Native to Namibia ISO 639-3 None (mis) | Region Grootfontein Glottolog cent2300 | |
Language family Kx'a
!Kung
Central !Kung | ||
Central !Kung (Central !Xuun), or Central Ju, is a recently distinguished variety of the !Kung dialect cluster, spoken in a small area of northern Namibia: Neitsas, in Grootfontein district, and Gaub, in Tsumeb district. It is frequently reported as Grootfontein !Xuun, as most work has been done in Grootfontein.
Phonology
Grootfontein !Kung is unusual in having true retroflex clicks, which are subapical for some speakers and have lateral release, as in the word for 'water', [ǃ̬˞ ˡú] (provisionally written g‼ú). There are thus five places of articulation in Grootfontein clicks, /ǃ ǀ ǁ ǂ ‼/. These come in eight series, here represented with the retroflex articulation:
Lingual /‼ ‼ʰ ᶢ‼ ᵑ‼ ᵑ̊‼ʰ/, glottalized /ᵑ̊‼ˀ/, linguo-pulmonic /‼χ/, linguo-glottalic /‼͡kxʼ/Otherwise, the Grootfontein inventory is similar to that of Ekoka !Kung, except that it lacks the (pre)voiced affricates dχ, dʒ, dʒʼ, dʃχʼ.