Northern Sotho language

Northern Sotho
Sesotho sa Leboa
Native to	South Africa
Region	Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga
Native speakers	4.7 million (2011 census) 9.1 million L2 speakers (2002)
Language family	Niger–Congo Atlantic–Congo Benue–Congo Southern Bantoid Bantu Southern Bantu Sotho–Tswana Sotho Northern Sotho
Dialects	Pedi (Masemola, Tau, Koni) Lobedu (Kgaga) Gananwa (Tlokwa) Kopa (Ndebele-Sotho) Birwa Tswapong ? Phalaborwa ? Kutswe (East Sotho) ? Pai (East Sotho) ? Pulana (East Sotho)
Writing system	Latin (Sotho alphabet) Sotho Braille
Signed forms	Signed Pedi
Official status
Official language in	South Africa
Regulated by	Pan South African Language Board
Language codes
ISO 639-2	nso
ISO 639-3	Variously: nso – Pedi etc. brl – Birwa two – Tswapong
Glottolog	nort3233  (North Sotho + South Ndebele)
Guthrie code	S.32,301–304

Pedi
Person	Mopedi/Mosotho
People	Bapedi/Basotho
Language	Sepedi/Sesotho

File:South Africa Northern Sotho speakers proportion map.svg

Geographical distribution of Northern Sotho in South Africa: proportion of the population that speaks a form of Northern Sotho at home.

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a HTML "div" (division) open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki  table code?	Responsive/ Mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
Float	"Col-float"	Yes	Yes	{{Col-float}}	{{Col-float-break}}	{{Col-float-end}}
	"Columns-start"	Yes	Yes	{{Columns-start}}	{{Column}}	{{Columns-end}}
Columns	"Div col"	Yes	Yes	{{Div col}}	–	{{Div col end}}
	"Columns-list"	No	Yes	{{Columns-list}} (wraps div col)	–	–
Flexbox	"Flex columns"	No	Yes	{{Flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"Col"	Yes	No	{{Col-begin}}, {{Col-begin-fixed}} or {{Col-begin-small}}	{{Col-break}} or {{Col-2}} .. {{Col-5}}	{{Col-end}}

Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

File:South Africa Northern Sotho speakers density map.svg

Geographical distribution of Northern Sotho in South Africa: density of Northern Sotho home-language speakers.

Column-generating template families

The templates listed here are not interchangeable. For example, using {{col-float}} with {{col-end}} instead of {{col-float-end}} would leave a HTML "div" (division) open, potentially harming any subsequent formatting.

Column templates

Type	Family	Handles wiki  table code?	Responsive/ Mobile suited	Start template	Column divider	End template
Float	"Col-float"	Yes	Yes	{{Col-float}}	{{Col-float-break}}	{{Col-float-end}}
	"Columns-start"	Yes	Yes	{{Columns-start}}	{{Column}}	{{Columns-end}}
Columns	"Div col"	Yes	Yes	{{Div col}}	–	{{Div col end}}
	"Columns-list"	No	Yes	{{Columns-list}} (wraps div col)	–	–
Flexbox	"Flex columns"	No	Yes	{{Flex columns}}	–	–
Table	"Col"	Yes	No	{{Col-begin}}, {{Col-begin-fixed}} or {{Col-begin-small}}	{{Col-break}} or {{Col-2}} .. {{Col-5}}	{{Col-end}}

Can template handle the basic wiki markup {| | || |- |} used to create tables? If not, special templates that produce these elements (such as {{(!}}, {{!}}, {{!!}}, {{!-}}, {{!)}})—or HTML tags (<table>...</table>, <tr>...</tr>, etc.)—need to be used instead.

Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa, also known by the name of its standardized dialect Sepedi or Pedi) is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages. According to the 2011 census it was the first language of 4,618,576 people in South Africa, principally in the provinces of Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.

Urban varieties of Northern Sotho, such as Pretoria Sotho (actually a derivative of Tswana), have acquired clicks in an ongoing process of such sounds spreading from Nguni languages. The spiritual father of Bapedi is King Sekhukhune who lived from 1814 to 1882.

Classification

Northern Sotho is one of the Sotho languages of the Bantu family. Northern Sotho is thus most closely related to Sesotho (Southern Sotho), Setswana, sheKgalagari and siLozi. It has several distinct varieties.

Lobedu (also Lovedu or Selobedu) exists only in an unwritten form, and the standard Northern Sotho language and orthography is usually used for teaching and writing by this language community. The monarch associated with this language community is Queen Modjadji (also known as the Rain Queen). Lobedu is spoken mainly in the area of Duiwelskloof (now called Modjadjiskloof) in the Limpopo Province (former Northern Province). Its speakers are known as the Balobedu.

Sepulana (also sePulane) also exists in unwritten form and forms part of the standard Northern Sotho. Sepulana is spoken in Bushbuckridge area by the Mapulana people.

Confusion of nomenclature with Sepedi

Northern Sotho has often been equated with its major component Sepedi, and continued to be known as Pedi or Sepedi for some years after the new South African constitution appeared. However, the Pan South African Language Board and the Northern Sotho National Lexicography Unit now specifically prefer and endorse the names "Northern Sotho" or "Sesotho sa Leboa".

The original confusion arose from the fact that the (now official) Northern Sotho written language was based largely on Sepedi (for which missionaries first developed the orthography), but has subsequently provided a common writing system for 20 or more varieties of the Sotho-Tswana languages spoken in the former Transvaal (including dialects of Sepedi). The name "Sepedi" thus refers specifically to the language of the Pedi people, while "Northern Sotho" refers to the official language of that name and to all the speech varieties it has been taken to cover. (It should be noted that the ethnic name "Pedi" also refers to a ruling group that established its dominance over other communities in the 18th century and to the culture and lifestyle of that group and of those over whom it ruled.)

Other varieties of Northern Sotho

Apart from Sepedi itself, the other languages or dialects covered by the term "Northern Sotho" appear to be a diverse grouping of communal speech-forms within the Sotho-Tswana group. They are apparently united by the fact that they are classifiable neither as Southern Sotho nor as Tswana.

Very little published information is available on these other dialects of Northern Sotho, but these have been reported: kheLobedu (khiLobedu or seLobedu), seTlokwa, seBirwa, sePulana, seKhutswe, seTswapo and also SePai (transitional between Sotho-Tswana and Zulu/Swati). The morphological and possible lexical variation among these dialects has led to the above assertion that 'Northern Sotho' is no more than a holding category for otherwise unclassified Sotho-Tswana varieties spoken in northeastern South Africa. Maho (2002) leaves SePhalaborwa and the "East Sotho" varieties of SeKutswe, SePai, and SePulana unclassified within Sotho–Tswana. Their precise classification would appear to be a matter for further research.

Vocabulary

Some examples of Northern Sotho words and phrases:

English	Northern Sotho
Welcome	Kamogelo (noun) / Amogela (verb)
Good day / Hello	Dumela (singular) / Dumelang (plural) / Thobela (to elders)
How are you?	O kae? (singular) Le kae? (plural, also used for elders)
I am fine	Ke gona.
I am fine, thank you	Le nna ke gona, ke a leboga.
Thank you	Ke a leboga (I thank you) / Re a leboga (we thank you)
Good luck	Mahlatse
Have a safe journey	O be le leeto le le bolokegilego
Good bye!	šala gabotse (singular)/ šalang gabotse (plural, also used for elders)(keep well) / Sepela gabotse(singular)/Sepelang gabotse (plural, also used for elders)(go well)
I am looking for a job	Ke nyaka mošomô
No smoking	Ga go kgogwe
No entrance	Ga go tsenwe
Beware of the steps!	Hlokomela distepse!
Beware!	Hlokomela!
Congratulations on your birthday	Mahlatse letšatšing la matswalo
Seasons greetings	Ditumedišo tša Sehla sa Maikhutšo
Merry Christmas	Mahlogonolo a Keresemose
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year	Mahlogonolo a Keresemose le ngwaga wo moswa wo monate
Expression
yes	ee
no	aowa
please	hle
thank you	ke a leboga
help	thušang/thušo
danger	kotsi
emergency	tshoganetšo
excuse me	ntshwarele
I am sorry	Ke maswabi
I love you	Ke a go rata
Questions / sentences	Dipotšišo
Do you accept (money/credit cards/traveler's cheques)?	Le amogela ( tshelete/.../...)?
How much is this?	Ke bokae?
I want ...	Ke nyaka...
What are you doing?	O dira eng?
What is the time?	Ke nako mang?
Where are you going?	O ya kae?
Numbers	Dinomoro
1	one -tee
2	two - pedi
3	three - tharo
4	four - nne
5	five - hlano
6	six - tshela
7	seven - šupa
8	eight - seswai
9	nine - senyane
10	ten - lesome
11	eleven - lesometee
12	twelve - lesomepedi
13	thirteen - lesometharo
14	fourteen - lesomenne
15	fifteen - lesomehlano
20	twenty - masomepedi
21	twenty one - masomepedi-tee
22	twenty two - masomepedi-pedi
50	fifty - masomehlano
100	hundred - lekgolo
1000	thousand - sekete
Days of the week	Matšatši a beke
Sunday	Lamorena
Monday	Mošupologo
Tuesday	Labobedi
Wednesday	Laboraro
Thursday	Labone
Friday	Labohlano
Saturday	Mokibelo
Months of the year	Dikgwedi tša ngwaga
January	Pherekgong
February	Hlakola
March	Hlakubele
April	Mmase
May	Motsheanong
June	Phupjane
July	Phupu
August	Phato
September	Loetse
October	Mphalane
November	Pudungwana
December	Tshitwe or Ngwêtabošego
Computers and Internet terms
computer	khomphutara
e-mail	imeile
e-mail address	aterese ya imeile
Internet	Inthanete
Internet café	khefi ya Inthanete
website	wepsaete
website address	aterese ya wepsaete

External links

• Dryer, Matthew S. & Haspelmath, Martin (eds.) 2013. Northern Sotho language. In the World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Northern Sotho language
• Online Northern Sotho - English dictionary
• Online Northern Sotho explanatory dictionary
• Pan South African Language Board

Audio files in Pedi at Wikimedia Commons

Software

• Spell checker for OpenOffice.org and Mozilla, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Firefox web-browser, and Mozilla Thunderbird email program in Northern Sotho
• Translate.org.za Project to translate Free and Open Source Software into all the official languages of South Africa including Northern Sotho
• Keyboard with extra Northern Sotho characters