Sepedi refers to the dialect spoken by the Pedi people.Northern Sotho is the umbrella term for a group of related dialects. The two terms are often used interchangeably, but technically Sepedi is one dialect of Northern Sotho.
As of the 2022 South African Census, approximately 6.2 million people — or 10.0% of the national population speak Sepedi as their first language. Sepedi ranks as the fifth most spoken first language.
According to Chapter 1, Section 6 of the South African Constitution, Sepedi is one of South Africa's 12 official languages.[7] There has been significant debate about whether Northern Sotho should be used instead of Pedi.[8] The English version of the South African Constitution lists Sepedi as an official language, while the Sepedi or Northern Sotho version of the Constitution of South Africa lists Sesotho sa Leboa as an official South African language.[9]
South Africa's official language policy refers to the twelve official languages of South Africa (i.e., Sepedi, Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, English, and South African Sign Language (SASL)), as specified in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.[10]
The Northern Sotho written language was based largely on the Sepedi dialect. Missionaries studied this dialect the most closely and first developed the orthography in 1860 byAlexander Merensky, Grutzner, and Gerlachshoop.[11] This subsequently provided a common writing system for 20 or more varieties of the Sotho-Tswana languages spoken in the former Transvaal, and also helped lead to "Sepedi" being used as the umbrella term for the entire language family. However, there are objections to this synecdoche by other Northern Sotho dialect speakers, such as speakers ofModjadji'sLobedu dialect.[citation needed]
Northern Sotho can be subdivided intoHighveld-Sotho, which consists of comparatively recent immigrants mostly from the west and southwest parts of South Africa, andLowveld-Sotho, which consists of a combination of immigrants from the north of South Africa and Sotho inhabitants of longer standing. Like other Sotho-Tswana people, their languages are named after totemic animals and, sometimes, by alternating or combining these with the names of famous chiefs.[original research?]
Northern Sotho is one of theSotho languages of theBantu family. Although Northern Sotho shares the nameSotho withSouthern Sotho, the two groups also have a great deal in common with their sister language Setswana.[citation needed][12] Northern Sotho is also closely related toSetswana,sheKgalagari andsiLozi. It is a standardized variety, amalgamating several distinct varieties or dialects. Northern Sotho is also spoken by the Mohlala people and Malata People.
Most Khelobedu speakers only learn to speak Sepedi at school, such that Sepedi is only their second or third language. Khelobedu is a written language. Lobedu is spoken by a majority of people in the Greater Tzaneen, Greater Letaba, and BaPhalaborwa municipalities, and a minority in Greater Giyani municipality, as well as in theLimpopo Province andTembisa township inGauteng. Its speakers are known as theBalobedu.
Sepulana (also sePulane) exists in unwritten form and forms part of the standard Northern Sotho. Sepulana is spoken inBushbuckridge area by theMaPulana people.
Sepedi is written in the Latin alphabet. The letterš is used to represent the sound [ʃ] ("sh" is used in the trigraph "tsh" to represent an aspiratedts sound). Thecircumflex accent can be added to the letters e and o to distinguish their different sounds, but it is mostly used in language reference books. Some word prefixes, especially in verbs, are written separately from the stem.[13]
Other consonant sounds include fricative-combinations/pʃʼpʃʰfʃβʒ/ and/psʼpsʰfs/.
Within nasal consonant compounds, the first nasal consonant sound is recognized as syllabic. Words such asnthuše "help me", are pronounced as[n̩tʰuʃe]. /n/ can also be pronounced as/ŋ/ following a velar consonant.[14]
Urban varieties of Northern Sotho, such asPretoria Sotho (actually a derivative ofTswana), have acquiredclicks in an ongoing process of such sounds spreading fromNguni languages.[15]
Some examples of Northern Sotho words and phrases:
English
Northern Sotho
Welcome
Kamogelo (noun) / Amogela (verb)
Good day
Dumela (singular) / Dumelang (plural) / Thobela and Re a lotšha (to elders)
How are you?
O kae? (singular) Le kae? (plural, also used for elders)
I am fine
Ke gona.
Ke tsogile(singular). Re tsogile(plural).
I am fine too, thank you
Le nna ke gona, ke a leboga.
Thank you
Ke a leboga (I thank you) / Re a leboga (we thank you)
Good luck
Mahlatse
Have a safe journey
O be le leeto le le bolokegilego
Good bye!
Šala gabotse (singular)/ Šalang gabotse (plural, also used for elders)(keep well) / Sepela gabotse(singular)/Sepelang gabotse (plural, also used for elders)(go well)
I am looking for a job
Ke nyaka mošomô
No smoking
Ga go kgogwe (/folwe)
No entrance
Ga go tsenwe
Beware of the steps!
Hlokomela disetepese!/ditepisi
Beware!
Hlokomela!
Congratulations on your birthday
Mahlatse letšatšing la gago la matswalo
Seasons greetings
Ditumedišo tša Sehla sa Maikhutšo
Merry Christmas
Mahlogonolo a Keresemose
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
Mahlogonolo a Keresemose le ngwaga wo moswa wo monate
Expression
Gontsha sa mafahleng
yes
ee/eya/eye
no
aowa
please
hle
thank you
ke a leboga
help
thušang/thušo
danger/accident
kotsi
emergency
tšhoganetšo
excuse me
ntshwarele
I am sorry
Ke maswabi
I love you
Ke a go rata
Questions / sentences
Dipotšišo / mafoko
Do you accept (money/credit cards/traveler's cheques)?
Temana 1 Batho ka moka ba belegwe ba lokologile le gona ba na le seriti sa go lekana le ditokelo. Ba filwe monagano le letswalo mme ba swanetše go swarana ka moya wa bana ba mpa.
Temana 2 Mang le mang o swanetše ke ditokelo le ditokologo ka moka tše go boletšwego ka tšona ka mo Boikanong bjo, ntle le kgethollo ya mohuta wo mongwe le wo mongwe bjalo ka morafe, mmala, bong, polelo, bodumedi, dipolitiki goba ka kgopolo, botšo go ya ka setšhaba goba maemo, diphahlo, matswalo goba maemo a mangwe le a mangwe.
Go feta fao, ga go kgethollo yeo e swanetšego go dirwa go ya ka maemo a dipolitiki, tokelo ya boahlodi, goba maemo a ditšhabatšhaba goba lefelo leo motho a dulago go lona, goba ke naga ye e ipušago, trasete, naga ya go se ipuše goba se sengwe le se sengwe seo se ka fokotšago maemo a go ikemela ga naga ya gabo.
^Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development."Impact: Studies in language and society, 14:78
^Pukuntšu ya polelopedi ya sekolo: Sesotho sa Leboa/ Sepedi le Seisimane: e gatišitšwe ke Oxford = Oxford bilingual school dictionary: Northern Sotho and English. De Schryver, Gilles-Maurice. Cape Town: Oxford University Press Southern Africa. 2007. pp. S24 –S26.ISBN9780195765557.OCLC259741811.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^Louwrens, Kosch, Kotzé, Louis J., Ingeborg M., Albert E. (1995).Northern Sotho. München: Lincom. pp. 4–11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
