Template:Sotho language

The phonology of Sotho and those of the other Sotho-Tswana languages are radically different from those of "older" or more "stereotypical" Bantu languages. Modern Sotho in particular, has very mixed origins (due to the influence of Difaqane refuges) inheriting many words and idioms from Zulu and Xhosa (especially from the Thembu people). Sesotho is a language spoken in southern Africa. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Phonology (Greek phonē = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics which studies the sound system of a specific language (or languages). ... The Sotho-speaking people have lived in southern Africa since around 15th century. ... The Sotho-Tswana language group is a group of closely related Bantu languages spoken in Southern Africa, including Tswana (Setswana), Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa), Sotho (Southern Sotho or Sesotho), and Lozi (Silozi or Rozi). ... Map showing the approximate distribution of Bantu vs. ... Mfecane (isiZulu), also known as the Difaqane or Lifaqane (Sesotho), is an African expression used about chaos and disturbances. ... The Thembu are one of the handfull of nations and population groups which speak isiXhosa in South Africa. ...

There are in total 39 consonantal phonemes^[1] (plus 2 allophones) and 9 vowel phonemes (plus two close raised allophones). The consonants include a rich set of affricates and palatal and postalveolar consonants, as well as three click consonants (alternatively, one click pronounced with three accompaniments). This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ... An affricate is a consonant that begins like a stop (most often an alveovelar, such as [t] or [d]) and that doesnt have a release of its own, but opens directly into a fricative (or, in one language, into a trill). ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... Clicks are stops produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. ...

Historical sound changes

Probably the most radical sound innovation in the Sotho-Tswana languages is that the Ur-Bantu prenasalized consonants have become simple stops and affricates.^[2] Thus Zulu words such as entabeni on the mountain, impuphu maize flour, ezinkulu the big ones, ukulanda to fetch, ukulamba to become hungry, ukuthenga to buy, etc. are cognates to Sesotho thabeng, phofo, tse kgolo, ho lata, ho lapa, and ho reka (with the same meanings). Prenasalized stops are phonetic sequences of nasal plus plosive that behave phonologically like single consonant. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

This is further intensified by the law of nasalization and nasal homogeneity, making derived and imported words have syllabic nasals followed by homogeneous consonants, instead of prenasalized consonants.

As with most other Bantu languages, almost all palatal and postalveolar consonants are due to some form of palatalization (with a possible subsequent nasalization).

The Southern Bantu languages have lost the Bantu distinction between long and short vowels. In Sesotho the long vowels have simply been shortened without any other effects on the syllables.

As with most Southern African Bantu languages, the "composite" vowels *e and *o have separated to /ɛ/ and /e/, and /ɔ/ and /o/. These usually behave as two phonemes, although there are enough exceptions to justify the claim that they have become four separate vowels.

Additionally, the first-degree (or "superclose", "heavy") and second-degree vowels have not merged as in many other Bantu languages, resulting in a total of 9 phonemic vowels.

Uniquely among the Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho has adopted a click sound that is pronounced with three accompaniments (radical, aspirated, and nasalized). It most probably came with loanwords from the KhoiSan and Nguni languages, though it also exists in various words which don't exist in these languages and in various ideophones. Map showing the distribution of the Khoi-San languages. ... Nguni is a group of languages spoken in southern Africa including isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati, and isiNdebele. ...

This click also appears in certain situations which are rare or non-existent in the Nguni and Khoisan languages, such as a syllabic nasal followed by a nasalized click (nnq in nnqane that other side), a syllabic nasal followed by a radical click (also written nq in senqanqane frog; this is not the same as the prenasalized radical click written nkq in the Nguni languages), and a syllabic nasal followed by an aspirated click (nqh in seqhenqha hunk).

Vowels

Sotho 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 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. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The orthography of a language specifies the correct way of writing in that language. ... In phonetics, advanced tongue root, abbreviated ATR or +ATR, or expanded, is the expansion of the pharyngeal cavity by moving the base of the tongue forward, and often lowering the larynx, during the pronunciation of a vowel. ...

Image File history File links Sesotho_vowels. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ...

Vowels^‡[3]

/i/ /u/ ho bitsa to call beet tumo fame boot /ɪ/ /ʊ/ ho leka to attempt pit potso query put /e/ /o/ ho jwetsa to tell cafe pontsho proof oiseau /ɛ/ /ɔ/ ho sheba to look bed mongolo writing board /ɑ/ ho abela to distribute spa

Approximate tongue positions for the 9 vowels

Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The close back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Vowels See also: IPA, Consonants Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 277 × 232 pixelsFull resolution (277 × 232 pixel, file size: 5 KB, MIME type: image/gif) (All user names refer to en. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 277 × 232 pixelsFull resolution (277 × 232 pixel, file size: 5 KB, MIME type: image/gif) (All user names refer to en. ...

Consonants

The Sotho-Tswana languages are peculiar among the Bantu languages in that most do not have any prenasalized consonants and have a rather large number of heterorganic compounds. Sotho, uniquely among the Sotho-Tswana languages, also has click consonants inherited from Khoisan and Nguni languages. Prenasalized stops are phonetic sequences of nasal plus plosive that behave phonologically like single consonant. ... Clicks are stops produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. ... Map showing the distribution of the Khoi-San languages. ... Nguni is a group of languages spoken in southern Africa including isiZulu, isiXhosa, siSwati, and isiNdebele. ...

Sotho makes a three-way distinction between lightly ejective, unvoiced-aspirated and voiced-unaspirated plosives in many places of articulation. Ejective consonants are a class of consonants which may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants in a language. ... In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies the release of some obstruents. ... A voiced consonant is a sound made as the vocal cords vibrate, as opposed to a voiceless consonant, where the vocal cords are relaxed. ... A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ...

The fact that the b is fully voiced and relatively lightly pronounced means that it may sometimes sound like a voiced bilabial fricative /β/. In phonetics, voice onset time, commonly abbreviated VOT, is the length of time that passes between when a consonant is released and when voicing, the vibration of the vocal folds begins. ... The voiced bilabial fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

Sotho possesses four simple nasal consonants. All of these can be syllabic and the syllabic velar nasal may also appear at the end of words. Image File history File links Sesotho_cons_plosives. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... The bilabial ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiced bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... The alveolar ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... The voiced alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... The velar ejective is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. ... A loanword (or loan word) is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Contents // Categories: Linguistics | Stub ... Pap a traditional porridge made from mielie-meal (ground maize or other grain), is a staple food of the Bantu inhabitants of South Africa(the Dutch word pap simply means porridge or gruel). Many traditional South African dishes include pap, such as smooth maize meal porridge (also called slap pap... A nasal consonant is produced when the velum—that fleshy part of the palate near the back—is lowered, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. ... A syllabic consonant is a consonant which constitutes either a syllable of its own, or is the nucleus of a syllable. ...

The following approximants occur. All instances of /w/ and /j/ most probably come from original close ʊ, ɪ, u, and i vowels or Ur-Bantu *u, *i, *û, and *î. Image File history File links Sesotho_cons_nasals. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... The bilabial nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... The alveolar nasal is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... The velar nasal is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and typical consonants. ...

Note that when the bilabial approximant appears as part of a syllable onset the consonant before it is actually pronounced in a labialized manner. In phonetics and phonology, a syllable onset is the part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus. ...

The following fricatives occur. The glottal fricative is often voiced between vowels, making it barely noticeable. The alternative orthography used for the velar fricative is due to some loanwords from Afrikaans and ideophones which were historically pronounced with velar fricatives, distinct from the velar affricate. The voiced postalveolar affricative sometimes occurs as an alternative to the fricative. Image File history File links Sesotho_cons_approximants. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. ... The voiced labiovelar (actually labialized velar) approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in certain spoken languages. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... The alveolar lateral approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... A syllabic consonant is a consonant which constitutes either a syllable of its own, or is the nucleus of a syllable. ... Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate (the middle part of the roof of the mouth). ... The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound, used in many spoken languages. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...

Sotho has a relatively large number of affricates. The velar affricate, which was standard in Sotho until the early 20th century, now only occurs in some communities as an alternative to the more common velar fricative.^[4] Image File history File links Sesotho_cons_fricatives. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... In phonetics, labiodentals are consonants articulated with the lower lips and the upper teeth, or viceversa. ... The voiceless labiodental fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... The voiceless alveolar fricatives are consonantal sounds. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... King Moshoeshoe I Moshoeshoe (1786?-1870) was born at Menkhoaneng in the Northern part of present-day Lesotho. ... The voiced palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... The voiceless alveolar lateral fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... The voiceless velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... Categories: South Africa stubs | Provinces of South Africa | Gauteng Province ... Notes: The orthography used in this and related articles is that of South Africa, not Lesotho. ... Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. ... The uvular trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. ... The voiceless glottal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In phonetics, an allophone is one of several similar phones that belong to the same phoneme. ... The breathy-voiced glottal fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as or ) but release as a fricative (such as or or, in a couple of languages, into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel. ...

The following click consonants occur. In common speech they are sometimes substituted with dental clicks. Even in standard Sotho the nasal click is often substituted with the radical click. nq is also used to indicate a syllabic nasal followed by a radical click (/ŋ̩ǃ/), while nnq is used for a syllabic nasal followed by a nasal click (/ŋ̩ǃn/). Image File history File links Sesotho_cons_affricates. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli (the sockets) of the superior teeth. ... The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless alveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Laterals are L-like consonants pronounced with an occlusion made somewhere along the axis of the tongue, while air from the lungs escapes at one side or both sides of the tongue. ... The voiceless alveolar lateral affricate is a common sound in the languages of western North America. ... The voiceless alveolar lateral affricate is a common sound in the languages of western North America. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. ... The voiced palato-alveolar fricative or domed postalveolar affricate is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue (the dorsum) against the soft palate (the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum). ... Clicks are stops produced with two articulatory closures in the oral cavity. ...

The following heterorganic compounds occur. They are often substituted with other consonants, although there are a few instances when some of them are phonemic and not just allophonic. These are not considered consonant clusters. Image File history File links Sesotho_cons_clicks. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Postalveolar (or palato-alveolar) consonants are consonants articulated with the tip of the tongue between the alveolar ridge (the place of articulation for alveolar consonants) and the palate (the place of articulation for palatal consonants). ... The postalveolar click is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The postalveolar click is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The postalveolar click is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. ...

In non-standard speech these may be pronounced in a variety of ways. bj may be pronounced /b͡j/ (followed by a palatal glide) and pj may be pronounced /p͡jʼ/. pj may also sometimes be pronounced /p͡tʃʼ/, which may alternatively be written ptj, though this is not to be considered standard.

Image File history File links Sesotho_cons_double. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ... Places of articulation (passive & active): 1. ... Not to be confused with the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ...

Syllable structure

Sotho syllables tend to be open, with syllabic nasals and the syllabic approximant l also allowed. Unlike almost all other Bantu languages, Sesotho does not have prenasalized consonants (NC). A syllable (Ancient Greek: ) is a unit of speech that is made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with one or more optional phones (single sounds or phonetic segments). Syllables are often considered the phonological building blocks of words. ...

1. The onset may be any consonant (C), a labialized consonant (Cw), an approximant (A), or a vowel (V).
2. The nucleus may be a vowel, a syllabic nasal (N), or the syllabic l (L).
3. No codas are allowed.

The possible syllables are: In phonetics and phonology, a syllable onset is the part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus. ... In phonetics and phonology, the nucleus is the central part of the syllable, mostly commonly a vowel. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...

• V ho etsa to do
• CV fi! ideophone of sudden darkness
• CwV ho tswa to emerge
• AV wena you
• N nna I
• L lebollo circumcision as part of male initiation

Note that heterorganic compounds count as single consonants, not consonant clusters.

Additionally, the following phonotactic restrictions apply: Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ...

1. A consonant may not be followed by the palatal approximant y (i.e. Cy is not a valid onset).^[5]
2. Neither of the approximants may be followed by any close-mid, near-close, or close vowel.
3. The bilabial approximant w may not followed by a back vowel at any time.

Syllabic l occurs only due to a vowel being elided between two l's:

*molelo ⇒ mollo fire (cf Tswana molelo, isiZulu umlilo)

*ho lela ⇒ ho lla to cry (cf Tswana go lela, Xhosa ukulila, Venda u lila)

Zulu ukuphuma to emerge ⇒ ukuphumelela to succeed ⇒ Sotho ho phomella

There are no contrastive long vowels in Sotho, the rule being that juxtaposed vowels form separate syllables (which may sound like long vowels with undulating tones during natural fast speech). Originally there might have been a consonant between vowels which was eventually elided that prevented coalescence (Carl Meinhof postulates the voiced velar fricative *ɣ in his Ur-Bantu). Tswana (Motswana, plural Batswana) is the name of a Southern African people. ... Zulu, also known as isiZulu, is a language of the Zulu people with about 9 million speakers, the vast majority (over 95%) of whom live in South Africa. ... Tswana (Motswana, plural Batswana) is the name of a Southern African people. ... The Xhosa (IPA ) people are peoples of Bantu origins living in south-east South Africa, and in the last two centuries throughout the southern and central-southern parts of the country. ... Venda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. ... Carl Friedrich Michael Meinhof (July 23, 1857 — February 11, 1944) was a German linguist known as one of the first linguists to study African languages. ... The voiced velar fricative is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ...

Other Bantu languages have rules against vowel juxtaposition, often inserting an intermediate approximant if necessary.

Sotho Gauteng ⇒ Xhosa Erhawudeni

Categories: South Africa stubs | Provinces of South Africa | Gauteng Province ...

Phonetic processes

Vowels and consonants very often influence one another resulting in predictable sound changes. Most of these changes are either vowels changing vowels, nasals changing consonants, or approximants changing consonants.

• Nasalization (alternatively Nasal permutation or Strengthening) is a process in Bantu languages by which, in certain circumstances, a prefixed nasal becomes assimilated to a succeeding consonant and causes changes in the form of the phone to which it is prefixed. In the Sotho language series of articles it is indicated by "[N]." In Sotho it usually occurs in the formation of class 9 and 10 nouns, the formation of some class 6 plurals, in the use of the objectival concord of the first person singular, in the use of the adjectival and enumerative concords of some noun classes, and in the forming of reflexive verbs (with the reflexive prefix). Very roughly speaking, voiced consonants become devoiced and fricatives (except kg^[6]) lose their fricative quality.
  • Vowels and the approximant w^[7] get a k in front of them
  • Voiced plosives become ejective:

  b ⇒ p

  l /d ⇒ t

  • Fricatives become aspirated:

  f ⇒ ph

  r ⇒ th

  s ⇒ tsh

  sh ⇒ tjh

  hl ⇒ tlh (except for adjectives)

  • h becomes kg
  • j becomes tj.
  The syllabic nasal causing the change is usually dropped, except for monosyllabic stems and the first person objectival concord. Reflexive verbs don't show a nasal.

  ho araba to answer ⇒ karabo response, ho nkaraba to answer me, and ho ikaraba to answer oneself

  ho fa to give ⇒ mpho gift, ho mpha to give me, and ho ipha to give oneself

  Other changes may occur due to contractions in verb derivations:

  ho bona to see ⇒ ho bontsha to cause to see (causative -bon- + -isa)

  Nasal homogeneity consists of two points:
  1. When a consonant is preceded by a (visible or invisible) nasal it will undergo nasalization, if it supports it.
  2. When a nasal is immediately followed by another consonant with no vowel betwixt them, the nasal will change to a nasal in the same approximate position as the following consonant, after the consonant has undergone nasal permutation. If the consonant is already a nasal then the previous nasal will simply change to the same.
• Palatalization is a process in certain Bantu languages where a consonant becomes a palatal consonant.

  
  In Sotho it usually occurs with the short form of passive verbs and the diminutives of nouns, adjectives, and relatives. Sesotho is a language spoken in southern Africa. ...

  • Labials:

  p ⇒ pj/tj

  ph ⇒ pjh/tjh

  b ⇒ bj/j

  f ⇒ fj/sh

  • Alveolars:

  t ⇒ tj

  th ⇒ tjh

  l ⇒ j

  • The nasals become ny:

  n, m, and ng ⇒ ny

  ho lefa to pay ⇒ ho lefjwa/ho leshwa to be paid

• Alveolarization is a process whereby a consonant becomes an alveolar consonant. It occurs in noun diminutives, the diminutives of colour adjectives, and in the pronouns and concords of noun classes with a di or di[N] prefix. It results in either ts or tsh.
  • p, b, and l/d become ts
  • ph, f, and r become tsh

  -kgwadi black with white spots ⇒ -kgwatsana (dim.)

  diketso tsa hao your actions

  Other changes may occur due to phonological interactions in verbal derivatives:

  ho botsa to ask ⇒ ho botsetsa to ask on behalf of (applied -bots- + -ela)

  The alveolarization which changes Sotho l to ts is by far the most commonly applied phonetic process in the language. It's regularly applied in the formation of some class 8 and 10 concords and in numerous verbal derivatives.
• Velarization in Sesotho is a process whereby certain sounds become velar consonants due to the intrusion of an approximant. It occurs with verb passives, noun diminutives, the diminutives of relatives, and the formation of some class 1 and 3 prefixes.
  • m becomes ng
  • ny becomes nng

  ho senya to destroy ⇒ ho senngwa to be destroyed (short passive -seny- + -wa)

  Class 1 mo- + -aha ⇒ ngwaha year (cf Kiswahili mwaka)

• Elision of vowels occurs in Sotho less often than in those Bantu languages which have vowel "pre-prefixes" before the noun class prefixes (such as Zulu), but there are still instances where it regularly and actively occurs. There are two primary types of regular vowel elision:
  1. The vowels /ɪ/, /ɛ/, and /ʊ/, may be removed from between two l's, thereby casing the first l to become syllabic. This actively occurs with verbs, and has historically occurred with some nouns.
  2. When forming class 1 or 3 nouns from noun stems beginning with /b/ the middle /ʊ/ is removed and the /b/ is contracted into the /m/, resulting in mm. This actively occurs with nouns derived from verbs commencing with b and has historically occurred with many other nouns.

  -bala read ⇒ -balla read for (applied), and mmadi person who reads

• Vowel raising is a form of vowel harmony where a non-open (i.e., any vowel other than /ɑ/) vowel is raised in position by a vowel at the same or higher position. The first variety — in which the open-mid vowels become close-mid — is commonly found in most Southern African Bantu languages (where the Ur-Bantu "mixed" vowels have separated). In the 9-vowel Sotho-Tswana languages, a much less common process also occurs where the near-close vowels become raised to a position slightly lower than the close vowels (closer to the English beat and boot than the very high Sotho vowels i and u) without ATR.
  • Mid vowel raising is a process where /ɛ/ becomes /e/ and /ɔ/ becomes /o/ under the influence of close vowels or consonants that contain "hidden" close vowels.
    • Vowel raising of the open-mid vowels ( file info) — play in browser (beta)
      • Audio sample of the examples
      • Problems listening to the file? See media help.

    ho tsheha^‡ to laugh ([hʊt͡sʰɛhɑ]) ⇒ ho tshehisa^‡ to cause to laugh ([hʊt͡sʰehisɑ])

    ke a bona^‡ I see ([kʼɪ'ɑbɔnɑ]) ⇒ ke bone^‡ I saw ([kʼɪbonɪ])

    ho kena^‡ to enter ([hʊkʼɛnɑ]) ⇒ ho kenya^‡ to insert ([hʊkʼeɲɑ])

    These changes are usually recursive to varying depths within the word, though, being a left spreading rule, it is often bounded by the difficulty of "foreseeing" the raising syllable: Vowel harmony (also metaphony) is a type of long-distance assimilatory phonological process involving vowels. ... In phonetics, advanced tongue root, abbreviated ATR or +ATR, or expanded, is the expansion of the pharyngeal cavity by moving the base of the tongue forward, and often lowering the larynx, during the pronunciation of a vowel. ... Image File history File links Sesotho_pp_mid_raising. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ...

    diphoofolo^‡ animals ([dipʰɔ'ɔfɔlɔ]) ⇒ diphoofolong^‡ by the animals ([dipʰɔ'ɔfoloŋ̩])

    
    Additionally, a right-spreading form occurs when a close-mid vowel is on the penultimate syllable and, due to some inflection or derivational process, is followed by an open-mid vowel. In this case the vowel on the final syllable is raised. This does not happen if the penultimate syllable is close (/i/ or (/u/).

    -besa roast [besɑ] ⇒ subjunctive ke bese so I may roast... [kʼɪbese]

    but

    -thola find [tʰɔlɑ] ⇒ subjunctive ke thole so I may find... [kʼɪtʰɔlɛ]

    
    These vowels can occur phonemically, however, and may thus be considered to be separate phonemes:

    maele wisdom [mɑ'ele]

  • Close vowel raising is a process which occurs under less much common circumstances. Near-close /ɪ/ becomes [iˌ] and near-close /ʊ/ becomes [uˌ] when immediately followed by a syllable containing the close vowels i or u. Unlike the mid vowel raising this processes is not iterative and is only caused directly by the close vowels (it cannot be caused by any hidden vowels or by other raised vowels).
    • Vowel raising of the near-close vowels ( file info) — play in browser (beta)
      • Audio sample of the examples
      • Problems listening to the file? See media help.

    ho tshela to pass over ⇒ ho tshedisa to comfort

    ho loma to itch ⇒ selomi period pains

    Since these changes are allophonic, the Sotho-Tswana languages are rarely said to have 11 vowels. Image File history File links Sesotho_pp_close_raising. ... Software development stages In computer programming, development stage terminology expresses how the development of a piece of software has progressed and how much further development it may require. ...

• Labialization is a modification of a consonant due to the action of a bilabial /w/ element which persists throughout the articulation of the consonant and is not merely a following semivowel. This labialization results in the consonant being pronounced with rounded lips (but, in Sesotho, with no velarization) and with attenuated high frequencies (especially noticeable with fricatives and aspirated consonants). It may be traced to an original /ʊ/ or /u/ being "absorbed" into the preceding consonant when the syllable is followed by another vowel. The consonant is labialized and the transition from the labialized syllable onset to the nucleus vowel sounds like a bilabial semivowel (or, alternatively, like a diphthong). Unlike in languages such as Shona and Venda, Sesotho labialization does not result in "whistling" of any consonants. Almost all consonants may be labialized (indicated in the orthography by following the symbol with "w"), the exceptions being labial plosives and fricatives (which become palatalized), the bilabial and palatal nasals (which become velarized), and the voiced alveolar /d/ allophone of /l/ (which would become alveolarized instead). Additionally, syllabic nasals (where nasalization results in a labialized nk instead) and the syllabic l (which is always followed by the non-syllabic l) are never directly labialized. Note that the unvoiced heterorganic doubled articulant fricative fj only occurs labialized (only as fjw). Due to the inherent bilabial semivowel, labialized consonants never appear before back vowels.^[8]

Labialisation is a secondary articulatory feature of phonemes in a language, most usually used to refer to consonants. ... In phonetics and phonology, a syllable onset is the part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus. ... In phonetics and phonology, the nucleus is the central part of the syllable, mostly commonly a vowel. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (Greek δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally with two sounds, or with two tones) is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. ... Shona is the principle language of Zimbabwe, in southern Africa. ... Venda was a bantustan in northern South Africa, now part of Limpopo province. ...

Stress

The word stress system of Sesotho (often called "penultimate lengthening" instead, though there are certain situations where it doesn't fall on the penultimate syllable) is very simple. Each complete Sotho word has exactly one main stressed syllable. In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word. ... Sesotho is a language spoken in southern Africa. ...

Except for the second form of the first demonstrative pronoun, certain formations involving certain enclitics, polysyllabic ideophones, and a handful of other words, there is only one main stress falling on the penult. Generally speaking, the penult is the next to the last item in a series but it most specifically means the next to the last syllable in a word. ...

The stressed syllable is slightly longer, often with a slightly higher pitch (though the actual tone is governed by other factors). Unlike in English, stress does not affect vowel quality or height. Due to the vowel lengthening, stressed syllables often have contour (falling) tones.

The second form of the first demonstrative pronoun has the stress on the final syllable. Some proclitics can leave the stress of the original word in place, causing the resultant word to have the stress at the antepenultimate syllable (or even earlier, if the enclitics are compounded). Ideophones, which tend to not obey the phonetic laws which the rest of the language abides by, may also have irregular stress.

There is even at least one minimal pair: the adverb feela (only) has regular stress, while the conjunctive feela (but) (like many other conjunctives) has stress on the final syllable. This is certainly not enough evidence to justify making the claim that Sesotho is a stress accent language, though. In phonology, minimal pairs are pairs of words or phrases in a particular language, which differ in only one phone, phoneme, toneme or chroneme and have a distinct meaning. ...

Because the stress falls on the penultimate syllable, Sotho, like all other Bantu languages, tends to avoid monosyllabic words and often employs certain prefixes and suffixes to make the word disyllabic (such as the syllabic nasal in front of class 9 nouns with monosyllabic stems, etc).

Notes

1. ^ Other authors may choose to include the labialized consonants as contrastive phonemes, potentially increasing the number by 26 to 75.
2. ^ The Sotho-Tswana ejective plosives /pʼ/, /tʼ/, and /kʼ/ come from the Ur-Bantu *mb, *nd, and *ŋg due to the radical effects of the nasalization process. The Ur-Bantu stops *p, *t, and *k have become the fricatives /f/, /ʀ/, and /x/ ((/h/ in modern Sesotho)), and the nasalized forms of these (Ur-Bantu *mp, *nt, and *ŋk) are the two aspirated plosives /pʰ/ and /tʰ/, and the aspirated velar affricate /k͡xʰ/ (/x/ in most Sesotho speaking communities). Note that some Sotho-Tswana languages do have prenasalized consonants, or at least have less strict and varied nasalization rules, but this is almost certainly as a result of influence from neighbouring non-Sotho-Tswana languages.
3. ^ Note that the IPA symbols used for the near-close vowels in this and related articles are different from those often used in the literature. Often the symbols /ɨ/ and /ʉ/ are used instead of the standard /ɪ/ and /ʊ/, but these two symbols represent the close central unrounded vowel and the close central rounded vowel respectively in the modern IPA.
4. ^ In Tswana and most Northern Sotho languages these are two different phonemes. The Tswana velar fricative corresponds to the Sesotho glottal fricative, and the velar affricate corresponds to the Sotho velar fricative/affricate, but before the close vowel u Tswana regularly uses the unvoiced glottal fricative.
5. ^ Historically, in various Bantu languages, this has resulted in palatalization (giving the postalveolar and palatal consonants) and the alveolar fricative s.
6. ^ Historically kg was an affricate /k͡xʰ/ (this still appears as a variation) and was therefore not an exception. Some individuals nasalize kg and h to kh (possibly by analogy with the Tswana hu nasalizing to khu) and sometimes even k (perhaps due to the unstable nature of the voiced h, which is barely audible and may cause the syllable to sound as if it does not have an onset), though this is certainly not to be considered standard.
7. ^ Strangely, there are no polysyllabic verbs beginning with y. The verb -ya cannot be used with a objectival concord (it may have an intransitive, locative, or instrumental import and an idiomatic passive, but is not transitive) and the approximant is removed in verbal derivations. There are also no adjectives beginning with y or any other parts of speech which may be nasalized, so there are no instances of y being nasalized.
8. ^ This is similar to the situation in English where /ʍ/ (written as wh) is pronounced as /h/ in words such as whom, whole, and whore.

Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... Vowels Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel. ... The voiceless labiovelar approximant (traditionally called a voiceless labiovelar fricative) is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. ... The digraph wh is used to express a phoneme: In the English language, (voiceless labial-velar fricative) the continuation of the PIE labiovelar (formerly spelled hw, see hwair). ...

References

• Dichabe, S. B. 1997. Advanced Tongue Root Harmony in Setswana. M.A. thesis. University of Ottawa. ISBN 0 612 20913 X.

• Doke, C. M., and Mofokeng, S. M. 1974. Textbook of Southern Sotho Grammar. Cape Town: Longman Southern Africa, 3rd. impression. ISBN 0 582 61700 6.

• Schadeberg, T.C. 1994-5. Spirantization and the 7-to-5 Vowel Merger in Bantu. In Marc Dominicy & Didier Demolin (eds), Sound Change. Belgian Journal of Linguistics, 73-84.