Sesotho Personal Names as Minimal Pairs

Recent developments in sociolinguistics focus on languages that are relatively unknown among the world’s languages. One of such languages is Sesotho a Bantu language predominantly spoken by the citizens of Lesotho and by a relatively small numbers of people in South Africa. The book on Sesotho Personal Names as Minimal pairs examines the variety of ways that Sesotho minimal pairs can be deployed in different communicative events. Defined as consisting of two forms with distinct meaning a minimal pair is a phonological and phonetic phenomenon. In this interesting book however the author specifically examines the significance of minimal pairs to Sesotho names. She discusses the importance of minimal pairs in the context of accuracy in writing as rhyming words and as words that create a subtle distinction in meaning. Written in a very simple style the book foregrounds the different ramifications of Sesotho names as minimal pairs. This is a key text for students of sociolinguistics of Sesotho.