Sotho phonology

The phonology of Sesotho and those of the other Sotho–Tswana languages are radically different from those of "older" or more "stereotypical" Bantu languages. Modern Sesotho in particular has very mixed origins (due to the influence of Difaqane refugees) inheriting many words and idioms from non-Sotho–Tswana languages.

Vowels

Sesotho 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 advanced tongue root) and are better approximated by French vowels than English vowels. That is especially true for /u/, which, in English, is often noticeably more front and can be transcribed as [u̟] or [ʉ] in the IPA; that is absent from Sesotho (and French).

Vowels

/i/ /u/ [huˌbit͡sʼɑ] ho bitsa ('to call') beet [tʼumɔ] tumo ('fame') boot /ɪ/ /ʊ/ [hʊlɪkʼɑ] ho leka ('to attempt') pit [pʼʊt͡sʼɔ] potso ('query') put /e/ /o/ [hʊʒʷet͡sʼɑ] ho jwetsa ('to tell') cafe [pʼon̩t͡sʰɔ] pontsho ('proof') oiseau /ɛ/ /ɔ/ [hʊʃɛbɑ] ho sheba ('to look') bed [mʊŋɔlɔ] mongolo ('writing') board /ɑ/ [hʊˈɑbɛlɑ] ho abela ('to distribute') spa

Consonants

The 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, which were acquired from Khoisan and Nguni languages.

		Labial	Alveolar		Post- alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular	Glottal
			central	lateral
Click	glottalized				ǃˀ
	aspirated				ǃʰ
	nasal				ᵑǃ
Nasal		m	n		ɲ		ŋ
Stop	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

External links

• Sotho phonology