The Sotho–Tswana languages are a group of closely related Southern Bantu languages spoken in Southern Africa that include:
- Tswana (Setswana), Sotho (Southern Sotho or Sesotho), Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa)
- Lozi (Silozi or Rozi)
The Sotho–Tswana group corresponds to the S.30 label in Guthrie's (1967–1971) classification of languages in the Bantu family.
Tswana, Southern Sotho, and the various dialects lumped together as Northern Sotho are all mutually intelligible.
Northern Sotho, which appears largely to be a taxonomic holding category for what is Sotho–Tswana but neither identifiably Southern Sotho nor Tswana, subsumes highly varied dialects including Pedi (sePedi), Tswapo (seTswapo), Lovedu (Khilobedu), Pai and Pulana. Maho (2002) leaves the "East Sotho" varieties of Kutswe, Pai, and Pulana unclassified within Sotho–Tswana.
Lozi is spoken in Zambia and northeastern Namibia (in the Caprivi). It is distinct from the other Sotho–Tswana languages due to heavy linguistic influences from Luyaana, and possibly other Zambian and Caprivi languages. In the Guthrie work—as is now widely acknowledged—Lozi was misclassified as K.21.
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“No doubt, to a man of sense, travel offers advantages. As many languages as he has, as many friends, as many arts and trades, so many times is he a man. A foreign country is a point of comparison, wherefrom to judge his own.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)