Tsoa , Tshwa or Tshuwau , also known as Kua and Hiechware , is an East Kalahari Khoe dialect cluster spoken by several thousand people in Botswana and Zimbabwe .
5-499: One of the dialects is Tjwao (formerly spelled 'Tshwao'), the only Khoisan language in Zimbabwe, where "Koisan" is a language officially recognised in the constitution. Tsoa–Kua is a dialect cluster , which is still poorly studied but seems to include: The following inventory is of the Kua dialect: The Cire-cire (not cited) dialect has the following consonant inventory: The clicks have
10-440: A very uneven distribution: Only a dozen words begin with one of the palatal clicks ( ǂ ), and these are replaced by dental clicks ( ǀ ) among younger speakers. Only half a dozen words start with one of the alveolar clicks ( ǃ ), and half a dozen more with one of the affricated clicks. These rather marginal sounds are placed in parentheses in the chart. Tsoa has the five vowels /a e i o u/ , and three nasal vowels /ĩ ã ũ/ . It
15-493: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tjwao dialect Tjwao (formerly Tshwao ) is an endangered Khoe language spoken by fewer than 8 people in the Tsholotsho District of Zimbabwe , all over 60 years of age. A slightly larger group of 100 have passive or partial knowledge of the language. It is the only Khoisan language in Zimbabwe, where "Koisan" is an officially recognised language in
20-641: Is not clear if Tsoa has long vowels, or simply sequences of identical vowels /aa ee ii oo uu/ . There are two tones, high and low, plus a few cases of mid tone. In the northern dialect of Kua, like all other East Kalahari Khoe languages, the palatal click series has become palatal stops. Southern Kua has retained the palatal clicks, but the dental stops have palatalized, as they have in Gǀui and ǂʼAmkoe . Thus northern Kua has /ɟua/ 'ash' and /d̪u/ 'eland', whereas southern Kua has ᶢǂua 'ash' and /d̪ʲu/ (or perhaps /ɟu/ ) 'eland'. This language-related article
25-458: The constitution. Tjwao belongs to the Tshwa (Tsoa-Kua) cluster of East Kalahari Khoe languages. It is very similar to the varieties of Ganade noted by Westphal and Traill. Although mentioned by scholars for several decades, documentation of the language only began in 2012. This language-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Zimbabwe -related article
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