Sesotho sa Leboa
Northern Sotho
Atlantic-Congo (Bantu, Sotho-Tswana)
Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa, also called Pedi or Sepedi) is one of South Africa's eleven official languages, spoken in Limpopo, Gauteng, and Mpumalanga provinces. The standard groups together about 30 closely related dialects, with Sepedi as the prestige variety. Like other Sotho-Tswana Bantu languages, it has seventeen noun classes, agglutinative concordial agreement, and tonal distinctions, and is widely used in radio, television, and parliamentary translation.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Northern Sotho
Water
meetse
/meːtse/
Fire
mollo
/molːo/
Sun
letšatši
/letʃatʃi/
Moon
ngwedi
/ŋwedi/
Mother
mma
/mːa/
Father
tate
/tate/
Eat
go ja
/ɡodʒa/
Drink
go nwa
/ɡonwa/
Love
lerato
/leɾato/
Heart
pelo
/pelo/
Tree
sehlare
/seɬare/
House
ntlo
/ntɬo/
Dog
mpša
/mpʃa/
Cat
katse
/katse/
Hand
seatla
/seatɬa/
Eye
leihlo
/leiɬo/
Hello
dumela
/dumɛla/
Thank you
ke a leboga
/ke a leboɣa/
One
tee
/teː/
Good
botse
/botse/
Words compared
Compared with related Atlantic-Congo (Bantu, Sotho-Tswana) languages
| Meaning | Northern Sotho | Sesotho | Tswana | Lozi | Venda | Tsonga | Tonga (Zambia) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | meetse /meːtse/ | metsi /metsi/ | metsi /metsi/ | mezi /mezi/ | maḓi /maɖi/ | mati /mati/ | meenda /meːnda/ |
| Fire | mollo /molːo/ | mollo /molːo/ | molelo /moleːlo/ | mulilo /mulilo/ | mulilo /mulilo/ | ndzilo /ndzilo/ | mulilo /mulilo/ |
| Sun | letšatši /letʃatʃi/ | letsatsi /letsatsi/ | letsatsi /letsatsi/ | lizazi /lizazi/ | ḓuvha /ɖuvʱa/ | dyambu /dʒambu/ | zuba /zuba/ |
| Moon | ngwedi /ŋwedi/ | khoeli /kʰwɛːli/ | ngwedi /ŋwedi/ | kweli /kweli/ | ṅwedzi /ŋwedzi/ | n'weti /ŋweti/ | mwezi /mwezi/ |
| Mother | mma /mːa/ | mmè /mːɛ/ | mmê /mːɛ/ | ma /ma/ | mme /mːe/ | manana /manana/ | bama /bama/ |
| Father | tate /tate/ | ntate /ntate/ | rrê /rːɛ/ | ndate /ndate/ | khotsi /kʰotsi/ | tatana /tatana/ | bataata /bataːta/ |
| Eat | go ja /ɡodʒa/ | ho ja /ho dʒa/ | ja /dʒa/ | kuca /kut͡sa/ | u ḽa /u ɭa/ | ku dya /ku dʒa/ | kulya /kulja/ |
| Drink | go nwa /ɡonwa/ | ho noa /ho noa/ | nwa /nwa/ | kunwa /kunwa/ | u ṅwa /u ŋwa/ | ku nwa /ku nwa/ | kunywa /kuɲwa/ |
| Love | lerato /leɾato/ | lerato /leɾato/ | lerato /leɾato/ | lilato /lilato/ | lufuno /lufuno/ | rirhandzu /riɾandzu/ | luyando /lujando/ |
| Heart | pelo /pelo/ | pelo /pelo/ | pelo /peːlo/ | pilu /pilu/ | mbilu /mbilu/ | mbilu /mbilu/ | moyo /mojo/ |
| Tree | sehlare /seɬare/ | sefate /sefate/ | setlhare /setɬʰaɾe/ | kota /kota/ | muri /muɾi/ | nsinya /nsiɲa/ | cisamu /tʃisamu/ |
| House | ntlo /ntɬo/ | ntlo /ntɬo/ | ntlo /ntɬo/ | ndu /ndu/ | nnḓu /nɖu/ | yindlu /jindɮu/ | ng'anda /ŋanda/ |
| Dog | mpša /mpʃa/ | ntja /ntʃa/ | ntša /ntʃa/ | nja /ndʒa/ | mmbwa /mːbwa/ | mbyana /mbjana/ | muvwa /muvwa/ |
| Cat | katse /katse/ | katse /katse/ | katse /katse/ | kaze /kaze/ | katse /katse/ | mangoyi /maŋɡoji/ | kaaze /kaːze/ |
| Hand | seatla /seatɬa/ | letsoho /letsoho/ | seatla /seatɬa/ | lizoho /lizoho/ | tshanḓa /tʃʰaɳɖa/ | voko /voko/ | kuboko /kuboko/ |
| Eye | leihlo /leiɬo/ | leihlo /leiɬo/ | leitlho /leitɬʰo/ | liito /liːto/ | ito /ito/ | tihlo /tiɬo/ | liso /liso/ |
| Hello | dumela /dumɛla/ | dumela /dumɛla/ | dumela /dumeːla/ | eni sha /ɛni ʃa/ | ndaa /ndaː/ | avuxeni /avuʃeni/ | mwabuka buti /mwabuka buti/ |
| Thank you | ke a leboga /ke a leboɣa/ | kea leboha /kea leboha/ | ke a leboga /ke a leboɣa/ | nitumezi /nitumezi/ | ndo livhuwa /ndo livʱuwa/ | inkomu /iŋkomu/ | twalumba /twalumba/ |
| One | tee /teː/ | nngwe /ŋːwe/ | nngwe /ŋːwe/ | nyinwi /ɲiŋʷi/ | nthihi /ntʰihi/ | rin'we /riŋwe/ | -mwi /mwi/ |
| Good | botse /botse/ | monate /monate/ | siame /siaːme/ | nde /nde/ | zwavhuḓi /zwavʱuɖi/ | kahle /kaɬe/ | kabotu /kabotu/ |
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