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ǃXóõ Language
Taa ( ), also known as ǃXóõ ( ; ; also spelled ǃKhong and ǃXoon), formerly called by the dialect name ǂHoan, thus also known as Western ǂHoan, is a Tuu language notable for its large number of phonemes, perhaps the largest in the world. It is also notable for having perhaps the heaviest functional load of click consonants, with one count finding that 82% of basic vocabulary items started with a click. Most speakers live in Botswana, but a few hundred live in Namibia. The people call themselves ǃXoon (pl. ǃXooŋake) or ʼNǀohan (pl. Nǀumde), depending on the dialect they speak. The Tuu languages are one of the three traditional language families that make up the Khoisan languages. In 2011, there were around 2,500 speakers of Taa. is the word for 'human being'; the local name of the language is , from 'language'. (ǃXóõ) is an ethnonym used at opposite ends of the Taa-speaking area, but not by Taa speakers in between. Most living Taa speakers are ethnic ǃXoon (pl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ǂʼAmkoe Language
ǂʼAmkoe , formerly called by the dialectal name ǂHoan (Eastern ǂHȍã, ǂHõã, ǂHûân, ǂHua, ǂHû, or in native orthography ), thus also known as Eastern ǂHoan, is a severely endangered Kxʼa languages, Kxʼa language of Botswana. West ǂʼAmkoe dialect, along with Taa language, Taa (or perhaps the Tsaasi dialect of Taa) and Gǀui language, Gǀui, form the core of the Kalahari Basin sprachbund, and share a number of characteristic features, including the largest consonant inventories in the world. ǂʼAmkoe was shown to be related to the Juu languages by Honken and Heine (2010), and these have since been classified together in the Kxʼa languages, Kxʼa language family. Language situation ǂʼAmkoe is moribund language, moribund and severely endangered. There are only a few dozen native speakers, most born before 1960 (one Sasi speaker was born in 1971, one Nǃaqriaxe speaker in 1969), many of whom no longer speak the language fluently. The first language of the y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethnonym
An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used by the ethnic group itself). For example, the dominant ethnic group of Germany is the Germans. The ethnonym ''Germans'' is a Latin-derived exonym used in the English language, but the Germans call themselves , an endonym. The German people are identified by a variety of exonyms across Europe, such as (French language, French), (Italian language, Italian), (Swedish language, Swedish) and (Polish language, Polish). As a sub-field of anthroponymy, the study of ethnonyms is called ethnonymy or ethnonymics. Ethnonyms should not be confused with demonyms, which designate all the people of a geographic territory, regardless of ethnic or linguistic divisions within its population. Variations Numerous ethnonyms can apply to the same ethni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phonation
The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, ''phonation'' is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the definition used among those who study laryngeal anatomy and physiology and speech production in general. Phoneticians in other subfields, such as linguistic phonetics, call this process '' voicing'', and use the term ''phonation'' to refer to any oscillatory state of any part of the larynx that modifies the airstream, of which voicing is just one example. Voiceless and supra-glottal phonations are included under this definition. Voicing The phonatory process, or voicing, occurs when air is expelled from the lungs through the glottis, creating a pressure drop across the larynx. When this drop becomes sufficiently large, the vocal folds start to oscillate. The minimum pressure drop required to achieve phonation is called the phonation thres ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jinhui Dialect
The Jinhui dialect ( zh, s=金汇方言, p=Jīnhuì fāngyán), also known as Dônđäc ( zh, c=偒傣, p=Dàngdǎi), is a dialect of Wu Chinese spoken in the town of , China in Shanghai's suburban Fengxian District. It has about 100,000 native speakers. Jinhui is located near the border of the ancient states of Wu and Yue during the Spring and Autumn period. Like other Wu dialects, Dônđäc has preserved many special features of the Old Yue language. Dônđäc has 20 oral vowel qualities, plus many nasal and rhotic ones. According to a Fudan University study that was published in the journal ''Science'', Dônđäc has the largest oral vowel quality inventory in the world (phonemically speaking), and ranks highest in overall phonemic diversity among all languages studied in the research. According to linguist Qian Nairong, who spent eight years teaching in Fengxian and studying its dialects, the reason Dônđäc has so many vowels is because Jinhui is the place where five isog ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Oswald Johannes Westphal
Ernst Oswald Johannes Gotthard Gotthilf Westphal (Khalavha in Venda, South Africa, 1919 - Bredasdorp near Cape Town, South Africa, 27 November 1990) was a South African linguistics, linguist and an expert in Bantu languages, Bantu and Khoisan languages. From 1949 to 1962 he taught at the SOAS, University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Biography Ernst Westphal was born at Khalava in Venda, the son of German people, German Lutheran missionary parents. His father was Gotthard Westphal and his grandfather, also Ernst Westphal, was with his wife Wilhelmine the teacher and mentor of Solomon Plaatje. Already as a child E.O.J. Westphal was fluent in German language, German, English language, English, and Afrikaans language, Afrikaans, like many South Africans. His first and native language, however, was Venda language, Venda, and as a child he was initiated into the partly secret Venda people, Venda rites for young men. He studied Zulu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
