Juǀ'hoansi
Juǀ'hoan
Kx'a (Ju)
Juǀ'hoan is a Kx'a language of the San (Bushman) people of the Kalahari, famous for one of the world's largest phoneme inventories — 4 click types (dental ǀ, alveolar ǃ, lateral ǁ, palatal ǂ) combined with 17 accompaniments yielding nearly 50 click consonants. Vowels carry tone, nasalization, breathiness, and pharyngealization.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Juǀ'hoan
Water
gǃú
/ᶢǃú/
Fire
dahm
/dã̀m/
Sun
ǃhúí
/ᵑǃʰúí/
Moon
nǁháí
/ᵑǁʰáí/
Mother
taqe
/tàʔè/
Father
ba
/bà/
Eat
ǃʼám
/ǃʼám/
Drink
kxʼáí
/kxʼái/
Love
ǀʼán
/ǀʼán/
Heart
ǂʼàn
/ǂʼàn/
Tree
ǃaìh
/ǃaìh/
House
tjù
/tʃù/
Dog
ǂhòã
/ᵑǂʰòã/
Cat
ǃhòè
/ᵑǃʰòè/
Hand
ǃʼau
/ǃʼau/
Eye
ǃʼàqè
/ᶢǃʼàʔè/
Hello
mí kúrùwà
/mí kúrùwà/
Thank you
mí ǁʼàmà
/mí ǁʼàmà/
One
nǀèʼè
/ᵑǀèʼè/
Good
ǀʼàn
/ǀʼàn/
Sources
- Dickens, Patrick J. (1994) English-Juǀ'hoan Juǀ'hoan-English Dictionary. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Köln.
- Snyman, Jan W. (1970) An Introduction to the !Xũ (!Kung) Language. A. A. Balkema, Cape Town.
- Miller, Amanda (2011) The Representation of Clicks. In The Blackwell Companion to Phonology.
- Glottolog: Juǀ'hoan
Words compared
Compared with related Kx'a (Ju) languages
| Meaning | Juǀ'hoan | Taa (!Xóõ) | Korana | Lakota | Burmese | Yoruba | Kiowa |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | gǃú /ᶢǃú/ | ǃqhàa /ǃqʰaː/ | ǁammi /ǁamːi/ | mní /mní/ | ရေ /jè/ | omi /omi/ | ko̱: /kɔ̃ː/ |
| Fire | dahm /dã̀m/ | ǀʼàã /ǀʼãː/ | ǀaeb /ǀʔaeb/ | pȟéta /pˣéta/ | မီး /mí/ | iná /iná/ | phi̱ /pʰĩ/ |
| Sun | ǃhúí /ᵑǃʰúí/ | ǁʼân /ǁʼã/ | sores /sores/ | wí /wí/ | နေ /nè/ | oòrùn /oòɾũ̀/ | phî: /pʰîː/ |
| Moon | nǁháí /ᵑǁʰáí/ | ǃqhàn /ǃqʰã/ | ǁkhab /ǁkʰab/ | haŋhépi wí /haŋhépi wí/ | လ /la̰/ | oṣù /oʃù/ | phé: /pʰéː/ |
| Mother | taqe /tàʔè/ | qáe /qae/ | taras /taras/ | iná /iná/ | အမေ /ʔəmè/ | ìyá /ìjá/ | gì: /ɡìː/ |
| Father | ba /bà/ | a̰a /a̰a/ | ǁnaob /ǁnaob/ | até /até/ | အဖေ /ʔəpʰè/ | bàbá /bàbá/ | gò: /ɡòː/ |
| Eat | ǃʼám /ǃʼám/ | ʼâã /ʔãː/ | ǂʼũ /ǂʼũ/ | yúta /júta/ | စား /sá/ | jẹ /dʒɛ/ | gè: /ɡèː/ |
| Drink | kxʼáí /kxʼái/ | kxʼāhã /kxʼaːhã/ | xʼā /xʼaː/ | yatkáŋ /jatkáŋ/ | သောက် /θauʔ/ | mu /mu/ | kʰò: /kʰòː/ |
| Love | ǀʼán /ǀʼán/ | — /—/ | ǀnam /ǀnam/ | thečhíȟila /tʰetʃʰíxila/ | အချစ် /ʔətɕʰɪʔ/ | ìfẹ́ /ìfɛ́/ | gàum /ɡàum/ |
| Heart | ǂʼàn /ǂʼàn/ | ǀqʼàn /ǀqʼã/ | ǂaob /ǂaob/ | čhaŋté /tʃʰaŋté/ | နှလုံး /n̥əlóuɴ/ | ọkàn /ɔkã̀/ | á:de /áːde/ |
| Tree | ǃaìh /ǃaìh/ | ʼʘnàje /ʔʘnaje/ | hais /haìs/ | čháŋ /tʃʰáŋ/ | သစ်ပင် /θɪʔpìɴ/ | igi /iɡi/ | á:du /áːdu/ |
| House | tjù /tʃù/ | — /—/ | oms /oms/ | thípi /tʰípi/ | အိမ် /ʔèiɴ/ | ilé /ilé/ | tóu: /tóuː/ |
| Dog | ǂhòã /ᵑǂʰòã/ | ǂqhài /ǂqʰai/ | arib /arib/ | šúŋka /ʃúŋka/ | ခွေး /kʰwé/ | ajá /adʒá/ | tsê: /tsêː/ |
| Cat | ǃhòè /ᵑǃʰòè/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | igmúŋke /iɡmúŋke/ | ကြောင် /tɕàuɴ/ | ológbò /olóɡbò/ | mò:sò /mòːsò/ |
| Hand | ǃʼau /ǃʼau/ | ǀkxʼàa /ǀkxʼaː/ | ǃumma /ǃumːa/ | napé /napé/ | လက် /lɛʔ/ | ọwọ́ /ɔwɔ́/ | mò:tʼɔ̄ /mòːtʼɔ̄/ |
| Eye | ǃʼàqè /ᶢǃʼàʔè/ | ǃʼûĩ /ǃʼũĩ/ | mũb /mũb/ | ištá /iʃtá/ | မျက်စိ /mjɛʔ sḭ/ | ojú /odʒú/ | tô: /tôː/ |
| Hello | mí kúrùwà /mí kúrùwà/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | háu /háu/ | မင်္ဂလာပါ /mìɴɡəlà bà/ | ẹ kú /ɛ kú/ | hâ:tô: /hâːtôː/ |
| Thank you | mí ǁʼàmà /mí ǁʼàmà/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | philámayaye /pʰilámajaje/ | ကျေးဇူးတင်ပါတယ် /tɕézú tìɴ bà dɛ̀/ | ẹ ṣé /ɛ ʃé/ | gàu /ɡàu/ |
| One | nǀèʼè /ᵑǀèʼè/ | ǂʼûã /ǂʼũã/ | ǀui /ǀui/ | waŋží /waŋʒí/ | တစ် /tɪʔ/ | ọ̀kan /ɔ̀kã/ | páun /páun/ |
| Good | ǀʼàn /ǀʼàn/ | — /—/ | ǃãĩ /ǃãĩ/ | wašté /waʃté/ | ကောင်း /káuɴ/ | dára /dáɾa/ | hôn /hôn/ |
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