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ǁXegwi language

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ǁXegwi
giǁkwi꞉gwi
kiǁkwi꞉gwi
Native toSouth Africa
RegionLake Chrissie
EthnicityTlou-tle
Extinct1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda[1]
Tuu
  • ǃKwi
    • Eastern
      • ǁXegwi
Language codes
ISO 639-3xeg
xeg.html
Glottologxegw1238
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ǁXegwi (pronounced /ˈzɛɡw/ 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]

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

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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.[5]

Pulmonic and ejective consonants
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
ejective kʷʼ
Affricate voiceless ts
tx
kx k𝼄
aspirated tʃʰ k𝼄ʰ
voiced dz
ejective tsʼ tʃʼ kxʼ k𝼄ʼ
Fricative voiceless s ɬ ʃ x h
voiced β z ɮ ʒ ɦ
Sonorant r l j w
Lingual consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar
central lateral
Nasal modal ᵑʘ ᵑǀ ᵑǃ ᵑǁ
glottalized ᵑǀˀ ᵑǃˀ ᵑǁˀ
murmured ᵑʘʱ ᵑǀʱ ᵑǃʱ ᵑǁʱ
Plosive voiced ᶢǀ ᶢǃ ᶢǁ
aspirated ᵏǀʰ ᵏǃʰ ᵏǁʰ
tenuis ᵏʘ ᵏǀ ᵏǃ ᵏǁ
Affricate tenuis ᵏʘx ᵏǀx ᵏǃx ᵏǁx
ejective ᵏʘxʼ ᵏǀxʼ ᵏǃxʼ ᵏǁxʼ
Oral and nasal vowels
Front Back
High i ĩ u ũ
Mid e o
Low a ã
Pharyngealized vowels[6]
Front Back
High ḭː ṵː
Mid
Low a̰ː

References

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  1. ^ ǁXegwi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ Traill, Anthony (1999). Extinct: South African Khoisan Languages (CD).
  6. ^ 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.
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