HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Kgalagadi is a
Bantu language The Bantu languages (English: , Proto-Bantu language, Proto-Bantu: *bantÊŠÌ€), or Ntu languages are a language family of about 600 languages of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern, East Africa, Eastern and Southeast Africa, South ...
spoken in
Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
, along the
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
n border. It is spoken by about people. In the language, it is known as ''Shekgalagari''.


Classification

Kgalagadi (also rendered ''Kgalagari, Kgalagarhi, Kgalagari, Khalagari, Khalakadi, Kxhalaxadi, Qhalaxarzi, Shekgalagadi, Shekgalagari, Kqalaqadi'') is most closely related to Tswana, and until recently was classified as a dialect of Tswana. Dialects include ''Shengologa, Sheshaga, Shebolaongwe, Shelala, Shekhena, Sheritjhauba'' and ''Shekgwatheng.''


Phonology


Vowels

* Close-mid vowels /e, o/ are frequently heard as near-close sounds �, ʊamong speakers in free variation.


Consonants

* Click sounds /ʘ, ǀ, ǀŋ, ǃŋ/ are also said to occur, but mostly in rare cases. * A voiceless trill ̥may also occur phonemically among dialects, and may also be pronounced as breathy ̤in intervocalic positions. * /r/ may also be heard as a flap � * /n/ may also be heard as ̪in free variation, or when preceding dental stops. * /qʰ/ may also be heard as ͡χʰin free variation. * Lateral affricates ͡ɬ, t͡ɬʰmay occur from loanwords. * Sounds /z, ʒ/ can be pronounced in free variation as affricates ͡z, d͡ʒin the Bolaongwe dialect. * /h/ can be heard as voiced �when in intervocalic positions.


Notes and references

Languages of Botswana Sotho-Tswana languages {{Botswana-stub