Northern Sotho, or as an

endonym An endonym (from Greek: , 'inner' + , 'name'; also known as autonym) is a common, ''native'' name for a geographical place, group of people, individual person, language or dialect, meaning that it is used inside that particular place, group, ...

, is a Sotho-Tswana language spoken in the northeastern

provinces of South Africa South Africa is divided into nine provinces. On the eve of the 1994 general election, South Africa's former homelands, also known as Bantustans, were reintegrated, and the four existing provinces were divided into nine. The twelfth, thirteenth ...

. It is sometimes referred to as or , its main dialect, through synecdoche. According to the

South African National Census of 2011 The South African National Census of 2011 is the 3rd comprehensive census performed by Statistics South Africa. The 2011 census was the first census to include geo-referencing for every individual dwelling in South Africa. How the count ...

, it is the

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...

of over 4.6 million (9.1%) people, making it the 5th most spoken language in South Africa. The Sepedi language is spoken most commonly in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the Limpopo provinces.

Name

The Northern Sotho written language was based largely on the Sepedi dialect. Missionaries studied this dialect the most closely and first developed the orthography in 1860 by

Alexander Merensky Alexander Merensky (8 June 1837 in Panten near Liegnitz – 22 May 1918 in Berlin) was a German missionary, working in South Africa (Transvaal) since 1859. Life Alexander was orphaned early in life and grew up among relatives. In 1855, he ...

, Grutzner and Gerlachshoop. This subsequently provided a common writing system for 20 or more varieties of the Sotho-Tswana languages spoken in the former Transvaal, and also helped lead to "Sepedi" being used as the umbrella term for the entire language family. However, there are objections to this synecdoche by other Northern Sotho dialect speakers, such as speakers of the Modjadji's Lobedu dialect.

Other varieties of Northern Sotho

Northern Sotho can be subdivided into

Highveld The Highveld (Afrikaans: ''Hoëveld'', where ''veld'' means "field") is the portion of the South African inland plateau which has an altitude above roughly 1500 m, but below 2100 m, thus excluding the Lesotho mountain regions to the south-east of ...

-Sotho, which consists of comparatively recent immigrants mostly from the west and southwest parts of South Africa, and

Lowveld Veld ( or ), also spelled veldt, is a type of wide open rural landscape in :Southern Africa. Particularly, it is a flat area covered in grass or low scrub, especially in the countries of South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Zimbabwe and Botswa ...

-Sotho, which consists of a combination of immigrants from the north of South Africa and Sotho inhabitants of longer standing. Like other Sotho-Tswana people their languages are named after totemic animals and, sometimes, by alternating or combining these with the names of famous chiefs.

The Highveld-Sotho

The group consists of the following dialects: *Bapedi **Bapedi Marota (in the narrower sense) **Marota Mamone **Marota Mohlaletsi **Batau Bapedi (Matlebjane, Masemola, Marishane, Batau ba Manganeng - Nkadimeng Kgaphola, Nchabeleng, Mogashoa, Phaahla, Sloane, Mashegoana, Mphanama) *Phokwane *Bakone **Kone (Ga-Matlala) **Dikgale *Baphuthi *Baroka *Bakgaga (Mphahlele, Maake, Mothapo) *Chuene *Mathabatha *Maserumule *Tlou (Ga-Molepo) *Thobejane (Ga-Mafefe) * Batlokwa, **Batlokwa Ba Lethebe *Makgoba *Batlou *Bahananwa (Ga-Mmalebogo) *Moremi *Motlhatlhana *Babirwa *Mmamabolo *Bamongatane *Bakwena ba Moletjie (Moloto) *Batlhaloga * Bamohlala/

Ba Ga Mohlala BA, Ba, or ba may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Bangladesh Army * Bibliotheca Alexandrina, an Egyptian library and cultural center * Boeing (NYSE stock symbol BA) * Booksellers Association of the UK and Ireland * Boston Acoustics, an ...

, Banareng, Ba Hwaduba Ba Ga Magale and many others.

The Lowveld-Sotho

The group consists of the Lobedu, Narene, Phalaborwa ( Malatji), Mogoboya,

Kone Kone Oyj (; officially stylized as KONE and trading as KONE Corporation) is an elevator engineering company employing over 60,000 personnel across 60 countries worldwide. It was founded in 1910 and is now headquartered in Espoo near Helsinki, F ...

, Kgaga, Pulana, Pai, and Kutswe.

History

Before Moshoeshoe and his Basotho nation of Lesotho,

Basotho The Sotho () people, also known as the Basuto or Basotho (), are a Bantu nation native to southern Africa. They split into different ethnic groups over time, due to regional conflicts and colonialism, which resulted in the modern Basotho, who ...

people were there. Moshoshoe didn't found Basotho, but he founded a nation made up of Sesotho speaking people from different Sesotho speaking clans in which the British imperialist in Southern Africa erroneously called the Basotho nation cutting them off from the rest of other Basothos outside Lesotho in the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( nl, Oranje Vrijstaat; af, Oranje-Vrystaat;) was an independent Boer sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeat ...

and

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

in present-day

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...

as if Moshoshoe and his people were unique from other Basotho people. Basotho people were there before Moshoshoe, the son of Mokhachane of another Basotho clan of the Bamokoteli clan, united the smaller and vulnerable clans of Basothos under his Bakwena clan leadership during the Shaka wars of difaqane after other Basothos have migrated to different directions from their cradle in Ntswanatsatsi. Moshoshoe and his Bakwena clan and the rest of the other Basotho clan originate from Ntswanatsatsi in present-day

. Families moved away from each other in Ntswanatsatsi and started clans using a totem as a symbol of their clan (like a crocodile (Koena) which Moshoshoe' ancestors used) and different families moved to different directions within precolonial South Africa under different leadership. Under different leadership some settled in the Western side, present-day

North West Province North West is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of Apartheid in 1994, an ...

others spread around Ntswanatsatsi to the present-day Free State and Lesotho, others to present-day

others to present-day

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, others moved to the present day

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

in South Africa and they became patriarchs of the founding fathers of Bakgatla, which also gave birth to Northern Sotho, which, in turn, gave birth to different Northern clans with their dialects like

BaPedi The Pedi or (also known as the Northern Sotho or and the Marota or ) – are a southern African ethnic group that speak Pedi or ''Sepedi'', a dialect belonging to the Sotho-Tswana enthnolinguistic group. Northern Sotho is a term used to ...

, Batlokwa, Babirwa, etc and others ended up in inter-marrying with other tribes. They moved next to and mingled with like Swatis, Vendas, Tsongas and Ngunis, and, in some places, these Northern Basotho' Sotho was diluted by the influence of these tribe they found in the area, they moved into and lived alongside. This is what happened to a subgroup of Northern Basotho who end up becoming

Mapulana The Pulana or Mapulana, are a low-veld Sotho-Tswana ethnic group found in the northeastern part of the Mpumalanga and southeastern Limpopo provinces. Their language is called Sepulana (SeKutswe and Pai) and is considered dialect of the Northern ...

with their Sesotho influenced by Swati. Also some of the Northern Basotho having a common denominator of "apa" (meaning talk) with Vendas, I mean Balovedu, BaGubu and Babirwa of

Bobirwa Bobirwa Subdistrict is a jurisdiction in Botswana. It is populated by the Babirwa (Ba-Birwa) people who came from Transvaal in present-day South Africa. History Before Moshoeshoe and his Basotho nation of Lesotho, Basotho people were there. ...

in the Southern part of

near the Zimbabwean border. All these Northern Sotho clans have their chief of leader, they never had a paramount king, so, it would be absurd to call them BaPedi because the BaPedi kings had never been their kings. They did their own things from Ramokgopha of Batlhokwa, Malatji of

Phalaborwa Phalaborwa (translated to English as ''better than the south; phala'' means ''better than and borwa'' means ''south'') is a town in the Mopani District Municipality, Limpopo province, South Africa. It is located near the confluence of the Ga-Se ...

, Malebogo of Bahanawa, Matlala, etc, and they were never part of the Pedi kingdom.

Classification

Northern Sotho is one of the Sotho languages of the

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

family. Although Northern Sotho shares the name ''Sotho'' with

Southern Sotho Sotho () or Sesotho () or Southern Sotho is a Southern Bantu language of the Sotho–Tswana ("S.30") group, spoken primarily by the Basotho in Lesotho, where it is the national and official language; South Africa (particularly the Free St ...

, the two groups have less in common with each other than they have with Setswana. Northern Sotho is also closely related to

Setswana Tswana, also known by its native name , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It belongs to the Bantu language family within the Sotho-Tswana branch of Zon ...

sheKgalagari Kgalagadi is a Bantu language spoken in Botswana, along the South African border. It is spoken by about people. In the language, it is known as ''Shekgalagari''. Classification Kgalagadi (also rendered ''Kgalagari, Kgalagarhi, Kgalagari, Khal ...

and

siLozi Lozi, also known as siLozi and Rozi, is a Bantu language of the Niger–Congo language family within the Sotho–Tswana branch of Zone S (S.30), that is spoken by the Lozi people, primarily in southwestern Zambia and in surrounding co ...

. It is a standardised dialect, amalgamating several distinct varieties or dialects. Most Khelobedu speakers only learn to speak Sepedi at school, as such Sepedi is only a second or third language and foreign to them like English and Afrikaans. Khelobedu is a written language. Khilovedu dictionary, THALUSAMANDWI YA KHILOVEDU was published in 2018 by Kgothatso Seshayi. The first KhiLovedu Novel, LEKHEKHESHA was published in 2018 by Eliya Monyela. The first KhiLovedu poetry book, ZWIRETO ZWA KHELOBEDU was published and launched in 2020 by KhiLovedu poet Makgwekgwe Waa-Mampeule. As of October 2021 a translation of the Christian Bible is being undertaken by VALODAGOMA SOCIETY (BaLobedu think tank) and PANSALB (Pan South African Languages Board). The monarch associated with this language community is Queen

Modjadji Queen Modjadji, or the Rain Queen, is the hereditary queen of Balobedu, a people of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The Rain Queen is believed to have special powers, including the ability to control the clouds and rainfall. Modjadji R ...

(also known as the

Rain Queen Queen Modjadji, or the Rain Queen, is the hereditary queen of Balobedu, a people of the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The Rain Queen is believed to have special powers, including the ability to control the clouds and rainfall. Modjadji R ...

). Lobedu is spoken by a majority of people in the Greater Tzaneen, Greater Letaba, and BaPhalaborwa municipalities, and a minority in Greater Giyani municipality, as well as in the

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

Province and

Tembisa Thembisa, formerly Tembisa (Dindela), is a large township situated to the north of Kempton Park on the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa. It was established in 1957 when black people were resettled from Alexandra and other areas in Edenvale, Kem ...

township in

. Its speakers are known as the Balobedu. Sepulana () exists in unwritten form and forms part of the standard Northern Sotho. Sepulana is spoken in Bushbuckridge area by the

MaPulana The Pulana or Mapulana, are a low-veld Sotho-Tswana ethnic group found in the northeastern part of the Mpumalanga and southeastern Limpopo provinces. Their language is called Sepulana (SeKutswe and Pai) and is considered dialect of the Northern ...

people. Northern Sotho is also spoken by the Mohlala people.

Writing system

Sepedi is written in the Latin alphabet. The letter '' š'' is used to represent the sound [] ("sh" is used in the trigraph "tsh" to represent an aspirated ''ts'' sound). The Circumflex, circumflex accent can be added to the letters e and o to distinguish their different sounds, but it is mostly used in language reference books. Some word prefixes, especially in verbs, are written separately from the stem.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Within nasal consonant compounds, the first nasal consonant sound is recognized as syllabic. Words such as ''nthuše'' "help me", are pronounced as . /n/ can also be pronounced as following a velar consonant. Urban varieties of Northern Sotho, such as

Pretoria Sotho Pretoria Taal, or Pretoria Sotho (affectionately called by its speakers), is the urban lingua franca of Pretoria and the Tshwane metropolitan area in South Africa. It is a combination of Sepedi-Tswana and influences from Tsotsitaal, Afrikaans an ...

(actually a derivative of

Tswana Tswana may refer to: * Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions * Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people * Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...

), have acquired clicks in an ongoing process of such sounds spreading from Nguni languages.

Vocabulary

Some examples of Sepedi words and phrases:

Notes

External links

* *
Online Northern Sotho – English dictionaryOnline Northern Sotho explanatory dictionaryPan South African Language Board
* Audio files in Pedi at

Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a media repository of free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used across all of the Wikimedia projects in ...

Software

Spell checker for OpenOffice.org and MozillaOpenOffice.orgMozilla Firefox web-browser
an
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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Northern Sotho language Sotho-Tswana languages Languages of South Africa