Central !Kung

Central ǃKung (Central ǃXun), or Central Ju, is a language of the ǃKung dialect cluster, spoken in a small area of northern Namibia: Neitsas, in Grootfontein district, and Gaub, in Tsumeb district. It is frequently reported as Grootfontein ǃXuun, as most research has been done in Grootfontein. An identifying feature of Central ǃKung is a fifth series of clicks that are often retroflex. While Northern (Northwestern) and Southern (Southeastern) ǃKung are not mutually intelligible, it is not yet clear to what extent Central ǃKung is intermediate between them or intelligible with either.

Central ǃKung
Central ǃXun
Native toNamibia
RegionGrootfontein
Kxʼa
Dialects
  • Grootfontein ǃXuun
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
Glottologcent2300

Dialects

Two dialects are identified as being Central ǃKung based on grammatical features:

(C1) Gaub (Tsumeb district, N Namibia)
(C2) Neitsas (Grootfontein district, N Namibia)

In addition, the ǃKung dialects of Tsintsabis, Leeunes and Mangetti (different from Mangetti Dune) have retroflex clicks and so may belong here, though no grammatical information is available to classify them.

In Grootfontein ǃKung words which Doke (1926) and others have described as having retroflex clicks, Vedder (1910/1911) described a second series of lateral clicks in Gaub ǃKung.

Phonology

Grootfontein ǃKung is unusual in having true retroflex clicks, which are subapical for some speakers and have lateral release, as in the word for 'water', [ᶢ𝼊𐞷ú] (provisionally written g‼ú). There are thus five places of articulation in Grootfontein clicks, ǀ ǁ ǂ 𝼊/. These come in eight series, here represented with the retroflex articulation:

Lingual /𝼊 𝼊ʰ ᶢ𝼊 ᵑ𝼊 ᵑ̊𝼊ʰ/, glottalized /ᵑ̊𝼊ˀ/, linguo-pulmonic /𝼊χ/, linguo-glottalic /𝼊͡kxʼ/

Otherwise, the Grootfontein inventory is similar to that of Ekoka ǃKung, except that it lacks the (pre)voiced affricates /dχ, dʒ, dʒʼ, dʃχʼ/.

The Grootfontein ǃKung language has a relatively large phonological inventory:

Consonants

Grootfontein ǃKung consonant inventory[1]
Labial Alveolar Post-
alveolar
Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal voiced m n ɲ ŋ
aspirated
Plosive voiceless p t k ʔ
vl. aspirated t̠ʰ
voiced b d ɡ
vd. aspirated ɡʰ
prenasal (ᵐb) (ⁿd) (ᵑɡ)
Fricative ʃ χ ɦ
Affricate voiceless
aspirated tʃʰ
ejective tʃʼ
Approximant w l j
Clusters
Plain + /χ/ tʃχ
Plain + /χʼ/ kχʼ
Grootfontein ǃKung click consonant inventory[1]
Dental Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Lateral
Voiceless ǀ ǃ 𝼊 ǂ ǁ
Vl. Aspirated ǀʰ ǃʰ 𝼊ʰ ǂʰ ǁʰ
Voiced ᶢǀ ᶢǃ ᶢ𝼊 ᶢǂ ᶢǁ
Vd. Aspirated ᶢǀʰ ᶢǃʰ ᶢ𝼊ʰ ᶢǂʰ ᶢǁʰ
Nasal ᵑǀ ᵑǃ ᵑ𝼊 ᵑǂ ᵑǁ
Nl. Aspirated ᵑǀʰ ᵑǃʰ ᵑ𝼊ʰ ᵑǂʰ ᵑǁʰ
Fortis ᵏǃ ᵏǁ
Ejective ǀʼ ǃʼ 𝼊ʼ ǂʼ ǁʼ
Ej. Aspirated ǀʼʰ ǃʼʰ 𝼊ʼʰ ǂʼʰ ǁʼʰ
Clusters
Plain + /χ/ ǀχ ǃχ 𝼊χ ǂχ ǁχ
Plain + /χʼ/ ǀχʼ ǃχʼ 𝼊χʼ ǂχʼ ǁχʼ
Voiced + /χʼ/ ᶢǀχʼ ᶢǃχʼ ᶢ𝼊χʼ ᶢǂχʼ ᶢǁχʼ

Vowels

Five vowel sounds in the ǃKung languages are realized as [i e a o u]. The sounds may be articulated with nasalisation ã õ ũ], breathy voice [iʱ uʱ], or pharyngealisation [iˤ uˤ]. Some nasal vowels with diacritics may have combinations such as breathy + nasal [ãʱ õʱ], and pharyngeal + nasal [ãˤ õˤ ũˤ].[1]

Sample

Following are sample sentences in Central ǃKung.[2]

mí má kȍhà hŋ́ gǀȕì ō ǁȁhìn-ā ō hȁ ō gǀè gù ǀxūúnnu
I must see the hyena to tell it to come catch the crocodile lying there
mtícē kwá bà ǀōā kē gǀè-ā g‼ȍhò
why didn't you come to work?
hȁ má kò kē ǁȁn̏ kú cŋ̏ djūí kā hȁ ǁàȅ-ā tí kē TB ǁ'à-ān tí
he was not supposed to drink beer anymore because he had tuberculosis [lit. he was held by TB sickness]
hȁ má kò ǁáúlè ǃxō
he is supposed to hunt elephants but he didn't
mí má kā ǁàȅ nǃùm̀ kā ŋ̄ŋ̀ kā-è cālā n‼á'm̀ g‼à è-tcā
I hold this rock so that it cannot fall down and kill us.

References

  1. Scott, Abigail; Miller, Amanda; Namaseb, Levi; Sands, Bonny; Shah, Sheena (June 2, 2010). "Retroflex Clicks in Two Dialects of ǃXung". University of Botswana, Department of African Languages.
  2. Perception and Cognition in Language and Culture. Alexandra Aikhenvald, Anne Storch, 2013

Further reading

  • Amanda Miller, 2011. "The Representation of Clicks". In Oostendorp et al. eds., The Blackwell Companion to Phonology.
  • Miller, Sands, et al., 2010. "Retroflex Clicks in Two Dialects of ǃXung" (Grootfontein and Ekoka)
  • Amanda Miller, 2009. "Contrastive Coronal Click Types in ǃXung" (Grootfontein)
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