Editing Tswana language (section)

== Phonology ==
=== Vowels ===
The [[vowel|vowel inventory]] of Tswana can be seen below.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|p=16}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}} {{grapheme|i}}
| {{IPA link|u}} {{grapheme|u}}
|-
! [[Near-close vowel|Near-close]]
| {{IPA link|ɪ}} {{grapheme|e}}
| {{IPA link|ʊ}} {{grapheme|o}}
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}} {{grapheme|ê}}
| {{IPA link|ɔ}} {{grapheme|ô}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="2" | {{IPA link|a}} {{grapheme|a}}
|}

Some dialects have two additional vowels, the [[close-mid vowel]]s {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}}.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|p=19}}</ref> The circumflex on e and o in general Setswana writing is only encouraged at elementary levels of education and not at upper primary or higher; usually these are written without the circumflex.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Otlogetswe |first=Thapelo J |date=2016 |title=The Design of Setswana Scrabble |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311718411 |journal=South African Journal of African Languages |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=153–161 |doi=10.1080/02572117.2016.1252008|s2cid=63584935 }}</ref>

=== Consonants ===
The [[consonant|consonant inventory]] of Tswana can be seen below.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|p=10}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2" colspan="2" |
! rowspan="2" | [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! colspan="3" | [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Uvular consonant|Uvular]]
! rowspan="2" | [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!{{small|plain}}
!{{small|[[sibilant]]}}
!{{small|[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}} {{grapheme|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}} {{grapheme|n}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|ɲ}} {{grapheme|ny}}
| {{IPA link|ŋ}} {{grapheme|ng}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="3" |[[Plosive]]/<br />[[Affricate]]
!{{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|p}} {{grapheme|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}} {{grapheme|t}}
| {{IPA link|ts}} {{grapheme|ts}}
| {{IPA link|tɬ}} {{grapheme|tl}}
| {{IPA link|tʃ}} {{grapheme|tš}}
| {{IPA link|k}} {{grapheme|k}}
|
|
|-
!{{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|b}} {{grapheme|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}} {{grapheme|d}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|dʒ}} {{grapheme|j}}
|
|
|
|-
!{{small|aspirated}}
| {{IPA link|pʰ}} {{grapheme|ph}}
| {{IPA link|tʰ}} {{grapheme|th}}
| {{IPA link|tsʰ}} {{grapheme|tsh}}
| {{IPA link|tɬʰ}} {{grapheme|tlh}}
| {{IPA link|tʃʰ}} {{grapheme|tšh}}
| {{IPA link|kʰ}} {{grapheme|kh}}
| {{IPA link|kχʰ}} {{grapheme|kg}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
| {{IPA link|f}} {{grapheme|f}}
|
| {{IPA link|s}} {{grapheme|s}}
|
| {{IPA link|ʃ}} {{grapheme|š}}
|
| {{IPA link|χ}} {{grapheme|g}}
| {{IPA link|h}} {{grapheme|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}} {{grapheme|r}}
|
| {{IPA link|l}} {{grapheme|l}}
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Semivowel]]
| {{IPA link|w}} {{grapheme|w}}
|
|
|
| {{IPA link|j}} {{grapheme|y}}
|
|
|
|}

The [[consonant]] {{IPA|/d/}} is merely an [[allophone]] of {{IPA|/l/}}, when the latter is followed by the [[vowel]]s {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/u/}}.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|p=3}}</ref> Two more sounds, '''v''' {{IPA|/v/}} and 
'''z''' {{IPA|/z/}}, exist only in loanwords.

Tswana also has three [[click consonant]]s, but these are only used in [[interjection]]s 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]] {{IPA|/ǀ/}}, orthographically {{angle bracket|c}}; the [[lateral click]] {{IPA|/ǁ/}}, orthographically {{angle bracket|x}}; and the [[alveolar click]] {{IPA|/ǃ/}}, orthographically {{angle bracket|q}}.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|pp=11–12}}</ref>

There are some minor [[dialect|dialectal variations]] among the consonants between speakers of Tswana. For instance, {{IPA|/χ/}} is realised as either {{IPA|/x/}} or {{IPA|/h/}} by many speakers; {{IPA|/f/}} is realised as {{IPA|/h/}} in most dialects; and {{IPA|/tɬ/}} and {{IPA|/tɬʰ/}} are realised as {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/tʰ/}} in northern dialects.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|pp=14–15}}</ref>

The consonant {{IPA|/ŋ/}} can exist at the end of a word without being followed by a vowel (as in [[Jwaneng]] and [[Barolong Seboni]]).

=== Stress ===
[[stress (linguistics)|Stress]] is fixed in Tswana and thus always falls on the [[ultima (linguistics)|penult]] of a word, although some [[compound (linguistics)|compounds]] may receive a secondary stress in the first part of the word. The [[syllable]] on which the stress falls is lengthened. Thus, [[woman|mosadi]] (woman) is realised as {{IPA|[mʊ̀ˈsáːdì]}}.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|p=32}}</ref>

=== Tone ===
Tswana has two [[tone (linguistics)|tones]], high and low, but the latter has a much wider distribution in words than the former. Tones are not marked [[orthography|orthographically]], which may lead to ambiguity.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|pp=31–32}}</ref>

: '''go bua''' {{IPA|/χʊ búa/}} ''"to speak"''
: '''go bua''' {{IPA|/χʊ bua/}} ''"to skin an animal"''

: '''o bua Setswana''' {{IPA|/ʊ́búa setswána/}} ''"He speaks Setswana"''
: '''o bua Setswana''' {{IPA|/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 have high tones unless they are at the end of the word.<ref>{{Harvnb|University of Botswana|2001|p=34}}</ref>

: '''simolola''' {{IPA|/símʊlʊla/}} > {{IPA|/símʊ́lʊ́la/}} ''"to begin"''
: '''simologêla''' {{IPA|/símʊlʊχɛla/}} > {{IPA|/símʊ́lʊ́χɛla/}} ''"to begin for/at"''