Vowels
editSesotho has a large inventory of vowels compared with many other Bantu languages. However, the nine phonemic vowels are collapsed into only five letters in the Sesotho orthography. The two close vowels i and u (sometimes called "superclose" or "first-degree" by Bantuists) are very high (with ATR) and are better approximated by French vowels than English vowels.
| Orthography | IPA | Sesotho Example | Other Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | /ɑ/ | ho abela | spa to distribute | |
| e | /ɪ/ | ho leka | pit | to attempt |
| /e/ | ho jwetsa | cafe | to tell | |
| /ɛ/ | ho sheba | bed | to look | |
| i | /i/ | ho bitsa | beet | to call |
| o | /ʊ/ | potso | put | query |
| /o/ | pontsho | oiseau | proof | |
| /ɔ/ | mongolo | board | writing | |
| u | /u/ | tumo | boot | fame |
Consonants
editThe Sotho-Tswana languages are peculiar among the Bantu family in that most do not have any prenasalized consonants and have a rather large number of heterorganic compounds. Sesotho, uniquely among the recognised and standardised Sotho-Tswana languages, also has click consonants inherited from the Khoisan and Nguni languages.
| Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | ||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɳ | ŋ | |||||
| Click | radical | ǃ | |||||||
| aspirated | ǃʰ | ||||||||
| nasal | ǃn | ||||||||
| Plosive | ejective | pʼ | tʼ | kʼ | |||||
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | ||||||
| voiced | b | (d)1 | |||||||
| Affricate | ejective | tsʼ | tɬʼ | tʃʼ | |||||
| aspirated | tsʰ | tɬʰ | tʃʰ | kxʰ / x | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | ɬ | ʃ | h ~ ɦ | |||
| voiced | ʒ / dʒ | ||||||||
| Approximant | l | j | w | ||||||
| Trill | ʀ | ||||||||
- [d] is an allophone of /l/, occurring only before the close vowels (/i/ and /u/). Dialectical evidence shows that in the Sotho-Tswana languages /l/ was originally pronounced as a retroflex flap [ɽ] before the two close vowels.
Sesotho makes a three-way distinction between lightly ejective, aspirated and voiced stops in two many places of articulation.
| Orthography | IPA | Notes | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| a | /ɑ/ | Like English spa | ho abela to distribute |
| b | /b/ | this consonant is fully voiced | lebese milk |
| bj | /bʒ/ | ho bjarana to break apart like a clay pot | |
| /bj/ | ? | ||
| d | [d] | an allophone of /l/ only occuring before the close vowels (/i/and /u/) | Modimo God |
| e | /ɪ/ | Like English pit | ho leka to attempt |
| /e/ | Like English cafe | ho jwetsa to tell | |
| /ɛ/ | Like English bed | ho sheba to look | |
| f | /f/ | ho fumiana to find | |
| fj | /fʃ/ | only found in short passives of verbs ending with fa; alternative sh | ho bofjwa to be tied |
| h | /h/ or /ɦ/ | these two sounds are allophones | ho aha to build |
| hl | /ɬ/ | ho hlahloba to examine | |
| i | /i/ | As in English beet | tho bitsa to call |
| j | /ʒ/ | mo jlefa heir | |
| /d͡ʒ/ | this is an alternative to the fricative /ʒ/ | ho ja to eat | |
| k | /kʼ/ | unaspirated: skill | boikarabelo responsibility |
| kh | /kʰ/ | fully aspirated: kill; occurring mostly in old loanwords from Nguni languages and in ideophones | lekhokho the part of the pap that remains baked to the pot after cooking |
| kg | /x/ | sekgo spider | |
| /k͡xʰ/ | alternative to the velar fricative | kgale a long time ago | |
| l | /l/ | never occurs before close vowels (/i/ and /u/), where it becomes [d] | selepe axe |
| m | /m/ | ho mamaretsa to glue | |
| n | /n/ | lenaneo | |
| ng | /ŋ/ | can occur initially | lengolo letter |
| ny | /ɲ/ | as in Spanish el niño | ho nyala to marry |
| o | /ʊ/ | like English put | potso query |
| /o/ | As in French oiseau | pontsho proof | |
| /ɔ/ | English: board | mongolo writing | |
| p | /pʼ/ | unaspirated: spit | pitsa cooking pot |
| ph | /pʰ/ | aspirated: pin | phuputso investigation |
| pj | /pʃʼ/ | alternative tj | ho pjatla to cook well |
| pjh | /pʃʰ/ | aspirated version of the above; alternative tjh | mpjhe ostrich |
| q | /ǃ/ | radical | ho qoqa to chat |
| qh | /ǃʰ/ | aspirated | leqheku an elderly person |
| nq | /ǃn/ | nasal; this is often simply pronounced as a radical click | ho nqosa to accuse |
| r | /ʀ/ | soft Parisian-type r | moriri hair |
| s | /s/ | Sesotho | |
| sh | /ʃ/ | Moshweshwe Moshoeshoe I | |
| t | /tʼ/ | unaspirated: stalk | botala greenness |
| th | /tʰ/ | tharollo solution | |
| tj | /t͡ʃʼ/ | ntja dog | |
| tjh | /t͡ʃʰ/ | ho ntjhafatsa to renew | |
| tl | /t͡ɬʼ/ | ho tlatsa to fill | |
| tlh | /t͡ɬʰ/ | occurs only as a nasalized form of hl or as an alternative to it[3] | tlhaho nature |
| ts | /t͡sʼ/ | ho tsokotsa to rinse | |
| tsh | /t͡sʰ/ | aspirated | ho tshoha to become frightened |
| u | /u/ | As in English boot | tumo fame |
| w | /w/ | sewa epidemic | |
| y | /j/ | ho tsamaya to walk |