View source for Sesotho orthography

{{Short description|Latin-based alphabet of the Sotho language}}
{{Sotho language}}
{| class="infobox selfreference" style="width:22em; clear:none"
|'''Notes:'''
*The orthography used in this and related articles is that of [[South Africa]], not [[Lesotho]]. For a discussion of the differences between the two see the notes on Sesotho orthography.
<div class="selfreference noprint">
*Hovering the mouse cursor over most {{tooltip|2=[ɪˈtælɪk]|''italic''|dotted=no}} Sesotho text should reveal an [[help:IPA|IPA pronunciation key]] (excluding tones).</div>
|}
The [[orthography]] of the [[Sotho language]] is fairly recent and is based on the [[Latin script]], but, like most languages written using the Latin alphabet, it does not use all the letters; as well, several [[digraph (orthography)|digraph]]s and [[trigraph (orthography)|trigraph]]s are used to represent single sounds.{{clarify|date=January 2018}} 

The orthographies used in [[Lesotho]] and [[South Africa]] differ, with the Lesotho variant using [[diacritic]]s.

As with almost all other [[Bantu languages]], although the language is a [[tonal language]], tone is never indicated.

For an overview of the symbols used and the sounds they represent, see the phoneme tables at [[Sotho phonology]].
:''Note that often when a section discusses formatives, affixes, or vowels it may be necessary to view the IPA to see the proper conjunctive word division and vowel qualities.''
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==History==

The original orthography was developed in the early 19th century by missionaries from the [[Paris Evangelical Missionary Society]] to aid in translating the Bible. The earliest orthographies were more like French spelling, still seen in the writing of the [[approximant consonant|approximants]] {{IPA|/j/}} and {{IPA|/w/}} in the modern Lesotho variant.
<!-- Last changed in 1906 - "Conference on Sesuto Orthography" Lesotho should continue using different system from South Africa (Lesotho didn't bother showing up at conference??)
"Somersethouse Conference??
S.A. version prob influenced by multi-lingual society
N.S. & Setswana adopted a unified orthography after 1906, but this was not used for S.A. Sesotho
-->

==South African alphabet==
Sesotho in South Africa uses the following alphabet:
{| class="wikitable" style="min-width:500px"
! Orthography
! IPA
! Notes
! Example
|-
| a
| {{IPAslink|ɑ}}
| Like English sp'''a'''
| ''ho '''a'''bel'''a''''' to distribute
|-
| b
| {{IPAslink|b}}
| this consonant is fully voiced
| ''le'''b'''ese'' milk
|-
|rowspan="1" | bj
| {{IPA|/bʒ/}}
|
| ''ho '''bj'''arana'' to break apart like a clay pot
|-
| d
| {{IPA|[d]}}
| an allophone of /l/ only occurring before the close vowels ({{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}})
| ''Mo'''d'''imo'' God
|-
| rowspan="3" |e
| {{IPAslink|ɨ}}
|  Like English p'''i'''t
| ''ho l'''e'''ka'' to attempt
|-
| {{IPAslink|e}}
| Like English caf'''e'''
| ''ho jw'''e'''tsa'' to tell
|-
| {{IPAslink|ɛ}}
| Like English b'''e'''d
| ''ho sh'''e'''ba'' to look
|-
| f
| {{IPAslink|f}}
|
| ''ho '''f'''umiana'' to find
|-
| fj
| {{IPA|/fʃ/}}
| only found in short passives of verbs ending with ''fa''; alternative sh
| ''ho bo'''fj'''wa'' to be tied
|-
| h
| {{IPAslink|h}} or {{IPAslink|ɦ}}
| these two sounds are allophones
| ''ho a'''h'''a'' to build
|-
| hl
| {{IPAslink|ɬ}}
|
| ''ho '''hl'''a'''hl'''oba'' to examine
|-
| i
| {{IPAslink|i}}
| As in English b'''ee'''t
| ''ho b'''i'''tsa'' to call
|-
| rowspan="2"|j
| {{IPAslink|ʒ}}
|
| ''mo'''j'''alefa'' heir
|-
| {{IPAslink|d͡ʒ}}
| this is an alternative to the fricative {{IPA|/ʒ/}}
| ''ho '''j'''a'' to eat
|-
| k
| {{IPAslink|kʼ}}
| unaspirated: skill
| ''boi'''k'''arabelo'' responsibility
|-
| kh
| {{IPAslink|k|kʰ}}
| fully aspirated: kill; occurring mostly in old loanwords from Nguni languages and in ideophones
| ''le'''kh'''o'''kh'''o'' the part of the pap that remains baked to the pot after cooking
|-
| rowspan="2"|kg
| {{IPAslink|x}}
|
| ''se'''kg'''o'' spider
|-
| {{IPAslink|kx|k͡xʰ}}
| alternative to the velar fricative
| '''''kg'''ale'' a long time ago
|-
| l
| {{IPAslink|l}}
| never occurs before close vowels ({{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/u/}}), where it becomes {{IPA|/d/}}
| ''se'''l'''epe'' axe
|-
| m
| {{IPAslink|m}}
|
| ''ho '''m'''a'''m'''aretsa'' to glue
|-
| n
| {{IPAslink|n}}
|
| ''le'''n'''a'''n'''eo''
|-
| ng
| {{IPAslink|ŋ}}
| can occur initially
| ''le'''ng'''olo'' letter
|-
|nq
|{{IPAslink|ǃ|ᵑǃ}}
|nasal; this is often simply pronounced as a radical click
|''ho '''nq'''osa'' to accuse
|-
| ny
| {{IPAslink|ɲ}}
| as in Spanish ''el ni'''ñ'''o''
| ''ho '''ny'''ala'' to marry
|-
| rowspan="3"|o
| {{IPAslink|ʉ}}
| like English p'''u'''t
| ''p'''o'''tso'' query
|-
| {{IPAslink|o}}
|  As in French ois'''eau'''
| ''p'''o'''ntsho'' proof
|-
| {{IPAslink|ɔ}}
| English: b'''oa'''rd
|  ''mong'''o'''l'''o''''' writing
|-
| p
| {{IPAslink|pʼ}}
| unaspirated: s'''p'''it
| '''''p'''itsa'' cooking pot
|-
| ph
| {{IPAslink|p|pʰ}}
| aspirated: '''p'''in
| '''''ph'''uputso'' investigation
|-
| pj
| {{IPA|/pʃʼ/}}
| alternative tj
| ''ho '''pj'''atla'' to cook well
|-
| pjh
| {{IPA|/pʃʰ/}}
| aspirated version of the above; alternative tjh
| ''m'''pjh'''e'' ostrich
|-
| q
| {{IPAslink|ǃ}}
| radical (tenuis)
| ''ho '''q'''o'''q'''a'' to chat
|-
| qh
| {{IPAslink|ǃ|ǃʰ}}
| aspirated
| ''le'''qh'''eku'' an elderly person
|-
| r
| {{IPAslink|ʁ}}
| soft Parisian-type r
| ''mo'''r'''i'''r'''i'' hair
|-
| s
| {{IPAslink|s}}
|
| '''''S'''e'''s'''otho''
|-
| sh
| {{IPAslink|ʃ}}
|
| ''Mo'''sh'''we'''sh'''we'' [[Moshoeshoe I]]
|-
| t
| {{IPAslink|tʼ}}
| unaspirated: stalk
| ''bo'''t'''ala'' greenness
|-
| th
| {{IPAslink|t|tʰ}}
|
| '''''th'''arollo'' solution
|-
| tj
| {{IPAslink|t͡ʃʼ}}
|
| ''n'''tj'''a'' dog
|-
| tjh
| {{IPAslink|tʃ|t͡ʃʰ}}
|
| ''ho n'''tjh'''afatsa'' to renew
|-
| tl
| {{IPAslink|tɬʼ}}
|
| ''ho '''tl'''atsa'' to fill
|-
| tlh
| {{IPAslink|tɬ|t͡ɬʰ}}
| occurs only as a nasalized form of hl or as an alternative to it[3]
| '''''tlh'''aho'' nature
|-
| ts
| {{IPAslink|tsʼ}}
|
| ''ho '''ts'''oko'''ts'''a'' to rinse
|-
| tsh
| {{IPAslink|ts|tsʰ}}
| aspirated
| ''ho '''tsh'''oha'' to become frightened
|-
| u
| {{IPAslink|u}}
| As in English b'''oo'''t
| ''t'''u'''mo'' fame
|-
| w
| {{IPAslink|w}}
|
| ''se'''w'''a'' epidemic
|-
| y
| {{IPAslink|j}}
|
| ''ho tsama'''y'''a'' to walk
|}

==Lesotho versus South African writing==

One issue which complicates the written language is the two divergent orthographies used by the two countries with the largest number of first language speakers. The Lesotho orthography is older than the South African one and differs from it not only in the choice of letters and the marking of initial syllabic nasals, but also (to a much lesser extent) in written word division and the use of diacritics on vowels to distinguish some ambiguous spellings.

{| class="wikitable" style="min-width:500px"
|+ Differences between South African and Lesotho written consonants and approximants
!South African||Lesotho version||Example
|-
|{{tooltip|2=[di]|''di''|dotted=no}}, {{tooltip|2=[du]|''du''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[di]|''li''|dotted=no}}, {{tooltip|2=[du]|''lu''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[hʊkʼɑdimɑ]|''ho ka'''di'''ma &mdash; ho ka'''li'''ma''|dotted=no}} to lend
|-
|{{tooltip|2=/x/|''kg''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=/x/|''kh''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[xɔt͡sʼɔ]|'''''kg'''otso &mdash; '''kh'''otso''|dotted=no}} peace
|-
|{{tooltip|2=/kʰ/|''kh''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=/kʰ/|''k'h''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[kʰɔsɔ]|'''''kh'''oso &mdash; '''k'h'''oso''|dotted=no}} type of bead string
|-
|{{tooltip|2=/t͡sʰ/|''tsh''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=/t͡sʰ/|''tš''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[mʊt͡sʰɪ'ɑnoŋ̩]|''Mo'''tsh'''eanong &mdash; Mo'''tš'''eanong''|dotted=no}} May month
|-
|{{tooltip|2=/t͡ʃʰ/|''tjh''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=/t͡ʃʰ/|''ch''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[hʊt͡ʃʰɑ]|''ho '''tjh'''a &mdash; ho '''ch'''a''|dotted=no}} to burn
|-
|{{tooltip|2=/j/|''y''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=/j/|''e''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[mɔjɑ]|''mo'''y'''a &mdash; mo'''e'''a''|dotted=no}} air/wind/spirit
|-
|{{tooltip|2=/w/|''w''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=/w/|''o''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[huˌ'ut͡ɬʼʷisisɑ]|''ho utl'''w'''isisa &mdash; ho utl'''o'''isisa''|dotted=no}} to comprehend
|-
|{{tooltip|2=/fʃ/|''fj''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=/fʃ/|''fsh''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[hʊbɔfʃʷɑ]|''ho bo'''fj'''wa &mdash; ho bo'''fsh'''oa''|dotted=no}} to be tied
|-
|{{tooltip|2=/pʃʰ/|''pjh''|dotted=no}} ||{{tooltip|2=/pʃʰ/|''psh''|dotted=no}}||{{tooltip|2=[m̩pʃʰɛ]|''m'''pjh'''e &mdash; m'''psh'''e''|dotted=no}} ostrich
|}

Additionally, in older texts the nasalized click was written {{tooltip|2=/ǃn/|''nǵ''|dotted=no}} in Lesotho (as a relic of a much older click series: {{tooltip|2=/ǃ/|''ḱ''|dotted=no}}, {{tooltip|2=/ǃʰ/|''ḱh''|dotted=no}}, and {{tooltip|2=/ǃn/|''nǵ''|dotted=no}}), but now the more universal digraph {{tooltip|2=/ǃn/|''nq''|dotted=no}} is used in both countries.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} 

When the symbol "š" is unavailable electronically, people who write in Lesotho Sesotho often use ''ts''' or ''t's'' to represent the aspirated alveolar affricate {{tooltip|2=/t͡sʰ/|''tš''|dotted=no}}.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} 

In word-initial positions,<ref name="word">"Word" meaning the separately written elements in the disjunctive orthography &mdash; not [[Sotho grammar#The Sesotho word|proper Sesotho words]].</ref> a syllabic nasal followed by a syllable starting with the same nasal is written as an ''n'' or ''m'' in South Africa but as an apostrophe in Lesotho.

{| class = "wikitable" width = "500"
|+'''Syllabic nasals'''
!South African example||Lesotho version
|-
|{{tooltip|2=[n̩nɪtʼɪ]|'''''n'''nete''|dotted=no}} truth||{{tooltip|2=[n̩nɪtʼɪ]|'''''{{'}}'''nete''|dotted=no}}
|-
|{{tooltip|2=[m̩mɪ]|'''''m'''me''|dotted=no}} and||{{tooltip|2=[m̩mɪ]|'''''{{'}}'''me''|dotted=no}}
|-
|{{tooltip|2=[ɲ̩ɲɔ]|'''''n'''nyo''|dotted=no}} vagina (very crude)||{{tooltip|2=[ɲ̩ɲɔ]|'''''{{'}}'''nyo''|dotted=no}}
|-
|{{tooltip|2=[hʊŋ̩ŋʷɑjɑ]|''ho '''n'''ngwaya''|dotted=no}} to scratch my itch||{{tooltip|2=[hʊŋ̩ŋʷɑjɑ]|''ho '''{{'}}'''ngoaea''|dotted=no}}
|}

Note that, when not word-initial, Lesotho orthography uses an ''n'' or ''m'' just like South African orthography.

When consonants or vowels are omitted due to (diachronic or synchronic) contractions, Lesotho orthography uses apostrophes to indicate the missing sounds while the South African orthography generally does not.
: {{tooltip|2=[hɑkʼɪ'ɪsom̩monɪ]|''Ha ke eso mmone &mdash; Ha ke e-s'o 'mone''|dotted=no}} I haven't seen her
: {{tooltip|2=[ŋʷɑnɑkʼɑ]|''Ngwana ka &mdash; Ngoan'a ka''|dotted=no}} My child

In order to distinguish between the concords of class 1(a) and the 2nd. person singular, Lesotho orthography uses ''u'' to represent phonetic {{tooltip|2=/ʊ/|''o''|dotted=no}} and {{tooltip|2=/w/|''w''|dotted=no}} for the 2nd. person, even when there is no chance of ambiguity.
: {{tooltip|2=[ʊmʊt͡ɬʼɛ]|''U motle''|dotted=no}} You are beautiful
: {{tooltip|2=[ʊmʊt͡ɬʼɛ]|''O motle''|dotted=no}} He/she is beautiful

: {{tooltip|2=[lɪwɛnɑ&nbsp;&nbsp;kʼɪ'ʊ'eledit͡sʼe]|''Le uena ke u elelitse''|dotted=no}} I did advise you too
: {{tooltip|2=[lɪjɛnɑ&nbsp;&nbsp;kʼɪmʊ'eledit͡sʼe]|''Le eena ke mo elelitse''|dotted=no}} I did advise him/her too

In Lesotho, ''ò'' (for the two mid back vowels), ''ō'' (for the near-close back vowel), ''è'' (for the two mid front vowels), and ''ē'' (for the near-close front vowel) are sometimes used to avoid spelling ambiguities. This is never done in South African writing.

: {{tooltip|2=[hʊt͡sʰɛlɑ]|''ho tš'''è'''la''|dotted=no}} to pour &mdash; {{tooltip|2=[hʊt͡sʰɪlɑ]|''ho tš'''ē'''la''|dotted=no}} to cross
: {{tooltip|2=[hʊʀɔkʼɑ]|''ho r'''ò'''ka''|dotted=no}} to sing a [[praise poetry|praise poem]]<!--If JackyR ever writes the article--> &mdash; {{tooltip|2=[hʊʀʊkʼɑ]|''ho r'''ō'''ka''|dotted=no}} to sew
These examples also have differing tone patterns.

Although the two orthographies tend to use similar written word divisions, they do differ on some points:
# More often than not compounds that are written as one word in South African Sesotho will be written with dashes in Lesotho Sesotho
#: {{tooltip|2=[mʊ'ɛtʼɑpʼɪlɪ]|''moetapele &mdash; moeta-pele''|dotted=no}} leader
#The prosodic penultimate {{tooltip|2=[ɪ]|''e-''|dotted=no}} that is sometimes affixed to monosyllabic verbs is written with a dash in Lesotho
#: {{tooltip|2=[ɪbɑ]|''eba! &mdash; e-ba!''|dotted=no}} be!
#The "focus marker" {{tooltip|2=[ɑ]|''-a-''|dotted=no}} is inserted between the subject concord and the verb stem in different ways in the two orthographies. This is probably the most commonly encountered difference between the word divisions of the two orthographies
#: {{tooltip|2=[dixomʊ&nbsp;&nbsp;di'ɑfulɑ]|''Dikgomo di '''a''' fula &mdash; Likhomo li'''a''' fula''|dotted=no}} The cows are grazing
#The class 2a prefix is usually simply attached to the [[Sotho nouns#nc 1a|class 1a noun]] in South Africa but Lesotho orthography uses a dash
#: {{tooltip|2=[n̩tʼɑtʼe]|''ntate''|dotted=no}} father ⇒ {{tooltip|2=[bon̩tʼɑtʼe]|''bontate &mdash; bo-ntate''|dotted=no}} fathers/father-and-them

Very often South Africans with recent ancestors from Lesotho have surnames written in Lesotho orthography, preserving the old spellings.<!-- Why these two also have English names is a topic for another article altogether... -->
: Gloria Moshoeshoe, South African actor and talk show host
: [[Aaron Mokoena]], South African and European soccer player

==Word division==

Like all other Bantu languages, Sesotho is an [[agglutinative language]] spoken conjunctively; however, like many Bantu languages it is written disjunctively. The difference lies in the characteristically European word division used for writing the language, in contrast with some Bantu languages such as the South African [[Nguni languages]].

This issue is investigated in more detail in [[Sotho grammar#The Sesotho word|The Sesotho word]].

''Roughly speaking'' the following principles may be used to explain the current orthographical word division:
#Prefixes (except noun class prefixes) and infixes are written separately on their own, and the root and all following suffixes are written together. This is most obvious in the writing of [[Sotho verbs#The verbal complex|the verb complex]]. One exception is the 1st. pers. sg [[Sotho concords#con objectival|objectival concord]], and another is in the writing of the concords used with the qualificative parts of speech.
#With the exception of [[Sotho nouns#nc 15|class 15]], noun class prefixes are directly attached to the noun stem. These are an essential part of the lexicon, and not merely functional [[morpheme]]s.
#Words which have been fossilised/lexicalised with historical prefixes are written as one word. This most frequently occurs with [[Sotho parts of speech#Adverbs|adverbs]].
Of course, there are exceptions to these rough rules.

==Punctuation==

Modern Sesotho punctuation essentially mimics popular English usage. Full stops separate sentences, with the first letter of each sentence capitalized; commas indicate slight pauses; direct quotes are indicated with double quotation marks; proper nouns have their first letter capitalized (this was often not done in the old French-based orthographies); and so forth.

Direct quotations are introduced with a comma followed by the utterance in double quotes. The comma is used to indicate the pause which is mandatory in speech when introducing quotes, and indeed, in older orthographies the quotes were not used at all since the pause by itself is sufficient to introduce the next phrase as a quotation.
: {{tooltip|2=[ɑʀɪ&nbsp;&nbsp;kʼɪlɑkʼɑt͡sʼɑ&nbsp;&nbsp;hʊbu'ɑ&nbsp;&nbsp;lɪwɛnɑ]|''A re, "Ke lakatsa ho bua le wena."''|dotted=no}} He said, "I wish to speak with you."
Proper nouns are indicated by capitalizing the first letter (usually the first letter of the noun prefix). Since prefixes are written separately from the main noun in the disjunctive orthography, they are not written differently. Contrast this with the situation in the disjunctively-written Nguni languages where it is the first letter of the ''stem'' that is capitalized.
: {{tooltip|2=[lɪn̩t͡sʼʷɪ&nbsp;&nbsp;lɑbɑtʰʊ]|''Lentswe la Batho''|dotted=no}} The Voice of the People (isiZulu ''iZwi labaNtu'')

==Limitations==

Although it is a sufficient medium which has been used for almost 200 years to pen some of the most celebrated African literature (such as [[Thomas Mofolo|Thomas Mofolo's]] [[Chaka (novel)|''Chaka'']]), the current Sesotho orthography does exhibit certain (phonological) deficiencies.

One problem is that, although the spoken language has [[Sotho phonology#Vowels|at least seven]] contrasting vowel [[phonemes]], these are only written using the five vowel letters of the standard Latin alphabet. The letter "e" represents the vowels {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, and {{IPA|/e/}}, and the letter "o" represents the vowels {{IPA|/ʊ/}}, {{IPA|/ɔ/}}, and {{IPA|/o/}}. Not only does this result in numerous [[homograph]]s, there is also some overlap between many distinct [[morphemes]] and formatives, as well as the final vowels of [[Sesotho verbs]] in various tenses and moods.

Another problem is the complete lack of tone marking even though Sesotho is a grammatical tone language. Not only does this also result in numerous homographs, it may also cause problems in situations where the only difference between grammatical constructions is the tones of a few key syllables in two otherwise similar sounding phrases. That this would be a rather difficult issue to tackle is revealed by the fact that very few of the large number of written [[Niger–Congo languages]] have any consistently used tone marking schemes, even though some of their tonal systems are much more complex than that of Sesotho.

The following not too unlikely example is illustrative of both these issues:
: ''ke ye ke reke dijo'', either {{IPA|[kʼɪje&nbsp;&nbsp;kʼɪʀekʼɪ&nbsp;&nbsp;diʒɔ]}} '''[''' _ _ _ ¯ ¯ _ ¯ ''']''' I often buy food, or {{IPA|[kʼɪjɛ&nbsp;&nbsp;kʼɪʀɛkʼɛ&nbsp;&nbsp;diʒɔ]}} '''[''' ¯ _ ¯ ¯ ¯ _ ¯ ''']''' so I may go and buy food
The first meaning is rendered if the phrase is composed of a [[Sotho deficient verbs#dvg III|Group III deficient verb]] ({{tooltip|2=[je]|''-ye''|dotted=no}}, indicating habitual actions) followed by a verb in the perfect subjunctive mood. The second verb's mood is indicated by the low toned [[Sotho concords#con subjectival|subjectival concord]] as well as the {{IPA|/ɪ/}} final vowel. The second meaning is rendered by basically using two normal verbs in the subjunctive mood (with high toned subjectival concords and {{IPA|/ɛ/}} final vowels) with the actions following each other.

==See also==
*[[South African braille#Sotho and Tswana Braille|Sotho braille]]

==Notes==

{{reflist}}

==References==

*Bird, S. 1998. ''Strategies for representing tone in African writing systems: A critical review''. <!-- absence of tone marking in most African tonal languages -->

{{Language orthographies}}
<!-- Use more practical stem-based ordering of Bantu language names -->

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sotho Orthography}}
[[Category:Sotho language|Orthography]]
[[Category:Latin-script orthographies]]