Later I began to digest what the little Mongwato boy had said. Surely he must have been told by someone that Setswana is a minority language. But is it? I wondered. Well, given that the boy’s scope of discourse was the school environment, he was as right as those who say that Ikalanga language is a minority language in Botswana.
Just like the English Medium School, an artificial environment called Botswana was created, from which Ikalanga language was forcibly expunged from public discourse by Presidential proclamations. After several years of its being in the doldrums, Ikalanga language was then declared a MINORITY language. It remains so to this day; thaakaa!
And speaking of “thaakaa” it may surprise some to know that this is a Kalanga word which was carried over into Sengwato. As Professor Otlogetswe pointed out in the Telegraph newspaper of July 10th 2013, the (Ngwato) word expresses surprise. Well, I believe that its original meaning was more than just an expression of surprise; it was an expression that spelt imminent danger when uttered by the Illui. When you eat thopi (porridge cooked using melon stew) and find a melon seed in the porridge, that seed is called “thaka” in IKalanga language. Now, imagine that you were charged with making a melon stew for the Illui, to supplement their diet of milk (or sh!t). Such a stew would have to be completely free of seeds. If they found a seed in there, they would of course exclaim ”thaakaa!”, and that basically meant that YOU were as good as dead!
