ǁXegwi language

ǁXegwi
Region South Africa
Ethnicity Tlou-tle
Extinct 1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda[1]
Tuu
  • ǃKwi
    • ǁXegwi
Language codes
ISO 639-3 xeg
Glottolog xegw1238[2]

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]

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 [kouke]. 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
centrallateral centrallateral
Nasal mnɲŋ
Plosive voiced bdɟɡɢ
tenuis tkqʔ
aspirated pʰtʰcʰkʰkʰqʰ
Affricate voiceless ts
tx		tɬtʃkxkʟ̝̊
voiced dzdʒ
Fricative voiceless sɬʃxh
voiced βzɮɦ
Sonorant rljw
Glottalic consonants Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular
centrallateral
Plosive tʼcʼkʷʼqʼ
Affricate tsʼtʃʼkxʼkʟ̝̊ʼ
Lingual consonantsLabialDentalAlveolar
centrallateral
Nasalmodal ᵑʘᵑǀᵑǃᵑǁ
glottalized ǀˀǁˀ
murmured ᵑǀʱᵑǁʱ
Plosivevoiced ᶢǀᶢǃᶢǁ
tenuis ʘǀǃǁ
Affricate ʘxǀxǃxǁx

References

  1. ↑ ǁXegwi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "//Xegwi". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. ↑ Traill, A. "The Khoesan languages", in Mesthrie, Rajend Language in South Africa, Cambridge U.P., 2004
  4. ↑ Davie, Kevin. "The secret pool of surviving Bushmen at Chrissiesmeer". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  5. ↑ Yvonne Treis, 1998, "Names of Khoisan Languages and their Variants"
  6. ↑ Anthony Traill, 1999. Extinct South African Khoisan Languages.
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