| Central ǃKung | |
| Also Known As: | Central ǃXun |
| States: | Namibia |
| Region: | Grootfontein |
| Speakers: | ? |
| Familycolor: | Khoisan |
| Fam1: | Kxʼa |
| Fam2: | ǃKung |
| Dia1: | Grootfontein ǃXuun |
| Iso3: | none |
| Glotto: | cent2300 |
| Glottorefname: | Central Ju |
| Notice: | IPA |
Central ǃKung (Central ǃXun), or Central Ju, is a language of the ǃKung dialect cluster, spoken in a small area of northern Namibia: Neitsas, in Grootfontein district, and Gaub, in Tsumeb district. It is frequently identified as Grootfontein ǃXuun, as most research has been done in Grootfontein. An identifying feature of Central ǃKung is a fifth series of clicks that are often retroflex. While Northern (Northwestern) and Southern (Southeastern) ǃKung are not mutually intelligible, it is not yet clear to what extent Central ǃKung is intermediate between them or intelligible with either.
Two dialects are identified as being Central ǃKung based on grammatical features:
In addition, the ǃKung dialects of Tsintsabis, Leeunes and Mangetti (different from Mangetti Dune) have retroflex clicks and so may belong here, though no grammatical information is available to classify them.
In Grootfontein ǃKung words which Doke (1926) and others have described as having retroflex clicks, Vedder (1910/1911) described a second series of lateral clicks in Gaub ǃKung. The retroflex clicks have also been reported as having a lateral release.
Grootfontein ǃKung is unusual in having true retroflex clicks, which are subapical for some speakers and have lateral release, as in the word for 'water', pronounced as /[ᶢú]/ (provisionally written g‼ú). There are thus five places of articulation in Grootfontein clicks, pronounced as //ǃ ǀ ǁ ǂ  //. These come in eight series, here represented with the retroflex articulation:
Lingual pronounced as // ʰ ᶢ ᵑ ᵑ̊ʰ//, glottalized pronounced as //ᵑ̊ˀ//, linguo-pulmonic pronounced as //χ//, linguo-glottalic pronounced as //͡kxʼ//Otherwise, the Grootfontein inventory is similar to that of Ekoka ǃKung, except that it lacks the (pre)voiced affricates pronounced as //dχ, dʒ, dʒʼ, dʃχʼ//.
The Grootfontein ǃKung language has a relatively large phonological inventory:
| Nasal | voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| Plosive | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| vl. aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| vd. aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| prenasal | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | ||||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| ejective | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| Clusters | |||||||||
| Plain + /χ/ | pronounced as /tχ/ | pronounced as /tʃχ/ | |||||||
| Plain + /χʼ/ | pronounced as /kχʼ/ | ||||||||
| Voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vl. aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Vd. aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Nl. aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Fortis | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Ejective | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Ej. aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Clusters | ||||||
| Plain + /χ/ | pronounced as /ǀχ/ | pronounced as /ǃχ/ | pronounced as /χ/ | pronounced as /ǂχ/ | pronounced as /ǁχ/ | |
| Plain + /χʼ/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| Voiced + /χʼ/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
Five vowel sounds in the ǃKung languages are realized as pronounced as /[i e a o u]/. The sounds may be articulated with nasalisation pronounced as /[ĩ ẽ ã õ ũ]/, breathy voice pronounced as /[iʱ eʱ aʱ oʱ uʱ]/, or pharyngealisation pronounced as /[iˤ eˤ aˤ oˤ uˤ]/. Some nasal vowels with diacritics may have combinations such as breathy + nasal pronounced as /[ãʱ õʱ]/, and pharyngeal + nasal pronounced as /[ãˤ õˤ ũˤ]/.
Following are sample sentences in Central ǃKung.[1]