Mōtung:Lesotho

Latest comment: 14 years ago by Wōdenhelm in topic Name

Name

adiht

Should the name be rendered as Lesoðo? Icelandic lists their rendering as Lesótó. (if they use long vowels, perhaps we should too?) — ᚹᚩᛞᛖᚾᚻᛖᛚᛗ 19:00, 15 Gēolmōnaþ 2009 (UTC)Reply

The name of Lesotho is pronounced "LesOOtoo". The orthography is from the Sesotho language. There is no "Þ" sound. That said, there is a case for asking how to write it.
Sesotho is a Bantu language, so its rules will be familar. The tribe are often known as the "Sotho". A Sotho man is a "Mosotho" and the plural is "Basotho". Thus in the Empire the kingdom was known as "Basutoland" ("land of the Basuto / Basotho"). It took its more native form on independence.
If hypothetically one were to call the people "Basute" then it would be "Basutaland".
Botswana is the same: "Motswana" (s), "Batswana" (pl), "Botswana" ("place of the Tswana"), known in the Empire as "Bechuanaland" (Mn English) or "Betsjoeanaland" (Afrikaans).
Hogweard 19:45, 15 Gēolmōnaþ 2009 (UTC)Reply
Ah I got'cha. I suppose it's a matter of whether or not the H is considered to be pronounced. — ᚹᚩᛞᛖᚾᚻᛖᛚᛗ 17:25, 16 Gēolmōnaþ 2009 (UTC)Reply
Return to "Lesotho" page.