The need of the national language Setswana to participate actively in society politics and
democratisation as both national language and lingua franca of Botswana has caused language
domination and suffocation on the part of the 25 or so minority languages. As a result these
languages are now going through a process of language shift and death. Consequently their
cultures too suffer great losses in order to keep pace with the mainstream society. The aim
of the book is threefold: (a) to inform the large public both local and international about
the sociolinguistic and related issues regarding the minority languages of Botswana (b) to
provide facts about the state and future trends of the minority languages in order to sensitise
the public and the relevant authorities about the issues involved and (c) to present ideas and
insights in order to stimulate academic debates on the minority languages. Linguists from
Botswana as well as from Europe and U.S.A. present their latest field research findings to shed
light on the present situation of the minority languages.
