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Palatal Click With Slapped Release
The palatal or palato-alveolar clicks are a family of click consonants found, as components of words, only in southern Africa. The tongue is nearly flat, and is pulled back rather than down as in the postalveolar clicks, making a sharper sound than those consonants. ('Sharper' meaning that the energy is concentrated at higher frequencies.) The tongue makes an extremely broad contact across the roof of the mouth, making correlation with the places of articulation of non-clicks difficult, but Ladefoged & Traill (1984:18) find that the primary place of articulation is the palate, and say that "there is no doubt that should be described as a palatal sound". The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the place of articulation of these sounds is , a double-barred vertical bar. An older variant, the double-barred esh, (approximately ⨎), is sometimes seen. This base letter is combined with a second element to indicate the manner of articulation, though ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Click Consonant
Click consonants, or clicks, are speech sounds that occur as consonants in many languages of Southern Africa and in three languages of East Africa. Examples familiar to English-speakers are the '' tut-tut'' (British spelling) or '' tsk! tsk!'' (American spelling) used to express disapproval or pity (IPA ), the '' tchick!'' used to spur on a horse (IPA ), and the '' clip-clop!'' sound children make with their tongue to imitate a horse trotting (IPA ). However, these paralinguistic sounds in English are not full click consonants, as they only involve the front of the tongue, without the release of the back of the tongue that is required for clicks to combine with vowels and form syllables. Anatomically, clicks are obstruents articulated with two closures (points of contact) in the mouth, one forward and one at the back. The enclosed pocket of air is rarefied by a sucking action of the tongue (in technical terminology, clicks have a lingual ingressive airstream mechanism). Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Voiceless Palato-alveolar Sibilant
A voiceless postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. The International Phonetic Association uses the term ''voiceless postalveolar fricative'' only for the sound , but it also describes the voiceless postalveolar non-sibilant fricative , for which there are significant perceptual differences. Voiceless palato-alveolar fricative A voiceless palato-alveolar fricative or voiceless domed postalveolar fricative is a type of consonantal sound used in many languages, including English. In English, it is usually spelled , as in ''ship''. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , the letter esh introduced by Isaac Pitman (not to be confused with the integral symbol ). The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is S. An alternative symbol is , an ''s'' with a caron or ''háček'', which is used in the Americanist phonetic notation and the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet, as well as in the scientific and ISO 9 transli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Retroflex Click
A retroflex () or cacuminal () consonant is a coronal consonant where the tongue has a flat, concave, or even curled shape, and is articulated between the alveolar ridge and the hard palate. They are sometimes referred to as cerebral consonants—especially in Indology. The Latin-derived word ''retroflex'' means "bent back"; some retroflex consonants are pronounced with the tongue fully curled back so that articulation involves the underside of the tongue tip ( subapical). These sounds are sometimes described as "true" retroflex consonants. However, retroflexes are commonly taken to include other consonants having a similar place of articulation without such extreme curling of the tongue; these may be articulated with the tongue tip ( apical) or the tongue blade ( laminal). When apical, they have been called apico-domal consonants. Types Retroflex consonants, like other coronal consonants, come in several varieties, depending on the shape of the tongue. The tongue may be e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ekoka ǃKung
Ekoka ǃKung (Ekoka ǃXuun, Ekoka-ǃXû, ǃKung-Ekoka) or Western ǃXuun (North-Central Ju) is a variety of the ǃKung dialect cluster, spoken originally in the area of the central Namibian–Angolan border, west of the Okavango River, but since the Angolan Civil War also in South Africa. Dialects Heine & Honken (2010) place Ekoka in the ''Northern–Western'' branch of ǃXuun (ǃKung), where Ekoka is equivalent to the Western branch. They distinguish three varieties: *Western ǃXuun (Kung-Ekoka) **Tsintsabis (natively ''ǃxūún''; spoken in Tsintsabis, Tsumeb district, N Namibia) **ǀAkhwe (natively ''ǃxūún, ǀʼākhòè ǃxòān'' "Kwanyama ǃXuun"; spoken in Eenhana, N Namibia) ** o name(natively ''ǃxūún, ǃʼālè ǃxòān'' "Valley ǃXuun"; spoken in Eenhana district, N Namibia) Sands et al. place it in its own branch, which they call ''North-Central Ju'': *North-Central Ju (Namibia, between the Ovambo River and the Angolan border, around the tributaries of the Oka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ǂHaba Language
ǂHaba (ǂHabá) is a variety of the Khoe languages spoken in Botswana. Traditionally included in the Gǁana dialect cluster, it appears to be closer to Naro Naro ( ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Agrigento, on the island of Sicily, Italy. It is bounded by the comuni of Agrigento, Caltanissetta, Camastra, Campobello di Licata, Canicattì, Castrofilippo, Delia, Favara, Licata, Palma di .... It is endangered, with most ǂHaba speaking Naro. Phonology ǂHaba has the click inventory of Naro, with the glottalized series that not all Naro dialects have. Tones There are seven tones in (bimoraic) roots with a nasal onset (high and mid level, high and low falling, mid–low, low–mid, and low–high), six tones with a voiceless onset, and four tones elsewhere (voiced but not nasal). References Bibliography *Hirosi Nakagawa (2011) 'ǂHaba Tonology'. ''4th International Symposium on Khoisan Languages and Linguistics,'' Riezlern. External linksǂHaba basic lexic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taa Language
Taa ( ), also known as ǃXóõ ( ; ; also spelled ǃKhong and ǃXoon), formerly called by the dialect name ǂHoan, thus also known as Western ǂHoan, is a Tuu language notable for its large number of phonemes, perhaps the largest in the world. It is also notable for having perhaps the heaviest functional load of click consonants, with one count finding that 82% of basic vocabulary items started with a click. Most speakers live in Botswana, but a few hundred live in Namibia. The people call themselves ǃXoon (pl. ǃXooŋake) or ʼNǀohan (pl. Nǀumde), depending on the dialect they speak. The Tuu languages are one of the three traditional language families that make up the Khoisan languages. In 2011, there were around 2,500 speakers of Taa. is the word for 'human being'; the local name of the language is , from 'language'. (ǃXóõ) is an ethnonym used at opposite ends of the Taa-speaking area, but not by Taa speakers in between. Most living Taa speakers are ethnic ǃXoon ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yeyi Language
Yeyi (autoethnonym ''Shiyɛyi'') is a Bantu language spoken by approximately 50,000 Yeyi people along the Okavango River in Namibia and Botswana. Yeyi, influenced by Juu languages, is one of several Bantu languages along the Okavango with clicks. It has the largest known inventory of clicks of any Bantu language, with dental, alveolar, palatal, and lateral articulations. Though most of its older speakers prefer Yeyi in normal conversation, it is being gradually phased out in Botswana by a popular move towards Tswana, with Yeyi only being learned by children in a few villages. Yeyi speakers in the Caprivi Strip of north-eastern Namibia, however, retain Yeyi in villages (including Linyanti), but may also speak the regional lingua franca, Lozi. The main dialect is called Shirwanga. A slight majority of Botswana Yeyi are monolingual in the national language, Tswana, and the majority of the rest are bilingual. Classification Yeyi appears to be a divergent lineage of Bantu. It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuu Languages
The Tuu languages, or Taa–ǃKwi (Taa–ǃUi, ǃUi–Taa, Kwi) languages, are a language family consisting of two language clusters spoken in Botswana and South Africa. The relationship between the two clusters is not doubted, but is distant. The name ''Tuu'' comes from a word common to both branches of the family for "person". History The ancestor of Tuu languages, Proto-Tuu, was presumably also spoken in or around the Kalahari desert, as a word for the gemsbok (''*!hai'') is reconstructable to Proto-Tuu. There is evidence of substantial borrowing of words between Tuu languages and other Khoisan languages, including basic vocabulary. Khoekhoe in particular is thought to have a Tuu (ǃKwi-branch) substrate. Examples of borrowings from Khoe into Tuu include 'chest' (ǃXóõ ''gǁúu'' from Khoe ''*gǁuu'') and 'chin' (Nǁng ''gǃann'' from Khoe ''*ǃann''). A root for 'louse' shared by some Khoe and Tuu languages (''ǁxóni''~''kx'uni''~''kx'uri'') has been suggested as de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khoe Languages
The Khoe or Khoi ( ) languages are the largest of the non- Bantu language families indigenous to Southern Africa. They were once considered to be a branch of a Khoisan language family, and were known as Central Khoisan in that scenario. Though Khoisan is now rejected as a family, the name is retained as a term of convenience. The most numerous and only well-known Khoe language is Khoekhoe (Nama/Damara) of Namibia. The rest of the family is found predominantly in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana. The languages are similar enough that a fair degree of communication is possible between Khoekhoe and the languages of Botswana. The Khoe languages were the first Khoisan languages known to European colonists and are famous for their clicks, though these are not as extensive as in other Khoisan language families. There are two primary branches of the family, ''Khoekhoe'' of Namibia and South Africa, and ''Tshu–Khwe'' of Botswana and Zimbabwe. Except for Nama, they are under pressure ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Khoisan Languages
The Khoisan languages ( ; also Khoesan or Khoesaan) are a number of Languages of Africa, African languages once classified together, originally by Joseph Greenberg. Khoisan is defined as those languages that have click languages, click consonants and do not belong to other African language families. For much of the 20th century, they were thought to be Genetic relationship (linguistics), genealogically related to each other, but this is no longer accepted. They are now held to comprise three distinct language family, language families and two language isolates. All but two Khoisan languages are indigenous to southern Africa; these are classified into three language families. The Khoe languages, Khoe family appears to have migrated to southern Africa not long before the Bantu expansion. Ethnically, their speakers are the Khoekhoe and the San people, San (Bushmen). Two languages of eastern Africa, those of the Sandawe people, Sandawe and Hadza people, Hadza, were originally also cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
