Stories

  1. Setswana Proverbs and the Wisdom Hidden in Plain SightSetswana proverbs carry layers of meaning that often escape a casual reader. A single sentence can hold a generation of observation about weather, kinship,…
  2. Analyzing Political Speeches with Corpus ToolsPolitical speeches leave a trail of text that can be measured, sorted, and compared. A single campaign speech, a budget reply, or a parliamentary address can…
  3. lexicographer's dilemma: when to include slangEvery dictionary begins with a quiet argument. A lexicographer sits with a stack of citations, a coffee going cold, and wrestles with a question that has no…
  4. How Afrikaans loanwords reshaped modern Setswana vocabularyBetween the highveld of Botswana and the South African interior, languages have spoken to each other for centuries. Setswana, a Bantu language spoken by…
  5. Setswana Words That Resist English TranslationSetswana, one of the official languages of Botswana and spoken across the Limpopo region and in diaspora communities from Melbourne to Perth, often carries…
  6. Translation as a lifeline for Africa's linguistic heritageAfrica is home to more than two thousand living languages, yet the bulk of global translation still flows through a handful of European tongues. Inside African…
  7. Writing a bilingual Setswana and English dictionaryA bilingual dictionary linking Setswana and English is more than a list of equivalent words. It is a carefully designed record of meaning, usage, grammar,…
  8. Why kgosi means more than king in Southern African contextsWhen English speakers encounter the Setswana word kgosi, “king” may seem like the most convenient translation. It suggests rank, sovereignty and a recognised…
  9. The History Of The Tswana Alphabet And Orthography ReformsThe written history of Tswana, commonly called Setswana by its speakers, is a record of linguistic adaptation, missionary activity, education policy and…
  10. Preserving Endangered Setswana Dialects Through DocumentationSetswana is often described as a single language, yet its speech communities carry a rich range of regional forms, pronunciations, vocabulary and inherited…