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class="vector-toc-numb">2</span> <span>Dialects</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Dialects-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Geographic_distribution" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Geographic_distribution"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Geographic distribution</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-Geographic_distribution-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle Geographic distribution subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-Geographic_distribution-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Official_status" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Official_status"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3.1</span> <span>Official status</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Official_status-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Derived_languages" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Derived_languages"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>Derived languages</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Derived_languages-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Phonology" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Phonology"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Phonology</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Phonology-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Orthography" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Orthography"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>Orthography</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Orthography-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Grammar" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Grammar"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Grammar</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Grammar-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Sources" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Sources"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">11</span> <span>Sources</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Sources-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">12</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-External_links-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle External links subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Software" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Software"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">12.1</span> <span>Software</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Software-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" for="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only " aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-listBullet mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-listBullet"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">Toggle the table of contents</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-unpinned-container" class="vector-unpinned-container"> </div> </div> </div> </nav> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Sotho language</span></h1> <div id="p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown mw-portlet mw-portlet-lang" > <input type="checkbox" id="p-lang-btn-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-p-lang-btn" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox mw-interlanguage-selector" aria-label="Go to an article in another language. Available in 84 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-84" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">84 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-af mw-list-item"><a href="https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suid-Sotho" title="Suid-Sotho – Afrikaans" lang="af" hreflang="af" data-title="Suid-Sotho" data-language-autonym="Afrikaans" data-language-local-name="Afrikaans" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Afrikaans</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-anp mw-list-item"><a href="https://anp.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A5%E0%A5%8B_%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE" title="सोथो भाषा – Angika" lang="anp" hreflang="anp" data-title="सोथो भाषा" data-language-autonym="अंगिका" data-language-local-name="Angika" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>अंगिका</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D8%BA%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%8A%D8%A9" title="اللغة السوتية – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="اللغة السوتية" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ast mw-list-item"><a href="https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho" title="Sesotho – Asturian" lang="ast" hreflang="ast" data-title="Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Asturianu" data-language-local-name="Asturian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Asturianu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gn mw-list-item"><a href="https://gn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ses%C3%B3to" title="Sesóto – Guarani" lang="gn" hreflang="gn" data-title="Sesóto" data-language-autonym="Avañe'ẽ" data-language-local-name="Guarani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Avañe'ẽ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-az mw-list-item"><a href="https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soto_dili" title="Soto dili – Azerbaijani" lang="az" hreflang="az" data-title="Soto dili" data-language-autonym="Azərbaycanca" data-language-local-name="Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Azərbaycanca</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-azb mw-list-item"><a href="https://azb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88_%D8%AF%DB%8C%D9%84%DB%8C" title="سوتو دیلی – South Azerbaijani" lang="azb" hreflang="azb" data-title="سوتو دیلی" data-language-autonym="تۆرکجه" data-language-local-name="South Azerbaijani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>تۆرکجه</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-min-nan mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-min-nan.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho-g%C3%AD" title="Sotho-gí – Minnan" lang="nan" hreflang="nan" data-title="Sotho-gí" data-language-autonym="閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gú" data-language-local-name="Minnan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>閩南語 / Bân-lâm-gú</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-be mw-list-item"><a href="https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%B0_(%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0)" title="Сота (мова) – Belarusian" lang="be" hreflang="be" data-title="Сота (мова)" data-language-autonym="Беларуская" data-language-local-name="Belarusian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Беларуская</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE_(%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BA)" title="Сото (език) – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Сото (език)" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Български</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-br mw-list-item"><a href="https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sothoeg" title="Sothoeg – Breton" lang="br" hreflang="br" data-title="Sothoeg" data-language-autonym="Brezhoneg" data-language-local-name="Breton" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Brezhoneg</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ca mw-list-item"><a href="https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho" title="Sesotho – Catalan" lang="ca" hreflang="ca" data-title="Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Català" data-language-local-name="Catalan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Català</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cs mw-list-item"><a href="https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesoth%C5%A1tina" title="Sesothština – Czech" lang="cs" hreflang="cs" data-title="Sesothština" data-language-autonym="Čeština" data-language-local-name="Czech" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Čeština</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-cy mw-list-item"><a href="https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho" title="Sesotho – Welsh" lang="cy" hreflang="cy" data-title="Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Cymraeg" data-language-local-name="Welsh" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Cymraeg</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-da mw-list-item"><a href="https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho_(sprog)" title="Sesotho (sprog) – Danish" lang="da" hreflang="da" data-title="Sesotho (sprog)" data-language-autonym="Dansk" data-language-local-name="Danish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Dansk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-se mw-list-item"><a href="https://se.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sothogiella" title="Sothogiella – Northern Sami" lang="se" hreflang="se" data-title="Sothogiella" data-language-autonym="Davvisámegiella" data-language-local-name="Northern Sami" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Davvisámegiella</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho" title="Sesotho – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Deutsch</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-et mw-list-item"><a href="https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho_keel" title="Sotho keel – Estonian" lang="et" hreflang="et" data-title="Sotho keel" data-language-autonym="Eesti" data-language-local-name="Estonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eesti</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesoto" title="Sesoto – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Sesoto" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Español</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eo mw-list-item"><a href="https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sota_lingvo" title="Sota lingvo – Esperanto" lang="eo" hreflang="eo" data-title="Sota lingvo" data-language-autonym="Esperanto" data-language-local-name="Esperanto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Esperanto</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sothoera" title="Sothoera – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Sothoera" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Euskara</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ee mw-list-item"><a href="https://ee.wikipedia.org/wiki/IsiSotho" title="IsiSotho – Ewe" lang="ee" hreflang="ee" data-title="IsiSotho" data-language-autonym="Eʋegbe" data-language-local-name="Ewe" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Eʋegbe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B2%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86_%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88" title="زبان سوتو – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="زبان سوتو" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>فارسی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hif mw-list-item"><a href="https://hif.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho_bhasa" title="Sesotho bhasa – Fiji Hindi" lang="hif" hreflang="hif" data-title="Sesotho bhasa" data-language-autonym="Fiji Hindi" data-language-local-name="Fiji Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Fiji Hindi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho_du_Sud" title="Sotho du Sud – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Sotho du Sud" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Français</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_sotho" title="Lingua sotho – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Lingua sotho" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Galego</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%86%8C%ED%86%A0%EC%96%B4" title="소토어 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="소토어" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>한국어</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hi mw-list-item"><a href="https://hi.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A5%E0%A5%8B_%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE" title="सिसोथो भाषा – Hindi" lang="hi" hreflang="hi" data-title="सिसोथो भाषा" data-language-autonym="हिन्दी" data-language-local-name="Hindi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>हिन्दी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-hr mw-list-item"><a href="https://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ju%C5%BEni_sotho_jezik" title="Južni sotho jezik – Croatian" lang="hr" hreflang="hr" data-title="Južni sotho jezik" data-language-autonym="Hrvatski" data-language-local-name="Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Hrvatski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-id mw-list-item"><a href="https://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bahasa_Sotho_Selatan" title="Bahasa Sotho Selatan – Indonesian" lang="id" hreflang="id" data-title="Bahasa Sotho Selatan" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Indonesia" data-language-local-name="Indonesian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Bahasa Indonesia</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-xh mw-list-item"><a href="https://xh.wikipedia.org/wiki/IsiSotho" title="IsiSotho – Xhosa" lang="xh" hreflang="xh" data-title="IsiSotho" data-language-autonym="IsiXhosa" data-language-local-name="Xhosa" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>IsiXhosa</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zu mw-list-item"><a href="https://zu.wikipedia.org/wiki/IsiSuthu" title="IsiSuthu – Zulu" lang="zu" hreflang="zu" data-title="IsiSuthu" data-language-autonym="IsiZulu" data-language-local-name="Zulu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>IsiZulu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-is mw-list-item"><a href="https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%B3t%C3%B3" title="Sótó – Icelandic" lang="is" hreflang="is" data-title="Sótó" data-language-autonym="Íslenska" data-language-local-name="Icelandic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Íslenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingua_sotho_del_sud" title="Lingua sotho del sud – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Lingua sotho del sud" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Italiano</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sw mw-list-item"><a href="https://sw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kisotho-Kusini" title="Kisotho-Kusini – Swahili" lang="sw" hreflang="sw" data-title="Kisotho-Kusini" data-language-autonym="Kiswahili" data-language-local-name="Swahili" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Kiswahili</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-kv mw-list-item"><a href="https://kv.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9B%D1%83%D0%BD%D0%B2%D1%8B%D0%B2_%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE_(%D0%BA%D1%8B%D0%B2)" title="Лунвыв сото (кыв) – Komi" lang="kv" hreflang="kv" data-title="Лунвыв сото (кыв)" data-language-autonym="Коми" data-language-local-name="Komi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Коми</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lv mw-list-item"><a href="https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dienvidsotu_valoda" title="Dienvidsotu valoda – Latvian" lang="lv" hreflang="lv" data-title="Dienvidsotu valoda" data-language-autonym="Latviešu" data-language-local-name="Latvian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Latviešu</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lt mw-list-item"><a href="https://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesoto_kalba" title="Sesoto kalba – Lithuanian" lang="lt" hreflang="lt" data-title="Sesoto kalba" data-language-autonym="Lietuvių" data-language-local-name="Lithuanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Lietuvių</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-lij mw-list-item"><a href="https://lij.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lengua_sesotho" title="Lengua sesotho – Ligurian" lang="lij" hreflang="lij" data-title="Lengua sesotho" data-language-autonym="Ligure" data-language-local-name="Ligurian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Ligure</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mk mw-list-item"><a href="https://mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE_(%D1%98%D0%B0%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BA)" title="Сото (јазик) – Macedonian" lang="mk" hreflang="mk" data-title="Сото (јазик)" data-language-autonym="Македонски" data-language-local-name="Macedonian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Македонски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mg mw-list-item"><a href="https://mg.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiteny_ses%C3%B4t%C3%B4" title="Fiteny sesôtô – Malagasy" lang="mg" hreflang="mg" data-title="Fiteny sesôtô" data-language-autonym="Malagasy" data-language-local-name="Malagasy" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Malagasy</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ml mw-list-item"><a href="https://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%B8%E0%B5%8B%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8A_%E0%B4%AD%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B7" title="സോത്തൊ ഭാഷ – Malayalam" lang="ml" hreflang="ml" data-title="സോത്തൊ ഭാഷ" data-language-autonym="മലയാളം" data-language-local-name="Malayalam" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>മലയാളം</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mr mw-list-item"><a href="https://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%A5%E0%A5%8B_%E0%A4%AD%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B7%E0%A4%BE" title="सोथो भाषा – Marathi" lang="mr" hreflang="mr" data-title="सोथो भाषा" data-language-autonym="मराठी" data-language-local-name="Marathi" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>मराठी</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-xmf mw-list-item"><a href="https://xmf.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%A1%E1%83%9D%E1%83%A2%E1%83%9D_(%E1%83%9C%E1%83%98%E1%83%9C%E1%83%90)" title="სოტო (ნინა) – Mingrelian" lang="xmf" hreflang="xmf" data-title="სოტო (ნინა)" data-language-autonym="მარგალური" data-language-local-name="Mingrelian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>მარგალური</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-mzn mw-list-item"><a href="https://mzn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88" title="سوتو – Mazanderani" lang="mzn" hreflang="mzn" data-title="سوتو" data-language-autonym="مازِرونی" data-language-local-name="Mazanderani" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>مازِرونی</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuid-Sotho" title="Zuid-Sotho – Dutch" lang="nl" hreflang="nl" data-title="Zuid-Sotho" data-language-autonym="Nederlands" data-language-local-name="Dutch" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nederlands</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nds-nl mw-list-item"><a href="https://nds-nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%BC%C3%BCdsotho" title="Süüdsotho – Low Saxon" lang="nds-NL" hreflang="nds-NL" data-title="Süüdsotho" data-language-autonym="Nedersaksies" data-language-local-name="Low Saxon" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nedersaksies</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%BD%E3%83%88%E8%AA%9E" title="ソト語 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="ソト語" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>日本語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-frr mw-list-item"><a href="https://frr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho_(Spriik)" title="Sotho (Spriik) – Northern Frisian" lang="frr" hreflang="frr" data-title="Sotho (Spriik)" data-language-autonym="Nordfriisk" data-language-local-name="Northern Frisian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Nordfriisk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-no mw-list-item"><a href="https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho" title="Sotho – Norwegian Bokmål" lang="nb" hreflang="nb" data-title="Sotho" data-language-autonym="Norsk bokmål" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nn mw-list-item"><a href="https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho" title="Sotho – Norwegian Nynorsk" lang="nn" hreflang="nn" data-title="Sotho" data-language-autonym="Norsk nynorsk" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Nynorsk" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk nynorsk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-oc mw-list-item"><a href="https://oc.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho" title="Sotho – Occitan" lang="oc" hreflang="oc" data-title="Sotho" data-language-autonym="Occitan" data-language-local-name="Occitan" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Occitan</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ps mw-list-item"><a href="https://ps.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88_%DA%98%D8%A8%D9%87" title="سوتو ژبه – Pashto" lang="ps" hreflang="ps" data-title="سوتو ژبه" data-language-autonym="پښتو" data-language-local-name="Pashto" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>پښتو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pms mw-list-item"><a href="https://pms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenga_Sotho_meridional" title="Lenga Sotho meridional – Piedmontese" lang="pms" hreflang="pms" data-title="Lenga Sotho meridional" data-language-autonym="Piemontèis" data-language-local-name="Piedmontese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Piemontèis</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C4%99zyk_sotho" title="Język sotho – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Język sotho" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesoto" title="Sesoto – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Sesoto" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Português</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limba_sotho" title="Limba sotho – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" data-title="Limba sotho" data-language-autonym="Română" data-language-local-name="Romanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Română</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-qu mw-list-item"><a href="https://qu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho_simi" title="Sesotho simi – Quechua" lang="qu" hreflang="qu" data-title="Sesotho simi" data-language-autonym="Runa Simi" data-language-local-name="Quechua" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Runa Simi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE" title="Сесото – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Сесото" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Русский</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sat mw-list-item"><a href="https://sat.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B1%A5%E1%B1%B3%E1%B1%9B%E1%B1%B7%E1%B1%B3_%E1%B1%AF%E1%B1%9F%E1%B1%B9%E1%B1%A8%E1%B1%A5%E1%B1%A4" title="ᱥᱳᱛᱷᱳ ᱯᱟᱹᱨᱥᱤ – Santali" lang="sat" hreflang="sat" data-title="ᱥᱳᱛᱷᱳ ᱯᱟᱹᱨᱥᱤ" data-language-autonym="ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ" data-language-local-name="Santali" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ᱥᱟᱱᱛᱟᱲᱤ</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-st mw-list-item"><a href="https://st.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho" title="Sesotho – Southern Sotho" lang="st" hreflang="st" data-title="Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Sesotho" data-language-local-name="Southern Sotho" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Sesotho</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nso mw-list-item"><a href="https://nso.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho" title="Sesotho – Northern Sotho" lang="nso" hreflang="nso" data-title="Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Sesotho sa Leboa" data-language-local-name="Northern Sotho" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Sesotho sa Leboa</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tn mw-list-item"><a href="https://tn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho" title="Sesotho – Tswana" lang="tn" hreflang="tn" data-title="Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Setswana" data-language-local-name="Tswana" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Setswana</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sq mw-list-item"><a href="https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gjuha_sesote" title="Gjuha sesote – Albanian" lang="sq" hreflang="sq" data-title="Gjuha sesote" data-language-autonym="Shqip" data-language-local-name="Albanian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Shqip</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-simple mw-list-item"><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho_language" title="Sotho language – Simple English" lang="en-simple" hreflang="en-simple" data-title="Sotho language" data-language-autonym="Simple English" data-language-local-name="Simple English" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Simple English</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sr mw-list-item"><a href="https://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE_(%D1%98%D0%B5%D0%B7%D0%B8%D0%BA)" title="Сото (језик) – Serbian" lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Сото (језик)" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sh mw-list-item"><a href="https://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho_jezik" title="Sotho jezik – Serbo-Croatian" lang="sh" hreflang="sh" data-title="Sotho jezik" data-language-autonym="Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски" data-language-local-name="Serbo-Croatian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-su mw-list-item"><a href="https://su.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basa_Sotho" title="Basa Sotho – Sundanese" lang="su" hreflang="su" data-title="Basa Sotho" data-language-autonym="Sunda" data-language-local-name="Sundanese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Sunda</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etel%C3%A4sothon_kieli" title="Eteläsothon kieli – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Eteläsothon kieli" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesotho" title="Sesotho – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tl mw-list-item"><a href="https://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikang_Sesotho" title="Wikang Sesotho – Tagalog" lang="tl" hreflang="tl" data-title="Wikang Sesotho" data-language-autonym="Tagalog" data-language-local-name="Tagalog" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tagalog</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ta mw-list-item"><a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%8B%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%8B_%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8A%E0%AE%B4%E0%AE%BF" title="சோத்தோ மொழி – Tamil" lang="ta" hreflang="ta" data-title="சோத்தோ மொழி" data-language-autonym="தமிழ்" data-language-local-name="Tamil" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>தமிழ்</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tt mw-list-item"><a href="https://tt.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE_%D1%82%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5" title="Сесото теле – Tatar" lang="tt" hreflang="tt" data-title="Сесото теле" data-language-autonym="Татарча / tatarça" data-language-local-name="Tatar" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Татарча / tatarça</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ve mw-list-item"><a href="https://ve.wikipedia.org/wiki/SeSotho" title="SeSotho – Venda" lang="ve" hreflang="ve" data-title="SeSotho" data-language-autonym="Tshivenda" data-language-local-name="Venda" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tshivenda</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sotho_dili" title="Sotho dili – Turkish" lang="tr" hreflang="tr" data-title="Sotho dili" data-language-autonym="Türkçe" data-language-local-name="Turkish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Türkçe</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-uk mw-list-item"><a href="https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BE" title="Сесото – Ukrainian" lang="uk" hreflang="uk" data-title="Сесото" data-language-autonym="Українська" data-language-local-name="Ukrainian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Українська</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ur mw-list-item"><a href="https://ur.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AA%DA%BE%D9%88_%D8%B2%D8%A8%D8%A7%D9%86" title="سوتھو زبان – Urdu" lang="ur" hreflang="ur" data-title="سوتھو زبان" data-language-autonym="اردو" data-language-local-name="Urdu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>اردو</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ug mw-list-item"><a href="https://ug.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%B3%DB%90%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%AA%D9%88%DA%86%DB%95" title="سېسوتوچە – Uyghur" lang="ug" hreflang="ug" data-title="سېسوتوچە" data-language-autonym="ئۇيغۇرچە / Uyghurche" data-language-local-name="Uyghur" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>ئۇيغۇرچە / Uyghurche</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vep mw-list-item"><a href="https://vep.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sesoto" title="Sesoto – Veps" lang="vep" hreflang="vep" data-title="Sesoto" data-language-autonym="Vepsän kel’" data-language-local-name="Veps" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Vepsän kel’</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-vi mw-list-item"><a href="https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ti%E1%BA%BFng_Sotho" title="Tiếng Sotho – Vietnamese" lang="vi" hreflang="vi" data-title="Tiếng Sotho" data-language-autonym="Tiếng Việt" data-language-local-name="Vietnamese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Tiếng Việt</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-wuu mw-list-item"><a href="https://wuu.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%A1%9E%E7%B4%A2%E6%89%98%E8%AF%AD" title="塞索托语 – Wu" lang="wuu" hreflang="wuu" data-title="塞索托语" data-language-autonym="吴语" data-language-local-name="Wu" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>吴语</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-yo mw-list-item"><a href="https://yo.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%88d%C3%A8_Sotho_Ap%C3%A1g%C3%BA%C3%BAs%C3%B9" title="Èdè Sotho Apágúúsù – Yoruba" lang="yo" hreflang="yo" data-title="Èdè Sotho Apágúúsù" data-language-autonym="Yorùbá" data-language-local-name="Yoruba" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Yorùbá</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B4%A2%E6%89%98%E6%96%87" title="索托文 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="索托文" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>粵語</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%B4%A2%E6%89%98%E8%AA%9E" title="索托語 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="索托語" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>中文</span></a></li> </ul> <div class="after-portlet after-portlet-lang"><span class="wb-langlinks-edit wb-langlinks-link"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:EntityPage/Q34340#sitelinks-wikipedia" title="Edit interlanguage links" class="wbc-editpage">Edit links</a></span></div> </div> </div> </div> </header> <div class="vector-page-toolbar"> <div class="vector-page-toolbar-container"> <div id="left-navigation"> <nav aria-label="Namespaces"> <div id="p-associated-pages" class="vector-menu vector-menu-tabs mw-portlet mw-portlet-associated-pages" > <div 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searchaux" style="display:none">Southern Bantu language of Lesotho and neighbouring countries</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">This article is about the Lesotho and central South African Sotho language. 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.infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vevent infobox-has-images-with-white-backgrounds"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above above" style="font-size:125%; color: black; background-color: #ffddaa;">Sotho</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader" style="font-size:110%; color: black; background-color: #ffddaa;">Southern Sotho</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-subheader" style="font-size:110%; color: black; background-color: #ffddaa;">Sesotho</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;">Pronunciation</th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="st-Latn-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA" title="Help:IPA">[sɪ̀sʊ́tʰʊ̀]</a></span></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;">Native to</th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lesotho" title="Lesotho">Lesotho</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zimbabwe" title="Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;">Ethnicity</th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><a href="/wiki/Sotho_people" title="Sotho people">Basotho</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Native speakers</div></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;">5.6 million (2001–2011)<sup id="cite_ref-e18_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-e18-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><br />7.9 million <a href="/wiki/L2_speakers" class="mw-redirect" title="L2 speakers">L2 speakers</a> in South Africa (2002)<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><span class="wrap"><a href="/wiki/Language_family" title="Language family">Language family</a></span></div></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><div style="text-align:left;"><a href="/wiki/Niger%E2%80%93Congo_languages" title="Niger–Congo languages">Niger–Congo</a>? <ul style="line-height:100%; margin-left:1.35em;padding-left:0"><li> <a href="/wiki/Atlantic%E2%80%93Congo_languages" title="Atlantic–Congo languages">Atlantic–Congo</a><ul style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0.45em;padding-left:0;"><li><a href="/wiki/Volta-Congo_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="Volta-Congo languages">Volta-Congo</a><ul style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0.45em;padding-left:0;"><li><a href="/wiki/Benue%E2%80%93Congo_languages" title="Benue–Congo languages">Benue–Congo</a><ul style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0.45em;padding-left:0;"><li><a href="/wiki/Bantoid_languages" title="Bantoid languages">Bantoid</a><ul style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0.45em;padding-left:0;"><li><a href="/wiki/Southern_Bantoid_languages" title="Southern Bantoid languages">Southern Bantoid</a><ul style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0.45em;padding-left:0;"><li><a href="/wiki/Bantu_languages" title="Bantu languages">Bantu</a><ul style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0.45em;padding-left:0;"><li><a href="/wiki/Southern_Bantu" class="mw-redirect" title="Southern Bantu">Southern Bantu</a><ul style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0.45em;padding-left:0;"><li><a href="/wiki/Sotho%E2%80%93Tswana_languages" title="Sotho–Tswana languages">Sotho–Tswana</a><ul style="line-height:100%;margin-left:0.45em;padding-left:0;"><li><b>Sotho</b></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></div></td></tr><tr class="plainlist"><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;">Dialects</th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"> <ul><li>Phuthi</li> <li>Taung</li></ul> </td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><span class="wrap"><a href="/wiki/Writing_system" title="Writing system">Writing system</a></span></div></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><a href="/wiki/Latin_script" title="Latin script">Latin</a> (<a href="/wiki/Sesotho_alphabet" class="mw-redirect" title="Sesotho alphabet">Sesotho alphabet</a>)<br /><a href="/wiki/Sotho_Braille" class="mw-redirect" title="Sotho Braille">Sotho Braille</a><br /><a href="/wiki/Ditema_tsa_Dinoko" title="Ditema tsa Dinoko">Ditema tsa Dinoko</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><span class="wrap"><a href="/wiki/Manually_coded_language" title="Manually coded language">Signed forms</a></span></div></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><a href="/wiki/Signed_Sotho" class="mw-redirect" title="Signed Sotho">Signed Sotho</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: black; background-color: #ffddaa;">Official status</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Official language in</div></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist"> <ul><li><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Flag_of_Lesotho.svg/23px-Flag_of_Lesotho.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Flag_of_Lesotho.svg/35px-Flag_of_Lesotho.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4a/Flag_of_Lesotho.svg/45px-Flag_of_Lesotho.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Lesotho" title="Lesotho">Lesotho</a></li> <li><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Flag_of_South_Africa.svg/23px-Flag_of_South_Africa.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="15" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Flag_of_South_Africa.svg/35px-Flag_of_South_Africa.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Flag_of_South_Africa.svg/45px-Flag_of_South_Africa.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="900" data-file-height="600" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a></li> <li><span class="flagicon"><span class="mw-image-border" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg/23px-Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg.png" decoding="async" width="23" height="12" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg/35px-Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg/46px-Flag_of_Zimbabwe.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1200" data-file-height="600" /></span></span> </span><a href="/wiki/Zimbabwe" title="Zimbabwe">Zimbabwe</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><a href="/wiki/List_of_language_regulators" title="List of language regulators">Regulated by</a></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><a href="/wiki/Pan_South_African_Language_Board" title="Pan South African Language Board">Pan South African Language Board</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="color: black; background-color: #ffddaa;">Language codes</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/ISO_639-1" title="ISO 639-1">ISO 639-1</a></span></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><code><span class="plainlinks"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/langcodes_name.php?iso_639_1=st">st</a></span></code></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/ISO_639-2" title="ISO 639-2">ISO 639-2</a></span></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><code><span class="plainlinks"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/langcodes_name.php?code_ID=421">sot</a></span></code></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><span class="nowrap"><a href="/wiki/ISO_639-3" title="ISO 639-3">ISO 639-3</a></span></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><code><a href="https://iso639-3.sil.org/code/sot" class="extiw" title="iso639-3:sot">sot</a></code></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><i><a href="/wiki/Glottolog" title="Glottolog">Glottolog</a></i></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><code><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/sout2807">sout2807</a></code></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;"><span class="wrap"><a href="/wiki/Guthrie_classification_of_Bantu_languages" title="Guthrie classification of Bantu languages">Guthrie code</a></span></div></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><code>S.33</code><sup id="cite_ref-Guthrie_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Guthrie-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.65em;"><a href="/wiki/Linguasphere_Observatory" title="Linguasphere Observatory">Linguasphere</a></th><td class="infobox-data" style="line-height:1.3em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://linguasphere.info/?page=linguascale&linguacode=99-AUT-ee">99-AUT-ee</a> incl. varieties 99-AUT-eea to 99-AUT-eee</td></tr></tbody></table><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236303919">@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-has-images-with-white-backgrounds img{background:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-has-images-with-white-backgrounds img{background:white}}</style> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"><table class="infobox" style="background:#fff6d9"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above">Sotho</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="background:#fee8ab">Person</th><td class="infobox-data"><b>Mo</b>sotho</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="background:#fee8ab">People</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Sotho_people" title="Sotho people"><b>Ba</b>sotho</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="background:#fee8ab">Language</th><td class="infobox-data"><b>Se</b>sotho</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="background:#fee8ab">Country</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/wiki/Lesotho" title="Lesotho"><b>Le</b>sotho</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output 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.sidebar-list-title-c{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:center;margin:0 3.3em}@media(max-width:640px){body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:100%!important;clear:both;float:none!important;margin-left:0!important;margin-right:0!important}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .sidebar a>img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><table class="sidebar nomobile nowraplinks" style="width:auto"><tbody><tr><th class="sidebar-title"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Sesotho</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content" style="text-align:left;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_phonology" title="Sotho phonology">Phonology</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_tonology" title="Sotho tonology">Tonology</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_grammar" class="mw-redirect" title="Sotho grammar">Grammar</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_parts_of_speech" title="Sotho parts of speech">Parts of speech</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_nouns" title="Sotho nouns">Nouns</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_concords" title="Sotho concords">Concords</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_verbs" title="Sotho verbs">Verbs</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_deficient_verbs" title="Sotho deficient verbs">Deficient verbs</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_orthography" class="mw-redirect" title="Sotho orthography">Orthography</a></li></ul></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Sotho_language" title="Template:Sotho language"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Sotho_language" title="Template talk:Sotho language"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Sotho_language" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Sotho language"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Sotho</b> (<span class="rt-commentedText nowrap"><span class="IPA nopopups noexcerpt" lang="en-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/<span style="border-bottom:1px dotted"><span title="'s' in 'sigh'">s</span><span title="/ɛ/: 'e' in 'dress'">ɛ</span><span title="/ˈ/: primary stress follows">ˈ</span><span title="'s' in 'sigh'">s</span><span title="/uː/: 'oo' in 'goose'">uː</span><span title="'t' in 'tie'">t</span><span title="/uː/: 'oo' in 'goose'">uː</span></span>/</a></span></span>)<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>a<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <i>Sesotho</i>, also known as <b>Southern Sotho</b> or <i>Sesotho sa Borwa</i> is a <a href="/wiki/Southern_Bantu_languages" title="Southern Bantu languages">Southern Bantu language</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Sotho%E2%80%93Tswana_languages" title="Sotho–Tswana languages">Sotho–Tswana</a> ("S.30") group, spoken in <a href="/wiki/Lesotho" title="Lesotho">Lesotho</a>, and <a href="/wiki/South_Africa" title="South Africa">South Africa</a> where it is an <a href="/wiki/Official_language" title="Official language">official language</a>. </p><p>Like all <a href="/wiki/Bantu_languages" title="Bantu languages">Bantu languages</a>, Sesotho is an <a href="/wiki/Agglutinative_language" title="Agglutinative language">agglutinative language</a> that uses numerous <a href="/wiki/Affixes" class="mw-redirect" title="Affixes">affixes</a> and derivational and inflexional rules to build <a href="/wiki/Sesotho_grammar#The_Sesotho_word" title="Sesotho grammar">complete words</a>. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Classification">Classification</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Classification"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Sotho is a <a href="/wiki/Southern_Bantu_languages" title="Southern Bantu languages">Southern Bantu language</a> belonging to the <a href="/wiki/Niger%E2%80%93Congo_languages" title="Niger–Congo languages">Niger–Congo language family</a> within the <a href="/wiki/Sotho-Tswana_languages" class="mw-redirect" title="Sotho-Tswana languages">Sotho-Tswana</a> branch of <a href="/wiki/Guthrie_classification_of_Bantu_languages#Zone_S" title="Guthrie classification of Bantu languages">Zone S (S.30)</a>. </p><p>"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 <a href="/wiki/Lozi_language" title="Lozi language">Lozi</a> (<i>Silozi</i>), with which it forms the Sesotho-Lozi group within Sotho-Tswana. </p><p>The <a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho" title="Northern Sotho">Northern Sotho</a> group is geographical, and includes a number of dialects also closely related to Sotho-Lozi. <a href="/wiki/Tswana_language" title="Tswana language">Tswana</a> is also known as "Western Sesotho". </p><p>The Sotho-Tswana group is in turn closely related to the other <a href="/wiki/Southern_Bantu" class="mw-redirect" title="Southern Bantu">Southern Bantu</a> languages, including the <a href="/wiki/Venda_language" title="Venda language">Venda</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tsonga_language" title="Tsonga language">Tsonga</a>, <a href="/wiki/Tonga_language_(Mozambique)" title="Tonga language (Mozambique)">Tonga</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lozi_language" title="Lozi language">Lozi</a> which is native to <a href="/wiki/Zambia" title="Zambia">Zambia</a> and the other surrounding <a href="/wiki/Southern_African" class="mw-redirect" title="Southern African">Southern African countries</a> and <a href="/wiki/Nguni_languages" title="Nguni languages">Nguni languages</a>, and possibly<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="margin-left:0.1em; white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Please_clarify" title="Wikipedia:Please clarify"><span title="The text near this tag may need clarification or removal of jargon. (September 2015)">clarification needed</span></a></i>]</sup> also the <a href="/wiki/Makua_languages" title="Makua languages">Makua</a> (zone P) languages of <a href="/wiki/Tanzania" title="Tanzania">Tanzania</a> and <a href="/wiki/Mozambique" title="Mozambique">Mozambique</a>. </p><p><i>Sotho</i> is the root word. Various prefixes may be added for specific derivations, such as <i>Sesotho</i> for the Sotho language and <i>Basotho</i> for the <a href="/wiki/Sotho_people" title="Sotho people">Sotho people</a>. Use of <i>Sesotho</i> rather than <i>Sotho</i> for the language in English has seen increasing use since the 1980s, especially in <a href="/wiki/South_African_English" title="South African English">South African English</a> and in Lesotho. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Dialects">Dialects</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Dialects"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:National_Women%27s_Day_detail_Sesotho.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/National_Women%27s_Day_detail_Sesotho.jpg/220px-National_Women%27s_Day_detail_Sesotho.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="306" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/National_Women%27s_Day_detail_Sesotho.jpg/330px-National_Women%27s_Day_detail_Sesotho.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/National_Women%27s_Day_detail_Sesotho.jpg 2x" data-file-width="368" data-file-height="512" /></a><figcaption>A Mosotho woman holding up a sign protesting violence against women, written in her native Sesotho language, at a <a href="/wiki/National_Women%27s_Day" title="National Women's Day">National Women's Day</a> protest at the National University of Lesotho. The sign translates: "If you do not listen to women, we will lose patience with you." (2008)</figcaption></figure> <p>Except for faint lexical variation within Lesotho, and for marked lexical variation between the Lesotho/<a href="/wiki/Free_State_(province)" title="Free State (province)">Free State</a> variety and that of the large urban townships to the north (such as <a href="/wiki/Soweto" title="Soweto">Soweto</a>) due to heavy borrowing from neighbouring languages, there is no discernible dialect variation in this language. </p><p>However, one point that seems to often confuse authors who attempt to study the dialectology of Sesotho is the term <i><a href="/wiki/Basotho" class="mw-redirect" title="Basotho">Basotho</a></i>, which can variously mean "<a href="/wiki/Sotho-Tswana_peoples" title="Sotho-Tswana peoples">Sotho–Tswana speakers</a>", "Southern Sotho and <a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Northern Sotho people">Northern Sotho speakers</a>", "Sesotho speakers", and "residents of Lesotho." The <a href="/wiki/Nguni_languages" title="Nguni languages">Nguni language</a> <a href="/wiki/Phuthi_language" title="Phuthi language">Phuthi</a> has been heavily influenced by Sesotho; its speakers have mixed Nguni and Sotho–Tswana ancestry. It seems that it is sometimes treated erroneously as a dialect of Sesotho called "Sephuthi." However, Phuthi is mutually unintelligible with standard Sesotho and thus cannot in any sense be termed a dialect of it. The occasional tendency to label all minor languages spoken in Lesotho as "dialects" of Sesotho is considered patronising,<sup class="noprint Inline-Template" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Words_to_watch#Unsupported_attributions" title="Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Words to watch"><span title="The material near this tag may use weasel words or too-vague attribution. (July 2019)">by whom?</span></a></i>]</sup> in addition to being linguistically inaccurate and in part serving a national myth that all citizens of Lesotho have Sesotho as their mother tongue. </p><p>Additionally, being derived from a language or dialect very closely related to modern Sesotho,<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>b<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> the <a href="/wiki/Zambia" title="Zambia">Zambian</a> Sotho–Tswana language <a href="/wiki/Lozi_language" title="Lozi language">Lozi</a> is also sometimes cited as a modern dialect of Sesotho named <i>Serotse</i> or <i>Sekololo</i>. </p><p>The oral history of the Basotho and Northern Sotho peoples (as contained in their <a href="/wiki/Diboko" title="Diboko">liboko</a>) states that 'Mathulare, a daughter of the chief of the <i>Bafokeng</i> nation (an old and respected people), was married to chief Tabane of the (Southern) <i>Bakgatla</i> (a branch of the <i>Bahurutse</i>, who are one of the most ancient of the Sotho–Tswana tribes), and bore the founders of five tribes: <i>Bapedi</i> (by Mopedi), <i>Makgolokwe</i> (by Kgetsi), <i>Baphuthing</i> (by Mophuthing, and later the Mzizi of <a href="/wiki/Dlamini" title="Dlamini">Dlamini</a>, connected with the present-day <a href="/wiki/Ndebele_people_(Zimbabwe)" class="mw-redirect" title="Ndebele people (Zimbabwe)">Ndebele</a>), <i>Batlokwa</i> (by Kgwadi), and <i>Basia</i> (by Mosia). These were the first peoples to be called "Basotho", before many of their descendants and other peoples came together to form <a href="/wiki/Moshoeshoe_I" title="Moshoeshoe I">Moshoeshoe I</a>'s nation in the early 19th century. The situation is even further complicated by various historical factors, such as members of parent clans joining their descendants or various clans calling themselves by the same names (because they honour the same legendary ancestor or have the same totem). </p><p>An often repeated story is that when the modern Basotho nation was established by King <a href="/wiki/Moshoeshoe_I" title="Moshoeshoe I">Moshoeshoe I</a>, his own "dialect" Sekwena was chosen over two other popular variations Setlokwa and Setaung and that these two still exist as "dialects" of modern Sesotho.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (February 2016)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> The inclusion of Setlokwa in this scenario is confusing, as the modern language named "Setlokwa" is a Northern Sesotho language spoken by descendants of the same Batlokwa whose attack on the young chief Moshoeshoe's settlement during <a href="/wiki/Difaqane" class="mw-redirect" title="Difaqane">Lifaqane</a> (led by the famous widow <a href="/wiki/Mmanthatisi" title="Mmanthatisi">Mmanthatisi</a>) caused them to migrate to present-day Lesotho. On the other hand, Doke & Mofokeng claims that the tendency of many Sesotho speakers to say for example <i>ke ronngwe</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[kʼɪʀʊŋ̩ŋʷe]</span> instead of <i>ke romilwe</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[kʼɪʀuˌmilʷe]</span> when forming the perfect of the passive of verbs ending in <i>-ma</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[mɑ]</span> (as well as forming their perfects with <i>-mme</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[m̩me]</span> instead of <i>-mile</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[mile]</span>) is "a relic of the extinct Tlokwa dialect". </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Geographic_distribution">Geographic distribution</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Geographic distribution"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_proportion_map.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_proportion_map.svg/220px-South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_proportion_map.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="193" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_proportion_map.svg/330px-South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_proportion_map.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_proportion_map.svg/440px-South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_proportion_map.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="809" data-file-height="709" /></a><figcaption>Geographical distribution of Sotho in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks Sotho at home. <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1256394559">.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key>ol{margin-left:1.3em;margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key>ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media(min-width:300px){.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key,.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key-wide{column-count:2}.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key-narrow{column-count:1}}@media(min-width:450px){.mw-parser-output figure[typeof="mw:File/Thumb"] .image-key-wide{column-count:3}}</style><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist image-key"><ul><li><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r981673959">.mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{}</style><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#EDF8E9; color:black;"> </span> 0–20%</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#BAE4B3; color:black;"> </span> 20–40%</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#74C476; color:black;"> </span> 40–60%</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#31A354; color:black;"> </span> 60–80%</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#006D2C; color:white;"> </span> 80–100%</div></li></ul></div></figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_density_map.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_density_map.svg/220px-South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_density_map.svg.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="193" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_density_map.svg/330px-South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_density_map.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ac/South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_density_map.svg/440px-South_Africa_2011_Sotho_speakers_density_map.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="809" data-file-height="709" /></a><figcaption>Geographical distribution of Sotho in South Africa: density of Sotho home-language speakers. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1256394559"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"><div class="plainlist image-key"><ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#ffffcc; color:black;"> </span> <1 /km²</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#ffeda0; color:black;"> </span> 1–3 /km²</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#fed976; color:black;"> </span> 3–10 /km²</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#feb24c; color:black;"> </span> 10–30 /km²</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#fd8d3c; color:black;"> </span> 30–100 /km²</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#fc4e2a; color:black;"> </span> 100–300 /km²</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#e31a1c; color:white;"> </span> 300–1000 /km²</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#bc0026; color:white;"> </span> 1000–3000 /km²</div></li><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r981673959"><div class="legend"><span class="legend-color mw-no-invert" style="background-color:#800026; color:white;"> </span> >3000 /km²</div></li></ul></div></figcaption></figure> <p>According to the <a href="/wiki/South_African_National_Census_of_2011" class="mw-redirect" title="South African National Census of 2011">South African National Census of 2011</a>, there were almost four million first language Sesotho speakers recorded in South Africa – approximately eight per cent of the population. Most Sesotho speakers in South Africa reside in <a href="/wiki/Free_State_(province)" title="Free State (province)">Free State</a> and <a href="/wiki/Gauteng" title="Gauteng">Gauteng</a>. Sesotho is also the main language spoken by the people of <a href="/wiki/Lesotho" title="Lesotho">Lesotho</a>, where, according to 1993 data, it was spoken by about 1,493,000 people, or 85% of the population. The census fails to record other South Africans for whom Sesotho is a second or third language. Such speakers are found in all major residential areas of <a href="/wiki/Metropolitan_municipality_(South_Africa)" title="Metropolitan municipality (South Africa)">Metropolitan Municipalities</a> – such as <a href="/wiki/Johannesburg" title="Johannesburg">Johannesburg</a>, and the <a href="/wiki/Vaal_Triangle" title="Vaal Triangle">Vaal Triangle</a> – where multilingualism and polylectalism are very high.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (June 2012)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Official_status">Official status</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Official status"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Sesotho is one of the twelve <a href="/wiki/Official_languages_of_South_Africa" class="mw-redirect" title="Official languages of South Africa">official languages of South Africa</a>, one of the two official <a href="/wiki/Languages_of_Lesotho" title="Languages of Lesotho">languages of Lesotho</a> and one of the sixteen official <a href="/wiki/Languages_of_Zimbabwe" title="Languages of Zimbabwe">languages of Zimbabwe</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Derived_languages">Derived languages</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Derived languages"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Sesotho is one of the many languages from which <a href="/wiki/Tsotsitaal" class="mw-redirect" title="Tsotsitaal">tsotsitaals</a> are derived. Tsotsitaal is not a proper language, as it is primarily a unique vocabulary and a set of idioms but used with the grammar and inflexion rules of another language (usually Sesotho or <a href="/wiki/Zulu_language" title="Zulu language">Zulu</a>). It is a part of the youth culture in most Southern <a href="/wiki/Gauteng" title="Gauteng">Gauteng</a> <a href="/wiki/Township_(South_Africa)" title="Township (South Africa)">townships</a> and is the primary language used in <a href="/wiki/Kwaito" title="Kwaito">Kwaito music</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Phonology">Phonology</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Phonology"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Sesotho_phonology" class="mw-redirect" title="Sesotho phonology">Sesotho phonology</a></div> <p>The sound system of Sesotho is unusual in many respects. It has <a href="/wiki/Ejective_consonant" title="Ejective consonant">ejective consonants</a>, <a href="/wiki/Click_consonant" title="Click consonant">click consonants</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Uvular_trill" class="mw-redirect" title="Uvular trill">uvular trill</a>, a relatively large number of <a href="/wiki/Affricate_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Affricate consonant">affricate consonants</a>, no <a href="/wiki/Prenasalised_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Prenasalised consonant">prenasalised consonants</a>, and a rare form of vowel-height (alternatively, <a href="/wiki/Advanced_tongue_root" class="mw-redirect" title="Advanced tongue root">advanced tongue root</a>) harmony. In total, the language contains some 39 consonantal<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>c<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and 9 vowel <a href="/wiki/Phonemes" class="mw-redirect" title="Phonemes">phonemes</a>. </p><p>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. </p> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"> <tbody><tr> <th rowspan="2" colspan="2"> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Labial_consonant" title="Labial consonant">Labial</a> </th> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Alveolar_consonant" title="Alveolar consonant">Alveolar</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Postalveolar_consonant" title="Postalveolar consonant">Post-<br />alveolar</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Palatal_consonant" title="Palatal consonant">Palatal</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Velar_consonant" title="Velar consonant">Velar</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Uvular_consonant" title="Uvular consonant">Uvular</a> </th> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Glottal_consonant" title="Glottal consonant">Glottal</a> </th></tr> <tr> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Central_consonant" title="Central consonant">central</a> </th> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Lateral_consonant" title="Lateral consonant">lateral</a> </th></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="3"><a href="/wiki/Click_consonant" title="Click consonant">Click</a> </th> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Glottalization" title="Glottalization">glottalized</a> </th> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Pre-stopped_consonant" title="Pre-stopped consonant">ᵏǃʼ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Aspiration_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aspiration (linguistics)">aspirated</a> </th> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Pre-stopped_consonant" title="Pre-stopped consonant">ᵏǃʰ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th style="font-size:80%">nasal </th> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Alveolar_nasal_click" class="mw-redirect" title="Alveolar nasal click">ᵑǃ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Nasal_consonant" title="Nasal consonant">Nasal</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_bilabial_nasal" title="Voiced bilabial nasal">m</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_nasal" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced alveolar nasal">n</a></span></td> <td></td> <td colspan="2"><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_palatal_nasal" title="Voiced palatal nasal">ɲ</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_velar_nasal" title="Voiced velar nasal">ŋ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="3"><a href="/wiki/Plosive" title="Plosive">Plosive</a> </th> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Ejective_consonant" title="Ejective consonant">ejective</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Bilabial_ejective_stop" title="Bilabial ejective stop">pʼ</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Alveolar_ejective_stop" class="mw-redirect" title="Alveolar ejective stop">tʼ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Velar_ejective_stop" title="Velar ejective stop">kʼ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Aspiration_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aspiration (linguistics)">aspirated</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">pʰ</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">tʰ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">kʰ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced consonant">voiced</a> </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_bilabial_plosive" title="Voiced bilabial plosive">b</a></span></td> <td>(<span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_plosive" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced alveolar plosive">d</a></span>)<sup>1</sup></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Affricate" title="Affricate">Affricate</a> </th> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Ejective_consonant" title="Ejective consonant">ejective</a> </th> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Alveolar_ejective_affricate" title="Alveolar ejective affricate">tsʼ</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Alveolar_lateral_ejective_affricate" title="Alveolar lateral ejective affricate">tɬʼ</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Palato-alveolar_ejective_affricate" title="Palato-alveolar ejective affricate">tʃʼ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th style="font-size:80%"><a href="/wiki/Aspiration_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aspiration (linguistics)">aspirated</a> </th> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">tsʰ</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">tɬʰ</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">tʃʰ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td rowspan="2"><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Aspirated_consonant" title="Aspirated consonant">kxʰ</a></span> ~ <span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_velar_fricative" title="Voiceless velar fricative">x</a></span></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Fricative" title="Fricative">Fricative</a> </th> <th style="font-size:80%">voiceless </th> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_labiodental_fricative" title="Voiceless labiodental fricative">f</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_alveolar_fricative" title="Voiceless alveolar fricative">s</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_alveolar_lateral_fricative" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiceless alveolar lateral fricative">ɬ</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_postalveolar_fricative" title="Voiceless postalveolar fricative">ʃ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td rowspan="2"><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiceless_glottal_fricative" title="Voiceless glottal fricative">h</a></span> ~ <span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_glottal_fricative" title="Voiced glottal fricative">ɦ</a></span> </td></tr> <tr> <th style="font-size:80%">voiced </th> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_postalveolar_fricative" title="Voiced postalveolar fricative">ʒ</a></span> ~ <span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_postalveolar_affricate" title="Voiced postalveolar affricate">dʒ</a></span></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Approximant" title="Approximant">Approximant</a> </th> <td></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced alveolar lateral approximant">l</a></span></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_palatal_approximant" title="Voiced palatal approximant">j</a></span></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_labial%E2%80%93velar_approximant" title="Voiced labial–velar approximant">w</a></span></td> <td></td> <td> </td></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Trill_consonant" title="Trill consonant">Trill</a> </th> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td><span class="IPA" lang="und-fonipa"><a href="/wiki/Voiced_uvular_trill" title="Voiced uvular trill">ʀ</a></span></td> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table> <ol><li><span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[d]</span> is an <a href="/wiki/Allophone" title="Allophone">allophone</a> of <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/l/</span>, occurring only before the close vowels (<span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/i/</span> and <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/u/</span>). Dialectical evidence shows that in the Sotho–Tswana languages <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">/l/</span> was originally pronounced as a <a href="/wiki/Retroflex_flap" class="mw-redirect" title="Retroflex flap">retroflex flap</a> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[ɽ]</span> before the two close vowels.</li></ol> <p>Sesotho makes a three-way distinction between lightly <a href="/wiki/Ejective_consonant" title="Ejective consonant">ejective</a>, <a href="/wiki/Aspiration_(phonetics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Aspiration (phonetics)">aspirated</a> and <a href="/wiki/Voiced_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced consonant">voiced</a> <a href="/wiki/Stop_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Stop consonant">stops</a> in several <a href="/wiki/Place_of_articulation" title="Place of articulation">places of articulation</a>. </p><p>The standard Sesotho clicks tend to be substituted with dental clicks in regular speech. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Orthography">Orthography</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Orthography"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Sesotho_orthography" title="Sesotho orthography">Sesotho orthography</a></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Grammar">Grammar</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Grammar"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Sesotho_grammar" title="Sesotho grammar">Sesotho grammar</a></div> <p>The most striking properties of Sesotho grammar, and the most important properties which reveal it as a <a href="/wiki/Bantu_languages" title="Bantu languages">Bantu</a> language, are its <a href="/wiki/Sesotho_nouns" class="mw-redirect" title="Sesotho nouns">noun gender</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sesotho_concords" class="mw-redirect" title="Sesotho concords">concord</a> systems. The grammatical gender system does not encode sex gender, and indeed, Bantu languages in general are not <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_marker" class="mw-redirect" title="Grammatical marker">grammatically marked</a> for gender. </p><p>Another well-known property of the Bantu languages is their <a href="/wiki/Agglutinative_language" title="Agglutinative language">agglutinative</a> morphology. Additionally, they tend to lack any <a href="/wiki/Grammatical_case" title="Grammatical case">grammatical case</a> systems, indicating noun roles almost exclusively through word order. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_calendar" title="Sotho calendar">Sotho calendar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sotho_people" title="Sotho people">Sotho people</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/South_African_Translators%27_Institute" title="South African Translators' Institute">South African Translators' Institute</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-lower-alpha"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Also spelled <i>Suthio</i>, or <i>Suthu</i>, <i>Souto</i>, <i>Sisutho</i>, <i>Sutu</i>, or <i>Sesutu</i>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">To the extent that it even has several words that resemble Sesotho words with clicks: <dl><dd><i>ku kala</i> to begin (Sesotho <i>ho qala</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[hʊǃɑlɑ]</span>)</dd> <dd><i>ku kabana</i> to quarrel (Sesotho <i>ho qabana</i> <span class="IPA nowrap" lang="und-Latn-fonipa" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[hʊǃɑbɑnɑ]</span>),</dd></dl> one could just as easily say that these words were imported from Nguni languages (<i>ukuqala</i> and <i>ukuxabana</i>, which is where the Sesotho versions come from), and the language does also contain words resembling click words from Nguni but not from Sesotho (such as <i>ku kabanga</i> to think, c.f. Zulu <i>ukucabanga</i>).</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">75 if you include the <a href="/wiki/Sesotho_phonology#pp_labialization" class="mw-redirect" title="Sesotho phonology">labialized</a> consonants.</span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239543626"><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-e18-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-e18_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ethnologue.com/18/language/sot/">Sotho</a> at <i><a href="/wiki/Ethnologue" title="Ethnologue">Ethnologue</a></i> (18th ed., 2015) <span style="font-size:0.95em; font-size:95%; color: var( --color-subtle, #555 )">(subscription required)</span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development." <i>Impact: Studies in language and society,</i> 14:78</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Guthrie-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Guthrie_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180203191542/http://goto.glocalnet.net/mahopapers/nuglonline.pdf">New Updated Guthrie List Online</a></span> </li> </ol></div></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Sources">Sources</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Sources"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239549316">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%}}</style><div class="refbegin" style=""> <ul><li>Batibo, H. M., Moilwa, J., and Mosaka N. 1997. <i>The historical implications of the linguistic relationship between Makua and Sotho languages</i>. In PULA Journal of African Studies, vol. 11, no. 1</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clement_Martyn_Doke" title="Clement Martyn Doke">Doke, C. M.</a>, and Mofokeng, S. M. 1974. <i>Textbook of Southern Sotho Grammar</i>. Cape Town: Longman Southern Africa, 3rd. impression. <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-582-61700-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-582-61700-6">0-582-61700-6</a>.</li> <li>Ntaoleng, B. S. 2004. <i>Sociolinguistic variation in spoken and written Sesotho: A case study of speech varieties in Qwaqwa</i>. M.A. thesis. University of South Africa.</li> <li>Tšiu, W. M. 2001. <i>Basotho family odes (Diboko) and oral tradition</i>. M.A. thesis. University of South Africa</li></ul> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237033735">@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox{display:none!important}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}</style><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg/40px-Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="37" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg/60px-Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg/80px-Wikipedia-logo-v2.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="103" data-file-height="94" /></span></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist"><i><b><a href="https://st.wikipedia.org/wiki/" class="extiw" title="st:"> Southern Sotho edition</a></b></i> of <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia" title="Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a>, the free encyclopedia</div></div> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1235681985"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1237033735"><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/60px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/80px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="512" /></span></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">Look up <i><b><a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Sotho" class="extiw" title="wiktionary:Sotho">Sotho</a></b></i> in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.</div></div> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1235681985"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1237033735"><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1126788409"> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg/40px-Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg.png" decoding="async" width="40" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg/60px-Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/dd/Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg/80px-Wikivoyage-Logo-v3-icon.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="193" data-file-height="193" /></span></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for <i><b><a href="https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Sesotho_phrasebook#Q34340" class="extiw" title="wikivoyage:Sesotho phrasebook">Sesotho</a></b></i>.</div></div> </div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sesotho.org">Sesotho Online</a> A gentle introduction to the Sesotho language and culture.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://sesotho.blogspot.com">Weblog on Sesotho</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20190929032954/http://sesotho.blogspot.com/">Archived</a> 29 September 2019 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://translate.org.za/">Translate.org.za</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070114015602/http://translate.org.za/">Archived</a> 14 January 2007 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> Project translating Free and Open Source Software into South African languages, including Sesotho.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Sesotho">PanAfrican L10n page on Sesotho</a> Information on the language and localisation.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://friendsoflesotho.org/files/puo_ea_sechaba.pdf">Sesotho language tutorial</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171011141208/http://friendsoflesotho.org/files/puo_ea_sechaba.pdf">Archived</a> 11 October 2017 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> A beginner's language text, created for the US Peace Corps.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/71077505/Sesotho-Language-Manual">the SeSotho book</a> Another book developed by a Peace Corps volunteer</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Software">Software</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Sotho_language&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Software"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070114015602/http://translate.org.za/content/view/1610/54/">Spell checker for OpenOffice.org and Mozilla</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070324112647/http://translate.org.za/content/view/17/32/">OpenOffice.org</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070210160756/http://translate.org.za/content/view/1611/54/">Mozilla Firefox web-browser</a>, and <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20070324203655/http://translate.org.za/content/view/1612/54/">Mozilla Thunderbird email program</a> in Sesotho.</li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output 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.navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Languages_of_Lesotho" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Languages_of_Lesotho" title="Template:Languages of Lesotho"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Languages_of_Lesotho" title="Template talk:Languages of Lesotho"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Languages_of_Lesotho" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Languages of Lesotho"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Languages_of_Lesotho" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Languages_of_Lesotho" title="Languages of Lesotho">Languages of Lesotho</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Official languages</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>English</li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Sesotho</a> (national language)</li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Non-official languages</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lesotho_Sign_Language" title="Lesotho Sign Language">Lesotho Sign Language</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phuthi_language" title="Phuthi language">Phuthi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xhosa_language" title="Xhosa language">Xhosa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zulu_language" title="Zulu language">Zulu</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Languages_of_South_Africa" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Languages_of_South_Africa" title="Template:Languages of South Africa"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Languages_of_South_Africa" title="Template talk:Languages of South Africa"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Languages_of_South_Africa" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Languages of South Africa"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Languages_of_South_Africa" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Languages_of_South_Africa" title="Languages of South Africa">Languages of South Africa</a></div></th></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Pan_South_African_Language_Board" title="Pan South African Language Board">Pan South African Language Board</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Commission_for_the_Promotion_and_Protection_of_the_Rights_of_Cultural,_Religious_and_Linguistic_Communities" title="Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities">Commission for Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Community Rights</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Department_of_Arts_and_Culture_(South_Africa)" title="Department of Arts and Culture (South Africa)">Department of Arts and Culture</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Official</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/West_Germanic_languages" title="West Germanic languages">West Germanic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Afrikaans" title="Afrikaans">Afrikaans</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/South_African_English" title="South African English">English</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Southern_Bantu_languages" title="Southern Bantu languages">Southern Bantu</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Sotho%E2%80%93Tswana_languages" title="Sotho–Tswana languages">Sotho–Tswana</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Northern Sotho language">Northern Sotho <i>(Sesotho sa Leboa)</i></a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Southern Sotho <i>(Sesotho)</i></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tswana_language" title="Tswana language">Tswana <i>(Setswana)</i></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Nguni_languages" title="Nguni languages">Nguni</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Southern_Ndebele_language" title="Southern Ndebele language">Southern Ndebele <i>(isiNdebele)</i></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Swazi_language" title="Swazi language">Swazi <i>(siSwati)</i></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xhosa_language" title="Xhosa language">Xhosa <i>(isiXhosa)</i></a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zulu_language" title="Zulu language">Zulu <i>(isiZulu)</i></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Tswa%E2%80%93Ronga_languages" title="Tswa–Ronga languages">Tswa–Ronga</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tsonga_language" title="Tsonga language">Tsonga <i>(Xitsonga)</i></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Venda</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Venda_language" title="Venda language">Venda <i>(Tshivenḓa)</i></a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Recognised<br />unofficial languages<br />mentioned in the<br /><a href="/wiki/Constitution_of_South_Africa" title="Constitution of South Africa">1996 constitution</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Indigenous</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Bhaca_language" title="Bhaca language">Bhaca</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khoe_languages" title="Khoe languages">Khoe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khoisan_languages" title="Khoisan languages">Khoisan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lala_language_(South_Africa)" title="Lala language (South Africa)">Lala</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lozi_language" title="Lozi language">Lozi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khoekhoe_language" title="Khoekhoe language">Nama</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nhlangwini_language" title="Nhlangwini language">Nhlangwini</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Ndebele_language" title="Northern Ndebele language">Northern Ndebele</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Phuthi_language" title="Phuthi language">Phuthi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tuu_languages" title="Tuu languages">Tuu</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Foreign</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/German_language" title="German language">German</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Greek_language" title="Greek language">Greek</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gujarati_language" title="Gujarati language">Gujarati</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hindi" title="Hindi">Hindi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Portuguese_language" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Malay_language" title="Malay language">Malay</a> (historical)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_language" title="Tamil language">Tamil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Telugu_language" title="Telugu language">Telugu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Urdu" title="Urdu">Urdu</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Religious</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Arabic" title="Arabic">Arabic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hebrew_language" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/LGBTQ_slang" title="LGBTQ slang">LGBTQ slang</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gayle_language" title="Gayle language">Gayle</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/IsiNgqumo" title="IsiNgqumo">IsiNgqumo</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Other</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tsotsitaal_and_Camtho" title="Tsotsitaal and Camtho">Tsotsitaal and Camtho</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Oorlams_Creole" title="Oorlams Creole">Oorlams Creole</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fanagalo" title="Fanagalo">Fanagalo</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pretoria_Sotho" title="Pretoria Sotho">Pretoria Sotho</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scamto" title="Scamto">Scamto</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/South_African_Sign_Language" title="South African Sign Language">SA Sign Language</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Angloromani_language" title="Angloromani language">Angloromani</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kaaps" title="Kaaps">Kaaps</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Languages_of_Zimbabwe" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Languages_of_Zimbabwe" title="Template:Languages of Zimbabwe"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Languages_of_Zimbabwe" title="Template talk:Languages of Zimbabwe"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Languages_of_Zimbabwe" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Languages of Zimbabwe"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Languages_of_Zimbabwe" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Languages_of_Zimbabwe" title="Languages of Zimbabwe">Languages of Zimbabwe</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Official languages</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zimbabwean_English" title="Zimbabwean English">Zimbabwean English</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chewa_language" title="Chewa language">Chewa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sena_language" title="Sena language">Chibarwe</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kalanga_language" title="Kalanga language">Kalanga</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tshwa_language" title="Tshwa language">Koisan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kalanga_language" title="Kalanga language">Nambya</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ndau_dialect" title="Ndau dialect">Ndau</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Ndebele_language" title="Northern Ndebele language">Ndebele</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shona_language" title="Shona language">Shona</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Sotho</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tonga_language_(Zambia)" class="mw-redirect" title="Tonga language (Zambia)">Tonga</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tsonga_language" title="Tsonga language">Tsonga</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tswana_language" title="Tswana language">Tswana</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Venda_language" title="Venda language">Venda</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xhosa_language" title="Xhosa language">Xhosa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zimbabwean_sign_languages" title="Zimbabwean sign languages">Zimbabwe Sign</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Unofficial languages</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Kunda_language" title="Kunda language">Kunda</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tswa_language" title="Tswa language">Tswa</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lozi_language" title="Lozi language"> Lozi</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Immigrant languages</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/French_language" title="French language">French</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Punjabi_language" title="Punjabi language">Punjabi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hindi_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Hindi language">Hindi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Portuguese_language" title="Portuguese language">Portuguese</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_N–S)_(by_Guthrie_classification)" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_N%E2%80%93S)" title="Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_N%E2%80%93S)" title="Template talk:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_N%E2%80%93S)" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_N–S)_(by_Guthrie_classification)" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em">Narrow <a href="/wiki/Bantu_languages" title="Bantu languages">Bantu languages</a> (Zones N–S) (by <a href="/wiki/Guthrie_classification_of_Bantu_languages" title="Guthrie classification of Bantu languages">Guthrie classification</a>)</div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Zone N</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">N10</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>N11 <a href="/wiki/Manda-Matumba_language" title="Manda-Matumba language">Manda</a></li> <li>N12 <a href="/wiki/Ngoni_language" title="Ngoni language">Ngoni</a></li> <li>N13 <a href="/wiki/Matengo_language" title="Matengo language">Matengo</a></li> <li>N14 <a href="/wiki/Mpoto_language" title="Mpoto language">Mpoto</a></li> <li>N15 <a href="/wiki/Tonga_language_(Malawi)" title="Tonga language (Malawi)">Tonga</a></li> <li>[N101 <a href="/wiki/Ndendeule_language" title="Ndendeule language">Ndendeule</a></li> <li>N102 <a href="/wiki/Nindi_language" title="Nindi language">Nindi</a></li> <li>N121 <a href="/wiki/Ngoni_language" title="Ngoni language">Ngoni of Malawi</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">N20</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>N21 <a href="/wiki/Tumbuka_language" title="Tumbuka language">Tumbuka</a></li> <li>[N201 <a href="/wiki/Mbamba_Bay_language" title="Mbamba Bay language">Mwera of Mbamba Bay</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">N30</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>N31a <a href="/wiki/Chewa_language" title="Chewa language">Nyanja</a></li> <li>N31b <a href="/wiki/Chewa_language" title="Chewa language">Cewa</a></li> <li>N31c <a href="/wiki/Chewa_language" title="Chewa language">Manganja</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">N40</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>N41 <a href="/wiki/Nsenga_language" title="Nsenga language">Nsenga</a></li> <li>N42 <a href="/wiki/Kunda_language" title="Kunda language">Kunda</a></li> <li>N43 <a href="/wiki/Nyungwe_language" title="Nyungwe language">Nyungwe</a></li> <li>N44 <a href="/wiki/Sena_language" title="Sena language">Sena</a></li> <li>N45[44] <a href="/wiki/Sena_language" title="Sena language">Rue</a></li> <li>N46[44] <a href="/wiki/Sena_language" title="Sena language">Podzo</a></li> <li>[N441 <a href="/wiki/Sena_language" title="Sena language">Sena-Malawi</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Zone P</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">P10</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>P11 <a href="/wiki/Ndengereko_language" title="Ndengereko language">Ndengereko</a></li> <li>P12 <a href="/wiki/Ndengereko_language" title="Ndengereko language">Ruihi</a></li> <li>P13 <a href="/wiki/Matumbi_language" title="Matumbi language">Matumbi</a></li> <li>P14 <a href="/wiki/Ngindo_language" title="Ngindo language">Ngindo</a></li> <li>P15 <a href="/wiki/Mbunga_language" title="Mbunga language">Mbunga</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">P20</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>P21 <a href="/wiki/Yao_language" title="Yao language">Yao</a></li> <li>P22 <a href="/wiki/Mwera_language" title="Mwera language">Mwera</a></li> <li>P23 <a href="/wiki/Makonde_language" title="Makonde language">Makonde</a></li> <li>P24 <a href="/wiki/Makonde_language" title="Makonde language">Ndonde</a></li> <li>P25 <a href="/wiki/Makonde_language" title="Makonde language">Mabiha</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">P30</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>P31 <a href="/wiki/Makhuwa_language" title="Makhuwa language">Makua</a></li> <li>P32 <a href="/wiki/Lomwe_language" title="Lomwe language">Lomwe</a></li> <li>P33 <a href="/wiki/Lomwe_language" title="Lomwe language">Ngulu</a></li> <li>P34 <a href="/wiki/Chuwabu_language" title="Chuwabu language">Cuabo</a></li> <li>[P311 <a href="/wiki/Koti_language" title="Koti language">Koti</a></li> <li>P312 <a href="/wiki/Nathembo_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Nathembo language">Sakati</a></li> <li>P331 <a href="/wiki/Malawi_Lomwe_language" title="Malawi Lomwe language">Lomwe of Malawi</a></li> <li>P341 <a href="/wiki/Moniga_language" title="Moniga language">Moniga</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Zone R</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">R10</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>R11 <a href="/wiki/Umbundu" title="Umbundu">Umbundu</a></li> <li>R12 <a href="/wiki/Ndombe_language" title="Ndombe language">Ndombe</a></li> <li>R13 <a href="/wiki/Nyaneka_language" title="Nyaneka language">Nyaneka</a></li> <li>R14 <a href="/wiki/Nkumbi_language" title="Nkumbi language">Khumbi</a></li> <li>[R101 <a href="/wiki/Kuvale_language" title="Kuvale language">Kuvale</a></li> <li>R102 <a href="/wiki/Kwisi_people" title="Kwisi people">Kwisi</a></li> <li>R103 <a href="/wiki/Mbali_language" title="Mbali language">Mbali</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">R20</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>R21 <a href="/wiki/Kwanyama_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Kwanyama dialect">Kwanyama</a></li> <li>R22 <a href="/wiki/Ndonga_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Ndonga dialect">Ndonga</a></li> <li>R23 <a href="/wiki/Kwambi_dialect" title="Kwambi dialect">Kwambi</a></li> <li>R24 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Ngandyera</a></li> <li>[R211 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Kafima</a></li> <li>R212 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Evale</a></li> <li>R213 <a href="/wiki/Mbandja_language" title="Mbandja language">Mbandja</a></li> <li>R214 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Mbalanhu</a></li> <li>R215 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Ndongwena</a></li> <li>R216 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Kwankwa</a></li> <li>R217 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Dombondola</a></li> <li>R218 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Esinga</a></li> <li>R241 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Kwaluudhi</a></li> <li>R242 <a href="/wiki/Ovambo_language" title="Ovambo language">Kolonkadhi-Eunda</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">R30</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>R31 <a href="/wiki/Herero_language" title="Herero language">Herero</a></li> <li>[R311 <a href="/wiki/Zemba_language" title="Zemba language">North-West Herero</a></li> <li>R312 <a href="/wiki/Herero_language" title="Herero language">Botswana Herero</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">R40</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>R41 <a href="/wiki/Yeyi_language" title="Yeyi language">Yei</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Zone S</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">S10</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>S11 <a href="/wiki/Shona_language" title="Shona language">Korekore</a></li> <li>S12 <a href="/wiki/Shona_language" title="Shona language">Zezuru</a></li> <li>S13a <a href="/wiki/Manyika_dialect" title="Manyika dialect">Manyika</a></li> <li>S13b <a href="/wiki/Manyika_dialect" title="Manyika dialect">Tebe</a></li> <li>S14 <a href="/wiki/Shona_language" title="Shona language">Karanga</a></li> <li>S15 <a href="/wiki/Ndau_dialect" title="Ndau dialect">Ndau</a></li> <li>S16 <a href="/wiki/Kalanga_language" title="Kalanga language">Kalanga</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">S20</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>S21 <a href="/wiki/Venda_language" title="Venda language">Venda</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">S30</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>S31a <a href="/wiki/Tswana_language" title="Tswana language">Tswana</a></li> <li>S31b <a href="/wiki/Tswana_language" title="Tswana language">Kgatla</a></li> <li>S31c <a href="/wiki/Tswana_language" title="Tswana language">Ngwatu</a></li> <li>S31d[311] <a href="/wiki/Kgalagadi_language" title="Kgalagadi language">Khalaxadi</a></li> <li>S32a <a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho" title="Northern Sotho">Pedi</a></li> <li>S32b <a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho" title="Northern Sotho">Lobedu</a></li> <li>S33 <a class="mw-selflink selflink">Sotho</a></li> <li>[S301 <a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho#Other_varieties_of_Northern_Sotho" title="Northern Sotho">Phalaborwa</a></li> <li>S302 <a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho#Other_varieties_of_Northern_Sotho" title="Northern Sotho">Kutswe</a></li> <li>S303 <a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho#Other_varieties_of_Northern_Sotho" title="Northern Sotho">Pai</a></li> <li>S304 <a href="/wiki/Northern_Sotho#Other_varieties_of_Northern_Sotho" title="Northern Sotho">Pulana</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">S40</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>S41 <a href="/wiki/Xhosa_language" title="Xhosa language">Xhosa</a></li> <li>S42 <a href="/wiki/Zulu_language" title="Zulu language">Zulu</a></li> <li>S43 <a href="/wiki/Swazi_language" title="Swazi language">Swati</a></li> <li>S44 <a href="/wiki/Northern_Ndebele_language" title="Northern Ndebele language">(Northern) Ndebele</a></li> <li>[S401 <a href="/wiki/Fengu_people" title="Fengu people">Old Mfengu</a></li> <li>S402 <a href="/wiki/Bhaca_language" title="Bhaca language">Bhaca</a></li> <li>S403 <a href="/wiki/Hlubi_language" title="Hlubi language">Hlubi</a></li> <li>S404 <a href="/wiki/Phuthi_language" title="Phuthi language">Phuthi</a></li> <li>S405 <a href="/wiki/Nhlangwini_language" title="Nhlangwini language">Nhlangwini</a></li> <li>S406 <a href="/wiki/Lala_language_(South_Africa)" title="Lala language (South Africa)">Lala</a></li> <li>S407 <a href="/wiki/Southern_Ndebele_language" title="Southern Ndebele language">South Ndebele</a></li> <li>S408 <a href="/wiki/Sumayela_Ndebele_language" title="Sumayela Ndebele language">Sumayela Ndebele</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">S50</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>S51 <a href="/wiki/Tswa_language" title="Tswa language">Tswa</a></li> <li>S52[53] <a href="/wiki/Tsonga_language" title="Tsonga language">Gwamba</a></li> <li>S53 <a href="/wiki/Tsonga_language" title="Tsonga language">Tsonga</a></li> <li>S54 <a href="/wiki/Ronga_language" title="Ronga language">Ronga</a></li> <li>[S511 <a href="/wiki/Tswa_language" title="Tswa language">Hlengwe</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">S60</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li>S61 <a href="/wiki/Chopi_language" title="Chopi language">Copi</a></li> <li>S62 <a href="/wiki/Tonga_language_(Mozambique)" title="Tonga language (Mozambique)">Tonga</a></li> <li>[S611 <a href="/wiki/Chopi_language" title="Chopi language">Lenge</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div> <ul><li><i>Italics</i> indicate <a href="/wiki/Language_death" title="Language death">extinct languages</a>.</li> <li>Languages between parentheses are <a href="/wiki/Variety_(linguistics)" title="Variety (linguistics)">varieties</a> of the language on their left.</li></ul> <ul><li>The <a href="/wiki/Guthrie_classification_of_Bantu_languages" title="Guthrie classification of Bantu languages">Guthrie classification</a> is geographic and its groupings do not imply a relationship between the languages within them.</li></ul> <dl><dt>Narrow Bantu languages by Guthrie classification zone templates</dt> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_A%E2%80%93B)" title="Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones A–B)">Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones A–B)</a></dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_C%E2%80%93D)" title="Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones C–D)">Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones C–D)</a></dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_E%E2%80%93H)" title="Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones E–H)">Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones E–H)</a></dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_J%E2%80%93M)" title="Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones J–M)">Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones J–M)</a></dd> <dd><a href="/wiki/Template:Narrow_Bantu_languages_(Zones_N%E2%80%93S)" title="Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)">Template:Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)</a></dd></dl> </div></td></tr></tbody></table></div> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236075235"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1038841319">.mw-parser-output .tooltip-dotted{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox authority-control" aria-labelledby="Authority_control_databases_frameless&#124;text-top&#124;10px&#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata&#124;link=https&#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34340#identifiers&#124;class=noprint&#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks hlist mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><div id="Authority_control_databases_frameless&#124;text-top&#124;10px&#124;alt=Edit_this_at_Wikidata&#124;link=https&#58;//www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34340#identifiers&#124;class=noprint&#124;Edit_this_at_Wikidata" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Help:Authority_control" title="Help:Authority control">Authority control databases</a> <span class="mw-valign-text-top noprint" typeof="mw:File/Frameless"><a href="https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q34340#identifiers" title="Edit this at Wikidata"><img alt="Edit this at Wikidata" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/10px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png" decoding="async" width="10" height="10" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8a/OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg/15px-OOjs_UI_icon_edit-ltr-progressive.svg.png 1.5x, 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