Tswana
(Setswana),
is a
Bantu
language
written
in the
Latin
Alphabet.
Tswana
is the
national
and
majority
language
of
Botswana,
whose
people
are the
Batswana
(singular
Motswana).
Although
Setswana
is the
official
language
of
Botswana,
the
majority
of
Setswana
speakers
are
actually
in the
country
of South
Africa.
There
are also
speakers
in
Zimbabwe
and
Namibia.
Internationally
there
are
about 4
million
speakers.
Before
South
Africa
became a
multi-racial
democracy,
the
bantustan
of
Bophuthatswana
was set
up to
cover
the
Tswana
speakers
of South
Africa.
Tswana
is a
Bantu
language,
belonging
to the
Niger-Congo
language
family.
It is
most
closely
related
to two
other
languages
in the
Sotho
language
group,
Sesotho
(Southern
Sotho)
and
Northern
Sotho
(Sesotho
sa
Leboa).
It has
also
been
known as
Beetjuans,
Chuana
(hence
Bechuanaland),
Coana,
Cuana,
and
Sechuana.
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