Khoisan languages

Introduction
Overview
Classification of the Khoisan languages
Linguistic characteristics
- Phonology
- Grammar
- Vocabulary and writing

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Tentative distribution of the Khoisan languages

Map of Africa showing the distribution of major language families, with regions color-coded for Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, Afro-Asiatic, Khoisan, Austronesian, and Indo-European languages. The map also labels major ethnic groups and peoples within each region, such as Arabs in North Africa, Fulani and Hausa in West Africa, and Zulu and Xhosa in southern Africa.

At a Glance

Khoisan languages summary

Quizzes

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Languages & Alphabets

Related Questions

Do clicks in Khoisan languages have special meanings?
How are click consonants produced in Khoisan languages?
How are plurals formed in the |Xam language?
How are the Ju Khoe and Southern Khoisan language groups classified?
How did Khoisan languages influence Xhosa?
How did click sounds spread from Khoisan languages into Bantu languages?
How do Naro noun endings change the meanings of related words?
How do noun genders work in Khoe languages?
How do verb compounds work in Ju and !Xóõ?
How do voicing nasality aspiration and ejection create different click sounds?
How does the number of consonants in Ju compare with the number in Nama?
How does the vocabulary of !Xóõ reflect hunter-gatherer life?
How does word order in Ju languages differ from word order in Khoe languages?
How many click consonants do Xhosa and Zulu use?
How many people speak Nama?
How many vowel differences occur in !Xóõ?
Where are Khoisan languages spoken in Africa?
Where are Sandawe speakers located in Tanzania?
Where are Taa dialects of !Xóõ spoken?
Where is Nama spoken?
Where is the ǂKhomani language spoken?
Where outside Africa have click sounds been reported as part of a language?
Where was the extinct !Ora language spoken?
Which Bantu languages borrowed click consonants from Khoisan languages?
Which Khoisan language has the largest consonant system?
Which Khoisan language uses the bilabial kiss click?
Which Khoisan languages are spoken in eastern Africa?
Which Khoisan languages are spoken in southern Africa?
Which Khoisan languages have become extinct?
Which Khoisan languages have writing systems and teaching materials?
Which consonants can end words in Southern African Khoisan languages?
Why are Khoisan languages known for click consonants?
Why are many Khoisan languages endangered?
Why did many Khoisan languages disappear in South Africa?
Why do Hadza and Sandawe differ from Southern African Khoisan languages in word structure?
Why do Xhosa and Zulu contain click sounds?
Why do speakers of endangered Khoisan languages shift to dominant languages?
Why does !Xóõ have many words for animals plants and food preparation?
Why has the origin of click consonants in Khoisan languages remained unknown?
Why is Khoisan considered a loose language grouping rather than a proven language family?
Why is Nama also called Khoekhoegowab?
Why is the term Hottentot no longer used for Khoekhoe languages?

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External Websites

Fu Jen Catholic University - Graduate School of Linguistics - The Khoisan Language Family

Khoisan languages

language group

Written by

Anthony Traill

Professor Emeritus, Department of Linguistics, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Author of Phonetic and Phonological Studies of !Xóõ Bushman. Compiler of A !Xóõ Dictionary.

Anthony TraillAll

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History

Khoisan languages, a unique group of African languages spoken mainly in southern Africa, with two outlying languages found in eastern Africa. The term is a compound adapted from the words khoekhoe ‘person’ and saan ‘bush dweller’ in Nama, one of the Khoisan languages, and scholars have applied the words—either separately or conjoined—to refer to economic, social, physical, and linguistic features of certain aboriginal groups of southern and eastern Africa. Their most distinctive linguistic characteristic is...

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