A small number of speakers are also found in Zimbabwe (unknown number) and Namibia (about 10,000 people). == History == The first European to describe the language was the German traveller Hinrich Lichtenstein, who lived among the Tswana people Batlhaping in 1806 although his work was not published until 1930.
He mistakenly regarded Tswana as a dialect of the Xhosa, and the name that he used for the language "Beetjuana" may also have covered the Northern and Southern Sotho languages. The first major work on Tswana was carried out by the British missionary Robert Moffat, who had also lived among the Batlhaping, and published Bechuana Spelling Book and A Bechuana Catechism in 1826.
In the following years, he published several other books of the Bible, and in 1857, he was able to publish a complete translation of the Bible . The first grammar of Tswana was published in 1833 by the missionary James Archbell although it was modelled on a Xhosa grammar.
In the following years, he published several other books of the Bible, and in 1857, he was able to publish a complete translation of the Bible . The first grammar of Tswana was published in 1833 by the missionary James Archbell although it was modelled on a Xhosa grammar.
He changed his mind later, and in a publication from 1882, he noted that the Northern and Southern Sotho languages were distinct from Tswana. Solomon Plaatje, a South African intellectual and linguist, was one of the first writers to extensively write in and about the Tswana language. == Phonology == === Vowels === The vowel inventory of Tswana can be seen below. Some dialects have two additional vowels, the close-mid vowels and .
A small number of speakers are also found in Zimbabwe (unknown number) and Namibia (about 10,000 people). == History == The first European to describe the language was the German traveller Hinrich Lichtenstein, who lived among the Tswana people Batlhaping in 1806 although his work was not published until 1930.
Until 1994, South African Tswana people were notionally citizens of Bophuthatswana, one of the bantustans of the apartheid regime.
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