Editing Sotho language (section)

==Classification==
Sotho is a [[Southern Bantu languages|Southern Bantu language]] belonging to the [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo language family]] within the [[Sotho-Tswana languages|Sotho-Tswana]] branch of [[Guthrie classification of Bantu languages#Zone S|Zone S (S.30)]].

"Sotho" is also the name given to the entire Sotho-Tswana group, in which case Sesotho proper is called "Southern Sotho". Within the Sotho-Tswana group Southern Sotho is also related to [[Lozi language|Lozi]] (''Silozi'') with which it forms the Sesotho-Lozi group within Sotho-Tswana.

The [[Northern Sotho]] group is geographical, and includes a number of dialects also closely related to Sotho-Lozi. [[Tswana language|Tswana]] is also known as "Western Sesotho".

The Sotho-Tswana group is in turn closely related to the other [[Southern Bantu]] languages, including [[Venda language|Venda]], [[Tsonga language|Tsonga]], [[Tonga language (Mozambique)|Tonga]], [[Lozi language|Lozi]], and [[Nguni languages|Nguni]] from neighboring [[Southern African|Southern African countries]], and possibly{{clarify|date=September 2015}} also the [[Makua languages|Makua]] languages of [[Tanzania]] and [[Mozambique]].

''Sotho'' is the root word. Various prefixes may be added for specific derivations, such as ''Sesotho'' for the Sotho language and ''Basotho'' for the [[Sotho people]]. Use of ''Sesotho'' rather than ''Sotho'' for the language in English has seen increasing use since the 1980s, especially in [[South African English]] and in Lesotho.