ǁXegwi language

ǁXegwi
ǁXegwi
giǁkwi꞉gwi; kiǁkwi꞉gwi
Native to	South Africa
Region	Lake Chrissie
Ethnicity	Tlou-tle
Extinct	1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda
Language family	Tuu ǃKwi Eastern ǁXegwi; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xeg
Linguist List	xeg.html
Glottolog	xegw1238
	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.

Last updated: 2025-08-02 03:26:30

ǁXegwi language

ǁXegwi (pronounced /ˈzɛɡwiː/ ZEH-gwee), also known as Batwa, is an extinct ǃKwi language spoken at Lake Chrissie in South Africa, near the Swazi border. The last known speaker, Jopi Mabinda, was murdered in 1988.^[2] However, a reporter for the South African newspaper Mail & Guardian reports that ǁXegwi may still be spoken in the Chrissiesmeer district.^[3]

The ǁXegwi name for their language has been spelled giǁkwi꞉gwi or kiǁkwi꞉gwi. Their name for themselves has been transcribed tlou tle or kxlou-kxle, presumably [k͡𝼄ouk͡𝼄e]. The Nguni (Zulu and Swazi) called them (a)batwa, amaNkqeshe, amaNgqwigqwi; the Sotho called them Baroa/Barwa.^[4]

Phonology

ǁXegwi lost the abrupt clicks (the various manners of ǂ and ǃ) found in its relatives. It reacquired ǃ from Nguni Bantu languages, but clicks remained relatively infrequent, compared to other Tuu languages. It also had a series of uvular plosives not found in other Tuu languages.^[5]

Pulmonic and ejective consonants
		Bilabial	Alveolar		Palatal	Velar		Uvular	Glottal
		Bilabial	central	lateral	Palatal	central	lateral	Uvular	Glottal
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	voiced	b	d		ɟ	ɡ		ɢ
	tenuis	p	t			k		q	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		cʰ	kʰ		qʰ
	ejective		tʼ		cʼ	kʷʼ		qʼ
Affricate	voiceless		ts tx	tɬ	tʃ	kx	k𝼄
	aspirated				tʃʰ		k𝼄ʰ
	voiced		dz		dʒ
	ejective		tsʼ		tʃʼ	kxʼ	k𝼄ʼ
Fricative	voiceless		s	ɬ	ʃ	x			h
Fricative	voiced	β	z	ɮ	ʒ				ɦ
Sonorant			r	l	j	w

Lingual consonants
		Labial	Dental	Alveolar
		Labial	Dental	central	lateral
Nasal	modal	ᵑʘ	ᵑǀ	ᵑǃ	ᵑǁ
	glottalized		ᵑǀˀ	ᵑǃˀ	ᵑǁˀ
	murmured	ᵑʘʱ	ᵑǀʱ	ᵑǃʱ	ᵑǁʱ
Plosive	voiced		ᶢǀ	ᶢǃ	ᶢǁ
	aspirated		ᵏǀʰ	ᵏǃʰ	ᵏǁʰ
	tenuis	ᵏʘ	ᵏǀ	ᵏǃ	ᵏǁ
Affricate	tenuis	ᵏʘx	ᵏǀx	ᵏǃx	ᵏǁx
Affricate	ejective	ᵏʘxʼ	ᵏǀxʼ	ᵏǃxʼ	ᵏǁxʼ

Oral and nasal vowels
	Front	Back
High	i ĩ	u ũ
Mid	e	o
Low	a ã

Pharyngealized vowels^[6]
	Front	Back
High	ḭ ḭː	ṵ ṵː
Mid	ḛ	o̰
Low	a̰ a̰ː

References

↑ ǁXegwi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
↑ Traill, A. (2002). "The Khoesan languages". In Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.). Language in South Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 42. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511486692.003. ISBN 978-0-521-79105-2.
↑ Davie, Kevin. "The secret pool of surviving Bushmen at Chrissiesmeer". The Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 2011-07-29. Retrieved 2018-03-04.
↑ Treis, Yvonne (1998). "Names of Khoisan languages and their variants". In Schladt, Mathias (ed.). Language, identity, and conceptualization among the Khoisan. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. pp. 463–503. ISBN 978-3-89645-143-9.
↑ Traill, Anthony (1999). Extinct: South African Khoisan Languages (CD).
↑ Honken, Henry (2020). "ǁX'egwi". In Vossen, Rainer; Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 670–681.

External links

ǁXegwi basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database

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View original on Wikipedia

[e18-1] ǁXegwi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Traill, A. (2002). "The Khoesan languages". In Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.). Language in South Africa. Cambridge University Press. p. 42. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511486692.003. ISBN 978-0-521-79105-2.

[3] Davie, Kevin. "The secret pool of surviving Bushmen at Chrissiesmeer". The Mail & Guardian. Archived from the original on 2011-07-29. Retrieved 2018-03-04.

[4] Treis, Yvonne (1998). "Names of Khoisan languages and their variants". In Schladt, Mathias (ed.). Language, identity, and conceptualization among the Khoisan. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. pp. 463–503. ISBN 978-3-89645-143-9.

[5] Traill, Anthony (1999). Extinct: South African Khoisan Languages (CD).

[6] Honken, Henry (2020). "ǁX'egwi". In Vossen, Rainer; Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of African Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 670–681.

[1]

ǁXegwi
giǁkwi꞉gwi kiǁkwi꞉gwi
Native to	South Africa
Region	Lake Chrissie
Ethnicity	Tlou-tle
Extinct	1988, with the death of Jopi Mabinda^[1]
Language family	Tuu ǃKwi Eastern ǁXegwi
Language codes
ISO 639-3	`xeg`
Linguist List	`xeg.html`
Glottolog	`xegw1238`
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.