| ǀxam | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | South Africa, Lesotho |
| Extinct | 19?? |
| Language family |
Tuu
|
| Dialects | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | either: xam – ǀxam proper kqu – Seroa |
ǀXam, or ǀXam Kaǃkʼe, is an extinct Khoisan language of South Africa, part of the ǃkwi language group. It is closely related to the Nǁng language, which still has a few speakers.
The bar symbol in the name "ǀxam" represents a dental click like the English interjection tsk, tsk! used to express pity or shame. The "x" represents the ch sound of Scottish Gaelic loch, German Bach, or Hebrew Chanukkah.
ǀxam words were used for the South African motto adopted on 27 April 2000,
which is supposed to mean diverse people unite or, on a collective scale, Unity in Diversity. However, it is not known if that phrase would have been idiomatic in ǀxam. ǀxam is not one of the eleven official languages of South Africa because it is extinct and has no more speakers (mother or second tongue).
Much of the scholarly work on the ǀXam language was performed by Wilhelm Bleek, a German linguist of the 19th century.
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