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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:
- Central ǃKung
- (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.
 | 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:
- 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
| 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 |
Vowels
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]
mí
1SG
má
TOP
kȍhà
MIR
hŋ́
see
gǀȕì
hyena
ō
PURP
ǁȁhìn-ā
tell-TR
ō
PURP
hȁ
CL1
ō
PURP
gǀè
come
gù
catch.SG
ǀxūúnnu
crocodile
"I must see the hyena to tell it to come catch the crocodile lying there."[3]
hȁ
CL1
má
TOP
kò
CE
kē
past
ǁȁn̏
NEG.IMP
kú
HAB.IMP
cŋ̏
drink
djūí
beer
kā
CL4
hȁ
CL1
ǁàȅ-ā
hold-TR
tí
PAST
kē
TR
TB
tuberculosis
ǁ'à-ān
sick-TR
tí
PAST
"He was not supposed to drink beer anymore because he had tuberculosis" [lit. he was held by TB sickness][5]
mí
1SG
má
TOP
kā
PROG?
ǁàȅ
hold
nǃùm̀
rock
kā
CL4
ŋ̄ŋ̀
PR
kā-è
CL4-REL
cālā
NONFIRSTH.EV
n‼á'm̀
hit
g‼à
lie.down.PL
è-tcā
1PL.EX-DU
"I hold this rock so that it cannot fall down and kill us."[7]
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