ǁXegwi language
ǁXegwi, also known as Batwa, is an extinct ǃKwi language spoken at Lake Chrissie in South Africa, near the Swazi border. The last known speaker, Jopi Mabinda, was murdered in 1988.[3] However, a reporter for the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian reports that ǁXegwi may still be spoken in the Chrissiesmeer district.[4]
ǁXegwi | |
---|---|
Region | South Africa |
Ethnicity | Tlou-tle |
Extinct | 1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda[1] |
Tuu
| |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | xeg |
Glottolog | xegw1238 [2] |
The ǁXegwi name for their language has been spelled giǁkwi꞉gwi or kiǁkwi꞉gwi. Their name for themselves has been transcribed tlou tle or kxlou-kxle, presumably [k͡ʟ̝̊ouk͡ʟ̝̊e]. The Nguni (Zulu and Swazi) called them (a)batwa, amaNkqeshe, amaNgqwigqwi; the Sotho called them Baroa/Barwa.[5]
Phonology
ǁXegwi lost the abrupt clicks (the various manners of ǂ and ǃ) found in its relatives. It reacquired ǃ from Nguni Bantu languages, but clicks remained relatively infrequent, compared to other Tuu languages. It also had a series of uvular plosives not found in other Tuu languages.[6]
Pulmonic consonants | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | central | lateral | ||||||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
Plosive | voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ɢ | |||
tenuis | t | k | q | ʔ | |||||
aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ | kʰ | k͡ʟ̝̊ʰ | qʰ | |||
Affricate | voiceless | ts tx | tɬ | tʃ | kx | k͡ʟ̝̊ | |||
voiced | dz | dʒ | |||||||
Fricative | voiceless | s | ɬ | ʃ | x | h | |||
voiced | β | z | ɮ | ɦ | |||||
Sonorant | r | l | j | w |
Glottalic consonants | Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | |||||
Plosive | tʼ | cʼ | kʷʼ | qʼ | ||
Affricate | tsʼ | tʃʼ | kxʼ | k͡ʟ̝̊ʼ |
Lingual consonants | Labial | Dental | Alveolar | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
central | lateral | ||||
Nasal | modal | ᵑʘ | ᵑǀ | ᵑǃ | ᵑǁ |
glottalized | ǀˀ | ǁˀ | |||
murmured | ᵑǀʱ | ᵑǁʱ | |||
Plosive | voiced | ᶢǀ | ᶢǃ | ᶢǁ | |
tenuis | ʘ | ǀ | ǃ | ǁ | |
Affricate | ʘx | ǀx | ǃx | ǁx |
References
- ǁXegwi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
- Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "//Xegwi". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- Traill, A. "The Khoesan languages", in Mesthrie, Rajend Language in South Africa, Cambridge U.P., 2004
- Davie, Kevin. "The secret pool of surviving Bushmen at Chrissiesmeer". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
- Yvonne Treis, 1998, "Names of Khoisan Languages and their Variants"
- Anthony Traill, 1999. Extinct South African Khoisan Languages.