi-technical sense for a 'service' of public worship.
a tshegdfatsd is blessing or benediction. The root is seg6-u segd, you are
lucky or happy: nout lesegd (sometimes letshegd) plural masegd. (See Math. S:.)
To become happy or lucky is segdfala, and the causative of this'is segdfatsa, riake
huppy, lucky, blessed, whence the noun xhegdfatsd
lit., a making to become
happy or blessed.

phutholola means to spread out, hence to explain (sometimes, translate).

phutholola is the Reversive, to un-gather, to spread out.)
6 e le is untranslatable,
unless occasionally by the participle ,being'.
7 segagabd (se-ga-gabd) means, of his own place or home; it is the se_
prefix with ga-gabi, his place. Kwa ga gabd means more or less the same as Aaa

(Frcmphutha, gather

176

Lesson

.1 6

gagui, but has a broader reference: ba-ga'gabb, his own folk, ba-ga'
bdnd, their own folk" (See, e.g., Yohane 1:11 and 4: 44.)
8 g*e ga naga, middle of the veld, could well be translated 'in the midcil.
of no-where'. (See Dictionary.)
s ka bomo mear,s of set purpose, deliberately, rvilfully, generally rvit:
reference to some baC action.
l0 bosilo (lesilo is such a person/ is not merely stupidity in the sense r:
lack of sense; it is rather a wilful stupiditv, awhrvardness, obstructionism i a.
the French would say, 'intransigeance'.
1 t
The subjectivai concord or pronoun fot Modintc is o, never a .with the Class 1 nouns ; the Relative concords afe o o. There are two plural.
of the word, medino meaning goCs, and badimo meaning spirits -- generali"
evil ones.
legaeng la

Additional Note
The student should read and familiarise himself with the 'Indefinite' adje-tives, although they are only in occasional \sei mang-mzng, and -libi or libilii,
and-.nnanne, all taking prefires of the Ciess in question, are the commcnest, K::..
bolibillti, to such-and-such a place; kgomr.t ya tifulibi, such-and-such an o."
Another not uncommon one is netla or netlane thingumybob, 'r.vhat-d'you-call-:t
etc. There is auseful, if rather jumbled, section (no' 73, page 84f.) inWoor=r
& BnowN upotr these 'Indefinite adjectives'.

ya rnet32 I Morilti o, lets a-ernisibse kgbs-ana

pera
tra
ba
ene
r-e
2
fa
sa gag';+
iv #;d+ wa lAnb-.
dt siaISE
tsa
Lsn*
d+at'ta
-a ba raya + I9, to kbpanfe
o;=
nroth-o
r9r
f,
ph+ithbgbs
ruens; 3 tcfZl moragb 4 raya
l+
+
kopmtseng'
ba
o
;;'kgaoganyb- banb-b-a Modtrae
tshegbfatsi'
].e
thepelb
ke
ya
hnb
ba s t6ut]-i-qa t-ilbE re Betsr=5 ttw-a Gauteng rr ka f+tlhbl- b&tho ban$[e'
go
Le gonn;::s
I'e
lfa
ea, bE ba sa AtS-gI+g Seiswan+,

T-T.

TONE-PRACTICE 32

Mosadi o na a tlhajwa ke ditlhong ka ntlha ya ditird tsa monr-,

wa gagwe. 2 A ke boammaaruri u timeditse batho mo ga::
3 Ya re a ntshupegec:
ga rraga fd1a, e bile e le ka bomo?
lokwald, ka mo raya ka bonakd ka re, Oo ga se mokwald wa n:.
+ Mogamedi, atametsa bmtrb ke eo, gore ke tle ke tsenye rn,
tlakala a mo go Ydn6.

117

LESSON

37

VERB nna, ntse, AS INDEPENDENT:

esr, ALONE

was mentioned in Lesson 15 I A that the Perfect of the verb nna (to be)
was ntse, and it was also noted that the other meaning, perhaps the original
meaning, was sit or sit down. Thus nnafafatshe!means' sit dorvn! -literally,
sit on the ground. Like ima, stand, nna is an Initiative verb ; bangwe ba eme,
some are standing, others are sitting.
ba bangzae ba ntse

It

A
bana

This verb is used largely as an Auxiliary, as we shall find

Lessons, but here we consider it as an independent verb'

subsequent

the children are all right norv.

will they really be all right ?
they will not be all right.

ba ntse sentli jaanong;

a ba tlaa nna sentli ruri?

ga ba nke ba nna sentli;
"lo mpitsa Moruti le Morina . . . lo

in

bua "ye call me Master

and Lord ' '

ntse jalo" (Yohane 13: 1.1) ; you say rvell, for so I am."
the rvicked are not so.
"baihepi ga baa nna jalo" (Ps. 1: 4) ;
". . . ba ba ba baya mophuthd jaaka o no also they put the package
was (before).. .
o ntse" (Padisd II llS) ;

sentli, gonne

(In form

ntse

jang

as

it

go ntse
a ga goa nna jalo?
a go nni jalo !
mme lefa go ntse jalo . .

jaana ke

z.uina

how is it ?
it is so, that is so,
is it not so ?
may it be so ! let it be so !
but although it is so; nevertheless.
is it really youl (Lit., it is thus it is youi)

jalo;

e ntse

just

a Pluperfect, translated as a Past-indefinite.)

There is a common impersonal usage' employing gro or e

go

'

ke

The phrase e ntse jaana is sometimes shortened

II199. (For full phrase, see Pad. II l20,line 7.)

lo

ntseana

see Padisd

il e

The idea of alone-ness is expressed in setsw-ana by the syllable or formative *sz, which is employed (just like -2i of Lesson 26) with the appropriate Class-prefix. In the personal noun Class (1) it appears thus:

I alone
nna ke Ie nosi,
zoina u le wesi (nosi), you . . .
ini

a le

esi,

only,

he, she . .

rona re le rosi, lve only, we alone.

Iona lo le losi,
)ou . . .
bdni ba le bosi, they . . .

The he le, u le, etc., is often omitted; nna nosi, zairm wesi, ini esi, rona rosi,
other nour.r Classes follorv the same usage; selipd se le sosi, dikgomo di

etc. The

le tsosi, etc.

Lesson 37

1.78

ka is substituted for the ke le, etc., the meaning

If

'-self is

conr

myself, yourself, etc.

nna ka nosi, I mYself, rcna ka rosi,

wina ka wesi, yott yourself, lona ka losi,

ini ka esi,

he

himself,

bdni ka bosi,

we ourselves,
you yourselves.
they themselves.

The personal pronoun or concord can carry verbal force;

ke nosi, I am alone;
EXERCISE

73

esi

fila,

he is quite alone,

Transiate into English:

2 Sonne
bdna mogolo-a-rrago he mohumi yo magolo; t
nokeng'z
hafa
rua dikgomo tsa ga rraagwi di le tsosi, o ruile le polase e e
Polase ydni e bile e na le ntlo e tona ya setene, e ruletswe ka'disinkt' +
ka letsatsi jeo, go le maitseboya, Yesu a ba raya a re, A re tsheleleng kwL tnu:,t.* 7 Kea

nabd mo mohorong fila .,'am,

Jato ba tlogila bontsi jwa batho, ba mo tsaya; a ya
6 A ko lo eleng tlhdk6, bagaetsho: ba lo tm;wr,
a ntse." (Mareko 4: 35, 36)
gore go nne jaaka re lo phuthololetse, lo tshwanetse 80 supa jalo ka go tsholetsa :wx,
tsa lona. 7 "Mme lona, ga loa nna jalo; ini yo e leng mogolo mo go lor';. r
nni jaaka yo mmdtlana, 8 le yo e leng tlhdgd, a a nnd jaaka yo o dirDla'+
9 gonrc nna, he ntse mo go lona jaaha yo o dirilang." (Luke 22: 26,27/
Rri, a u ko u siti dipikere tse dikgologolo tseo; 11 u di mphuthili ha p**=
tshana, u diri maphuthd, u o bdfi ka thap6: 12 e le gore re tli re di bht re"
thokd gompieno, mo kdbotlong.s 13 Molaodi o txa a ile go botsa kaga oryw
e e neng e tsogile mo motsaneng, le go bdna gore' go ntse jang teng' 74 -lf,m'':''
'm*;:
fitlhlla kgang e setse e fedile, go ntse sentti fila ha kagisd. 15 Ga he t s:
utlwa bana? lo tmi fila mo teng ga ntlo; lo se ka lua ba lwa tswila kwa ri"g
16 Batsarli ba lona ba ka itumila fa lo ka tswilila-pele, e seng mo thutoni : =
yosi, fa e se le nrc tlhaloganyong ya botsheld.s 17 U se ka wa tlhai;m'r:
-mad.iia
'to
le lobese; go tlaa gu segisa mala (utlzaisabotlhoho mo maleng')e
=
"Ya re ka mos6, bontsi jo bo emeng kwa moseja ga leuatli jwa fitlhila fa g'; z w
19 e bile ba itse fa T!:wE
mokdrd opi o sele gdni, fa e se o le mongzae fila;rt
se ha a tsina mo mokorong le barutvta ba gagwi, ka barutwa ba gagwi ba ne i'; we'
20 "Ga tla lnonna mongwe yu : aw
maile ba le bosi .fila." (Yohane 6: 22)
E
wang Yairo, a zcila fa .fatshe fa dinaong tsa ga Yesu, a mo rapila gore a yi r"w'
n
a
le
dinyaga
neng
yo
o
ka
2l ka a na a na le ngwana wa mosetsqna yo o esi,
'e'

,,,,

riii:i'

somi le

bobedi." (Luke 8:

ExERcISE

74

41

42)

Translate into Setswana:

shalt make it known to them that I cannot sell (to) them fresh 'd
2 In big tou'ns like Kimberley there are a very feu" rich people, and a great :mre:=:;;,
poor people. 3 NIix the sugar and the fresh milk, and put it on in the rrtuG:
pot. 4 Measure the milk with a cup; but the sugar has to be measure; -ffi
a small spoon. 5 Boys like sour milk mixed with their porridge. 6 Hm=-

1 I

::.:;1,

Lesson 37

179

plain to all the girls how this ner,v game is played. 7 The speaker spoke
rapidly, and also he spoke in Setsrvana; 8 but all the same I understood
him a little. 9 The small boy says his stomach is very sore, his mother has
sent him here to us in order to get medicine. 10 These corrugated-ironsheets are the right length for my house, but I must buy five more. 13 11
Go and put away that ball just now, and pay attention to what teacher is telling
you. 12 As the old rvoman rvas sorving her mealie-seed, the birds followed
her and ate it all up.
13 Progress is a very good thing, nevertheless we like
some of the old Setswana customs. l+ The sea was on our left hand, and
the hills on the right. i5 "They said to her, Woman, why are you crying I
She said to them, It is because they have taken arvay my Lord, and I do not know
where they have put him." (John 28: fi)u
76 Isn't the well very deep
Isn't the rope short ? 17 Perhaps it will fail to lower the bucket to the water.
18 The child's mother has sent a telegram to her husband to inform him of
?

l5 19 When the string of her beads broke the beads all fell on
the ground; t6
20 so she called a little girl and told her to pick them up
his illness.

and put them in a little box.

17

Notes

huma

Nouns from

is to

become rich, acquire possessions; ke humile,

it

am rich.

are khurnd (or lohumd), riches, and rnohumi a rich person. Poverty
is expressed in Tswana as the reverse of riches; go humaniga is to become poor,
lehuma is poverty, mohumanegi is a poor man,
2 rua is to come into possessions by inheritance; noun lorud (dithud)
we had in Lesson 12 II C, meaning possessions. (And see Mareko 10: 22)

polase or polasi, a farm, and slnki, a sheet of corrugated iron (from

'zinc'), are importations; also tdrdpd (Aftikaans 'dorp'), a large European village
or small town
even a large town.
4 tshela- means to cross such a thing as a river (as rvell as to live),
5 hwa thohd is a phrase meaning aside, to one side, out of the way, etc.
Distinguish it carefully, votvels and consonants, from tlhdkd.

The Auxiliary 6a is sometimes used in the Imperative, as here, to add

force to a prohibition.

7
8

ntli,

literally, go out to the outside.

tswilila-?ele (double Applied form of tszrra) means to advance, go on
before; hence to make progress. It is much used in this latter figurative sense,
and its noun botszoilild-pele means progress or advance.
e tlhakana (Pf. tlhakanye) is to become mingled or mixed; an intransitive verb. The Causative, to mix things, is tlhakanya (tlhakantsi) .
t0 mala means the viscera in general, but mostly the alimentary organs;
stomach and bowels, particularly the lower bor,vel. Its tones are mid,lorv; the
tones of another word with identical spelling, mala meaning cold (: serami)
tsutila kwa

are low-high. If a patient says, mala a me aa sega,he means he has indigestion,

pains in the stomach: if he says, mala a me a omeletse, he means his bowels are
constipated: and ke tshabisiwa ke mala means, I have diarrhoea-1it., my bonels

180

Lessort 37

make me

run' (The phrases

rno maleng.)

are arso rset1, ma/a a me aa ts/taba, and /rr.

Dozlsi should take, as its concord or pronoun,

bo (or jua as
brt in the actual verse itis ha, taking r:ontsi as eq'ivaientto
bat/to ba /e i
12 ,ga tla ... t'ere came; the r-erbal imp"rsorral
g, ir, tlr. p"st
1

.:

13
14

Translate, di lekanye rttlo ya me ktt boleele.

tloga is to get up ar.rcl go a\\.av; so tl.rc Clausatir,_
e tlosa is to
anvthing and talie it arvav.

15 To send a

telegram

is

gr,t

tens:

lift

o_

itaya mogala, to strike the roper or

So the Applied form is used for ..rrdir,g a

rvire to anyonc.

kgaoga is an Initiatir.e verb meaning tri become

cut or brokcn.
pliable thing like string, rope, urirc, etc.; it
corresponcis cr-rriously u,ith the 8r,.,
usagc "the cable 'partecl' in the middle". It

is not usecr of

dgra..,n.i*..,

articles; see Dictionary for the many 'rsr,r,ana rvavs

c.rf transrating the
r.
break'. lo cut a rope, etc., is kgaoti, cut ofi: the Reciprocil,
'e
hfoogoro,

r-.._
o I
to become partecl f}om each other, become sundered.
17 nguail)/ana means a little child,
of either sex; but the rvord is
used as equi'alent to nnsetsuna, and e'en
an adorescent giri can be ref.errecr

tt!7t

Lt

il)'A

ila.

)-f . n, ] Bana ba ntse seatl-b. jaaneag . 2 A ba .___

? 3 m bra sa Trna s-e+t$-b6 t]_aa- ngbr-g_,_
r+ga- l+ Tsta, gA ba ri<a ba .::rra- senilbr J--l*
ba r--_._

rTns srn+,LL

iaana- 5 +qme J-ona, ga lo+ nr* i+lo;

i"U yo e i:=
i+lo; a"t,ffli
-a + -nnb- jaeke- yo -o airbtan-;
ttilbg+,
g.6rTns or*, i{.=
rnO go lana ]aak* fo o cii:rb{gng_.'
6 Ke na ls nF-:rl& fia mesetsana- yo -o.esi-, lro o ka neng a Ie dinygg+ ,_
}e sorn+ te bob_edi, 7 BatsA*i tra fina.b-a ka:ftrr+;
fA 1 ka tsr+btAt a pele., -sr nro dilhutang Cf l-e tu-o;_
fE, e se lre rn-O tlhalegany4ng yE bet,shelb_
TONE-PRACTICE 33

1 A ga ke re, loa utlwa, bana? 1o nne fdlzr mo teng ga ntlo ,

;
se ka lwa ba lwa tswdla kwa ntrd. 2 'ya
re ka"Josd, bon:.

jo bo emeng kwa

moseja ga rewatle jrva fitrhdra fa go ." ,.o

-oko.
ope sele gdnd, fa e se o le mongwe fdla e
bilJ ba itse fa Jes
9
;
a se ka a tsdna mo mokorong le barutwa bagagwe,
ku bu.rt*o i
gagwe ba ne ba tsamaile ba le bosi fdla.'

181

LESSON 38
PRE-CONTINUOUS (sa

ntse); AUXILIARY kile ;

ORDINALS

nltse

sire.

ofa
ish

The Perfect of the verb nna (ntse) , preceded by a sa, is used as Auxiliary
to denote action which has been going on continuously up to a certain indicated point in time. Its reference ends with that time, hence the designation
'Pre-continuous'

i.e., continuous before a certain

translatable

. . .'

by'still

tirne. It is generally

or
to
NS

also

Ito

as

A
"..,

Present: type, ke sa nfse

ke rdka, I am still

buying.

tird e, e sr. ntse e itsizoe thata ke

basad:i" (Padisd III 130) ;
", , , mmitseng, a sa ntse a le gaufi"

this work is still known well by the

(Isaia 55: 6b)

near.

women.

call (upon) him while he is (now still)

Lle
b*

ttse.
Leng

Itse
sda-

Ldf

Rel-a
SSiJ

Past-indefinite: type, ke ne ke sa nfse ke r6ka.

"Mme Yesu .., o na a sa ntse a le mo but Jesus ... was still in the place
where Martha met him.
felong fa Maratha o kgatlhanyeng nai
gbni (Yohane 11: 30);
"o na a sa ntse a tshela jaaha he hwala he was still living as I was writing
jaana" (Rammdni, p. 6);
(am writing) thus.
Notice how the Auxiliary-sa ntse-'is incorporated into the simpler verbal
construction, and the shade of meaning it contributes.
onaalemofelong...
he was (then) in the place . . .
o na a Sa ntse a le mo felong . . .
he was stilt (then) in the place . . .

Narrative: type, (e rile) ke sa nfse ke rdka.

E rile Mzilikazi a sa ntse a le kzoa when Mzilikazi rvas still at Marico,
)Iadiko, a itilztsa ke Maburu" (Padisd (some) Boers came to visit him.
Past-definite,

rrrlle);

"Ya re a sa ntse a robetse . . ." (Padisr., when (rvhile) he

II

;lo

The main verb is generally in the Present, except when

Ilke rdbala.

)ntsi
kdrd

Jesu

aba

rvas

still

asleep . .

t t1;

it is an Initiative verb

There is a Future-type, ke tlaa bo ke sa nfse ke rdka, I shall still

be buying-but it employs the bo Auxiliary which rve have not yet studied.
The sa ntse Luxiliary is never used with the simple Future-you cannot say ke
tlaa sa ntse ke rika. Even the form here given would more .naturally use the
-\uxiliary zlse insteacl of sa ntse. For that see next Lesson.

1,82
E

Lesscttt 38
But the ntse of this Auxiliary is often omitterl, the sa alone remai;
and u,e have usages like the follorving:

"... ke sa tlhdka eng?" (Matlt.

19: 20); (: ke sa ntse ke ttkdka eng?)

what do I still lack

"Ditlltare dingue di thuirya di sa le tlinsome trces blossom rvliile ther

nyennyane" (Pad)sd II I21) ;
stil1 veri small.
(: di sa ntse di le . ..)
"Mme ya re ba. sa atarnila rnotse" (Pad. but u.hile they rvere still approa:

II117);r
(: ba sa ntse ba atamila

ru

thehouse...
mrttse)

The Auxiliary kile.

This has the force of 'once' or 'at one time' and is used frequently in narr":
prose or speech. In contrast w-ith the Continuous moods or tenses, it refe:.
one particular time or action in the past
often in the distant past.

kile a tswa, a ya
go jala" (Mareho 4: 3);z
"Tau Ie nche di kjle tsa kdpandla go

"Reetsang; mojadi o

duma" (Padisd IIl110);

"A Io kile trwa bdna digokgo?t"
II158)

(Pad.

;3

listen; a sower once went our, '*

went to sor,r'.
Lion and Ostrich once upon a !l*::
joined together to gror,r4.
have you ever seen spidersi
did you once see . . .)

Note that the kile is follou.ed by the main verb in the past tense, s'it: pronouns of the a, lua, tsa form, the Narrative form. The hile can also tak.
-rug ending of the Relative Construction; see for example, padisd III, 6. ,t
par., "tshenyigit e kgdlo e di kileng tsa e bdna ka tird eo", the great destm_,,.
rvhich they once expericnced through that u,orli.
r

,,

UI

Numeral Adjectives

'fhe
- ordinals.

ordinal numbers are exar-:-r::

it qua'
of the ,;.:,
of the rveek: ntllm is the only one rvhich is different from the cardinal nLr: :,.,
already studied in Lesson 2,1.
below:

each employs the possessive concord of the noun which

\\rehavealreadyhadafervof these in Lesson 32, as the names of some

mosimane wa

tftllta, the first boy,

thipa ya ntlha, the first knife,

leina la ntlha, the first name,

child,
month,
tree,

ngwana wa bobedi, the second

kgztedi ya boraro, the third
setlhare sa boni, the fourth

seld sa

ntlha, the first thing

lokwald lwa ntlha, the first

bogosi.iwa

ntlha, the frrst

loboni lua botlhano, the fifth . .

ja borataro, the sixth . .
tau ya bosupa, the seventh lior,.

tefoko

letsatsi la bofdra-mebedi, the eighth day.

thutd ya bofira-o-le-rnongwe, the ninth lesson.
bosigo jwa lesomi-le-bordba-mebedi, the eighteenth night"

Lessorr..JB

75

183

Translate into English:

nxnncrss

| "Baroma ke bdri ba ba isitseng thutd kwa Europa, dichaba tsa ten.g di sa

ntse di. tshzuana le rona Batswana, di sa itse sepi sa thutd le tswibldpele." (Pad.

E
:

IIII?)4
2 "Ya re a sa tsamalla pele mo tseleng, ga tabogila mongwe kwa go
ini, a mo khubamila ka mattgdli, a mmotsa a re,5 6 3 Morwti yo o molemd,
ke tlaa dirang gore ke rui l:otsheld jo bo sa khutleng? I Yesu a mo raya a re'
tJ mpiletsang molemd? Ga go cpi yo o molemd, .fa e se tnotrgwe fila, ebong Modimo."
\ Bogologolo go kile gtt nnct monna mongwe, yo o lta rr
(I,Iareko 10: 17 f.)7
na Ie bana ba le batlhano. 6 E rile a setse a tsofetse, a le gattJi le go swa, a bitsa
bana ba gagui gore a tli a ba layi tt ise a ba tlogele. 7 Ya re ba sa phuthigila
kzoa go ini, a laola gore go leriwe melamtt e le mentsirwana, e bdwi fa fatshe. 8
Fa bomorwawi ba

sena

go tla, monnamogolo a ba raya a re, mongwe le mongwe

et

molamu, 9 aba a ba raya are, ba e pataganyi, ha e bdfi mmdgd, e nni

ngata.a 10 Fa ba sena go dira jalo, a raya wa ntlha a re, a tsii lxgata la
11 trVantlha aetsayaaeleka ka thata yotlhe ya gagwi,
melamu a e ribi.e
a e leka gantsi.; melamu ya pala. 12 Monnatnogolo a raya wa bobedi a re, le
ini a e lehi, ngata ya melamu. 13 Le ini a e leka gang'ILe le gapi; mme r(t
mo palila jaaka e setse e paletse mogolowi.lo 1't Jalo fila le ba bangwe botlhe;
go no go se na opi yo o na a nonortle go rdba ngata ya melamu,ll 15 Foo monnamogolo a ba rq)a a re ba e bofololi: fa ba sena go dira jalo a ba raya gapi a
re,tz 16 "A mongwe le mr.'ngwe a tsDi molamu mongwe, a leki go o rdba."
18
17 Wa ntlha a tsays molatntt, a o leka; ,nol&mu zaa rbbiga ka bonakb fila'
Itr/a bobedi jalo, le ini a tsu;,-a molninu a o rbha; le ba bangwe botlhe jalo-jalo fila,
mongwe le mongwe ha esi a ri,ba molamu zla gagwi. 19 Ke gdni monnamogolo
a ba raya a re, "A ga ke re loa bdna, bongwanaka? Jaaka ke neetse mongtre le
lnonguemolamuwagagwi gore (t o rdbi, melamu ya ribiga fila ka bofefo: 20
21 Bo'
mme fa ke e lo niila e patagan,tsu:i, e le ngata, ya lo palila lotlhe fila.
isid

:
trE
-

4
:
&E

E
s*
=l

fr
:
tu

n.gzuanaka,

lo utlwi molai, lo ithuti! Fa lo kgaogana, lo

lwa ba lwa;fenya ka
=

M
E$.

gopi.

22

sa nne m?ndgd, ga lo kake

Mmaba o tlaa tl.a, a bolaya mongwe Ie mongwe

hafa o ratan.g ka gdni, a lo senyetsa ruri ka bofefo.l3 23 Mme fa lo ha nna

ntmigd, lo thusanya, mmaba lo tlaa mo palila, fila jaaka ngata ya melumu e tsua go
ti patila.la Molad ko oo, bongwanaka!" (From Padisb I, 93 f ,)

W
lrs

nxnncrsn

76

'franslate into Setswana:

1 To-day I rvent to have-a-look-at the prisoners, but I found they had

not then returned from the kgotla. 2 Father, the rope brcke yesterday,
after u'e had rvatered the oxen. 3 Which soldier is it u'ho is still absent
4 The people who once lived in these caves knerv (how) to catch fish. 5
Why do you scold your pupils (morutwa) ? They are still learning 6 Really,
that sixth horse is i.'ery fast. 7 \Vhen I sar'r' him, he was still kneeling dou'n
to untie the sack. 8 Your uncle is grorving old, but he is still able to drive
his wagon. 9 That tribe (seshaba) had once great power (non,ofd), but now
the other tribes have advanced in an astonishing manner. 10 If you (plu.)
?

refuse to help-each-other, you will be attacked by every enemy s'ho is

near.

11

Lesson J8

184

\Ve cannot go foru,arcl alone, r",,ithout

the help of other people.
chief is still in great diltrculties rvith
a tribe like that, wliich ...
,t]:w-o\,vn
Its
customs and lar,r,s (ya segasitni);ts
13 but ali the sa:::

"l;;"

given up-hope' itthabagd.

:::'",*":lj:' "::y":
ii;.
side by side tike that,'they Jre'nor
;; ;;,:;i
il1,^11::",,nt"gs
The last shall be first, and ,r,," n.r,;;; ""'i;'
,k'.:::"TT:rt:J:
inrrnn
fimo.
l-,,+ I l^
r r.
,i-"r,
', betieve
don't
him.
17
Wh.;';;;';;;;i,;'
ll","l river, they
.butJ
eighth
"i;"';: found it to

be (e te) a ver1,'6;r';;;;,;'"
that they could not cross (it) by their iittl.'.;;";,'"'
19
But rr-i:-.
considering (ya re .. . sa) horv they
could do, 20 the chief of :--.
t,ho was r.ery rich, said he u,ould (will) help
them.
Notes

rnotse can be used of one family,s

huts _
as rvell as of a collcction, big or
srnali, of

2 jala,

ho,rr...

sor,v, has^dialectic

e.g., Appendix, Article 27.)

3 See also Matltaio

e\rerseeyou...l

- or of a farm or :-

variant spellings, byala, hjala,

anJ,

25: 32, re kile ra gu bdna leng.. ? \\_:

4
teng (gdni), an idiomatic usage, in which
..tsa
teng or gdnt
m; Iit.,
the tr.ibes of rher.e, i.e.. ol that country
t,.,_J:,:::1|f t:**i.orefers this i-p...onut or continent.
usage, .there (s.;

him',

ilil.,

*,n..

than the more direct for^, mong*e a

tabogila lr*o

go

t::ii:

i-,,,

khubama is to bcnd or bou clorvn;

ha rnangili, rvith (br
i.e., to kneel.
7 ebong; that is, or, t<; u,it.
8 pata is a transitiv; i,lrb meaning
to accompany; lte tla,.:r wilj=:
shall go along rvith you. The Recipro.ur
f'l.r.'. 1.e" L"s.on 4o ro, tr,.- "*,,E
means to lie along side or together
e rdba a better verb would-. Causative , patagan!(l, to put ti-,:1_ ,*,,
be putlaganya.
10 gangwe
le gapi, as in l-ngiish; bnce ancl again,,
i.e., Sr : ;r :l;=
II
norrcfa is to bc
do a thing because
p
possessing
- '*"- t'vvvvr"arr6 v"r\t1
po\\,er - ,,".irr:iiirri:
(See e.g., Mareko I0; Jg :bt:
f", Luke I:t: J0.)
12 bo.folola comes from br);t'a,
to binci or tie up; b't the Rer.u;.. *,';,
o/o/a causes the stem r-orvel to .hu,rg.,
by assimilaticl, from d to ,,.
13 mmaba is an enemy, plt"
haba; abstract noun, enmi:_ rtq
(B* baba is also a verb, mcaning to itch o, i..itut".
frr. torr.'putt.... --., ;;
ent; baba, enemies, is lolv_high.)
thusanya is to help onc another, actively_fro
m tltusa. \
tlris Reciprocal form is not tltusarm brrt thusanya.

15

segasdni corresponds

to

segagabd

or segabdtti.

Examples:

t'dta ,tekgwa ya segagab,, a person tikcs

rh. .u.,o',n,
rtttamekgwa ya segabdni, people liire
"i,,,r-o,,1"]ir^, l4=@.=
the customs of tl-reir-own_folk;
lt;_
mekgwa ya segaldni (or segajdni), a thief
likes the customs of his_(it-.._

Lesson 38

185

and sebopiwa sengwe le sengwe se rata mekgzaa ya segasdni, every creature likes the
customs of its-own-folk.

16 go lekana is to be all equal, used of a number of things; dia lekana

means, they are all the same size, or equal. (Llso lekalekana.) Used in the
Perfect, however-di lekanye-it means, they are sufficient or enough, in number
or quantity. Like patagana it is a Reciprocal form.
17

boribammedi

boribamebedi.

rT-irb- q Ta ge kgapha' sa ntPe 3 ilsfu'e

k
;fiffi.- Xe bas-sdi ba Setswa4a- r 2 K-a lobaka koa, tTa
I}e ke s& nise k tsbna sekole-lffia Thabar:chq' 3
pu ph-age l:e Kgaka b? sa -atan'Lle metser ba bbna l-engag a
'oeta alrttsene. t
ln Yo, h nas-inan+'!{a l'rswa stlhar
lsi1ns f" g.g*b kE Pikelsd!; ffa bebedi- ga a- y fA geupi--

T-T. 34

- -e"fdna ba k*}e ba tlisa thuLb ffi-o lefatsh-ing

e4e. 5
i lngfand, dicl+aba t5a leng d1 sa rrbse-dl sa ftse sepb

sa thr:l l:e botswblbl-b-Pele."

TONE-PRACTICE 3+

Bogologolo go kile ga nna monna mongwe, yo o na a na le bana

ba le batlhano. E rile a setse a tsofetse, a le gaufi le go swa,
a bitsa bana ba gagwd gore a tle a ba layd a ise a ba tlogele. Ya
re ba sa phuth|gdla kwa go dnd, a laola gore go leriw| melamu e
mentsinyana, e bdwd fa fatshe. Fa bomorwawd ba sella go tla,
monnamogolo a ba nya re, ba tsdyd melamu eo' mongwe le
^
mongwe a tsdb mongwe.

186

LESSON 39
POS'|-CION'f

lNtlolls (nna, nfse) : O'I'HER NLTNII'I}AL

I TSAGES

ntse in an Auxiliar-v capacity O.tto,.. ,ction

a certain indicated point in time. Its
from
continuously
l.hich goes on
the term Post-cgntinuous, because
hence
time;
that
retcrencc comn)cnces n-ith
the tirne thought ofl. so il
after
continuous
rvas
it irnplics that the action
as a backlvard-kloking onc'
regardcd
be
38)
can
(Lesson
moocl
thc Irrc-continuous
one. Sorncfonvard-looking
as
a
of
to
be
thougltt
is
mootl
this Post-continuous
times it implics 'alwaYs'.

e furthcr use of the vct'b nna,

ttnse: tvpe, ke nlse kea rdka, I am going on buying'

I go on sa-ving (continue to saY) as
". . . Jrc ntse ke bua jaaka pele ke re . . ."

Prcsent

IIt128);
A tla ... a ntse a pitikobla mtttlapa.' ."
(Padiso I i9) ;
"ka gotme ntokoko () tfise o tslnmeha ka

(Padisd
"

nna" (Padisd

before . .

he came along . . . turning over thc

big flat stones . . .
for the cock is ahvays making a fbo'
of (playing rvith) me.

IIi90);

P:rst-indefinite: t1,pe, ke ne ke ntse ke rdka,

"... ha e ne e ntse e oketsa tobeld . . ."

( Padisit II 1109) ;
"liakd )'rttlhe fulodisd 0 lte a ntse a tl.halefa" ( Padisd IV i'18);
"gonne Hiranrc

e ne e ntse e le

ga Daf de ka gal)"

Dihgosi

morati

5:

wa

for it

r'vas going on

buyine.

r'vas continually increasing (gn-

ing on increasing) its sPeed.

A11 the time N{odisa \\'as getting \\'ise:
(gaining u-isdom, etc.).
"1br Hiram was e\'cr a lover of Davicl

1);

Noticc that ir.r all the above cases the main r.erb is in the Present.

Past-clefir.rite, Narrative

type, (ke ne) ka nnaka

ll[me Petere a lttru u kgwanyakgzuartytl' ( Ditird 12 : l6) ,'2

"Mosadi a tnTa a di.ra jalo ha malatsi
aotlhe ka lobaka kt loleele" ( Pad. III i60) ;
". . . j-o (.) ile a nna a tlikologu a dira
rnolemit . . ." ( Ditirb 10: ,i8) ;
"Seld se, sa ilna sa dira.fala" (Padisd
"

rdka,I

u'ent on buyinr

but Peter \Yent on hnocking, contiriued knocking.

the s,oman continued doing so ever-,
day for a long time.
rvho u,ent about (rvent on going about
cloing good.

this thing continued to haPPen .

rrrit6);
Notice that in all these cases the main verb is in the Narratil'e tense.

==

Lesson Jg
D

When the Post-continuous occurs in a

dependent or explanatory or sup_
plementary clause, or when it follows jaaka,
fa, ka, etc., the ntse or present
form is generally used:
.a

*.Ia lenoga
motlhala wa madi jaaka se
W se tswilila pele,, (padisd III2Z);
*. . ba tlogila Monyar4e a ntse a re
o
ya gagwi,, ( padisd III
yk
;
IIS)
*Ba tshcla
ka lobaka, go
e

mmdgd

Wa1,a tanl' ( padisd

he perceived the trail of blood as it

went (goes) steadily on . . .
they left Monyane (who was) going
on

.
trying to lift her's.
they lived together for a while, the
lion continuing to do the killing.
I went up to. it, and opened (spread
out) it, and read. While (ur) f went
on readirg, I heard a voice . . .
as the child proceeded to do so (or,

ntse go

II II I I) ;
l- . . fu yo kuta go ydni, ha e phuthoMla, ka bala. Fa ke ntse ke boto
ka
6lua lentsute . . .,, (padisd IITZ);
*Fa ngwana
a ntse a dira jalo . . .,;
Pad3' II I I S) ;

,,'

t87

went on doing so .
).

In many cases, whenever the main verb would

normally be in the perfect
(e.9. in the case of ail Initiative verbs),
the Perfect tense follows the ntse

lrrxilizry;
"

Phhi htA a ntse a

Padisd I lSa)
*Fa

tsentsi mind

Phiri a ntse a
,t' Padisd I
lS6) ;g

fila"

tshegeditse logaga,,

"'Ilanma, ke tsile go kopa fl{u)o:na

aJa

lffira yo ke ntseng ke rnmeeletsel, (Mekga:a

h tuIelnd p. l71;a

"tnne he rata e apeiasa e ntse e phuthe_

tstEe" ( Padisd

*"Ke

II

19)

ntse ke tlhomile yehofa

fo pete ga
nc ha gali" ( pesa. 16 , q
;
{See also similarly pesa.

Future:

type

15,

119:

*n.

gali" (Pesa. 72: IS) ;

. . ga nke ke nna ke shakgala ka gali,,

{ Isaia 57 : 16) ;

Mothers,

have come

daughter whom

to ask for your

have betrothed.

but I wanr it to be cooked stilr bundled

up.

have set Jehovah always before

me.

40, I DTosi 19: 14.)

and bringing us food.

men (people) shall pray for him con_
tinually.
I will not always be angry.

Imperative: type, d re nneng re rdkd,

let us go on buying.
nnirng Io dird jato ka gali;
go on doing like that always.
*'Yaana
lo nni lo rdbali, lo ikhutsi,,
sleep on now, and take your rest.
{ J{meko 14: 4I) ;
& re nneng re opeleng

as

hard as he could.
While Hyaena was continuing to hold
up the cave. . .

, ke tlaa nna ke rdka, I shall go on buying.

your older sisters will go on coming

"Bomogoloo ba tlaa nna ba tla

ba re
tslwletse dijd', (padisd IIII6J);
". . . batho ba tlaa nna bta mo rapilila

ha

the Hyaena was going on eating

let's go on singing

Lesson 39

188

Subjunctive: type,

gore kennd ke rdkd, that I

re nni re tlusanyi ha go duma,,(Padis6 IIi111);

,;. . . gore dinala tse di mo tl.hogong di
nrti di biil le tsini" (Padisd Il70);
" . . . a re hdpani re

il

tli

1ct us

may go on buyin:

tu'o get together, so that \\re m:-

go on heiping each other to gro$1.

so that the nails on his head mis

also go on dancing.

There is a usage of the cardinal numbers rvhich conveys the idea of

of' any specified number of people or things' Exarnples rl'ill shou.
much more clearly than a description'

ltana ba tsi.le

boo-babedi;

'..

the children have come both of them

(al1-tu,o).

hana ba tsile bOO bararO (br,tobani, boobatlhan,o, etc.) ;

maoto a me a rurugile ttoo-mabedi;s . ..
d,ikwald di seqtegile, tstto-thataro;

marula aoo-suqa a sttle;

mefare elo-meraro e utlule;

all three childrcn

l'rave come (a11

all five, ctc.)

both my

tr.r,o feet are srvollen.

all six books are ruined.

all of the seven marula arc dead'
all three tribes have heard'

Another form u,ith the same meaning is ka bobedi jwa ... ka hc's:.'
j*o ..., etc.; sec Padisd 11, p. 18, "Jalo ka boraro jwa bdni ha itlhaganilila ;:
segotlong. . .", so ali the three of tliem hurried to the back-yard ' ' '

,First" ,secondly,'thirtlly" etc., afe

expressed by the noun srld.'vith ,but the noun itself is genernumeral;

ordinal
the
and
possessiye concord

omitted:

sa ntlha, lo na le go -fiila .ntlo; sabobedi., in the first place, you must swee; -, :
lo tshwanetse go l.ere metse a a moleld; house; seconcily, you must bring
water; thirdly, \\,ash everythinE
sa boraro, lo tlhatsui ttild tsotlhe . . .
The number of times an action is repeated is expressed by the noun /r:",i"
(time, chance, occasion), rvith possessiye concord and ordinai nuni::j
but, as u-ith selo mentioned abot,c, the notn lobaka is usuallv understood anc '

expressed:
ke gdni re tlang

lwabobedi;

ke ile kwa mekoting gararo;6

ke gini ke yang lwabond;
". . . e le lzua bofild" (Padisd IIl27);
ExcERCISE

77

\4re are now come for the secc*;ll

time (or, this is the second tim.'
I har-e been to the mines thrice ;
no\r' I am going for the fourth tim*
for (it being) the last time ' .
.

Translate into English:

1 Dild tsotlhe tsa sele;t'atshe dia fetoga, dia feta; ga go sepi se 'te rtr:'
ruri.1 2 Ekete ditd tse di tshwanang le mawatli le dithaba di nnetse r:'*-'rri
3 lefagontsejalo,batthatef bdnibareletsdnidithabadia.fetoga'e + -11
he senka go bua nau kwa thokb, re le rosi; e bile ke tsile ka sebele, ke sa rat a rin
"u"

't'

lili1,

Lesson 39

189

kzualila. la

5 " X'IrLjadi o kile a tsua a ya go jala: ))a re a ntse a jala, ditlhaktt

dingwetsawilafatseleng; dindnyanetsabatsatla, tsa di sila." (X,Iareko:l: J) rt
6 "Ya re ba ntse ba tsamaya mo tseleng, monna mongwe a mo raya a re, Ke tlaa
gu sala moragd gongu?

Le

gongwe kwa u yang

gdni." (Luke 9:57)

j A

mo-

yoo wa gago ga a ise a pase (or fenye) tekd ya gagwi?\z 8 Ee, go

nlse jalo, e sa ntse e mo reteletse; e bile jaaka a e leka ka hgwedi ya Lwetse, e ne e
le lwaboraro. 9 "Tau ya tlhola nche mini a sa ntse a robetse." (patrisd lllll2)
i0 Mmoki o na abdka ftgosr, a ye, ebolaile dinkwi tsoo-tllmno ko yosi. 13 tt

sirnane

Aitse ga he ise ke e ithute, pina e; ke gdni ke e bdnang lwa ntl.ha gotmpieno.

12
"Moragd ga moo, ka bdna baengele ba le bani, ba eme mo tlintlieng tsoo-nni
tsa
lefatshe, ba tshuere diphefd tsa lefatshe tsoo-nn.i, gore go se ka ga
;foka phefd epi

mo lefatshing, lefa e le mo lewatleng." (T'shenold 7: t) ta

L3 E rile Lwa
se, o na a latrla, a re ga a itse se1>i:
11 mme la re fa a bodiwa lua hobedi, mosong ono, a borila boammaaruri. 15
Roo-bararo', re mo utlule, a re, o na a sa"ntse a na re tthdbdrd.ls 16
Fa gct
agizua motse o ntosh,, sa ntlha ke go ipa sediba; sa bobedi ke g,
rima lesaha:16
17 gonrie kgomo ydni e ntse e le br,ttsheld .iwa motho zua Mr.ttswana ka metlha yotlhe.
1_8 Ke sa ntse ke fitlhita dipatd di le thata; le gali, ke ntse ke di teka
19
fila.
Etszta di le thata jaana, ga nkake ka re tl'i ntheteletse
; ke tlaa nna he rti ithttta .fi/a.
20 Mma, a h, u nni u ili seli se t:lhitkr); esertg jalo, u tlaa nna u senya
f.ila.
ntlha, jaaka ntolaudi a letse a mmotlitse kaga seld

rxnncrsri

78

1 I

Translate into Setsu,ana:

haven't yet had time to reacl your book, I'm still having an arvful job
dresses. 2 Has your knee not heared (fdra) yet i No, it is still
sore, but it is a iittle better (bottka, diminutive). 3 I don't
knorv n4-rat they
have eaten
but all five .xen died yesterday. 4 Last year we increased his
- on account of
*'ages(madi)
living far from his rvork. 5 Don,t mix the spoons
*'ith the forks, put them on one side. 6 proverbs don't change,
they endure
(ntse di le teng) for all timc(s).
7 It seems to me he doesn,t like to live at the
mines, but perhaps he is seeing a big torvn for trre first
time. g rhose-u,rr.make-praise-songs are not many now; thev rvere once
very numerous. 9 A
leopard-skin is very beautiful; arso it can command (tdpa)
a good price (much
money). 10 It's nothing.(ga se sepi) if ploughing is i,,o diii.ult for you;
g'
on trying, by and by you r,vill plough properly
1i*" prtr;. 11 I have already
told you that if you $,ant rvork you
12 She
-rr.i go in person to ask for it.
*ent on k'ocking at the door for a rong timc, tut apparently there
nas'o one
inside; 13 so presently she gave it ip (tthdbngei-otte, ,..ting for
a nliilc,
she returned home. r+ Is it so, father, thai my fia'cd's-peoii.
hur,. .u,-,-r"
to consult about the u'eddi.g (speaker is rvoman) ?
15 v.., thot'. so, but rve
ita'e not yet agrecd about everything. 16 pleasc go to
the post ancl sencl a
r'ire to your elder brother at Kanye, 17 to teli him
that his friend is no more,
and to cali him home. 18 \\,'hen all the six of them
(men) pulled, the rope
broke, and they all fell on the grouncl. 19 When
rvill 1,or, .o_. again to tell
mc horv your r'vife is getting on? (rekora, causative.) 20
I r-rave already come
trlice, and found you out(se yd),but I'll keep on coming
every day.
serving these

Lesson 39

190

Notes

tlhalefa means to become clever, rather than to become wise. Botlhale

is used to translate'u.isdom', but is not a fully equivalent term; in botlhale there
is a large amount of cunningness, the skill of the hunter and the cattle-man, rather
than 'u'isdom' in the Hebreu' or Greek or religious sense of the word. Go tlhatefa
motho mongr.u is to betvare of a certain person, or rather, to be on one,s guard
against him. so motlltalefi is a person who knou,s alot, a person rvho has acquired
all the veld-craft and skills which a Nllotsrvana needs.
2 kgwanya-kgznanya is a typical double onomatopoeic rvord. Other
forms of it are konya-honya and khwanya-khwanya.

tshegetsa

is to hold up, or support,

actually, or figuratively.

anything

cither literally

and

mmeeletse, from biilila, to betroth

a r,vord used of a man's action or
that of his parents. A woman or her parents- does not bdllila a man; she is be-

trothedtoorengaged to (i.e. by) the man; o beeletszue ke mang-mang, she is engaged

to (by) so-and-so (a man).
5 maoto aoo-mabedi generally becomes maoto oo-mabedi-the a disappears.
just as it tends to do in the case of aotlhe and adni.
6 mekoti is used for the 'mines' of the Rand, etc.; the word 'mine' is also
used in a Tsrvana-ised form (hwa dimaeneng) and sometimes the words mesimo
and merafd are used.

7 nnila ruri,

Applied form

of nna, remain (or be),

means

to

remain

permanently, or to be for alnays; see Lesson 27, Note 12.

8 ekete, diaiecticallv ekote, or erete, or ereke,has the force of it seems t,.
me that', or 'apparently'.
e le tsdni
-- and them (emphatic) - i.e., even the l,ery hills. Another
u'ay of putting it u'ould have been le e leng dithaba
ka tsosi, even the hills themselves.
to ka sebele means in person. Note that'I have come to see you myself'
(sebele) is not the same as 'I have cone to see you by myself'(hanosi) .
r1
tlhaka is a single unit or grain of seed
peo is a quantity of any onr.
sort of seed. Perhaps the word originally means -a single small thing of a large
number of similar things. It is also used as meaning a letter of the alphabet.
12 pasa, a transliteration of the u'ord 'pass', used as a technical term fo:
getting through examinations or other tests
Perf. pasitse.
- some are valuable rvhere no cor(There seems no end to such importations;
responding Tsrvana u.ord exists ; e.g., there seems no good equivalent for the rvorc
'guess', rvhich is often Tsrvana-ised: but manv are quitc unnecessary, even grotesque, and their use tends to oust good authentic Tsrvana words. At a certair
girls' boarding school the girl orderlies for the day rvere hearcl to say re la go disltupa, \\e are going to "dish-up" the foodl)
13 bika, similar to baka, praise, is the recitation of the official praises or
praise-songs (lebdkd, mabdki) extolling the erploits ol a chief; these are composec
and recited by the mmoki (plu. baboki). llis function was similar to that of tht
ancient bards or minstrels of liurope, who made their orvn lays for the most part.
and sang them, often to a harp, at courts; but the Tswana mmoki never wanderej
from tribe to tribe in his pr:ofessional capacity. He used to be rewarded by an or

Lesson 3g

191

one of the very oldest parts of the o1d Testament, the song of l)eborah
in Judges 5:, has very strong resemblances to a Setslvana Lebdko'
14 ntlha rs an end of any thing or article; and 'on all sides' (round about)

or

t\\.o,

2: 9): it is also used for'side'meaning the part or

xllodimo, God is alrva,vs
cause of .u-.o.", as in the proverb ntlha ya hgosi e iua ke

is mo ntlheng tsotlhe (Ltrke

on the chief's side, or God alrvays takes the part of the chief'
t5 roo brtraro neans (a1l) rve three, or, all three of us; similarly' loo
boraro, all three of you, a1l you three'
16 'Ihe \r,ord ,i*o i" used, as here, for making anything rvhich invoives
thc
the cutting dou-n of trces or bushes; so you rima a tshimo tvhen 1'ou clear
and
vou
ground of bush ancl trees for making a nerv ploughing-iand or garden'
a kraal. But
make
to
a
circie
in
them
fir
and
bushes
cut
you
whet
,i*o u lesaka
at the rear;
the r,r,ord also means to brake a wagon by turning the brake-handle
of the rvord
horv this meaning comcs is not clear, but upon this double meaning
Setsr'vana simplelrangs one of thg amusing errors of 'Mokoteili', the proverbial
tonlsee padisd II, p. 7. (But one informant says that Nlokotedi $'as not a
of
simpleton; he u'as an actual person' a Mongwaketse rvho lived in the time
purpose
his
chief Gaseitsir.ve, rvho lr,anted to make people mean what they said;
,straighten the language'. (A thircl meaning of the verb rimais the 'turnwas to
ing'of fresh milk rvhen it 'goes olT'or turns sour')

rTshtrene & tl-a @o, ntse a pit:Ikotala

snKa- diPhePhqng'-aI
itt]-ula d*Liru tsa me{a}<a$a -o n_e.a ntse-a iri"ri,ru,
i.a malatsj- *otlF. k-a tobaka
3 ryog-6d+ '*-nn- a &ira @e
ke bal+ mo tokwaln& ka
4 'Ya re ke fitse
t rn:r*i*,'
t
J rF-a a :'rtlr+a @q
utlwa Lentswe te bua 1:e' nqla'
ke bol-e
nosa*i- ne .a bst-fa thaiar & T9, Ngwa4ak*, mna ba salb
uenroeel'on' .etr:
}ffia motsing, ;-tb ;-;rlibrt
t-el gere Kc tl=)c- kn'ane
Afrgwe&infana
i{tra gtr+ Lra le uesl
kE nna rlau..

T-T - 35
nratlaPa.,

TONE-PRACTICE 3,i

\'{oruti, ke senka go bua nau kwa thokd, re le rosi ; e bile ke

2 },{moki o ttil i1
tsile ka sebele, ke sa rate go gu kwaldla'

3 Aitsc
bdka kgosi, a re, e bolaile dinkwe tsoo-tlhano ka yosi'
ntlha
lwa
bdnang
e
ke
gonb
ga ke i"." i." e ithute, pina e ; ke
eseng
gompieno. + Mma, a ko u nne u dli6 seld se tlhdkd ;
jalo, u tlaa nna u senYa fdla.

t92

LESSON 4O
ALIXILIARY VERBS, f/ftdla (NEGA'|IYE), drka AND tsoga
have already (Lesson 29) had tlhdla as a simple verb meaning t,' vestigate or go to see something, and, in the Perfect tense (tlhotse), a: -'
Auxiliary conveying the sense of passing the day-time in some way or occupari
A third usage of the verb, also in an Auxiliary capacity, conveys thc idt-.
drar,ving-out or lengthening some action. In this use the verb means to 'carn'to continue-doing; and hence in the negative, in rvhich its use is frequen:.
means 'no longer' or, 'not any more'. Examples show its manner of use. T: ,
verb in this usage is never in the Perfect, but otherrvisc can feature most t':--'
moods and tenses,

\V.

"Letsatsi ja ba ja hhutla go tlhdla

phatsima" (Padisd III 16) ;

le

shining.

go tlhdla ba mmotsa
dipotsd" (Mathaio 22: 45);
". . . ba tshaba

(lit.,) the sun also ceased to go t

they feared

to any-more ask :

-r

questions (or, to continue to . . .).

But the verb, even in this grammatical form, is generally used 1:, .
ncgativc context:

". . . go lo na go tlhita to bo lo boa"

you rvili not return any

morc'.

(poa;ta III199) ;

"go ... se o1>i yt, rt ka tlhdlang a

goliga" (Mareko 5: .3) ;
"gonile ga u kake wa tlhdla u
tnilebedi" (Lttke 16:

2)

mo

there rvas no one r.vho could anv

(longer) bind him.

for you cannot any longer rr:

(or be) stervard.

nntt

;r

And its most frequent use is in the negative Present, ga(sa) tlhole:
"Nyaya, ga ke tlhole ke tsamaya
wina . . ." (Padisd II

i.38)

Neverl I am going no more ''

le

you . . .

ke tlhole ke tshuailla go bidizaa I am nri longer u'orthy to be .:

your son.
tn:.trzaut" (Luke 15: 19) ;
I shall takc it if you do not \\:i '
ke tlaa e tsaya fa u sa ll.hole u e batkt
zlny more to-clay.
gompieno;

". . . go

Examp.les of its usagc in other tenscs aud moods are these:

(

l)

Past and Narrative

".

but hc no longer sar.r' it anv

lilwa

(or, he sar,r-it no more.)

the doctor did not u,ait any longt:
be told anything.

mme a se ka ct tl.hdla a o bitna"

(Padisd IIl110) ;
ngaka ga ea ka ya tlhila e leta go holi-

sepi;

r-,

Lesson 40
(2)

"Ga ba nke ba tlhdla

gopi, lefa

e le

(3)

ba_bolausa ke

lenydra" (I\henotd

ini

FJ

(Baefesia

". . . u

F"

F,

L
FIrt

IJ)

4:

se

."

I
I

h.e

nydrwa,,

28)

,.

ka aa tlhdla u tsina mo go

(Mareho

dika'

9:

in order that I should not any longer

be thirsty.

utsutq.,,

2S);

he who has stolen, let him steal

no
more.

nor any more enter into him.

This

ba dika motse,'

F
E

(Padisd

["
F

they arrived at night and surrounded

the totvn.

he should go round about

pegs.

E
E

it

lvith

go round (march round) the town.

the hills stand rounci about

as_

F
E

salem . .

Jeru_

fear fell upon all that dwelt

round

about them.

h
l-

o. tlrl.rt.

!E

..

thel.shall no more suficr fi-om

hunger

verb seems origina'y to mean

to stand around, or t<i be
round about, or encompass,
transitively; it is arso used in
the derivative
'::;::^!::J^f:",!-:l:;:, ^d i;;;',v;;;;;"oi'i..iuu,iu" r",.,",-.r,.,. ,",,, ,u,, ,o o"
expression for 'round about'
is mo ilkotogong.
Note the;ti;;* il;.#:*

Fr

t-

4:

".Yo o utswileng a a se tthdti

a

F
F"r

tlala
;

7, l;;

Subjunctive anJ Imperative:

".-; .gorc ke se ka ka tthdta

(Yohane

t93

Future:

As an Auxiliary verb, however,

it denotes to pass the year, in the same
way that tlhdla means to pass
the day, and, lala.rr.urr.

to pass thc night

".. . re ilaa dika ngwaga

rika. . . ." (yakobe 4: jA;-

sone'

re tlaa dika re bolaile mabili,

L
Ra

re dikile re lenile tltata;

e

neli sentli,.

re
f;:::tt

. ,
pula

sPend

a Year tliere,

and

we pJoughcd much last year.

ri.e shall have a lot of mabele
this
year for the rains have been
good.

Notice that u,hen there is a

nrain verb foilowing eithcr
diha or dikite,

the Perfect tense.

it

is in

tsoga.

As *,e have .":.1, i, means

basically to get up or rise in
the mor_
an Auxili,'y, i, i"di.;;;;'i.tronu
that take prace in the
ilJ;l;,r-Y#as

ke tsogile ke
ku,a kgotteng,. I saw him
this morning at the kgotta.
ke tlaa tsoga Re
:::l:mona ha mosit,.
I shall see him to-rnorow morning.

il

Lesson 4tt

1,9+

Notice the follotving interesting

and idiomatic instance

of these Auxilian

verbs:

". . . Ea re fa go le maitseboya, loa tlo

llo tlaa tsoga go seli; ka legodimo

When

lo re,

say,

le le lehibidu: mme e re ha mosd lo re,

row, for the sky is red: but in th.

morning you say, It will to-day (a-.
this day) be dark and cold, for th.

go tlaa tlhdla go le letldldld, ka legodimo le le lehibidu le bontsho" ( Mathaio

16:2.f.);snsa
EXERSICE

79

it is evening you (generalh'

It will be fair rn'eather to-moi-

sky is red and dark.

Translate into English:

7 Ana re itumetse jang go lobdna! A kt tlaa diha mono? Z Ee, re ratd

go dira jalo, fa re ka bdna kwa re lemang teng. 3 Re dikile re lemile mabii,
kwa Macheng, mme a bolailwe ke letsatsi; ga rea diha re robile sepi. 4 Rrti.
u nni u kgweeletse fila mo tseleng, u se ha zpa tlhdla u e fapoga.T S Aitse .fri
u ka e.fapcga, kara e tlaa tshwarwa gapa mo molobing, jaaka e tsogile e tshzuerue.
6 "Gonne metlha e tlaa tla mo go wina, ya go re, baba ba gago ba tlaa tlhatlosa lomdta tikologong ya gago,8 7 ba tlaa gu dika, ba gu kganitila ka ntlh,t
tsotlhe." (Luke 19: 43) 8 Morongwa wa kgosi o tsogile a re fitrhita maabant

kgakala thata, mo garing ga sekgwa se re ileng go tsoma mo go sdni, 9 E ritt

fitlha a re latolila ngtl)ana kwa gae, ke re ise re ftlhole, le dipitse di setse di ile
go hula. e
10 Jalo raa ja bogdbhryana ha bonakd, dipitse rli sct ntse di ile g,,
a

batlwa.to 11 Ya re di sena go tkt, ra palama ra bothologa; ra tlhdla re

tsamaya letsatsi jotlhe ;fila.
12 Maitseboa ra wila motsana mongwe hafa tseleng.
mo Masung, ekete go hile ga nna moraka teng. 13 Ra
fapogita kzaa go dni.
ra re re tlhdla metse teng: 1+ ben.g ba itni bn re tshola sentli, ba re tsholila
diidnyana; 15 madila dttd ha a latola, ba re dihgomo ga di sa tlhzae (trhua
di le teng.l1 16 Ba ba hn re nosetsa dipitse; jalo ra palama gapd, re ntse r{
lekila (ra nna ra lekila) pele. 17 Letsatsi la re phirimila ka bonahd, re ise rt
ts'iae mo sekgzoeng. 18 Mme ya re re sena go tstua mo go sdni, ga nna botokanyana mo dipitsing, etswa le gali di ne di lapile mo go botlhoko; 19 e le kagob,,
re sa tlhwe (tlhzua) re tsamaya mo motlhabeng, e bile go le tsididi.nyana. 20 Bosigogare ra fitlha mo gae, ra ftlhila go setse go robetswe, matlo a tswetswe aotlhe.
DXERcTsE

80

Translate into Sets\vana:

1 These things prevent me from any longer believing his rvords. ' 2 Ia
you see a little path going off (turning aside) to the right hand, follorv (tata) it.
3 Haven't you (isn't it so . . .) another year to pass at school before you 6nisL
your studies ?
4 His rvife gave birth to (bdna) a baby girl this morning. -i
I think some of her friends rvho are near will come in the morning to see ths

baby. 12
6 Are there still sick folk u'hom I ought to visit ? 7 Yes.
tl'rere are still many, for the disease has gripped both the two villages. 8 Ou:
mother is now old, she no longer sees; but she can perceive people by their voices.
9 It is no good to go on knocking at the door; it is night, everybody's asleep.

19s

Lesson 40
you (sing') untie that long parcei :hit.-::lll9,t^-..,-tt
#lL'ot"'**t;;:j auv, but the-re are not vet'"anv :lo"d:'"

10 Didn't

il,

'Tt

#t:t

"ii
^:1."11il"
-' *ut ": t"fl :-' l,: l:X'l ".", I 1"#-fil?l;
ffi :"T *":o'f, #"" iilt. tl"i *'ro
i"
jn:
i"
il"
;
[
;T;T'. I 'ift
:to-'^*:: : 1' ln:shall'eat
;:,i .:",T'it #"ffi1
"''
bv itself'
-I
fl:,::"'1;' ;;;;; p* iii"'" (htttsz'ttlta) mv porridge'
1A
u.d .".'tl*
^

?!'"'.n" i,-"r.#n"ri,i#,iri'i" "'r,"*."a

a,"..,

T,,1::"1:^..."^,lu

il"ri::"i'#;ffi ;il;?";"*'o'n"o"l"*li'';
.:""...:l'1;':"f ,::J#:"i"lTli
attack Moshrvdshwi h., *1"::1.::

il;';;1o n,:',
i:*:,1
:1": ff;,;)';T;;'il-aJi *r,i' 1e he " . itJ::n:-::1j'::T,:lr"i":j
*T;;:;,)::#i";;;";;',rti
:"il ll':..::":::::.,";3r'".',i'l'J
no
irtfi,T:l"ili: a'**fi

""u',
they returned
is s"

i:';;';;;';;;;:.

to their own country and came

more to attack him'

Notes
molebed'i

is a steward or

t,oril,7[h;;;:;
';:t,';ff'frLl'ii""il;
t,oo,

person

in

charge'

froL

th.e e3l]ie"a

t:tT.:t

is
;; ;':'ror rhere
*:i]:it-tlt:: ::1i'J''#,
waitin*, r"'
a

of *ut'hing

or.

-:1T:i:.11^:1",1^::tJ
'f{;,ililiT'i)"ii,i,,1,),";;;;;"
beln waiting for-(or *l'""i?l:l^"-1,:ti-t:J"
'i""
but even then the verb is in the
/n l/r
iiur-^*"r"ffi;6 ,r..d i^ Narr.ative,
mabiti ' ' '" (D' M'
ba dika ba

;;;; '*n'i'-no'otong

Perfect; ". . . pula ,'

fotsi

Ramoshoana).
3 ea re and e

Lesson 42'
re, meanirtg when' will be considered in
4 go seli, Iit., it ttu' p**"d away . i'"' the darkness and the clouds:
or cloud'
the sky i", Urigt-tt: go sa, to ditupp""t' "l -"tgh'
dark' muri<]- weather'
cold'
Iotolo;
s'Y'
5 lettdtdld or tet"iltataU o' in
6 legod,imoi, rn"'"ify trte 'high-thing'; hence sky' and in Christian litera-

ture,

heave-n

this wold-aPllears to mean

Ioapiis sometimes used for the sky' but

ratherwhatmightbecalledtheair-itistheplacervherethebirdsfly.Ctrriously
it seems also to mean thick or black darkness' and takes as direct object the
7 fapoga is to turn aside from something'
tsetiis to turn out of the way' The
thing from rvhich one turns aside; go fapoga
something' and does not take a
Applied fotm fapogila means to turn towards
to
locative; fapogila l*o go.inb' t:un aside
direct object, but is used with the

;t;.

8
s

is hapoga' not fapoga)

(Some hold that the correct word

yo go

,r,

th"

it ^it""i"f

with

.
metlia; English rvould rather say' 'times

the noun
one's morning fast, to take breakfast;
Ttlhota is to break

sefitlhold, breakfast.

iT"'";;;;;

battwa is a curious idiomatic Y.'us":.

n*.
- *"". t"

fetched, or people

;J
;:::1:'
tul"l

tilffi

'

*:itl*,.:1tl^:::",T:?,:

look for them; literally'

; :;; ;";

imilar

ilu]"ufili:;,', ,',;;;;;- i i"ai,

kwa

,"y J-:}"i:t;?,!;:;

::l': li ,n"I
i:';::'l l::'"^",t-",
l:::.
.iteng gdzd", so

*::i":
e

rs

"-

I'u.t:i:.^

about) where it had gone'

."frif" la 1,n" pot) was being asked (or enquired
lt tlhwa and' its nelative tlhvse are variants of tlhdta and tlhole'
(thorn) bush used to
12
key * .".i"*tl mhikd (mohikd) is a large

(See
is a smaller bush
the diminutive mhikwana (pilu. mehikwana)
cattle-kraal;
a
close

196

Lesson 40

used for tire entrance of the goats' or sheep's kraal. But it is used equallv c,
the branch of bush or thorn-tree (often mosu) placed against the outside of th:
hut-door, or in the door-way of the lolu:apa, to indicate that the person inside i.
sick and not to be disturbed, or is lying-in for the period of botietsiat and aftc:
child-birth. A visitor or stranger who finds such a ,ig., ,r",r., disturbs or inte:feres n'ith it, unless perhaps he is a member of the family.

T-T. 36 _
1 Re di}ffle- re l_enfle aabcle lnva Mechengfiilre -a boial-l"ue- tre letssls+; g_a re" dtka rs rotfle
2 &ra, ga -n nka + l-tlrbla rr mpbna_ 3 lSfl-e fa ke
"pb_
se
Nlhol-g lce g* bbna- ke tfaa- bbna kee monthrrsi le monfhu-4
L+ '/
!:

U 'Io o rlsw-ilengr 6. a se llhhl+a \lslei+; 6,2

dirL ]<a &iaiIe. lsa gagr,rb- t
5 K.e. lsegtle l<e r.eketse
ba ns dAJb; ga ba nke- ba llhffa ua uorawa k llalalana
b O tsegila a t].holcfle g-q Atns kgesij gongue e tlaa_
tgoga a e trbna kB mosd, lEfa e lakE nro.rt--* inOS**.
r

ToNE-PRACTTcE 36

1 Ana re itumetse jang go 1o bdna! a lo tlaa dika mono gaei

z Dild tse di ntheteldla go tlhdla ke ka dumdra mafoko a gag\\ e3 il{maetsho o tsofetse jaanong, ga tlhole a bdna ; mme o ke
lemoga batho ka mantswe a bdnd. + Mmathdbdr
1,a gG
tlhdla madila mo lekukeng; fa a le teng, u a rere kwurro5 Ga go na tird go tlhdla u kgwanyakgwanya setswald; go
bosigo, go robetswe.

1
197

LESSON 4I
THE HABITUAL MOOD

whut is generally called the Habitual Mood (or Mod6) is a common ancl
characteristic formation of the setswana verb. There is nothing quite
corresponding to it in English, except for a certain idiomatic use of the present
Indicative; so it often has to be rendered by a phrase. Its general import is
not difficult 'to grasp; it expresses action u'hich happens usually, or generally,
or repeatedly; or what a person is in the habit of doing. I

Present: type, re(a) tle re reke, we buy (i.e., habitually)

motho a rata go isa ma;t'oko if a person wishes to sencl some news
mangwe . . . kwa ditsaleng tsa gagzni, to his friends, he (usually) sends
oa tle a ba kzt:alele lokwald" (Padisd them a letter.
rr l8a) ;
"Ba tlaa gu bolilila go re baloi ba tle ba they will tell you that witches are in
tsamaye bosigo" (Padisd 1169);
the habit of going about at night.
"Go tlo go bolelelwe-pele jalo mo diko- it is usually thus foretold in the newsranten,g" (Padisd II 157) ;
papers.
The full form, which is only used in the first of a series of Habituals, and not

". . ' fo

always then, is as follows:

ke(a) tle ke reke,

u(a) tlo u reke,

I buy,

o(a) tle

he (she) . .

areke,
rehe)

(or, o tla a

you . . .

re(a) tle re reke, r,ve buy,

lo(a) tlo lo reke, you . . .
ba tle bareke, they . . .
(or, ba tla ba reke)

Notice two things; that the tle or tlo is generally assimilated to the vowel of
the pronoun or concord: and that the verb itself is in the same form as the negative
of the Present Indicativc.
Now the modern English Present Indicative, without the Auxiliary verb ,to

be' (i.e., I buy, etc.), has really got the import of habitual action, not of present
action. If it is said, for example, 'he writes poetr|', it means that he frequently or
habitually writes poetry: the real Present tense is, 'he is writing poetry'. In the
same way the statement 'he drinks' (or 'he does not drink') means something quite
different from 'he is drinking' (or 'he is not.drinking'). Hence the English pi".ent,
in its simple and short form, is often the best equivalent of the Tswana Habitual
mood.

The full form of the Habitual generally occurs only

there is a series of verbs in that mood:

in the first verb when

". . . dintsi tsa dinotshe di tle di tswe

the bees come out of their holes . . .
momesimengyatsdni...ditsamaye... offthey go ... they flyto gather...
di fofele go phutha . . ." (Padisd II165) ;

r
i
I

198

Lessort 41

u Uo u bife (befe) ,
phunye ph.efd bokone,
U apare m.ouzrane" (Padisd I y2,3) ,.

"Gongue

sometimes you are fearsome,

you cieave the wind to the north,

vou dress yourself in mist.

t
h

Negative Present: type, ga

(But, ./lr re

I
I
F

t
I

t
i
t

t
I

i
t
I
I

"Ntla, le itil makgowa ga a ke a seki.su

ya t)ni!" (Padisd IIi100);
"Ga re ke re lapa go di lebd' (Padisit
rr i51) ;
"ke yo o se keng a fetoga" (Kobamild,
P. 7a) ;

it is hc nho

never changes.

the Present Indicative.

ga ke ke ke rika (ga nke ke

ga tt ke u. rika,
ga a ke a rika,

rvhy, even the s,hite folk are not in

the habit of sueing their chief.
\1-e never get tired of looking at them.

Notice that the Present Habitual negative is rdfta-unless it is in the indirect

formation rvhich uses the negative formatir,e se,
sa. There is thus the rather
contradictory and confusing feature about the^ot
Habitual, that its affirmative is
reke and its negative is rika
the very opposite of ',r'hat happens in the case oi

re ke re rdka, we do not buy.

re reke . . .)

kgosi

se ke

rika),

ga re ke re rika.
ga lo ke lo rika.
ga ba ke ba rika.

re ne re tle re reke, we used to buy.

(Negative
re ne re se ke re rika. In this the ne generally persists throughout.
instead of changing to no or na in the different persons.)
Past-indefinite: type,

t
i
i
i
I

"o naaileabaree

botlhe a

re..."

he used to say to them alt...

(Padisd I i7 t) ;
". . . ba ne ba tle ba ye kwa modirong kwct thev usecl to go to the feast at JeruYerusalema" (PadisoIiI9) ;
salem...
"Loito lzua modird lo no lo tlo lo tsama- the journey to the feast used to be taiwe ke batho ba le bantsintsi . . ." (Pad. ken (lit. gone) by very many people . .

rlle);
"Mo

nokeng

... go,o go tlo go nne lo- in the big river ...

tlhaha lo lo bidizaang . . ." (Padiso II 185) ;

"rnosimene o na a se ke a kgaogana
le ngwanyana yo o mmeeletseng, kagobo
o ne a se ke a mo itse . . ." (X,l[. k M.,

p.

reeds called . .

there used to b.

did not (usually) desert the girl

he u'as betrothed to, for he did not

a boy

usually knou, lvho

she rvas.

14),'

In the Relative Construction the -zg is usually left out:

". . " Baebele e kgolo, e e,e e tle e balwe a large Bible, rvhich used to be
ka nakd ya dijd" (Padisd I t77) ;
at meal-times.

reac

As in the case of the Present Habitual, verbs follorving the first one takc
tl-re shortened

form

f,esson 41
ne a tle a goPole go re a ka dumillla
Ramosa; mme fa gortgwe a gopole I{zima

"O
..

ba kdpana boo bararo, Kosi a se lee

itse go re o ka dirang" (Padisd II 167) ;2

fa

r99

She used to think that she would agree

to Ramosa; at other times she used

to think of Nzima . . . if they were all
three together, Kosi used not to know
what she v'ould do.

The above translation is literal rather than idiomatic, to bring out the force
of the Tsu,ana Habitual. English u,ould probably prefer to render the sense by
using the word 'would'-a free translation could run- "At one time she would
think that she could agree to R., at another she would think of N. . . . if they were
all three together Kosi rvould be quite at a loss to know what she ought to do."
The Habitual mood can also appear in any Auxiliaries which u'ould normally be in the sentence, such as ba, nna, tlhdla, etc"'

"Fa go lowa, (u) botshabild, Sera se be

if there's fighting,

se tlhoboge" (Padisd 112.7);

attacking force despairs.

you are refuge, the

ba tle ba nne ba e Pagame ga' they often go on riding it many times.

ntsintsi" (Padisd III 153) ;
,,Jalo setlhaga Se nne Se
lOIe, jaaka so the nest always goes on growing as
".

..

the years pass,

II ft2) ;
Note finally that one must be careful to distinguish the Tswana Habitual
from the Future or Imperfect Subjunctive, especially if one is using a script
which has no diacritics, when the context should easily decide which form it is.

dinyaga di Jeta" (Padisd

Habitual

Subjunctive
nxERcISE

they buy food (always)'

ba tle ba reke dijd,
(gore) ba tli ba riki, that they might buy'

81

Translate into English:

1 Go kile ga ne go le mosimane yo o disetsang rraagwi letsomane; mme e rile

ka a na a rata go tshameka bobe,3 2 o na a tle a tshose batho ba motse ka go
kua a re, "Phiri! Phiri ke eo, e mpolaila dinku!" le mordrd phiri e se yb mo go
3 Fa batho ba mo utlwa, ba bolole ba ye go lilika phiri; mme ba
tsdni.a 5
di hula fila, di sa tshosiu;e ke sepi.6 + Jalo ba gahale fa ba
dinku
fitthete
bdna go re mosimane o na A tshameka ka bdni fila, a ba tsietsa. 5 Mme letsatsi lengwe phiri ya tla ruri: mosimane a ba a tabogila krtsa gae a kua hatho a

e ja dinhu tsa ga etsho!" mme hatho ba se

ruri. 7 Ba re o tshameka ka bdni gapi; ba sala ba nna
ba d.ira fita ditird tsa bdni tsa. gae. 8 Jalo phiri ya ba ya sala e sen)/a letsomane lotlhe fila. (See Padisd I12.)
9 Mo lobaheng lo lo fetileng, tsid ya Setswana e ne e tle e tlhomamisiwe ha
bogad.i;7 10 dikgomo tsa jdni di ntshiztse ke boo-ra mosimane, segolo-bogolo
ke malomaagwi.s 11 Mosimane mongil)e le mongwe a be a senkelwe mosetsana
ke borraagii, ba rere le boo-ra-mosetsana. 12 Batho bangwe ba ne ba tle ba
ntshe dikgomo tsa bogadi batsaani ba ise ba rakane;e 13 ba bangzoe ba di
ntshe fita kwa moragd, fa mosadi a setse a na le bana. 1.+ Gompieno mekgwa

re,

"Nthusang, phiri e tsile ruri,

ka ba tl.umila fa e tsile

Lesson 41

200

a dumalane
ga e tlhole e le teng thata; 1'5 gantsi mosimane oa tle
Mo gongue
76
borraagrtti.
le mosetsana mongzoe yo o rno ratang, a ise a bolelele
mo
tsaya'
go
ilumele
ke a
fa a setse a beeletswe mosadi ke borraagwi, a se
hwa ntli ga bothibililb' kua
tlhome
o
a
mogo?e
a
tse4e
tla
a
na
o
77 "Moslze
go re' nrcngzDe le mongzte
hgakala te bothibilild.ro 11 18 Ja.Io ga dirala
o nu
1'9
yo o batlang Yehofa a tswele kwa mogoping wa bophuthigitd'tz
^Yeho'fa
eo

ya

bogologolo

o-brt le tsala ya gagwi. 20 Jalo ini a

gagwi' ebong Yoshue' morwa Nune'
boele httta bothibelelong; mme modiredi wa
a tla a

bue le Moshe jaaka motho

motho wa lekau,
EXERCISE

82

ini

se ke

oiti

a tlogele mogope'" (Ekesodo 33: 7'

11)

Translate into Setswana:

lPeoplewhoarenotinthehabitofattendingtotheirworkgenerallymake
to other- l3olle, 2 The
many mistales, and also cause loss (senya, Applied/
and that they don't go
peopre,
of
hunter told us that leopards are usualry afraid
they hunt at night'
caves;
and
about in day-time. 3 They live in rocks
14 4 Some
pools'l3
the
to
also they come-down-to-drink (\oUgo, Applied)
15
5 they also
faults:
their
p."pf" ure not in the habit of "ottfe"tsit'g (ipotila)
mistakes:
make
all
we
But
6
iri* u*ry those who tell them the truth'
so(kegdn})weoughttoconfessourfaults,andalsotoforgiveotherpeople.16

TLastyeartherewasabigrow(kgang)aboutwitch-craftinourplace.t?
8Somethinkthattherearenolongerpeople-who-bewitch-others;9but
them:

people do not-recognise
others say they are still with us, although many

l0andapersonlike.thatneverconfessesthatheisawitch.IsllWhen
wewereboysweusedtoridedonkeysatthecattle-post'andhaveraces'11
in 1940' 13 Don't
(rrsolo) ut Tha*ugu, as we spent-the year there
work well' but she is
her
"rp".iully
do
to
tries
cftjli, she generally
1ri"g.; U" u.tlry *ith tttis
breakfasted? Thel
yet
not
le
boys
14 Hlve the
troubled by coughing'
15 This morning
river'
the
in
ought to hlr.y ii they want to go to swim

last night' 16
found that the hy-enas had eaten two of my sheep
accordimpersonal,_Passive)
in
(put
In some Batswana towns they still take wives

I g'ot a fright, i

ingtooldcustoms;lTbutbogadiisnolonger(used)muchinsometribes'
ther:.
1g The Batswana who live in European towns generaliy marry ,(tseisa)

difierently: 1,g the fathers-of.the-man,

fathers-of-the-woman. 20 so bogadi
the
to

sons

and the man himseif, give moner

is becoming destroyed to-day' fo;

the proPer bogadi is cattle onlY'

Notes

lTheHabitualhasmorereasonthansomeotherssodesignatedtobetermei

aMoodoraModeoftheverb;itcertainlySeemstoconformtothedefinition.
some special manne'
"A special form assumed by the verb in order to mark
lmoauqinwhichthatconnectionbetr'veenasubjectandapredicate'whicher-err
quotecl by Doke in B' L' T'verb implies, is viewed by the speaker'" (Bradley'
p. u7.)
2 gongwe, with mo gongwe and fa gongwe' have the force,of 'sometimes ' "
thi. Jur"." oth"'*i'el See examples' Mekgwa le Melac'
other times', o,'in
op of p. 87 (pp' 85-90)' Also Padisd 1116' foot'

Lessatt 41
?

t
I
a
a

20L

rilc ka and ereka mean'since'. See future Lcssons on the re Auxiliary (and Lesson 49 in particular).
4 tshoga is to experience sudden fear or terrof, to get a fright, be agitated
by fear; tshisa is the Causative form of the verb and thus means to make fright..r.d o, panic-stricken. Distinguish it from the similar verbs boifa and tshaba,

the former of r,r-hich connotes the mental state of being afraid or fearful, the lattcr
including both the feeling of fear and the running av,ray or 'evasive action' which
the feeling normally results in.
s ie mardrd (synonyms arc etsua and ntswa) means 'although . . .' and is
used to connect a qualifying or negativing clause. sec Padisd IIIl35.
6 titika is to chase a\,vay or drive arvay any thing or person; it is uscd in
hunting-the ancient camouflagecl game-pit into r'vhich the panic-stricken animals

rn"r" drirr"r-r, rvas called atilikitd or gdpd. A person rvho is drir'-en outorbanished
a fate thich people fear very much. (See I'{ehemia
from a tribe is titikwa

It
t:

a
2

t
b

r
c
6
t-

t-

ir
t!r

d
B,

lr
ry-

G,

28, a correct translation.)

7 bogadi (lcbota in the Nguni languages) means the cattle which are
collected by thc bridegroom's people, chiefly his father and maternal uncle, for
transfer to ihc bride's people, as the most important part of the many social contacts and feasts, visits and exchanges, rvhich make up the elaborate pattern of the
old,time Bantu marriage. It was also the social seal of the new alliance betrveen
the tu-o f'amilies, and u,'ithout it the children of the marriage I'vere still regarded
and his family'
as belonging to the mother anci her family rather than to the father
'brideit-'bride-price',
No satisfalury English term has been propounded for
terms'
anthropological
rvealth', and 'eqr,rilibrium-guarantee' are some of the
meaning
whole
the
The modern urban substitution of money for cattle destroys
of the thing, and is rnaking marriage a purely financiai transaction betu'een tv'o
families; it almost literally now is the buying of a wife'
8 bao-tamosimane or bao-rramosimante, the boy's father's relatives. Note
the difierence betrveen the bo-Molef., the Molefis, i.e., the people who are called
13

Nlolefi it might be

tr,vo brothers at school,

like Smith major and smith minor

and boo-Motefi or boo-ra-Mol.ef, Molefi's clan and all his relatives-particularand brothers who meet together to discuss and decide
family affairs.
6 botrooni, they rvho take each other
from tsaana, the Reciprocal
form of the verb tsaya. Although the t'ife never tsaya her husband, the term

-ly the men, the uncles

batsaani can be uscd of bridegroom and bride'

10 tilogope is not really a tent at all, it means a small poorly-built hut'
'Ihe thing is absent from Tsu,ana life; so'tente'of some such transliteration can
be usedlPactisd II161 . fuIogope is often used of huts at lands or cattle-post.
t1
bothibititd is herc used to translate 'camp', rvhich has no exact equiYalcnt in Tsy,ana llfe . Thibitita, the double Applied of thiba to stop, prevcnt, etc.,

has tr.vo meanings; its natural double Applied meaning, to stop-to-fol-something, and the spccial technical meaning of settling in a new place-used of a large
,r.r-b"1- of people, or a tribe or clan, or an army. For instances of it see Padisd
illl;,pactiidIVl|'tand. lg,andMekgwa le Melad, p. 115. From the first and
especially the last of these instances it appears that the basic meaning is 'to move

Lesson 4l

202

to a new site and build (settle) there'.

translation

It is therefore probably not a verr.rr,.

of the lvord 'encamp', as in pesarema J4: 7. (Actually there s..-

to be two words thibilila, v{th different pronunciation.)

12 bophuthigild, a meeting place. Nouns indicating lrhere some ac:. -:
takes place-which in English must be mentioned as 'the pluc" of
.,, ari - pressed in Tsu'ana quite simplv and effecti'ely by prefixingthe boma, prei,..-

and suffixing the Applied form ending, to the verb. 'I'hus, borakanild js a r..,
ing place, place u'here people meer; bo f rakana * ita: maboladld a tsii rr,..the places u'here locusts are or have been killed.

13 fologila is an Applied form (fotoga, descencl)

u.ith the technicar n:.,,

ing of coming dor,vn to drink, of cattle or r,vild animals.
14 lekadiba or bodiba means a pool in or of a river-either part of a i_:
ning stream, or a pool left 'nhen the stream has dried up and left isolated p
mogobe on the other hand is a rain-rvater pond or 'pa''. A lecha is one
of a s-:.of pans in a flat valley, either connected in the flood season or actually part
seasonal river. There are many different places in Bechuanaland rvhich .
-

called 'L:cheng' or 'Macheng'.

15

ditlold (tlold) are tran$gressions or lau-breakings. Trora is (1) to

1u- :
animal; (2) to jump over, or cross over, any obstacle or bounc.*
hence, to cross a river, a railway-line, or road: go tkla molad is to cross.
to transgress, a lau'. lvlolato on the other hand means a debt, anything o\\--_
another; and hence anything u,hich puts one person in the wrong or makes _r
as a person or

blame-worthy.

16 Notice the ba in the Infinitive,

follorved by
by the main verb in

Present Indicative.

17

go dikile is here followed by the verb in the present; there is re:

no Perfect of the compound verb go na le . .

18 See Appendix, Article 24.

19 To be angry rvith a person can be translated in several ways; g, - r-

bogale connotes more the mental state

of anger (compare boifa of fear);

go gd1..,-

is to express one's anger in words, but also means to be very zealous or yer", !,upon something, very determined on some object or course, Go shakgala i.
be in a rage' or to rage at someone: it expresses more violent anger than ga*--,.

Lesson

41

203

1 rPE ntelho E rate gcr +sa m'afoko r.:'angrue )ifria'

2
]okwa]a- '
trlffing tsa gagwe" oa t-Le a ba kr";afalegB
pltifalc--e
re
Go tle gp brfel=li,.s,-p1e- rno *ikoranbery
t-}a nne I<E lelsat$i ra bolb.bb, gore batho ttr ipaaka'
di
3 'Dinisi tsa dincrtshc *i tfbonyetse- go e bna.t
go
phulht
tssre }<-a-nft'aphakb13-, di lsana-ve-, d+ fofol-.
L+ tT,oalb l-wa modirb Io no lo tlo
the iwa CithuttYe-.'
5 'Mosirnan-e o rl&
1o tsana'i-we- kc b+lho ba te baittsi . '
-o-lnn-ee1-elseng'
ka go
a se lte a ks:.egane Ie nglpnyan+ yo
be b rr* E s ke a rao ttseT-T

?,7

TONE-PRACTICE

37

(Student to insert diacritics)

Go kile ga ne go le mosimane yo o disets^ng ffaag\Ne letsomane ;

mme e til" ku a na a rata go tshameka bobe, o na a tle a tshose
batho ba motse ka go kua a re, 'Phiri, phiri ke eo ! e mpolaela
dinku!' le mororo phiri e se yo mo go tsone. Fa batho ba mo
utlwa, ba bolole ba ye go leleka phiri; mme ba fitlhele dinku di
hula fela, di sa tshosiwe ke sepe. Jalo ba gakale fa ba bona go
re m<nimane o na a tshameka ka bone fela, a ba tsietsa'

204

LESSON 42
I}IPERSoNAL AUXILIARY
e Te, WHENEVER

In

Lesson 33

the_verb
he verb

in Past rir

r,r,e

studi,

re.. these ,*.,

,*,o ilri
Oott,

\s112111,s

Indicatit

:::,.^y
;;;*;:

e.

ya re,

im,personal

Auxiiiary uscs of
verb, and the follou,ing
verbs,

fJi

ruul ut'er tenses

,":*s of
or this Auxiiiary, w-hich
w.hich are used
ill;J%;::,llf;":j:'l-"ll::
useci
sequent
...-q,,,.:,
,uhi.h
rvhich
r,erbs_arr

in a highly idiomatic- ir-

\/a

i-.,;,.;ffi,I1;,,ilj,";::::::^:i:
i" i"rmJr"ry #::.:fi
comes 6rst and

except the
,r,. onc
o,,l
r,_ith the 'erbs-all
e re_are in the
Habitual
Arxili"..,
:^ jjc
':
somei;
shade
Jr of
T:,':,
# n:
the "u..r_rt.
meaning ,ri,i,ren, l'whenever';
Llrsrc rl
-- *^'Yq-leI*"Ti*
:l6ii'.,
"
,
and
ofter
Some usages refer to
r
lt
can
be so translatecl.
past tilme, some
)mA +^
+L,
r
to the futuri

Mood. In

fii

these

;*:# $yli:i1difi

ff

r, and some have a general

or

universal ref'erence,

"_:;,"
',|L^t.
tslte . .

ke

rika

sengzoe,

ke se ntshetse

",,r::rwa, ! 9o9e dinao tc

." lRanndni
.-."" lie
,

t._./,
;

Ii::::l

(rvhen

if) r buy anything,

tt

tefa_ y_Y","..r"
lf::t":"":l^t::
he is sent
drags his feet along.r'.

Ihese. show the stanclarcl

constructional nor+^__ r^_

anywhere,

s.l""J.l
/r usascs,,o\^

i'
n;il:ffi;:::;.:i:"#,.'",:ill,'1'people lvould prerer
:""1:"*o
: to reave out
rhis geneiar"',0,,,.* t."'ri:;:;;;"":?:^:":;J:
:''o
* .:l::.:.:::jt*
," rndicarive,
,o^"j";
thc
Ja')

forjowed
-"-'"'""u by
uJ r.erbs in
thc Habitual'
othcr members ofl.:o
'erDs n thc
prorrn nr,.,.--,r
the tl,l!
e ne
lte e re or e ne
we
')'ri!
are
)1,
,o ,r,
la
r'fr^":tt,t::.: ,ir\:r:".j1;:
r")r,""I",'f)l
_:onstructions y;:r; stuclying arc

,,.:

General

refer

re ra ke ,^,';,:;,:,;:l!;;:
.uu

;' "il"#:y;:il:.';,

stark t,rem

i !,.u!,i i: ,,:,_;:"# :,),,i; 1:n., ,,. ,";;',;,u",'.;,,. ,, cm

Ae rsene ,,o go t!,d';;:k,
hard, r gc
t:!;;;;';,;;;;, *"[Jtr,Lfi",,
ya
tsoni, ke bolave.
.,;r;*i,;
";':;'+
:J?
e ,; ;;;
*O lU,
a

,,.

,Vnc

!::; i;:;:',i,-;":1,*"!!in

?!!:
fi!':
.u"
rr t t0);

rfa,

ke lapisittsue

n,

. ..-tb|ii|u

;?l,ii, [*;
..n*,*i,'*riJn i, h.. ai.d,

;:a',:.
t too lic bcsidc it, tircct c,ut bv
..

'fhis .'xamplc providt.s

a rr.holc series_ fire
and eight

cases of e re with
t'"-ri"l].un1r,ll'"i,,,llilll,
or without
thc
us.age
m.carring being clear
,n"
generar
lough; rlre verbs irr the,lndiciri*
"t,,',t.
r,rith the e re indicate";:,1]l?":l'-illu.srrating
*i"i.i"'r.,
ur" ,.ro.iut.d
which may take prace
the Habitual indicate
,"; ;_;,.;;d",th. u.rb. in
,ro.,,on.
o' happening", *n""],".
n.pp."','.iiffi
one th ing

verbs

'*'i"il;::t;::;:::::"'

Lesson 42
This e re or

ea

re

c^n also, however, be followed by the Imperative Mood:

"E re ha mamosd, u sena go tsoga,

senkd dijd . . ." (Padisd I 1);r
E re le gu tlhabetse, u le aramili ! z

!
f
I

", . . e re lo tswa mo motsittg

every morning, when you have got

up, look for some food . . .
whenever the sun shines tipon you.
bask in

itlhotlhori lorole mo dinaong tsa lona, go wM

tshupd kaga bdni" (Luke 9: 5) ;3

I
F

2A5

itl

rvhen you leave that town, do you

oo, lo

shake the clust

ofi your

feet,

tobea

witness about them.

Note that very often s,hen time-nouns follow the e re there is no verb in the
cases of this u,'ith e rile and. ya re:

il

Indicative; we had

". . . e re ka mosd re phakiliti hwa

hgosing, re yi go dumedisa kgosi"

il
b

rr lee)

to-morrow morning let us two get

and go to the chief,s place,

(Pad. up early

to greet the chief.

"E re ka mosd le maitsehoa a tseye mokad morning and evening he takes the
a kae dikgomo . . ." (Padisd IIi6);
thong and ties the coli,s, legs...

F
;

(2)
ere...

B,

t
t

Another form, equally common, expressing ttre same thing, is

"E tle e re e tsongwa, fa e le kafa nokeng,

e tlolele mo metsing e tshelele kwa sekgweng se se kwa moseja" (Pad.

".

r/e

rvhen it is hunted, if it is beside a river,

it

(jumps) will jump into the r.vater

and cross to the forest on the other

IIl72);

side.

e tle e re ke le mo loetong,

tlhole ke ihanya legatlapa le le

zt:ina

!"

(Padisd I181)

ke se

whenever I am on a journey, I should

etsang

never again trust a coward like vou!

Pasttimereference: e ne
(With the variant forms

e ne

e re and e ne e tle e
ya

re,

e ne

re.

ya tle e re,)

re phuduhudu so,whenever thephuduhudustopped

(J
a ima a botsa a re, hae? go arabe and asked, Where are you ?
there
Khudu nngwe ..." (Padisd Il5);
u,ould answer a Tortoise...
"Jalo he, e ne ya tle e

I,

(Note in this example how the three verbs a ima a botsa a re are
treated as one
composite Indicative verb, as they rvere one composite action,
and the Habitual
go arabe is the consequent or resulting action.)

i,
L,

" E ne ya re batho ba mo utlwa, ba borore, when the people

used to hear him, they
baye go lilikaphiri" (Padisd Il2);
would run o.rt und go to chase away

t
I

"Ramosa e ne ya re a na le Kosi a
solofele . . ." (Padisd II167) ;
"E ne e tle e re fa ba rata go bolila ma.foko a magolo . . . ba ne ba tle ba hwale

I
I
I

mo matla?eng a magolo" (Padisd

IIISe ;

the wolf.

whenever

Ramosa was

with Kosi

he

u'ould be hopeful . . .
when they wanted to record (tell) important things . . . they used to rvrite
upon large flat stones.

206

Lesso:n 42

". ... mrnatabdt n? e tle e

re a tla.
r, . . .i' eoa;ra u16b1 '*'

opele a

their

"

,i

;;1":!: :r:;,i::,:: va
::.ro'J*:iffi:
Kgalagadi, pp., zs 6g,

Future time referen ce:

tlaa re . .

general import of
this form

happenl

."-.,ii.,g

,n.'lloll,i,,llT"i::
(1)
"Ba

tte

e,e

came,

seem to be rhe commoner

il,";;.lt'sdrtcrnativeforme neeyare(see no**-ire

ztsa

wil

.mother, whenever she

would sing. . .

e ilaa

is

"r,. ;;il ;;;;.J.Xi::ilT: ';

i t l#,

*;i

something

it#i,e,

l{:ltl. *i:':'iff;-d

m..d,

(2 )

re

aad the Habitual_the

most usual usage:
m,
ne ba trharosanv"

"":,;r*::::r-rne

;;r;:,,"*.-i:"r"t;*:i::#:liii=l3i'il"""i':lJ,:'H:t1:";
16
lnoa;ra''u1tos ,o
_rPPtttl her, she would catch
b.a_kometse"

gobbre

them up.
ka falora' gonpieno, e
,',!:o" ukatla.ntesa
,rff:, i::
tun let me go to-day,
a.1u
kzaa ga ,ono, ke
when you
'i
ki aiaiij"
didimale ::]u" .
1au'; p'ii,o
:::" "". or;:; .ii,u be quite

"ffoii!''

quret.

ilaa re and the Imperative

',ilIne e tlaa re ba lo gdgita
kwa

Rong .
se

!,a

..

.{o

lo tlaa

or

ditslte_

se ka lwa tlhobailila

But when they will drag

you to trials
... . do not be u.rriori. '

pe:le

lS,1i1',i

se

.buang,, _(Marrn"
. . . gore, e tlaa
re ha letsatsi je to ttoo
re

botayang ka

jdni, ke fld

ba tlaa se buang,, (padis6

(3)
'.'E t!-aa

e ilaa

Subjunctive:

abolrt what you will

say.

Ufor"t'a'ia

so
1la1 in the day in which thev
*"r,ld..fr]l
ur, I muy

*u'uttiiTi

tttlOOl';'"'

are (will be) saying.

h.r, ;l;; ;;;

re and the simple Future

Indicative:

re

fa ba leha go ntsiila dito . ..

w
tlaa
o""tonxha"lhekethe
\e
ya me
-- gore ,n-l:t""tt
ba ntese,,(padisd rrrt6e); J

. 6v.a

ther will try to take

my

,j,Hl;;i#rji.i:":i:1,?**
--'*J r!4vq

rt
(This sentence could rlc^ r.-,,^ rbeen
put,
ba bontshe thekethe.
e tlaa re ba leha .:
luu".
lt* using
. ke
- ]:t1
; r.e.,
the Habituat,however,
inrt"uJ oi tt
Indicative.)

ffi;#

(1) The Relative Construction

the tle onoccasion:

endir og

_ng can be
taken by the re or

;r; f"li": ,!:,;rj!:,,r;:{"u:,:;r;,u: :l"l wlo,. whenever night comes,

- ,i,_: the
blood of some animal
lita^a tliE","
to
pour
it on to the corn.
tleig e refa mothL'yo" "":
;;t"t is that

mabeleng"

'*^,*o
"Ke
ka moo e

and

when the person by

whom

[,essou
ini

a sa e tshware sentli, e
boye le motlhala a^a ydni" (Ramtndni
rekilweng ke

207

-l 2

it has been bought does not look after

it rvell, it will turn back in its track.

p. 68);7

(2) 'lhe subjectival pronoun of the

noun-class can also be used

constructions, as well as the irnpersonal e; it is not so common:

o re o fitlha,

ftlhele e .feetsue
e baakantsrni" (Luke 11: 25);e
"mme

in

these

but when it arrives, it finds it is swept

and prepared.

couid equally lvell irave been put, e re o fitlha .. . the tlvo usages ai'e
interchangeable. For example, one quotation given above under 'A" "e re lo
lswa mo rnotsirrg oo . '." appears in Xlareho 6: 11 as "" ' lo f lo tsua gdni' kt
itlhotlhori . . ." with plecisely the same meaning'

It

these .re constructions can only be gathered slorviy.

'lhe exercises belorv contail a uunrber of authentic examples from existing literature, r,r.hich the stuclent is advised to study, committing typical cases to memory.
Let him not be at all tvorried if, at this stage, he cannot always feel that he quite
understancls the usage, or if he fincls that he cannot himself use it surely and eft'ectively. The context rvill generally be the guide to the shade of meaning rvhich tire

(3) The import of

'lswana conveys.
EXERcISE

83

Translate into English:

tle e re rno letsatsing je le beilweng, morafe o phuthegele mo kgotleng ya

2 Kgosi
Kgosi, e le banna, basadi, le bana, ba tla ba tshotsD ditebogd tsa bdni.
ntshe
dinii
batho
ba
Ltt, le marafe, moragd ga moo Moruti a tshegetse merapild,
"
Moruti,
le
e
rerisanye
Kgosi
3 E tle e re dinid di sena go amogilwa,
tsa bdni.e
ba rulaganye se se tlaa ilirwang ha dinid tseo, 8o vQa tebogi mo Modimongl' (Pud.

1 "Ea

III

120) to

no go bile go na le Masarwa mo majeng a Kudumane; ba ne ba tle ba

Moffat o bile a tla a goligilila mogala
.fologe bosigo ba tle go utswa dikgomo.
mogala o tsztse foo o ye kwa
wa tshipi mo kgorong ya lesaka ja
7
tlung, e re kwa bofelong jwa dni mo teng ga ntlo a golegelele tshipi e e
8
a
magoilu
gore
E re fa go ka bulwa kwa kgorong, tshipi e lele, e mo itsise
ha
diholoi
tsamaya
ba
baruti
Go no go bile go na le dibatana thata; e ne e tle e re fa
batho ba le bantsi ba ba pate, go ba femila mo ditaung le dinkweng."
Le

"Go

5
gagwi,l1 6

lelang.
tsile.

rlipholo, 9

(Padisd

IV

10

118)

"Lefa batho ba niwa masimo a bdni, ga ba na taold ya go simolola go

lema kwa ntli ga taold ya kgosi. 11 Ea re batho ba tlaa tsw(t nxo gae go ya go
lema, go ntskiwe letsema. 12 Gapi ga go opi yo o ka rdbang hwq ntli ga molad,
fa a se mosenyi wa molad. 13 E re kgosi e lemoga fa mabdld a budule, e ree batho
mo phutheg'ng e re,'Rdbang, lo tli gae.' 1+ E re fila batho ba sena go rorila
dipeo tsa bdni mo gae, kgosi e dire phuthigd ya molomd,lz 15 e re mo go
ydni e bolele Ja e le tshzoanild ya gore go lebogiwi Modimo ka mphd ya 6ni. 16

Kgosi e ne e tshola dipheko tsa morafe: e ne e re motse o thibilila, kgosi e reme le-

Lesson 42

208

tlhaku la ntlha, jalo

re e sena go le baya

le Melad, 11+ f .) t3

fa

hgotleng, e dire ka

dipheko." (XIei,-::

77 "A

u itse go re ke mang? go botsa monnamogolo, Ke nna Walantb, o,

je. 1ti E tle e ye ke ,,.a kzaa lefatshing ja batho ke yia ga ::,,batho le dikgomo le dinku le eng,14 19 lte tli tlise tsotlhe fano mo fatshi,.
lentli ja me ja loso. 20 Ga go ko go tlhdla go na Ie opi yrt o ka batry a i falola, a tswa mo ;t'atshing je ja me." (Padisd III199) 15
kgosi

ya

EXERCISE

lefatshe

84

Translate into Setslr,ana:

1 Have you (plu.) ever seen kgingai? No, rve havcn't seen it yet, bu.
'2 Kging:,,
shall be going to Gantsi next year, perhaps rve shall see it.
found in the Kalahari, and ii saves travellers and hunters, rvhen the n'are:

dried up in the pans. t6

3 The kgingt) does not usually lzst (nria .,
all the year; (rvhenevcr) in the month of September it generally rots.
think there r,r,iil be a lot of lain this year, for it has already begun-to-rain.
The chief has cailed the pkrughing-timc yesterd:r1,, but n.ry fathers have nr,:
got their wagons ready. 17 6 Stop (lesa) srveeping this rooni just nori-.
are annoying us rrith the dust and the noise.
7 "So Jesus entered into Jerusalcm, into thc temple; but rvhen hr, ,
looked round on (kdbakdba) everything, 8 because it s,as already iate ir. ::,
afternoon, he came out and $.ent to Bethany lr.itl-i the trveil'e .
9 In the . ,
ning, rvhen they had come out of Bethany, he u-as hungry. 10 So u'h.:. :.,
saw a fig-tree (mofeige) at a distance, rvith leaves on, he u.ent to it.
11 : when he got to (arrived at) it, he did not find anything, except only leaves, : was not yct the time of figs.
12 So he said to it, Let no person from he.._.
forth (any longer) eat fruit from you for ever (at all).
13 He came to Je:r,lem . . . he taught saying, Is it not r,r'ritten (Perf.), NIy house shali be call.: house of prayer of all nations ? but you have made it a den of thieves. 1+ : revery (whenever) evening he r.voulcl come out of the city." (Mareko 11 : 1i ,'
15 When ive u-ash our hands, we pour \,vater into a basin, and u'e:.r,,:
rvith soap. 16 Do not (sing.) turn aside from this little path, keep goir.:
alongside (bapisa) the railway (seporo) .
17 When the iittle boy fell inr -.
mud, his clothes got all wet (koldba) also he started to cry. 18 \\'he:
sister heard him, she came running to see r.vhlt uas making him cry (C:-..
19 When r,vill you (sing.) learn to r.vrite niceiy? your rvriting is shameful {r-.'.,:
ashamed). 20 When (ever) the bov's father's people (rvill) arrive, ther' ',,-r:
find us awaiting (expecting) them.
:,:

,,,

:,.,r,,

Notes

1 mamosi, earlv moming; a southern usage.

2 In other rvords, use your opportunities rvhile you have then. l:
the chilly lvinter time Batswana like to sit and to u'ork in tl-re sun.) The pi ::-:i

is a close parallel to "\l[ahe hay r.vhile the sun shines."

itlhotlhora is Reflexivc form of tlhotlhora, to remove sma1l thir-rgs r-",r-,:r

are a pafi of, or cling to, some larger thing-such as dry leaves of a branr:. ,idust or particles from dress-by shaking.

Lesson 42
a
disaster.

2A9

lesinini is anv sudden catastrophe, or astonishing ancl unexpected

5 Note the ka here, not Ae,

6 Or as in the Rible, tlltobailita pete se lo tlaa
se bttang.
7 he ka moo, or ke gdtti ka mao, an idiom meaning
'on account of tr-ris or
that', or'that is ho*'it comes tl.rat .,.' scc "Ka mo plnkoji
e nrrs lesr,', padis,
IIl90, 'at this...'; it is similar to jalo...
B The o of course refers to rnoua (n'toya, moe,)
; it is the pronominar
concord of Clrss III.
9 rnoragd gd m.oo, after that; see Notc 7 abovc.
10 rerisarya, a Reciprocar form frorn the causative
rerisa, m:^ke

t.,

consult.

('fhe verb rlra is used in the Tsrvana Ilible fbr ,preachins'

(e.g. sec il[ttreko I : 4,
38, Luke 9:2, Ditird 8: 12, 25, 3i, etc.); buiit iu q.ril.
'1,
o ,ilnr,.. of the *orci.
'fo rira a person means to ha'c a prir-atc consurtation
about r,ini, gene rirrly to do
lrim harm; see, e.g., Gen. J7: 18, 2 Dikgosi 12:20, 2 Sam.
li:'IV, Ditird 9:24
ancl 23: 1-7, ri'here rira and. morird r.re correctrv
usecl. For preaching in tlre
N.T' sense tlre nearest Tsrvana verbs arc rula a.'d. hrtita, botiidra.)
1

goligdlila, double Applied form o1, gol)ga, tie or

tr:rnslate 'tied to . . .'

12

molornd here referrecl

'ind.

I{ere just

to is a rvinter cerebration, after all the grain

has been brought in; it is probabiv not a true moromd

bur a dikgafila ceremony.
Thc molomd or tomd (go roma ngwaga, to bite the year) r,vas
in

(Ferikgong), the ceremonial eating of an earry terdtsi (thi)tsi) J-ur*n.y-F.b.ur.y

uy tt senior Ba_
tsu'ana chief, *'ho rvould then send the signal to
the chief next below "him, ancl so
o-n; it was the sign that norv the people coulcr eat mel-rns,
pumpkins, etc., as
they ripened.

13 pheko, the protecti'e charms ancl mecricines;

sec padisi II, pp. 122-8.
14 See note on the first exarnple in ,B' of
this Lesson.
15 Note the negative impersonal Habitual
here, ancl the Auxiliary 6a

n'ith the Relative Construction ending _zg.

t:

Instead of ;fa here one could ha'e used motrlnttg go

metse a kgadireng.
is sometimes used for 'when' in such a case as this; its varia.t
fbrms are
m_otlhammo and mogang._ It takes the _ng ending
on the verb follou,ing; ,,... Lr
tlaa lela amaaruri, motlhang o ke thubang setsward se, ke
tsina moo!,, (Diphoskd-

*..
This

phoshd, p. 19.)

17 Some tribes say rum retsema, others ntsha

letsema, referring
ollicial proclamation by the chief of the ploughing_time
.

to

the

Lesson 42

210

1 ta re- fe k-e rbker snglre, ke se:xlskrcLse

+e ]elsals.i te gu lltiaH,se, -u }e aruGf,!2t
3 qsebata se n sa nts&ebeisa go Ler E' lI e re-ke }e
m-o loete4g, tre se tl hirtb ke j|k-an),"a legatlapg I-e li _etsang wbne- lt
l+ 'E ne sa ne 'calh"a b'E nro rrtfi^ra., be be,]ole ba ye go lbl.b]ta ph-iri. ' 5 Fa u ka alesg geJ[trisnsr
e tlaa r. T t+a ffia ga rcna gapA, ke_ di*i_nral-e Fb.Ia. ' 6
'Nria }c-e l-e shushu, ke ya goTkeba dilsbbe, gote tle-e
T-T. 38
m.d+. 2

1F

re tra Lelsatsi fe

ba tfaa_++-bol.a;ratg kE

k UtIw; s-e tra l.}aa se buan*.

t_dne, k t}_

ToNE-PRACTTcE 38

Lefa batho ba newa masimo a bone, ga ba na taolo ya go simolola

go a lema kwa ntle ga taolo ya kgosi. Ea ra batho ba tlaa tswa mo
gae go ya go lema, go ntshiwe letsema. E re kgosi e lemoga fa
mabele a budule, ree batho mo phuthegong e re, Robarr-g, to
_e
tle gae. E re fela batho ba sena go rorela dipeo tsa bone mo gae,
kgosi e dire phuthego ya molomo ; e re mo go yone e bolele fa
e le tshwanelo ya gore go lebogiwe Modimo ka mpho ya one.

ili{iii

211

LESSON 43
AUXILIARY

bo: PROBABILITY oR

INFERENCE

Perhaps the most subtle

and elusive of all setswana verbal usages are

those which
bo in an aux'iary capacity. This might
be ca'ed the
"-ql:y'Probability bo, or the
'Inferentiar bo' : in fooor.r" and BnowN it is cailed
the
'Progressive Mood'. (It certainry seems to
have the features of a .mood,, but

there

is nothing to warrant the term 'progressive'.) No one

term, however,

can really explain it, and the rearner has tJwrestre

with actuar authentic cases
of its use until he begins to get an idea of its
significance.

The following eramples are set out, with as much

context as
in order that the learner may consider them one
by one.

possibre

(1) If you hear about a very crever and able person, but have never
met
him, you might say of him
-

ea bo e Ie senatla se segolo!
he must be a very clever person!
(This ea bo e le is an impersonar forrn, lit., 'it must
be ...,; it courd also
have been put in a personal fornt, oa bo
a le. . . ,t" must be ..,.j

,f) .Padisd II, p. 99,,hu.:.n *ood example. Tlre old mrn in rhe kgotla is
scolding the boys back on horiday from
boarding-school, s,hom he thinks ilrmannered young upstafts who don't know
how to approach a chief, and he says
Fa ntseana, ea bo e Ie basimane ba dikole tsa Lofotele te Thekattolufu jaana !

(3)

Suppose

If

that,s so, they will be boys (or,

you may be sure they are boys) from
the Lovedale and Tigerkloof schools.

a child complains that other children are threatening

him,
and his mother wants to calm hisiears
and wants him to ignore the other children,
who are taking advantage of his timidity, she
_
could say to

him

ba tlhokomologi, nguanaka;
ba gu rumola
fila,

baa

bo

never mind them, my child;

sure they're only teasing you.

rrm

(4) once our car was stuck in nud during the rainy season. one
of the
two lads had been sent to a
a few miles away, to ask the headman for a
'illage
span of oxen to pull us out' when we
had waited a long time, and there was
still no sign of help appearing, the other lad said
to the driver.
oa bo o gana go re

thusa;

he is probably refusing to help us.

212
ts

Lesson ,lJ
No*' in all these cescs, thc

bo co'irl

hai-e bcen omittcd, anil then ther

rt'oulcl' have bct:n plain straiglitforu-arcl statcnrcnts

of fact, in the Inclicatir .
moorl: (7) kr: senatla se segorr; (2) ke rnsimarte ha d.ikore ...; (3)
ba gu runtortt
filr; and (1) o gana srt re thustt. But something *.o'ki tr. tost'by

omitting th.

ALrriii:rr.v 1,o - s.nrcthine *'hicr-I is'thcr cliffrciilt to

clcfine o..rpr.o.. or.
ririglrt say tjrrt thc: lo .r,nstructior (.\prcsscs pr.obrbilit-,, rather
than ccrtain6,:
ir irrrf ii,:.r tlirt rlrt "l,t.rkt.r. li,, Is, or tl,irilis. ,,r. :iusle\.ts. ,,rl irrL.rs,
,f.1., .o*.rf-1lnf

i*1.. snch tcrms :is prohlbility, infc.cncc,

tcrltzrti\-cness, cover most

of it:

significirncc; ancl pirr:isc':t such as ,it sccms,, ,it appears', ,it

must be,, ,I,ni surc..

'i thinli','it

rrriLi

is pr.li;rirlc', 'I'i'e no d.ubt','I suspcct', ,I i'fer', etc.,

ancl also,mu::i.
'rrlirltl'. nlt. indii:lt,.,i if unt. rrtfitri to lrr.i,tg orrt its c\art nteaning
in a trrrr._

lation.

In tlie cx:un'les; grl.n al;ore, ,,liich alc :rll ir-r thc presclt tense, the pronou:_
or c'ncorrl uhich prcccrics thr-r 1.,o is in thc rz or c.<tcntlccl forr-n-.6,,
sea, loa, 1i,..
ed, ttc'; tirc main R:rb (uith its proiroul) rvhich follot-s
thc Auxiliary is i' tl,.
Prcsrr'r'rt (rrncxti,r.itlcci) lornr-- tlie tvpc tliercloic
is kea bo ke rdka,
'fhe ,\urili:rrY io

time

'r Inlercntirl

mood is uscri often rvith a refer.ence to

"e ne ya bo e Ie lairi lzua ntalatsi tr re

rtiliti, gattgrct u le mttl//tano ...', (II;t!.
t to):
"'N[athihu ind a bo a dumalanye le
hotnalotnaagui" ( Parlisd

1 129) ;

"Le tsitti tsa bo di bua kaga metllta

rtrcslta e e t.no!eyr)" (Padisd II/14,1)

"ga bo go tia

motlut

..."

,.

(putt. fIi,t'l)

p:..i

it would be a jorirney of f'rr or fi

cilvs...
as fcrr illathiba, lie apparently
agrcccl u'ith his uncles . . .

l;:.

thcv too appeared to be speakr::

rl:,,1t1 ths rrcrr good tirnt.s...
thcrecameaman...

Ancl ri'ith referencc to future or relatir.e tuture:

"ba ntse ha gof,totsi go re, le.fa ba sa

ittmoile ha. matlhit, o tlaa bo a le mo grt
boni ba lta . . ." (Padisi I t2l) ;

"lo tlaa utlwa ,molar),. ntm.e e tlaa bo e

le nrciad u:a manr.,ng !" ( Fadisd I
171) ;
"Lo sc ka lzaa... r: phutlnlolc; ]o ilaa

ba b

aila,fetse thata"

(I,adisi flilg),

"Fq. tt ha ba fitlha ... ba tlaa bo bn

bololtt:segilt: sentli" (Patlisit IIL5g)
,.

thinking all thc time that, althou.they did not see him, he would
be u'ith those rvho . . .

riiil)

(n"iLr.-

vou shal1 obey tiie lar.v; but (r,c.r:

see) it ri,ill be the law of the vultu:._
do not undo it; vou tr.ould (rvillr
.

making a great mistake.

if r.ou can hide them . . . the1.
u ithout doubt, bc quitc salc.

r.,

lli-rt in a great man,v cases it is not fcasibrie to translate

the contructi :
Ts* rrra secms to usr it in n),r\ cils(.s r,i ht.re Errgrisrr *
ould just usr
Inclicative statement. Ercn thcrc, of coursc, arthough i.'t
cannot be transhr.,
sorne shacle of the meaning or import of tl-re construction
persists.

"Ba

bo ba

luila

e totte" (Padisd

sengue, ba nna re

1127);

kgang thev disputecl about something, :

had a terrible rorv.

lrit!

Lesson 13
"Jaanong, Thitlwi a bo a na le dinaka
tse di kgatlhileng Mmutli tlrcta" (Pad.

213

norv, Kudu had horns rvhich I{are

liked very much.

l5e) ;
"Mme Mmutli a bo a lentoga megopold but Hare knerv Spider's thoughts.
ya ga Segokgo" (Padiso I,'62) ;
there rvas a large Bible ivhich used
"Ga bo go na le Baebele e kgolo e e ?re e
r

toberead...

tle e balwe" (Padisd I177) ;

"Ka

lobaka loo bontsi

jta

Batswana

jzua bo bo no bo sa itse pitsturu t-a tshipi"

(Padisd II132) ;
"Monna mongwe o kile a bo a tszoa mo'
rakeng . . . a bo a tshotsi letlala ja kgama
. ." ( Padisit II l109) ;

at that time the majority of Batsrvana

clid not kno'"r' the iron pot.
a certain lnan once carne frorn a cattlepost . . . he u-as carrving a kgama skin

some of these cases of narrativc, the sense of tentativeness, or of inference

drau'n from other facts, can be con\reyed in such phrases as 'it seems that . . .',
'you must knorv that . . .', and so on. But generally it is best left untranslated.
It takes a long time before a learner, translating from English into Tsr.vana,
can acquire a fairlv rcliable idea as to rvhich Indicative statements in English a

In

Motswana would prefer to render by one of the 1;o Aurilialy usages.

Bervare of confusing tl're Do of probability rvith the Do rvhich is the Impcrative
of the Auxiliary ba e.8., Padisd lllll3, u ho u ntlamili; the lattcr is easiiv
distinguished by its concords c.r pronouns, and by the verb being in the Imperativc

B-form.

nxERCISE

85

Translate into English:

7 "E rile ha letsaty le ngwana 1'o mmdtlana o gdrigang ha lini, tlg'w^and )'u
liru tiri nngzle kwa masimo. 2 O rile a zcetsa tiri, maitse'
boa, a boila gae. 3 Ya 're u atamila ntlo, a gahgamadiua ke go utlwa modumd
mogolo a bo a ile go

wa boipeld; go lpitwa go bile go binwa." (Padisd Il43)1

+ "E rile Phiri a tla, a bo a gaketse tita. ilIme Phoholtji a bua ka bondld
fila a re, 5 Magolole, rea uilwa! tslrcgetsa jaana ka bonakd, u tlaa mpetsa
hganteli. 6 [i se ka zca lesa; ke sa ntse ke ya go seillld logottg lo rc ha tshege'
7 Phiri a dumila, a sala a tshegeditse logaga; Phokobji ini a
tsang ka litni.
bo a trguegile gapi." (Padisd I iBif .)
8 "E rile motlha mongwe, bagologolo, lzwa dithabcng dhgwe, go tto go na lc
mongwe motsana o batho ba ini btt neng ba sa itumele. 9 Ga bo go na le di'
tshwene tse ditotta tse di neng di tle gantsi, di tle go tttswa bana ba bannye mo motsirtg
gongwe mo masimo, fa di ka ba fitlhila ba sa nne le bommaabdni. 10 Gdni foo
ga bo gct lc mosadi mongwe '*^a motlhdlagadi, yo o tt(l a na le bana ba le bararo, e le

botllte." ( Padisd III 1 58)

11 "Yesu a tloga mo Yudea, a ba a boila kwa Galilea; mme a bo a na le go
ralala Samaria. 12 Jalo a fitlha kua motsing mongwe wa Samaria, go twe,
Sikara, gaufi le sebata sa lefatshe se Ynkobe o se neileng Yose;t'e morwawi; 13
sediba sa ga Yahobe sa bo se le gini foo. Jalo ereka Yesu a n(t a tsenywe he letsal>a

basetsana

:_:
:-=
:.,

2I+

Lessoru 43

ja loit6, a nna fa

sedibeng: e bile ya bo e le mo robakeng rwa nahd ya borataro ya

mogolo." 2 (Yohane 4: 3-6)
14 "Kea lo bolitila ka re, E tlaa re mo bosigong joo banna ba le babedi ba
tlaa bo ba le mo bolaong bo le bongwe
Jila; mongue o traa tsiwa, yo mongwe a trogilwa.3 15 Basadi ba re babedi ba traa bo ba sila
mongwe o traa
^mdga,i
tsiwa, yo mongwe a tlogilwa. 16 Ba mhetola ba mo rayaio
rr, Kar, Morina?
A ba raya a re' Kwa setoto se gdni, manong re adni a tria bo a phuthigita gdni.,,
motshegare o

(Luke 27: 34-37)

86

sxBncrsr

Translate into Setswana:

where can those women be going carrying

(o' head) grain baskets

Dikgafila.ot.r, tuHng it to ihe chief. z
whenever the rain has properly commenced, the chief p.o".luir.r,
the proughingseason, and rve all go to the lands to begin the ploughing. a
3 Later on,
rt must be that they are carrying

the

rvhen the corn has been reaped, v,e inspan again and ,.','ou.-"-tt-r.-grain
home to
Mochudi. 4 Non', (of) what can that dust be yonder in the
irain ? It wilr
be (of) the tax oxen rvhich were assembred yesterday. 5
whenever they have
been counted, the store-keepers buy them; but nor,v that we hear
that Footand-mouth disease has broken out again, 6 I think that oxen
will not have
(r.vill lack) a sale all year round. 7 "Now the fame of shakespeare
was already
knor'vn by the country; his books were read in Germany and
Itary. g He
(himself) went on buying property (houses) in stratford, und b".u-""u
councillor

there, all the time residing in London.,' (Diphoshdphoshd, ix)

9 "some people in India are in the habit of having (rua) tame tigers and
cheetahs. 10 one story telrs of a gentreman who was nearly kiileJ by the
tiger he had brought up. Il He r.vas sitting outside his tent, reading
a book,
dor.r'n beside him. s
1.2
rvent on doing this for a *hile.

his beast lying

hand; it

rhe tiger began to lick its master,s

13 1n. g.ntr"-an suddenry rea-

lised rvith horror that the wilcl beast's instinct (origi'nal habit)
had arisen;
1+ but because he knerv the rvays of wild beasts, he r,r,.as afraid to take

away his
hand, in order that he should not make the animar more and
more angry.6 1,i
HF- tYto\ hrJrlrrl bi sejnrg hit" "surnnfr Tr ? dr$rrnce, so 'ne ca'lreh to 'rirm anit tritil
him to come quickly rvith a loaded gun.7 I
16 The gentleman went on sitting, not moving at all, aithough now his hand rvas very painful as the beast con-

tinued to lick it;

to come back. lo

17 he endured the pain u,hile rvaiting for the servanr

18 You may be certain he found it a rong time before the

servant carne back, although the boy 14ras very quick ancl soon came with the
gun. 11 19 He too acted u.ith skill, he came near stealthily (by stalking) and
aimed at the tiger r.r'ell, and shot and killed it.
20 we can well believe that
that gentleman, from that time, once and for all gave up having a tame tigeri',
(See Padisd II, pp. 73-75)

Notes

1
2
3

Another case of the Tswana preference for the passive.

Note tsenywe ke letsapa, lit., had been entered by weariness.
Note the a tlogilwa.

Lesson 4.i
a

terni is a noun frovt go lema, and

215

a syltonym; another

nour1, tema,

nieans rather a piece of ground marked out by being ploughed round u.ith a single
ha

ona

z/

furrorv, and thus delimited for ploughing. It also means the plough-furrorv.
Hence the derived meaning used in books or rvritten tyork-tema is a paragraph,
and ternana is a verse or verv small paragraph.
5 rapame is Perfect of rapama, lie dorvn; see L.rsson '18 for these posi-

tional verbs.

o The book from

u,i.rich tl.re cxtract is taken has a certain gramrnatical

form here (for 'lest'), which is better Tsrvana, but u'l-rich has been paraphrased
because it has not yet been studied.

7
e

tlhaeletsa is to speak very loudly so that someone at a distance can hear.

tlhatlhila (do not confuse with tlhatlaya) is to put animals or stock into
kraal; and hence to put a cartridge into a gun or rifle.
9 suta is to move one's position, an intransitive verb; to mo\re a thing is
to shutisa it. The Applied form sutila has two uses; (1) rvith locative, e.g.,
sutila kwa pele, or sutilila kztsa pele, move forward; and (2) with a direct object,
e,g., sutdla motho yoo, move out of that person's way, i.e., make room for, or give
place to, that person. (See e.g., Luke 14:9)
ro itshdka is to be patient or persevering under difficulties or delays, to
endure; r'vhen one has to express the enduring of any thing or condition, the
Applied form is used with a direct object.
11 ga re...1 is an idiomatic usage with the force of indeed', 'of a truth',
a

re
11.

le

tr

etc.

(See cases on pp. 38, 59, of Rammdni.)

T-T. 39 I Di=kgos+ ts pdi tse-, tsa bo fri lwblang ka

lbaka leo- ? A ga Cia lca tsa fwb-Ia bogcsl ?
2 +Aric
goxnpi-ene dia bB dl egile r-eatl.d lea kag-isho- 3 rBatsa*i
ba gagr.rb b-a gepotsb gr fc lefa ba sa sftene' o t*aa bo a
l+ tKa rrakbeo, bort+i jnra
l ms d;ilsal.cqglsa hbnb. t
Belswana J+l bo bo no bo sa ilse pils-ana ya tsh-ip! y-a
bo e l slb s-e s_eslu mo 86 bbnb-. t
5 rYsr+ e. llog.:- mo
Y+rdsa, -a bebla }<tra Geb-Iea; ffi{e 'a bo a na ie go }e}ala Sanaria-. 6 .haaeng sediba 5e ga Yakobe e bo 5-e 1e
gbnb f-o+i

te

le

nro lebakeug
Patare fla molshegars-o megolo. t
b'11-e

fa

bo

Iila

nakb y-a b-

te

d
1t

TONE-PRACTICE 39

'Kea lo bolelela ka re, E tlaa re mo bosigong joo banna ba le babedi ba tlaa bo ba le mo bolaong bo le bongwe fela ; mongwe
o tlaa tsewa, yo mongwe a tlogelwa. Basadi ba le babedi ba tlaa
bo ba sila mmogo; mongwe o tlaa tsewa, yo mongwe a tlogehva.
Ba mhetola ba mo raya ba re, Kae, Morena? A ba raya a re,
Kwa setoto se gone, manong le aone a tlaa bo a phuthegela teng.'

216

LESSON 44
OI'HEI{ bo USAGES: CO\IP.\iiISON-

1h.." are sc'eral other

usages rvhich cmproy an Auxilia ry bo in one \r-av

another; thcv are riften erusi'e in their meaning, but they are crescribed
here tliat the student rnal' be on the outrook for them ii t,;.
,"udir-rg, anci thus
graclually acquire familiarity rvith the circumstances ir u-hich
th"y cur. be usecl.

bo following an e re construction.
constructions

sometimes, instead

har-e the sense

of

ti-rc

e re

of 'rvhener-er' being folio'vecl (Lesson

av consequential "i'hich in the Habituar mood, they are foriowed by an
Auxi!4
'erbs
liary 6o and the consequential
verbs in the Indicative mood.
ea re moilto a re, Dia sistt, a bo
r.l.henevcr a man says, ,They are
a raya tsa ga gahi !
rniiking', 1.e generally means his orvn
"Ea-re fa ntonnn a pa8.1ma-pitse, a ho :ill ,(**'XI;::lhorsc,
irc alrvays
a tshotsi thupana ya yini', (patt III
i,5.3); has a iittle stick for it.
"Mme. e tlaa re lo bdna yerttsarema o
But *,rren you (ivilr) sce Jerusarem
dikilue ke dintwa, kt bo lo itse fa tshwa- encompassecl by arrnies,
you (rvill)
fak) ya dni e le gaufi" (Luke 21 : 20); r
knorv that her jestruction is near.

. 'I'he follorving examples cxhibit also a slight cha'ge in the cmphasis-for

inti'reere...lso...co.structions,r.lthoughth"rn"arriir!ismorcorressthatof
e re . . arLd Habituals, thc &o contributes its cicment
of probability or inferencc,
and thc clemcnt .f habituarity or frequcncv of actior is
often *,r.h .i".."ou.J.
"' . ' gore e re ke ),a nutheting ke bo he so that riirrc:r I go to the partv I
mav
e apere" (Pad,isd tIil(t) ;
wear (i,-,c ro.nrir.rl; it.
". '. btt dutnalana go re, e re ka nnst) they agreeci that i^ thc
morning thev

ba ba ha ),a go ima lobelr)"

(pulii

I,zt)

l.oulcl go to run a race.

But T'slvana allori's mtrch iatit'de in these co'structio^s; the last

example

cculd ha'e rcad, equally u'e11, r: traa re ha nrtsd

ye . . .; or, e t/a.a re ka mosi ba ye . . .

bo- ho hct

ba

ts

ya. . .,. o.,

e re ka

mosr)t

kabo...and ko...

ka bo is used to indicate a potentiality:

"Ga a /mke a tnmetsfl, re.fa a ka bo a
ric cannot beat her, no matter liorv
gaketse jang" (Mekgzua le Metai
angry he may be.
122) ;
"Go lesa dipolild tse dic sua, e ka bo e
to let thcse stories dic would be a
le tatlhigild e kgolo" (Padisd

III i55) ;2

grear ioss.

_ But the principal use of this formula is to introcluce either the protasis or
the apodosis in conditionar sentences; in the second or consequent
clause the

kaho is often

shortened dorvn

to ko:

Lesson 44
"

fa khudubane e ka bo e tlhokomologile

ditshigd tsa bana . . . e ka bo e gorogile

sentli . . ." (Padisd Il47) ;
"fa u ka bo u batla go tlotla Kosi, u ka
bo u se ka wa bua nai u tagilwe', (patl.

rr 168) ;

av
ed
US

d.
re

)n

ii-

"Fa ka bo e ne e se pelokgale ya ga
rri, tau eo e ka bo e ne ya bolaya motho" (Padisd IIl82);3
"Fa rona re ka bo re utlule pud e, re
ko re e tlhalogantsi sentli" (padis6 II 16) ;
"Morina, fa u ka bo u no u le ;t'a, kgaitsadiahi o ko a se ka a swa,' (yohane
11:21,32);

re

VS

fa

[)

re ka bo

...,

re

Five other less usual uses

(1) bo (or boo) meaning

f,r

the turtle had disregarded the children's laughter . . . it would have

arrived all right . . .
if you wanted to honour Kosi, you
would not speak u,'ith her r.vhile you
w-ere

drunk.

if it

had not been for the bravery of

my father, that lion would

(could,

might) have killed a man.

if we had

heard that saying, we

would have nnderstood it well.

if you had been here, my brother rvould not have died.

Lord,

kabo...

of bo

" Ga rongwa motho go tlhdmamisa bo

e le lonao lwa ga Kwalabe tdta', (pad.

e,

isr) ;
". . . mme lo tlhotlhomisi

..."

ya Modimo

(1

mewa,
Yohane 4:

(o., re ko

...).

are these:

wherher, if;

of
d.

if

Notice that Tswana is not very particular about the distinction

between
'might','could', and'would'in these cases; see the quotation lrom padisd
II, p. g2
irr particular. There . . . e ka bo e bolaile motho wiuld have been
equally correct.
However, this is not a comprete treatment of conditionur ."rrt.rrc.r;
the
contingent mood (see Lesson 52) is arso used in these. But the usual
pattern is_

In

2r7

bo he

I);

a man was sent to make sure u,hether

it was actually Krvalabe's foot-print.

but investigate the spirits, (to see)

rvhether they are of Coa.a

(2) bo with the Habitual mood;

". . , basadi . . . ba di isa kwa kgosing
the

le

si

hwa go tlo go bo go baakaantswi tli-

."

tsaga . .

(3)

IIIl119);

bo ne ne ...; this is not very common. It has the force of ,if it

it is so), then . , .'(Alternatite form, e be no no):

motho

yo

ea bo e le mang,

ne ne phefd e mo utlzoa le

(Mareko

pared large pots. .

be so (and

"Ana

(Padisd

rvomen take them to tire chief,s,

rvhere there are (also usually) pre-

fa

e bo

lewatli jaana?,'

4: 4l);

Why, lvho can this person hre, if the

rvind and the sea obey him .- as they
obviously do ? s

(e bo ka . ' . is sometimes useci rvith a sense similar to that

of e bo rte ne.)
)f
e

(4) bo exclamatory;
"A bo
rr 137);

not very common:

leina la gago le le lentli!', (pad.

indeed thy name is excellent (or, how

excellent. . .)!

218

Lesson 44

(5) bo meaning 'as if', 'like':

a motho o ha nna le
ndnyane?

II

diphuka,

COMPARISON, as

boo

can a man have wings, as

bird? (or, like a bird.)

grammatical conception,

if he \lrere

is not very definite

rn

Tswana, and is e{Tected in any of the following ways:

By means of mr.t and the locative ending-mo

and proper nouns:

terena e bofefo

mo holoing;

selipi se, se bogale mo go

se b,,'gale mo go lsollhe;

case of pronouns

a train is quicker than a wagon.

this axe is sharper than that one.
it is sharper than all, i.e., it is the sharpest.

seo;

they are ferver than we are.

ba babdtlana tno go rona;

go in the

By the verbs Jeta (pass, erceed), and gaisa (exceed, excel):

he is better (more) educated tlian his

o rutegile go feta monnatad;

young brother.
this axe is sharper than that one.

selipi se, se bogale go gaisu seo;

By

bogolo

go . . . or bogolo (and duplication of that word)

this axe is sharper than that one.

selipi

se, se bogale bogolo go seo;

dira jaana, go bofefo bogolo;
". . . jo bogologolo bo molemi

5:

(Mathaio

39)

do

it this way, it is quicker (or,

(wine) is better'

easier.

bogolo" the old

Note that speed in running or rvalking, etc; can be expressed, in comparison.

in several u'ays:
he lobeld mo go wina;
he tobeld bogolo go ztina;
he ha (or nka) gtt sia;

Comparison

or

of

bogolo-segolo,

adverbs

or

can run faster than you.

can run faster than you.6
can out-run you, run faster than you can

is efiected generally by

bogolo

or

bogolo-bogolo.

segolo-bogolo :

"mme a goa bogolo bogolo . .

." (Mareko

10: 48);
,,, , . a ga o hetla o apesa lona bogolo
jong . . ." (Math.6: 30);
"Mme turnedi ya gagwi ya tota bogolo
bogolo" (Luke 5: 15) ;
". . . e bile ke yo mogolo go Jeta moperoJeti" (Luke 7 : 26) ;
"Ka re, mpolilila go re, yo o tlaa mo

but he cried out more loudly.

how much more shall he not clothe

you'

but his fame increased more and more,

also he is much greater than a prophet'

tell me, which of them will love hir:

ratang bogolo mo go bdni, ke ofe?" (Luke most ? (he who will love him the more.
of them, is which ?)
7: 42) ;

Lesson 44
"Bogolo phupu (pupu) e nna
lesaka . .

."

nxrncrss

87

(Padisd

IIl124);

fa

gare ga

21,9

rather (or, generally, more often) the

grave is in the middle of the kraal.

Translate into English:

1. "E rile ka letsatsi ja bosupa, letsatsi le ise le phirime, batho ba motse ba

Samesone ba re,
2 Go na le eng se se monate bogolo go dinotshe? Go na
le eng se se thata bogolo go tau? 3 Samesone a ba raya a re, Fa e ka bo lo se
raya

ka lwa lema ka

kgomo

ya

me

ya moroba, lo ha

bo lo se ka lwa lemoga nydba

ya

me.,'

14: 18) I "Le e leng ngwana o tle a itshenole ka ditird tsa gagwi,
bo tird ya gagzad e ntli, le go re, a e siame." (Diane 20: 11)7
5 ,,Ke gdni,
fa e bo ne ne jaana, lona lo le bosula lo itse go naya bana ba lona dinid tse di molemd,
(Baatlhodi

jang Rraeno yo o kwa legodimong o tlaa naya ba ba mo tdpang dilit tse di molemd?." (Mathaio 7:11)
6 "A dipdnd tsa lona di tuki, le lona lo nnd jaaka
batho ba ba lebeletseng morina wa bdni, fa a bowa hwa modirong zna nyald; 7
gore, e tle e re a tla a kgwanyakgzranya ba mmulili kabofefo: go segd batlhanka
bao, ba e tlaa reng morina wa bdni a tla, a ba ftthele ba lebeletse. 8 Ammaaruri
kea lo raya, o tlaa ikdkwaila, a ba dudisa go ja, a ba a tla ka esi go ba niila d.ijd.a s
9 Mme fa a ka tla ka tebild ya bobedi bosigo, lefa a ka tla ka teblld ya boraro,
a ba fitlhila jalo, ba bo ba le segd, batlhanka bao.lo 10 Mme itseng se, go re,
fa mung zaa ntlo a ka bo a itsile nakd e legodu le tla tlang ha ydni, o ka bo a disitse,
a ko a se ka a leseletsa ntlo ya gagzad ya phunngwa." (Luhe 12: 35-39)
11 "Kganteli ha tshoganetso ba e tsosa, ya tlolila Ir{zima ini a ise a ebaakanyetse, a eme fila a e lebile a ja kgakge.ll 12
12 Ramosa a e tlhaba pelo;
mme ya bo e setse e lomile Nzima mo go botlhoho, mo lefa a ka bo a phedile, a
bogolo

ha bo a ne a tsztsa segdli fila." (Padisd 11169) 13 14 15 t6

13 "Mo tlitoropong tatlhdgild ya pud e setse e diragetse e le kgolo; goa bo go tlhabisa ditlhong go
utlwa ngwana wa Motszaana a bua seburu sentli, gongwe sekgowa, segagab| sdni
a sa tlhole a se itse." (Padisd III|55)
14 "Go na le sesupd setlgwe sa go kaya
tlotld mo bagolung, ebong go sitma. E ne e le sesupb sa tlotld ya bogolzaane jwa motho,
ka matsal| hgotsa ka thulaganyd ya makgotla.lT 18 ts
15 Ka mola6,
e ne e re fa motho a bolaile, a lere se a se bolaileng kua go bagolwane bangwe le bangwe ba o ka hdpanang nabd." (Padisd IIIIII)
16 ,,Tthigd ya phdtdg\td e e
bolailweng e ne e le yamaloma-a-motho; sehuba e ne e le sa kgosi." (padis6 IIII

12)zo

se

smtli,

1.7 "Mme sehuba e ne e se sa phdtdgdld fita: fa motho a brnye sengzoe

o na a tle a ise bontlha jwa sini kzaa kgosing; e bo e le sehuba.,' 21 (Mekgaa

le Melad 1117)

nxrncrsn

88

Translate into Setswana:

1 Sir, why did you not honour the old man by giving him the stembuck
you had killed ?
2 I could not see his face for he had his back turned to me. 2p
3 You see, the chief does not $'ant just a part of your paauw, he rvants it all.
4 when I

say I'11 show you r4rere the hares are hunted, you may be sure (knou.

surely) that I will do so. 5 You will, I think, find him a person who takes
much pleasure in setswana proverbs and stories and riddles. a3 24
6 Truly

lliii;i:.

Lesson 44
if

the driver hacl not been there a big disaster *'ourci

ha'e taken pracs.2s 7
that his motor-car is faster trran mine because he passecLme
this morning
,ltr,:l:ur
rrr
ro\\.n. b you Joung man, are
bullying
a
cripple
?
Why, e'en
.reallv
'outhem.
small bo,vs are sorry for cripples and help
9
Are ,rot nta women more
u'orrh1' of being (ought to be) honoured than
young girrsr2o 10 If it rvere
for the jearousy of those among rvhom rve lir..,
.i.iuo.,ld
'ot
here very nicelv
i'cleed'
11 'r'here is nci one *hn.rn eat a rvrrole sheeprive
himself, no matter
ho-,r big hc may bel
12 Olcl ma', rve don,t want your.l;;;, you can sell
tliem tcl those u'ho bcrieve in them. 13
\\re have ui*,uy. riveJ without them,
ancl rvc rvill go on li'ing *'ithout them.
_r+ sir, I say th;;;." two proof-s,
*'irich sho*'him to be the stearer: 1-5 In
the first p;.. h;-;. absent from
horne thiit night; in the seconcr place, his footmarks
u,ere found yesterday arouncl
,ur home. 16 "If (ri'hen) the time of har'est has
come, the elephants often
go to the fields of nealies ancr rice, ancl do
much damage. 17 They come
out of thc fbresr at night ancr soon break
down (thuba) th."f"r-r.., ancl go through
the gardens eating the.foocl; but their tread
ciotvn rnore than ttr.y au,. 1g
Irr tlrc morning uhe^ the o*'ner of the gardens
gets up, rr" n"a.- (lemoga) that
the eiephants har.e come during the nii'ht,
a1cl havc left his lands in ruins.,,
(Padisd II i9)
Notes

sa'a1a.o is to beco'rc ord or rvastecl

or utterry $,orn ollt; here usecl of
tlre dcstruction of the,citv. If a person
grorvs ord an,r useress the verb tsofara
is used of him; if a thing, e.g., ;gu._"rir,
suffers that fate, one uses the verlr

dnala;

tv'hrle

if

a thing iike a wagon*grorvs olcl and

l'orn o.rr'rtr"

Notice tlie extension

oi

rr..l

is

szoaJ-ala.

tn"" pronoun or
T'his process is com.non before the
,concorcl. (see r,esson 12.)
r.erbs; e ,;t, io,ro-noo sa; mas,
utt su; jalo dikgo,trL tsaa.s'ti).:r; ntpsa ^u.,o.ytiur,i"
e rte ee ja,. etc. The extension
is usually of
tlre subjectival concord, but it may be
of ari objectivar one; e.g., go tra ba ee ja
rno seletnong, Rammdni, p. 97.
There seems no reason for conjoining
this extra
to tir" o'..b itself, as is often done.
'o*-el
3 Notice that the lirst fta 60 is often
in the irnpersonal; e ka bo ..,
sornetimes both the Aa 6o phrases are
of this type; but generary the second
one
lltkcs a concord agreeing rvith a noun
or pronoun, as in sentence 3 in Exercise g7"
a Another instance occurs in Ezri 2
: 59 : Aryr. 7 . Ur.

see another case

in

'.'A-ko mpolilili go re ti,tu.ke

pesarema

g:4,

seil.tse)tg,

ya ttttiga ya ne e tra

and tr,vu exampre s in Diphosltdphosd;

be no ni e thurakutt

.iaaka la plteteu (pltelehu) iaatta?".ni J'Fu go'r,pirro tt

tlaa bo no
.jaana .. ." pp. 14 and 15.

6
7
B
e

ntlhanogetse

just ,I am faster than you,.

itshenola is Reflexive of senola, to reveal
or uncover,
Literally

ikdkwaila (or itrama) gird oneself, another

Reflexive
dudisa, Causative of dula,

sit; make to sit down.

10 tubild, or better tebilild,
a natching or waiting for.

no,

ka bhoganetso, suddenly.

'erb.

Or, nnisa,

Lesson 44

221

12 ja hgakge is one of the many idiomntic phrases crnplor.i'g the

'erb
.ju, cat lit., to eat astonishrnent, i.e., to be I'cry astor-rishcd, amazcd: kgak.qc
cones from the same root as gakgamala. (See Appendix on Iclioms, -\rticle 2li.)
13 Note the adlerbial nct go hotlhoko, sorell', ser.ercl1,.
14 Notice the construction, a fairll' comrnon onc; nto ..., meanir-rg ,in
sttch n s-ay that', or, 'to such an cxtent that'. Sec, c.g., ntotttte (t rlhabirau ke
litlltortg nto a ileng a ltgaotsa lo bua (Pudisd IIIl17).
tno go are the concorcls of Class X singular, as u'cll as of thc r-rouns golo ancl
.f'elit; note, e.g., go no, ke crigl l'hat's all this ? cseng no .fila, la go rno a|tiira . .
(Padiso III ll); petsi,t'a nc t'.fcta mo nku so itshikilatrg (Clcttcsise 4: 1,7) .
l5 pltedile is Perf. rtf pltela.livc; rcirllv a Sotho ri'ord, thc bettcr 'I'sryala
ri'orcl is lsftela.

16

Remember this usage

of tsua rneani'g to bcrr.rnt', a.d its

ca'satir,e

to lnake to

become ; rt' tlao no ttlsha noruti, n'e shall rrinhe him a teachcr.
17 ha1,a, and, its Applicd fornt haila; poi't out to, indicate: sekai is a
sign or portent; also seAad.
trIslta

l8

sdmahas no English equivalcnt; it mcans tti bring tl-rc dutiful oflcrir.rgs

Jame killed in tl.rc hunt) rvhich arc thc right of senior.s or

(cspecially of food, or

old people. Lads and bo1's had to givc any 'kill' to thc ncarest senior person,
rvho hirnself might halc to pass it on to his senior; s'hen an ar|.rlt made a kill,
it had to bc divided up, ancl brcast, hcad, eycs, kiclncys, etc., sent to thc appropriatc authoritics in farnill,-, clan or tribc. (In thc soutl,r siorza.)
19 matsalit class \ plu. notrn fronr {,, rsalu, r. begct gi'e birtrr to.
20 sehuba, hcre tlte brcirst of ir tlcatl unirnal. T'he n,onl'r has other 1ses,
but the same basic meaning. It c:rn Lrc said of a liorse, e ua le selutba, it has good
r'ind, is a good runner; or of a humarr bcing, e.g., o rshuauetsc gore a bo a tn le
sehttba le nonofi (Padisd IIIl67), hc certainly must havc goocl lungs and strength.
'rhc r'orcl is also used of lurg ill'esses or complaints; he bolazoa he sehtfia, just
or
ke na le sehuba, means I har,.c a sorc clrest, or pains in rny lunes.
2t bontlha, or rrore usually bontlhattttgzue (from lfl/ra, c:nd or part),

means a part or a portion of ar-rvthing.

22 Note that

there is a tlialcctic variation

irrdefinite of the Potential rnoocl

of Ju ne ke

23

sa hake ha

kgatlhiga

rika

nt:gatir.c

of thc

'ot pleasure 'ot

ka (or mo) is to take
or intercst in

go hgatlha motho is to pleasc

top. Bt

in tlrc

past-

; some tribes sav ke 1e he ka sc kahariha ilstead

for 'I could
buy' or '\l-irs
able to buy,.
sorrrcthi.g.

person; c.g., lse rti kgatrhitertg Mmutli, patlis| I r,i9,

hgatllm also has tire meari.g of saying thi'gs that are pleasant but
1r

untruc; to flatter.

24

seane (diane) is a pro'crb; ,oette (tlitnane) .r reittorrc (,tuirtatta) lsa

folk-talc, or fairy story; n1,dba is a ririclle or guess. T'o tell a stor1, or sct i1 riddic

is

go tlltaba mainane, etc.

25
26

kohi (kotse, kzoetsi) is a clisaster, calamity, ctc.

Tlrere are . numbcr of collectir.c
of this tr.pc
-,r.; tshadihgol, is
old rvomen, nna-hgolct is
r'c'; tsliirtatrc'rou's
is all thc lrny.,
bo1,s generall.,.;
'1c1
and tsltetsana is girls ir.r general
: hrtthepu antl borhepaitl/ rrean votrng girls, sa'
late teen-agers and \rounger teen-agcrs. (Also bothepha, bothephatta.)

*'-

Lesson 44

222
T-T. 4O

I ft. re nrellrc & rr D*a sis-a' 4-b raya

2 'Frneduhudu le KSudu Le"t du:nalana- E rc
3 'Go lesa
tma lobelb'
tta bo ba 1;a
"= go
ro* uo, c le Latthbei*h s kgsl,r''

ffig4rit.
;"f"";.=b
a]prrliu tse &ie

"c
dits'ixbgg tsa
Khi*duU*""-e-X-" bo -e tlhekonoJ-ogllS
t?a
5
b4r+, e ka bo -e ger:eg'if+ ry{l-i:- '
g-a K,nelal:e l-qta- |
Iwa
lenso
r"
e
il
iin"**,ni*a u"l n
ff ,garat+
kwa.go tle So
ba ise dinkg- tse lG.a kgesi4g'
5
tA
J bo lelna La gadilsaga l-eng-' t
L ;-0".*-*osr+e
g rc f-"tf-i, I I
I rKErra }eana }a gag'+ l::e Lentli
*':*l'g--:;
fb c be ne
9 'f,na melho 1'o, oa'oo e l-e rnanS'
fofU Ins trllvra, Ie }el^retle' iaan+ !t

l+

rffE-

""

ToNE-PRAcrIcE +0

Mo ditoropong tatlhegelo ya puo e setse e diragetse e le kgolo ;

goa bo go tlhabisa ditlhong go utlwa ngwana wa Motswana a bua
Seburu sentle, gongwe Sekgowa, segagabo sone a sa tlhole a se

itse. 2

Sehuba e ne e se sa phologolo fela; fa motho a bonye

sengwe se sentle, o na a tle a ise bontlha jwa sone kwa kgosing ;
e bo e le sehuba.

'!

223

LESSON

45

REFLEXIVE FORM: AUXILIARIES t/oga AND akofa

Reflexive action of a verb is rendered
simple (or other) form of the verb:

". . .

1>heho

ke

mohgzua

wa go inaya

ke go inaya lesegd, go inonotsha mo . . ." (Padisd II1122);

nonofd . .

in Tswana by prefixing j- to

the

a charm is a rvay of giving oneself

power . . . it is to give oneself happiness, to strengthen oneself

in . . .

rvhere the verbs are naya, to give, and nonotsha, to strengthen, which is thc
Causative of nonofa, to be strong or able or powerful.

with most verbs, however, the prefixed z- necessitates a consonantar

change or permutation, similar to those we have already studied in Lessons

72,16, and 30.

When the verb begins rvith a vowel, the prefixed e- becomes r.A- (compare
the nouns formed from verbs beginning with a vowel, Lesson 30); and thus from
the verbs aga, agila, ipila, utlwa, utlzoila, oketsa, itse, itsa, ina,for example, we have-

ihaga, build oneself;

ikagila, build for oneself;
ikipila, dig oneself in;
ikutlwa., hear oneself ;
ikutfuila hear for oneselfi

ihoketsa,
ihokelctsa,

ihitse,
ikitsa,
ihina,

increase oneself;
increase for oneself;
know oneself;

forbid (to) oneself.

dip oneself into.

Many other verbs undergo change of the initial consonant in similar ways
to those already found:

bolaya,
bolila,
dirila,
fitlha,
golola,
harnisa,
laola,
lata,
senya,
supa,

kill,
tell,

for,
hide,
release,
enrich,
order,
love,
destroy,
point out,
make

makes
makes
makes
makes
makes
makes
makes
makes
makes
makes

ipolaya, kill oneself.

ipohla, confess;
itirila,
make for oneself.
iphitlha, hide oneself.
ihgolola, release or free oneself.
1

ihhumisa,

itaola,
ithata,
itshenya,
itshupa,

enrich oneself.
order oneself. I
love oneself.
destroy oneself.
show oneself.

Verbs beginning othervrise than these listed suffer no change when the Reflexive prefix is added.

Now, when the objective pronoun of the first person singurar is prefixed
to a Reflexive verb (see Lesson 16), the n or ln is not prefixed, but is
infixed between the initial i- and the first consonant of the verb, thus:

**--

il"

Lesson 45

22+

a loa inkanya? (verb ikanya)

u ho u intshwarili ! (itshwarila)
". . lefa e le mang yo o tlaa impolilang

."."

(Luhe 12:

B)

do you trust me

do forgive me I
rvhoer-cr n-ill confess me,

(ipotito);

THREE NOTES

(1) Remembcr that not all verbs begi.ning *'ith r are Reflexir.es, although
most of thcm are.
some, like erse knorv, itsa forbid, irru tily: in ..,ate r, are not reflexiye in arv
\rav; otlrers, like ikanya or itslnaarila are rcflexiYc in lirrrn but not in rncaning.
(2) 'fhc Impcrativc (A-form) of the lleflcxii.c vcrbs
in -a,. e.g., iphitlhi! (not iphitilm), hidc vourself!

arrd rrot

ihrt'atlltayang),

alrvays cnds
ihzuatlhalteng

in

-d

(nrs'

rcpentl; iphodisi, rra! (not iphotlisa, rra), l.real thyself! (This fact
-i as, in csscucc, an objectival concorcl;

gircs reason for regardir-rg the prefixccl

sec l)oke's Zur-rr Gneunran, p. 1,59.)

(3) Tl'rere arc manlr i1f51,'.,.1 llouns fonncci fror:i thcse Reflexives, of tbc
type boftaold, hoil)olilo, ltLtiket06, s1c.. so il you fincl a noun beginning
in hoirvhich is'ot in thc Dictionary, behead it ancl see rvhat Reflexive verb
it comes frorrr.

il

Ar-rxiliary i'crbs f/ogra ancl akofa.

The r.erb tloga, like rna'y others of thc Auxiliaries, has both a primarr'
meani'g and use, i.i its or'' rigl'rt, ancl ir special rnea.ing rvhcn ltsed in ar-r
Auxiliarv capacity.
:\s a verb in its orvn rigi.tt, tlrtga (Lesson 37, Note l4) means to get up
and go
a\\'ay; it is not quite a svnoltyln fot tsa.maya.

"IIne

e rile rc tloga . .

."

(Pad.

II,t4S);

"Fa re tloga Moettgele a rava flrcrg zau

ntlo a re

.. ."

(Padisd 11146)

u.hcu n.c lcft . .

u,hc'*-c

cleparted the Angel said to

the master.of the housc . ..

It is this simplc form r,hich yields the much commoner verb, tlogila, to depart from, or to lcar-c, somconc or somc placc (and lrencc, to leavc
someonc or

something alone).

But *'he' .serl ir rrn Auriliarv capacit.y, troga conr.cvs tl-rc mcanir-rg of
Just after that', or ,soonr, thus:
"Bn tloga btt dumaluna {o r(
tlrcy then (soon) agrectl that . .
(Padisd I ll) ;
"Ngzoanvana a simr;lola go lelu .. . btt
thc child bcgan to cry . . thc otl-rers
bangzue ba mo tlogila . . . a tloga a
lc
k:ft her . . . shc soon \\.ent along thc
3,a
.

." (Padisd I J6)

"O rile a sena go di fcdisa
nohu . .

ga tloga ga
r l3e)

zaa leuba

tsotlhe .fila,

le legolo

..,'

padisd

rir,'er . . .
rvhen he had finished them altogether,
there then came a great famine . . .

iltF,

Lessort 45
"Ka negopol| e ? iltseng.ialo,
a ngzalgila mtt,tg tL'o dikolohi"
I1'll)

u tloga l'ith thoughts

(Padisd sently (soon

225

such as thesc, hc preaftenr-arcls)

ran

a\\-ay

iiorn the pig-orvner.

In somc of these cases, fr.rr instance the thiril, thc idiomatic Iinglish ccluiyalent
s'ould bc of the t1'pe, . . . as soon as l.re had finished tl.rem, there fell a great
faminc . . . -fhat is, the Auxiliary tloga indicatcs that somc actiol follol-s
spcedil.v upon sorne othcr action or conclition of things.

,tlr

'l'hc phrasc go tloga. , . is an idiorn mcaning, from that time on.

"Go tloga mo lctsatsing jeo, tau ya tlhahanila tliji ..." (Padisd IIi12)-3
"Go tloga.fa, ka dumila se lentszcc lc sc
buileng" (I\tdisd I 177) ;
"Go tloga.fatto a go se tlhole go le motho opi )'r.t o ntslnt;ertyang" (Bogalatia

6: I7);

from that day, thc lion sharcd (its)

food s'ith Androcles.
fron-r that timc (frorn then) I believed
t'hat thc voice had said.
fi'om nou' onrvards let thcrc no longer
any man trouble me. ("Frorn henccfbrth let llo rnan trouble me.")

'I'he verb akofa, to hurrl or hasten is, likc tlogu, nsctl as an Au,riliary as
uell as in its on'n right; indceci it is much commorler as an ;\uxiliary.
In its general use and meaning it is very sirlilar indeed to the Auxiliary tloga,
but it indicatcs rnorc speeci or haste or irnmediacy. In thc Nerv 'festament it
is frcclucntlv usecl to translzrtc 1\'Iark's 1ar'ouritc adlerb e u0us, 'straightn.ay',
'at once', or 'immediatell":

". . . ba akofa ba tlogila ditloa, ba nto

sala moragd" (Mareko I : 18) ;
"A ahnfa a bodizoa mmaagzoi, a ha a
isizua kztsa kgosittg" (Padisd Il37).4
ExERCISE

89

they at once left their

follon'ecl hin-r.

'ets

ancl

she u'as immediatciy asketl her nrother's namc, and taken to the chicf.

'franslate into Iinglish:

1 "x[ogolori zua hatla go tlhdbdga; milte,iLta

a kafu o ktt itimolartg lenydra ka teng.s 6 7 8

ittiiru g,t rcha go itogila ntaand

2 Ll/A tloga ua akanya ge
re, Jaaka ke reteletswe jaantt he go isa molomo kzaa metsing, a ga nkake ka leha
go tlisa mctse kzoa molomung? 3 Jaaha o ntse o ahanya jalo, wa gatlima kwa

le

kua;

zoa ll.ga zaa hina mahgat'altana a a hoetsweng go se kgahala le nkgusana,

x/[ogolrtri ua akofa zaa l:dntt go re, o ha ithusa ka dni go ihatameletsa metse d a
hotlhdhwa ao." (Padisd IIll7 f.) s
5 "Fa e le ngawnaz,am.osimanc )role, Jto
(t o na a setse a zletse mo maitseong
o na a lebiga e le yct o siatneng tlnla,to
a a bostrla thata, a a neng a tlaa tloga a mo utsha mmolai zoa batho ba le barttsi.lt
7 Ke gdni kafa o nettg a bolawa ka teng, go boloka batho bao, re ini go mmoloka

rno molatung zaa dintsho tseo." (Padisd II147)12 8 ,'Monnantogolo a re,

Ke raya dindnyane: di re thusitse ka lobaha lo loleele, di senya di ja baba ba rona
ba
se

bagolo, 9

di

ne

di

se

mme rona ra tloga ra hufigila selehany\nyarta sa maurtgd a rona

ja, ra di bolaya; ra ipolaila ditsala tsa rona tsa ntntaanete.l3 10

Lesson 45

226

Aitse tshenyigild e e kanakan, e, ke madud a se re se dirileng.

Moipolai ga a rei;

lzoe!" (Padisd 11126)

14 11

"Go troga .fa, ka dumilaie tentswe re se buiren:

xama:ta ke se na poifd ya sepi, ha ya go tshameka; poifd ya tsamaila
,rri. . 11
Kea dumila go re, fa ke ka bo he se ha ka re, mo motlheng wa
tlalilo, ka ya go lei.
nto Testamenteng, ke ka bo ke sule
fila ke go tshrga biloi.,, gai;sa ll77)ts..
13 "Mogtlwane nxongu)e o hire a itira kzca tefatshing je re kgahara, a t,a
ikamogilila bogosi, le go ba a boa." (Luhe 19: 12) 14 ,lBarutwa
ba
Yohane le Bafarasai ba bo ba ikirtitse dijd: jaro bangzae ba
tra ba mo raya ba re.,l-5 Ana.fa e bo ne ne barutwa ba ga yohatte re barutwa ba Bafarasai ba ikitsu
.
.ja, nme barutzca ba gago ba sa ihitse go ja, ke ha rttrha yanglt 16 yesu a:
ruya a re, A bagzoi ba ka ikitsa go.ia, monyadi a sa ntse a ne nabd? Ea te
mott\,(i.;
a se txtse a na nabd, boo (ha bo) ba sa kahe ba ikitsa go ja.', (Mareho
2: lS f .) . "A ba rat'a a re, Tlhdkdmilang, lo ho lo itisi mo b,bel,ttshetlherry; gonrte hotsht
iwa motho ga boa ima mo letlotrong ja dithoto tse o nang ni1r5.ia re zo . .
Le.fatshe ja mohumi monga:e ja unguisa segoro; jato a ithayi
a re, Ke rraa dirati:
ka ke se na mo ke ka bolokilang maung| a me gdni ?" (I.uhe 12: lS- 17) zr z_
rxnncrsr

90

Translate into Setsu,ana:

1 Hurry up, hide yoursel'es in that ca'e at the back of the rock, befr,:,
thc men arri'e. 2 Why are you rvorrying yourself about this
thi'g, u.hic
vou cannot at all c:hange (alter) ? 3 \\rhener.er I see people's beha'iour liL.

that, I say to myself, to knor,r' orieself is better than to enrich onesel

f.
+ \\-a..
a minute, do not ans\\rer him just nou,; I shall soon think
hon, he ca'be dea.:
rvith. 23 5 children *.ho ha'e good parents take
(generally) example fror:..
them-except those rvho are a la*. to themserves. 2i
o uv fricnd, r,o .
cannot free yourself and deny your blame, for you have already
tied yourself u:
by making an agreement rvith those robbers. z!
7 If you have been

all day, mma, u'hy did you not call your mother-in-lns,
soon we shall go to spend the evening at Mmadipina's;

loner..

) 26

27 S f:.".

it is she rvho alu.ays tet:

stories.2s 9 Alth.ugh I am a doctor (thus), I cannot cure myself an..
save myself ; rvhenever I try to do so I am afraid of
croing myself harm. rr
us

My brother, if you ahvays refuse to give in to the larv like"this (as you
do), r-oalone, without a single friend.zg 11 If I

*'ill 'erv soon find yourself all

had a lot of goods, I rvould build myself a nen, house.

themselves are not generally mourned for by their own

rz people who destro..

folk. 13 si., hur.i.

and go to report yourself to the doctor, that he should not

lose his time (of) t:
trs.3o31 14 Once when we were at school I had a companion

come here 16

of mine;
15 but from that time, I only rvrite to hir:
year. 16 I certified to them that my expenses generalry are greale:

a felloll'student
once every

than my \\'ages; but if they u'ill still refuse to rr"ui*., I shaliappeal

myself
to the chief. 17 "There came a leper tohim, kneeling u.rd ,uyirrg, lfor
if you tvish
lo' you have the power to make me clean. 1g Jesus, since he"took pity on
him, stretched out his hand and touched him saying, I rvill; be made
clean.32
19 The leprosy left him quickly, and he was creansec{; but
Jesus charged hirr.
and at once sent him au'ay, saying, 20 See, do not tell
anyone anything:

Lesson 45

227

go and show yourse\t to the priest, and take for your c\eansing an ofienng ol the
things that Moses commanded, to be a witness to them." (Mark 1 :40-44)

Notes

1 Some of these Reflexives have slightly different meanings from the

original verbs. E.g., ipolila, tell of oneself, admit, confess : and itaola means
to be lawless, to obey no law but one's own; go itekais to try hard, to exert oneself.
2 dumalana is a Reciprocal, from dumila, believe or agree; see Lesson 46.
3 tlhakana is to mix (Lesson 37 Note 9) ; so tlhahanila is to mix together
in something, i.e., to take part, share or lot in something together rvith others.
4 Note a bodizoa mmaagzai,lit., she lvas asked her mother; i.e., rvho her
mother was.

5 wa batla go tlhdbbga; batla is here used in an Auxiliary capacity, and

means to near'ly do something ; trans. 'neaily despaired'. (Literally, he sought
to, or wanted to, despair.) Examples
ke batlite go mo lemoga, I nearly recognized him: "jalo ya re fa a utlzt:a pina -e batla go tshwana le ya ga mmaagwi . . .,,
(Padisb 111163 f.),
when she heard a song u'hich rvas nearly the same as her
"o
mother's ... and Psalm
73: 2, "... dinao tsa me di batlile go ),a ...", my feet
had almost slipped.
6 iniila, Reflexive of Applied form of naya; i.e., to give oneself to something, or devote oneself or submit to something.
7 loga maand is a phrase meaning to prepare a plan or device, or, as we
say, to 'make plans'; literally, to weave schemes. With toga the plural, maand,
is generally used; in other connections the singular, leand, can be employed.
8 timola, Reversive of thna, means to quench or allay; one could say
metse a a tsididi ko 6ni a a rimolang lenydra; but it is generally used, as in this
sentence, in the Reflexive ra'hen the meaning is to quench one's orvn thirst.
I botlhdkzpa, literally, rvhich is lacking; hence, rare; hence, precious,
ro lebiga, Stative of leba; be lookable-at; i.e., to appear or seem.
lt maiisAd means manners, outward behavior.rr;
go a na maitsid,
"-.g.,
he has n<r manners' he does not know hou, to behave. (cori-,pui.
mehgzaa, habits
or customs, and maikailild, intentions, desires, purposes.)
12 Note plural of loso (losho), i.e., dintsho (dincho) .
13 hufiga, to be jealous of, hence, to gnrdge.
14 moipolai ga lelelz.ue is a proverb.
5

Note the construction-the main clause is

.fa he ka bo ke se ka ka
ya go leba mo Testamenteng ..., and the adverbial clause of time, inserted
into it,
is . . . he re (: ya re) mo motlheng wa tlatild . . .
16 The last part could have read, ke ha bo he borailwe
fira ke go tshoga
boloi, r rvould (could, might) have been killed by fearing (Infinitive) witchcraft.
t

fast. (Better, go itima dijd.)

iilsa has the trvo meanings; (1) as Reflexive of disa- to w-atch oneself, to beware of; and (2) to spend the evening. (see Note 12 to Lesson
2g.)
Here it Tireans bexare oi, or be on one.s guard against.
ls bobelotshitlha (literally, yellow-heartedness), covetousness. Note the
that is, to

18

Lesson 45

228

iissimilatiorr of thc 7r of pelo to thc D of the prcfix. "fh.s does not holcl i' all
clialects, lrut it does in most of them, for tl.rese bobelo-compound abstract nou1s.

20 lltotrt, gcnerally in thc plural dithoto, rnczurs general household alcl

.tlrcr goocls; onc's 'goods a'd chattels'. See, c.g., ,,... ba plrutha tlntzuatta
1,a
go Pudi ..." (Padisd IIll9), they gathcred together pudi,s ferv things.
21 ungzt'isa, lit., to rnake soniethir.rg to bear fruit; it rvas not thc groulcl
itsclf tlrat l'as fruitful, btrt it marle the trees ancl crops planted in it to bcar fruit,
ancl bc fruittirl' I{cncc'l'as esttcmelv fcrtile'is the right translation of uttgzuisu
scgolo.

22

ttto he ha lt'lohilurrg,

or,

gr.tlo

storc . . .

m, hc lu. . ., i."., a placc *,hcrc I ca'

23 ikclle, t'ait a bit, dor-r't be in a hurrv; il cornlnon exprcssiol, plural

iltellcng. Go iketla is to be at eASe, to halc no tnrublcs; it is corlnron in that
scnse, antl the nonn from it is boihetlo.
24 To take example from something is lsal'a malebila, the noun ct.rrrripg
I'r.m the Applied form of leba; but note, malebila, ttot malebild.
25 latola is to de'y tl'rc cxistence of something; the Rcflcxir,c mcaus
t<r tlcrry that onc has sorncthing, or has clone, or. knorvs, sornething. rr;. I1[areho
8.' ,/'/ rrotc a doublc Reflexivc, iitatola; "... , a iiruroli...", lct hirn tle'y
hirnsell; lit., iet him deny to himself that hc cxists.
26 go.iczaa ke bodutu is to bc catcn by bneliness, i.c.
anothcr of the idiomatic 7rz expressions.
27 'call'

herre

is 'call

t,

onesclf'

ltitsu.

--

ipiletsa, Reflcxir-e

to be lo^cly; it

is

of Appliecl lb'n ,f

2a Scrr Notc 1lJ abovc.

29 cboha, or, ebonene...
30 To pay a sick'isit is rekola; to report on a sick visit is rehodisa-

tlrat is, rvhen you tell thc doctor about a patient, you make the doctor pay thc
patientavisit: autltoreportyourownstateofsicknesstothecloctorisitehodisa;
that is, you make him pay yourself a sick
Yotr lrou' I am or feel'.

visit. so kea gu itekotlisa is ,I am telli'g

31 Lit., should not be lost-by the timc of coming herc.

32 'fhe expressions for having pity or sorro\\, for some person or thing
are built up o' the basic phrase tlhomola pelct, to clrarv out the heart. Thus,
rnonna yole o rrtlhomola pelo, means, that man drau,s out my heart, i.e., he inspires
I am moved rvith sorrorv for him: or one can say, he rlhomoga

nry compassion,

pelo,r irm clra*.n-out the heart, i.e., I feel compassion. Note Mari 1r 4.1, rvhich
is correct-'being moved rvith compassion'. But *hen you express sorrou, for
:r person you must say, ke mo tlhomogdla pelo(Luke 10: 33), which comes to
the same tlring as o ntllrcmola pelo. (Note that Luke ls: 20, a tlhontolwa he
pelo, is a wrong usage; it ought to be either, a trhomoga pero, or, a trhomorzaa
he
ngzoana pel.o.)

Lesson 45
T-T. !l
I iJalo mogoleri wa bslk go tlhbbbga"; lnrie
wa inbbla go i:tcgbla- nraanb z k-afa o k+tttnofa&g len;+ra ka t&9.
2 Wa akofa-wa bbna g rq, o ka tthusa
lia makg-arapana- ao-, go tk-ab-ame-letss melse-E a betlhbkqa
aG. I
3 TL]-bag&ilblng, Ib iphillheng. m6 }ogagpr ler
bsTn+ tra iss ba goroge- l+ Ea re fia ke bbn* U:LitsbL
a batiro iale, k bo ke,ilheeke rs, geilcltsego tlo g+

gafse go ikhunrisa5 'Ttrnnelerlg Ie ba ba ittmblagg-;

Le le-1b 1 bF
b-a ba
bF Lel-ang..'
1
6 Ga ire kak- ka tlhIa heiteka. ke tl-aa bo ke na l-e go inbbl.a- fbl+_
( nl:&, a
re ilelceng fbla-, re se ka ra inilla-

TONE-PRACTICE

4I

I Mogolwane mongwe o kile a etela kwa lefatshing je le kgakala,

a, ya go ikamogelela bogosi, le go ba a boa. Z Jesu a re,
Tlhokomelang, lo bo 1o itise mo bobelotshetlheng i gonne botshelo
jwa motho ga boa ema mo letlotlong ja dithoto tse o nang natso.
Lefatshe ja mohumi mongrve ja ungwisa segolo ; jalo a ithaya a
re, Ke tlaa dirang, ka ke se na mo ke ka bolokel ang maungo a

wi
$i

me gone?

.hp'-

230

LESSON 46
RECIPROCAL FORNI:

Te INTENTIONAI-

O.r. lbrm of the 'l-srvana verb, callecl the Reciprocal, indicates that thc

action concerned is done to each other, by two or more agents acting

at
the same time. The typical rnethod of fonnation is that the
-l of the simple

rerZ /ecanzzes a-za (?'e-E'cr -z//J?f

". . . ba le bantsi ba tlaa hgoPizaa, ba

tlaa dkana, ba ilana" (Math. 2:l :
10); ,

"Ba

dumalana

jakt, bu

simololu go

one another and hate one another.

they agreed together thus,

and

began to teach each other doctoring'

rutana bongaka" (Padisd I159) ;

". . . ba boldldlana

Inany lvill stumble, thev wiII betray

haJa ba ne ba diru-

galilwa ka tertg" (Padisd IIIl87);z

they told one another what

happened to them.

had

4la, the resulting

of
vowels,
assimilation
-alana, and we
by
becomes,
frequently
-dlana
5:44), ata(Yohane
B),
amogalana
II
(Lesson
45
dumilaaa
not
dumalana,
get
hahna, etc. This assimilation of the vorvel of the verb to the volvel of the suffix
does not take place in all cases, but it is of frequent occurrence'
Now, when the verb undergoing this change ends in

Another form of the Reciprocal ending, usecl in a number of common verbs,

is the change of the original -a to -agana (Perf . -aganye). For example,
from leba we have both lebana, to look at each otl'rer, and lebagana, to be facing,
to be opposite; and hence, to be due to or to be the right of'

"Fa ke
sentli

ntse ke bala,

ka utk'oa

lentswe

le bua le lebaganye le wache e

(Padisd I177)

tona"

"Kgakajana le moraka wa ga Montlha

ga bo go le
yo

sebegzoa

monnamogolo, Ramorwa,
se mo lebaganyeng" e (Pad.

as

was going on reading,

tly heard

distinc-

a voice speaking opposite the

big clock.
quite near Montlha's cattle-post there
was an old man, Ramorwa, whosc
due (or right) the find was.

rrrl12);

it:

The student should note this type of Reciprocal and be on the look-out for
tshwara is another common verb which evinces it; tshznaragana is common'

Nor,, all these Reciprocals ending irt -ana can be made causative by
changing the -ana 6 -anya, Perf . -antsi; this may be called the Reciprocausative. Thus from lebana, look at each other, we have lebanya, to make
people look at each other; and from lebagana, be opposite, we have lebaganya,

to make things or people be opposite to each other.4

Lesson 46
"

Molnd

lebaganya

tlhophile dild dingwe go di

le bagolo" (Padisd IIIll2);

231

the law has chosen certain things to

the right (perquisite) ol

old people. (Lit., to put opposite.)

make them

A number of these Reciprocals and Recipro-Causatives have already

into the Lessons and Exercises:
patagana, pataganya;
rulagana, rulaganya.

tlhakana, tlhakanya;
thc

lekana,

gat

come

lekanya;

nple

tray

hgaoga is the mere action of parting asunder, as a rope when it 'parts';

hgaogana refers to the state of the parted ends, or things in a like position;
hgaoganya is the action of some agent which severs or sets them apart.

A few verbs are comrnonly used in all three of the endings we are studying,
and show the range of meanings: for example

her.
and

(The last verb therefore approaches the meaning of the transitive verb hgaola,

ring.

to cut or divide; but hgaola generally has the meaning of cutting-off something

had

from some larger thing.)

thula is to smite, hammer, give a blow to; s

thulana is to collide or bump into each other, as, e.g., two vehicles;
thulanya is to make things collide with each other.

Iting

I u'e
atauffix

In the

case

of verbs ending in the simple form in -sa, -isa, -tsa, or -tsha

(these are often, but not always, Causative verbs), the Reciprocal ending
is always -anya and never -ana:
makes the Reciprocal botsanya, to ask one another.
dwnedisanya
dumedisa, greet,
sehisanya
sehisa, sue, proceed against,

boha, ask,

:rbs,
rple,

:ing,

gaisa,

exceed or

fiusa, help,

tinc: the

excel.

gaisanya

thusanya

comfort,
itse, knou',

gomotsa,

gomotsanya
itsanye

(Note that in the last, the irregular -e ending persists in the Reciprocal.)6

here

There is an idiomatic phrase,

hose

go dirana /e . . . which

is virtually equivalent

to go na le ,. ., to have; "u tlaa dirana le khumd .. ." you will have riches . . ,
(Mathaio 19: 21). It is not in very common use. (See Bahebera 4: 1.3, "...
rvith whom we have to deal"; and Padisd IIl128, "go dirana le pheko ...")

t for
non.

il

There is a common use of the Auxiliary re which, by a natural extention

of meaning, indicates an intention on the part of the agent of the main
verb. In this a re .. ., literally 'he says (said)', has the force of 'he intended,

:by
ipro-

or meant, to . . .':

nake
m)'a'

"ErileTlhasareasena go ts?t)a...

re o tlolila Tshwene"

It

(Padisd

Il9);

when Python had come out,

intended

to

...

he

spring upon Baboon.

232

Lesson 46

"... a bo a re oa tswa m.o sed:ibeng" meaningto

get out of the well.

(Padisd I152) ;
". . . bomonnawi ba

phakila ka mosd his brothers got up early in the mornba re ba ya go mmatla" (Pad. 1172) ;
ing intending to go and look for him.
"Go tswa foo, Lengau le bontsalai ba
thereupon cheetah and her cousins
ragoga, ba re ba ya go bolaya Pudi." jumped up meaning to go and kill
( Padisd II | 20) ;7
Goat...
"Mme ya re J'ila a re o tshzuara koko but just lr.'hen he was on the point
nngwe a ee ja ..." (Patlisd IIl89);
of catching a hen and eating it...
EXERcIsE

91

Translate into English:

"Tsid ya gompieno ga e he e baahanngwa he batsadi ba lehau, jaaka re

bogologolo; 2 mme ke lekau Ie le nang le go ipuila le hgarebi
nngzae e o tlaa bong a rata go mo tsaya.s e
3 Fa kgarebi Ie ydni e mo
rata, ba tlaa dumalana go tsaana." (Mekgzaa le Melad, p. 10, 4 ,,Go tloga
bonye mo go ya

foo, bana bao ba simolola go utlwa rraabd, ba bakila ruri go nna ba itaola.,, (purt. I
172) 5 "Ka mosd Podi ya tla ya feta ka sediba seo, ya uthla ereke go na re sengue
mo sebideng. 6 Ya re ya ohomila ya bdna Phohobji. Podi ya gahgamala ya botsa
go re, U dirang mo teng mo ? 7 Ga fetola Phohobji, Mma, tsala ),a me,
fologu
tt tli u lehi rnetse a; ruri ke metse a mantli mo go gakgamatsang. 8 Fa e le
tuta, ga nhahe ha hhdla go a nzua ! Ke letse he noli bosigo jotlhe, le gompieno ke ntse
he nuta fila; fologa ka bonahd u a lehe a ise a fele! 9 Podi ya hgatlhzoa ke
mafoho ao, ya re le ydni e tlaa leha metse a mantli ao: ya akofa ya tlotita mo teilg
ga sediba.lo 10 Mme e rile fila jaaka e tsina, Phohobji a e tlolila mokutatla,
e bile hantlhayago itsholetsajalo, a akofa atlola gapi a tswamo sedibeng.ll
11 A le kzua ntli a gadima a ohomila u raya Podi a re, Ke gu lebogila thusr) ya
gago, mma! Sala sentli ha pula, nna he tsamailellz 12 A ba a tlogila potti
e e talL mo teng ga sediba, e ntse e ipdna boeleele jzaa go reetsa nafoko a leferefere
le go tzoeng Phohobji." (Padisd Il52 f.) 13 14 13 ,,Gapi, ga tzue Batszaana
ba bogologolo ba ne ba itsanye le Masetedi thata, ba ne ba tle ba ,talane
nabb kutt
Gamothaga." (Padisd III|72)ls
r+ "Gaufi re regae ja ga Lengau Ie pudi
ga bo go nna ba-ga-Phagi re Kgaha: re bdni ya bo e te dits;ta tre a;kgZu,
ba bo ba
tle ba etele Pudi le Lengau.t6 15 E rile ka letsatsi jeo
ba bi ba re ba t,a
fila,
go jila nala hwa goora-Pudi le Lengau, jaaha gali;tz
16 mme ya re ba stt
atamila motse, ba ralala tshimo, ba b6na Lerryau a betabeta tlipotsane. 17 Btt
iphitlha Jila gore ba bdni maihiltit| a gagwi, ba itshokobigo pto, ba lesa Leugau
gore a szretse tird ya gagwi, a bi a boili kwa morag6.,, (padis6 IIl17) 18
1g
"Dilrudi di le pedi di ne di tle di sape malntsi aotlhe mo lekadibeng lengute, je hhuctubane (or khadubane) nngwe e agileng mo go jdni. l'soo tharo i; ne"di
titoaetse go
buisanya, di agisantsi
nxnncrsB

92

thata."

(Padisd I 146)1e

Translate into Setswana:

1 whenever lve meet (with) our friends, we greet one another and ask
after one another's health. 20 2 r say that those iwo boy. ought to be sepa_

rated; otherwise

(eseng

jalo) they will onry go on teasing each othei

urrd unnoying

E.

Lcss,,ttt J6

L-\.\

otlrcl.. .l 'l'[c pcrsolt about uhon \'ou arc spcakilg \\'as all ast.lis|itig
22 't
pcrson, bccause he combinccl clifTcring (dilicrent) dutics (ri'orks)'21

cach

on(j trtlothcr'
\\r" or. all sorrr' lbr tlic clutrlb, as tircy irrc preleutccl from spcaking to
(p1-r'),
*'oocl
t6is
of
price
-5 Rcallv wc agreecl *'ith him r'"ri.rdry about thc
children'
6
uone.
is
alth,rugh hc has clcniecl tl.r. agrcerncnt ancl siricl thcrc
go
g.t yn:,rr"1,."s rentlv *.hilc thcrc is time, so tl-rat u'he' thc otilers colnc You
(balsaani)
'I'hc
bride-nnc1-bridcgroon:l
crir in $hich the
to mcet thern. 7
li Happy arc thcv u'ho
\\'erc wcnt ofl thc road aucl crilliclccl u'ith ir trcc'
and hurt one anothcr'
anothcr
rcconcilc pcoplc ri'ho arc suspicious of (ckrubt) one
(ipnna)
ancl bc sorrt' for
fault
at
g \\,e ."1, 1'n,, ought to .".(,g,'ri." that vott arc
for vtlursclf'
(pl''r')
f,rgi.'cness
(rcpent) tiru clcstructioll vou f,nt. ,:,,.,se.i, ancl ask
\\'orr't *'c
fi'd!
a
\\'hat
i0' gr' big brotScr l.ras f.u'cl a dcacl stcmbuch!
'iccit all I'oursclf ? 12
take
uoulcl
all sharc it ? 1i You rascal! do vou rllean You
13
Nith it'
onc part (rf thc tribe $'as divirlcrl fr.<im the other, it hzrd no clealings
that
(thcmseli'es)
considcred
"'lhis parabic (likcness) he spokc u'ith somc '"r'ht-'
14 'Is'o men
thev rvcrc guu.i 1r.,,p1", ancl tlcspisctl all otl'rcrs, saving'z3
15
ir
tax-gathcrer'
othcr
tl:c
ollce \\'cnt to the teml]ie to Pra\; o"t " Phariscc,
bccausc
thee
I
tl"rank
Gotl'
sa-yir"rg,
'l'he lrh2lris;,:c stoorl antl pra1,r:r1 lirr hirnsclf thus,
(ba bouI nm n<rt lilic othcr p"opl., g..",1r, pcoplc, ancl c|il pcoplc. and adultcrcrs
I givc a
aucl
$'eck,
zacach
in
t$icc
I
fast
16
ln), or likc this trt-gnt1].r.r'.
far o1T,
stooti
hc
tax-gathercr,
t6c
llut
17
tenif, 1v, ltr-tsr,tnrl).f all that I gai..25
saying'
bleast
his
(hin:s:li)
struck
hc
br-rt
r.rot erl"n his c1'cs clicl hc litt rrlr to hcavctr,
'lhis
27
I
tell
vou'
il'i
siuncr'26
it
Goci, havc ncrc\' oll n'", I tt-I"' am
19
the other;
man \\.cnt ck^r.u to his hotrse justilitcl (rnadc riglrt) tnot'e thau
tnakcs
$'lro
licr
but
srnall,
lle
lnatle
ri'ill
bccause each Ouc $'lxr makcs ltin-rs.l1' grlcat
"'i'hus, cotlfcss
himsclf small rvi1l bc mrclc gl.eat." (Lukc 1,\: 9-1J) 20
llc lrcalccl.''
tlrtV
that
vtlu
ont:
anothcr,
anri prav firr
1,our fa.lts t,.re ur-urthcr-,
(James -5: 16)

Notes

lior'/,g,prt sec r\1-rpt'rrtlrx, r\rticlc 2-q' "l'lrc otl:tI r'crbs rrrc l{ccip|o\ tlltl-lltc a tliltal
cals of d/ra, lr,rtr in,, autl i/a, lratc. (Ilut rla u1:,,r llt.llll. t(,
totcln: the IJittrqilitttr irr,.' tlrc ln-ilu-l'fuli )
is iL
2
,!ir,,guliilrru, i,. 1ai.l.trlc.l-tt'; tlirtt!ttltt (t'r diruh'tlu ) ' t' happcn'
(Sce
l)itssir'e'
tltt:
iti
ftlrtll
.\llplictl
tlrc
rt'it]r
Stati vc li,rrnlrti.lrr 1.r.rrnl r/ll.a, llcrt'
1

Lcsson { E.)

ttt-rcrpe ctctllr ; 1'l'onr hcgu, ro trlalic a tiud,

trl sottlcottc clsc' '{cucrallv in the lclcl.
l--ckrngirlg
to cotttc across sotnctllirlg rrot
llthough it is userl iu tlris scnse ir-r
trlotrcr',
of
'I'he uortl is ur'rt pletrcrallr' tLsccl
sebcgrctt

Padisi

II:

I28'

'I'akt carc olcr tlrcst crltlings, l)rescllt antl l)c:rtcct; lrlnguttu'

antl lcbaguttt'u,

5
6
7

is a tliing 'rirtiucl'

tltulu

lcltaguttl si'
l'r-cirn

$hich rrrirl/irrrli,

a black-sll-ritll or u'orkcl

in irorl'

lt'bugatrl'c'

itsart)'e is usuallv usccl rvith 1t; sec Exercisc 9l'i3'

up
,rrgign is to siring out upon, as a lion; useci of pcople to spring

and dash off on a hut]t or to \\'ilr,

Lesson 46

234

8
t

ipuah, fike ihuila (to appeal) in Exercise 90116; to speak for oneself.
hgarebb is a young woman' say up to about 30; hgaribane
or
,', a younger woman' say round about, or belou', 20. Although generallyrekgarebi
used of
unmarried women, the term does not necessarily imply a ,ti" "or
virginity, like
the Greek word 'parthenos'.
Notice the ya re in this sentence; the nearest translation here wourd
be

'it

decided . . .'.

Il

a e tlolila mokwatla, lit., it jumped for it the back; i.e., it jumped

on its (the goat's) back. (Better, a e tlolila mo mokwatleng.)
tz gadima is to turn round and rook back; onoiito is to look
into, or
down into, something. (Brfi gadima also means to shine or flash like
rightning,
rvhich itself is logadima.)
13 podi e e tala, the unsuspecting, or credulous, goat. As in English,
an unripe or immature or unready thing is a 'green' or ,fr1sh' thing.
(Another
instance on p. 48 of Rammdni.)
14 ipdna, see oneself, etc., is often used in this secondary or figurative
sense of realising or recognising one's fault or blame; o iponye
molato, he has
realised his fault.

rs

itulana is to travel to one another; but we have already seen that

the verb itila often bears the meaning of journeying to some place or person
to
see or visit it or him. so the Reciprocal means to be in
the halit of paying visits
to one another, for friendship or for trade: i.e., to have dealings with. Notice
that, like itsanye, it is used with re; "Gonne Bajuda ga ba itaraie re
Basamaria,,
( Yohane 4: 9), "For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans,,.
Phagble Kgaka comes to the same thing as bo-phagi Ie Kgaha.
l:tz ba-ganala,
Applied form ol ja nala, to spend some tirie at a friend,s
.
_jd:la
pl":._.- The term generally implies a much longer visit
than do the verbs trhdra
and lehola.

la

ixhokobiga is to hesitate, dubious or uncertain;

to be at a loss, and
see what is the best thing to do.
19 buisanya,literally, make one another to tark;
conversation is puisany|.
aga, build, agisa make to build or make peace;
agisanya to make one another be
at peace; here used in perfect, live at peace.
'health' is generally in Tswana a plural now; rnatsogd.
:?
21 'astonishing' is yo o gahgamatsaig.'
but one could also say, e ne e re
namane e tona ya motho, rit., he was a bull-calf
of a man; i.e., an exceedingly

to wait to

able or vigorous man.

22 farologana (farologanye) is to be different, intransitively; ,,naledi

nngwe e farologanye mo go e nngwe ha kgalahh',,
one star difiers from another in
splendour (I Bahorintha 1.5:41-). Butftrroroganya (farorogantsil
means not only
to make to be different, but arso to be abre to see or discern
differences which
exist' E.g., Ditird 15: 9, "ga oa ka utafaroroganya tno go rona re
bdni,,, where
the meaning is not that he did not make th"* io be difierlnt,
but that he did not
recognise any difference l "he made not the slightest
distinction between us and
them" (Moffatt). Or, a u itse go
farologaryo *)dgd rnengwe
t, *rog*rZ do you
know the differences between the varioirs vegetables
? -

Lesson 46

235

23

setslnaantshd, lit., sornething made likc; tshrt'atttshu is the Causativc

of tshwana, be or become like.
24 baikgagapeledi le basiamolr.,di le ba boaka. I"irst n'ord has thc ciotrblc
Applied cnding and the Reflexivc prefix, from simple verb gagaptt, to seize or
extort things, to be ler,v greedy, to take the lion's sharc of things: herc it trans,ates the English 'extortioners' . basiamolodr. is from siamolola, the Reversive of
siama, and means to do n'rong or act urrjustly (I-esson '17): ba boaha is literally
'people of aclultery'.

25

'-fo gain bv trading or riorkir.rg is bapala; hcnce noun papadi, gain or

proceeds or earnings. See Diane (Provcrbs) 41 7, Yakohe 4: 13.
26 To look up or up\\'ards is lclala; Applied lelalila, Clausatilc of tl.ris
lelaletsa, makc to look up.
27 The Reflexive of 'strike' is itita1,a, from tlrc forn ditaya. (Lcsson 1.i,

Note

-5.)

I tr t l-e e re re rakana Ie ciilsalar r dune2 'Lekar.u ]:e tL

dlGn-}rg, re be r- botsany'e nralsogb- '
beng
Te rat'a p-e
llaa

l-e-lpirele l-e kgarebb nrlie, ]re

t
-erliego
nro sesengwe
na
16
tsaya.
3 'Pod+ tsa l:.llhia
'irol3a g r-e, {l itirg{- ruo t'eng
db*^g; y-a gakg"'naf& )'a
t+ GE fEtel-a Phokobji +ffE., tsaL fa mer f-ol-oge'
mo ?
u tl-b u' lEku m-eise -+; lTri ke rneNse a IraFllL re go gakga:nalsang !
5 1la e Le zura, gg nk-ake ka kLlr+tla go -a
nrr- Fotoga-tra bon+kLr a fekb' -aAse-. ffe1s aotlhT:l . l+2

TONE-PRACTICE +2

Gaufi le legae jn go Lengiru le Pudi ga bo go nrlzr ba-ga-Phage

le Kgaka ; le bone va bo e le ditsala tse dikgolo, ba bo ba tle ba
etele Pudi le Lengau. E rile ka letsatsi jeo fela, ba bo ba re ba
ya go jela nala kwa goora-Pudi le Lengau, jaaka gale; mme
ya re ba sa atamela motse, ba ralala tshimo, ba bona I-engau a
betabeta dipotsane. Ba iphitlha fela gore ba bone maikaelelo
a gagwe, ba ishokobega fela, ba lesa Lengau gore a swetse tiro
ya gagwe, a be a boele kwa morago.

236

LESSON
RE\IERSI\rE FORII: sa

47

re sepe AND

tshogana ka

endings are two force of the ForThe

and -oloui)'
-ologa and -olota (Petfecti, -ologile
or reversing of
undoing
the
mation is tvell indicated iy it' "u-t ' i't indicatcs
several verbs
had
indeed
havc
wc
the act of the simple verb' In previous Lessons
',vhicharereallyRcversives-e'$',bofolola,untie'frombdfa'tieuporbindout' hence' explain' (Sec Lesson
Lesson 38, Note 12; and pnutioiaa, spread
it is used
examples of it""" in Padkd ll f lg' where

fnis is a very interesting form' Its characteristic

36, Note 5 : and see difierent

of a parcel, and Padisd I177, of a book')

AThe-o/olaendingisatransitiveone,andtheverbtakesadirectobject.
The man said he had come to ransom
" Monne a br.tlila fa a tsile go rekolola
the child with all these oxen' (Lit''
ngtt)atta ku tlikgomrt tse tsotlhe" (Pad'
to un-buY, or buY back; redeem'
ill117);

ransom.)

remolola koloi

koo

take the brake offthc wagon thcrel

wagon (Lesson 39' Note 16) ;

(rima, aswell as mcaning chop, means to brake a
back the brake handle')
so remololais to un-brake, to unscrew or turn
Sometimesthereisachangeinthcprincipalvcrwel,asinthccaseoftheCaushut become -e' just as thc Causative form; in the trvo ubnu" "*o'rrples thc -ibccomes -a-; paTa, for examplc'
ativc of rika is rekisa;b.r, o..o.lor",ully the -y'in the Rcvcrsive pagolola'
to hang up, or put anything in a high placc, bccomcs
nol l>egolola'
1

ol:: .Jltt as bofobkt

Thc -ologa encling is the corrcsponding intransitive
is to overpitikolola
untied:
or
is to untie' bofologiis to become unclonc
overturned'
or
upsct
bccome
to
is
tlu'n or upset-Padisa ilO-ana pitihotoga

"Yesr,t.,.abaairtamagapi,alewala

"Jesus

"'

stooped dorvn again and

kttmonuatmmombuttg...larebasenawroterr,ithhisfingerinthcground...
thcy heard that' they went tlut
go utlwa ntrt, ba tsua . . - Yesu a tlogi- when
iruo o l, esi, le mosadi.'. Yesu aina- "'Jesusrvasleftwiththelvoman"'
lifted up himselt and said to
mologa, a mo raya, a re, Mosacli, ba hc 'Woman'
rvhcre are they ?"
hcr,
kae ?" (Yohane 8: 8-10);'2
to stoop ; hnmologa is to becomc un-bcnt'
inama is to becomc bent-dolvrr,
i.e., to straighten oneself up again'

Again,itumologaistheReversiveofitumila,andmeanstobecomedispleased:

someone' or cause displeasure'

its transitive form is itumolola,meaning to displease

Lessort

:17

LJ/

' ." (Daniele 6 :

Tl'ren tl.rc king, n'hen hc hacl heard

these n-ords was tnuch displeased
. . . and tried hard to releasc him . . .

14);
"Mnte lefoko jeo .ia itumolola Samuelc,
ka ba rc, Ile nii kgosi grt re otlltttla"

u'hcn tl-rcv said, Gir.c us a king to

"Hong kgou, ya re e selta go utlzua ma.foko a, ya itumologa tltata . . . ya leka

lea tlmta go tno golola .

(I

Sauuele

8:

(t)

But this s'orci displeased

Samuel,

judge us.

All thesc -ologa entlings (likc thc Stative -dga cnclings), bctray Initi:rtile
ycrbs, so they arc usccl in thc Per-flct tensc trr convcY thc mcltriu{:, o[ a prcscntly
existir.rg statc.

Wc sarv in Lcsson 34, Notc l2, thlt lapologa mcflns to bc rcste cl or rcfrcshccl.
It is thc Revcrsivc of lapa, itsclf an Initiatir-e r.erb, ttteaning to becomc

un-tircd. But its corrcsponding transitivc

form is lal>olosa (not, as u,e might expect, lapolola), n Crusatir-e iu ftlrm, rvhich
means to givc rest to, to make to take rest (Malhaio 1l: 28). Thc Rcflexivc of
tl-is is itapolosa, to give rest to oneself, i.c., to tarlie a rcst (I[arclrc 6:,il). ']-herc
tapologi, and boitapolosd.
are tlrus two nouns for rest
Another interesting Ret'crsivc in very common r-rse is galtologilzl'g, rcmembcr.
It stcms from the simplc rerb galza, rvhicl.r is a trar.rsitivc verb, difficult to translitte in Iinglish, but rvhich r.nay be trar.rslatecl slip-thc-memory' or' clisappcar-

tirecl or \\'eary; so lapologa is to bc

from-mind;

see Appcnclix,

se nhgahile means, it had slipped

i.c., as rt'c $'ouicl sav, I had forgotten it.

Article 25; se ne

lit., it had slipped

,1y memory
Subject and object are changed rottnd in the

English.

(Synor.rymous u'itl'r /te rle

ke se lebetse.)

Norv, the Reversive transitive of gaka is galeolola, to pr,rt-back-in-mind, to

hence, to remind, couusel, advise; and the Reversive
restore-to-memory
gaholointransitive, gahologa, is not used directly, but in the Applied Passive
gilzaa, with meaning 'remember'.
Notrr1s from thcse verbs are, mogakolodi, cottnsellor, adviser; ksalilloli,
ndvice, counscl, retliucler; kgaleologild, memory.
NOTE]

(1)

Sometimes

the Rer-ersives -ologa and -ololtt xppear in the shortencd

forms-ogaand,-ola: e.g., tshologa, becomcspilled or poured out, probablv Reycrsile of tshola: tlhatlolu is tl.re Reversive of tlhatlat'a, so mealts to take something
a pot, perhaps-ofi a fire. (Note hori'ever that tlhatloga is a quite differcnt
-r-crb, meaning to go up or ascend.) So also
fetoga, .fetola, hare a1 indirect Re vcrsive significance.

(2)

rola (Rer'. of rzlala), to take

Very common irregular Reversives are
of apara), to take off one's
(Rer'.
apola
one's
feet:
anything off one's head or off

clotlring: also tsola (Rev. of tswala), take off lower garmeut.

(3) Quite a ferv verbs ending in -ologa and -olola are not Reversivesor at least have lost their perl.raps original Reversive significancc; e.g., sinolola,
simologa (Lesson 28, Note 3). And the majority of those ending in -oga, -ola,

Lesson 47

238

are not Reversives at

all;

such as rumola, ftlhola, Jalola,.fologa, lehola, lemoga,

taboga, etc.

A An idiomatic

II

the meaning
take

action. The

of re with the negative formative gra or Sa conveys

of something, or refusal to take notice or to
meaning is obviously just that of 'say nothing':

usage

of

basic

ciisregard

ke mmoleletse, mme ga aa re

sepi; I told him, but he said nothing'

By an easy extension of meaning this becomes to disregard or not to care:

re

Lord, do you not care if we Perish i

krt a re sePi ha dild

But Gallio cared not at all for these

things. (Or, paid no attention to . . .)
The boy doesn't bother even if ht

Morina, a ga u re sePd ftt

nyilila?" (Mareko 4: 38) ;
"

"Mme Galio a

se

tse" (Ditird 18: 17);

"Mosimane

ini ga a re sePi lefa a sa

direle mosetsana"

(M.

le

M.l14) ;

cloes

not r'r'ork for the girl.

idea of su{clenness can be rendered in one of three idioms, all employing the verb tshoga in some form, along rvith fta. There are three
principal forms; (a) tshoga ha, (b) tshogana ha, and (c) ha tshoganetso; the
iort i" an adverbial phrase. Examples clemonstrate the manner of use of these

'lhe

idioms:

". . . a tshoga ka a utlua Khudu a bua he suddenly heard Tortoise speaking

on in front ' ' '
Il5) ;
(Patlisd Il5);
ku:a Pele
a le kvta
Dele . . ." (Pattisd
all
at once he recognised him bY his
ditsa". . . (f, tshoga ha a mo lemoga ka
r,valk (gait).
mad tsa gagwi" (Padisd I142) ;
,,Jaaka a ntse a leka go bdna phologik), As he $'as trying to see a rvay do$'n
a tshogana ka a rilila a uila mo tetry all of a sudden he slipped and fell
i,l
right into the rvell.
.ga setliba" (Padisd I l ) ;
there suddenly it came facc ttr
And
le
'*-a
r',
hu
rahatrtt
tshogana
"Clbni .foo
with
face
Jackal'
Phohoji" (Pattisr) IIiSg);
,,. . ka tshoganetso ha leba ka.fa le
suddenly they looked rouncl about
but they saw no one any more . . '
haJu, ntme ha se ka ba tlhdltt ba bdnu

olti . . ." (Marekr,t 9:

8)

Notice tl'rat thc verbal forn.r is used

previous noun:

". . . ba tshogana ka

moertgele

a bile

uith the pronouns or

coucorcls

of th'

and suddenly tirerc lvere rvith th.

ar.rgel a multitude ' ' '

a na le borttsirttsi. . .." (Luke 2: 13) ;
,,. . , moya o tkt o mo tsee, re tshogane the spirit rvill seize him, and suddenlr
kaogio...aphohemasuld(nmhuti) l're cries out... and foams at ths

. . ." (Lttke

9: 39);3

mouth ' ' '

Such examples demonstrate the force of this idiom, r'i2., that the speaker or na;rator has experienccd the events he is relating as sudden surprise or an unpleasan:
shock. There is alrvays something of this underlying idea in the verb fsftog';
rvhether it is used in its orvn right, or in this semi-auxiliary or adverbial war

'

-1llF

Lesson 47

239

first of the last tr,r.o examples, the ba refers to the shepherds, who had the
of the angels' appearance; in the second the re refers to the boy's
parents; the father is using the plural '$,e' as he describes his experience of the
Ir.r tlre

suclden shock

boy's disease.

The verb

tsltoganetsa,

from rvhich comes the noun

tshoganelso, is sometimes

used itself:

.ln

'

sa ntse a etile,

tshogonedizoa he

loso;

l'hile he u.as still travelling, he u'as

suddenly overtaken by death.

nxnnctsB

93

Translate into English:

7 "E rile ha a sa tle gae letsatsi jeo, leJa e le bosigo, bomonnazui ba phahila
re ba ya go mmatla. 2 Fa ba ntse ba mmatla, ba tshoga ha ba bdna
manong a le mantsi a hgobohanetse seilgwe. 3 Ba re ba atamila go bdna se se
bolailzaeng, ba fitlhila e le setoto sa motho. 4 Manong a ntse a se dikologile;
lengue la se tshwara la se gdga, je lengzoe la se swabola la se busa, jalo .ftta;
setoto se ntse se itesa se gdgilwa hwa le kwa.
5 Bomonnawi ba tshogana ka ba
lernoga Ja setoto e le sa mogolo a bdni." (Padisd Il71 f.)
6 "A tsu:ilila pele jalo a itumologlie, a ba a ithaya a re, ,Malo! ana ke tlaa
bin*^a emang ! 4
7 Go ha bo go le molemd go latlhigilzua he madi u tne, eseilg
iltsa e e boikanngd e he ntse ke nanayd kadingwagatsotlhe tse.' 8 Kgopoldyamadi
ka

mosd ba

a gagwi ya mo dira go dtldldla letsdgd go tshwara kgetse ya madi; a tshogana ha a

e se yi!
9 Fila ka ponyo ya leitlhi a lemoga se o se dirileng, a ipdna
molato o mogolo ha a na a itlhokomolola ditshupd tse ntsa e ne ya leka go mmolilila

ftlhila

ha tsdni.56

10 Segwaba sa me,rcga sa ikgata motlhala sa boila kzca se ne

itapolositse teng.7 11 Sa lemoga motlhala zoa madi jaaka se tftse se tszoilila
pele, mme tisa ga sea ka sa e bdna gopi mo tseleng. 12 E rile kwa ntorag, tt
se

ftlha .fa rctlharing. Motho wa ntogolo

a fitlhila kgetse gdn), le ntsa ya .gagui e e

disitse, e wta fila mo matlhokung a loso.8 13 Ntsa ya kgolo e ne e ikgagabiseditse nn kgetsirtg, e seila go bdna .fa tnong ua ydni a se ka a itse
,fa a latlhegetszce
ke y)2;." (Patlisd II i26 .f .)e
14 "Jaata ga dirala, ya rc ba se ntse ba lsatnayu le tsela, a tshru nut nntsa-

ileilg moilgr.tei girti.f'co nosadi nutg?L'e t'o o bidizcang llaratha a mo tsholila n0

ilung ya gagzt'i. 15 A bo a tta le nr.ttmazt'i lo rt bidizcang Llarie, I,o o bileng a
ila a iltse fa dinaong tsa lllorina, a utlzta maJako a gagtci. 16 Mme Maratln
a bo a imetsue ke go dirila no gct golct; jalo tt tla no go irti a re, Morin', a gau re
sepl ka nnahi a nteseleditse go dirila he le nosi!' Ka re, mo rii, a rtthusi.ro 17
Mne Morina a mo fetola a re, IVlaratha, Ilaratha, na tlhodiiga, u itapisa ka diti
di le dintsi;tl
18 mme go batliga seld se le seilgzce .fila; gonne Marie ct itshenhetse habild e e molerni, e o se nkang a e tlosedizca." (Luhe 10: 38-42) tz
EXERCISE

94

Translate into Sets$'ana:

1 "To-day it is knou-n that the eclipse

;.ng

of the sun happens

13 2 shading (stand-

(clarkening)

rvhen the moon passes bet*'een the ri'orld and the sun,

in the light of) the sun partly, or all of it, (and) its light is not visible for

'
ri

ii
{l

Il

ll
il
ii

2+0

Lessott 17

little while. la
3 Sometimes the rvorld, in its movement (going), comes in
bctlveen thc sun and the moon, so the rnoon darkens, by being shaded (put in
-l Those-rvho-study these things, they knou.
the shadorv) by the rvorld. t s
rvell the movenent (going) of the u'orld and of tl're moon; they are able to foretell the time rvhen the sun rvill bc sl.raclccl bv thc moon, and the time rvhen thc
moor-r s'ill bc sl'raclou'ccl by the u'orlcl.
5 So people ought no longer to fear
eclipses, for they arc tl.rings n'hich arc ll.ro*'n, the day on rvhich they can be expcctcd is also knorvn, ancl thc r-ery hour in u'hich they rvill happcn. 6 It is
generally so forecast in tl.re papcrs, that an eclipsc u'ill happen (be) on such-anclsuch a day, in order that pcoplc should gct ready to see it." (Patlisd IIl,57) 16
7 "Oncc a merchant of the country of Francc took a journey to such-anclsuch a placc, to rcceive the moncy for a delrt thcrc:. Ife u'as ricling a horse and
hacl his clog. tl \\'hcn he hacl got that moncy hc put it in a bag, ar.rcl hung thc
bag on thc sackllc in front of him as he lode, ancl thcn sct out again returnirrg
homc. 17
9 Aftcr he hacl gonc for :r distancc, hc clisrnountcd in order to
rcst unclcr a ccrtain trcc. He put thc bag of money on the ground by his sicle
as hc restccl. 10 But u1.ren hc mountecl for thc sccond timc, hc forgot to talic
thc bag. 'lhe dog, becausc it sau'that hc had forgottcn it, u'cnt back to bring it,
but it rvas too much for it on accoultt of its *'eight. 11 'l-hc dog soon r.an behind
(aftcr) its master, ancl triccl to tell l.rini rvl.rat-hc-hacl-forgotten (lit., his forgct)
by barking anrl nhining. 18 12 'fhe merchant dicl not unclerstancl thesc
signs; but the dog went on trying to tcll its rnaster in its dog-language that he hacl
left somcthing behind. tg
13 When it had failcd to stop the horse by barking, it bcgan to bitc its heels.2o 1+ \\rhcn thc merchant salv these things.
he said to himself that his dog had gonc mad.2l 15 He knerv that a mad
dog gencrally hates (leaves alone) rvater, ancl tvill not drink; so rvhen they crossed
a river he looked back to see if the dog n'ould drink. 22 16 The dog did not
stop (stand) to clrink, for it *'as as eager ts evcr (continuecl to be eager) to makc
its r.naster return to thr: money u,hicl'r hacl been left at the r-rnsaddling-place in
the rear; so it rvcnt on biting and barking more ficrcely.23 17 So nou, the tra-

tii
:

der, because he thought that tirere was no dor,rbt about the madness of the dog, took

his little gun and shot the dog. 1tl But since he could not endure to see the
sight of his dog's death, he stuck his spurs in his horse (lit., pricked the horsc

nith spurs, diporo), and

pressed on (lekila) rvith a sore

heart."

(Padisd IIl25

f.

Notes

On piga see Lessolr 30, Note 11.

inama is a Positional Stative verb-sce Lesson-l[i.
3
phoha means (1) used of cattle, to go out early in the morning for :
short time of grazing before being brought in for milking; i.e., to have 'a bit.
of grass', not a proper fecd. (Hence, derivatively, it has been heard used of midmorning tea-the 'elevenses' of Europeans; not a proper meal, but just a bit.
o{ scmething and a cup of tea.) (2) pftokc mahuld (nasftuld) is to {orm at ttrc
mouth as does a horse s,hen over-driven or heated after a gallop. The tone
patterns of the tu.o verbs are dilTerent.
4 ana ...; see Key to Exercises for corresponding English idiom.
1

il

I
il.

dr

fi
iti
,li

ji::l{l

Lessott J7

241

1rorty,o, a blink or rvi'k; bonya is used either of the ir.rsti,rct.

closing of the eyes *,hen sepsl6l.rg .o*.,
,uddenly near them,
blinking orwinking; u].:.of th" wi.rking of
.,"u.rri.,g to
one eye i' sign o,. ".t]1:ffffi;::,:
some
other person. (It rvourd be interesting"to
,ru."
this
habit,
and find out *,hich
"it
peoples employ the deliberate rvink;
seems to cxist in Setsrvana.) sce
also
tadinya for the meaningful u,ir.rk.
6 Note it,zohonorora maclc rrimscrf
clisregara.

It

lra'c becrr
itlhokomolosa,. or just tlhokonnloga.
7 ihgata motrhara; go gati is to trcad (on)
s.mething; the neflexir.e is used
in an idiomatic fashion here, for the mea'ing is
not t' trcad upo' o'cscrf, but to
tread (again) on one's ou.n track or trail;
to retrace onc,s steps.

motho wa mogoro is

natc, nriserable etc.)

sentence 73' ntsa
zaa batho,

:s

man;

coulcr

a' idiorn rneaning the poor 1n,- unlr"pp1,, urfrrrtuplural, batho ba ltagokt, anl su urr. Sce
bck^r.i.

ya kgolo, the
dog. (Therc is ulru the c*pr..r.i,,t
motrt,
- 't
-poor
,poor'-man,
or ngwana wa batlto, frtr
or ,poor .t op, j

ihgagabisetlitse;
to cra*'l; cuu.utiu. gog)hiro,
t' crarvi;
-gagtbc,
Applied causative gagabisetsa,
'rake
make tr cra*1 to; It:fi.r"-;p;iiccl_ca.siiti'e
ikgagabisetsa; this i' thc'.perfect, ihgagabiseditse,
rnade itself t. cra*.r to.
1o leseletsa is to allorv or. p"rn,itl
11 it'pisa, the Reflexo-causativc of lapa;
mzrkc oncsclf tirccl. I), r.r.1
confuse this
with itsapa, to be too razy to clo stirncthing
'erb
p. 3r);

1L'r:trip;rt;
or that with go tsaya n1a1roru, the oppositc of
trrc rast, rncani^g to tnkc pai's w.ith
something, to q'ork zealously.

12

Notice the characteristic co'struction

,rvhicrr
sr.re *,ill not rrar.e ir
taken arvay from her', i'steacl of *-hat u.ourd
bc the morc .,o.rrrrt ,uuy of putting
it in English, e se nheng e tlosiua rto go ini.
13 eclipse_phiJ'alit, from gaU o,
ffifit", to becomc dark; noun /e/|f.
14 shadi'g go sirtt (see-Lcsson
i.i,
Nnt. 13)
t' t. i,, tr.," light .f;
- you are stan<ring
'
tt, tttshira or u ntshir,e,
light; ,,trri,togu^,() i'my
-J -'D"!!
ttt'Irtlus(t'
g"t

light.

B\

1s put in the shado*'

out .,f

m'

chutifarirtt. Distinguish

bct$.een crtuti (orchwiti) *'hic'r refers to clouds o,.-'da.k,res.'. o'erhca.,

shutting off the ligrrt of the
sun, and noruti (or moriti) *.hich means
the shaclorv 1",. ;rr-r,r-g"y-,ri Jomething
on
the ground; house, or trec, or cloucl. Go
chuli nL,ans, the skr.is
s<t
that ti"re sun is not shining.
't.ercast
16 such-and-such r;oribi,' note ho*'
this *.orcr is Lrsccl here, a'cl ir.r
-the rext sentence. Another trord, bonttat,ri
is used similarry, rvith the sanle
mcan_
ing, of 'such and such a thing', or '*.har-cio-r.ou-cail-it,.
(see ,Additional Notc,,
cnd of Lesson 36.)
17 saddle sali, a foreign .n.ord.
18 'his forget'
(Note hori,er-er that there is also a noun
tebatsd,
- tebard.
from the causative form
rebatsa to niake to forget; it is a
medicine administercd
fr 1r" ngahato afamiry after a death has occurred in it, to make the members of
the family forget the dead person. For
in setsiyana ideas, to keep uti,r. in" memory
of a dead member of the fam'y, or to broocl
over the loss, is regarded as \vrong,
and un-social ; all the emphasis is upon
fnrgetting tri".i*rr,
'nsuitable
and

acr-

ll,l

,rli

Lesson 47

242

justing oneself to De$' conclitions and getting on t'ith the business of living. A
'child
one who
Lorn after another child has diecl u,ill often be called Molebafv, the

tamily; on a tribal scale it is less true because

a good public
the relation$ip is there tribal ancl s.cial rather than personal, and
he hat
people
the
by
tirne
long
a
for
man or u gooi chief rvill be rernern1rered
makes to

forget. 'fhis

is true of the

benefitted.)

see Lesson 36 II'

91/10'
uite lts he"ls -- translate 'bite it the heels'- see also Exercise
33'
Note 1, Exercise
mad
- see
22lookedback-remembertodistinguishbetrveenshiba,tolookback,

ts
20
21

dog-language

and siba to back-bite or talk about someone'

2s

belegololu

unsaddling-place

mabelegolold,

or

perhaps better, mabelegololild;

load; biliga, to
or ltelesoloTa is to ofi-sadclle, to take oft a burden or a

to make to carry' to load up'

carry or bear (a'lso used of child-birth), and belesa'
(See Lesson 41 , Note 12.\

-ar* t,swblbl+ pele Jale a ab'un-el-e$re, -a- baka

Go
?
k traa' srnpa-,''ar+s
I
iin-r#* En . ;M"f
!la*i a me' s+ei mp*&
';4.
bo gO be *o-teno- g" L"tlitb*l* ke
ka *inyaga. tsotrhe
botk.nngg e t_e ntseng_Ire fta. nay'e r*ire- go b-t'Grblae
=.
fr "..tshogena-ka a firse l r KgoFori;";;i' e"*t*
a
nadi-;
k5*=af
*
qo
tslrm*a
Letsbeb
ya'
l-dtlh:b a Lerndga 5-e
ponyo
k-atlhbla-- se F i- ftfc. megqlo ka a na;i'-ftl&oo s dirilpg, -a ipbna rnla'Le
- ae ya Lelea gP nmolblbl^a-ka

T4. 43

koneleg+ ditshupd t5e

-lqpee

tsLnb.'
TONE.PRACTICE 43
ba

E rile ka a sa tle gae letsatsi jeo, lefa e le bosigo' bomonnawe

pn"f.A" ka moso liu ," ba ya go mmatla' Fa ba ntse ba mmatla'

sengwe.
La tshoga ka ba bona manong a le mantsi a kgobokanetse
le
setottl
e
fitlhela
Ba re b"a atamela go bona se se bolailweng, ba
tengwg la se tshwara
sa motho. Munong a ntse a se dikologile ;
jalo fela ; setoto se
iu *. gogu, le lengwe la se swabola la se busa,
ba tshogana
ntse se itesa se gogelwa kwa le kwa' Bomonnawe
ka ba lemoga fa setoto e le sa mogolo a bone'

243

LESSON

48

STA'I'IVE F'ORNI : POSITIONAL VERBS

perfoi'ce to
Thc Stative fbrm is such a common one that we have had
some
acquired
already
have
will
anticipate its proper study; the student
back
as
far
rdbiga
had
We
forms.
its
knor.r,ledge ol it. ,rr., ui 1."*, in some of
tshwa'
phuthiga'
diiga'
ilitsAga'
itsege,
.* Lessoi 10, and senyiga a little later; also

rigct,batDgar,thubiga,-etc.lOfanotherformofStativeformationwehad
have had
.*'u*pl.. in dnala ind'bdnala back in Lesson 19 (Notes 3 and 6)' and
tlhdkafala, dirala and diragala'z

Actually there are

flur

gr,rup naturally into two tlvos

of this formation, but they

and '.i:siga, and -ala and -agala (ot -aJala)'

endings characteristic

t -iC;

Aofthe_dgaaricldsdgaformlittlemoreneedbesaid,sincewehavehad
has been explained more than once. Most
-o.ry "u..-. of it,'itand lt, for..
of them prefer -isigai thus from rapila,
a
ferv
verbs make the Stative
-iga, but
pray,wehaverapilisiga,beprayable,i'e',approachable'willingtolistentoprayers'

i"r.rr"arUt.,

or,a

ftn-

gotita, release, we have gololisiga' be free' be in a state

nf ,"leuse or freedom. Other examples are:

be teasable, provokable, irritable.
be casy to be accustomed to.

rumolisiga (rumola),
tlwailisiga ( thauila),

be in a state of safety, or be saveable.

be in a ready or PrePared state'

bolohisiga (boloho)
'
baakaryisiga (baahanYa),
lenotsh)ga (lemosiga, lemoga)
lebosigu (leboga),

beperceivable, aPparent.
bethankable, i.e., acceptable, rvelcome'

_iga are Statives

the
Note tl-rat not all r,crbs errcling in
-- particularly
humae'g',
some,
(And
aniga'
tshiga,
piga,
e.g.,
roots;
verbs ri'ith monosyllabic

(1)

ndga, Lesson 37, Note 1, have special meanings')

' (Z)

are
Note that most of the -iga r.erbs, attcl manv of the -isiga ones'
or
original
the
only
but
state,
a
persisting
not
indicate
lnitiative in nature; they
(see
Notes
or
condition.
state
a
certain
in
results
nitial action, or process, \t'hich

are therefore by their nature

.o Lessons 13,20,2\,znd'Lesson 23 I A,etc') They
3
Present'
English
an
used in the Perfect to translate
are used irt
But not all, of course, are Initiative; the follorving, for example,
meaning
basic
the
have
they
of
alTairs;
state
a
present
the Present tense to indicate
rapahsiga,
ratiga,
z
something
of
becoming
than
being something, rather

of

nametsiga, boitshlga.

of frequent
The other pair of endings, -ala and -agala (or -afala) are also
in meaning
difference
consistent
any
see
to
difficult
is
it
o""rr.r..r"., and
prefer the
to
seem
verbs
some
statives.
betweei them and the -iga -isiga

Lesson 48

244

one sort of suffix and some the other sort, and a ferv take both

e.g., dira,

to

do,

can yield diriga, and dirala, and diragala or dirafala. The- -agala or -aJa|a

ending seems to be commoner than the -ala form.4

This ending is much used to form verbs from abstract nouns. Thus s-e
have tsofala (grow old) from (bo)tsofe, sueufala (become white) from -sweu;
thuthafala is to become \varm or hot (bothuthd or bothithd) ; ntlafala is to become
nice or pretty or clean (-ntli), and leswifala is to become dirty (leswi). Generallv
the vowel before the -fala is a, but sometimes, as in the last word, it is the final
vorvel of the abstract noun.
Examples of the -ala ending are not so common; we have had bdnala, be
visible, evident; and there is utlzuala, be hearable, audible.

Not many of the Statives ending in -iga or -isiga form Causatives; but
the other group, those ending in *ala or -agala make the Causative fornr
by clranging the -ala into -atsa or the -a.fala into afatsa. See Lesson 36 I C.
So r't'e have:

sweufatsa, make white, whiten. utlwatsa, make audible; publish abroatl.

thuthafatsa, make hot or warm. thatafatsa, make hard, make strong.
ntlafatsa, make clean or nice.
leszlifatsa, make dirty; soil, foul.

The verb hurnaniga, become poor, and a ferv others like it, add the Causatir.e
humanegisa, make or cause to become poor.

ending;

Remember that the language often prefers to use the Stative formation
rather than the Passive, although the two are very close in meaning; more
so in some verbs than in others. It is in such cases difficult to express the meaning
of the Stative (in a translation) except by a Passive:

"Mo tlalelong ya bdni ba ipa pitsd gapi. In their distress they called another
ya umakdga" (Pad. meeting. Once again killing was
rrrl25);
rnentioned.
umaka is to make mention of; in the above one might have expected potai,
Gapi-gapi polad

ya u.mahuta (umahiwa), which indeed is the only way English can express it; but
Tswana prefers to say umahiga, the Stative form, meaning literally 'mentionable'.
or'ready to be talked about'.

il

POSITIONAL VERBS. A fairly large group of verbs, showing three

different types of ending, can conveniently be considered here, although

they are not really Statives; they have affinities with the Stative formation verbs,
and they are all Initiative. They are all indicative of some state or position or
posture, generally of a living thing, either animal or person, or of some organ or

limb of a living body.

-ama, Perfect -ame:

inama,
atlhama,
hotama,

bow or stoop down (Lesson +7

lie open or be open.

crouch down, sitting on heels.

IB).

Lesson 48

245

bend down (kneel).

be overlooking or overhanging.
lie scattered about (gasa, scatter).
lie on the front, face dov'nwards.
lie on the back, face upwards.

hhubama (ka marrydli,)

okama,
gasatna,

raparna ha sebete,5
kanama ka motlhana,G

(palama or pagama, to climb, and siarna, to be straight, and hence right or good
(Lesson 17), belong to this group of verbs.)

-dra, Perfect -ere:7

hulara,
iphotlhara,

to have the back turned towards someone.

to become stripped bare, destitute.

iphara,

to be crossed, as legs when sitting.

mo?nara,

to crowd around or over something.

(We have had tshwara and apara, Lesson 17; their 'Positional' significance
is slight, but it is there, and they certainly fall within this group.)

-alala, Perfect -a/efse:

rapalala,

to lie across something.

topalala, to stand upright.

to lie flat on the ground, stretched out.
narnalala,
lopalala,

tsepalala,

paralala,
phatlalala,
rxanctsB

95

to hold oneself stiff and upright.

to be spread apart, as legs.

to become dispersed,

as a crorvd.

Translate into English:

"Jaana ga nna ntwa ka lobaka lo loleele gare ga boora Saule le boora Defide;
bogolo bogolo, mme boora Saule ba koafala bogolo bogolo. 2
Mme ga dirala, ya re go sa ntse go le ntttta gare ga boora Saule Ie boora Dafide, Abe3 "Gonne
nere a ithatafatsa rno tlung ya ga Saule." (II Samuele 3: 1,6)
lona, ba ga etsho, lo bileditswe kgololisig|; mme lo se ha lztsa fetola hgololisigd ya

jalo Dafide a nonofa

lona sebaka sa go itiriln; mme lo nni batlhanha, mongwe zaa yo mongwe, mo loratong.
Gonne molad otlhe o d:iradiu;a mo lefohung Ie le lengwe fila, ebong mo go je,
go re, (J rati wagaeno jaaka u ithata. 5 Mme fa lo lomana, lo jaana, lo itisi
gore lo se nyeletsanyi.s A re se nni boipelafatsd fila, re se ha ra rumolana, ra

dirllana ka bobelohhAilha." (Bagalatia 5 : 13-15, 26)o

6 "Mo botshelong jzoa Setswatta, jaaha mo matsheLong a merafe le dichaba
tsotlhe, go na le dinaane; lefa go ka twe dipolild tsa bogologalo tse di rutang sengwe.

7 Ltft

ntse jalo, dipolild tse di tlhohomologihte jaanong, e setse e le dild tsa

ntswa thutd e e mo dinaaning e le kgolo, e bile go ilitsiga
ba
fila itisitse; I
thata gore dinaane di tthdhdmilwi, 9 di se ka tsa lomelediuta, mme e re di ise
di lebalesege di hztsalwi, gore kitsd 1'a tsdni e se ka ya latlhigila seshaba sa Batszoana. 1o 10 Ea tle e re mo maitisong mo maitseboyeng kwa merakeng, dikgomo
di sena go gdrdga go ba go gangu)a, go ise go retwe dilad, goa tle go tlhailDe dinaane.

bana

go

Lesson 48

246

11 Mo dinaaning tsa Setiwana, bontsi jan tsdni ke kaga Dimo, e bile go lernotshiga
go re Dimo e ne e le motho yo o fetang batho botlhe ha go gola; 12 e bile e lt
motho yo o boitshigang thata thata, ka e ne e le lejabatfu." (Padisb III|34f')11
13 "E kile ya re motlha mongwe banna ba le babedi ba ita mmdgd, ba *alala
sekgan se segolo; e bile ya re ha sekgwa seo se tletse dibatana, ba solofetsanl'a bu r,
ba tlaa thusanya fa ba ha wilwa ke bobe bongwe mo loetong lwa bdni.lz 1+
Tsatsi lengzle jaaha ba ntse ba etile, bera ya ba hgomogila e tsusa mo setswatsu:eng.
15 Mongzte wa babedi ba, ka e le motho yo o tlhaga i'o o bofefo, a ahofa a palanui
setlhare; 16 yo mongtpe, ka a le ncotho lto o godileng, yo o settg bofefo jattka v'
17 a ribama a totomala a ikhupetsa 'mozcu.
tnongrxe, a itatlhlla fa fahhe,
a ipaya jaaka

.metsettg

ekete o

sule.131415 18 Bera ya tla

jalo ya nto dupadupa;

setswatsu:eng e sa mo
ExERcISE

96

dira

sepi."

rno

gopola go re o sule,
(Padisd I1811 ta

mn?e

ka

ini yo o !olr'tloga ya boilu n'-'

go

la

Translate into Setswana:

1 "The history of the tribcs holcts (plu.) much instruction for thosc rvh,,
pay attention to it.17 2 'lhar of educated peoples rvho have advanced ,s
lvritten dolvn skilfully and in order. 3 It has been put in order long ag<,r.
when progress had beeu madc (entered) in the nations. t8 4 Thus ll'r
see how the great nations, u'hich rve see halc adl'anced, began. 5 'fhe steps
they took, w'hile they were beginning, appear clearly' 6 The history of thc
European nations also is well known: they began to learn long after the Jervs
had begun. 7 It w'as the Romans lvho took learning to Europe, while th.
peoples there rvere still like us Batswana, knowing nothing of learning or progress
8 The Europeans too made (sav,) progress rvith difficultv, they u'ere once opservants." (See Padisd IIIIS f.)
"Now, there was a disciple at Joppa, called Tabitha; tvhich is, if it i.
translated, Dorcas; this v-oman r,r-as full of good u'olks and of gifts rvhich sh.
gave (lit., did). Ie 20 10 It happe'ed in those days sickness came to her
and she died; so rvhen thev had r,vashed her, they put her in a little top roonr
11 Thus, since Lydda was neiir Joppu, and thev heard that Peter was thcrt.
the disciples sent two men to go to beg li6 savir.rg, Do not become-slou'-to-r;1,2 So Peter rose up and n'ent u'ith them; rvheu he arrilcd.
16 gsrns,2l 22
they took him to the little upper room; the u'idos' r,\-omen u-ere standing abot::
her, crying and showing the cloaks and dresses l'hich I)orcas made nhile she ne.
with them. 13 But Peter put them all outside, and remained and kneh
down and prayed; thus he turned to the bod.v antl saiC,'fabitha, r,se up. S.'
then Dorcas opened her eyes, and ',1'hen shc sarv Pt'ter she got up. 1'l $r
Peter gave her his hand and laised her up; (and) r.'tren hc had called the sainrand the rvidows, he gave her to thcm alive. 15 After that it happened (car::.
to pass) he spent many days in Joppa, lvith one tvho was called Sim,,,rr' a prepa!-r:
(mosugi) of skins." (Acts 9: 364l1zs
pressed by other tribes who made them

Notes

Professor Doke (B.L,T,,

what is here called the Stative

pp. 150/., 190) uses the ternr'Neuter'to:

dcrivative tbrm of the verb s'hitr

form; "that

Lessutt -lI

247

anl refcrence to all agcnt

I'ris Zut-u Gnevven. p. 139' it is terlned the
tlctc.rrlining tirrrt
"Neuter, -\Iicldlc, or Qr-ri.isi-l)itssivc lirrt-n", \rith thc samc e\pzrilsion or explana11o1. Ilr-rt tfiesc lcrbs, rrltl'ruugfi'lcutcr'i1 the scuse that they'are'neither'

or
conditiou." ln

inclicatcs art intlartsitir'(' state

conditiou, r'ithotrt

Actiyc or Passiyc, arc far tleitrcr thc Pas::ivc thall the Actir-e, and indeed are olten
or-rly translatable by thc Passile ; a1d thcir cotlnt;tation is certainly <;ne of state,

or naturc. 'l'hc tenri 'ricuter' is also

statt,s

trsctl in dift'crcnt ( olill( ctiolls.

tthdka\'ata, be lacking (tlhnk,t)

si'rilar ,er|;,, ilhoko.lala, Secot'c 'r

.f'alsa, nrirke strrc or sorr\'.

Dokc (B.L.T. p.

19()

ina.dr.isable

. lJttt

in that it is

rcnrembcr that therc

elscrvl-rerc

is a

Yery

lle s'rc, fron (bo)tlhtLlro--Causatile tlholn'

l.) uscs'statifc'of |crbs Nhich "mav bc used

to

irrclicate a state aheady achier,ccl ar-rcl still persisting . ' . in certain Bantu languages
the Perf'ect stem of the verb is used iu stative tel)scs . . . thc diiTerrence betweet'r

tl.re stative irnd non-statit,c tt-se of thc lerb . . ." T'his seems quite misleading,
being based on x lltiscoltccPtion or ir.rcompletc I(ralisation rlf the basic meaning of
such \.erbs. T'herc is no changc in thc usagc of these verbs, such as is implied
in the ri-ords . . . "diI}'crencc in stative and non-stative usc . . .": the verb is
Initiative or Conlfitencive in its esscllcc, and thc tenses usecl follorv perfectly

rlaturally ancl automaticallv frorr-. this csscntial and basic meaning. (sec also
Zur.u Gnenn'rAR, pp. 151,3+l .)
4 lt l,oulcl seem probablc that thc -gala forn is nore ancient than the
becarne softened
-hala or -Jala one.. it is easier to beliete that an original -gala
a -gala.
int<:
ir}to -.fala, thau that a -Jultt be cltnt strelgthe'e d 6r hardened

u'ithout sebete it means to lie or recline'

kananm, horr,et.er, er.crr s,ithout tnotllttttttt, ffIealls to lie on the back.
(lior otlrer seltses of .trctlhatt.tt see Dict., ^nd M. te )1.,p.20 (backbone arld adjacent Ineat), antl Duterononrc 28: 57 (placenta).
7 r\11 these verbs arc highlv idiomatic in meaning aucl use; short clescriptions arc oftcn dcceptilc. 'lhe student shoulcl elucidate as far as possible thc
rcal ruear1ing bctbrc attcnrptillg t() rrsr lrositirrrral r'erlls. (ltshopara is zrtrotlrer of

5
6

rapanrct see Dictionarl';

usecl

them.)

rry)lila is to clisapperr, not gencralh iu the scusc ol going out of sight,

br.rt of ceasing ttt eristl of Lreing 'ctrn-rplttch' ri'iped out''
s ipeti;t'atsa, tron-r belaf'altt, to l.re or become proud' bozrstful, haughty'
1o lonteletstr is to clelibclatelv rctirsc to help someone' bv u'ithholding

rrth'icc or information.

()f iI noun formed rvith le- prefix

insteacl ol:nv)-. 'lhere are rllanv persc)nal noltns ol this tvpe in Class VIII;
1

lejahatho

notice the erarrlple

Lr\anlp1e, ri'llich arc ofteu phrases: leletamotse,

'Ihere ltrc also nouns
lei.stmtzcg., le.J'etruanttca, legtutukttkgorti,,, attt-l urauv others'
indicating persons e:rhil.,iiing ccrt:rirr characteristics or traits gf character; legwiiguii, legailttpa, Ilfet'e.l'?r(,, Lefclt'pa, { tc.; ls t-ell rrs n()uns f!:oln Passivcs of letbs,

all the Rcqimental n.1ns* lrrl'

llke leJctrca,

12
13

',"*r.

let shrc

ric

u,

I ego I igzr

u.

It I

tLgrc ct,

ete.

hobe, ltere, ut)to\\'ard liappening; sec l)ictionar:v'

totomala is to lic like a relolo or corpse,

2+8

Lesson 48

14 ihltupetsa fr<tm lrupiltt to be sulTocated or chol<ed or unable to breathe;

so hupetstt is to cl.roke, stifle, smother.
15 ipat,a .iaaka ehete ... to pretend, n'rake bclieve; lit., placc himself as
:T

tt - .

16

Note the reduplicatecl lerb, meaning to snulT all round a thing as

animal cioes at something unknorvn or suspicious. Sce next Lesson.

ar.r

17 'historr,'; there is no

Tsu'ana uord u'hich exactly translates this

'tribes'
or 'races' (sing. /r.rlsd, /ocd). I{eme'rnber
rvord; nearest is r/itsd, meaning
alu,avs that thc linglish in thcse cxercises is not mcant to be idiomatic, but tr-r
hint at the rvay it ought to bc translated into 'lsrvana. (For /otsd se, e.9.,
Padisd IlS, "lolsd loo Khudt kttlhe", the n'hole tribe of tortoises.)
18 'long ago', ga ... bolo, zr curious idiorn meahing'a long time ago'.
6o1o is ncver used by itself, or in an allirmative construction; it rvould seem to
nrean'recently', but is ahvays used in this negativc construction; ga ke bol.o go
tla, I came a long timc ago. Notice that it is not uscd as a regular Auxiliary

vcrb; it is aln'avs follorved by the Infinitive.

19 'fo L.e 'full of'something, usccl of a persorl, as here ('full of

good

wrrrks') is an idiom u'liich has unhappily been translatecl litcrally, o tletse ditird
lse di mrtlemi; it is not good Tsrvana. (In passins noticc the tu'o rvays in l'hich
tlulu, to br: full, can bc usecl; e.g., 'the plain is full of donkeys' can be eithcr,
toltale lo tletse ditonhi, or, bcttcr, ditrnhi di tletsc lta lohttla (<tr, mo lohaleng) .

20

aha is to bestow sornething ol] sorneonc, to rnakc

-rliAafsd ;
gift or present. P:rssivc is ahizctr or uttzoo, hcncc
i.e., alms or 'c-harity'.

21
2223

alrns

Since

creftn;

see

lle\t

ftzulsr.r,

dihatsi, somcthing given,

Lesson.

licl') lxru''I'sri'irna prcflls to translate this.

(shttga) is to brav skirrs bv t'orking tltenr ancl rubbing thcnr till

Noticc (sce
sttga

thcr, bccome sofi anrl pliable.

I
*

t
:1

:i1

.5.
NI,

ffii,

*-

lesson:II
T-T

. 44

rDipoli-lb tse;

249

-ebopg- diaaarre, dT tLbekcrnc'le-

s mo dinaaneng t F |g"ir' dl
. E-6'l=
ka
gt"" E"*ry ci itnet<erlbrtb' d.--ise]ffi-ago+rrbtsbgt l'h";**ie
e re dt tse di }ebal+segsloa loneledir,pl
ka ).a 1-atlhbgera-seshaba"
lffb, gere. kltsb u-" ;"n"b se .rr-u"*
sebala sa
satse-; +lswa lhrti,b-

ba -ettle'
i""k" uu
1fld bahe*i
fro setswatsweng" I"l-ongue
'oa kgornegi{a
pe
-askof+E
yo o- bofqfe'
ba, k-a ,e l-e metns yo "- tlh"g
god*}.qng:t
yo
o'
ntetlro
Iana-setlharei i-"**ooo m+ Le
Fa fa!-she-t
-atbatlhlla:ad<+ T'o ryiAgw,e'
flo o e bef-efo
""^t"tlt"
ri* +rtr't"p"tsa IraE^Ia, :- ipaya iaak+ el" *bil*
lcel-e s sulb-

t"d;
*.-ffi

rTsatsi

T'oNE-PRAcrIcE ++

Gadirala,yarekamalatsiao,mosadiyoatsogelwakebotlhoko'
m: ntlunya;;*;; i"rt a re ba sena go mo tlhapisut!1 -Tuya
le Yopa'
le
gaufi
;il . . f.*u godimo. Kt gottt ereka Lida o
ebilebautlwafaPetereul""go,'e,barutwabaromabannabale

re nyafalela go tla'
babedi, ba yzr go mo rapela go- ", U se ka wa
e rile a fitlhile' ba mo isa mo
Jalo Petere a nanog a a va ttubo ;
ntlunyaneng e krva godimo'

"'rfup-

250

LESSON'+9
IN'|ENSIVE AND REPE'TITIVE
OTHER

re

FORN1S:

CONSTRUCTIONS

as the name indicates'

Another verbal derivative form is the lntensive:

itimpliesthattheactionirrquestionisorrvasdonervithintensityorvigour
simple verb to -aku:
formcd bv the change of the final -a of the

or violence.

It i,

an axe and started

"... u siana a tsuya selil>i, a simolola he ran and tookwagon

smashup the
"
*, r"-"Lu hokti ..." (Padisd IliT);

tt.r

'

(Wheretlreverbrimahalrastheforceof.chopinpieces'or.chopviolelrtlr
,rnd often'.)

'lherc was a territrle shouting,

"Ga nna segajaja se segolo, dichaha tstt

rimaka, muiumd a tlhabaka ' ' '" lPad'
ril165);
Trvo points ought to be noted

bed everywhere

in

regar'J

..

to the Intensive Forrnation'

violence
Although ritnaka is the usual forln' excessive
su{fix:
the
doubling
-ka
by
of u"tiun is sometimes inclicated

(1)

"Thokwuyu d'ihguu, glt e

fio'l (poi;,a

iitsl;-

(gagola
,r',

ares

(srvords) herved violently' spears stab-

gagolakake

or

frequencr

Tau'ny one of thc forests' h': does n'-'''

onlv tear

is to tear clr retrd, so gagolakaka

in pieces "

'

irrdicates tl.re r,irtlerrt \\,ay

all

alrgr.

il"ngty lion tcars his prey to pieces')

(2)

Reciprocal crrdirrg -.tlkt e|:

When tlre lntensir,,e -aka ending and tlre

bothappliedtothesameverb,thelntensiveendingcornesnextthestem'orcoln!:
tirst, and the -ana suffix last:
"

go bdnala go re

re ntse re JaPaakana

o rlitseleng;' (Diphoshdphosd,p'

(fapaana is

51);1

it appears that rve are ahvavs nlissl:

each other in the streets'

to change position u'ith' or take turns rvith, something')

BAusagealliedtothelntensiveisthedoublingoftheverbitself,toindic.:.
extent' or in many directic:''
that the uctio,t huffe""a to a considerable
formation of the ve-:
derivative
really a
or a number of times. ilri, i, not
the element of 'r'iole::-'
Intensitive,
i1-r.
Although it has similaritv oi -"".ri.rg to
isabsent.Wehavealreadyhadoneortwocasesofit;seetlhotse-tlhotse'':
Note 6'
L".ron 29, Note 20; and fofa-fofa, and Lesson 33'

Lesson 49
",., lo e le dithanyatxyana
tseo, peo
e

251

trc ditsh"ueu as for these little rvhite flcwers, the

tsa birds took their seed and scattered it

),a tsdni yatsiwahe dindnyane

grasagasa rno nageng" (Padi:d

III165);

all over the veld.

lvhen the'erb undergoes this process of doublirg, very often

second siem rvhich i'flects, takir-rg the Negative or perfect .riding,
"N,ldsetse settla se gxg), u
(Padisd

IIl113);

ntshclashold,' put out \.our

hancl

it

is only the

to me and

stroke

me.

Notice here that the Obje:tival pronoun or concord cornes before the first
stem, anC the Imperutive B-form enJing takcs place ri-ith the second stem:
in
o:her words, the doubled 'r'erb is treatcd as if it lr'ere one single vcrb, shclasl;cla
or solasola.

"Ga

tzue,

ithutathuteng rnedifi"

17152);

(pad. It is said, learn all the duties . .

Here the Reflexive r- of the second stem, itlxuta is dropped out, and the
whole
verb acts as if it were ithutathuta.
Hon'ever, the first stem sometimes inflects also: see e.9., tlhotsetlhotse
ref.e*

rcd to above (Luhe24: 18).

The student is advised to be careful about using this doubled or ,Repetitive,
fbrm of the verb, until he has some experience of just how and when it is
used
in good rswana. (see section 105, on p. 11-5, of wookey & Brown, on the
Intensive form.)

'l'here are four further idiornatic constructions

comprising the Auxiliary
re
are in general use: e re ka, e ka re, e ha re gorrg*, or e tlaa

re

',r'hich

gongwe, and e se re gongwe.

ereka..

cise

we have already had, in Lesson -rt ,see Notc.i; e rile ka..; and in
Exer90/lti rve had la re ka. . , and ha'e sccr.r that the meaning of these is ,since,

(literally,'u'hen(er.er) because').

The constructior.r consists of the re, generallv ri,itli tlie irnpersonal e before
it, and ha; so it may be of the form e re ka or t,a re ka or e rile ka. In each case
the g-ord 'since . . .' best translates it.
"Ka re, tsala ya me, e re ka u dumtt le
Look here, my friend, since you also
zoina . . ." (Padisd II1110) ;
grow.l . . .
"e rile ka hosigo ho atametse.." (Pad. since night was drawing on . .

rrr

112);

ekare...

(1) This construction is more elusive in mea'ing and usage than the one
above' Literally it may be taken to be'it-can-when ...', buigenerally it is
difficult to translate, and sometimes can be left untranslated:

Lesson 49

2s2

"...

hhini ka kgdli e e atlhameng, tie (its) legs with a broad band, not
a narrow one... which canif left
esengetshesane... ee karenEfa e
leian mo tonking ha lobaka ... ),a sega on the donkey for a time ... cut the
narna ya utlzoisa tonki botlhoho" (Pad. flesh and give pain to the donkey.
III 153) ;2
"Ga go na sepi se se kzca ntli ga motho There is nothing which is outside a
person which could when it enters
se se ha reng se tsina mo go ini sa mo
into him m-ke h'm ur:clean.
itsheholola" (Mareho 7: 15);3
tr.

(In the English it

says

simply, 'there is nothing which, entering into

man . . .",

i.e., using the participle. (The Tsu'ana might equally well have been . . .
e ha reng se tsina . . .)

se

But this construction is practically the same as e f/aa re . . . and can

be used synonymously. It does not aPpear to be a dialectic variant, but is a
matter of personal preference in speech. But, note that e tlaa ra ' . . requires
any sequent verbs to be in the Habitual mood, whereas e ha re . . . is followed by
Indicatives in Narrative form.

(2)

". . . bommaagwi ba ka te fa go le thata,

ba hitsa bangwe . . ." (M. le M. 133);
'Ihis could just as well be
". . . bommaagwi ba tlaa re fa go le
thata ba bifse . . ."
"Fa e ka t kee swa ka tlogdla S. a
gatisitswe . . ." (Diphoshd. litt);
Which could just

"Fa e tlaa re

kee swa

gatisitszle,.."
(3) e ka re

as

well be put

ke tlogele S. a

her mothers can, when things are difficult, call others . . .

her mothers will, when things

are

difficult, call others . . .

If I can when I die leave S' in print

If when I
Print.'.

die,

..

shall have left S. in

with gongwe (or, perhaps):

it might be that when a big animal is
". . . e ka re gongwe go losizaa sedka. . ,
sa mo hgomogila sa mmolaya" (Pad. being hunted, it could spring on him
and kill him.
11168) ;
is often combined

But this could also have been put

", . . gongwe e ha re go losiwa . . ."

Similarly, e tlaa re frequently takes gongwe, either before or after it, to form
a construction with very much the same meaning as e ka re gongu)e. But instead
of being followed by the Indicative it takes the Habitual:

"...a yo kwa go bnb, a re e tlaa re

gongwe a bone sengr,t)e mo go dni"
(Marcko 11 : 13);

he went to

it, thinking (perhaps) he

might find something on it ("he

came, if haply he might find . . .")

And the quotation from Padisd 11168 given above could have read, u'ith no
change of meaning,

". . . e tlaa

laye .".

re gonga)e or, e tle e re gongwe) go losfuta sedha, se mo kgomogele se mmo-

(Note the change in the sequent Yerbs to Habituals.)

Lessurt 19

253

C eseregongwe...
'l'his construction forms a sort of contrast lo e ka le gottgue; u'hereas the latter
olten means 'perhaps', perchance', etc., this one has the sense of 'lest . . .' , 'in
case . .', or 'otherf ise . . .'. It is followed bythe sequent I'erbs inthe Intlicativc,
in Narrative form:
l,ook, you have been healed; do uot
"Bdna, u .fodisitszae; u se ha zca tlhdla
sin any more, lest A \\1)rsc thing beu leofa, e .se re kgotsa se se bosula
fall you.
bogolo sa gu zoila " (|'o'tt'te ,i: lJ);7
(or
No, take it *'ith vou in case I clelav' I
". . . Nnyaa, ya nasd, e se re
gongzoe)

"Fila

ka diiga . . ."

lono

(Dtptrtsli.

28)

clo uot tnix

lest You
(decoratiorrs),
patterns
the
up
make people laugh at vou.

Only, s'hen you clecorate,

ka ea re u kgapha zaa tlhaka'

tlhahanya mehgaPhd e . . . e se re goe se

ngwezt:a itshegisa batho" (Padisd

IIII

of the sentence--it is ant-rther lat' of saving, .l'ila,

ca re u hgapha, u se ka wa tlhahatlhakanjta .. . ancl it coulcl have beeu put, tr sr
(Notice the first part

ka ua re u kgapha wa tlhakatlhakanya - -

I.xERcISFI

97

'1'rar.rslate into English:

"Butryue ba tla ha lere nu.t go itri ruuttttt 1tt-t u bctbolatg ltotllrcko jzca titisild,
tt rzaelwe ke batho hu le barft.1o 11 2 Mmc e rile ka ba retelilzua ke go mrt
atamila ha trtlha -\Ja botftsi jrca batho, ba tlhomosriola ntlo bolehana trtti; v-a re ha
(Marefu,,
setm go phuryta, btt .folosa 1,r,t 0 bobolang hq bolad yo o letseng mo go vdni."
Paukt u
a
bui,
gore
tz
gzaitlha
go
mo
3 Mme e rile molaodi a sena
2: 3-f .)
ditsi,
Ie
di
o
ka
dinyaga
zua
morafe
fetola a re, Ereka ke itse fa u ntse u le moatlhodi
lo
lobaha
kagu
tlhaloganya
ka
e
ka
kgosi
heo iharabila ka hoitumild;l3 1
e
le
gontpietro
letsatsi
ha
tdni,
.ia
.fa
he simolotseng go ),a go dbama kzutt Yerusalema
mo
le
ol>i
lze
ganiht
ba
bo
ise
ba
ga
ba
5 Mme
ftlhele
.ju lesomi le bobetli .fita;
tentpelettg; lefa e le go tlhotlheletsa batho mo matlung a d.ithutd, lefa e Ie tmt trtotsitts"
6 "Gonne ke ofe zaa lona t'o e ka reng.t'a a rata go (tgu
(Ditird 24: l0 t2) .ta

kugdeegotliletrg,asekeuflulupeleabalamadiaydni,goreolleaitse.faanalett
u lekttttl,eng go e s'icetsa: 7 e se re kgotsa o sena gtt e tlnT'a, a reteliftca lrc
go
e s'tL,etsa; jalo hotlhe ba ba e bdnang ba simolola go mo sotla ba re,15 I
'.J\onnayo,
14 :28-30)
r,, simolotsi go aga, mme abo a sa ttonofago szoetsa'" (Luke
e le jzua
tlhdla
e
sa
ga
thata;
bo
jzaa
bokotte
Batswana ba
9 "Botshel|
.fetogile

.16 1() Botsheld bogolo hqo'o

le batla gore motho a diri thata,
le
be
mme
letsomd
: ne e le dinama tsa diphdtdgild;
IV:S)17 11 "l'okgaphd lo
(Padisd
( se rc gongwe a bopamilzua ke bana."
legae .ia gagu;i' 12 Ehete
ntlafatsa
phApafatsa
le
go
mosadi go
supa hetetsi

letsom.d, he.jzua hatho

ba ba ntseng ba ritibetse . .

,t'u

ltarra ba rotta ba bdsetsana ba ka rtttu,a go lo tsava tsia le go kgatlhiga mo tirrtng e'

13 e se tlo ya re gungrce -t'a tloga )ta \cbalilzoa rur'i' Ga go thona gttre btt kgaphi
18 1e
l+ "Fila ka mo'
matlo a clikole, Ie magae a bdni." (Padisd IIIi'Ji)
pttd; e se rc
u
seka-sekile
u
bo
Mohotedi,
jalo,
ini
u
nai,
e re bua
hgwa o 0 ltsettg

gi,,g*, ua iphitlhAh u Ie mo bothateng."

t---

(Padisd

IIl5.f')

15 "Ga

ke tlhole

Lesson 49

25!t

reng. Se se teng, ga go motho opi e ha reng a niu,ta sebaga sa gauta

jaana,
a se gana.2o 16 Ke tlaa ya borekelong, ke ya go leta Drornio;
se ntse
e re fi a rc go na le sekDpi se se bololang gompieno, ke lale ke dule motsing ono."
ke

itse

gore nka

(Diphoshdphoshd, 127)

rxnnclsn

98

Translate into Setswana:

1 "The horse's request. NIy master (mong), give (sekigik)

2
prayer; I your horse bring (out) to you petitions.zt 22 23

ear to my
Feed me'

water me, and take careof me; r'r'hen the day'sworkisfinished,maylfindrest,

a clean bed, and space (mannd) enough to stretch myself (to be with stretching)Be gentle with me at all timeS, eReourage me.rvrth wotds; your voice is efiective
and stroke
(has po'wer) just as leather-straps.24 4 Put out your hand to me
not pull
Do
5
love'
and
contentment
with
you
iroto) ^"; so will I serve
beat me
and
don't
(hill),
up
going
I
am
when
me
,fr" ,"in. hard' (rutta) or beat
25
I may
that
(of)
tirne
give
me
properly;
you
obey
and kick me if I do not
do
pull;
I
cannot
if
feet
(my)
and
harness
to
the
understand you. 6 Look
head'
(laola)
my
do-rvhat-I-like-with
to
allora'me
not haul -. .lor" (garnuttha),
7 If you put-blinders-on(sira) me so that I should not look behind, do it so that

they do not press on (gagamatsa,) my eyes' 8 Do not load me (belesa) with

very heavy burdens, una-ao not leave me in the rain with-the-burden-on; and
.rrifo, *" prop", (right) shoes. 9 If I do not eat, inspect my teeth; perhaps
one of them is sore and has given me great pain.26 10 Do not knee-halter
me tightly, and do not deprive-me-of (amoga) the self-protection,_ I get-rid-of
11 Remember ,(:il::l-. t
(inamita)" with it flies ani mosquitoes'z7 2a 2s
at
(all) times' 12 Why,
water
clean
me
give
so
thirsty;
cannot iell you if I am
you
night and day, 13
on
viaiting
I
am
and
always,
I try to r"r.," yor honbstly
to the cold, or give
leave
me
not
do
is
finished,
strength
if
my
Lastly, *y *".t"r,
1+ rather
to
death;
hunger)
rvith
(kill
me
me
*iil
staro'e
me to any man who
give you
w-ill
God
Thus
(ha
tshiamd)
properly
(fofotsa)
me
'
do you ie*patch
IIll3
(Padisd
tiine."
the
coming
in
and
f')30
now
blessings, both
15 "Now there was a certain widow lvoman' who had three children' all
girls. 1.6 she used to hide them iriside the house, not wanting them to go
iutside, by way of keeping them safe frorn (making them fly from) those enemies
(dira),lest the baboons should see them and steal them' 17 Her heart told

her iiaa@ always (all days) that she $.ould lose them (Passive), as another people
had lost their children, 18 because tire 'woman had to leave them often,
and go to the fields to rvork, and to do her other duties. 1'9 Poor children!
who used to live shut up in a little dark stufiy (:cthukhutfule&zr,) house, never
being able (seeing) to breati:e fresh air (rvind);3t z0 also they $'efe not
stroig, they u,ere thin, for th<y di<l not get outsicJe to be in the light, they spent
the whole time inside the

Notes

house'"

(Padisd

IIIl58)

Translating the line, "I see we still did meet each other's man", about
42 lines from the end of the PlaY.
? hhina (kina) is to tie one of the horse's knees to halter or bridle by a

Lesson 49

255

short thong, to prevent rt moving except with difficultl'. If hot'ever the method is to tie the tri'o forelegs together at the pastern, the lerb is pana' This
is the general rvav of hobbling donkeys. (To tie a cow's hindlegs n'hen about ttr
milk it is to kaoa (or kaa) it, or to katloa it; nouns, mohad and katloo for the
thong kept for this purpose.)
3 itshika is to be clean or pure; the Reversive itshehologa is to be impure

or unclean, and itsheholola is to make unclean or impure.

to hunt lions or leopards or other large carnivorous animals

rvhich are not eatcn; tsoma is to hunt game animals for their meat, hides, etc.
'lhe tr,r'o verbs are not confbunded in Setswana, each is used for the particular
losa means

sort of hunting in question.

s sedha is an.v large dangerous animal-elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion.

Padisd

kgomogila

IIl81,

or kgogogila, spring out uPon

as a

u'ild beast at bay;

see e.9.,

kgogoga.

hgotsa or gono are used in the South ('flhaping and Rolong), n'here
is more general from Mafeking northwards.
I The line in the play (line'tl, Act IV, Scene 1)is, "No, irear it rvith you,

goTrgzle

lest

I come not time enough."

e kgapha is to make the

smear-patterns

with r,vhich

Batsrvana \\romen

in many places so beautifully decorate their house rvalls and floors. For drarvings

of rn;'r,of these patterns or decorations

see

Padisd

3 and Padisd

I0 hobola is a Southern u'ord, equivalent to lwala.

I1
titisild is literally a shaking, trembling or shivering^
1? holebana, Class IX noun from lebana.
3 iharabila is to ansu'er for oneself; noun hoiharabil|
1

a deftrrce, but also means responsibility.

14 tlhotlheletsa, to stir up, is also used

in a good

4.

can mean such

sense.

5 sotla or shotla is to mock, deride, etc.

16 ritibala is to be quiet, settled, undisturbed. See Dictionary.
17 bo*held is used here, as ofteu, not for actual life, but for 'livelihood'

or 'living' in the sense of the things on or by which one lives.

18 e se tlo )'a re gongzce is a variant form of e se re gongxae| and means
the same tlring. Another erample of it occurs in Mathaio 13: 29,"Are, Nnyaa,
e se tlo ya re kgotsa ha lo phutln molrcko, loa o khumolila le mabild",' he said, No;
lest by pulling up the rveeds vou pull up the corn also.
t9 go rona is to be unfitting or unbecoming; thona, the noun, means
something unfitting. So here it means, 'it is not an unfitting thing' i.e., it is an
eminently suitable
Dictionary.

thing. It

could also have been put, ga go rone gore . . . See

20 Or more correctl,v, ... ga gomotlzoopAyoehareng.., asegana,

The translation is of the last 7 lines of Act III, Scene 2, of the Comely of Errors'
Plaatje uses throughout his translation an extremely colloquial form of language,
which is effective, but sometimes a little irregular grammatically. His work is
more of a paraphrase than a translation.
21 'my master', nnng?tanxe or mongwaka. The *Aa suffix is frequent in
Sotho, where it takes the place of me; thipa ya Aa, my knife. In Tswana it is

Lessort 19

2s6

confined almost entirely to the kinship nouns

tsaka, etc.

46v7c44ft4, morwadiaha, moga-

22 sekigila tsibi is probably not good Ts*'ana; it

raism 'incline the ear' used in the Bibie.

23
24
25

'petitions', mekdkdtlild. See kdhdtlila

in

is an echo of the Heb-

Dictionary.

'be gentle', lit., 'become bondlb to me''

See the translation

in the Key to Exercises; se mpetsi, zaa nthuga,

and note the sequence of tenses and pronouns here'

26 'pain', in plural; ditlhabi.
z7 i*ogo i" to despoil, depriYe of, take by force ; see Ekesodo 1 2: '16
".. . ba amoga Baegepeto", they plundered or spoiled the Egyptians'
2a ,riphr*o,- from Jema to parrv or u,ard off an attack. see 31 bclo$"
2s inamola is to drive off from oneself, get rid <>f (Padisd III|,77).

30
31

'blessings'

matlhdgdndld-

Remember difference bets,een hima t<t breathc, and fema

oneself (28

to

def'entl

above).

tTau ya xeya nchsts& Ler Tssl'a yb' mer -r2 tE- file
A-r-Eune. I r,+btrLa, E re kepanblb-gq duma.r
kE bosiga bo-aLarnetss' Menllha a I'aela gre- khudrr.-e gE-E
:,Ugwb.' 3 W se l<ffinb-tonk+ Ic kblb e. lshesansr
trilrrlsa
ya
reg .IH:ta fa
f*"-r."."g fia c }esiwa rro loaking,
e tle
4 'fes* eya- l-r'ia $o bnb; a rc
tnki LtI-t..'
-e
ha
:ie
5 'FIa-'
re gengr,,re. e- tbrrb sengwe- mo gp -hnb- '
-e
se
gore
y rt * tog"pi'ta-w& tlhakatlhakelye*makgapho"
nue we ilshegise bethQ.'

T-T. 45

TONE-PRACTICE +5

Fela ka mokgwa o o ntseng jalo, e re u bua nae, ene ]Iokotedi,

u bo u sekasekile puo; e se re gongwe $'a iphitlhela u le rr.ro bothateng. 2 Ga ke tlhole ke itse gore nka reng' Se se teng, gir
go motho ope yo e ka reng a newa sebaga sa gauta se ntse jazrna,
*. g"nu. Ke tlaa ya borekelong, ke go leta Dromio ; e re
"fa a re go na le sekepe se se bololang .Ya
gompieno, ke lale ke dule
mo motsing ono.

257

LESSON

5O

ka

CONS'|RUC'I'IONS

sala, ise, ba, r'c,

Besides the Auxiliaries $,e have already had (lala, tlh6la,
tshoga' ilse)'
aho-fa'
tloga,
bo,
ere,
sen.a, nn.a-ntse, satltse, kile, tliha, tsogo,
there are a feu'others.

r.erb lrhen used in its ovft] right means to pass, go past'

u.e Passed
exceed; fetila kua pele, pass on in front; re mhetile mo tseleng,
him in the road.

feta. 'fhis

WhenusedasanAuxiliary,somethingofthismeaningpersists,butitisnor
or proclear; the import is that the action of the main verb rvent or.r happening'
ceeded to happen:

" Ya re lengau a seila go ithila paka . ' '

u tla . . . a feta a raYa Pudi a,r .''"

(l'adisd lIll8);1
". . . ba ngdngwailtt ba itlhaganilila hwa
gac, ba feta ba Phutha thotzuana Ytt
ga Pudi . . ." (Pad. II 19)'2

fdla. \\'hen
t
I
I
t

When Cheetah had Put on her dress

. .. she came ... she Proceeded to
say to Goat . . .
..

. they slipped al'ay, they hurried

l.rome, and they proceeded

together Goat's ferv things.

used as a maiu vcrb, as $'c have seen,

to

gather

it means to corne

to

anen<I,tobecomefinished.'metseatlaa.filahamosd,the*'aterrvillcome

carries someto an end, or be finished, to-morro\4'. In its Auxiliary capacity it still

after other
place
thing of that significance; it indicates that some action took
the climax
as
or
similar actions, or even that the action took place for the last time,

to the other actions.

letsatsi lengwe '.. A botsa go re
A
. . . boila a botsa a re - . . A botsa lwa
bo.filt)... nrctmazti a fdla a gana"

"Ka

Padisd II 1'l) ;
"1'a re ha lobaka

li.
e-

ra

a.

re
rle

lzca loungd 4 ronta

a romo motlhanka
a
ba
ntotlhanktt,,.
a roma zca bo.
.
a
fd/a
mongue.
|o
10-12);
(Luke
20:
runl'

Onc clav... she asketl ... she t'eturned and asked . . . she asked for
tl're last tin-re . . . hcr sistcr refused

finally.

In the frr"rit-time (harr-est) hc sent

2r servant . . . also he sent another
servant . . . at last he sent a third'

fbllon's
Ilou'ever, the Auxiliar,v frecluentlv detlotes an action r.vhich merel-v
clear
so
alrvaYs
not
is
rrnotl.rer; the sense of that action bcing the last of a. series
seem
do
examPles
as in thc ts'o examples given abole' \evertheless these trvo
to exemplifl'' the real force of this r-erb lthen used as an Auxiliary.

Irr the same $,a,v, this verb, rvhich means to arrive, can be uscd
rrain verb took
as an Auxiliary, con'eyin; the sense that the action of the
place vrhen someone or something had just come on the scene'

fitlha.

Lesson. 50

258

(Sometimes it is doubtful if fitlha can really be regarded as an Auxiliary

verb, and not just as one rnain verb in a sequence of main verbs, in the characteristic Tswana fashion; at most, in such cases, it is a'semi-auxiliary'verb.)3
Barongwa ba

ba re . .

ya kzca

hgostng

ba fitlha

to the chief 's

place and (there) said . .

itlhagandlila kwn segctlong, ba fitlha ba golola

dipotsane" (Padiso IIll8);
"Jalo ka boraro jzla bdni ba

tl're messengers went

nama. 'lhis is not a very

as a main verb,

So all three hurried to the back-yard

rvhere (on arrival) they set the kids
free.

common verb, rvhethcr used independently

or in an Auxiliary sense. When used independently

it

is

a Positional Stative verb, and has thc meaning of being extensive, lvidcspread,

broad: e.9., thc proverb, Tfuthhwi o rile, Ke lobeld; mme marota o rile, Ke nam.ile:
the Thukhrvi said, I'm fast; but the plains said, we are rvide.4
As an Auxiliary the verb has the rather curious effect of limiting the action
of the main verb u'hich follorvs it to the ncar future, or occasionally to thc near
past-to the vicinity, as it were, in time; it conveys the idea of 'for the time
heing', or 'in the meantime', or Just ns1'1,', or 'very soon':
"Se ke se dirang ga u se itse

gompieno, "What I do thou knowest not no$',

(Padisd but thou shalt kncxt hereafter" ('later

mme at tlaa nama u se ifse"

IIl44 == Yohane 13: 7);5

"Elija tt raya Elisha a re, nama u sa

setse fa ..." (2 Dikgosi 2: 2)'a
"Nahd ya dijd tsa motshegare e gaurt;
ke tlaa nama ke sa kilika dipopigd tsa
motstt

o" (Diphosh6.

16);7

on', N{offatt).
Elijah said to Elisha, 'larry here (for

a fittle while).
The hour for dinner is near, I shall
in the meantime (or, just a littk'
longer) examine the nature of this
to$'n,

The final r,ou'el of the narna is sometimes assimmilated to that of the

ond person pronoun or concord q.hen that follou's the verb:8

"A u namo

u. dumila go re re ha latlha
dibaga tse re di neilzoeng he hagol.o ba
rona?" (Padiso 1136);

sec-

Did you believe (presently, just nol')

that rve could throw a\\,ay the beads
we were given by our elders

ka, ke, ko.

Exigent Imperative. In Lesson 19 II rve had the 2nd person, sing.
and plu.-a u ko u riki, and a lo ko lo reheng and noted that this construction implies more exigcnce or urgency than the simple Imperative. But
besides the fairly common 2nd person, the Exigent Imperative is occasionallr'

II
A

Other constructions employing

used in other persons also:

"A nke he mmdrft mino!"

(Pad.

rrl112);
"Mme h2, a re ke re gopoleng haga
jaanong . . ." (Padi-sd IVI19);

Do
(or,

tird

let rne have a look at his teeth

I must see his teeth.)

Well now, let's think about the u'ork.

Lesson 50
"Mnefila, hua re

setseng

re fitlhile

goni, a re ke re ilneng re sepeti kafa sekaong seo fila" (Bortl. 3: 16);

"Fa e le Yehofa ),o o gu tttlhotlheleleditseng, a a ke a amogili tshupild . . ."

(I

Sam.

26: 19)'e

259

Only, u.hereunto \\'e

have

already

attained, by that same rule do let us

walk.

(See Nloffatt.)*
is Jehovah u'ho has stirred you
up against me, by all means let him

If it

receive an offering.

In all these cases, rhe addition of the Ae inserted into the simple Imperative
adrls a notc of stress or urgencr. to it.

with rse, not yet'

Just as i' tlie abo'e case, so also *,hen a form of

to the ftc construction (see I-esson 3t)), the effect is to adcl
cmphasis; if rse con'eys the sense of ''ot yt ..,', then the strengthened form
Aa is aclded

conveys the sensc of'never anywhere or at any time before

"Polllit t'a ga Androcles ya kgatlha

hatho lhttta, gorre go no gr,t ise go ko
go bonue,

...,:

Ancrrocres's story pleased the people

greatry, for it hacl never anywhere

gongzt;e go utlzaelzt'e, .fa tau e

bcen seen, or e'en heard of, that
ya tsalana le notho gopi" (padisd lion had made friends u.ith a man.
Ir l1,i) ;
"A ;fetola rraagzci a re, Br)na, ke gu
He ansnered his father, Look, I have
diretse i;q dinl'aga tse dintsi tse, le gdni
sen'ed you for all these years, and
ga ke ise nke ke tlrLle taold 1,a gagttgo1ti;
also I never at any time disobeyed
le.fa go tttse julo, ga u isc u ko rr trnee leJtt
1'our rule; but for all that you have
e le potsane gore ke tliri mokcte lc ditsala
neler once git en mc even a kid that I
tsa nrc" (Luke 15: 29);
might have a feast r.r'ith mv friends.

hila

Note that in the first person it is nhe; and that the Ae generallv becomes Ao
in second person by assimilation to the vou'cl of the pronoun; and, ka is also

lbund
- ..
"A bollla
.e

re ga n ise a ka a utlwe
ka lolenrc nama el>i e e nrcilate o kana ka

wa narila e e apeilzaeng ka pitsana

tslipi" (Padi:6 II 3:);

I,o

She tcld people . . . she never before

tasted any meat so nice as the meat
rvhich had been cooked in the iron

pot.

Plaatje's Diphosl;dphosi;d provides man' e\amples of this usage,

three, exhibiting the three forms of the Aa, can be cited:

"Kana, mogatsaha, I\,Iodimo o itse fa ke

ise nlle ke gu tsooalele kzca ntli" (p. 37);

"Iie ini ntri,

sebaga ke sele mo tltanutrtg

ya gagzci sele, rtszca a latotsi a ba a bidi.hama ct re ga a ise a ka a se bone; nkatamila gore nke ke bui nai" (p. 41) ; to

of

which

\\:hy, my husband, God knows that I

never at any time shut you out . . .
It is he himself, and there is the chain

round his neck, although he

Cenied

r.ehemently that lie had ever received

it; come near that I may speak u'ith
him.
" u latola ka maikand le matlhapa u re
You denv rvith oaths and curses sayga u ise u ko o bone sebaga" (p. ttt1 ,.tt
igg you had neycr had the chain.
* I'e', Dr. James Mofatt's Nrrv TnaNslerrox oE ran Brulr,
Hodder & stoughton,

..r
i
I

Kty to Exerceses

418

yo. 16 Ke tle ke ihitse go ie gabedi ha behe mnngws Ie

sa bosomi sa tsotlhe tse ke di bapalmg he se ntslu. 17 Mme mohgethiti A
a imila hwa hgakala, le e t*g matlhd a se ha a a lelaletsa legodimong; mme a itA
sehuba a r, Modimo, nkutlu;ila botlhoho, nna yo ke teng mnblrt. 18 Kea
baldlila, ff anna yo o fologetse kwa tlung ya grywd a siamisitswe bogolo go yo
19 gonne rnongwe le mongwe yo o ihgodisang o tlaa ngdtlafadian, mme yo o i,

jaaka mohgethisi

'b

tlafatsang o tlaa godisiuta." (Inke 18 : 9-14) 20 "Jalo, ipoltlilancng

ya lona, lo bo lo rapilhlani, gore lo tle lo fod'isiwi." (Yahobe 5: 16)
93,

1, 'oWhen he did not come home that d"y, or that night, his younger brotherrs
got up early in the morning intending to go and look for him. - Z As they wer
oo looking for him, ttrey suddenly saw a great many vulturts qrowded together
somi:thing. 3 When they drew near to see what had been killed, they foundj
it was a person's body. 4 The vultures were all round it; one would seizEi
it and pull it, another would pluck it and bring it back, and so on; the corple
allowing itself to be pulled here and there. 5 His younger brothers suddenly
realised with a shock that tlre corpse was that of their (older) brother." (Padi$

rrl7tf.)

"He went on forward with a heavy heart (or" sorrQwfully), and said to
himself, 'Oh dear, what shall I do (lit., who will see me)! 7 It would be
better tor have lost my monpy, and not the.f.aithful dog which has been with me
all these years!' 8 The thought of his money made'him sftetch out his hand
to hold the bag of m"oney; wiqh.ashp* he found it was not there! 9 In a
flash (lit., a wink of the eye) he realised what he had done, and blamed himself
greatly because he (had) diqregarded,:the signs by which the dog (had) tried to
tell him. 10 The rnerchant turned ro.und and went back in his tracks, and
.returned to where he had rested., 11 He perceived the trail of blood as he
went on, but he did not see;the dog at all in the road. lZ At laet he arrived
at the tree. The poor man found the bag there, and his dog guarding'it, (it was)
in,fhe paips of death. 13. The poor dog had dragged itself to the bag, after
it had seen that its rnaster did not know that he had lost it." (Padisb IIl26f.)
l+ "So it happened, as they still went onward in the way, he entered into
a certain village; and there a certain \troman who was called Martha received him
into her house. 15 She had a younger sister called Mary, who also sat at
dn Lord's feet and heard his word. 16 But Martha was burdened by much
serying; so she came to him and said, Lord, do you not care that (because) my
sister has left me to serve alone ? I say, tell her to help me. 17 But the Lord
ansrilqred her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and you tire yourself with (by)
many.things: 18 .but only.one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the
goo{ portioni which will not be taken from her." (Luke 10: 3&42)
94.

"Gompimo go ittiwe go re phifali ya letsa*i e dhala notlhang tn ngwali

a site lztsatsi ka rtllu nngzoe, gongae
o fctatg f4 gerc ga lefatihc Ie Lctsatti,
jotl,he.fdla,.Iesedi ja hni te se he le bwale ha lobahnnyatu.
Motl&wngwe

Kty to Exercises

419

l$atstp, rru tsot oottg lo ihi, lp tlc le

fa.gare ga letsatsi h ngwcili, ialo ngwdt
-tsette
i ga", ha go clanifabiwa'k lefatshe. 4- Buitlwti ba -dil!.ts,e h: t':: ta'?

ya ngarcilii ba nonafiIe go boltldln-pet" .!:!:tu Io le'W le

ttao,;rilrg'h" ngwedi ka ti*a, U bbaka lo ngwedi o ttaa ctwtifalikrcng he lcfatshe
5 jato Oattn ga baa tslruanih go tlhdh ba boifa dipryd, ka e le
ha thi.
iEIh t* di i*iwag, e bih gi itsiwe letsatti. ie ili ha liblllla:ang ka lnA $bne), b wra
tila c di tle dhalarrg na yUA. 6 Go tlo go bolelelwe pelc jalo mo d'ikoranteng-,
go rc philoli c tba ia ka lztsatsi. la bobbA, go re batho ba ipaahanyetse go e bdna:."
b"fr'r it1sry.
7 *Erih mthatttongwe segwaba sengvre sa lefatshe la Fora sa dtila mt\bobb!
tsinan ya Qfatsle

sadi a nmlato gd"a. O ne a pagame pitse, a na le vtsa ya gagni' 8

rytla
-Z;t" i
mdi ap, a a tsenya mo kgetsing, a piga kgetse mo saleng f a pele
-- go bbu
ga $@i iuha a Tnlatu, a itse go bilola gapi a boila krtta gae' 9 Moragd ga
; *" go-t ffili E&ahnryana a pagologa gore a itapolosi tlase ga setlhme sengvre.
a Uy ngct* ya nadi Ja iatshe fa-Ioilhaioring lwa gagwi iaaha a itapoloritse. _ 1-0
MJ " it" o-g^--kra hob;di, a lebala go tsaya hgetse. Ntsa ka e lemagile fa
a c lfu 1m-Ueb go e lne, nttnc ya e retelil'a ka ntlha ya bokete ja:a yani' - 1l
mang wa ydni, ya leha go mmolllbla t&ald
Ntsa ya thg| y t"log" hwa norugb
- ga
y" gqri ht i, ;,,g"t" ta go tzta. 12 Morekii ga aa ha a tlhaloganya ilitslwpd
tv.; tw t& ta r"- yi Uno go bolililn ,nong wa ydn| ka fud ya sntsa ya yfui'
pitse
go tc o tlosctsc tdawc-kn moragit. 13 E ile e sena go tlhatla go )tnisa
xe
dih
bdna
se
fu g" bogJt, y" t;rrt"t" go e loma ithlthi. 1'+ E ile segwaba
ya
ntse
itse
e
fa
sa ittwyi w fc ,tts ya gagafi e tserqrue ke botsAnd. 15 Eni
sekitwa e tlc e ilc ontr"i lga* go ,zoa; iala e rile ba kgabaganya nnlapd a shiba
kna rorugd go bha fa nxi e ttaa nwa. 16 Ntsa (mpsa) y&ni ga ea ha ya iva
a tlagetweng
c gahalc*e go basetsa rnong tt)a ydnd kaa tnading
go twa, no i
-a
"hua

go

"tn
rrr-o[a; ialo ya nna ya loma ya bogola ha bogale bogolo (io
bosglo.) 17 jo^orrg hd,-morekisi ha a gopola fa go se na pe.lail6 haga botsinwa
'iio nt"o, a tsaya tnababryma ya gaguO a hula ntsa la gagzoA' 18 Mme
nabdtigololotE koa

'o)ho

i*r6i n" go itshdia go iarro-pioA ya bso kta ntsa ya gagwi, a tlhaba pitse
ha di@ a lekila pele ha pelo e e botlhoho." (Padisd IIl25 f')
o

95.

"So there was war for a long time between Saul's people and David'S
people; but David became more and more powerful, but saul's people became
more and more weak. 2 But it happened, while there was still war between
saul's people and David's people, that Abner strengthened himself in the house
of Saul." (II Sanuel 3: 1, 6)
3 "For you, my friends, are called to freedom; but do not change your
freedom (intoj a chance for serving yourselves, but be servants' one of another,
in love. 4 For the whole law is fulfilled (made-to-happen) in one wofd,
that is, in this one, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 5 But if you
bite one another, and eat one another, beware that you do not quite-destroy One
another. Let us not be vainglorious, Iet us not provoke one another of treat one
another with envy." fGalatiane 5: 13-15' 26)
6 "In Setswana life, as in the lives of all tribes and peoples, there are legends

Kty to Exercises

+20

'

(stories); or w can say, stories of

long ago which teach something.
7 Al_
though this is so, these stories r,*.
i"t*].
dtrr.c"rdJ'";;;"?",
*.
already
just things for ch'dren when they
p".J"-.u".ri"rrg, ;
(but) the
teaching in the stories is great,
"hio,rgl,
ii
i. rary desiraile ,lr"i ,rr"
.*ries
-a
be taken
care of'
9 that they b: Iet slip, but while they are not yet
forgotten
they
"o,,
be written down, in order that-their
*i.at-

nation ' '

'

lr."owredge) be not lost to the setswana

r0 In the 'after-suppei-tiri.'
irr_-trrJJ"";g. ;;;he cattre-posts,

when the cattle have come in una

been m'ked, before-beds are laid
down,
is the custom to ten fork-tares. "iro
r il;;:;;;"';i;
;,:"r,
inost
of.them
are about Dimo, and it is. crear
1"op*r"*j'rrrat Dimo was a person who surpassed
everybody in size (growth); '12
also'he was a very terrible person indeed,
'(pad^d
for he was a man-eater.',
AIF4|J
tl
upon a time two men'weie'trave'ing togetJrer,
.'to""" and
and going through
a great forest;
since that forest was fufl of wili ri""r.,
irr"y
promised each
other that they would help each other
if som"tlriog,irrto*"rj-tipi"""a to them
in their journey' 14 one day as they
were traveting be", ru.hed out upon
them out of the thick trees. f !
Orr" of-oth"r,
th" two, as hI "*". , *ry, quick man,
immediately climbed. a tree; 16
th"
as he was an' older
"'iz man who
was not quick rike the other, threw
himserf on the g-";a.
he ray on
his face like a corpse and stopped t i-."ii
breathingjpre,"rrairrg t was dead.
18 The bear came to the one who *". ryiog as if
" smelt him
dead like tha! and
alf
.
lound-; but because it thought rr" *"r'i""a, it- vvv.
soon went back
"e'r u4!A rinto the forest
without doing anything to himJ,
@aaidiiSl;

it

96.

| "Ditsd tsa dichl!-a d: na

Tsa dichaba tse di rutegileng

rere ka thutaganvd.
go tsina mo dichabeng.

e kgota thata mo go ba ba di itang

tlhdhd.
ftse t!1t6
di tsz:el.itseng-pere

3" G;di n,:r","

cti kwadilwe senth ha botsate-

*"i,[ffii;;;;:;:T,ilJnn,ur,*,,*o

n ,lln re Ola"o n"i" ginA" ,i, aing"i",'-i* re di bbnang

tng. s 'Dikgotd ,r, al i"g;rr)), ot ro ntse di
sinolor^, di bdnara sntti
fdra. i z" a*a .xg dbhaba xa Ear$a dia ttsege;
di simolotst go ithuta moragd- thata Bajuda
rie oo sa boh go simolora. 7 Baroma ke bdni ba ba isitsng thutd.ka:a
buro\,o, dirhobo uo ,irg di ;;;;r, di tshwana
'le rcna Batswana, di sa lxe
sepi sa thata ie iswahrypa". g" h
oia Ba-Europa,
tsrnlldpele ba e bonye ka bothita,
ba hile ao iogir;*o he d.ichaba tse dingwe,
tsa ba
dire batllunka.,' eanir| IIIIS|)
9 "Jamta; ga bo 91 le morutwa mongwe kwa_yopa, go twe,
Tabitha; ke go re,
fa go plwthololan, Dorckase;_ mosadi yo,3 na a trexe ditird tse
li
mohmd, te dihatsb
tse o di dirang. 10 Ga dirata
ya rr'no nototi oo,
;
;;moko, a wa;
jalo ba re ba sena go ma tlhap.isa, io
""i"sii*i
**oyo trw ntlutryaneng
e e kz'a godimo. 1l
Ke gdnl ereka Lida a te ga*fi Ie yopa, t
o,;iit atrwa fa petere a Ie gdnd, barutwa
ba rorna banna ba Ie babidi, ba yo jo
*
rapita go re, (J se ha an re- nyafardra go
tla' 12 Jalo Petere a
a ya nabi; e r,e a
di

ts,teletse pere,

,.
di $molotseng-ka

fitrhirc, ba mo isa mo ntru-nenoga

nyaneilg e e kan godimo;, bas(i
ba ba batthdragadi ba io ba ene
fa go cni, ba lera,
b3 strpa dikobd le diapmd tse Dorekase
di ;;;;*g
a sa ntie a im nabd. 13 Mme
-h;r;;
Petere a ba ntshetsa koa ntb botlhe, "
a *u t
;;;p;:;;;;; a retorogua

IcIt lll
salB,,

(nry

!n"

t
84P,
ya

gon
Iagry

Kty to Exercis.es

42,1

hwa setohng a re, Tabitha, tsoga. Ke gdne Dorehase a.buduhga rnatlhi; ya re

a bdna Peterc a rapamaloga. 14 Jalo Petue a mi nl\ta seatla a mo kahattolala;
ya re a Eefla go bitsa baitshryti le batlhnlagadi, a mo ba nd\h a fihedile. 15 Morago ga mao ga dirala b tlhdla malatsi a le mantsi mo Yopa, mo go ntongwe, go ftire
Simone, movgi wa matlall." (Ditird 9:3643)
97.

"Some brought to him a man who was sick-with disease of palsy (trernpeople. 2 But since they could not (were prevented
from) get near him on account of the crowd of people, they un-raftered the house
just above (lit., oppositc) him; when they had broken in, they let down the one
who was ill by the bed on which he wds lying." (Mark 2:3 f.)
3 "But when the magistrate had signed to him that he should speak, Paul answered saying, Since I know that yor,
(and have been) a judge of these people
for many years, I answer for myself"r"
glaclly; + for the king can understand
about the time in which I started to go to worship at Jerusalem, that this day is
only the twelfth; 5 they have never yet found me disputing (I dispute) with
anyone in the temple, or stirring up people in the synagogues or in the town.l'

bling), carried by four

(Acts 24: 10-12)

"For which of you is it who when if he wants to build a high building,

sit down first and count the money for it, that he may know if he has
enough to finish it:
7 lest when he has founded it he be unable to finish it;
so all who see it begin to laugh at (mock) him saying, 8 This man, he began
to build, but apparently he was not able to finish." (tuke 14:28-30)
9 "The life of the northern Batswana has changed greatly; it is no longer
of hunting, it is of people who have settled down . . .
10 T ife for-the-mostpart used to be the meat of game; but the hunt demanded that a rnan should
work hard, or otherwise his children would get thin." (Padisd IVIS) 11
"Smeared patterns demonstrate the desire of a woman to make cleair and to make
beautiful her home. 12 It is evident that our girl children can be taught to
pay attention to and to take pleasure in this work, 13 in case it be soon
totally forgotten. It is not unfitting that they should smear the school-buildings,
and their homes." (Padin III|33)
14 "Just in the same way, whenever
you speak with him, Mokotedi, you will-do-well-to have considered your speech;
otherwise (or, lest) you find yourself in trouble." 15 '(I no longer know what
I can say. f'm sure there is no one who can refuse a golden omament when he
is given it.
16 I shall go to the market-place to wait for Dromio; when he
there
is
a
ship setting out to-day; by night I shall be out of this city."
says
(Diplushn. p.27)
does not

98.

| "TdIi ya pitse. Mongwaka, sikigila thapdlt ya ne isdbi; h.e le pitse ya

g4o, kc gu ntshetsa mekbkdtbld. 2 Nkotla, u nnosi, u bo u ntla.n"llC; fa tird
ya hxa*i e fedilc, a ke bonl boikhutsd, bolad jo bo phdpa, h mannd a a lehanyeng
go,tta ka phitln:logd. 3 'Nndl\falila ka rnetlha, u niametse ka pud; llzttsu)e
la gago b nonofile fila jaaka dikgdh. 4 Nkisetsa seatla sa gago, u ntsholawll,

Kty ts frxercises

+:2+

Chief would have indicated in what quarter he loved, so they would look ino
circumstances (or, nature) of the parents of the girl, to see if tn*y were all ri

Also they would look whether the girl's father had a following (or, pa
in former times civil war was prevalent at home, frequentJy (lit., perh{li
fighting for chieftainship; so this following (or, party) of the girl,s father migfi
be expected to fight for (i.e., on behalf of) the chieftainship, for their child #
involved (lit., because it was to their child). 5 If the chief's uncles and folouC
because

ers agreed about the girl,. they would say so; if they did not agree, they
say so.
6 If they agreed, preparations would be made, and the woman
be brought (lit , would arrive): according to the custom, this woman who arrivedtr
was not the chief wife, she was the mmamoleta (mother of the regent). 7
'mother of the cattle' or the 'mother of the chief' was taken later on. The h
ngwato used to say, 'If the mother of the chief can be taken (married) firsg shct
may grve birth to the chief (i.e., his heir and successor) soon, and he might som;
prevent his father from ruling.' 8 That was why the 'mother of the regent'
was married first, in order that her children should have no right to seek the chidtainship, as they would know that its owner had still got to be born, in another

house. 9 Apart from the mm.adihgomo, the wives

stood

in order of their :

being married, the first to be taken being the most important; and so also their
children rule (have authority) in the order of (or, according to) their mother,l
marriages." (Mehgwa le Melad pp. 112f.)

l0

heaven

"Jesus placed another parable before them.saying, The kingdom of

is likened to a person who once sowed good seed in his garden; 11

but when people were asleep, his enerrry came and sowed darnel also among the
corn, and went away. 1.2 So when the shoots grew up, then the darnel appeared also. 13 So the servants of the owner of the garden came and said
to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your garden ? then where (also) cdn it
have got the darnel ?
14 He said to them, It is an enemy who has done thus.
The servants said, If so, do you want us to pull it up ? 15 He said, No; lest
when you gather the darnel, you pull up the corn along with it.
16 Leave it,
allow it go grow to (go to) the harvest; thus (when) in the time of harvest I shall
say to the reapers, 17 Gather up the darnel first, tie it in bundles in order
to burn it; but the corn you shall gather into'my barns." (Mathaio 13: 2zt-30)
102.

1, E

kile ya re bogologolo Moran le mogatsi ba itCla golo gongttre. Babo ba

hgakala thata ba se na dij6, ha rnoo ba bolawa thata he tlala. 2 Moragd ga go sena go feta lobaka lo loheh, ba bdnn dipixe dingan tsa naga. 3 Morrna a raya mosadi a re,'Kea itse u nonofile go iphetola u nna tou; iphethold jaanotg
u tshanri pitse nngwe ya naga, gore re tle re ee ji re tsheld.' 4 Mosadi a mhetola
a re, ''Fa ke dira jalo, ke iphetola tau, u tha boifa'. 5 Wa tnonna a re, ,Nnyaa,
he bcifa thln, afina ga ke gu boife.' 6 Foo moriri o maleele wa simolala go tswa
mo thatutng ya mosadi ka kwa rnoragd, dinala tsa gagwi tsa lelefala, s{atlhdgb sa
gagwd sa faoga. 7 Fa monna a bdna jaln, a cimolala go boifu thata, a sia a
palama setlharc se se gaufi.. 8 Tau ydnl ya se ka ya mo tthdhdmdln, ya ya,go
Go ise'go fete labakatryana flla, ya tloldla pitse nngarc, ya e
ratdla elipixe.
tsamaetse

.9

4:a6
:'."

. 18 So he who eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lord
worthily, is really sinning against the body and blood of the'i-ta, -i9he who eats and drinks, not discerning the body, only eats and drinks j
to hirnself. -20 But if .we discerned ourselves, we would not be ;"Agt'i{
drunk ,. .

(I Corinttrians

11:

,,

17-31)

''

trelfg

. i

104.

1 Ha u ka bala lohanld loo wa lo ila tlhdkd, u tLaa bo u fitlhila go re go goli"

ga monn& go tshwanetse ga feta go gola ga mosadi.
2 A u rata ka mo tlharcgE@},
nna yo he etileng ha ba ha tsoma nad ?
3 "Iolu a ba raya a re, Ko afe wa lona yo o ka reng a na le tsala, a ba a ya
fuo gq ini gare ga bo$go, a mo rctya a re, 4 Tsala, nkadima dinhgtnd tli Ic ttwo, ;
gorme tsala ya nc e nkgorogetse, c tctua loetong', tffinc ga he na cepi se nka se w
fqs,4.
5 *ry yole yo o hzoa tettg a ka mo fetola, a re, Se ntshwenyd; go setse go t*tetsrrr-,'j.
le bana ba me hc na nabd mo bolaong, ga nhahe

ka

tsoga

I-

gu

noyo? 6

Kea lo'1

roya ha rc, Lefa a gctna go tsoga a t@ nala kogob" i t *it" ye- gagzod, lefa go a*i
iah, ka ntlha ya kttnlbln ya gagatd o tha tsogo a flo naya hafa o tthbkailg fu gql.7 "Ko-ofe ina lona yo o ha teng, e Ie na-bana, fa ngwana wa gagwi a rm llp
snhgwl, a o ka mo nala butswA? 8 Gongwe ja a tdpa tllwpi, i o ha -o iy"
nigamoboemong jwatlhapi? gongarc fa a lopa lctsae (lee), a o hh mo naya pheplmg?
9 Ke gdni fa hna, b le borula, lo itse go naya bana ba hf,o dinld tse di molztad, i
bagolo ions Rraeno wa legodhno o tlaa naya ba ba mb loputg Motra o o BoitshW."

hG

I ilru

lfoi'

ordcrffi,nu

(Luhc 11:5-13)

,'

tA "A bo ke ha bo ke itse (or, A bo ke ka ha ka i*e) hwa ke ha o fitlhltoE

gbni lteng;, gore ke ke ke yd fita' kwa sennoflg sa dne! 11 Ke ne ke tlaa ruhgatya mafoho a mc fa pele ga dni, ke ne ke tlaa itse mafoho a o tlaa nplutolng ka
adnC; kc tlhalogarrya se o tlaa se buang le nna. 12 A o no o tha
[anlla Ic wu
hi bogolo jwa nonofd ya &ni? Nnyan, tn fle o fla o tlaa ntlhdkbmdla.,, (yobe 2J: 34)
13 "Jaanong mo go tsdn| dinokwane tseo ga bo go lc,Moarabia rumgwe lo o
bfulinang Hassan. Eni o na a nla le pitse e ntli thata e e neng ya gapiwi h ydot
hp fltosdli. t4 E dle go h bosigo ha Hassan a robetse
fa faihe, a golzgirwe
wiob'ka kgdll, a utlan

pitse yo gogre t Ub. 15 U LaU pixi yahi fO,

e Imla e gohgilwe maoto hafa mohgwmg wa batln bao; lzfi e hah e'retelelu)e he
go tsainya. 16 Hassan a itse bntsrte la pitse ya gagwi, a ba a rata go e bbna
ba bofllt; jalo a ihgdgakgdga a gagabilb kta pixe e nffig gM.- (padiso IIpg)
105.

1 "One time when Sianana brought-his-cattle-home-in-the-evening

fitr
'wff
ffi

he

with a great big tortoise, which he had got in the long grass. This was
old folks' food, for in addition it had eggs. 2 -So he passed it on (or, gave it)
to Siako his elder brother saying, 'Here is a tortoise, sir.' Siako passed it on
(made-arrive) to Montlha, for'he was the,Ieader (the elder) of the regiment. 3
Not far from Montlha's cattle-post tlere was an bld man Ramorwa, whose right
t'he find was; but since night.was near, Montlha ordered that the tortqise be tiea
np, in order that it might (or, irntil it might) be sent to its owner in the morning.,
4',:But when in thi: morning the tortoise was lookdd for {we'nt b be looked for),
came

i.' f*g;.f,tnr

:'

Ytaat

And

ert

orffil
got?

:i
frt#

:.'

Key to Exercises

428

hgoi ya

udnb. 7

Ga nna segajaja se segolo, chaka tsa rinraha, nuund e ilIstsarnaya ditshwme tsotlhc tsa ganyaolwa. Di sata go bolma gotalr.,
haqna ha folwa Nsangi, ba it,o go *huba setlltare so ditshwtne ha-nohr6, 'B c"
fitlhildla nohd enn, ditshwene di tshaba go ya gaufi Ie netse ya batlw, gongwc go utsoe
ba1a, ka gonne boonmaatsd ba ogo Oi nirria"d; boDhi nago t lhySga; e hgolo
e di hileng tsa e bbna ka rird eo. 9 Fa e tc,lithunyanlora tse'ditshweuTrn,
peo ya tsdnc ya tsdwa he dindnyane tsa e gasagasa *o oog*g;
i"t" t"ru no=i; urt)
'diheledi tsa ga Nsangi', nakb hgolo he eno. Lo tlaa ai ntna motlha nongwc fa lo
le fa gme ga sekgwa se setma." (Pdis| IIIl64f.)
baha,

ga

10 "Ya re Yesi a feta, a bdna motho yo o sa leng a tsalwa a fwfetse, ll

Jalo barutzoa ba gagwi ba mmotsa ba re, Rabi, go * go tcofile mang, a ,nanna yo,
hgotsa batsadi ba gagss\, fa e bo ne ne a tsetwe a foufetse? 12 Yestt. a ba
fetoh

a re, Go no go sa leofa monna yo, lefa e le batsadi ba gryw|? e ne e lc gme ditird tsa
y"di^" di tt4 di bdnadiafit mo go ini . . . t3 Vi ri a sena go U*ja", a fowib
fa .fatshe, a duba serltsi ha mathe, a mo tshasa seritsd mo matthong; o *o ,oyi o rr,
1! _Va u tlhapi mo lehadibeng ja Siloama fu gu re, Romilase, la go pninlnh,o.
'Hotngbagqabd,hba
A tlry".a
tsamaya, a la a tlfiapa,abaathabima. 15
,ba nnnnymg gald fa e le mokopi, ba re, Yo, a ga si Cni yo o ia c tla a nule go hnpa?
16 Bangwe ba re, Ke eni; ba bangwe ba re, Nnyaa, ,nm"e o tshwana tui. Mru
ini a re, Ke nna . . . l7 Hong Bajuda ba belaila-haga gagwd, go re, a jaatu o kih
a ne'afutfetse, a ba a foufologa; ba baa ba tla ba bitsa betsad,i ba yo o yuiotag;teng,
'l,8 Ba ba botsa ba re, A ya, he eni ngwnta
wa bna, yo ln rmg o tsetszle a foufetse?

O bina jang gompimo? Batsadi ba gagwC ba ba fetola ba re, 19 Rea itsc fa yo

e le ngwana sna rona, a bile a na a tsetsxle a foufetse; ,nme ga re itse kafa o bdniflg
fu
gonpieno; le yo o mo foufolopsmg matlh6, ga rc ma i*c; botsang tnC, o
FPa
godile, o tlaa iharabDla . . .
20 Foo ba no raya ba re, O gu diit*ng? O gu !oujang?
aatlhd
21
A
ba fetata a rc, Ke lo bolpletse gompimo jaana, rane
foloxi
ga ha ha lwa utlwa: ln ratllang go baa lo go utkta? A Ic lona Ia rata go $ua barutiba ba gagai? . . .
22 E sa le ka tlhdhgb ya hfa*lw ga go ise go ha go utlwiwe

fa

mongwe a bile a foufotola matlhd a motho yo o twtweng-a (ou1etse.

ZS Fa
twe Modinong, o na A sa hake a ilira-sepi}' (yaharc 9: I-J,

yy-lr:,y

|*

6-9, 18-21, 26f,32f.)

ga

arry {6r t

rwltfuft

t07.

r
**1t::'',..::
'1;,

"By the law, whenever a person had (has) killed, he brings what hd has
killed to the elders, any ones whom he may (can) meet. Z Or if it was a
journey; the custom (right) was that a person shquld be followed by one of his
younger brothers. 3 The latter had to (ought to) help with the burden and
with putting down his bed for him; not only that, (but) also with cooking for him
when they were resting. 4 Apart from supporting (empowering) law-and.
order (lit., command), still more the (this) law was desigaed to care for old people.
5 Long ago; there being no books or anything like that, such old people were
the experts in all knowledge of story-(song)-telling and customs and so on; they
were thc.heads of the tribe. 6 A young man, if he was thirsty for.knowledge,
could go to dip out a little ffom them by the gift of some (emall) food." (Pddt6
rrrlr2)

';,ri'id

'

t &rcSrrllff
Yo,flbrb,rft

asGJ*'rrfrl&
t?ryd.rGr '&+

,, J 'r,.

3 eif,d
s@
g@,,rkqqrnE
+ Bdbfft,br

futq;flu

5 O r*.zjD

Icf& h.

:t

,K'e3l"to'Eac'rciies

430

,l

hc ntasala hn'enl, a bdna gore kgono ya bdnl e latsitse; a ba a tryadfua he ba ba

masafa. 7 Ke gdni ? la a ine\la mo go ,norrgwa rwaril ws lofatsln Ia;

hd a rn ha kan nogeng ya gagzne go re a mo otllh ilihaloW (tsa grywt) -tery. 8
Mosimone yo4 fa a hn bo a le tu) gae, o n4. o sa kake a dira s4fi A a;nWa, U e tc
seng

rtpila o mogolo wa gagabd; nmc ka a ne a patihiJute hc thln,"go na'go sc na'hnfa

o ka gmang ha tng. 9 E Ule ha tlala e e ,w tshwra4 a,bo. a etetqgo. fu
'
foora morofu o o jeuang hc dihplobd tseo- (Padifi lt39f,) ' , .. ,.:
10 "Ya re letsatci lutgwe Morina Katse a ba a ile go tsoma nb sekgvlag.

lc

foo, Mtndla:'a

th

a ntse

sicna,

try;

sa tlhtohitnele thata: lana o yattg

:jalo

a bath go thuhna le Katse. 11 Katsc a tslnga a re,'R-r-r-r-rJ' fu\n--t*hgweng wa gagwd fa a tshogih. Mme Mmatla a re setshedi se o sa se itstng se,.

jq jah a betsilge4ka thata yotlhe, a sia,a;tslngik

-Phbi tfrta
12 , Kgentcli Mmatta a rahana te Phii mo sekgr4.ettg.
a botsa
, go re, h, aiy fa a tla a $anye jalo jeaka ekete o tshaba sengwe?'Ija, Mor&na Phirt!
E ilc kc feta gaufi le ntlo ya ga Motlhdlagadi Ptpkoje, setshedi.se se boitshdgang
sa nkgogogila ! Se habo se ne sa mmetsaha he ntse ke atlwa, fa maoto q ,ne a nc a.tc
ha a mpoloha!' 1.4 'A ruil' go fetoln Phiri. tKe tshcnatntse gore ke,..yi go
. * blttal' lMqCna Phii, u se ka I o ttaa g bolnya!' go fetola Mrwtlo:' (P. adht
se

rata go mmolaya sa no

tln:ta.

ruls2)

.,,,

:rl(X).

'i

The time for leaving work came at five in the afternoon. - He went to
the money and went home with it. When hie wife saw him she said
'Ytlhat is it you are so heavily carrying in both hands ?' Her husband called hr
aside and said to her, 'Just look at the luck that has befallen usl'When the womao
gtanced in and saw the bag of money, she burst out into a shout, 'Kg"ajululut'
Her husband scolded her, 'Look here, be quiet; you are attracting the passers-byl'
'Well, well, well, now! Fancy that, my husbandt'
'Do realise that I have found this money; but don't say a word"about ig
keep it absolutely darkl'
, lresently since the man knew tlat his rrife could not Leepra secret, he made
a plan for her. He called his wife, and they went to bury (dig in) their money inthe veld. After they had buried it properly,.they thbn went,,backhome. ThE
wonun devoted,herself to preparing what thqy wgre going to have for, supper,
the man said he was going to snare a little animal in the veld near by. So he.toot .
the.trap (iron for catching beasts), and also took his fish-hook with which hc
catches fish in the river, and tied a string to it,,and rryent away. (P.aditn
As (lit., where) Rammone was going along he met Mmatheebe. Again
was looked on with disfavour and scolded. .He saw that the ftrson whom b
had been deceiving himself about did not want even to look at him. But sina
for a m4n to be thwarted does not mean that he $ives up (is no! for him to girci
up), hc thought that "perhaps a letter would move , Mmatheebe's heart,.. Itrc
wrote to the grtl. We have already heard that the gifl did not know how to'rcrd
and write. She went all over the town looking for someoqe.to read this'nyseQi*
to herr How unfortunate (lit., how it scorns) not to be abfe to,r. adl''Mma
got'hold of a girl from the school to read {it) to her., , f,Idril wodld she,.reade

db rp

UlnSi)
b

+32

'

Rty ta Exercfses
=*

'Ke tsoara-mang

?'

'Tsao Monageng.'

Monna o rc ga a utlwe sentli, a re mo$mane a ma atamili. Modisa a atmollc

Eanyane, a ntse a belalla, a ba a bohla gapi.
'E-he! Il maimane oora-Monagmg? Mme go na le bomang ma morakmg?,
'Go na le Rakoodirile.'

'Hee! Ko dna ilha, ngrtanaka. Mme tsele ke tsoora-tnang?' go bua ttorna, a

supile.feld gongwe ka kwa moragb ga mniraane, kuta e rileng
a re o gadimzo
leba tang, monna d mo tloldla jaaka kaxe
fila, a mo tshwara. Moshnane wa mogob.,,

^ori*,

a ho/a maitshwaril|, rnrne ga tute'Kgantha!' E rile monna a sa ntse amo tslwfuc

a ntsha thupa e e neng.a e fitlhile, a mo dtla, madi a ba a tsimoga.. Monna a.mo
tlogila a le dipadipadi, mo e rileng fa a t$na kuta marakmg badisa ha ini ba se fu
ba no utlwlla botlltnho, fa e se go mo tslrcga flla.,, (padisd IV\SI
f.)
'"Jaaha galc, baruseetsana ba ba sa itseng
kzta hgdrd ya sekarcle e tebilng
tmg, baa bo ba phathegile go bona diratwa-fu-pelo tsa bdnd di tsamaya; ditlh6g&
dia bo di tshikinngtti pnrinu gore manyenyina a maleele-teele o inir*g o'i
garola ditsibi a th a akglgi sentll, a tsiyd batsamayi (ka) pelo. Ruri, ruri, Rammdnd
a tsat)a lcgolipta la kgarebd e nngwe go twe Mmatheebe, ,nosetsana yo mantshatana,
ya o minb masweus'u)eu. sebe sa phiri
fila e ne e le gobo dinkd tsa mohumagad, di
ne d.i atlhamc jaaha molomo tta tthdbdtd ya dihala. Maoto a na a tlhatlhabetwe
masika a setswana, a tlhapilwe sentli, a tshacitswe mordra wa sefoowa, a bilc a
setle a_lakasdla jaaka galase. Fa u no u ka m, leba ka nakd ep, u ni uu u lemogik
go re ke mongwe wa basetsana ba etleng e re ba sena go
foran ke barati ba bdni, ka
go ba bohhln go rc bontld jwa hdnc bo ka thiba hgatalild ya letsat*i, ba lebale
Ja go
ru le ba ba ba gaisang, kgotsa ba ba ,rtti janka bdn).,' (Ronmnn) p. 22)
"Mme a raya barutwa ba gagwi a re,'Go retetse gore difuopis| di se ha tsa tla;
ntme go latlh,iga mi yo di tlang ha mi, Go ka bo go le molernd bogolo mo go ini
ha lolwala ln ka bo lo gohcletswe mo thamung ya gagwo, a ba a thabuidiwa tno lewatlmg, bogolo go ha a habo a hsopito tnongwe wa ba babdtlnn ba.
Itiscng; e re ha a)agaeno a gu leofela, u mo omanyi; nne ha a ikatatlhaya,
t mo itshwarili. Ha a gu leoJila gasupa ka letsatsi, o bo o ono a boila *o go *iino
gasupa hat letsatsi a re, Kea ihvta-tlhaya, u mo itsha;arlb
fik.
Jalo Baaposetoloi ba raya Morina ba re, Totisa tumild ya rona. Morlna
a re, Ha h no lo na Ie tumlld e le hana ka tthaha ya peo ya mosewa, Io no h ka
raya setlhare se, sa rnosehamine, lo re, Khwnoga ha metstoe, u
7,i go tlhongan mo
Ieuatleng; e bile se ne se tlaa lo utlwa.
Mme he mang wa lona yo e ka reng a na h motlhanka yo o lemang, kgotsa a
disa dinku, e re a gdrdga a tswa kata nagmg, a ka mp raya a re, Tra u aitauia.z
Mme bogoln a ga a mD ree o re, Baakanya se ke laldlmtg ka sdni, u ikokwaili, u ntirib,
fu th ke hanayd he ji ke wA; mme qtoragd u tlaa itse go ja le go nwa? A o tla a
leboge motlhanha yoo ha a dirile dill tse o di laoletxrmg? Go ntse jalo le lona, e tlaa
rc lo sma go d'ira dill tsotlhe tse h di laoletsweng, lo rc, Re batlhanka ba re se nang
nnlmd ; re di'rile se e ,wng e le tslwarrild ya rono go se ilha fCla.,, (Lt&c 17: I-Id)
.

'