ǃKung languages

ǃKung /ˈkʊŋ/ KUUNG (ǃXun), also known as Ju (/ˈ/ JOO), is a dialect continuum (language complex) spoken in Namibia, Botswana, and Angola by the ǃKung people, constituting two or three languages. Together with the ǂʼAmkoe language, ǃKung forms the Kxʼa language family. ǃKung constituted one of the branches of the putative Khoisan language family, and was called Northern Khoisan in that scenario, but the unity of Khoisan has never been demonstrated and is now regarded as spurious. Nonetheless, the anthropological term "Khoisan" has been retained as an umbrella term for click languages in general.

ǃKung
Ju
ǃXun
Native toNamibia, Angola, Botswana, South Africa
EthnicityǃKung
Native speakers
All varieties: 77,000 (2015)
Kxʼa
  • ǃKung
Dialects
Latin with click characters
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
vaj  Northern ǃKung
knw  Ekoka ǃKung
ktz  Southern ǃKung
Glottologjuku1256
ELP!Xun
PeopleǃKung
LanguageǃXun

ǃKung is famous for its many clicks, such as the ǃ in its name, and has some of the most complex inventories of both consonants and vowels in the world. It also has tone and nasalization. For a description, see Juǀʼhoan. To pronounce ǃXuun (pronounced [ǃ͡χũː˦˥] in Western ǃKung/ǃXuun) one makes a click sound before the x sound (which is like a Scottish or German ch), followed by a long nasal u vowel with a high rising tone.

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