Langenesis

Niger-Congo family

Setswana

c. 1500 CE – today Living

Setswana (c. 1500 CE – today) is a living Niger-Congo language. Lineage: Proto-Niger-Congo → Proto-Atlantic-Congo → Proto-Benue-Congo → Proto-Bantu → Proto-Sotho-Tswana → Setswana.

See Setswana on the interactive map
Speakers
8M (8,000,000)
ISO 639-3
tsn
Glottocode
tswa1253

Sotho-Tswana language, national language of Botswana and official in South Africa. Speaker count is approximate (L1 plus some L2).

Lineage

  1. Proto-Niger-Congoc. 10,000 BCE – 7,000 BCE
  2. Proto-Atlantic-Congoc. 7,000 BCE – 5,000 BCE
  3. Proto-Benue-Congoc. 5,000 BCE – 3,500 BCE
  4. Proto-Bantuc. 3,000 BCE – 1,000 BCE
  5. Proto-Sotho-Tswanac. 500 CE – 1500 CE
  6. Setswanac. 1500 CE – today

Sister languages 1

Also descended from Proto-Sotho-Tswana.

Sources