Sesotho: A tale of two different orthographies

Background

Sesotho, also known as Southern Sotho, has its origins stretching back to many centuries ago. It belongs to the Nguni branch of the Bantu language family, sharing a common ancestor with languages like Zulu and Xhosa. Around the 15th and 16th centuries, the ancestors of the Basotho people migrated southward, settling in present-day Lesotho.

The language is spoken by more than five million people in Southern Africa. It is an official language in both Lesotho and South Africa and plays a central role in Basotho cultural identity, education, and heritage. Sesotho orthography is written using two standardized orthographies: the Lesotho orthography, which uses diacritics and is historically rooted in French missionary scholarship. Sesotho was one of the first African languages to be reduced to writing and has an extensive literature. The first written form of Southern Sesotho was devised by Thomas Arbousset, Eugene Casalis, and Constant Gosselin, French missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Mission, who arrived in Lesotho in 1833 by the invitation of King Moshoeshoe. The first grammar book, Etudes sur la Langue Sechuana by Casalis, was published in 1841. The South African orthography was standardized through national language authorities. Both orthographies represent the same language but differ in spelling conventions. While speakers of both countries use the same language, the different orthographies create challenges for translators and readers in both nations.

Challenges

On Sesotho Wikipedia, these orthographic differences create several challenges, like inconsistent articles, where spelling conventions are mixed without guidance; editor conflict and discouragement, as contributors revert each other’s edits based on orthography rather than content quality; and translation difficulties, especially when using the Wikipedia Content Translation tool, which favors the French-inspired translation. Lastly, there is a low awareness and participation in Lesotho, where many potential contributors are unfamiliar with Wikipedia editing in Sesotho. These challenges reduce article quality, limit editor retention, and affect reader confidence.
Currently, Lesotho does not have an active Wikimedia User Group, resulting in minimal participation by Basotho contributors and significant underrepresentation of Lesotho’s history, culture, heritage, and notable figures on Wikimedia platforms. Most existing Sesotho content is produced from a South African perspective, while valuable archival and heritage resources held by institutions such as Morija Museum and Archives remain largely absent from Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.

Students and academics in Lesotho also have limited awareness and skills to contribute to Wikimedia projects, contributing to a knowledge equity gap and excluding Basotho voices from documenting and sharing their own history and culture.

In Conclusion

There is an urgent need to establish a Lesotho user group as well as have Sesotho administrators for both orthographies in both countries. With this year’s Wikimania 2026 taking place in Paris, France, it would be a great opportunity to have Sesotho speakers from Lesotho and South Africa as participants, taking part in these important conversations. The focus should not be only on Francophone countries. Support should be given to Sesotho language champions for workshops that will recruit, train, and start efforts for the establishment of a user group in Lesotho. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Lubombo-Maloti_Wikimedia_User_Group