|sprekers=4,6 miljoen (moedertaal, 2011)<ref>{{en}} {{cite web |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/language/nso |title=Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Seventeenth edition, Sotho, Northern |publisher=[[Ethnologue]] | accessdateaccess-date=21 Januarie 2016 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200518143120/https://www.ethnologue.com/language/nso |archive-date=18 Mei 2020 |url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref><br />9,1 miljoen (tweede taal in Suid-Afrika, 2002)<ref>{{en}} Webb, Vic. 2002. "Language in South Africa: the role of language in national transformation, reconstruction and development." ''Impact: Studies in language and society,'' 14:78</ref>
