Sotho phonology
Place of articulation IPA Notes Orthography Example
bilabial / m / m [ hʊmɑmɑʀet͡sʼɑ ] ho m a m aretsa ( 'to glue ' )
bilabial /m̩/ syllabic version of the above m [ m̩pɑ ] m pa ( 'stomach ' )
alveolar / n / n [ lɪnɑnɛˈɔ ] le n a n eo ( 'programme ' )
alveolar /n̩/ syllabic version of the above n [ n̩nɑ ] n na ( ' I ' )
alveolo-palatal / ɲ / a bit like Spanish el ni ñ o ny [ hʊɲɑlɑ ] ho ny ala ( 'to marry ' )
alveolo-palatal /ɲ̩/ syllabic version of the above n [ ɲ̩ɲeʊ ] n nyeo ( 'so-and-so ' )
velar / ŋ / can occur initially ng [ lɪŋɔlɔ ] le ng olo ( 'letter ' )
velar /ŋ̩/ syllabic version of the above n [ hʊŋ̩kʼɑ ] ho n ka ( 'to take ' )
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 ) 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 [ 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 several places of articulation . Stops Audio sample of the examples Problems playing this file ? See media help . Sesotho possesses four simple nasal consonants . All of these can be syllabic and the syllabic velar nasal may also appear at the end of words . Nasals Audio sample of the examples Problems playing this file ? See media help .
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. There are in total 39 consonantal phonemes (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. All 260 instances of the hover text match the regular expression: