Khwe Dictionary.

Christa Kilian-Hatz. Khwe Dictionary. With a Supplement on Khwe Place-names of West Caprivi by Matthias Brenzinger. 2003, x + 431 pp. ISBN 3-89645-083-2. Namibian African Studies 7. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. Price: €52.80

High tone lowering and raising in Tsua

The Tsua language is an Eastern Kalahari Khoe language of Botswana (Chebanne 2014). Tsua tone production displays complex Fundamental Frequency (F0) trajectories. Lexical data show that this language has three tone levels: High (H), Mid (M), and Low (L), with the following surface tone melodies: [HH, HM, HL, MM, MH, ML]. High tones may be lowered when they occur following voiced obstruents, aspirated obstruents or the glottal fricative /h/ in root-initial position, a typologically rare pattern. This results in two depressed melodies: depressed HM[DH-M] and depressed HL [DH-L]. Both clicks and non-clicks participate in this interaction. We refer to this tonal depression pattern as High Tone Lowering (HTL). HTL may be formally accounted for via the Low tone insertion rule: ∅ → L / [-sonorant, +slack] ___ H [-H] #. Recent analysis suggests that Super High (SH) tones are derived from /H/ when docked to the high vowels [i], [u] and are not phonemic. For example, underlying /HL/ tűù “to collect and remove ash” is produced with SH-L tones on the surface. We refer to this as High Tone Raising (HTR). Elderkin (1988) reports a similar finding in Ju|ʼhoan in which a sequence of successive extrahigh tones is only found in click-initial morphs when the final vowel is [i] or [u]. It may be that an Intrinsic F0 (IF0) effect from the Tsua high vowels was a historical factor that led to the genesis of HTR. Given that voiced, aspirated and /h/ consonant types depress a root-initial H tone and the high vowels [i], [u] raise H tones, the paper considers phonetically-driven origins of these patterns.Keywords: tone; depressor consonants; high vowels; Khoisan; Intrinsic F

Why is a gradual transition to Botswana’s languages in higher education necessary? How can it be achieved?

Where other authors have argued for the need for using indigenous languages ineducation in Botswana on human rights or efficiency grounds, this article argues for this need foreconomic reasons, in line with the country’s vision for 2036. Further increases in enrolment in highereducation will mean that the country’s education system is stretched beyond its capacities, as shownby benchmarking Botswana’s educational system against that of Estonia’s. A transition towardsindigenous languages is practical by using the proposed concepts of discerned and designedlanguages. However, it should be based on five key principles, which are introduced in the article.Based on a new discussion of ease and difficulty of language learning, these principles are appliedto the Botswanan situation. The article concludes that Setswana could be developed as a medium ofinstruction for the great majority of people in Botswana, but that a special position is justified for theKhoisan languages. The article ends by suggesting a number of concrete steps that should be takenover the coming years in order to make such a transition a practical possibility.Descriptive and Comparative Linguistic

African Linguistics in Central and Eastern Europe, and in the Nordic Countries

Non peer reviewe

Language endangerment and language documentation in Africa

Non peer reviewe

A Sociolinguistic Perspective of the Indigenous Communities of Botswana

The indigenous communities of Botswana discussed in this paper are generally referred to as the Khoisan (Khoesan). While there are debates on the common origins of Khoisan communities, the existence of at least fi ve language families suggests a separate evolution that resulted in major grammatical and lexical differences between them. Due to historical confl icts with neighboring groups, they have been pushed far into the most inhospitable areas of the regions where they presently live. The most signifi cant victimization of Khoisan groups by the linguistic majority has been the systematic neglect of their languages and cultures. In fact, social and development programs have attempted to assimilate them into so-called majority ethnic groups and into modernity, and their languages have been diffi cult to conserve in contact situations. This paper provides an overview of these indigenous communities of Botswana and contributes to ongoing research of the region. I discuss reasons for the communities' vulnerability by examining their demography, current localities, and language vitality. I also analyze some adverse effects of development and the danger the Khoisan face due to negative social and political attitudes, and formulate critical areas of intervention for the preservation of these indigenous languages

The curse of poverty and marginalisation in language development : the case of Khoisan languages of Botswana

CITATION: Chebanne, A. & Dlali, M. 2019. The curse of poverty and marginalisation in language development : the case of Khoisan languages of Botswana. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 58:219-233, doi:10.5842/58-0-844.The original publication is available at http://spilplus.journals.ac.zaENGLISH ABSTRACT: Khoisan languages are spoken by tiny and remote-dwelling communities of Botswana, the members of which are characterised by socio-economic hardships and illiteracy in their own languages and in general. Historically and socially, these people emerged from a life of hunting and gathering, and, in that lifestyle mode, they were easily subdued and exploited by other language communities for cheap and serf labour. Colonialism found them in this social state, and post-colonialism has left them in the same state. As poor and marginalised subalterns, they have not had any means to advocate for their language and culture, and are currently assimilated into other peoples’ languages and cultures. Consequently, the remaining languages of these communities, spoken in remote areas by poor people, are threatened with extinction because they remain under-developed, under-documented, and are at best still at the stage of documentation by anthropologists and linguists. As illiterate people, the speakers of these Khoisan languages have no survival strategies for their languages in this ever-evolving, modern world. With their poverty and sociolinguistic marginalisation, they are devoid of any means of promoting their languages. This discussion focuses on the pitiful situation of the Khoisan languages of Botswana. Botswana’s language-use policy will be critically examined and characterised as one factor in the marginalisation and disempowerment of minority groups, both of which lead to the languages’ endangerment and death.https://spilplus.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/844Publisher's versio

Christa Kilian-Hatz: Khwe Dictionary

Before an assessment of this dictionary is made, it is important to place the Khwe language in its historical and social context. Khwe dam (language of the Khwe), as its speakers would prefer to call it, is a Khoisan language belonging to the Southern African Central-Khoisan under the Khoe cluster (Güldemann and Vossen 2000). It is spoken in Northern Botswana and in the Western Capri-vi Strip of Namibia in the Kavango region. As the compiler correctly observes, there are about 10 000 Khwe-speaking people who live in the Caprivi Strip of North-Western Namibia, Angola, Botswana and Zambia, and at Schmidtsdrift, South Africa. As can be expected from a speech community such as the Khwe, who prefer living in small communities, there are dialects within the Khwe dam. In Botswana, the notable varieties are the Buga (Sand Khwe) and the ≤Ani (River Khwe), which exhibit discernable linguistic differences at the lexical and grammatical levels. However, linguists agree, as Kilian-Hatz also indicates, that the Khwe dam dialectal varieties are definitely related and mutually fairly intelligible (cf. Güldemann and Vossen 2000). As a language that has not been elaborately codified, it is difficult to speak about a standard Khwe dam form. Many other social and linguistic activities need to be carried out to resolve the question of standard Khwe dam (cf. WIMSA 2001)