Sesotho

E23974

Bantu language Sotho–Tswana language Southern Bantu language language

Sesotho is a Southern Bantu language spoken primarily in Lesotho and South Africa, where it holds official status and serves as a major medium of communication and cultural identity.

Aliases (2)

Southern Sotho ×1
Standard Sesotho ×1

Statements (51)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Bantu language → Sotho–Tswana language → Southern Bantu language → language →
alternativeName	Sotho → Southern Sotho →
associatedEthnicGroup	Basotho people →
closelyRelatedTo	Northern Sotho → Sepedi → Setswana →
hasCulturalRole	marker of Basotho identity →
hasGrammaticalFeature	agglutinative morphology → subject–verb–object word order →
hasISO639-1Code	st →
hasISO639-2Code	sot →
hasISO639-3Code	sot →
hasOfficialStatusIn	Lesotho → South Africa →
hasPhonologicalFeature	clickless consonant inventory → noun class system → tone language →
isNationalLanguageOf	Lesotho →
isOfficialLanguageOfOrganization	Southern African Development Community →
isRecognizedLanguageOf	South Africa →
languageFamily	Atlantic–Congo languages → Bantoid languages → Bantu languages → Benue–Congo languages → Niger–Congo languages →
languageGroup	Sotho–Tswana languages →
spokenIn	Botswana → Free State province → Gauteng province → KwaZulu-Natal province → Lesotho → Namibia → North West province → Northern Cape province → South Africa → Zimbabwe →
standardizedIn	Lesotho → South Africa →
usedAs	language of media in Lesotho → language of radio broadcasting in South Africa → language of television broadcasting in South Africa → medium of education in Lesotho →
usedFor	music and song → oral literature → poetry → religious practice →
writingSystem	Latin script →

Referenced by (28)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Free State → Gauteng ("Southern Sotho") → Lesotho → Limpopo Province → Maseru → South Africa →	officialLanguage
Bloemfontein → Heilbron → Highveld → Vanderbijlpark → Vereeniging →	languageMajority
Lozi → Northern Sotho → Setswana →	closelyRelatedTo
Hertzogville → Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (part) →	hasLanguage
Atlantic–Congo languages → Niger–Congo languages →	includesLanguage
Mosotho → Vaal Triangle →	language
Sotho →	alsoKnownAs
Google Translate →	availableLanguage
Sotho →	hasNativeName
Limpopo →	hasOfficialLanguage
Sotho ("Standard Sesotho") →	hasStandardForm
South African →	languageUsed
Bantu languages →	majorLanguage
Mosotho →	nationalLanguage