ǁXegwi (pronounced /ˈzɛɡwiː/ ZEH-gwee), 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.[2] However, a reporter for the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian reports that ǁXegwi may still be spoken in the Chrissiesmeer district.[3]
| ǁXegwi | |
|---|---|
| giǁkwi꞉gwi kiǁkwi꞉gwi | |
| Native to | South Africa |
| Region | Lake Chrissie |
| Ethnicity | Tlou-tle |
| Extinct | 1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda[1] |
Tuu
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xeg |
xeg.html | |
| Glottolog | xegw1238 |
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.[4]
Phonology
editǁXegwi 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.[5]
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| central | lateral | central | lateral | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||||
| Plosive | voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ɢ | |||
| tenuis | p | t | k | q | ʔ | ||||
| aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | cʰ | kʰ | qʰ | ||||
| ejective | tʼ | cʼ | kʷʼ | qʼ | |||||
| Affricate | voiceless | ts tx |
tɬ | tʃ | kx | k𝼄 | |||
| aspirated | tʃʰ | k𝼄ʰ | |||||||
| voiced | dz | dʒ | |||||||
| ejective | tsʼ | tʃʼ | kxʼ | k𝼄ʼ | |||||
| Fricative | voiceless | s | ɬ | ʃ | x | h | |||
| voiced | β | z | ɮ | ʒ | ɦ | ||||
| Sonorant | r | l | j | w | |||||
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | i ĩ | u ũ |
| Mid | e | o |
| Low | a ã | |
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| High | ḭ ḭː | ṵ ṵː |
| Mid | ḛ | o̰ |
| Low | a̰ a̰ː | |
References
edit- ^ ǁXegwi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Traill, A. (2002). "The Khoesan languages". In Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.). Language in South Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 42. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511486692.003. ISBN 978-0-521-79105-2.
- ^ Davie, Kevin. "The secret pool of surviving Bushmen at Chrissiesmeer". The Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 2011-07-29. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
- ^ Treis, Yvonne (1998). "Names of Khoisan languages and their variants". In Schladt, Mathias (ed.). Language, identity, and conceptualization among the Khoisan. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. pp. 463–503. ISBN 978-3-89645-143-9.
- ^ Traill, Anthony (1999). Extinct: South African Khoisan Languages (CD).
- ^ Honken, Henry (2020). "ǁX'egwi". In Vossen, Rainer; Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 670–681.
External links
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