Southern Bantu language of Lesotho and neighbouring countries
This article is about the Lesotho and central South African Sotho language. For the northeastern South African Sotho language, see Northern Sotho language.
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Sotho
Southern Sotho
Sesotho
Pronunciation
[sɪ̀sʊ́tʰʊ̀]
Native to
Lesotho
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Ethnicity
Basotho
Native speakers
5.6 million (2001–2011)[1] 7.9 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002)[2]
Language family
Niger–Congo?
Atlantic–Congo
Volta-Congo
Benue–Congo
Bantoid
Southern Bantoid
Bantu
Southern Bantu
Sotho–Tswana
Sotho
Dialects
Phuthi
Taung
Writing system
Latin (Sesotho alphabet) Sotho Braille Ditema tsa Dinoko
Signed forms
Signed Sotho
Official status
Official language in
Lesotho
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Regulated by
Pan South African Language Board
Language codes
ISO 639-1
st
ISO 639-2
sot
ISO 639-3
sot
Glottolog
sout2807
Guthrie code
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
Phonology
Tonology
Grammar
Parts of speech
Nouns
Concords
Verbs
Deficient verbs
Orthography
v
t
e
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 Bantu languages, Sesotho is an agglutinative language that uses numerous affixes and derivational and inflexional rules to build complete words.
^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
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Sotho (/sɛˈsuːtuː/) Sesotho, also known as Southern Sotho or Sesotho sa Borwa is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken...
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