!Xóõ language
Encyclopedia
Taa, also known as !Xoon or ǃXóõ, is a Khoisan language known for its large number of phoneme
s. As of 2002, it was spoken by about 4,200 people worldwide. These are mainly in Botswana
(approximately 4,000 people), but some are in Namibia
. The people call themselves ǃXoon (pl. ǃXooŋake) or ‘N|ohan (pl. N|umde).
language family.
There is much confusion with these names. For example, ǀʼAuni (which is now generally considered part of a separate language, Lower Nossob
) is also the name of a dialect of Nǁng, in the ǃKwi family; and Nguen, Nǀu-san are alternate names of that language. ǃKwi may also be a ǃKwi dialect rather than a dialect of Taa. Kakia may be a separate language in the Taa family, and Xatia etc may be variants of that name. Nonetheless, there is dialectal variation in Taa, which might be better described as a dialect continuum
than as a single language.
Traill worked with East ǃXoon, and the DoBeS project is working with ’N|ohan and West ǃXoon. Botswanan dialects are not well described, though a survey was scheduled to partially remedy that in 2007.
s and several vowel phonation
s, though opinions vary as to which of the 130 (Traill) or 164 (DoBeS) consonant sounds are single segments
and which are consonant cluster
s.
s for the East ǃXoon dialect: high [á], mid [ā], low [à], and mid-falling [â]. DoBeS describes two tones, high and low, for the West ǃXoon dialect. This may reflect a difference in analysis rather than a difference in the tone systems.
s of these vowels; it is not clear if this reflects a dialectical difference or a difference of analysis.
, or glottalized
. [a o u] may also be both glottalized and murmured, as well as pharyngealized or strident
. [a u] may be both pharyngealized and glottalized, for 26 vowels not counting nasalization or length.
Murmured vowels after plain consonants contrast with plain vowels after aspirated consonants, and likewise glottalized vowels with ejective consonants, so these are phonations of the vowels and not assimilation with consonant phonation.
Vowels may be long or short, but long vowels may be sequences rather than distinct phoneme
s. The other vowel quality sequences (diphthong
s?), disregarding the added complexity of phonation
, are [ai, ae, ao, au, oi, oe, oa, ou, ui, ue, ua].
All plain vowels may be nasalized. No other phonation may be nasalized, but nasalization occurs in combination with other phonations as the second vowel of a sequence ("long vowel" or "diphthong"). These sequences alternate dialectically with vowel plus velar nasal
. That is, the name ǃXóõ may be dialectically [kǃxóŋ], and this in turn may be phonemically /kǃxóɲ/, since [ɲ] does not occur word-finally. However, this cannot explain the short nasal vowels, so Taa has at least 31 vowels.
A long, glottalized, murmured, nasalized o with falling tone is written <ôʼhõ>. A long, strident nasalized o with low tone is written <òqhõ>, since Traill analyzes stridency as phonemically pharyngealized murmur. (Note that phonetically these are distinct phonations.)
in its consonants. These have been called "prevoiced", but they actually appear to be consonant clusters. When homorganic, as in [dt], such clusters are listed in the chart below.
Taa consonants are complex, and it is not clear how much of the difference between the dialects is real and how much is an artifact of analysis.
The nasal [ɲ] only occurs between vowels, and [ŋ] only word finally (and then only in some dialects), so these may be allophone
s.
There are additional consonant cluster
s: [pʼkxʼ, tx, dtx, tsʰx, dtsʰx, tʼkxʼ, dtʼkxʼ, tsʼkxʼ, dtsʼkxʼ]. The click accompaniments seen in [ŋ̊ǃ, ŋ̊ǃʰ, kǃˀ, ɡǃkx] also do not fit into the chart.
Taa has 83 click sounds
. Given the intricate clusters
seen in the non-click consonants, it is not surprising that many of the Taa clicks should be analyzed as clusters. However, while some are clearly simplex and some clearly complex, there is debate over others.
There are five click releases: bilabial
, dental, lateral
, alveolar
, and palatal
. There are seventeen accompaniments, both velar
and uvular
. These are perfectly normal consonants in Taa, and indeed are preferred over non-clicks in word-initial position.
The DoBeS project takes Traill's cluster analysis to mean that only the twenty tenuis, voiced, nasal, and voiceless nasal clicks are basic, with the rest being clusters of the tenuis and voiced clicks with x, kxʼ, q, ɢ, qʰ, ɢqʰ, qʼ, ʔ, h and either mˀ or nˀ.
Peter Ladefoged
analyses the first ten accompaniments (through the ʔŋǃ series) as simplex, and the last seven as complex. This would mean that Taa has fifty simple clicks. However, it is not clear that the uvular ejective click series (qǃʼ, etc) are consonant clusters, since the double-ejective clicks (kǃʼqʼ etc) are analysed as two segments, not three. Also, glottalized clicks similar to the kǃˀ series are analysed as simple consonants in other Khoisan languages. Recent work on Taa's sister language Nǁng suggests that all clicks in both languages have a uvular or rear articulation, and that the clicks considered to be uvular here are actually velo-pulmonic and velo-glottalic airstream contour
s. It may be that the 'prevoiced' consonants of Taa can also be analysed as contour consonants, in this case with voicing contours.
All nasal clicks have twin airstreams, since the air passing through the nose bypasses the tongue. Usually this is pulmonic egressive. However, the ↓ŋ̊ʰ series in Taa is characterized by pulmonic ingressive nasal airflow. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:268) state that "This ǃXóõ click is probably unique among the sounds of the world's languages that, even in the middle of a sentence, it may have ingressive pulmonic airflow."
Clusters in x are tx, dx, tsx, dzx; clusters in qx’ are pqx’, tqx’, dqx’, tsqx’, dzqx’.
The identification of voiceless/voiced pairs of click clusters is aided by the morphology of West ǃXoon, where a significant number of nouns have a voiceless first consonant in the singular and a voiced first consonant in the plural. The rows of clicks below are all arranged in voiceless-voiced pairs, except for the pre-glottalized nasal clicks, which don't have a voiceless counterpart.
Vowel nasalization is only phonemic on the second mora
(in CCVV etc. syllables), as it is a phonetic effect of clicks such as on the first mora. does not make the following vowel breathy, maintaining a contrast between and . Likewise, while does make the following vowel creaky
, there is a delayed onset to the vowel and the amplitude of the glottalization is less than that of with a phonemically creaky vowel.
In an attempt to keep the phonemic inventory as symmetric as possible, the DoBeS team analyzed as segments two of the click types that Traill analyzed as clusters. These are (using the palatal clicks as examples) the pre-glottalized nasal clicks, ’nǂ, which Traill had analyzed as /ǂ/ + /ʼn/, and the voiced aspirated clicks, gǂh, which Traill had analyzed as /ɡǂ/ + /qʰ/.
The expectation, from the morphology of ǃXoon, for voiceless-voiced pairs of click clusters led to the discovery of several click accompaniments not distinguished by Traill. (This morphology appears to be more pervasive in West ǃXoon than in the East ǃXoon dialect that Traill worked on.) Thus for Trail's ǂqh, the DoBeS team distinguishes two phonemes, ǂqh and ǂh, and for Traill's ǂ’, they have ǂ" and ǂ’. It also lead to the discovery of voiced click types which may not exist in East ǃXoon at all, namely nǂ", nǂhh, gǂ’, and gǂq’.
where C is a consonant, V is a vowel, and N is a nasal consonant. There is a very limited number of consonants which can occur in the second (C2) position and only certain vowel sequences (VV and V…V) occur. The possible consonant clusters (CC) is covered above; C2 may be [b~β̞], [dʲ~j], [l], [m], [n], [ɲ].
s, relative clause
s, and numbers come after the nouns they apply to. Reduplication
is used to form causative
s. There are seven nominal
agreement
classes in two tone
groups which combine for nine or more grammatical gender
s. Agreement occurs on pronouns, transitive verbs (with the object), adjectives, prepositions, and some "particles".
Anthony Traill
did extensive research concerning the language and its various aspects. He even wrote a dictionary of the Taa language, named A ǃXóõ Dictionary, as well as a book on the phonetics of the language.
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s. As of 2002, it was spoken by about 4,200 people worldwide. These are mainly in Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
(approximately 4,000 people), but some are in Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
. The people call themselves ǃXoon (pl. ǃXooŋake) or ‘N|ohan (pl. N|umde).
Relatives
Until the rediscovery of a few elderly speakers of Nǁng in the 1990s, Taa was thought to be the last surviving member of the TuuTuu languages
The Tuu or Taa–ǃKwi languages are a language family consisting of two language clusters spoken in Botswana and South Africa. The relationship between the two clusters is not doubted, but is not close. The name Tuu comes from a word for person common to both branches of the family...
language family.
Alternate names
ǀʼAuni (extinct), Kiǀhazi (extinct), Nǀgamani (extinct), Ngǀuǁen (extinct), Nǀu-san, Kakia (extinct), Xatia (Katia, Kattea, Khatia, Vaalpens, ǀKusi, ǀEikusi, Masarwa), ǃKwi.There is much confusion with these names. For example, ǀʼAuni (which is now generally considered part of a separate language, Lower Nossob
Lower Nossob language
Lower Nassob was a southern Khoisan language spoken along the Nossob River on the border of South Africa and Botswana, near Namibia. It was closely related to Taa.There are two attested dialects, ǀʼAuni and |Haasi ....
) is also the name of a dialect of Nǁng, in the ǃKwi family; and Nguen, Nǀu-san are alternate names of that language. ǃKwi may also be a ǃKwi dialect rather than a dialect of Taa. Kakia may be a separate language in the Taa family, and Xatia etc may be variants of that name. Nonetheless, there is dialectal variation in Taa, which might be better described as a dialect continuum
Dialect continuum
A dialect continuum, or dialect area, was defined by Leonard Bloomfield as a range of dialects spoken across some geographical area that differ only slightly between neighboring areas, but as one travels in any direction, these differences accumulate such that speakers from opposite ends of the...
than as a single language.
Dialects
Taa dialects fall into two rather divergent groups:- West Taa: West !Xoon, N|u‖'en (Nusan, N|usan)†
- East Taa: East !Xoon, ’N|ohan, N|amani,† Kakia,† etc.
Traill worked with East ǃXoon, and the DoBeS project is working with ’N|ohan and West ǃXoon. Botswanan dialects are not well described, though a survey was scheduled to partially remedy that in 2007.
Phonology
Taa has at least 58 consonants, 31 vowels, and four tones (Traill 1985, 1994 on East ǃXoon), or at least 87 consonants, 20 vowels, and two tones (DoBeS 2008 on West ǃXoon), by many counts the most of any known language. These include 20 (Traill) or 43 (DoBeS) click consonantClick consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
s and several vowel phonation
Phonation
Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
s, though opinions vary as to which of the 130 (Traill) or 164 (DoBeS) consonant sounds are single segments
Segment (linguistics)
In linguistics , the term segment may be defined as "any discrete unit that can be identified, either physically or auditorily, in the stream of speech."- Classifying speech units :...
and which are consonant cluster
Consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....
s.
Tones
Traill describes four toneTone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
s for the East ǃXoon dialect: high [á], mid [ā], low [à], and mid-falling [â]. DoBeS describes two tones, high and low, for the West ǃXoon dialect. This may reflect a difference in analysis rather than a difference in the tone systems.
Vowels
Taa has five vowel qualities, [a e i o u]. The Traill and DoBes descriptions differ in the phonationPhonation
Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
s of these vowels; it is not clear if this reflects a dialectical difference or a difference of analysis.
East ǃXoon (Traill)
Traill describes the phonations of the East ǃXoon dialect as plain, murmuredBreathy voice
Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise...
, or glottalized
Glottalization
Glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound. Glottalization of vowels and other sonorants is most often realized as creaky voice...
. [a o u] may also be both glottalized and murmured, as well as pharyngealized or strident
Strident vowel
Strident vowels are strongly pharyngealized vowels accompanied by epiglottal trill, where the larynx is raised and the pharynx constricted, so that either the epiglottis or the arytenoid cartilages vibrate instead of the vocal cords.Strident vowels are fairly common in Khoisan languages, where...
. [a u] may be both pharyngealized and glottalized, for 26 vowels not counting nasalization or length.
Murmured vowels after plain consonants contrast with plain vowels after aspirated consonants, and likewise glottalized vowels with ejective consonants, so these are phonations of the vowels and not assimilation with consonant phonation.
Vowels may be long or short, but long vowels may be sequences rather than distinct phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s. The other vowel quality sequences (diphthong
Diphthong
A diphthong , also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel...
s?), disregarding the added complexity of phonation
Phonation
Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
, are [ai, ae, ao, au, oi, oe, oa, ou, ui, ue, ua].
All plain vowels may be nasalized. No other phonation may be nasalized, but nasalization occurs in combination with other phonations as the second vowel of a sequence ("long vowel" or "diphthong"). These sequences alternate dialectically with vowel plus velar nasal
Velar nasal
The velar nasal is the sound of ng in English sing. It is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is N....
. That is, the name ǃXóõ may be dialectically [kǃxóŋ], and this in turn may be phonemically /kǃxóɲ/, since [ɲ] does not occur word-finally. However, this cannot explain the short nasal vowels, so Taa has at least 31 vowels.
A long, glottalized, murmured, nasalized o with falling tone is written <ôʼhõ>. A long, strident nasalized o with low tone is written <òqhõ>, since Traill analyzes stridency as phonemically pharyngealized murmur. (Note that phonetically these are distinct phonations.)
West ǃXoon (DoBeS)
DoBeS describes the phonations of the West ǃXoon dialect as plain, a e i o u; nasalized, an en in on un; epiglottalized or pharyngealized, aq eq iq oq uq; strident, aqh eqh iqh oqh uqh; and glottalized or 'tense', a’ e’ i’ o’ u’.Consonants
Taa is unusual in allowing mixed voicingPhonation
Phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, phonation is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology...
in its consonants. These have been called "prevoiced", but they actually appear to be consonant clusters. When homorganic, as in [dt], such clusters are listed in the chart below.
Taa consonants are complex, and it is not clear how much of the difference between the dialects is real and how much is an artifact of analysis.
East ǃXoon (Traill)
Marginal or rare consonants are in parentheses. Asterisks mark consonants added in 1994, which are likely also marginal or rare.| non-click consonants | Labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... |
Dental | Alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... |
Palatal Palatal consonant Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate... |
Velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... |
corresponding clicks? |
Uvular Uvular consonant Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and... |
corresponding clicks? |
Glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oral stop Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
b ~ v | d | dz | ɡ | ɡǃ etc. | ɢ ~ ɴɢ | ɢǃ ~ ɴɢǃ etc. | ||
| tenuis Tenuis consonant In linguistics, a tenuis consonant is a stop or affricate which is unvoiced, unaspirated, and unglottalized. That is, it has a "plain" phonation like , with a voice onset time close to zero, as in Spanish p, t, ch, k, or as in English p, t, k after s .In transcription, tenuis consonants are not... |
p* | t | ts | k | kǃ etc. | q | qǃ etc. | ʔ | ||
| aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
pʰ* | tʰ | tsʰ | kʰ | kǃʰ etc. | qʰ | ||||
| ejective Ejective consonant In phonetics, ejective consonants are voiceless consonants that are pronounced with simultaneous closure of the glottis. In the phonology of a particular language, ejectives may contrast with aspirated or tenuis consonants... |
tʼ* | tsʼ | kʼ*, kxʼ | kǃʼqʼ etc. | (qʼ) | qǃʼ etc. | ||||
| aspirated cluster Consonant cluster In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits.... |
dtʰ | dtsʰ | ɡkʰ* | ɡǃh etc. | ɢqʰ ~ ɴɢqʰ | ɢǃh etc. | ||||
| ejective cluster | dtsʼ | ɡkxʼ | ɡǃqʼ etc. | |||||||
| Fricative Fricative consonant Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of ; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German , the final consonant of Bach; or... |
voiceless Voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, this is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word "phonation" implies voicing, and that voicelessness is the lack of... |
f* | s | x | kǃx etc. ? | h* | ||||
| Nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
voiced Voice (phonetics) Voice or voicing is a term used in phonetics and phonology to characterize speech sounds, with sounds described as either voiceless or voiced. The term, however, is used to refer to two separate concepts. Voicing can refer to the articulatory process in which the vocal cords vibrate... |
m | n | ɲ | (ŋ) | ŋǃ etc. | ||||
| glottalized Glottalization Glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound. Glottalization of vowels and other sonorants is most often realized as creaky voice... |
mˀ | nˀ | ʔŋǃ etc. | |||||||
| Other | (l) | dʲ ~ j | ||||||||
The nasal [ɲ] only occurs between vowels, and [ŋ] only word finally (and then only in some dialects), so these may be allophone
Allophone
In phonology, an allophone is one of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. For example, and are allophones for the phoneme in the English language...
s.
There are additional consonant cluster
Consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....
s: [pʼkxʼ, tx, dtx, tsʰx, dtsʰx, tʼkxʼ, dtʼkxʼ, tsʼkxʼ, dtsʼkxʼ]. The click accompaniments seen in [ŋ̊ǃ, ŋ̊ǃʰ, kǃˀ, ɡǃkx] also do not fit into the chart.
Taa has 83 click sounds
Click consonant
Clicks are speech sounds found as consonants in many languages of southern Africa, and in three languages of East Africa. Examples of these sounds familiar to English speakers are the tsk! tsk! or tut-tut used to express disapproval or pity, the tchick! used to spur on a horse, and the...
. Given the intricate clusters
Consonant cluster
In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups and are consonant clusters in the word splits....
seen in the non-click consonants, it is not surprising that many of the Taa clicks should be analyzed as clusters. However, while some are clearly simplex and some clearly complex, there is debate over others.
There are five click releases: bilabial
Bilabial consonant
In phonetics, a bilabial consonant is a consonant articulated with both lips. The bilabial consonants identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:...
, dental, lateral
Lateral consonant
A lateral is an el-like consonant, in which airstream proceeds along the sides of the tongue, but is blocked by the tongue from going through the middle of the mouth....
, alveolar
Alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
, and palatal
Palatal consonant
Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate...
. There are seventeen accompaniments, both velar
Velar consonant
Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum)....
and uvular
Uvular consonant
Uvulars are consonants articulated with the back of the tongue against or near the uvula, that is, further back in the mouth than velar consonants. Uvulars may be plosives, fricatives, nasal stops, trills, or approximants, though the IPA does not provide a separate symbol for the approximant, and...
. These are perfectly normal consonants in Taa, and indeed are preferred over non-clicks in word-initial position.
| affricated clicks | 'sharp' clicks | accompaniment, along with speaker or dialect variation | DoBeS CC analysis |
|||
| bilabial clicks |
dental clicks |
lateral clicks |
alveolar clicks |
palatal clicks |
||
| kʘ | kǀ | kǁ | kǃ | kǂ | Tenuis (k) | kǂ |
| qʘ | qǀ | qǁ | qǃ | qǂ | Tenuis uvular (q) | kǂ + q |
| ŋ̊ʘ | ŋ̊ǀ | ŋ̊ǁ | ŋ̊ǃ | ŋ̊ǂ | Voiceless nasal (ŋ̊) | ŋ̊ǂ |
| ɡʘ | ɡǀ | ɡǁ | ɡǃ | ɡǂ | Voiced (ɡ) | ɡǂ |
| ɢʘ | ɢǀ | ɢǁ | ɢǃ | ɢǂ | (Prenasalized) voiced uvular (ɢ, ɴɢ) | kǂ + ɢ |
| ŋʘ | ŋǀ | ŋǁ | ŋǃ | ŋǂ | Voiced nasal (ŋ) | ŋǂ |
| kʘʰ | kǀʰ | kǁʰ | kǃʰ | kǂʰ | Aspirated (kʰ) | kǂ + qʰ |
| ↓ŋ̊ʘʰ | ↓ŋ̊ǀʰ | ↓ŋ̊ǁʰ | ↓ŋ̊ǃʰ | ↓ŋ̊ǂʰ | Ingressive voiceless nasal with delayed aspiration (↓ŋ̊ʰ) | kǂ + h |
| kʘˣ | kǀˣ | kǁˣ | kǃˣ | kǂˣ | Voiceless affricate (kˣ) | kǂ + x |
| ˀŋʘ | ˀŋǀ | ˀŋǁ | ˀŋǃ | ˀŋǂ | Preglottalized nasal (ˀŋ) | kǂ + mˀ/nˀ |
| qʘʼ | qǀʼ | qǁʼ | qǃʼ | qǂʼ | Uvular ejective (qʼ) | kǂ + qʼ |
| kʘˀ | kǀˀ | kǁˀ | kǃˀ | kǂˀ | Glottalized plosive (kˀ) | kǂ + ʔ |
| ɡʘx | ɡǀx | ɡǁx | ɡǃx | ɡǂx | Voiced velar plosive followed by voiceless velar fricative (ɡx, ɡkx) | ɡǂ + x |
| kʘʼqʼ | kǀʼqʼ | kǁʼqʼ | kǃʼqʼ | kǂʼqʼ | Velar ejective followed by uvular ejective (kʼqʼ, dialectically kxʼ) | kǂ + kxʼ |
| ɡʘqʼ | ɡǀqʼ | ɡǁqʼ | ɡǃqʼ | ɡǂqʼ | Voiced velar plosive followed by uvular ejective (ɡqʼ, dialectically ɡkxʼ) | ɡǂ + kxʼ |
| ɡʘh | ɡǀh | ɡǁh | ɡǃh | ɢǂh | Voiced velar plosive followed by aspiration (ɡh, ɡkʰ) | ɡǂ + qʰ |
| ɢǀh | ɢǃh | ɢǂh | Voiced (prenasalized) uvular plosive followed by aspiration, velar frication, or uvular trill (ᴺɢh, ᴺɢx, ᴺɢʀ) |
ɡǂ + ɢqʰ |
The DoBeS project takes Traill's cluster analysis to mean that only the twenty tenuis, voiced, nasal, and voiceless nasal clicks are basic, with the rest being clusters of the tenuis and voiced clicks with x, kxʼ, q, ɢ, qʰ, ɢqʰ, qʼ, ʔ, h and either mˀ or nˀ.
Peter Ladefoged
Peter Ladefoged
Peter Nielsen Ladefoged was an English-American linguist and phonetician who traveled the world to document the distinct sounds of endangered languages and pioneered ways to collect and study data . He was active at the universities of Edinburgh, Scotland and Ibadan, Nigeria 1953–61...
analyses the first ten accompaniments (through the ʔŋǃ series) as simplex, and the last seven as complex. This would mean that Taa has fifty simple clicks. However, it is not clear that the uvular ejective click series (qǃʼ, etc) are consonant clusters, since the double-ejective clicks (kǃʼqʼ etc) are analysed as two segments, not three. Also, glottalized clicks similar to the kǃˀ series are analysed as simple consonants in other Khoisan languages. Recent work on Taa's sister language Nǁng suggests that all clicks in both languages have a uvular or rear articulation, and that the clicks considered to be uvular here are actually velo-pulmonic and velo-glottalic airstream contour
Contour (linguistics)
In phonetics, contour describes speech sounds which behave as single segments, but which make an internal transition from one quality, place, or manner to another. These sounds may be tones, vowels, or consonants....
s. It may be that the 'prevoiced' consonants of Taa can also be analysed as contour consonants, in this case with voicing contours.
All nasal clicks have twin airstreams, since the air passing through the nose bypasses the tongue. Usually this is pulmonic egressive. However, the ↓ŋ̊ʰ series in Taa is characterized by pulmonic ingressive nasal airflow. Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:268) state that "This ǃXóõ click is probably unique among the sounds of the world's languages that, even in the middle of a sentence, it may have ingressive pulmonic airflow."
West ǃXoon (DoBeS)
These are written in the practical orthography. Marginal consonants are not marked.| non-click consonants | labial Labial consonant Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals... | | alveolar Alveolar consonant Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth... | palatal | velar Velar consonant Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum).... | | uvular | clicks (5) | glottal Glottal consonant Glottal consonants, also called laryngeal consonants, are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricative, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider... |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oral stop Stop consonant In phonetics, a plosive, also known as an occlusive or an oral stop, is a stop consonant in which the vocal tract is blocked so that all airflow ceases. The occlusion may be done with the tongue , lips , and &... |
voiced | b | d | dz | g | gq | gǃ etc. | |||
| tenuis Tenuis consonant In linguistics, a tenuis consonant is a stop or affricate which is unvoiced, unaspirated, and unglottalized. That is, it has a "plain" phonation like , with a voice onset time close to zero, as in Spanish p, t, ch, k, or as in English p, t, k after s .In transcription, tenuis consonants are not... |
p | t | ts | k | q | kǃ etc. | ’ | |||
| aspirated Aspiration (phonetics) In phonetics, aspiration is the strong burst of air that accompanies either the release or, in the case of preaspiration, the closure of some obstruents. To feel or see the difference between aspirated and unaspirated sounds, one can put a hand or a lit candle in front of one's mouth, and say pin ... |
ph | th | tsh | kh | qh | ǃh etc. | ||||
| ejective | p’ | t’ | ts’ | k’ | q’ | qx’ | ǃ’ etc. | |||
| voiced aspirated (cluster?) | bh | dh | dzh | gh | gqh | gǃh etc. | ||||
| voiced ejective (cluster?) | dz’ | g’ | gq’ | gqx’ | gǃ’ etc. | |||||
| fricative | voiceless | f | s | x | h | |||||
| nasal Nasal consonant A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :... |
voiced | m | n ~ nn | ny | ng | nǃ etc. | ||||
| voiceless | nhǃ etc. | |||||||||
| glottalized Glottalization Glottalization is the complete or partial closure of the glottis during the articulation of another sound. Glottalization of vowels and other sonorants is most often realized as creaky voice... |
’m | ’n | ‘nǃ etc. | |||||||
| approximant | w? | l | y | |||||||
| "intermittent" | r | |||||||||
Clusters in x are tx, dx, tsx, dzx; clusters in qx’ are pqx’, tqx’, dqx’, tsqx’, dzqx’.
The identification of voiceless/voiced pairs of click clusters is aided by the morphology of West ǃXoon, where a significant number of nouns have a voiceless first consonant in the singular and a voiced first consonant in the plural. The rows of clicks below are all arranged in voiceless-voiced pairs, except for the pre-glottalized nasal clicks, which don't have a voiceless counterpart.
| affricated clicks | 'sharp' clicks | accompaniment and DoBeS analysis | |||
| labial clicks |
dental clicks Dental click Dental clicks are a family of click consonants found, as constituents of words, only in Africa and in the Damin ritual jargon of Australia. The tut-tut! or tsk! tsk! sound used to express disapproval or pity is a dental click, although it isn't a speech sound in that context.The symbol in the... |
lateral clicks |
alveolar clicks Postalveolar click The alveolar or postalveolar clicks are a family of click consonants found only in Africa and in the Damin ritual jargon of Australia.The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the place of articulation of these sounds is... |
palatal clicks Palatal click The palato-alveolar clicks are a family of click consonants found only in Africa. They are commonly called palatal clicks.The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the place of articulation of these sounds is , a pipe... |
|
| Clicks analyzed as segments | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ʘ | ǀ | ǁ | ǃ | ǂ | Tenuis |
| gʘ | gǀ | gǁ | gǃ | gǂ | Voiced |
| ʘh | ǀh | ǁh | ǃh | ǂh | Aspirated. <ǂha> is explosively aspirated [ǂʜa]. |
| gʘh | gǀh | gǁh | gǃh | gǂh | Breathy voice Breathy voice Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise... d. |
| ʘ’ | ǀ’ | ǁ’ | ǃ’ | ǂ’ | Ejective. <ǂ’a> is phonetically [ǂkʼʔa]; the strong burst of the [kʼ] immediately follows that of the [ǂ], but there is a delay before the onset of the vowel comparable to that of <ǂ"a> [ǂʔa]. |
| gǀ’ | gǁ’ | gǃ’ | gǂ’ | Breathy voice Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise... onset to the vowel. |
|
| nhǀ | nhǁ | nhǃ | nhǂ | Voiceless nasal. |
|
| nʘ | nǀ | nǁ | nǃ | nǂ | Voiced nasal. Breathy voice Breathy voice is a phonation in which the vocal cords vibrate, as they do in normal voicing, but are held further apart, so that a larger volume of air escapes between them. This produces an audible noise... prenasalization. |
| ’nʘ | ’nǀ | ’nǁ | ’nǃ | ’nǂ | Preglottalized nasal. <’nǂa> is phonetically [ʔŋ̆ǂ̃ã], nasal with a glottal stop and brief prenasalization. |
| Clicks analyzed as clusters | |||||
| qʘ | qǀ | qǁ | qǃ | qǂ | |
| gʘq | gǀq | gǁq | gǃq | gǂq | |
| ʘqh | ǀqh | ǁqh | ǃqh | ǂqh | <ǂqh> ← /ǂ/ + /qʰ/. Two releases, /ǂ/ and /qʰ/. |
| gǀqh | gǁqh | gǃqh | gǂqh | |
|
| ʘq’ | ǀq’ | ǁq’ | ǃq’ | ǂq’ | <ǂq’> ← /ǂ/ + /qʼ/. <ǂq’a> is phonetically /ǂqʔa/. |
| gǀq’ | gǁq’ | gǃq’ | gǂq’ | |
|
| ʘx | ǀx | ǁx | ǃx | ǂx | <ǂx> ← /ǂ/ + /x/ (analogous to |
| gʘx | gǀx | gǁx | gǃx | gǂx | |
| ʘqx’ | ǀqx’ | ǁqx’ | ǃqx’ | ǂqx’ | <ǂqx’> ← /ǂ/ + /qxʼ/ (analogous to |
| gʘqx’ | gǀqx’ | gǁqx’ | gǃqx’ | gǂqx’ | |
| ʘ" | ǀ" | ǁ" | ǃ" | ǂ" | <ǂ"> ← /ǂ/ + /ʔ/. Initial <ǂ"a> is phonetically [ǂʔa]; after a vowel, is [ãǂ̃ʔa] or [ãŋǂ̃ʔa]. The nasal venting may maintain low air pressure to contrast with the ejective click <ǂ’a>. |
| nʘ" | nǀ" | nǁ" | nǃ" | nǂ" | |
| ʘhh | ǀhh | ǁhh | ǃhh | ǂhh | <ǂhh> ← /ǂ/ + /h/. <ǂhha> is phonetically [ŋ̊ǂha]; the [h] is weak. The nasal venting may maintain low air pressure to contrast with the aspirated click <ǂha>. |
| nʘhh | nǀhh | nǁhh | nǃhh | nǂhh | |
Vowel nasalization is only phonemic on the second mora
Mora (linguistics)
Mora is a unit in phonology that determines syllable weight, which in some languages determines stress or timing. As with many technical linguistic terms, the definition of a mora varies. Perhaps the most succinct working definition was provided by the American linguist James D...
(in CCVV etc. syllables), as it is a phonetic effect of clicks such as
Creaky voice
In linguistics, creaky voice , is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact...
, there is a delayed onset to the vowel and the amplitude of the glottalization is less than that of
In an attempt to keep the phonemic inventory as symmetric as possible, the DoBeS team analyzed as segments two of the click types that Traill analyzed as clusters. These are (using the palatal clicks as examples) the pre-glottalized nasal clicks, ’nǂ, which Traill had analyzed as /ǂ/ + /ʼn/, and the voiced aspirated clicks, gǂh, which Traill had analyzed as /ɡǂ/ + /qʰ/.
The expectation, from the morphology of ǃXoon, for voiceless-voiced pairs of click clusters led to the discovery of several click accompaniments not distinguished by Traill. (This morphology appears to be more pervasive in West ǃXoon than in the East ǃXoon dialect that Traill worked on.) Thus for Trail's ǂqh, the DoBeS team distinguishes two phonemes, ǂqh and ǂh, and for Traill's ǂ’, they have ǂ" and ǂ’. It also lead to the discovery of voiced click types which may not exist in East ǃXoon at all, namely nǂ", nǂhh, gǂ’, and gǂq’.
Phonotactics
The Taa syllable structure, as described by DoBes, may be one of the following:- CVV
- CCVV
- CVC2V
- CCVC2V
- CVN
- CCVN
where C is a consonant, V is a vowel, and N is a nasal consonant. There is a very limited number of consonants which can occur in the second (C2) position and only certain vowel sequences (VV and V…V) occur. The possible consonant clusters (CC) is covered above; C2 may be [b~β̞], [dʲ~j], [l], [m], [n], [ɲ].
Grammar
Taa is a subject–verb–object language with serial verbs and inflecting prepositions. Genitives, adjectiveAdjective
In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified....
s, relative clause
Relative clause
A relative clause is a subordinate clause that modifies a noun phrase, most commonly a noun. For example, the phrase "the man who wasn't there" contains the noun man, which is modified by the relative clause who wasn't there...
s, and numbers come after the nouns they apply to. Reduplication
Reduplication
Reduplication in linguistics is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word is repeated exactly or with a slight change....
is used to form causative
Causative
In linguistics, a causative is a form that indicates that a subject causes someone or something else to do or be something, or causes a change in state of a non-volitional event....
s. There are seven nominal
Noun
In linguistics, a noun is a member of a large, open lexical category whose members can occur as the main word in the subject of a clause, the object of a verb, or the object of a preposition .Lexical categories are defined in terms of how their members combine with other kinds of...
agreement
Agreement (linguistics)
In languages, agreement or concord is a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase. Agreement happens when a word changes form depending on the other words to which it relates....
classes in two tone
Tone (linguistics)
Tone is the use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning—that is, to distinguish or inflect words. All verbal languages use pitch to express emotional and other paralinguistic information, and to convey emphasis, contrast, and other such features in what is called...
groups which combine for nine or more grammatical gender
Grammatical gender
Grammatical gender is defined linguistically as a system of classes of nouns which trigger specific types of inflections in associated words, such as adjectives, verbs and others. For a system of noun classes to be a gender system, every noun must belong to one of the classes and there should be...
s. Agreement occurs on pronouns, transitive verbs (with the object), adjectives, prepositions, and some "particles".
Anthony Traill
Anthony Traill (linguist)
Professor Anthony Traill was a linguist , who was the world's foremost authority on a San language called !Xóõ. He published widely on this language, including a dictionary of the language...
did extensive research concerning the language and its various aspects. He even wrote a dictionary of the Taa language, named A ǃXóõ Dictionary, as well as a book on the phonetics of the language.
Example phrases
These example phrases are from the Eastern ǃXóõ dialect and were compiled by Anthony Traill.| ǃnˤù.ṵ | ì | à | ǁʼà-be | ǃù.m | ʘàa | sâa |
| Hare.14 | 1PRO | PST | take:S-3 | Eland.3 | child:34 | thither |
| "As for Hare, she took Eland's child away." | ||||||
| ǃqháa̰ | kū | ǂnûm | ǁɢˤûlitê | ǀè | dtxóʔlu | ǀnàe | ǂʼá | sˤàa̰ |
| give | MPO:4PRO | two | genital:22-P | ASS:3 | stench:3 | DAT:3PRO | COM:2 | fat:22 |
| "Give them their stinking genitals with the fat!" | ||||||||
External links
- Map of Taa language (!Xóõ) from the LL-Map Project
- Information on Taa language from the MultiTree Project
- DoBeS Taa language project
- Large collection of ǃXóõ parts of speech based on the 2009 ǃXóõ dictionary
- Swadesh list for !Xóõ
- Ethnologue Report for ǃXóõ/Taa
- UCLA Archive for ǃXóõ, includes story and language sound files