The Jeliya catalogue uses Sesotho / Sesotho. Glottolog indexes the corresponding language as Southern Sotho (sout2807). Its ISO 639-3 code is sot. [1]
Draft — awaiting native-speaker review
Southern Sotho is used in Lesotho and South Africa, where orthographic conventions differ.
Opening retained from the existing catalogue; awaiting editorial and speaker review.The Jeliya catalogue uses Sesotho / Sesotho. Glottolog indexes the corresponding language as Southern Sotho (sout2807). Its ISO 639-3 code is sot. [1]
Glottolog associates this record with the following country codes: LS, ZA. Catalogue locations do not enumerate diaspora or second-language use. [1]
No dated, scope-checked speaker estimate has been approved for this page.
The catalogue classification follows this sequence: Atlantic-Congo → Volta-Congo → Benue-Congo → Bantoid → Southern Bantoid → Narrow Bantu → East Bantu → Southern Bantu → Nuclear Southern Bantu → Dimsuffix Southern Bantu → Sotho-Tswana (S.30) → Western Sotho-Tswana → Central Sotho-Tswana → Sesotho-Lozi. [1]
The Glottolog bibliography includes a linguistic description attributed to [1839] 1839 and a more recent one attributed to Doke, Clement Martyn and Mofokeng, S. Machabe 1974. These are publication dates, not language origins. [1]
Lesotho and South African conventions differ. Keep one primary convention and show alternatives explicitly, including diacritics used by a source.
Existing linguistic-map notes are planning material, not newly verified facts. A named reviewer and reference are still needed.PanSALB provides a national spelling and orthography resource collection. A language-specific rule, edition date and regional scope must be checked before it is applied to a learner’s answer. [2]
Vowels include close-mid/open-mid distinctions not all shown directly by ordinary letters. High/low tone, aspiration and ejective contrasts need listening; syllabic nasals occur.
Existing linguistic-map notes are planning material, not newly verified facts. A named reviewer and reference are still needed.A reviewed alphabet, sound-by-sound IPA guide and reference recordings are still needed.
Awaiting a cited, language-specific contribution and speaker review.
SVO with noun-class agreement and rich verbal morphology; orthography writes many grammatical elements separately.
Existing linguistic-map notes are planning material, not newly verified facts. A named reviewer and reference are still needed.A language-specific Grambank record is linked for comparison of grammatical features and their underlying references. Feature coding is an analytical resource; it is not a beginner explanation, a complete grammar or a substitute for a teacher’s review. [5]
Sesotho; select Lesotho or South African spelling convention
Existing linguistic-map notes are planning material, not newly verified facts. A named reviewer and reference are still needed.Named child varieties in this record include Phuthi (Southern Sotho), Taung. These labels do not select Jeliya’s teaching variety. [1]
An entry separates the headword, part of speech, senses and cited examples. A variant is another documented form; a synonym is a different word with a related meaning. Derived expressions can have their own entry. Follow source links and variety tags before using a form.
Search the everyday spelling and check tone-marked forms. ɛ, ɔ, ɲ and ŋ are letters, not removable accents. Search tolerance does not mean two spellings are the same word. Save an entry to keep its stable identity in your wordbook.
Open the dictionaryAwaiting a cited, language-specific contribution and speaker review.
Editorial adaptation: Jeliya
Language reviewer: awaiting appointment
Last revision: 10/12/2026
Harald Hammarström, Robert Forkel, Martin Haspelmath and Sebastian Bank
CC BY 4.0
Source checked: 10/12/2026Pan South African Language Board
Source checked: 10/12/2026Doke, Clement Martyn and Mofokeng, S. Machabe 1974
Source checked: 10/12/2026