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ǃKung variety of Namibia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (May 2019) |
Central ǃKung | |
---|---|
Central ǃXun | |
Native to | Namibia |
Region | Grootfontein |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
Glottolog | cent2300 |
Two dialects are identified as being Central ǃKung based on grammatical features:
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.
This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{lang}}, {{transliteration}} for transliterated languages, and {{IPA}} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used. (October 2021) |
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, /ǃ ǀ ǁ ǂ 𝼊/. These come in eight series, here represented with the retroflex articulation:
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:
Labial | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | voiced | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
aspirated | mʰ | nʰ | ||||||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ | |||
vl. aspirated | pʰ | t̠ʰ | kʰ | |||||
voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||||
vd. aspirated | bʰ | dʰ | ɡʰ | |||||
prenasal | (ᵐb) | (ⁿd) | (ᵑɡ) | |||||
Fricative | ʃ | χ | ɦ | |||||
Affricate | voiceless | tʃ | ||||||
aspirated | tʃʰ | |||||||
ejective | tʃʼ | |||||||
Approximant | w | l | j | |||||
Clusters | ||||||||
Plain + /χ/ | tχ | tʃχ | ||||||
Plain + /χʼ/ | kχʼ |
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 |
Five vowel sounds in the ǃKung languages are realized as [i e a o u]. The sounds may be articulated with nasalisation [ĩ ẽ ã õ ũ], breathy voice [iʱ eʱ aʱ oʱ uʱ], or pharyngealisation [iˤ eˤ aˤ oˤ uˤ]. Some nasal vowels with diacritics may have combinations such as breathy + nasal [ãʱ õʱ], and pharyngeal + nasal [ãˤ õˤ ũˤ].[1]
Following are sample sentences in Central ǃKung.[2]
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