Locale St 001

Reference data for the Sesotho locale — endonym Sesotho, written in the Latin script, left-to-right (LTR).

Identifiers

• BCP 47 tag: st-001
• ISO 639-1: st
• ISO 639-3: sot
• Script: Latn (Latin)
• Region: 001 (World)
• Text direction: ltr — left-to-right (LTR)

Speakers (approximate)

• L1 (native): 5,600,000
• L2 (additional): 7,900,000
• L1+L2 (total): 13,500,000

Pluralization

CLDR plural categories for this locale: one, other (2 forms).

• one — n = 1 (e.g. 1)
• other — everything else (e.g. 0, 2~16, 100, 1000, …)

See Unicode Messageformat for writing plural messages using these categories.

Translating into this locale

Sesotho (Southern Sotho) is a Bantu language of Lesotho and South Africa, one of the official languages of both countries. It has noun classes, tone, and a Latin spelling. Spelling conventions differ somewhat between Lesotho and South Africa, so confirm the target standard. It is written disjunctively. This guidance is lower-confidence; have a native reviewer check it.

Translate ideas, not words.

• Sesotho verbs carry subject, tense, and object markers. Restructure English sentences; do not translate word for word.
• Nouns belong to noun classes with concord on adjectives, verbs, and possessives (mosebetsi o moholo).
• Use approved Sesotho terminology (from PanSALB, the National Language Service, and Lesotho's language authorities) rather than raw English borrowings where one exists.
• Re-express idioms and proverbs (maele) by meaning.

Grammar and register.

• Writing is disjunctive: pronouns, markers, and verb stems are written as separate words (ke a bala), unlike the conjunctive writing of Nguni languages such as Zulu (Locale Zu 001).
• Polite address uses the plural and titles (ntate, mme, ntate moholo). Greetings are important (Dumela, Dumelang).

Orthography and typography.

• Follow the orthography of the target country, including the use of ho, ts', ph, and qh; do not mix systems.
• Currency: loti (Lesotho) or rand (South Africa); dates 17 Mphalane 2026 (Mphalane is October); check CLDR.

Common pitfalls

• Writing conjunctively.
• Mixing Lesotho and South African orthography.
• Wrong noun-class concords.

Learn more

• Locale for BCP 47 identifiers, locale-sensitive formatting, pluralization, and text-direction concepts that apply across all locales.
• Unicode Messageformat for writing plural/selection messages correctly for this locale's grammar.
• Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB), the statutory body for the official languages of South Africa
• Sesotho National Language Board and Lesotho language authorities