Phuthi language

Spoken in

  • Niger - Congo languages Benue - Congo languages Bantoidsprachen Bantu languages Nguni languages Phuthi

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Bnt

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Phuthi (also si - Phuthi, Sesotho: Sephuthi ) is a language that is spoken in the south of Lesotho and adjacent areas of South Africa from the Phuthi.

Phuthi one of the Ngunisprachen. It is most similar to the language spoken in Swaziland Swati, but it contains due to the close proximity of Phuthi to the Basotho also elements of Sotho - Tswana languages. About 20,000 people speak Phuthi. The language is considered to be threatened with extinction. In South Africa, it is officially recognized, but not an official language. In Lesotho, it is not recognized.

Classification and features

After Malcolm Guthrie Phuthi belongs to the P40 group within zone S. Because of the lexemes and phonology can see the language used as the Swati and therefore belongs to the subgroup of the Nguni languages ​​Tekela - to which also some dialects of the South Ndebele and the languages ​​Bhaca and Hlubi spoken by small groups in the Eastern Cape, count. The relationship with the Sesotho shows, among other things in the frequent occurrence of two words for a concept, such as ciga ( isiXhosa: Cinga ) and Nakana ( Sesotho: NaHaNa ) for thinking '. The noun classes follow the use in Sesotho form. Within the Phuthi there are different dialects. The dialect of Mpapa in the east of the linguistic region is more similar to Sesotho, while containing elements of isiXhosa of Sigxodo in the West.

There is no standardized spelling in Phuthi.

Samples

  • Giyakutshadza: I like you
  • Giyayitshadza idlu yhakho letjha: I like your new house
  • Tshadza: Love
Language family Nguni people Sotho people Sotho–Tswana languages Xhosa language
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