is xhosa a khoisan language

The first Bible translation was in 1859, produced in part by Henry Hare Dugmore. In 1996[update], the literacy rate for first-language Xhosa speakers was estimated at 50%.[15]. Starostin (2013) accepts a relationship between Sandawe and Khoi is plausible, as is one between Tuu and Kxa, but sees no indication of a relationship between Sandawe and Khoi on the one hand and Tuu and Kxa on the other, or between any of them and Hadza. sas 1. Ejective consonants The San were formerly called Bushmen, (from . "Khoisan." Masaaba, Fang, Bulu, The breathy voiced glottal fricative [] is sometimes spelled h. The ejectives tend to be ejective only in careful pronunciation or in salient positions and, even then, only for some speakers. But, as with any language, Xhosa had a rich history of oral traditions from which the society taught, informed, and entertained one another. The verb is modified by affixes to mark subject, object, tense, aspect and mood. Northern Ndebele (South Africa), It is closely related to Zulu, Swati, and Ndebele. 4 Before monosyllabic stems in some words. That is, da may be pronounced [da] (or, equivalently, [da]). films, plays and songs. Nyamwezi, Southern Ndebele, / The Kxa family is a relatively distant relationship formally demonstrated in 2010.[11]. On commence, ce tour d'horizon des onze langues officielles en Afrique du Sud par le xhosa. No change when the following consonant is itself a nasal. The origin of Khoisan click consonants and their peculiarly African provenance therefore remains a mystery. In South Africa a variation of this process allowed the Khoisan languages to exert a powerful linguistic influence on the dominant languages before they disappeared, leaving Afrikaans and some Bantu languages with a number of distinctive Khoisan features. This click is like the sound people make to call horses. Hadza (Hatsa), one of the East African Khoisan languages, is a remarkable exception to this, having retained its vitality through a pattern of stable bilingualism with Swahili, the dominant Bantu language in the area. Snyman, Jan Winston. Although little Kwadi data is available, proto-KhoeKwadi reconstructions have been made for pronouns and some basic vocabulary. . This ritual vocabulary of the Lardil of Australia contains some words with clicks together with other peculiar sounds, but the use of clicks is limited, and they have a symbolic value in addition to their linguistic function. The Xhosa number approximately 7.1-million, the majority of whom live in Eastern Cape, and ancient traditions remain strong in this proud people. The Khoisan, or Click, linguistic family is made up of three branches: the Khoisan languages of the San (Bushmen) and Khoikhoi, spoken in various parts of sub-Saharan Africa; Sandawe, a language found in E Africa; and Hatsa (Hadzane or Hadzapi), also spoken in E Africa. [1] [2] Khoisan is defined as those languages that have click consonants and do not belong to other African language families. Voiceless palatal plosive becomes voiced. Kikuyu, #VisitSouthAfrica https://t.co/xwXs0dxd2l, We've got you covered! (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), Some corrections to this page by Michael Peter Fstumum, Information about Xhosa | Total number of users in all countries is 19.2 million (. The word "Xhosa" is derived from the Khoisan language and means "angry men". 1998. At present, Xhosa is used as the main language of instruction in many primary schools and some secondary schools, but is largely replaced by English after the early primary grades, even in schools mainly serving Xhosa-speaking communities. The Bantu languages adopted the use of clicks from neighboring, displaced, or absorbed Khoisan populations (or from other Bantu languages), often through intermarriage, while the Dahalo are thought to have retained clicks from an earlier language when they shifted to speaking a Cushitic language; if so, the pre-Dahalo language may have been something like Hadza or Sandawe. [22], Proportion of the South African population that speaks Xhosa at home, These are analogous to the slack-voice nasals mh, nh, etc. women are easily recognised by their heavy dress, matching turban and coloured dots decorating their faces. The red letters are orthographic representations of the sounds. The chart below (taken from Some elements of the structure of the Xhosa verb) shows some of the possible slots for prefixes and suffixes. Mpondo (Pondo), Xesibe, Bomwana, Gaika, Gcaleka, Thembu, Mpondomise, Ndlambe (Ethnologue). The spirits of those who have passed on are honoured in rituals and ceremonies. For example. Tswa, The prenasalized versions have a very short voicing at the onset which then releases in an ejective, like the prenasalized affricates, while the phonemically nasal clicks have a very long voicing through the consonant. (Their numbers have been included under Nama above.) Unfortunately, many of these languages have left behind no written records, so their loss is permanent. "History of Click-Speaking Populations of Africa Inferred from mtDNA and Y Chromosome Genetic Variation", "The Kxa Family: A New Khoisan Genealogy", . Khoisan / k s n /, or Khoe-Sn (pronounced [kxoesan]), according to the contemporary Khoekhoegowab orthography, is a catch-all term for those indigenous peoples of Southern Africa who do not speak one of the Bantu languages, combining the Khoekhoen (formerly "Khoikhoi") and the Sn or Skhoen (Saake in the Nng language).. Xhosa, which is also known as Xosa or Koosa, is a clicking language. Shona, Clicks I don't know, but I think you can compare them to Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Thus, a more correct spelling is Khoesaan. Copyright 19982023 Simon Ager | Email: | Hosted by Kualo, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_language, https://www.memrise.com/course/1572/xhosa-an-intro/, http://xhosaculture.co.za/about-us/learn-xhosa/, https://www.twinkl.co.za/resources/south-africa-resources/isixhosa-foundation-phase-english-south-africa-suid-afrika/2, http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/xhosa.php, http://www.salanguages.com/isixhosa/xhowrd.htm, http://www.southafricalogue.com/travel-tips/south-african-phrases-xhosa.html. Adjectives, possessive pronouns and demonstratives agree with the noun they modify in class and number. A member of a Bantu people inhabiting the eastern part of Cape Province, South Africa. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. The Nguni languages are unique among Bantu languages in that they have imploded "clicking" phonemes. The South African Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts in Xhosa on both radio (on Umhlobo Wenene FM) and television, and films, plays and music are also produced in the language. When consonants are prenasalised, their pronunciation and spelling may change. I'm the 'guide' behind The Intrepid Guide, an Award-Winning site for travellers and language learners with thousands of readers, 1,000+ students, and a popular newsletter. The murmured clicks, plosives and affricates are only partially voiced, with the following vowel murmured for some speakers. There are no definite or indefinite articles. Enchantment winds through the Xhosa language, dress and rituals. Khoisan languages are best known for their use of click consonants as phonemes. No idea what a clicking language is? Nguni - a group of southern Bantu languages . Kuria, Archaeological evidence suggests that the Khoisan people appeared in southern Africa 60,000 years ago. Jita, Some languages have become extinct and others are endangered. [9] It has perhaps the heaviest functional load of click consonants in a Bantu language (approximately tied with Yeyi), with one count finding that 10% of basic vocabulary items contained a click.[10]. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Xhosa-language. Indeed, the use of the term 'Khoikhoi' meaning . In contrast to the San who spoke highly divergent languages, the Khoikhoi spoke closely related dialects of the same language. In, Sands, Bonny. 3. The murmur no longer shifts to the following vowel. However, linguists who study Khoisan languages reject their unity, and the name "Khoisan" is used by them as a term of convenience without any implication of linguistic validity, much as "Papuan" and "Australian" are. Day 1 and 2 highlights of the Africa Green Economic Summit The Khoisan people, who at various points have been referred to using the derogatory terms 'Bushmen' and 'Hottentots', as well as Kung, Kxoe, Khoi Khoi, Ovahimba, San, Vatua and !Xu, are an ethno-linguistic group that has traditionally been marginalised throughout South African history. Ernst Oswald Johannes Westphal is known for his early rejection of the Khoisan language family (Starostin 2003). The linguistic use of clicks, whether original or borrowed, is restricted to these few African languages, with one exception: Damin. The Khoisan language family is the smallest of the language families of Africa. in parts of Lesotho and Zimbabwe. 2. In, This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 12:02. Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. The word "Xhosa" is derived from the Khoisan language and means "angry men". The normal word order in Xhosa is Verb-Object (the subject is part of the verb compound). There are some exceptions, for instance, the Sandawe language in Tanzania whose speakers have maintained a relatively stable linguistic community. What separates her from other instructors is her ability to explain complex grammar in a no-nonsense, straightforward manner using her unique 80/20 method. Similarly, the tenuis (plain) clicks are often glottalised, with a long voice onset time, but that is uncommon. National Treasures Others think that Xhosa-speaking children should be taught in their native language in the early grades. Ancestors of the Xhosa migrated to the east coast of Africa and came across Khoisan-speaking people; "as a result of this contact, the Xhosa people borrowed some Khoisan words along with their pronunciation, for instance, the click sounds of the Khoisan languages". [12] It is the second most common Bantu home language in South Africa as a whole. There are five vowel phonemes, i.e., sounds that distinguish word meaning. The language of instruction at universities in South Africa is English or Afrikaans (to a diminishing extent[21]), and Xhosa is taught as a subject, both for native and for non-native speakers. "Die Khoisan-Familie." Learn more about the Nilo-Saharan language family on Ethnologue. Pair them with vowels, tones, and other constants and you've got a wide variety of sounds and meanings. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. are about 8.2 million native speakers of Xhosa, and another 11 million Xhosa (/ks, kos/,[5][6][7] Xhosa pronunciation:[ksa]), formerly spelled Xosa and also known by its local name isiXhosa, is a Nguni language and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. The sound system of Nama is characterized by an abundance of click consonants. Their language is often called the 'click ' language because of its three dominant clicks, which entered the isi Xhosa language when the Nguni arrivals mixed with the Khoisan. They Want my "9 Steps to Reach Fluency Faster" playbook? There are books, magazines and newspapers in Xhosa, as well as TV and radio programmes, films, plays and songs. Northern Ndebele (Zimbabwe), This process can skip rightwards to non-local syllables (i.e. The sound system of Xhosa contains three types of click sounds borrowed from the neighbouring Khoisan languages. All rights reserved. Featuring handcraft https://t.co/GiM3yZdgvg, Situated in Cape Town Hope street studios, lies the excellent & craftmanship of David Dindi Leather collection, a s https://t.co/zlW7cX54f8, Self-taught designer Nondwe Nyathi of Indwe Designs, draws inspiration from the elegant Blue crane, its stately pre https://t.co/Srk6KNK2lM, Cool Tabs A sustainable & profitable business owned by Aretha Doyle, re-purposes soda can tabs and transforms them https://t.co/qCZyAieYy7, SA Tourisms sustainability village at AGES showcases proudly S.A eco and environmentally friendly products. isandla/izandla (hand/hands). Damin is an invented ritual language, and has nothing to do with Khoisan. A preliminary classification of the !X and u'hasi dialects. ), Khoisan Linguistic Studies . Xhosa may refer to: Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa. As with other South African languages, Xhosa is characterized by respectful forms of address for elders and in-laws. Xhosa is closely related to Zulu, The Khoisan (Khoesan) language family is the smallest of the language families of Africa. Xhosa uses a system of tones to distinguish words that would otherwise sound the same. Xhosa beliefs recognise the presence of ancestral spirits and a supreme authority. Xhosa beliefs dictate that people turn to a diviner or healer, usually attired in a headdress and shawl of fur, when needing advice on how to deal with the spirits, help with illnesses, or to ward off evil from unnatural forces such as thetokoloshe a potentially malevolent goblin who attacks at night. Thus, a more correct spelling isKhoesaan. Language use is quite strong among the 20,000 speakers of Naro,[clarification needed] half of whom speak it as a second language. A dental click sounds like tsk, tsk! In, Honken, Henry. Xhosa is categorized as a Bantu language and is representative of the south-western Nguni subfamily group. A certain headdress will be a worn by a newly married girl, while a woman who has just given birth to her first child will wear a differently styled headdress. Consequently, the languages with the greatest numbers of consonants in the world are Khoisan. Omissions? for $0.07/word. Bonke abantu banesiphiwo sesazela nesizathu Ever since Xhosa and Zulu were reduced to a written form in the early 19th century, Xhosa and Zulu writers have produced various works of fiction, ranging from poetry to novels. (Free PDF Download). https://www.twinkl.co.za/resources/south-africa-resources/isixhosa-foundation-phase-english-south-africa-suid-afrika/2, Online Xhosa dictionaries Traill demonstrated this linguistic diversity in the data presented in the below table. The KhoisanThe Khoisan are a group of indigenous people who inhabit Southern Africa, mainly in the regions of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Zambia. It is spoken by the Xhosa people in South Africa, and has around 8 million speakers. Languages such as Zulu and Xhosa make use of three of the five kinds of clicks. Swati, 'The adaptation of non-click consonants in Xhosa'. Xhosa has several dialects, including Mpondo (Pondo), Xesibe, Bomwana, Gaika, Gcaleka, Thembu, Mpondomise, Ndlambe (Ethnologue). In Haacke, Wilfrid and Elderkin, Edward Derek (eds. #VisitSouthAfrica https://t.co/EHxIRKzU37, RT @FIAFormulaE: The Rainbow Nation [11] Zunda languages effectively form a dialect continuum of variously mutually intelligible varieties. A Xhosa initiate, undergoing a . The Tuu family consists of two language clusters, which are related to each other at about the distance of Khoekhoe and Tshukhwe within Khoe. Most have no written record. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Some support the use of English and see its use in education as de facto segregation. Other Bantu Languages include the Xhosa and Zulu languages, two languages famous for their large number of click consonants developed through their extended interaction with the Khoisan languages of Southern Africa. Nama, the largest Khoisan language, is officially recognized in Namibia and is taught at universities. The inventory is taken from Wikipedia. All Rights Reserved. The release of the forward closure results in a pop-like sound. http://www.southafricalogue.com/travel-tips/south-african-phrases-xhosa.html, Basaa, Southern Khoisan languages have a very high ratio of words containing clicks as compared to those that do not contain them. Xhosa. Literary works, including prose and poetry, are available in Xhosa, as are newspapers and magazines. Like what you see? Click here to claim your exclusive 30% discount. Xhosa is considered to be a Category II language in terms of difficulty for speakers of English. uku-bhal+wa -> ukubhalwa "to be written", instead of illicit *ukujalwa). The sustainability village focused on boo https://t.co/BDeRnlGHot, Experience the most exciting electric street racing here in Cape Town as the world's best street racers battle. https://t.co/ZihxkpWwe7, Undoubtedly the best spots to experience unbridled views of the Mother City. In southern Africa, they came into contact with Khoisan-speaking people. 3 The placeholder N in the prefixes iN- and iiN- is a nasal consonant which assimilates in place to the following consonant (producing an im- before vowels), but is typically absent in loanwords. Its great for beginners getting started in a language and invaluable for intermediates looking to fill in gaps in their vocabulary and pronunciation. ", Commission for Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Community Rights, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Khoisan_languages&oldid=1132757639, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from July 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2019, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Ehret, Christopher. 2003. Italian for Confident Conversations (A2-B2). #CapeTownEPrix The onset cluster /kl/ from phonologized loanwords such as, The unwritten glottal stop is present in words like, In informal writing, this murmured consonant can sometimes be seen spelled as, sebenz + -is + -el +wa -> setyenziselwa [setenziselwa] (used for), This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 23:55. The original ancestor is Tshawe, but it is direct family members that Xhosa people call upon for guidance, support and to turn the tide of favour. Densely populated with uncommon consonants, Xhosa consists of the usual pulmonic egressive sounds (used in English), ejectives, 15 clicks and an implosive. These are the only languages known to have clicks in normal vocabulary. Today, the few scholars working on these languages treat the three [southern groups] as independent language families that cannot or can no longer be shown to be genetically related" (p.841). Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Free State and Northern Cape. (They may also be voiced between vowels in some speaking styles.) Khoisan Last but not least is the Khoisan family with between 40 - 70 members. As in other Bantu languages, nouns in Xhosa are classified into morphological classes, or genders (15 in Xhosa), with different prefixes for both singular and plural.

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