Sotho language

Sotho
Southern Sotho
Sesotho
Pronunciation[sɪ̀sʊ́tʰʊ̀]
Native to
EthnicityBasotho
Native speakers
5.6 million (2001–2011)[1]
7.9 million L2 speakers in South Africa (2002)[2]
Dialects
  • Phuthi
  • Taung
Latin (Sesotho alphabet)
Sotho Braille
Ditema tsa Dinoko
Signed Sotho
Official status
Official language in
Regulated byPan South African Language Board
Language codes
ISO 639-1st
ISO 639-2sot
ISO 639-3sot
Glottologsout2807
S.33[3]
Linguasphere99-AUT-ee incl. varieties 99-AUT-eea to 99-AUT-eee
Sotho
PersonMosotho
PeopleBasotho
LanguageSesotho
CountryLesotho

Sotho (/sɛˈst/)[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.

  1. ^ Sotho at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online


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