The Khoisan (Khoesan) language family is the smallest of the language families of Africa. Maore, Southern Khoisan has a fifth click, the bilabial . Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Rafiki, the sagely mandrill chants Xhosa on The Lion King and its reboot. Xhosa. Take a look at Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Xhosa. Translate files. These sounds were borrowed from the Khoisan languages of the original inhabitants of the area. sokwenza isenzo ongathanda ukuba senziwe kumzalwane wakho. Some scholars speculate that they might represent an earlier stage in the evolution of human language. Terms of Use It's a wrap! 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). But those simple 5 clicks can add a lot to a sentence. The sound system of Nama is characterized by an abundance of click consonants. 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. Tones are rarely marked in the written language, but they can be indicated a [], [], [], []. 15000 characters left today. Like other Southern Bantu languages, Xhosa has borrowed words from the Khoisan languages, as well as from English and Afrikaans. Xhosa is also heard in Johannesburg and the Western Cape. In all of the Southern African Khoisan languages, a simple rule applies to using the sound. The Xhosa language has been grouped into a number of dialects. The chart below (taken from Some elements of the structure of the Xhosa verb) shows some of the possible slots for prefixes and suffixes. 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. Kamba, For much of the 20th century, they were thought to be genealogically related to each other, but this is no longer accepted. 1991). The more notable characteristic is their depressor effect on the tone of the syllable.[19]. Lingala, This distinctive linguistic characteristic was adopted by a number of neighbouring Bantu languages, such as Xhosa and Zulu in South Africa. You can unsubscribe at any time. Kikuyu, Views on views on views 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). are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another The first Bible translation was in 1859, produced in part by Henry Hare Dugmore. https://t.co/qATXK8AEqg, A room filled with great minds, sharing a valuable outlook on living the legacy of the @NelsonMandela Foundation. Southern Ndebele, Tshiluba, Learning materials, Information about the Xhosa language In, Sands, Bonny. Author of, Professor Emeritus, Department of Linguistics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. A bilabial click is a pop made by bringing the lips together and releasing them, just like the sound of a kiss. Tradues em contexto de "Khoisan" en portugus-ingls da Reverso Context : Palavras-chave: Khoisan; reconciliation; identity; narrative; communication. Interestingly, the word Xhosa is from the Khoisan language and means "The angry men". Release of the forward closure results in a pop-like sound. Mende, Copyright 1995-2023 Southafrica.com. We use the verb "have" to denote possession, ownership, and other related meanings. Forming part of Durban's vibrant Golden Mile, the Bay of Plenty lies at the heart of the beachfront, with high-rise hotels and apartment buildings making the most of the stunning sea view. 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, ward off evil from unnatural forces such as the, a potentially malevolent goblin who attacks at night. The original and unique use of clicks in the Khoisan languages has invited speculation that these unusual sounds might reflect an earlier stage in the evolution of language when sounds were natural vocal adaptations to the environment. There are books, magazines and newspapers in Xhosa, as well as TV and radio programmes, films, plays and songs. 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. Khoisan languages are best known for their use of click consonants as phonemes. They 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. Their use in education has been governed by legislation, beginning with the Bantu Education Act, 1953.[12]. The Tuu family consists of two language clusters, which are related to each other at about the distance of Khoekhoe and Tshukhwe within Khoe. 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. Nguni languages are, in turn, classified under the much larger abstraction of Bantu languages. In keeping with many other Bantu languages, Xhosa is an agglutinative language, with an array of prefixes and suffixes that are attached to root words. The status of Xhosa, like all other African languages in the Republic of South Africa, is complex. Loma, A century ago the Haiom people spoke a Ju dialect, probably close to Kung, but they now speak a divergent dialect of Nama. Using the prefixes, nouns can be grouped into noun classes, which are numbered consecutively, to ease comparison with other Bantu languages. XXhosa tradition is an extremely powerful social force binding together these people of Eastern Cape province, most evident in Xhosa beliefs revering their ancestors. Xhosa is rich in uncommon consonants. The first is dental clicks with the tongue pressing against the back of the teeth. These are divided into North, Central and South Khoisan groups belonging to southern Africa, plus two Tanzanian isolates, Sandawe and Hadza (Hatsa), which possess a few words, affixes, and particles that justify the assumption of a distant relationship with Khoisan. https://www.twinkl.co.za/resources/south-africa-resources/isixhosa-foundation-phase-english-south-africa-suid-afrika/2, Online Xhosa dictionaries 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. There is some indication that Sandawe (about 40,000 speakers in Tanzania) may be related to the Khoe family, such as a congruent pronominal system and some good Swadesh-list matches, but not enough to establish regular sound correspondences. Copyright The Intrepid Guide Ltd 2022. A palatal click is a sharp pop made by drawing the tongue down quickly from the roof of the mouth. In Nguni. Xhosa is a tonal language with two inherent phonemic tones: low and high. 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. Anthony Traill at first accepted Khoisan (Traill 1986), but by 1998 concluded that it could not be demonstrated with current data and methods, rejecting it as based on a single typological criterion: the presence of clicks. No part of this site shall be reproduced, copied, or otherwise distributed without the express, written consent of SouthAfrica.com. These are typically written with characters such as and . Clicks are quite versatile as consonants, as they involve two articulations of the tongue which can operate partially independently. 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. Consequently, the languages with the greatest numbers of consonants in the world are Khoisan. Swahili, As a Bantu language, Xhosa and Zulu people are often able to understand one another. An alveolar click sounds like the popping of a cork made by putting the tongue just behind the ridge in back of the front teeth. 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. The pocket of air produced by the resulting enclosure is rarefied by the sucking action of the tongue. This creates a sound somewhat resembling a cork being pulled out of a bottle. Xhosa (formerly spelled Xosa) is an official language of South Africa, natively spoken by around 7.9 million people which is about around 16% of the population of South Africa. Christian missionaries during the early 19th century. Planning a trip? [11] Zunda languages effectively form a dialect continuum of variously mutually intelligible varieties. Enchantment winds through the Xhosa language, dress and rituals. [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. Tribal Wars and European Persecution . . A Beginners Guide Khoisan: Africas Clicking Languages. 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. Fricatives become affricates. Xhosa is, to a large extent, mutually intelligible with Zulu and with other Nguni languages to a lesser extent. Enchantment winds through the Xhosa language, dress and rituals. Colours | Learn more about the Nilo-Saharan language family on Ethnologue. Start learning here! Let us know where you'll be watching this weekend. We have loved having you in our country ! In, Honken, Henry. (Let's learn together!). Kongo, Pair them with vowels, tones, and other constants and you've got a wide variety of sounds and meanings. The spirits of those who have passed on are honoured in rituals and ceremonies. Besides clicks, Khoisan languages have non-click consonants, giving rise to very complex consonantal systems which are amongst the largest in the world. In Xhosa culture, women are easily recognised by their heavy dress, matching turban and coloured dots . In, Treis, Yvonne. Because Xhosa and Zulu are both classed as Bantu languages, they are quite similar. Nyamwezi, Updates? [12] It is the second most common Bantu home language in South Africa as a whole. 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! Want my "9 Steps to Reach Fluency Faster" playbook? Interestingly, the word Xhosa is from the Khoisan language and means The angry men. North Khoisan is spoken by hunter-gatherers mainly in Namibia. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Khoisan people appeared in southern Africa some 60,000 years ago. However, there is no scientific proof to support this hypothesis since all languages use sound symbolism to a lesser or greater extent. uku-sebenz-is-el + wa -> ukusetyenziselwa "be used for"), but does not affect morpheme-initial consonants (i.e. Phrases | 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. 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. Although mutually intelligible, they are considered to be separate languages for political and cultural reasons. Fang, Some languages have become extinct and others are endangered. Gogo, Luchazi, Xhosa is used in primary schools up to the second grade and is studied as a subject in both primary and secondary schools up to the tenth grade. Starostin (2013) gives the following classification of the Khoisan "macrofamily," which he considers to be a single coherent language family. The spirits of those who have passed on are honoured in rituals and ceremonies. 2005. Can you reproduce these click types? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). http://glosbe.com/en/xh/ https://www.memrise.com/course/1572/xhosa-an-intro/ #CapeTownEPrix Kuria, Of all the Khoisan languages, only Nama enjoys official recognition. After migrating to southern Africa, the Xhosa and Zulu adopted the click consonants unique to the Khoisan and loaned some words. This distinctive linguistic characteristic was adopted by a number of neighbouring Bantu languages, such as Xhosa and Zulu in South Africa. Southern Khoisan languages have a very high ratio of words containing clicks as compared to those that do not contain them. According to the 2011 census there It is a Methodist hymn written in Xhosa by Enoch Sontonga in 1897. She hypothesizes that this took place within efforts to prevent the spread of English during European colonization and prevent the entrance of the majority into the middle class.[7].
is xhosa a khoisan language