Phonological processes

It is a common feature that certain consonants and vowels change their character when they encounter other sounds of the language. Some Setswana consonants sounds change in contact with certain vowels.

High vowels in contact with consonants

The liquid /l/ consonant shows that it changes its phonetic quality in contact with high vowel /i/.

• -bala + -ile (perfect) becomes -badile
• -dumela + isa (causative) becomes -dumedisa
• -fela + isa (causative) becomes -fetsa
• -fetsa + ile (perfect) becomes -feditse

The observation of these changes lead to conclude that /l/ and /d/ are one and the same sound that are realised differently according to their vowel environment. For instance, /d/ never occurs with vowels such as /e/, /a/ and /o/. An exception will only be found in acquired vocabulary such as /deseke/, /madombe/, and /data/. This leads to also conclude that a word such [-dumela] stems from /lumela/. Some varieties of Setswana actually flap the [d] in a manner that is closer to [l].

Palatalisation caused by /w/

The change of sound that transforms labial consonants to palatal sounds is observed with some passive formations. When a labial consonant is immediately followed by /w/, dissimilation of place of articulation occurs.

• -lopa ‘ask’: -lop- + -iwa becomes -lopiwa and also -lotšwa ‘be asked’
• -tlhapa ‘wash’: -tlhap- + -iwa becomes -tlhatswiwa and also -tlhatšwa ‘be washed’
• -duba ‘mix’: -dub- + -iwa becomes dubiwa and also -dujwa ‘be mixed’
• -tlhaba ‘slaughter’: -tlhab- + -iwa becomes tlhabiwa and also -tlhajwa ‘be slaughtered’
• -alafa ‘treat, heal’: -alaf- + -iwa becomes alafiwa and also -alašwa ‘be healed, treated’
• -lefa ‘pay’: -lef- + -iwa becomes lefiwa and also -lešwa ‘be paid’
• -loma ‘bite’: -lom- + -iwa becomes –lomiwa and also -longwa ‘be bitten’
• -kgoma ‘touch’: -kgom- + -iwa becomes –kgomiwa and also -kgongwa ‘be touched’

The palatalised versions of the words are preferred by poets and elder speakers of Setswana.

Consonant and consonant contact sound changes

The most common consonants contact that cause changed is the one associated with the nasal /m/ or as a syllable /mo/.

• Mo fe! ‘Give him!’ becomes Mhe!
• Ke a mo bona. ‘I see him.’ becomes Ke a mmona.

The class nine nasal prefix /n-/ is a source of sound changes in Setswana. In most cases it is dropped once it causes the consonant sound change. This is observed with deverbatives (nouns from verbs):

• -rata ‘love’ becomes thato ‘desire, wish’
• -repa ‘lose’ becomes thepo ‘looseness’
• -lema ‘plough’ becomes temo ‘ploughing, agriculture’
• -latlha ‘lose’ becomes tatlho ‘loss, losing’
• -gola ‘grow’ becomes kgolo ‘growth’
• -gama ‘milk’ becomes kgamo ‘milking’
• -sotla ‘deride’ becomes tshotlo ‘derision’
• -seka ‘take legal action’ becomes tsheko ‘legal action’
• -huma ‘be rich’ becomes khumo ‘wealth’
• -hema ‘breathe’ becomes khemo ‘breath’

For the sound /h/ change, the derived noun helps to determine the difference that exists between /h/ and /f/ in the sound system of the language.

• -fola / -hola ‘to heal’ becomes pholo ‘healing’
• -felela / -helela ‘finish’ becomes phelelo ‘ending, finishing’

In essence, consonants are transformed by a process of strengthening where lenis sounds become fortis (Crystal, 1991: 142) that is, sounds produced with strong degree of effort and breathe force (DALL, 2000: 122; Poulos & Lourens, 1994: 454, 456).

• -kgala ‘criticise’ > kgalo ‘criticism’
• -huma ‘be rich’ > khumo ‘wealth’
• -fula ‘graze’ > phulo ‘grazing’
• -lopa ‘ask’ > topo ‘request’
• -dira ‘do’ > tiro ‘work’
• -rera ‘preach’ > thero ‘preaching’
• -šakgala ‘become angry’ > tšhakgalo ‘rage’
• -bona ‘see’ > pono ‘sight’
• -sala ‘remain’ > tshalo ‘remaining’

In some cases, the class nine nasal prefix cause the appearance of a consonant that is not apparent in the verb form:

• -aga ‘build’ becomes kago ‘building’
• -ema ‘stand’ becomes kemo ‘standing’

The nasal consonant sound changes also permit one to conclude that some not apparent forms are actually transformed sounds.

• tau ‘lion’ has an alternative plural malau
• kgomo ‘cow, bovine’ has an alternative plural magomo

The phonology of Setswana is essential in the grammar of the language because speech is a chain of phonological units which relate to each in building words and sentences.

Crystal, D. (1991) A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics.3rd edn. London: Basil Blackwell.

Department of African Languages and Literature (DALL). (2000) The sound system of Setswana. Gaborone: University of Botswana.

Lass, R. (1984) Phonology: An introduction to basic concepts. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Poulos, G. & Louwrens, L. J. (1994) A linguistic analysis of Northern Sotho. Pretoria: Via Afrika.