ǁXegwi
RegionSouth Africa
EthnicityTlou-tle
Extinct1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda[1]
Tuu
  • ǃKwi
    • Eastern
      • ǁXegwi
Language codes
ISO 639-3xeg
Glottologxegw1238

ǁXegwi (pronounced /ˈzɛɡw/ ZEH-gwee), also known as Batwa, is an extinct ǃKwi language spoken at Lake Chrissie in South Africa, near the Swazi border. The last known speaker, Jopi Mabinda, was murdered in 1988.[2] However, a reporter for the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian reports that ǁXegwi may still be spoken in the Chrissiesmeer district.[3]

The ǁXegwi name for their language has been spelled giǁkwi꞉gwi or kiǁkwi꞉gwi. Their name for themselves has been transcribed tlou tle or kxlou-kxle, presumably [k͡ʟ̝̊ouk͡ʟ̝̊e]. The Nguni (Zulu and Swazi) called them (a)batwa, amaNkqeshe, amaNgqwigqwi; the Sotho called them Baroa/Barwa.[4]

Phonology

ǁXegwi lost the abrupt clicks (the various manners of ǂ and ǃ) found in its relatives. It reacquired ǃ from Nguni Bantu languages, but clicks remained relatively infrequent, compared to other Tuu languages. It also had a series of uvular plosives not found in other Tuu languages.[5]

Pulmonic and ejective consonants
Bilabial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
centrallateral centrallateral
Nasal mnɲŋ
Plosive voiced bdɟɡɢ
tenuis ptkqʔ
aspirated
ejective kʷʼ
Affricate voiceless ts
tx
kxk𝼄
aspirated tʃʰ k𝼄ʰ
voiced dz
ejective tsʼtʃʼkxʼk𝼄ʼ
Fricative voiceless sɬʃxh
voiced βzɮʒɦ
Sonorant rljw
Lingual consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar
central lateral
Nasalmodal ᵑʘᵑǀᵑǃᵑǁ
glottalized ᵑǀˀᵑǃˀᵑǁˀ
murmured ᵑʘʱᵑǀʱᵑǃʱᵑǁʱ
Plosivevoiced ᶢǀᶢǃᶢǁ
aspirated ᵏǀʰ ᵏǃʰ ᵏǁʰ
tenuis ᵏʘᵏǀᵏǃᵏǁ
Affricate tenuis ᵏʘxᵏǀxᵏǃxᵏǁx
ejective ᵏʘxʼ ᵏǀxʼ ᵏǃxʼ ᵏǁxʼ
Oral and Nasal vowels
Front Back
High i ĩ u ũ
Mid e o
Low a ã
Pharyngealized vowels[6]
Front Back
High ḭː ṵː
Mid
Low a̰ː

References

  1. ǁXegwi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Traill, A. "The Khoesan languages", in Mesthrie, Rajend Language in South Africa, Cambridge U.P., 2004
  3. Davie, Kevin. "The secret pool of surviving Bushmen at Chrissiesmeer". The M&G Online. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
  4. Yvonne Treis, 1998, "Names of Khoisan Languages and their Variants"
  5. Anthony Traill, 1999. Extinct South African Khoisan Languages.
  6. Honken, Henry (2020). ||X'egwi. Rainer Vossen and Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of African Languages: Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 670–681.


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