Tshwa language

In this article, we are going to delve into the fascinating world of Tshwa language, exploring its many facets and delving into its importance and impact on different aspects of life. Along these lines, we will discover how Tshwa language has been a fundamental piece in the history of humanity, influencing cultures, movements and crucial decisions. From its origins to its relevance today, we will dive into a detailed analysis of Tshwa language, addressing its implications in the social, economic, political and cultural spheres. Get ready to embark on an exciting and enriching journey that will lead you to understand the true magnitude of Tshwa language in today's world.
"Kua" redirects here. For other uses, see KUA (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Tshwa language (Bantu).
Tsoa
Kua, "Koisan"
Hiechware
Native toBotswana, Zimbabwe
Native speakers
6,000 (2000–2013)
Khoe–Kwadi
  • Khoe
    • Kalahari (Tshu–Khwe)
      • East
        • Tsoa
Dialects
  • Hiechware
  • Kua
  • Cire Cire
Official status
Official language in
 Zimbabwe (as 'Koisan')
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
hio – Tsoa
tyu – Kua
Glottologtshw1239
ELPTshwa
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Tsoa, Tshwa or Tshuwau, also known as Kua and Hiechware, is an East Kalahari Khoe dialect cluster spoken by several thousand people in Botswana and Zimbabwe.

One of the dialects is Tjwao (formerly spelled 'Tshwao'), the only Khoisan language in Zimbabwe, where "Koisan" is a language officially recognised in the constitution.

Dialects

Tsoa–Kua is a dialect cluster, which is still poorly studied but seems to include:

  • Tsoa, also known as Hiechware and as various other combinations of Hio-, Hie-, Hai- + Chwa, Tshwa, Chuwau, Tshuwau + -re, -ri; also as Sarwa, Sesarwa (the Tswana name), Gǁabake-Ntshori, Tati, and Kwe-Etshori Kwee. Zimbabwean Tshwao apparently belongs here.
  • Kua, also spelled Cua and Tyhua. That is, both Tsoa and Kua may be pronounced something like , and it's not clear that they are distinct dialects.
  • Cire Cire , spoken in the area around Nata in Botswana.

Phonology

The following inventory is of the Kua dialect:

Consonant phonemes of the Kua dialect, Mathes (2015)
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Lateral Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Click nasal ᵑǀ ᵑǃ ᵑǁ ᵑǂ
voiceless ᵏǀ ᵏǃ ᵏǁ ᵏǂ
voiced ᶢǀ ᶢǁ ᶢǂ
aspirated ǀʰ ǁʰ ǂʰ
ejective ǀʼ ǁʼ
glottalized ǀˀ ǃˀ ǁˀ ǂˀ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p t ts c k q ʔ
aspirated pʰ tʰ tsʰ cʰ kʰ qʰ
ejective tʼ tsʼ cʼ kʼ qχʼ
voiced b d dz ɟ ɡ ɢ
Fricative s χ h
Rhotic r
Approximant w l j
Clusters
Click +fricative ǀχ ǁχ
+affricate ǀqχʼ ǃqχʼ ǁqχʼ
+uvular vl qǀ qǃ qǁ qǂ
vd ɢǀ ɢǁ
+asp qǀʰ qǁʰ qǂʰ
Plosive +fricative tχ cχ
Affricate +fricative tsχ
Ejective +affricate tsqχʼ cqχʼ

The Cire-cire (not cited) dialect has the following consonant inventory:

Consonant phonemes of the Cire-cire dialect (not cited)
Bilabial Dental Alveolar Lateral Post-
alveolar 		Velar Uvular Glottal
Click nasal ᵑǀ (ᵑǃ) ᵑǁ (ᵑǂ)
voiceless ᵏǀ (ᵏǃ) ᵏǁ (ᵏǂ)
voiced ᶢǀ (ᶢǃ) ᶢǁ (ᶢǂ)
aspirated ǀʰ (ǃʰ) ǁʰ (ǂʰ)
glottalized ᵑǀˀ ᵑǁˀ
affricate (ǀqχ) (ǁqχ)
Nasal m n
Plosive voiceless p t k q ʔ
voiced b d ɡ
Affricate voiceless tʃ
voiced dz dʒ
Fricative voiceless s ʃ χ
voiced z
Approximant l

The clicks have a very uneven distribution: Only a dozen words begin with one of the palatal clicks (ǂ), and these are replaced by dental clicks (ǀ) among younger speakers. Only half a dozen words start with one of the alveolar clicks (ǃ), and half a dozen more with one of the affricated clicks. These rather marginal sounds are placed in parentheses in the chart.

front back
high i ĩ u ũ
mid e o
low a ã

Tsoa has the five vowels /a e i o u/, and three nasal vowels /ĩ ã ũ/. It is not clear if Tsoa has long vowels, or simply sequences of identical vowels /aa ee ii oo uu/.

There are two tones, high and low, plus a few cases of mid tone.

In the northern dialect of Kua, like all other East Kalahari Khoe languages, the palatal click series has become palatal stops. Southern Kua has retained the palatal clicks, but the dental stops have palatalized, as they have in Gǀui and ǂʼAmkoe. Thus northern Kua has /ɟua/ 'ash' and /d̪u/ 'eland', whereas southern Kua has ᶢǂua 'ash' and /d̪ʲu/ (or perhaps /ɟu/) 'eland'.

References

  1. ^ Tsoa at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Kua at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Mathes, Timothy K. (2015). Consonant-tone interaction in the Khoisan language Tsua. New York University.
  3. ^ Gerlach, Linda (2015) "Phonetic and phonological description of the Nǃaqriaxe variety of ǂʼAmkoe and the impact of language contact". PhD dissertation, Humboldt University, Berlin

Bibliography

External links


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