| Tuu | |
|---|---|
| 莾Ui鈥揟aa Southern Khoisan (obsolete) | |
| Geographic distribution | South Africa and Botswana |
| Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary
language families ( Khoisan is a term of convenience) |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Glottolog | tuuu1241 |
 Historic range of Tuu languages in pink | |
The Tuu languages, or Taa鈥撉僈wi (Taa鈥撉僓i, 莾Ui鈥揟aa, Kwi) languages, are a language family consisting of two language clusters spoken in Botswana and South Africa. The relationship between the two clusters is not doubted, but is distant. The name Tuu comes from a word common to both branches of the family for "person".
History
The ancestor of Tuu languages, Proto-Tuu, was presumably also spoken in or around the Kalahari desert, as a word for the gemsbok (*!hai) is reconstructable to Proto-Tuu. [1]
There is evidence of substantial borrowing of words between Tuu languages and other Khoisan languages, including basic vocabulary. Khoekhoe in particular is thought to have a Tuu (莾Kwi-branch) substrate. [2]
Examples of borrowings from Khoe into Tuu include 'chest' (莾X贸玫 g莵煤u from Khoe *g莵uu) and 'chin' (N莵ng g莾ann from Khoe *莾ann). [3] A root for 'louse' shared by some Khoe and Tuu languages (莵x贸ni~kx'uni~kx'uri) has been suggested as deriving from a 'pre-Tuu/pre-Khoe substrate'. [4]
Classification
The Tuu languages are not demonstrably related to any other language family, though they do share a many similarities to the languages of the Kx始a family. This is generally thought to be due to thousands of years of contact and mutual influence (a sprachbund), but some scholars believe that the two families may eventually prove to be related.
The Tuu languages were once accepted as a branch of the now-obsolete Khoisan language family, and in that conception were called Southern Khoisan.
Languages
The languages and their relationships are thought to be as follows. In several places there is not enough data to distinguish language from dialect: [5]
- Tuu
- Taa
- 莾X贸玫 (a dialect cluster)
- Lower Nossob 鈥 (two dialects, 莯始Auni and 莯Haasi)
- 莾Kwi (莾Ui)
- Taa
The 莾Kwi (莾Ui) branch of South Africa is moribund, with only one language extant, N莵ng, and that with only one elderly speaker. 莾Kwi languages were once widespread across South Africa; the most famous, 莯Xam, was the source of the modern national motto of that nation, 莾ke e藧 莯xarra 莵ke.
The Taa branch of Botswana is more robust, though it also has only one surviving language, 莾X贸玫, with 2,500 speakers.
Because many of the Tuu languages became extinct with little record, there is considerable confusion as to which of their many names represented separate languages or even dialects. The term "Vaal–Orange" was once used for 莻Ungkue (formerly spoken at the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers) combined with several of the Eastern lects, which have since been separated.
There were presumably additional Tuu languages. Westphal studied a Taa variety variously rendered 莯艐amani, 莯namani, Ng莯amani, 莯艐amasa. It is apparently now extinct. Bleek recorded another now-extinct variety, which she labeled 'S5', in the town of Khakhea; it is known in the literature as Kakia. Another in the Nossop area (labeled 'S4a') is known as Xaitia, Khatia, Katia, Kattea. Vaalpens, 莯Kusi, and 莯Eikusi evidently refer to the same variety as Xatia. Westphal (1971) lists them both as N莯amani dialects, though K枚hler lists only Khatia and classifies it as 莾Kwi.
The Tuu languages, along with neighboring 莻始Amkoe, are known for being the only languages in the world to have bilabial clicks as distinctive speech sounds (apart from the extinct ritual jargon Damin of northern Australia, which was not anyone's mother tongue). Taa, 莻始Amkoe and neighboring G莯ui (of the Khoe family) form a sprachbund with the most complex inventories of consonants in the world, and among the more complex inventories of vowels. All languages in these three families also have tone.
References
- ^ G眉ldemann, T (2005). "Tuu as a language family". Studies in Tuu (Southern Khoisan).
- ^ G眉ldemann, Tom (2006), Matras, Yaron; McMahon, April; Vincent, Nigel (eds.), "Structural Isoglosses between Khoekhoe and Tuu: The Cape as a Linguistic Area", Linguistic Areas, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 99鈥134, doi: 10.1057/9780230287617_5, ISBN 978-1-349-54544-5, retrieved 2022-09-25
- ^ G眉ldemann, T., & Loughnane, R. (2012). The problem of linguistic inheritance and contact in the Kalahari Basin: the case of body parts.
- ^ George, S. (2021). Lexicostatistical studies in Khoisan II/1: How to make a Swadesh wordlist for Proto-Tuu (Proto-South Khoisan). 袙芯锌褉芯褋褘 褟蟹褘泻芯胁芯谐芯 褉芯写褋褌胁邪, (2 (19)), 39-75.
- ^ Tom G眉ldemann. 2019. Toward a subclassification of the 莾Ui branch of Tuu. Paper presented at Afrikalinguistisches Forschungskolloquium at Humboldt Universi盲t zu Berlin, 8 January 2019. 10pp.
Sources
- G眉ldemann, Tom (2006). "The San languages of southern Namibia: Linguistic appraisal with special reference to J. G. Kr枚nlein's N莯uusaa data". Anthropological Linguistics. 48 (4): 369鈥395.
- Story, Robert (1999). Traill, Anthony (ed.). "K始u莯ha隇塻i Manuscript". Khoisan Forum Working Paper. 13. K枚ln: University of K枚ln: 18鈥34. (MS collections of the Ki莯hazi dialect of Bushman, 1937)
External links
| Tuu | |
|---|---|
| 莾Ui鈥揟aa Southern Khoisan (obsolete) | |
| Geographic distribution | South Africa and Botswana |
| Linguistic classification | One of the world's primary
language families ( Khoisan is a term of convenience) |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Glottolog | tuuu1241 |
|
Historic range of Tuu languages in pink | |
The Tuu languages, or Taa鈥撉僈wi (Taa鈥撉僓i, 莾Ui鈥揟aa, Kwi) languages, are a language family consisting of two language clusters spoken in Botswana and South Africa. The relationship between the two clusters is not doubted, but is distant. The name Tuu comes from a word common to both branches of the family for "person".
History
The ancestor of Tuu languages, Proto-Tuu, was presumably also spoken in or around the Kalahari desert, as a word for the gemsbok (*!hai) is reconstructable to Proto-Tuu. [1]
There is evidence of substantial borrowing of words between Tuu languages and other Khoisan languages, including basic vocabulary. Khoekhoe in particular is thought to have a Tuu (莾Kwi-branch) substrate. [2]
Examples of borrowings from Khoe into Tuu include 'chest' (莾X贸玫 g莵煤u from Khoe *g莵uu) and 'chin' (N莵ng g莾ann from Khoe *莾ann). [3] A root for 'louse' shared by some Khoe and Tuu languages (莵x贸ni~kx'uni~kx'uri) has been suggested as deriving from a 'pre-Tuu/pre-Khoe substrate'. [4]
Classification
The Tuu languages are not demonstrably related to any other language family, though they do share a many similarities to the languages of the Kx始a family. This is generally thought to be due to thousands of years of contact and mutual influence (a sprachbund), but some scholars believe that the two families may eventually prove to be related.
The Tuu languages were once accepted as a branch of the now-obsolete Khoisan language family, and in that conception were called Southern Khoisan.
Languages
The languages and their relationships are thought to be as follows. In several places there is not enough data to distinguish language from dialect: [5]
- Tuu
- Taa
- 莾X贸玫 (a dialect cluster)
- Lower Nossob 鈥 (two dialects, 莯始Auni and 莯Haasi)
- 莾Kwi (莾Ui)
- Taa
The 莾Kwi (莾Ui) branch of South Africa is moribund, with only one language extant, N莵ng, and that with only one elderly speaker. 莾Kwi languages were once widespread across South Africa; the most famous, 莯Xam, was the source of the modern national motto of that nation, 莾ke e藧 莯xarra 莵ke.
The Taa branch of Botswana is more robust, though it also has only one surviving language, 莾X贸玫, with 2,500 speakers.
Because many of the Tuu languages became extinct with little record, there is considerable confusion as to which of their many names represented separate languages or even dialects. The term "Vaal–Orange" was once used for 莻Ungkue (formerly spoken at the confluence of the Vaal and Orange Rivers) combined with several of the Eastern lects, which have since been separated.
There were presumably additional Tuu languages. Westphal studied a Taa variety variously rendered 莯艐amani, 莯namani, Ng莯amani, 莯艐amasa. It is apparently now extinct. Bleek recorded another now-extinct variety, which she labeled 'S5', in the town of Khakhea; it is known in the literature as Kakia. Another in the Nossop area (labeled 'S4a') is known as Xaitia, Khatia, Katia, Kattea. Vaalpens, 莯Kusi, and 莯Eikusi evidently refer to the same variety as Xatia. Westphal (1971) lists them both as N莯amani dialects, though K枚hler lists only Khatia and classifies it as 莾Kwi.
The Tuu languages, along with neighboring 莻始Amkoe, are known for being the only languages in the world to have bilabial clicks as distinctive speech sounds (apart from the extinct ritual jargon Damin of northern Australia, which was not anyone's mother tongue). Taa, 莻始Amkoe and neighboring G莯ui (of the Khoe family) form a sprachbund with the most complex inventories of consonants in the world, and among the more complex inventories of vowels. All languages in these three families also have tone.
References
- ^ G眉ldemann, T (2005). "Tuu as a language family". Studies in Tuu (Southern Khoisan).
- ^ G眉ldemann, Tom (2006), Matras, Yaron; McMahon, April; Vincent, Nigel (eds.), "Structural Isoglosses between Khoekhoe and Tuu: The Cape as a Linguistic Area", Linguistic Areas, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 99鈥134, doi: 10.1057/9780230287617_5, ISBN 978-1-349-54544-5, retrieved 2022-09-25
- ^ G眉ldemann, T., & Loughnane, R. (2012). The problem of linguistic inheritance and contact in the Kalahari Basin: the case of body parts.
- ^ George, S. (2021). Lexicostatistical studies in Khoisan II/1: How to make a Swadesh wordlist for Proto-Tuu (Proto-South Khoisan). 袙芯锌褉芯褋褘 褟蟹褘泻芯胁芯谐芯 褉芯写褋褌胁邪, (2 (19)), 39-75.
- ^ Tom G眉ldemann. 2019. Toward a subclassification of the 莾Ui branch of Tuu. Paper presented at Afrikalinguistisches Forschungskolloquium at Humboldt Universi盲t zu Berlin, 8 January 2019. 10pp.
Sources
- G眉ldemann, Tom (2006). "The San languages of southern Namibia: Linguistic appraisal with special reference to J. G. Kr枚nlein's N莯uusaa data". Anthropological Linguistics. 48 (4): 369鈥395.
- Story, Robert (1999). Traill, Anthony (ed.). "K始u莯ha隇塻i Manuscript". Khoisan Forum Working Paper. 13. K枚ln: University of K枚ln: 18鈥34. (MS collections of the Ki莯hazi dialect of Bushman, 1937)