User:IknowNothing/Sotho pronunciation

Vowels

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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 ATR) and are better approximated by French vowels than English vowels.


 
Approximate tongue positions for the 9 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

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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 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          
aspirated          
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 /      
Approximant     l   j w    
Trill             ʀ  
  1. [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