Sotho–Tswana languages are a group of closely related

Bantu languages The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu: *bantʊ̀) are a large family of languages spoken by the Bantu people of Central, Southern, Eastern africa and Southeast Africa. They form the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid languages. The t ...

spoken in

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of ...

. The Sotho–Tswana group corresponds to the S.30 label in Guthrie's 1967–71

classification Classification is a process related to categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated and understood. Classification is the grouping of related facts into classes. It may also refer to: Business, organizat ...

of languages in the Bantu family. The various dialects 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 ...

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 ...

and

Northern Sotho Northern Sotho, or as an endonym, is a Sotho-Tswana language spoken in the northeastern provinces of South Africa. It is sometimes referred to as or , its main dialect, through synecdoche. According to the South African National Census o ...

are highly mutually intelligible. On more than one occasion, proposals have been put forward to create a unified

standardisation Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...

and declare a Sotho–Tswana language.

Languages

The group is divided into three main branches, Tswana, Northern Sotho, and Southern Sotho as follows: *Tswanaic **

(''Setswana''), with dialects: Fokeng, Hurutshe, Kgatla, Kwena, Lete, Ngwaketse, Ngwato, Rolong, Tawana, Tlhaping, Tlharo, Tlokwa ** Kgalagadi, with dialects: Nuclear Kgalagadi (Kgalagadi proper), Balaongwe, Kenyi, Khakhae, Koma, Ngologa, Pedi, Phaleng, Rhiti, Shaga, Siwane *Southern Sotho **Sesotho-Lozi ***Southern Sotho or

Sotho Sotho may refer to: *Sotho people (or ''Basotho''), an African ethnic group principally resident in South Africa, Lesotho and southern Botswana * Sotho language (''Sesotho'' or ''Southern Sotho''), a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa, an off ...

(''Sesotho''): Phuthi, Taung *

(''Sesotho sa Leboa'') **Sepedic: includes Pedi and Tswapong: ***Pedi: Sehananwa (GaMmalebogo-Makgababeng), Sekgaga (Greater

Lebowakgomo Lebowakgomo is the seat of the Lepelle-Nkumpi Local Municipality and was the capital of the former Bantustan of Lebowa. Lebowakgomo lies 45 km southeast of the Limpopo capital of Polokwane. The majority of Lebowakgomo's inhabitants speak Se ...

),Sekhutswe, Sekopa, Masemola (GaMasemola), Sekone (GaMatlala-Moletši), Sepai, Phalaborwa, ( Mashishing- Bushbuckridge), Setlokwa (Botlokwa and GaManthata), Tšhwene (GaTšhwene) ***Tswapong **Birwa ** Lovedu (Lobedu, Khelobedu, or KhiLovedu) **Sepulana/Sepulane * Lozi (''Silozi'' or Rozi) 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

dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of Linguistics, linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety (linguisti ...

s 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 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 ...

and north-eastern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

(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 acknowledgedGowlett, Derek. (2003). Zone S. In D. Nurse & G. Philippson (eds.), ''The Bantu Languages'', 609-638. London: Curzon/Routledge – Lozi was misclassified as K.21.

Sample

The Lord's Prayer in the various Sotho-Tswana languages. English: ''Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'' *

: *

: * Lozi:

References

Languages of Botswana Languages of Lesotho Languages of South Africa {{Bantu-lang-stub