Sotho, Southern

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A language of Lesotho

ISO 639-3
sot
Alternate Names
Sesotho, Sisutho, Souto, Suthu, Suto
Population

1,770,000 in Lesotho (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001). Population total all countries: 6,024,000.

Location

Also in Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland.

Language Maps
Language Status

1 (National). Statutory national language (1993, Constitution, Article 3(1)).

Classification
Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Bantoid, Southern, Narrow Bantu, Central, S, Sotho-Tswana (S.33)
Dialects

Northern Sotho [nso] and Tswana [tsn] are inherently intelligible but have generally been considered separate languages.

Language Development
Magazines. Newspapers. Radio programs. TV. Bible: 1878–1989.
Writing
Latin script.
Other Comments

Christian, traditional religion.

Also spoken in:

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