ǁXegwi language
| ǁXegwi | |
|---|---|
| Region | South Africa |
| Ethnicity | Tlou-tle |
| Extinct | 1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda[1] |
Tuu
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xeg |
| Glottolog | xegw1238[2] |
ǁXegwi, also known as Batwa, is an extinct ǃKwi language spoken at Lake Chrissie in South Africa, near the Swazi border. The last known speaker, Jopi Mabinda, was murdered in 1988.[3] However, a reporter for the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian reports that ǁXegwi may still be spoken in the Chrissiesmeer district.[4]
The ǁXegwi name for their language has been spelled giǁkwi:gwi or kiǁkwi:gwi. Their name for themselves has been transcribed tlou tle or kxlou-kxle, presumably [kouke]. The Nguni (Zulu and Swazi) called them (a)batwa, amaNkqeshe, amaNgqwigqwi; the Sotho called them Baroa/Barwa.[5]
Phonology[edit]
ǁXegwi lost the abrupt clicks (the various manners of ǂ and ǃ) found in its relatives. It reacquired ǃ from Nguni Bantu languages, but clicks remained relatively infrequent, compared to other Tuu languages. It also had a series of uvular plosives not found in other Tuu languages.[6]
| Pulmonic consonants | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | central | lateral | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ɢ | |||
| tenuis | t | k | q | ʔ | |||||
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ | kʰ | kʰ | qʰ | |||
| Affricate | voiceless | ts tx |
tɬ | tʃ | kx | kʟ̝̊ | |||
| voiced | dz | dʒ | |||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | ɬ | ʃ | x | h | |||
| voiced | β | z | ɮ | ɦ | |||||
| Sonorant | r | l | j | w | |||||
| Glottalic consonants | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | |||||
| Plosive | tʼ | cʼ | kʷʼ | qʼ | ||
| Affricate | tsʼ | tʃʼ | kxʼ | kʟ̝̊ʼ | ||
| Lingual consonants | Labial | Dental | Alveolar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | ||||
| Nasal | modal | ᵑʘ | ᵑǀ | ᵑǃ | ᵑǁ |
| glottalized | ǀˀ | ǁˀ | |||
| murmured | ᵑǀʱ | ᵑǁʱ | |||
| Plosive | voiced | ᶢǀ | ᶢǃ | ᶢǁ | |
| tenuis | ʘ | ǀ | ǃ | ǁ | |
| Affricate | ʘx | ǀx | ǃx | ǁx | |
References[edit]
- ^ ǁXegwi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "//Xegwi". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ^ Traill, A. "The Khoesan languages", in Mesthrie, Rajend Language in South Africa, Cambridge U.P., 2004
- ^ Davie, Kevin. "The secret pool of surviving Bushmen at Chrissiesmeer". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
- ^ Yvonne Treis, 1998, "Names of Khoisan Languages and their Variants"
- ^ Anthony Traill, 1999. Extinct South African Khoisan Languages.
External links[edit]
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