Lesotho
Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...
, a
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...
in
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...
, is home to several languages, including
Phuthi
Phuthi (''Síphùthì'') is a Nguni Bantu language spoken in southern Lesotho and areas in South Africa adjacent to the same border. The closest substantial living relative of Phuthi is Swati (or ''Siswati''), spoken in Eswatini and the Mpuma ...
,
Sesotho
Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language.
Like all Ba ...
,
Xhosa
Xhosa may refer to:
* Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa
* Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people
See als ...
,
Zulu and
English, — all, except for English, belong to the
Niger–Congo language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term ''family'' is a metaphor borrowed from biology, with the tree model used in historical linguistics ...
.
National and official languages
Sesotho
Sotho (), also known as ''Sesotho'' (), Southern Sotho, or ''Sesotho sa Borwa'' is a Southern Bantu languages, Southern Bantu language spoken in Lesotho as its national language and South Africa where it is an official language.
Like all Ba ...
(or Southern Sesotho), a
Southern Bantu
The Southern Bantu or siNtu languages are a large group of Bantu languages, largely validated in Janson (1991/92).Tore Janson (1991-92) "Southern Bantu and Makua", ''Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika'' (''SUGIA'') Vol. 12/13: 63-106, Rüdiger Köp ...
language, is the
national language
'' ''
A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection— de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languag ...
of Lesotho,
[The name "Lesotho" translates roughly as "the land of the people who speak Sesotho", Sesotho meaning "the Sesotho language"; see .] and is spoken by most
Basotho
The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.
The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...
.
[The people of Lesotho are called Basotho (sing. Mosotho), where "ba-" indicates plural; see and .] It was recognized as the national language by the National and Official Languages Bill, ratified by the
National Assembly of Lesotho
The National Assembly () is the lower chamber of Lesotho's bicameral Parliament.
Composition
The current National Assembly has a total of 120 members. 80 members are elected in single member constituencies using the first-preference plurality ( ...
on 12 September 1966, which also established Sesotho and English as the country's two
official language
An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...
s.
The country's
language policy
Language policy is both an interdisciplinary academic field and implementation of ideas about language use.
Some scholars such as Joshua Fishman and Ofelia García consider it as part of sociolinguistics. On the other hand, other scholars such as ...
promotes
bilingualism
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...
, and Chapter 1 of the Constitution of Lesotho states:
Sesotho is the
first language
A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...
of more than 90 percent of the population and is "used widely as a medium of communication" in day-to-day speech.
[.] English is reserved for official interactions,
such as "government and administration",
[.] although the use of Sesotho in politics, religion, and the mass media is growing.
Primary education
Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...
of children takes place in Sesotho for the first three years, but English becomes the
medium of instruction
A medium of instruction (plural: media of instruction, or mediums of instruction) is a language used in teaching. It may or may not be the official language of the country or territory. If the first language of students is different from the offic ...
in the fourth year of
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
.
Competence in English is "particularly important ... for educational, political, social and economic transactions in the subcontinent"
[.] and facilitates obtaining employment within Lesotho and abroad.
[.] Although "efforts are made to ensure that Basotho children" learn to read, speak and write English,
many Basotho complete only "basic primary education
ndremain monolingual in Sesotho".
Minority and immigrant languages
A minority of Basotho, estimated to number 248,000 , speak
Zulu, one of the eleven official languages of
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
.
Phuthi
Phuthi (''Síphùthì'') is a Nguni Bantu language spoken in southern Lesotho and areas in South Africa adjacent to the same border. The closest substantial living relative of Phuthi is Swati (or ''Siswati''), spoken in Eswatini and the Mpuma ...
, a
Nguni language
The Nguni languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa (mainly South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini) by the Nguni people. Nguni languages include Xhosa, Tsonga, Ndebele, and Swati. The appellation "Nguni" derives from th ...
closely related to
Swazi, an official language of South Africa and
Eswatini
Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
, is spoken by 43,000 Basotho ().
Xhosa
Xhosa may refer to:
* Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa
* Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people
See als ...
, another Nguni language and official language of South Africa, is spoken by 18,000 people in Lesotho.
Speakers of these
minority language
A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) and ...
s typically also speak Sesotho.
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...
, spoken mainly in South Africa and
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
, is an
immigrant language
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
.
See also
*
Languages of South Africa
At least thirty-five languages are spoken in South Africa, twelve of which are official languages of South Africa: Southern Ndebele language, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Pedi, Sotho language, Sotho, South African Sign Language, Swazi language, ...
*
Languages of Eswatini
Eswatini is home to two official languages. The native language is Siswati. Recent immigrant languages include Chichewa, Tsonga, Zulu.
National and official languages
Siswati, a Southern Bantu language, is the native language of Eswatini, and ...
Notes
; Footnotes
; Citations
References
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