Vowels[]
The vowel inventory of Tswana can be seen below.
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | ⟨i⟩ /i/ | ⟨î⟩ /ɨ/ | ⟨u⟩ /u/ |
| Near-close | ⟨e⟩ /ɪ/ | ⟨û⟩ /ɘ/ | ⟨o⟩ /ʊ/ |
| Open-mid | ⟨ê⟩ /ɛ/ | ⟨ə⟩ /ɜ/ | ⟨ô⟩ /ɔ/ |
| Open | ⟨æ⟩ /æ/ | ⟨a⟩ /a/ | ⟨â⟩ /ɑ/ |
Some dialects have two additional vowels, the close-mid vowels /e/ and /o/.
Consonants[]
The consonant inventory of Tswana can be seen below.
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central | Lateral | ||||||||
| Nasal | ⟨m⟩ /m/ |
⟨n⟩ /n/ |
⟨ny⟩ /ɲ/ |
⟨ng⟩ /ŋ/ |
⟨ŋ⟩ /ɴ/ |
||||
| Plosive | Unaspirated | ⟨p⟩ ⟨b⟩ /p/ /b/ |
⟨t⟩ ⟨d⟩ /t/ /d/ |
⟨k⟩ ⟨ɣ⟩ /k/ /ɡ/ |
⟨kŋ⟩ ⟨ɣŋ⟩ /q/ /ɢ/ |
||||
| Aspirated | ⟨ph⟩ /pʰ/ |
⟨th⟩ /tʰ/ |
⟨kh⟩ /kʰ/ |
⟨kg⟩ /kχʰ/ |
|||||
| Affricate | Unaspirated | ⟨ts⟩ /ts/ |
⟨tl⟩ /tɬ/ |
⟨tš⟩ ⟨j⟩ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ |
|||||
| Aspirated | ⟨tsh⟩ /tsʰ/ |
⟨tlh⟩ /tɬʰ/ |
⟨tšh⟩ /tʃʰ/ |
||||||
| Fricative | ⟨f⟩ ⟨v⟩ /f/ /v/ |
⟨s⟩ ⟨z⟩ /s/ /z/ |
⟨š⟩ ⟨ž⟩ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ |
⟨ĵ⟩ ⟨ɣh⟩ /x/ /ɣ/ |
⟨g⟩ ⟨ɣg⟩ /χ/ /ʁ/ |
⟨h⟩ /h/ | |||
| Trill | ⟨ḇ⟩ /ʙ/ |
⟨r⟩ /r/ |
|||||||
| Approximant | ⟨w⟩ /w/ |
⟨ʋ⟩ /ʋ/ |
⟨l⟩ /l/ |
⟨y⟩ /j/ |
⟨ł⟩ /ʟ/ |
||||
The consonant /d/ is merely an allophone of /l/, when the latter is followed by the vowels /i/ or /u/. Two more sounds, v /v/ and z /z/, exist only in loanwords.
Tswana also has three click consonants, but these are only used in interjections or ideophones, and tend only to be used by the older generation, and are therefore falling out of use. The three click consonants are the dental click /ǀ/, orthographically ⟨c⟩; the lateral click /ǁ/, orthographically ⟨x⟩; and the palatal click /ǃ/, orthographically ⟨q⟩.
There are some minor dialectal variations among the consonants between speakers of Tswana. For instance, /χ/ is realised as either /x/ or /h/ by many speakers; /f/ is realised as /h/ in most dialects; and /tɬ/ and /tɬʰ/ are realised as /t/ and /tʰ/ in northern dialects.
Stress[]
Stress is fixed in Tswana and thus always falls on the penult of a word, although some compounds may receive a secondary stress in the first part of the word. The syllable on which the stress falls is lengthened. Thus, mosadi is realised as [mʊ̀ˈsáːdì].
Tone[]
Tswana has two tones, high and low, although the latter has a much wider distribution in words than the former. Tones are not marked orthographically which may lead to ambiguity.
- go bua /χʊ búa/ "to speak"
- go bua /χʊ bua/ "to skin an animal"
- o bua Setswana /ʊ́búa setswána/ "He speaks Setswana"
- o bua Setswana /ʊbúa setswána/ "You speak Setswana"
An important feature of the tones is the so-called spreading of the high tone. If a syllable bears a high tone, the following two syllables will also get high tones, unless they are at the end of the word.
- simolola /símʊlʊla/ > /símʊ́lʊ́la/ "to begin"
- simologêla /símʊlʊχɛla/ > /símʊ́lʊ́χɛla/ "to begin for/at"