Tshwa language should not be confused with Tshwa language (Bantu).
| Tsoa | |
| Also Known As: | Kua, "Koisan" |
| Nativename: | Hiechware |
| States: | Botswana, Zimbabwe |
| Date: | 2000–2013 |
| Ref: | e25 |
| Familycolor: | Khoisan |
| Fam1: | Khoe–Kwadi |
| Fam2: | Khoe |
| Fam3: | Kalahari (Tshu–Khwe) |
| Fam4: | East |
| Dia1: | Hiechware |
| Dia2: | Kua |
| Dia3: | Cire Cire |
| Nation: |  Zimbabwe (as 'Koisan') |
| Lc1: | hio |
| Ld1: | Tsoa |
| Lc2: | tyu |
| Ld2: | Kua |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Glotto: | tshw1239 |
| Glottorefname: | Tshwa Khoe |
Tsoa, Tshwa or Tshuwau, also known as Kua and Hiechware, is an East Kalahari Khoe dialect cluster spoken by several thousand people in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
One of the dialects is Tjwao (formerly spelled 'Tshwao'), the only Khoisan language in Zimbabwe, where "Koisan" is a language officially recognised in the constitution.
Tsoa–Kua is a dialect cluster, which is still poorly studied but seems to include:
The following inventory is of the Kua dialect:
| Alveolar | Lateral | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Click | nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||
| voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| ejective | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||||
| glottalized | 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/ | ||||||||
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| ejective | 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/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| Fricative | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| Rhotic | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| Clusters | ||||||||||||
| Click | pronounced as /ǀχ/ | pronounced as /ǁχ/ | ||||||||||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||||
| pronounced as /qǀ/ | pronounced as /qǃ/ | pronounced as /qǁ/ | pronounced as /qǂ/ | |||||||||
| pronounced as /ɢǀ/ | pronounced as /ɢǁ/ | |||||||||||
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||||
| Plosive | pronounced as /tχ/ | pronounced as /cχ/ | ||||||||||
| Affricate | pronounced as /tsχ/ | |||||||||||
| Ejective | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||||
| Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Lateral | Post- alveolar | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Click | nasal | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | |||||
| voiceless | 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/) | ||||||
| aspirated | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | ||||||
| glottalized | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| affricate | (pronounced as /ǀqχ/) | (pronounced as /ǁqχ/) | ||||||||
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| Plosive | voiceless | 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/ | |||||||
| Affricate | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | |||||||||
The clicks have a very uneven distribution: Only a dozen words begin with one of the palatal clicks (pronounced as /link/), and these are replaced by dental clicks (pronounced as /link/) among younger speakers. Only half a dozen words start with one of the alveolar clicks (pronounced as /link/), and half a dozen more with one of the affricated clicks. These rather marginal sounds are placed in parentheses in the chart.
| front | back | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| high | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | |
| mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |
| low | pronounced as /link/ pronounced as /link/ | ||
Tsoa has the five vowels pronounced as //a e i o u//, and three nasal vowels pronounced as //ĩ ã ũ//.[1] It is not clear if Tsoa has long vowels, or simply sequences of identical vowels pronounced as //aa ee ii oo uu//.
There are two tones, high and low, plus a few cases of mid tone.
In the northern dialect of Kua, like all other East Kalahari Khoe languages, the palatal click series has become palatal stops. Southern Kua has retained the palatal clicks, but the dental stops have palatalized, as they have in Gǀui and ǂʼAmkoe. Thus northern Kua has pronounced as //ɟua// 'ash' and pronounced as //d̪u// 'eland', whereas southern Kua has pronounced as /ᶢǂua/ 'ash' and pronounced as //d̪ʲu// (or perhaps pronounced as //ɟu//) 'eland'.[2]