Khwe language
| Khwe | |
|---|---|
| Kxoe | |
| Native to | Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia |
Native speakers |
8,000 (2013)[citation needed] (7,000 Khwe and 1,000 ǁAni) |
|
Khoe
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
Either: xuu – Khwe hnh – ǁAni (Handa) |
Khwe AKA Kxoe (/ˈkweɪ/ or /ˈkɔɪ/) is a dialect continuum of the Khoe family of Namibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa, and small parts of Zambia, with some 11,000 speakers. It is learned locally as a second language in Namibia, but the language is being lost in Botswana as speakers shift to Tswana. Thousands of Kxoe were murdered in Angola after independence, as they had been used by the Portuguese as trackers, and the survivors fled to Zambia. However, some may have returned to Angola more recently.
There is currently a dictionary of the Kxoe language.
Name
Khwe is the preferred spelling of the Khwe people, also commonly written Khoe. Khoe-dam and Khwedam are also seen.
Other names and spellings of ǁAni include ǀAnda, Gǀanda, Handá, Gani, Tanne, and Tsʼéxa with various combinations of -kwe/khwe/khoe and -dam.
Speaker breakdown
Namibia: 3,700
Angola and Zambia: 300–400
Botswana: 2,700 (incl. 1,000 ǁAni)
South Africa: 1,300
Dialects
Eastern and Western dialects, ǁXom-Buma and ǁXo-Buga, have been largely leveled since resettlement in the mid 1970s. Khwe and ǁAni are an ethnic distinction, and in 2000 the two groups founded a committee to establish a common standard language.
Phonology
Khwe has 32 or 36 clicks, depending on whether one counts the four prenasalized clicks. There are four places of articulation, [ǀ], [ǃ], [ǂ], and [ǁ], each with several "releases". Miller (2011), in a comparative study with other languages, interprets the description in Kilian-Hatz (2003) as follows, illustrated with the palatal articulation:[1]
| Click | Description |
|---|---|
| ǂʰ | aspirated |
| ǂ | tenuis |
| ᶢǂ | voiced |
| ᵑǂ | nasal |
| ŋᶢǂ | prenasalized |
| ᵑǂˀ | glottalized nasal |
| ǂ͡q | linguo-pulmonic |
| ǂ͡χ | linguo-pulmonic fricative |
| ǂ͡χʼ | linguo-glottalic fricative |
Bibliography
- Kilian-Hatz, Christa (2003) Khwe Dictionary (with a supplement on Khwe place names by Matthias Brenzinger). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. ISBN 3-89645-083-2
References
- ↑ Amanda Miller, 2011. "The Representation of Clicks". In Oostendorp et al. eds., The Blackwell Companion to Phonology.
External links
- Map of Kxoe (Mbarakwengo) language from the LL-Map Project
- Khwe basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database
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