Ju/’hoan language

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Ju|’hoan (also called Zu|’hõasi, Dzu’oasi, Zû-|hoa, Ju/'Hoansi) is a Khoisan language spoken in the Northwest District of Botswana by about 5,000 people (as of 2002) and by perhaps a comparable number across the border in Namibia. It is a cluster of eastern dialects of the Ju dialect continuum that includes !Kung (!Xűű) and ‡Kx’au‖’ein. It is part of a Southern dialect cluster of the Ju languages according to Snyman (1997). Four varieties are distinguished: Epukiro, Tsumkwe, Rundu, and Omatako

[edit] Phonetics

Ju/’hoan has four tones.

There are 5 vowel qualities, [i e a o u]. However, these may be nasalized, glottalized, murmured, or combinations of these, and most of these possibilities occur both long and short. The qualities [a] and [o] may also be pharyngealized and strident. This produces a good 30 vowels, perhaps more, depending on one's analysis. There are in addition many vowel sequences and diphthongs.

Ju/’hoan has an unusually large number of consonants, as seen below, including clicks and clusters with mixed voicing. Phonemes in parentheses are only found in loan words. The complete set of clicks is found below.

non-click consonants		labial	alveolar	postalveolar /palatal	velar	corresponding alveolar click?	glottal
plosive	voiced	b	d		g	g!
	tenuis	p	t		k	k!
	Aspiration	pʰ	tʰ		kʰ	k!ʰ
	cluster	bpʰ	dtʰ			g!h
affricate	voiced		dz?	dʒ?		g!ˠ
	tenuis		ts	tʃ		k!ˣ
	ejective		ts’	tʃ’	kx’	k!ˣ’
	aspirate		tsʰ	tʃʰ	(kxʰ)
	aspirated cluster		dtsʰ	dtʃʰ
	ejective cluster		dts’	dtʃ’	gkx’	g!kˣ’
fricative	voiced	(v)	z	ʒ
	voiceless	(f)	s	ʃ	x
nasal	voiced	m	n ~ ŋ			ŋ!
	voiceless	m̥				ŋ̊!ʰ
	glottalized	m’			ŋ’
other			ɾ, (l)	j	w		ʔ

The phonemic status of [dz] and [dʒ] is uncertain. The only other non-click consonant clusters involve the velar fricative: [tx], [dtx], [tkx’], [tsx], [dtsx], [tʃx], [dtʃx]. The click accompaniments seen in [ŋŋ̊!ʰ] and [k!ˀ] also do not fit into the chart.

Ju/’hoan has 48 click sounds. Given the intricate clusters seen in the non-click consonants, it is not surprising that many of the Ju/’hoan clicks should be analyzed as clusters. However, although some are clearly simplex and others clearly complex, there is debate over others.

There are four click releases: dental, lateral, alveolar, and palatal. (Some Ju dialects have laminal vs apical lateral click releases, but Ju/’hoan is not among them.) There are twelve accompaniments, all of which are velar. These are perfectly normal consonants in Ju/’hoan, and indeed are preferred over non-clicks in word-initial position.

affricated clicks		'sharp' clicks		accompaniment
dental clicks	lateral clicks	alveolar clicks	palatal clicks
kǀ	kǁ	k!	kǂ	Tenuis
gǀ	gǁ	g!	gǂ	Voiced
ŋǀ	ŋǁ	ŋ!	ŋǂ	Nasal
kǀʰ	kǁʰ	k!ʰ	kǂʰ	Aspirated
ŋ̊ǀʰ	ŋ̊ǁʰ	ŋ̊!ʰ	ŋ̊ǂʰ	Voiceless nasal with delayed aspiration
kǀˣ	kǁˣ	k!ˣ	kǂˣ	Voiceless affricated
gǀˠ	gǁˠ	g!ˠ	gǂˠ	Voiced affricated
kǀˣ’	kǁˣ’	k!ˣ’	kǂˣ’	Affricated ejective (perhaps /k!/+/kˣ’/)
gǀkˣ’	gǁkˣ’	g!kˣ’	gǂkˣ’	Voiced plosive followed by affricated ejective
kǀˀ	kǁˀ	k!ˀ	kǂˀ	Voiceless plosive followed by glottal stop
ŋŋ̊ǀʰ	ŋŋ̊ǁʰ	ŋŋ̊!ʰ	ŋŋ̊ǂʰ	Voiced nasal followed by voiceless aspirated nasal
gǀh	gǁh	g!h	gǂh	Voiced plosive followed by aspiration (perhaps /g!/+/h/ or /g/+/k!ʰ/)

Some analyses treat the first seven accompaniments as simplex, and the last five as clusters. The [g!ˠ] appears to correspond to the complex [g!kˣ] in other languages, but there is no evidence of a second stop in Ju/’hoan; indeed, the element following the click release varies from a voiceless fricative [x] to a voiced fricative [ɣ] to an approximant [ɰ]. In ejective clicks like k!ˣ’, the front articulation of the click is released first, and the glottalic mechanism for the ejective is only made when the back articulation is released. They are considered complex for the simple reason that ejectives and clicks involve two distinct airstream mechanisms made in sequence, rather as dtsʰ and dtʃ’ involve a change in phonation or airstream mechanism partway through.

[edit] Bibliography

• Snyman, J.W. (1975) Zu|'hõasi Fonologie en Woordeboek. Cape Town: AA Balkema.
• Snyman, J.W. (1983) 'Zu|'hõasi, a Khoisan Dialect of South West Africa/Namibia', in Dihoff, Ivan R. (ed.) Current Approaches to African Linguistics Vol 1, 115–125.
• Snyman, J.W. (1997) 'A preliminary classification of the !Xűű and Zu|'hõasi Dialects', in Haacke, W.H.G. & Elderkin, E.D. (eds.) Namibian Languages: Reports and Papers. (Namibian African Studies, 4). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe, 21–106.

[edit] External link

• Ethnologue Report for Ju/'hoan

Khoisan languages  (classification)	Edit
‖Ani | G‖ana | G/wi | Hadza | ‡Hõã | Ju/’hoan | Korana | !Kung (!Xũũ) | Kwadi | ‡Kx’au‖’ein | Kxoe | Nama | Naro | N/u | Sandawe | Seroa | Shua | Tsoa | ǀXam | ‖Xegwi | Xiri | !Xóõ