Language Information by Source

Sekgalagadi: dialect or language?

Andersson, Lars-Gunnar and Tore Janson. 1997. "Sekgalagadi: Dialect or Language?" In Languages in Botswana: language ecology in southern Africa, 47-56. Longman Botswana.

Speakers

Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
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Semi-speakers or rememberers
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Children:
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Young adults
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Older adults
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Elders
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Ethnic or community population
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Year information was gathered
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Comments on speakers
"It has been reported (Vossen 1988b) that young speakers in Ngamiland tend to abandon Sekgalagadi in favour of Setswana... it may not be advisable to assume that the trend is necessarily the same in the whole country.... Still, in view of the low social position of the speakers and considerable pressure from Setswana, the language is likely to lose many speakers as time goes by.

However, it is also true that the social situation, including how speakers perceive the situation of themselves and their language, may well change. This may actually be happening in this case. Solway (1994) reports that the Bakgalagadi in recent years assert themselves much more than before and show much pride in their language."

Location and Context

Countries
Botswana
Location Description

"Spoken by the Bakgalagadi, who are widely spread over much of Botswana. They live mainly in the Kgalagadi desert or on its outskirts."

Government Support
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Institutional Support
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Speakers' Attitude
Mixed/positive
Other Languages Used By The Community
Setswana
Number of Other Language Speakers:
None
Domains of Other Languages:
None

Writing Systems

Standard orthography:
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Writing system:
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Other writing systems used:
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Comments on writing systems:
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