Kgalagadi language

Kgalagadi is a Bantu language spoken in Botswana, along the South African border. It is spoken by about 40,000 people.[3] In the language, it is known as Shekgalagari.

Kgalagadi
Kalahari
'SheKgalagadi
Native toBotswana
EthnicityKgalagadi
Native speakers
65,400 (2015)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3xkv
Glottologkgal1244
S.311 (ex-S.31d)[2]
ELPKgalagadi
Linguasphere99-AUT-eh incl. varieties 99-AUT-eha to 99-AUT-ehc

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.[2]

Dialects include Shengologa, Sheshaga, Shebolaongwe, Shelala, Shekhena, Sheritjhauba and Shekgwatheng.

Phonology

Vowels
FrontCentral Back
Close i u
Close-mid e ~ ɪ o ~ ʊ
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a
  • Close-mid vowels /e, o/ are frequently heard as near-close sounds [ɪ, ʊ] among speakers in free variation.

Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Post-
alveolar		 Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Stop voiceless p t̪ c k q
aspirated pʰ t̪ʰ cʰ kʰ qʰ
voiced b d̪ ɟ g
Affricate voiceless t͡s t͡ʃ
aspirated t͡sʰ t͡ʃʰ
voiced (d͡z) d͡ʒ
Fricative voiceless s ʃ χ h
voiced z ʒ (ɦ)
Nasal m n̪ ɲ ŋ
Trill r
Approximant l j w
  • Click sounds /ʘ, ǀŋ, ǃŋ/ are also said to occur, but mostly in rare cases.[4]
  • A voicelss trill [r̥] may also occur phonemically among dialects, and may also be pronounced as breathy [r̤] in intervocalic positions.
  • Sounds /z, ʒ/ can be pronounced in free variation as affricates [d͡z, d͡ʒ] in the Bolaongwe dialect
  • /h/ is can be heard as voiced [ɦ] when in intervocalic positions.[5]

Notes and references
  1. "Kgalagadi". Ethnologue. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  2. Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. Kgalagadi language at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  4. Solé, Maria-Josep; Hyman, Larry M.; Monaka, Kemmonye C. (2009). More on Post-nasal Devoicing: The Case of Shekgalagari. UC Berkeley PhonLab Annual Report, 5. pp. 299–320.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. Dickens, Patrick J. (1986). Qhalaxarzi phonology. University of the Witwatersrand.
Kgalagadi language test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator


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