Northern Sotho
| Northern Sotho | |
|---|---|
| Pedi | |
| Sesotho sa Leboa Sepedi (nso) Sebirwa (brl) Setswapo (two) | |
| Native to | South Africa |
| Region | Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga |
Native speakers | 4.7 million (2011 census)[1] 9.1 million L2 speakers (2002)[2] |
| Dialects | |
| Latin (Sotho alphabet) Sotho Braille | |
| Signed Pedi | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  South Africa |
| Regulated by | Pan South African Language Board |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | nso |
| ISO 639-3 | Variously:nso – Pedi etc.brl – Birwatwo – Tswapong |
| Glottolog | nort3233 North Sotho + South Ndebele |
S.32,301–304[3] | |
| Pedi | |
|---|---|
| Person | Mopedi |
| People | Bapedi |
| Language | Sepedi |
Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa), also known by the name of its standardised dialect Pedi (Sepedi), is a Sotho-Tswana language of the Bantu family group. According to the 2011 census, Northern Sotho is the first language of over 4,6 million people and is the 5th most spoken language in South Africa. Provinces with a significant number of speakers are Limpopo with 52.9%, Gauteng with 11.6% and Mpumalanga with 9,3%.
Northern Sotho can be subdivided into Highveld-Sotho, which consists of comparatively recent immigrants mostly from the west and southwest parts of South Africa, and Lowveld-Sotho, which consists of a combination of immigrants from the north of South Africa and Sotho inhabitants of longer standing. The Highveld-Sotho consist of the Bapedi Marota (in the narrower sense), Marota Mamone, Marota Mohlaletsi, Phokwane, Batau Bapedi (Matlebjane, Masemola, Marishane, Batau ba Manganeng - Nkadimeng, Kgaphola, Nchabeleng, Mogashoa, Phaahla, Sloane, Mashegoana, Mphanama), Bakone, Baphuthi, Baroka, Bakgaga (Mphahlele, Maake, Mothapo), Chuene, Mathabatha, Kone (Ga-Matlala), Maserumule, Tlou (Ga-Molepo), Thobejane (Ga-Mafefe), Dikgale, Batlokwa, Batlokwa Ba Lethebe, Makgoba, Batlou, Bahananwa (Ga-Mmalebogo), Babirwa, Mmamabolo, Bamongatane, Bakwena ba Moletjie (Moloto), Batlhaloga, Bamohlala/ Ba Ga Mohlala, Banareng,Ba Hwaduba Ba Ga Magale and many others. The Lowveld-Sotho include the Lobedu, Narene, Phalaborwa, Mogoboya, Kone, Kgaga, Pulana, Pai, and Kutswe. Groups are named by using the names of totemic animals and, sometimes, by alternating or combining these with the names of famous chiefs.[original research?]
History
Before Moshoeshoe and his Basotho nation of Lesotho, Basotho 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 errenously called the Basotho nation cutting them off from the rest of other Basothos outside Lesotho in the Orange Free State and Transvaal in present day South Africa, Botswana 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 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 originates from Ntswanatsatsi in present day South Africa. Families moved away from each other in Ntswanatsatsi and started clans using a totem as symbol of their clan (like crocodile (Kwena) which Moshoshoe' ancestors used) and different families moved to different directions within the precolonial South Africa under different leadership. Under different leadership some settled in the Western side, present day North West Province others spread around Ntswanatsatsi to the present day Free State and Lesotho, others to present day Botswana others to present day Zambiaothers moved to the present day Gauteng 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 , Batlokwa, Babirwa, etc and others ended up in inter-marrying with other tribes they moved next to and mingled with like Swatis, Vendas and 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 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 in the Southern part of Botswana near the Zimbabwean border. All these Northern Sotho clans have their chief of leader, they never had a paramount king, so, it will be absurd to call them BaPedi because the BaPedi kings have never been their kings. They did their own things from Ramokgopha of Batlhokwa, Malebogo of Bahanawa, Matlala, etc, they were never part of the Pedi kingdom.
Classification
Northern Sotho is one of the Sotho languages of the Bantu family.
Although Northern Sotho shares the name Sotho with Southern Sotho, the two groups have less in common with each other than they have with Setswana.[citation needed][4]
Northern Sotho is also closely related to Setswana, sheKgalagari and siLozi. It is a standardised dialect, amalgamating several distinct varieties or dialects.
Until recently, Lobedu (also Khilovedu or Khelobedu) used to exist only in an unwritten form, and the standard Northern Sotho language (known as Sepedi) and orthography was usually used for teaching and writing by this language community. As of 2018, a Khilovedu dictionary is being compiled in addition to proper Khilovedu orthography which is also in the process of being developed.
The monarch associated with this language community is Queen Modjadji (also known as the Rain Queen). 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 Province and Tembisa township in Gauteng. Its speakers are known as the Balobedu.
Sepulana (also sePulane) exists in unwritten form and forms part of the standard Northern Sotho. Sepulana is spoken in Bushbuckridge area by the MaPulana people.
Northern Sotho is also spoken by the Mohlala people.
Confusion of nomenclature with Sepedi
Northern Sotho is often equated with the dialect it is primarily based on,[5] Sepedi, and continued to be known as Pedi or Sepedi for some years after the new South African constitution appeared. However, the Pan South African Language Board and the Northern Sotho National Lexicography Unit now specifically endorse the names Northern Sotho or Sesotho sa Leboa.[6]
The original confusion arose from the fact that the (now official) Northern Sotho written language was based largely on the Sepedi dialect (from which missionaries first developed the orthography[citation needed]), but has subsequently provided a common writing system for 20 or more varieties of the Sotho-Tswana languages spoken in the former Transvaal. The name Sepedi thus refers specifically to the dialect of the Pedi people,[7] while Northern Sotho refers to the official language of that name and to all the speech varieties it has been taken to cover.
The English version of the Constitution of South Africa refers to the language as "Sepedi".[8] Its official translation into the language refers to it as "Sesotho sa Leboa" in the article about languages, but as "Sepedi" on the front page.[9]
Other varieties of Northern Sotho
Apart from the Sepedi dialect itself, other languages or dialects covered by the term "Northern Sotho" appear to be a diverse grouping of communal speech-forms within the Sotho-Tswana group. They are apparently united by the fact that they are classifiable neither as Southern Sotho nor as Tswana.[10]
Very little published information is available on these other dialects of Northern Sotho, but these have been reported:
- kheLobedu (khiLobedu or seLobedu)
- seTlokwa
- seBirwa
- Serwa(Sekone)
- sePulana
- seKhutswe
- seTswapo
- SePai (transitional between Sotho-Tswana and Zulu/Swati)
- Banareng,Ba Ga Mohlala
- Sebididi (Sotho/Tswana) spoken in Setateng
- Phahladira
- Ga-Monyeki
- Abbotspoort
- Banareng
- Ba Ga Mohlala Setswako Language, a dialect of Northern Sotho/Sepedi Language
1.Narene/Banareng of Letswalo and Mahlo have been localized in Tzaneen and Phalaborwa area as a groups of people, bounded and living together and sharing the same linguistic norms of Sepedi or Northern Sotho dialect which is peculiar to Banareng/Nareng in Tzaneen and Phalaborwa are, Limpopo in South Africa.
Reference:
Van Warmelo (1935) concerning Nareng/ Banareng of Letswalo and Mahlo, on Social Varieties of Northern Sotho:
Van Warmelo (1935) 1.5.1.1 Central Sepedi North-eastern cluster
1.5.1.3 North-eastern dialect cluster Lobedu, Phalaborwa, Šai (Mašišimala), Mametša, Letswalo, Nareng, Mahlo, Mmamabolo, Kolobe, Kgaga and Hananwa.
http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/4824/dissertation_ramajela_mc.pdf
2.Ba Ga Mohlala/Ba Mohlala (Schoonoord) have been localized in Schoonoord as a groups of people, bounded and living together and sharing the same linguistic norms of Sepedi or Northern Sotho dialect which is peculiar to BaMohlala/Ba Ga Mohlala in Schoonoord, Limpopo in South Africa.
Reference:
Van Warmelo (1935) concerning Ba Ga Mohlala/Mohlala (Schoonoord), and Mohlala (Pilgrims’ Rest), on Social Varieties of Northern Sotho:Litabe chieftains was immediately moved to Lesotho.they did not fit in Northern dialect.
Van Warmelo (1935) 1.5.1.1 Central Sepedi dialect cluster
Van Warmelo (1935) 1.5.1.1 Central dialect cluster Pedi (Maroteng), Pedi (mixed), Tau, Kwena, Ntwane, Kone, Tswako, Mohlala (Schoonoord), Nareng of Tswako, Mohlala (Pilgrims’ Rest), Mphogo (Kgwedi), Nkawane and Roka.
Reference:
http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/4824/dissertation_ramajela_mc.pdf
- Thabo Mbeki villages and surrounding farms north-east of the coal mining town Lephalale (formerly Ellisras)
The morphological and possible lexical variation among these dialects has led to the above assertion that 'Northern Sotho' is no more than a holding category for otherwise unclassified Sotho-Tswana varieties spoken in north-eastern South Africa. Maho (2002) leaves SePhalaborwa and the "East Sotho" varieties of SeKutswe, SePai, and SePulana unclassified within Sotho–Tswana. Their precise classification would appear to be a matter for further research.
Writing system
Northern Sotho is written in the Latin alphabet. The letter š is used to represent the sound [ʃ] ("sh" is used in the trigraph "tsh" to represent an aspirated ts sound). The 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.[11]
Phonology
Vowels
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ |
| Open | a | |
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Velar | Glottal | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | prepalatal | alveolar | plain | lateral | |||||
| Stop | ejective | pʼ | pʃʼ | psʼ | tʼ | tlʼ | kʼ | ||
| aspirated | pʰ | pʃʰ | psʰ | tʰ | tlʰ | kʰ | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Affricate | ejective | tsʼ | tʃʼ | ||||||
| aspirated | tsʰ | tʃʰ | kxʰ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | fʃ | fs | s | ɬ | ʃ | h~ɦ | |
| voiced | β | βʒ | ʒ | ɣ | |||||
| Rhotic | r | ɺ | |||||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | ||||||
Within nasal consonant compounds, the first nasal consonant sound is recognized as syllabic. Words such as nthuše "help me", are pronounced as [n̩tʰuʃe]. /n/ can also be pronounced as /ŋ/ following a velar consonant.[12]
Urban varieties of Northern Sotho, such as Pretoria Sotho (actually a derivative of Tswana), have acquired clicks in an ongoing process of such sounds spreading from Nguni languages.[13]
Vocabulary
Some examples of Northern Sotho words and phrases:
| English | Northern Sotho |
|---|---|
| Welcome | Kamogelo (noun) / Amogela (verb) |
| Good day | Dumela (singular) / Dumelang (plural) / Thobela and Re a lotšha (to elders) |
| How are you? | O kae? (singular) Le kae? (plural, also used for elders) |
| I am fine | Ke gona. |
| I am fine too, thank you | Le nna ke gona, ke a leboga. |
| Thank you | Ke a leboga (I thank you) / Re a leboga (we thank you) |
| Good luck | Mahlatse |
| Have a safe journey | O be le leeto le le bolokegilego |
| Good bye! | Šala gabotse (singular)/ Šalang gabotse (plural, also used for elders)(keep well) / Sepela gabotse(singular)/Sepelang gabotse (plural, also used for elders)(go well) |
| I am looking for a job | Ke nyaka mošomô |
| No smoking | Ga go kgogwe (/folwe) |
| No entrance | Ga go tsenwe |
| Beware of the steps! | Hlokomela disetepese! |
| Beware! | Hlokomela! |
| Congratulations on your birthday | Mahlatse letšatšing la gago la matswalo |
| Seasons greetings | Ditumedišo tša Sehla sa Maikhutšo |
| Merry Christmas | Mahlogonolo a Keresemose |
| Merry Christmas and Happy New Year | Mahlogonolo a Keresemose le ngwaga wo moswa wo monate |
| Expression | Gontsha sa mafahleng |
| yes | ee/eya |
| no | aowa |
| please | hle |
| thank you | ke a leboga |
| help | thušang/thušo |
| danger | kotsi |
| emergency | tšhoganetšo |
| excuse me | ntshwarele |
| I am sorry | Ke maswabi |
| I love you | Ke a go rata |
| Questions / sentences | Dipotšišo / mafoko |
| Do you accept (money/credit cards/traveler's cheques)? | O amogela (singular) / Le
amogela ( tshelete/.../...)? |
| How much is this? | Ke bokae e? |
| I want ... | Ke nyaka... |
| What are you doing? | O dira eng? |
| What is the time? | Ke nako mang? |
| Where are you going? | O ya kae? |
| Numbers | Dinomoro |
| 1 | one -tee |
| 2 | two – pedi |
| 3 | three – tharo |
| 4 | four – nne |
| 5 | five – hlano |
| 6 | six – tshela |
| 7 | seven – šupa |
| 8 | eight – seswai |
| 9 | nine – senyane |
| 10 | ten – lesome |
| 11 | eleven – lesometee |
| 12 | twelve – lesomepedi |
| 13 | thirteen – lesometharo |
| 14 | fourteen – lesomenne |
| 15 | fifteen – lesomehlano |
| 20 | twenty – masomepedi |
| 21 | twenty one – masomepedi-tee |
| 22 | twenty two – masomepedi-pedi |
| 50 | fifty – masomehlano |
| 100 | hundred – lekgolo |
| 1000 | thousand – sekete |
| Days of the week | Matšatši a beke |
| Sunday | Lamorena |
| Monday | Mošupologo |
| Tuesday | Labobedi |
| Wednesday | Laboraro |
| Thursday | Labone |
| Friday | Labohlano |
| Saturday | Mokibelo |
| Months of the year | Dikgwedi tša ngwaga |
| January | Pherekgong |
| February | Dibokwane |
| March | Tlhakola |
| April | Moranang |
| May | Mopitlo |
| June | Phupu |
| July | Mosegemanye |
| August | Phato |
| September | Lewedi |
| October | Diphalane |
| November | Dibatsela |
| December | Manthole |
| Computers and Internet terms | Didirishwa tsa khomphutha le Inthanete |
| computer | sebaledi / khomphutara |
| imeile | |
| e-mail address | aterese ya imeile |
| Internet | Inthanete |
| Internet café | khefi ya Inthanete |
| website | weposaete |
| website address | aterese ya weposaete |
| Rain | Pula |
| To understand | Go kwešiša |
| Reed Pipes | Dinaka |
| Drums | Meropa |
| Horn | Lenaka |
Notes
- ^ Pedi etc. at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Birwa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Tswapong at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required) - ^ Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development." Impact: Studies in language and society, 14:78
- ^ a b c Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
- ^ "Sepedi First Language". Career Times. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
- ^ "Pedi | South African History Online". www.sahistory.org.za. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ "African Languages - Sesotho sa Leboa (Northern Sotho)". africanlanguages.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
- ^ Louwens, Louis J.; Kosch, Ingeborg M.; Kotzé, A. E. (1995). Northern Sotho. Lincom Europa. ISBN 978-3-929075-43-4.
- ^ "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 - Chapter 1: Founding Provisions | South African Government". www.gov.za. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
- ^ MOLAOTHEO wa Repabliki ya Afrika Borwa wa, 1996. Department of Justice and Correctional Services. 2014. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-621-39063-6.
- ^ See Doke, Clement M. (1954). The Southern Bantu Languages. Handbook of African Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Pukuntšu ya polelopedi ya sekolo: Sesotho sa Leboa le Seisimane: e gatišitšwe ke Oxford = Oxford bilingual school dictionary: Northern Sotho and English. De Schryver, Gilles-Maurice. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa. 2007. pp. S24–S26. ISBN 9780195765557. OCLC 259741811.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Louwrens, Kosch, Kotzé, Louis J., Ingeborg M., Albert E. (1995). Northern Sotho. München: Lincom. pp. 4–11.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Ethnologue.com: Languages of South Africa
External links
- Dryer, Matthew S.; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Northern Sotho". World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Northern Sotho
- Online Northern Sotho – English dictionary
- Online Northern Sotho explanatory dictionary
- Pan South African Language Board
Audio files in Pedi at Wikimedia Commons
Software
- Spell checker for OpenOffice.org and Mozilla, OpenOffice.org, Mozilla Firefox web-browser, and 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
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