tsk! Xhosa - a Bantu language closely related to Zulu. https://www.twinkl.co.za/resources/south-africa-resources/isixhosa-foundation-phase-english-south-africa-suid-afrika/2, Online Xhosa dictionaries Zigula, Others think that Xhosa-speaking children should be taught in their native language in the early grades. A dental click sounds like tsk, tsk! There are no definite or indefinite articles. The Khoikhoi were once called Hottentots by Europeans. ), palatal (), and lateral (). The Xhosa noun consists of two essential parts, the prefix and the stem. 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. Anthony Traill noted the Khoisan languages' extreme variation. Additional phonemes use sequences of multiple letters. 15000 characters left today. Jita, Family words | Tsonga, Kisi, OshiWambo, Ever since Xhosa and Zulu were reduced to a written form in the early 19th century, Xhosa and Zulu writers have produced various works of fiction, ranging from poetry to novels. Luchazi, Khoisan languages are best known for their use of click consonants as phonemes. The onset cluster /kl/ from phonologized loanwords such as, The unwritten glottal stop is present in words like, In informal writing, this murmured consonant can sometimes be seen spelled as, sebenz + -is + -el +wa -> setyenziselwa [setenziselwa] (used for), This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 23:55. 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. Swati and Ndebele, and mutually intelligible with them to some extent. The various parts of the sentence must agree in both class and number.[12]. 15% of its vocabulary is estimated to be of Khoekhoe (Khoisan) origin. Xhosa is an agglutinative language that expresses grammatical functions by adding prefixes and suffixes to roots. The Khoisan (Khoesan) language family is the smallest of the language families of Africa. Privacy Policy secondary schools. Starostin (2013) gives the following classification of the Khoisan "macrofamily," which he considers to be a single coherent language family. By Mark Dingemanse [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons. 2 is- and iz- replace isi- and izi- respectively before stems beginning with a vowel, e.g. 1998. Although Xhosa and Zulu are similar enough to be considered dialects of one language, Xhosa and Zulu speakers consider them to be separate languages. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. 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. Accent I'm fluent in Xhosa. The murmur no longer shifts to the following vowel. 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 palatalization process only applies once, as evidenced by ukuphuphumisa+wa -> ukuphuphunyiswa "to be made to overflow", instead of the illicit alternative, *ukuphutshunyiswa. Xhosa is part of the branch of Nguni languages, which also include Zulu, Southern Ndebele and Northern Ndebele, called the Zunda languages. The Tanzanian languages, Sandawe and Hadza, use only three basic clicks: |, , and !. The Khoisan language family is the smallest of the language families of Africa. All Rights Reserved. The Tuu family consists of two language clusters, which are related to each other at about the distance of Khoekhoe and Tshukhwe within Khoe. for $0.07/word. Believed to be the oldest of the four language families, it is the smallest of the four and is found mainly in Southern Africa. The Khoisan languages ( / ksn /; also Khoesan or Khoesaan) are a number of African languages once classified together, originally by Joseph Greenberg. [15], John Bennie was a Scottish Presbyterian missionary and early Xhosa linguist. All click and most non-click consonants appear at the beginning of words and are followed by a vowel. Both Xhosa and Zulu are an official languages in South Africa and Lesotho. In, Treis, Yvonne. Their language is often called the 'click ' language because of its three dominant clicks, which entered the isi Xhosa language when the Nguni arrivals mixed with the Khoisan. De Aar is the commercial center for the wool production and livestock farming industry in this semi-arid region of South Africa. 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. Besides clicks, Khoisan languages have non-click consonants, giving rise to very complex consonantal systems which are amongst the largest in the world. The normal word order in Xhosa is Verb-Object (the subject is part of the verb compound). Nyemba, On external genealogical relationships of the Khoe family. One puzzling feature of the Khoisan languages is that, despite some uniformity in their use of clicks, they differ considerably among themselves in aspects such as word formation, sentence structure, and vocabulary. #VisitSouthAfrica https://t.co/EHxIRKzU37, RT @FIAFormulaE: The Rainbow Nation This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. The 15 clicks (which learners tend to battle with the most) are divided into three categories. The town itself receives an abundant supply of water from an underground source, which is referred to as All trademarks and web sites that appear throughout this site are the property of their respective owners. Foreign language learning is real world education, /c, , , , x, , / have no equivalents in English. Xhosa is a Bantu language that is closely related to Ndebele and Swazi and is characterized by the unique click sounds for some letters. Clicks are stops produced with two points of contact in the mouth: one forward and one in the back. Most syllables end in a vowel, and there are no consonant clusters. Phrases | The following three are languages from the Khoe family, the Kxa family, and the Tuu family, respectively. Punu, The language is also studied as a subject. Clicks are spreading to a few additional neighboring languages. If you want detailed destinations guides, languages learning tips, and travel phrase guides, then you've come to the right place! They refer to themselves as the amaXhosa and their language as isiXhosa. There are books, National Treasures [20] The Bantu ancestor of Xhosa did not have clicks, which attests to a strong historical contact with a Khoisan language that did. You can unsubscribe at any time. sokwenza isenzo ongathanda ukuba senziwe kumzalwane wakho. Otherwise, they tend to be tenuis (plain) stops. For example. #CapeTownEPrix The Zulu refer to the Eastern Cape as KwaXhosa which is translated to place of the Xhosa. Ethnologue lists 27 Khoisan languages which are spoken by half a million people or less. It forms part of the ornamentation that reflects the different stages of a woman, s life. Traill demonstrated this linguistic diversity in the data presented in the below table. The San were formerly called Bushmen, (from . Xhosa language, Xhosa formerly spelled Xosa, a Bantu language spoken by seven million people in South Africa, especially in Eastern province. 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. Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. [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. Therefore, Xhosa and Zulu people frequently understand one another, even if they are each speaking their mother tongue. is that you can jump around their extensive library of topics and choose what you want to learn, when you want, and at your own pace. Most others are neighboring Bantu languages in southern Africa: the Nguni languages (Xhosa, Zulu, Swazi, Phuthi, and Northern Ndebele); Sotho; Yeyi in Botswana; and Mbukushu, Kwangali, and Gciriku in the Caprivi Strip. The more notable characteristic is their depressor effect on the tone of the syllable.[19]. Xhosa's click consonants were most likely borrowed from the Khoisan It is one of the eleven official languages of the Republic of South Africa. Bulu, The first two columns include words from the two Khoisan language isolates, Sandawe and Hadza. The pocket of air produced by the resulting enclosure is rarefied by the sucking action of the tongue. Other Southeastern Bantu languages are Zulu, Swati (Swazi), Sotho, Tswana, Venda, and Ndebele. They are better described as slack voiced than as breathy voiced. Bemba, [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]. Day 1 and 2 highlights of the Africa Green Economic Summit 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. Xhosa, which is also known as Xosa or Koosa, is a clicking language. They are not prenasalized, as can be seen in words such as , Incorrectly described as glottal clicks by, Last edited on 25 February 2023, at 23:55, "Xhosa alphabet, pronunciation and language", "South Africa Population grows to 44.8 Million", "Wakanda Is a Fake Country, but the African Language in 'Black Panther' is Real", Xhosa basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Xhosa_language&oldid=1141620598, [mp], [nt], [nt], [k], [n], [n], [n]. These are the only languages known to have clicks in normal vocabulary. For instance, they can be aspirated, nasalised and glottalised. Isewell [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons. The word order is subjectverbobject, like in English. The first is dental clicks with the tongue pressing against the back of the teeth. 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. Nama, in particular, has a long tradition of literacy. aquatic human-like beings who accept into their family those who drown. Can you reproduce these click types? 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. Xhosa is also heard in Johannesburg and the Western Cape. The name Khoisan is a compound word formed with the native words khoiperson and sanforager, meaning persons who forage in the bush or bushmen. "Names of Khoisan languages and Their Variants." It is also spoken in Botswana and Lesotho. This creates a sound somewhat resembling a cork being pulled out of a bottle. Agreements usually reflect part of the original class with which the word agrees. , "A Lexicostatistical Approach towards Reconstructing Proto-Khoisan", "From modern Khoisan languages to Proto-Khoisan: The Value of Intermediate Reconstructions. 1 Before monosyllabic stems, e.g. #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. sas 1. However, the Dutch used the word stotteraarto more specifically describe the clicking sounds used in the Khoisan languages. Masaaba, Grammatically, the southern Khoisan languages are generally analytic, having several inflectional morphemes, but not as many as the click languages of Tanzania. 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. [11] Zunda languages effectively form a dialect continuum of variously mutually intelligible varieties. Xhosa is a Bantu language spoken in South Africa, mainly in the Kimbundu, Nkore, The following table gives an overview of Xhosa noun classes, arranged according to singular-plural pairs. Author of. Nyole, Digo, The origin of Khoisan click consonants and their peculiarly African provenance therefore remains a mystery. Xhosa is, to a large extent, mutually intelligible with Zulu and with other Nguni languages to a lesser extent. Click here to claim your exclusive 30% discount. Of all the Khoisan languages, only Nama enjoys official recognition. How difficult is it to learn Xhosa? It is believed that the Xhosa language "click" sounds originated from the Khoisan language and that they were assimilated into the Xhosa Language over a long period of amalgamation between Xhosa and Khoisan peoples. It is a Bantu language closely related to Zulu, Swazi, and Ndebele. Kiga, (Their numbers have been included under Nama above.) Tribal Wars and European Persecution . Zulu: 22.7%, Xhosa: 16%, Afrikaans . Bonny Sands (1998) concluded that the family is not demonstrable with current evidence. A preliminary classification of the !X and u'hasi dialects. The X and H languages are even more complex. The numerous click consonants have been borrowed from Khoi or San words. Terms of Use The Kxa family is a relatively distant relationship formally demonstrated in 2010.[11]. Ganda/Luganda, In, This page was last edited on 10 January 2023, at 12:02. Khoisan languages, characterised by implosive consonants or 'clicks', belonged to a totally different language family from those of the Bantu speakers. 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. Mpondo (Pondo), Xesibe, Bomwana, Gaika, Gcaleka, Thembu, Mpondomise, Ndlambe (Ethnologue). The Xhosa people, or Xhosa-speaking people (/ k s , k o s /; Xhosa pronunciation: [ksa] ()) are a Nguni ethnic group whose traditional homeland is primarily the Cape Provinces of South Africa.They are the second largest ethnic group in Southern Africa and are native speakers of the IsiXhosa language. Swati, Don't let the learning stop here. 2005. Xhosa. In, Winter, J.C. 1981. Updates? Xhosa is an official language in South Africa and Zimbabe, and is The Khoe family appears to have migrated to southern Africa not long before the Bantu expansion. Other figures are the huge lightning bird (. . Nguni - a group of southern Bantu languages . [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]. Emeritus Professor of African Studies; former Director, Institute for African Studies, University of Cologne. The name Khoisan is a compound word formed with the native words khoi "person" and san "forager", meaning 'persons who forage in the bush" or "bushmen". A Xhosa initiate, undergoing a . Although mutually intelligible, they are considered to be separate languages for political and cultural reasons. The other Khoisan languages are unrecognized and marginalized, especially in South Africa. Tswa, The Khoisan. #CapeTownEPrix What I love most about uTalk is that you can jump around their extensive library of topics and choose what you want to learn, when you want, and at your own pace. The phonology of Xhosa is characterized by a simple vowel inventory and a complex system of consonants. This distinctive linguistic characteristic was adopted by a number of neighbouring Bantu languages, such as Xhosa and Zulu in South Africa. magazines and newspapers in Xhosa, as well as TV and radio programmes, Kuria, Get her free guide 9 reasons youre not fluentYET & how to fix it! "Die Khoisan-Familie." https://www.memrise.com/course/1572/xhosa-an-intro/ One of the main reasons for the decline is that bilingual Khoisan speakers shift to the dominant language of the area and stop teaching the language to their children. 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". [12] It is the second most common Bantu home language in South Africa as a whole. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. All Khoisan languages but two are indigenous to southern Africa and belong to three language families. [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. Southern Ndebele, 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). 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. 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. This ritual vocabulary of the Lardil of Australia contains some words with clicks together with other peculiar sounds, but the use of clicks is limited, and they have a symbolic value in addition to their linguistic function. New Haven: Compass Publishing Company. uku-sebenz-is-el + wa -> ukusetyenziselwa "be used for"), but does not affect morpheme-initial consonants (i.e. Click consonants can be modified in a variety of ways. The word lives on, however, in the names of several African animal and plant species, such as the Hottentot Fig or Carpobrotus. Sources But, as with any language, Xhosa had a rich history of oral traditions from which the society taught, informed, and entertained one another. so much, I reached out to them and weve teamed up to offer, across all of uTalks 140 languages! [22], Proportion of the South African population that speaks Xhosa at home, These are analogous to the slack-voice nasals mh, nh, etc. / Copyright 1995-2023 Southafrica.com. However, some of the letters have a different pronunciation from English. The murmured clicks, plosives and affricates are only partially voiced, with the following vowel murmured for some speakers. Choose your English to Xhosa translation service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_language The majority of languages which contain clicks originate with the Khoisan languages. The sound system of Nama is characterized by an abundance of click consonants. Northern Ndebele (South Africa), women are easily recognised by their heavy dress, matching turban and coloured dots decorating their faces. Chokwe, (Free PDF Download). Please check your inbox to confirm your email.