is xhosa a khoisan language is xhosa a khoisan language

Author of, Professor Emeritus, Department of Linguistics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. As a Bantu language, Xhosa and Zulu people are often able to understand one another. They are now held to comprise three distinct language families and two language isolates. Bonny Sands (1998) concluded that the family is not demonstrable with current evidence. A century ago the Haiom people spoke a Ju dialect, probably close to Kung, but they now speak a divergent dialect of Nama. Xhosa nouns belong to 17 different classes, roughly based on semantic categories, e.g., there are classes for human beings, animals, plants, objects of various shapes, etc. No part of this site shall be reproduced, copied, or otherwise distributed without the express, written consent of SouthAfrica.com. 9 reasons youre not fluentYET & how to fix it! South Africa is the native land of Xhosa, which is spoken chiefly in the Eastern Cape Province. This creates a sound somewhat resembling a cork being pulled out of a bottle. Clicks are ingressive consonantal stops produced by an intake of air followed by a sudden withdrawal of the tongue from the soft palate, front teeth, or back teeth and hard palate. Northern Ndebele (South Africa), Nguni languages | Britannica Tribal Wars and European Persecution . Learning materials, Information about the Xhosa language The term is a compound adapted from the words khoekhoe person and saan bush dweller in Nama, one of the Khoisan languages, and scholars have applied the wordseither separately or conjoinedto refer to economic, social, physical, and linguistic features of certain aboriginal groups of southern and eastern Africa. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Therefore, Xhosa and Zulu people frequently understand one another, even if they are each speaking their mother tongue. It is a Methodist hymn written in Xhosa by Enoch Sontonga in 1897. As with other South African languages, Xhosa is characterized by respectful forms of address for elders and in-laws. #VisitSouthAfrica https://t.co/EHxIRKzU37, RT @FIAFormulaE: The Rainbow Nation An estimated 15% of Xhosa vocabulary is of Khoisan origin. Khoisan languages | Britannica However, tones are usually not indicated in writing. The best-known performer of Xhosa songs outside South Africa was Miriam Makeba, whose Click Song #1 (Xhosa Qongqothwane) and "Click Song #2" (Baxabene Ooxam) are known for their large number of click sounds. [8] Xhosa is spoken as a first language by approximately 10 million people and as a second language by another 11 million, mostly in South Africa, particularly in Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape and Gauteng, and also in parts of Zimbabwe and Lesotho. This distinctive linguistic characteristic was adopted by a number of neighbouring Bantu languages, such as Xhosa and Zulu in South Africa. The Juhoan language has 48 click consonants among nearly as many non-click consonants, strident and pharyngealized vowels, and four tones. 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. There are books, It is a national of Namibia, along with English and a number of other regional languages. Xhosa traditions; Eastern Cape; Nguni; Khoisan; culture; ancestor http://ilanguages.org/xhosa.php Xhosa, along with Zulu and other indigenous languages of South Africa, has been a source of many words that were borrowed by South African English and that do not occur in other varieties of English in other parts of the world. 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. Michele creates language learning guides and courses for travel. This term, now considered derogatory, means stutterer in Dutch. National Treasures for $0.07/word. [6] Dimmendaal (2008) summarized the general view with, "it has to be concluded that Greenberg's intuitions on the genetic unity of Khoisan could not be confirmed by subsequent research. Updates? The verb "nga" has a variety of forms . Here's 10 things you didn't know about this incredib, We're proud of you @KelvinvdLinde They are called upon for guidance, support. The debate about these relationships remains a prominent feature in the linguistic study of Khoisan languages, and the disagreements that sustain it have never been satisfactorily resolved. Central Khoisan, the largest group, includes Nama (Khoekhoe, Khoekhoegowab) and Haiom (Saan) spoken in Namibia, and smaller languages spoken in the Kalahari desert of Botswana. #CapeTownEPrix Who Are The Xhosa People, And Where Do They Live? - WorldAtlas 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. Traduzioni in contesto per "Xhosa" in inglese-ucraino da Reverso Context: Ubuntu is a concept and a term from several South African languages, including Zulu and Xhosa. Bukusu, Like other Bantu languages, Xhosa is rich in expressions, idioms, and proverbs. 1988. Pair them with vowels, tones, and other constants and you've got a wide variety of sounds and meanings. tsk! There are books, magazines and newspapers in Xhosa, as well as TV and radio programmes, films, plays and songs. Linguistics 112 lecture, Department of Linguistics. 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. In Nguni. This process can skip rightwards to non-local syllables (i.e. The 15 clicks (which learners tend to battle with the most) are divided into three categories. Anthony Traill noted the Khoisan languages' extreme variation. The pocket of air produced by the resulting enclosure is rarefied by the sucking action of the tongue. The word order is subjectverbobject, like in English. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Tumbuka, Mende, Fang, The language is marked by the large number of click consonant sounds used. Bulu, Two languages of east Africa, those of the Sandawe and Hadza, originally were also classified as Khoisan, although their speakers are ethnically neither Khoikhoi nor San. Xhosa is closely related to Zulu, The branches that were once considered part of so-called Khoisan are now considered independent families, since it has not been demonstrated that they are related according to the standard comparative method. 1998. Tradues em contexto de "Khoisan" en portugus-ingls da Reverso Context : Palavras-chave: Khoisan; reconciliation; identity; narrative; communication. Contact Us, 8.2 million people and by 11 million as a second language in South Africa, mostly in Eastern Cape Province and Transkei. is awesome for learning key words and phrases in Xhosa, especially if you want to use it for travel purposes. English. [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]. Prenasalisation occurs in several contexts, including on roots with the class 9 prefix /iN-/, for example on an adjective which is feature-matching its noun: /iN- + / [int] "beautiful" (of a class 9 word like inja "dog"). De Aar is the commercial center for the wool production and livestock farming industry in this semi-arid region of South Africa. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Their language is often called the click language because of its three dominant clicks, which entered the isiXhosa language when the Nguni arrivals mixed with the Khoisan. isandla/izandla (hand/hands). 4 Before monosyllabic stems in some words. Kikuyu, In this view Khoisan hunters might have developed clicks to camouflage their presence as they stalked their prey in an environment of insect and other noises or might have responded to various situations with onomatopoetic vocalizations containing clicks. Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. Xhosa is also heard in Johannesburg and the Western Cape. In, Honken, Henry. 2000. Subscribe using the form below to have all of my posts delivered directly to your email. (Free PDF Download). Ernst Oswald Johannes Westphal is known for his early rejection of the Khoisan language family (Starostin 2003). The Khoisan languages share some similarities in their extremely complex sound systems. Kirundi, Although Xhosa and Zulu are similar enough to be considered dialects of one language, Xhosa and Zulu speakers consider them to be separate languages. The Zulu refer to the Eastern Cape as KwaXhosa which is translated to place of the Xhosa. But this line of thinking has proved fruitless. Tone, stress and vowel length are not indicated. The following three are languages from the Khoe family, the Kxa family, and the Tuu family, respectively. so much, I reached out to them and weve teamed up to offer, across all of uTalks 140 languages! Learn more about the Nilo-Saharan language family on Ethnologue. Xhosa is a member of the Southeastern, or Nguni, subgroup of the Bantu group of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. These famous click sounds are found in Khoisan languages (alternative names include Khoesaan or Khoesan). The Khoe family appears to have migrated to southern Africa not long before the Bantu expansion. It has 18 click consonants (in comparison, Ju'hoan, spoken in Botswana and Namibia, has 48, and Taa, with roughly 4,000 speakers in Botswana, has 83). Xhosa beliefs recognise the presence of ancestral spirits and a supreme authority. I promise not to spam you. [13] There is a small but significant Xhosa community of about 200,000 in Zimbabwe. They are marked with a raised //. [20] The Bantu ancestor of Xhosa did not have clicks, which attests to a strong historical contact with a Khoisan language that did. The murmured clicks, plosives and affricates are only partially voiced, with the following vowel murmured for some speakers. Janina Brutt-Griffler claims, "given that such colonial borders were generally arbitrarily drawn, they grouped large numbers of ethnic groups that spoke many languages." Its great for beginners getting started in a language and invaluable for intermediates looking to fill in gaps in their vocabulary and pronunciation. Enchantment winds through the Xhosa language, dress and rituals. The other Khoisan languages are unrecognized and marginalized, especially in South Africa. They are truly voiced only after nasals, but the oral occlusion is then very short in stops, and it usually does not occur at all in clicks. Xhosa Language - Dialects & Structure - MustGo It is closely related to Zulu, Swati, and Ndebele. 2003. . The sound system of Xhosa contains three types of click sounds borrowed from the neighbouring Khoisan languages. 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. There are five vowel phonemes, i.e., sounds that distinguish word meaning. The Kxa family is a relatively distant relationship formally demonstrated in 2010.[11]. Chokwe, (Let's learn together!). Zinza, Photography and infographics cannot be used without permission.Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms and Conditions, Language Learning for Travellers & Heritage Learners, Italian Travel Phrases Cheat-Sheet! 15% of its vocabulary is estimated to be of Khoekhoe (Khoisan) origin. Proto-Central-Khoisan. In, Honken, Henry. secondary schools. "Phonetic Correspondences among Khoisan Affricates." Herero, http://learn101.org/xhosa.php Gogo, Learning Xhosa is a challenging, but rewarding experience. As an example, the composition of the verb In the sentence Un-ntwana u-ya-wa-sel-a ama-nzi One child drinks water is shown below. , "A Lexicostatistical Approach towards Reconstructing Proto-Khoisan", "From modern Khoisan languages to Proto-Khoisan: The Value of Intermediate Reconstructions. Baucom, Kenneth L. 1974. Southern Ndebele, http://www.southafricalogue.com/travel-tips/south-african-phrases-xhosa.html, Basaa, The /i/ vowel is long in the penultimate syllable and short in the last syllable.[16]. Ganda/Luganda, Kuria, Fricatives become affricated and, if voiceless, they become ejectives as well: mf is pronounced [pf], ndl is pronounced [nd], n+hl becomes ntl [nt], n+z becomes ndz [ndz], n+q becomes [n] etc. Ejective consonants are pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis, raising air pressure in the mouth, so when the sound is released, there is a noticeable burst of air accompanying the release. If a woman has children, whom she has raised to be adults, then it is usual to find her seated among her peers smoking a long-handled pipe. (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights), Some corrections to this page by Michael Peter Fstumum, Information about Xhosa | Kiga, Nande, Sample basic vocabulary for Khoisan language families: On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Xhosa is the most widely distributed African language in South Africa, though the most widely spoken African language is Zulu. By creating an account, I agree to theTerms of service and Privacy policy. Most of the languages are endangered, and several are moribund or extinct. They are currently restricted to the Kalahari Desert, primarily in Namibia and Botswana, and to the Rift Valley in central Tanzania.[2]. [8] Despite their shared clicks, the Khoisan languages diverge significantly from each other. [4][5] It has been suggested that the similarities of the Tuu and Kxa families are due to a southern African Sprachbund rather than a genealogical relationship, whereas the Khoe (or perhaps KwadiKhoe) family is a more recent migrant to the area, and may be related to Sandawe in East Africa.[3]. 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. Xhosa | South African History Online Xhosa is a tonal language with two inherent phonemic tones: low and high. The Xhosa language (Isixhosa), of which there are variations, is part of the Nguni language group. By distribution over land, Xhosa is the most widely spoken African language (while Zulu is most widely spoken in terms of population). Khoisan languages, a unique group of African languages spoken mainly in southern Africa, with two outlying languages found in eastern Africa. We have loved having you in our country ! [12] It is the second most common Bantu home language in South Africa as a whole. The Xhosa noun consists of two essential parts, the prefix and the stem. Xhosa is rich in uncommon consonants. Lozi, Khoisan languages - Wikipedia (Click here for an audio sample of the extinct !Ora language.) Click consonants can be modified in a variety of ways. #CapeTownEPrix Ronga, [citation needed], Khoisan was proposed as one of the four families of African languages in Joseph Greenberg's classification (19491954, revised in 1963). Look up Xhosa or xhosa in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Forms of "Nga" ##. Konjo, Agreements usually reflect part of the original class with which the word agrees. Fricatives become affricates. Kimbundu, Thus their language is variously said to be extinct or to have 18,000 speakers, to be Ju or to be Khoe. Ngqika is considered to be the standard variety. Xhosa - definition of Xhosa by The Free Dictionary Densely populated with uncommon consonants, Xhosa consists of the usual pulmonic egressive sounds (used in English), ejectives, 15 clicks and an implosive. In, Khler, O. Of these languages, Xhosa, Zulu, Ndebele and Yeyi have intricate systems of click consonants; the others, despite the click in the name Gciriku, more rudimentary ones. That is, da may be pronounced [da] (or, equivalently, [da]). In Xhosa culture, women are easily recognised by their heavy dress, matching turban and coloured dots . The first is dental clicks with the tongue pressing against the back of the teeth. ), Africa: Journal of the International African Institute. For the Mande language spoken in Burkina Faso, see, Map showing the distribution of the Khoisan languages (yellow), Grammatically, the southern Khoisan languages are generally, Greenberg, Joseph H. 1955. The last is a lateral click with the tongue at the side of the mouth. While palatalisation occurred historically, it is still productive, as is shown by palatalization before the passive suffix /-w/ and before diminutive suffix /-ana/. "History of Click-Speaking Populations of Africa Inferred from mtDNA and Y Chromosome Genetic Variation", "The Kxa Family: A New Khoisan Genealogy", . The Xhosas started facing serious trouble during the 18th and 19th Centuries when they engaged in frequent conflicts with the European settlers attempting to annex their native lands. iliso (eye), uluhlu (list). The majority of languages which contain clicks originate with the Khoisan languages. Mbunda, Language/Xhosa/Grammar/How-to-Use-Have - polyglotclub.com Xhosa is an unusual and attractive sounding language, though difficult to master. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site. #VisitSouthAfrica https://t.co/ncCaKrq4Fa, The Summit includes a Sustainability Village that aims to boost the local economy and power positive economic activ https://t.co/OEOnUXyWdU, Clareb accessories is your one stop shop for all things, unique earrings, necklaces, bracelets. This offer. Xhosa is a member of the Southeastern, or Nguni, subgroup of the Bantu group of the Benue-Congo branch of the Niger-Congo language family. Are Xhosa and Zulu Bantu, Khoisan or mixed? - Quora The Khoe family is both the most numerous and diverse family of Khoisan languages, with seven living languages and over a quarter million speakers. Chichewa, [12] However, this classification is not widely accepted. Implosive consonants Long vowels are phonemic but are usually not written except for and , which are each sequences of two vowels with different tones that are realized as long vowels with contour tones ( highlow = falling, lowhigh = rising). The original stanza was: Additional stanzas were written later by Sontonga and other writers, with the original verse translated into Sotho and Afrikaans, as well as English. Below is a table of Xhosa consonants. Their language is often called the click, language because of its three dominant clicks, which. Southern Khoisan has a fifth click, the bilabial . Besides clicks, Khoisan languages have non-click consonants, giving rise to very complex consonantal systems which are amongst the largest in the world. Total number of users in all countries is 19.2 million (. Verbs use the following prefixes for the subject and object: The following is a list of phrases that can be used when one visits a region whose primary language is Xhosa: Xhosa-speaking people have inhabited coastal regions of southeastern Africa since before the 16th century. 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. It is also taught in universities. Introduction to African Languages | The African Language Program at Harvard While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Nguni languages are, in turn, classified under the much larger abstraction of Bantu languages. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. 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". In A. Traill (ed. "Comparison and Classification of Khoisan languages." A system for writing Xhosa using the Latin alphabet was devised by OshiWambo, In, This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 12:02. A palatal click is a sharp pop made by drawing the tongue down quickly from the roof of the mouth. The Khoisan people have a unique language that is characterized by clicking sounds made with the tongue and mouth. When visiting the Eastern Cape be sure to ask an amaXhosa to teach you a few phrases, they are certain to be willing to share their unique language with you. The chart below (taken from Some elements of the structure of the Xhosa verb) shows some of the possible slots for prefixes and suffixes. Ikizu, Foreign language learning is real world education, /c, , , , x, , / have no equivalents in English. All click and most non-click consonants appear at the beginning of words and are followed by a vowel. Implosive consonants are produced by inhaling rather than exhaling the air. In southern Africa, they came into contact with Khoisan-speaking people. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Khoisan people appeared in southern Africa some 60,000 years ago. In, Treis, Yvonne. 1 Before monosyllabic stems, e.g. See also Khoisan languages, which contains several audio clips. http://www.salanguages.com/isixhosa/xhowrd.htm It is closely related to Zulu, Swati, and Ndebele. Rafiki, the sagely mandrill chants Xhosa on The Lion King and its reboot. Xhosa has the following clicks consonants which can be modified in a variety of ways, such as aspirated, breathy-voiced or nasalized. Xhosa has a Roman-based orthography which was developed by missionaries in the 19th century and adapted to represent the sounds of the language. Copyright 1995-2023 Southafrica.com. 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. Khoisan languages are best known for their use of click consonants as phonemes. University of Cambridge Language Centre Resources - Xhosa Xhosa - Wikipedia Author of. Xhosa is listed amongst South Africa's 11 official languages and is spoken by approximately 18% of the country's population (plus-minus 7.9 million individuals). Masaaba, Northern Sotho, Dental clicks are represented by the letter c, alveolar clicks are indicated by q, and lateral clicks are written with the letter x. Vowel length is not always represented in writing. [1] [2] Khoisan is defined as those languages that have click consonants and do not belong to other African language families. Xhosa is one of four sister languages called Nguni Languages (Ndebele, Swati, Xhosa and Zulu) which are all mutually intelligible. There are five places of articulation at which click consonants occur. In, Sands, Bonny. Clicks Translate English to Xhosa online | Translate.com Christian missionaries during the early 19th century. 2 is- and iz- replace isi- and izi- respectively before stems beginning with a vowel, e.g. Xhosa uses a system of tones to distinguish words that would otherwise sound the same. 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. Xhosa Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster Ewondo, Because I believe in uTalk so much, I reached out to them and weve teamed up to offer you an exclusive 30% OFF reader discount across all of uTalks 140 languages! Italian for Confident Conversations (A2-B2). / The word lives on, however, in the names of several African animal and plant species, such as the Hottentot Fig or Carpobrotus. Swati, Khoisan languages, characterised by implosive consonants or 'clicks', belonged to a totally different language family from those of the Bantu speakers. Comorian, Lambya, Kinyarwanda, A Niger-Congo language and a member of the Bantu family (Nguni group), spoken by more than 5 million people in the south-eastern part of South Africa, most notably in Cape Province and Transkei; also known as isiXhosa. 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. Occasionally other languages are said by laypeople to have "click" sounds. Tones are rarely marked in the written language, but they can be indicated a [], [], [], []. The Khoisan languages ( / ksn /; also Khoesan or Khoesaan) are a number of African languages once classified together, originally by Joseph Greenberg. Tswa, Other figures are the huge lightning bird (. At the secondary level, instruction in schools serving Xhosa-speaking students is in English. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Bonke abantu bazalwa bekhululekile belingana ngesidima They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Corrections? They are typologically very similar to the Kxa languages (below), but have not been demonstrated to be related to them genealogically (the similarities may be an areal feature). Aspiration is lost on obstruents; ejection is added on voiceless consonant. Views on views on views Other Southeastern Bantu languages are Zulu, Swati (Swazi), Sotho, Tswana, Venda, and Ndebele. Watch this video of Miriam Makebas singQongqothwane in Xhosa, also known as The Click Song. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. The name Khoisan derives from the name of the Khoikhoi (people people or real people) group of South Africa and the San (Bushmen) group of Namibia.