Sotho language
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2021) |
Sotho | |
---|---|
Southern Sotho | |
Sesotho | |
Pronunciation | [sɪ̀sʊ́tʰʊ̀] |
Native to | |
Ethnicity | L2 speakers in South Africa (2002)[2] |
?
| |
Dialects |
|
Signed Sotho | |
Official status | |
Official language in | |
Regulated by | Pan South African Language Board |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | st |
ISO 639-2 | sot |
ISO 639-3 | sot |
Glottolog | sout2807 |
S.33 [3] | |
Linguasphere | 99-AUT-ee incl. varieties 99-AUT-eea to 99-AUT-eee |
Sotho | |
---|---|
Person | Mosotho |
People | Basotho |
Language | Sesotho |
Country | Lesotho |
Sesotho |
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|
Sotho (/sɛˈsuːtuː/)[a] Sesotho, also known as Southern Sotho or Sesotho sa Borwa is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken in Lesotho, and South Africa where it is an official language;
Like all
Classification
Sotho is a
"Sotho" is also the name given to the entire Sotho-Tswana group, in which case Sesotho proper is called "Southern Sotho". Within the Sotho-Tswana group, Southern Sotho is also related to Lozi (Silozi), with which it forms the Sesotho-Lozi group within Sotho-Tswana.
The Northern Sotho group is geographical, and includes a number of dialects also closely related to Sotho-Lozi. Tswana is also known as "Western Sesotho".
The Sotho-Tswana group is in turn closely related to the other
Sotho is the root word. Various prefixes may be added for specific derivations, such as Sesotho for the Sotho language and Basotho for the Sotho people. Use of Sesotho rather than Sotho for the language in English has seen increasing use since the 1980s, especially in South African English and in Lesotho.
Dialects
Except for faint lexical variation within Lesotho, and for marked lexical variation between the Lesotho/Free State variety and that of the large urban townships to the north (such as Soweto) due to heavy borrowing from neighbouring languages, there is no discernible dialect variation in this language.
However, one point that seems to often confuse authors who attempt to study the dialectology of Sesotho is the term
Additionally, being derived from a language or dialect very closely related to modern Sesotho,[b] the Zambian Sotho–Tswana language Lozi is also sometimes cited as a modern dialect of Sesotho named Serotse or Sekololo.
The oral history of the Basotho and Northern Sotho peoples (as contained in their
An often repeated story is that when the modern Basotho nation was established by King
Geographic distribution
According to the
Official status
Sesotho is one of the twelve
Derived languages
Sesotho is one of the many languages from which
Phonology
The sound system of Sesotho is unusual in many respects. It has
It also has a large number of complex sound transformations which often change the phones of words due to the influence of other (sometimes invisible) sounds.
Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | ||||||||
Click | glottalized | ᵏǃʼ | |||||||
aspirated
|
ᵏǃʰ | ||||||||
nasal | ᵑǃ |
||||||||
Nasal | m | n |
ɲ | ŋ | |||||
Plosive | ejective | pʼ | tʼ |
kʼ | |||||
aspirated
|
pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | ||||||
voiced
|
b | ( d )1 |
|||||||
Affricate | ejective | tsʼ | tɬʼ | tʃʼ | |||||
aspirated
|
tsʰ | tɬʰ | tʃʰ | kxʰ ~ x | |||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ɬ |
ʃ | h ~ ɦ | |||
voiced | ʒ ~ dʒ | ||||||||
Approximant | l |
j | w | ||||||
Trill | ʀ |
- [d] is an retroflex flap[ɽ] before the two close vowels.
Sesotho makes a three-way distinction between lightly
The standard Sesotho clicks tend to be substituted with dental clicks in regular speech.
Orthography
Grammar
The most striking properties of Sesotho grammar, and the most important properties which reveal it as a
Another well-known property of the Bantu languages is their agglutinative morphology. Additionally, they tend to lack any grammatical case systems, indicating noun roles almost exclusively through word order.
See also
Notes
- ^ Also spelled Suthio, or Suthu, Souto, Sisutho, Sutu, or Sesutu.
- ^ To the extent that it even has several words that resemble Sesotho words with clicks:
- ku kala to begin (Sesotho ho qala [hʊǃɑlɑ])
- ku kabana to quarrel (Sesotho ho qabana [hʊǃɑbɑnɑ]),
- labializedconsonants.
References
- ^ Sotho at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development." Impact: Studies in language and society, 14:78
- ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
Sources
- Batibo, H. M., Moilwa, J., and Mosaka N. 1997. The historical implications of the linguistic relationship between Makua and Sotho languages. In PULA Journal of African Studies, vol. 11, no. 1
- ISBN 0-582-61700-6.
- Ntaoleng, B. S. 2004. Sociolinguistic variation in spoken and written Sesotho: A case study of speech varieties in Qwaqwa. M.A. thesis. University of South Africa.
- Tšiu, W. M. 2001. Basotho family odes (Diboko) and oral tradition. M.A. thesis. University of South Africa
External links
- Sesotho Online A gentle introduction to the Sesotho language and culture.
- Weblog on Sesotho Archived 29 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- Translate.org.za Archived 14 January 2007 at the Wayback Machine Project translating Free and Open Source Software into South African languages, including Sesotho.
- PanAfrican L10n page on Sesotho Information on the language and localisation.
- Sesotho language tutorial Archived 11 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine A beginner's language text, created for the US Peace Corps.
- the SeSotho book Another book developed by a Peace Corps volunteer