Phuthi (
Síphùthì) is a
Nguni Bantu language spoken in southern
Lesotho and areas in South Africa adjacent to the same border. The closest substantial living relative of Phuthi is
Swati (or
Siswati), spoken in
Swaziland and the
Mpumalanga province of South Africa. Although there is no contemporary sociocultural or political contact, Phuthi is linguistically part of a historic
dialect continuum with
Swati. Phuthi is heavily influenced by the surrounding
Sotho and
Xhosa languages, but retains a distinct core of lexicon and grammar not found in either Xhosa or Sotho, and found only partly in Swati to the north.