N/u language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| N/u | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | South Africa | |
| Total speakers: | 10 | |
| Language family: | Khoisan Tuu N/u |
|
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | to be added | |
| ISO/FDIS 639-3: | ngh | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
N/u or N/uu is a Khoisan language spoken by the ‡Khomani people in South Africa.
N/u belongs to the Ta’a-!Kwi language family, with /Xam being its closest relative. The slash symbol in these names represents a click like the English interjection tsk! tsk! used to express pity or shame; "N/u" is pronounced like noo, with a tsk pronounced in the middle of the en.
Alternate names or dialects include !Kabee, /’Auni, ‖Kxau, ‖Ng!ke.
N/u prospered through the 19th century, but encroaching non-!Kwi languages and acculturation threatened it, like most other Khoisan languages. The language of the ‡Khomani was mainly displaced by Afrikaans and Nama, especially after they started migrating to towns in the 1930s and found themselves surrounded by non-N/u speaking people. In 1973 their language was declared extinct, and the remaining ‡Khomani were evicted from the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park.
In the 1990s, ‡Khomani elders became upset that the language was dying out. It was thought that the language might already be extinct. They finally located 101-year old Elsie Vaalbooi, who could still speak N/u. Linguist Anthony Traill interviewed her in 1997. The South African San Institute soon became involved in the pursuit of information on the N/u language, and with the help of Vaalbooi they tracked down 25 other people scattered by the eviction who were able to speak or at least understand the language. Thabo Mbeki handed over 400 km² of land to the ‡Khomani in 1999, and 250 km² of land within the park in 2002. Vaalbooi came up with the N/u motto of Sa ‖’a !ainsi uinsi (We move towards a better life) for her rehabilitated people. Today there are 20 living speakers, and 8 of the people who speak it fluently live in the Cape Town province signed over to them. Linguist Nigel Crawhall is documenting the language. However, the younger generations of ‡Khomani are proud Nama speakers, and have little affinity to N/u, so there is little chance of saving the language.
[edit] External links
| 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 |
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