Setswana speech development

Abstract Setswana is spoken in South Africa, Botswana, and some parts of Namibia and Zimbabwe. There are several varieties of Setswana, including Sengwato, Setlhaping, and Sekwena. Setswana is characterized by 28 consonants and seven vowels. Tone is semantically significant in Setswana and distinguishes meaning of phonetically identical words. Setswana is written from left to right using the Modern Latin Alphabet (Roman script). There are few studies that describe typical speech development in children acquiring Setswana, including both segmental and suprasegmental phonology. The majority of Setswana consonants are acquired by 2;6–2;11. The ones missing from the inventories of 2-year-olds are mastered at 3;0–3;5. At 2;6–2;11, Setswana vowels have been acquired, and lexical tone is used accurately. Knowledge on speech sound disorders in Setswana is limited, but preliminary data suggests a prevalence rate of 4.9% in children acquiring Setswana.