Breathy-voiced consonants are produced when the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a volume of air escapes between them. See also Khoisan languages, which contains several audio clips. Although mutually intelligible, they are considered to be separate languages for political and cultural reasons. They are now held to comprise three distinct language families and two language isolates. They are marked with an apostrophe //. Some languages have become extinct and others are endangered. As with other South African languages, Xhosa is characterized by respectful forms of address for elders and in-laws. These are typically written with characters such as and . Clicks are quite versatile as consonants, as they involve two articulations of the tongue which can operate partially independently. Like what you see? Thus, the word for people is abantu in all these languages. The Xhosa people, or Xhosa-speaking people (/ k s , k o s /; Xhosa pronunciation: [ksa] ()) are a Nguni ethnic group whose traditional homeland is primarily the Cape Provinces of South Africa.They are the second largest ethnic group in Southern Africa and are native speakers of the IsiXhosa language. 2003. An estimated 15% of Xhosa vocabulary is of Khoisan origin. Digo, Lozi, The origin of clicks remains a mystery. The language is an important part of Khois. We use the verb "have" to denote possession, ownership, and other related meanings. Enchantment winds through the Xhosa language, dress and rituals. #VisitSouthAfrica https://t.co/ncCaKrq4Fa, The Summit includes a Sustainability Village that aims to boost the local economy and power positive economic activ https://t.co/OEOnUXyWdU, Clareb accessories is your one stop shop for all things, unique earrings, necklaces, bracelets. Verbs use the following prefixes for the subject and object: The following is a list of phrases that can be used when one visits a region whose primary language is Xhosa: Xhosa-speaking people have inhabited coastal regions of southeastern Africa since before the 16th century. Several radio stations and one TV station broadcast in Xhosa. Please check your inbox to confirm your email. There are some exceptions, for instance, the Sandawe language in Tanzania whose speakers have maintained a relatively stable linguistic community. Nguni languages | Britannica The only widespread Khoisan language is Khoekhoe (also known as Khoekhoegowab, Nm or Damara) of Namibia, Botswana and South Africa, with a quarter of a million speakers; Sandawe in Tanzania is second in number with some 4080,000, some monolingual; and the Kung language of the northern Kalahari spoken by some 16,000 or so people. The prenasalized versions have a very short voicing at the onset which then releases in an ejective, like the prenasalized affricates, while the phonemically nasal clicks have a very long voicing through the consonant. The Languages of Africa | Infoplease Luchazi, They refer to themselves as the amaXhosa and their language as isiXhosa. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Xhosa-language. Anthony Traill noted the Khoisan languages' extreme variation. The Xhosas started facing serious trouble during the 18th and 19th Centuries when they engaged in frequent conflicts with the European settlers attempting to annex their native lands. Ngqika is considered to be the standard variety. There are several places of articulation at which click consonants occur, as shown in the table below. Ernst Oswald Johannes Westphal is known for his early rejection of the Khoisan language family (Starostin 2003). Xhosa (isiXhosa) is the southernmost member of the Bantoid group of the Niger-Congo language family in Africa.