ǁXegwi language explained

ǁXegwi
Region:Lake Chrissie
Ethnicity:Tlou-tle
Extinct:1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda
Ref:e18
Familycolor:Khoisan
Fam1:Tuu
Fam2:ǃKwi
Fam3:Eastern
Iso3:xeg
Linglist:xeg.html
Glotto:xegw1238
Glottorefname://Xegwi
Notice:IPA
States:South Africa
Nativename:giǁkwi꞉gwi
kiǁkwi꞉gwi

ǁXegwi (pronounced), 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.[1] However, a reporter for the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian reports that ǁXegwi may still be spoken in the Chrissiesmeer district.[2]

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 pronounced as /[k͡ʟ̝̊ouk͡ʟ̝̊e]/. The Nguni (Zulu and Swazi) called them (a)batwa, amaNkqeshe, amaNgqwigqwi; the Sotho called them Baroa/Barwa.[3]

Phonology

ǁXegwi lost the abrupt clicks (the various manners of ǂ and ǃ) found in its relatives. It reacquired pronounced as /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.[4]

! rowspan=2
BilabialAlveolarPalatalVelarUvularGlottal
central lateralcentral lateral
Nasalpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
tenuispronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
ejectivepronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
voicelesspronounced as /link/
pronounced as /tx/
pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
ejectivepronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
voicelesspronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Sonorantpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
! rowspan=2
LabialDentalAlveolar
centrallateral
modalpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
glottalizedpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
murmuredpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
voicedpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
aspiratedpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
tenuispronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Affricatetenuispronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
ejectivepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Oral and nasal vowels!!Front!Back
Highpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Lowpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Pharyngealized vowels[5] !!Front!Back
Highpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Lowpronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Traill, A. . The Khoesan languages . Mesthrie . Rajend . Language in South Africa . Cambridge University Press . 2002 . 10.1017/CBO9780511486692.003 . 42. 978-0-521-79105-2 .
  2. News: Davie . Kevin . The secret pool of surviving Bushmen at Chrissiesmeer . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20110729174225/http://mg.co.za:80/article/2011-06-24-the-secret-pool-of-surviving-bushmen-at-chrissiesmeer . 2011-07-29 . 2018-03-04 . The Mail & Guardian . en.
  3. Book: Treis, Yvonne . Names of Khoisan languages and their variants . Language, identity, and conceptualization among the Khoisan . Mathias . Schladt . Rüdiger Köppe Verlag . 463–503 . 1998 . 978-3-89645-143-9.
  4. Anthony . Traill . 1999 . Extinct: South African Khoisan Languages . CD.
  5. Book: Honken, Henry . ǁX'egwi . Oxford . Oxford University Press . 2020 . Rainer . Vossen . Gerrit J. . Dimmendaal . The Oxford Handbook of African Languages . 670–681.