Dikgwedi tsa selemo ka Sesotho (Month of the year in Sesotho Language: January to December)
Months of the year in Sotho language and culture, are named based on the main events that happen around the year. All these events are linked to the way Sotho people respond to nature as it changes throughout the year.
Dikgwedi tsa Selemo ka Sesotho:
- Pherekgong (January) – Crops start growing, and Sotho people set up small shelters to scare birds away.
- Hlakola (February) – Sorghum plants grow ears of corn, and a white substance called modula appears.
- Hlakubele (March) – Sorghum grains form, and birds start eating them.
- Mmesa (April) – Grasshoppers called mohlwane appear, and herders roast and eat them with maize.
- Motsheanong (May) – Sorghum grains become hard, and birds can no longer eat them.
- Phuptjane (June) – Winter begins, plants die, and animals migrate.
- Phupu (July) – Everything looks lifeless during the coldest time of the year.
- Phato (August) – Fields are ploughed to prepare for the new growing season.
- Loetse (September) – Grass grows, cows become healthy, and they produce a lot of milk.
- Mphalane (October) – Flowers of the boophone disticha plant begin to bloom.
- Pudungwana (November) – Wildebeest give birth to their calves.
- Tshitwe (December) – Small grasshoppers appear, and cows produce less milk as winter approaches.
