Sesotho Language
| Sotho | |
|---|---|
| Sesotho | |
| Pronunciation | |
| Native to | Lesotho, South Africa |
| Ethnicity | Basotho |
| Native speakers | at least 5 million (date missing) |
| Language family |
Niger–Congo
|
| Official status | |
| Official language in | Lesotho South Africa |
| Regulated by | Pan South African Language Board |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | st |
| ISO 639-2 | sot |
| ISO 639-3 | sot |
| Guthrie code | S.33 |
| Linguasphere | 99-AUT-ee incl. varieties 99-AUT-eea to 99-AUT-eee |
| The Sotho Language | |
| person | Mosotho |
| people | Basotho |
| language | Sesotho |
| country | Lesotho |
The Sotho /ˈsuːtuː/ language, also known as Sesotho, Southern Sotho, or Southern Sesotho, is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language. It is an agglutinative language which uses numerous affixes and derivational and inflexional rules to build complete words.
Notes:
- The orthography used in this and related articles is that of South Africa, not Lesotho. For a discussion of the differences between the two see the notes on Sesotho orthography.
- Hovering the mouse cursor over most italic Sesotho text should reveal an IPA pronunciation key (excluding tones).
Read more about Sesotho Language: Classification, Dialects, Geographic Distribution, Derived Languages, Phonology, Grammar, See Also
Famous quotes containing the word language:
“The problems of society will also be the problems of the predominant language of that society. It is the carrier of its perceptions, its attitudes, and its goals, for through it, the speakers absorb entrenched attitudes. The guilt of English then must be recognized and appreciated before its continued use can be advocated.”
—Njabulo Ndebele (b. 1948)