A sociolectal and dialectal study of Southern Sotho in Lesotho
type: CreativeWork
description: In this dissertation we examine variation, in both speech and writing, in the South Sotho spoken in Lesotho. We indicate that the South Sotho used by a majority of speakers today shows a shift from both earlier and prescribed varieties. Open-ended questionnaires and informal conversations were used to study aspects of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and the lexicon of South Sotho. Samples were collected from speakers with ages ranging from twelve to over eighty. The dissertation shows that the age, social status, sex and locality of speakers are contributing factors in their language repertoire. We argue that South Sotho lacks the homogeneity that is claimed by language purists in Lesotho, and therefore has non-standard varieties, namely, dialects and sociolects. Although the structure of standard South Sotho sentences is relatively stable, the phonology, lexicon and semantics are indicative of major endogenous and exogenous changes. On the other hand, Sotho morphology shows endogenous changes only. The influence of English on South Sotho is increasing at the expense of Afrikaans influence.
abstract: In this dissertation we examine variation, in both speech and writing, in the South Sotho spoken in Lesotho. We indicate that the South Sotho used by a majority of speakers today shows a shift from both earlier and prescribed varieties. Open-ended questionnaires and informal conversations were used to study aspects of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and the lexicon of South Sotho. Samples were collected from speakers with ages ranging from twelve to over eighty. The dissertation shows that the age, social status, sex and locality of speakers are contributing factors in their language repertoire. We argue that South Sotho lacks the homogeneity that is claimed by language purists in Lesotho, and therefore has non-standard varieties, namely, dialects and sociolects. Although the structure of standard South Sotho sentences is relatively stable, the phonology, lexicon and semantics are indicative of major endogenous and exogenous changes. On the other hand, Sotho morphology shows endogenous changes only. The influence of English on South Sotho is increasing at the expense of Afrikaans influence.
author: Rapeane, Maleshoane
language: eng
date published: 1997
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:42Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: African Languages and Literatures

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14367