Shua
Native toBotswana
Native speakers
2,000 (2013)[1]
Khoe–Kwadi
  • Khoe
    • Kalahari (Tshu–Khwe)
      • East
        • Shua
Language codes
ISO 639-3shg
Glottologshua1254
ELPShua

Shua /ˈʃuːə/ SHOO-ə, or Shwakhwe, is a Khoe language (Central Khoisan) of Botswana. It is spoken in central Botswana (in Nata and its surroundings), and in parts of the Chobe District in the extreme north of Botswana. There are approximately 6,000 speakers (Cook 2004) and approximately 2,000 out of those 6,000 speakers are native speakers.[2] The linguistic variety spoken in the township of Nata in northeast Botswana is highly endangered and spoken fluently only by adults over about thirty years of age.[3] The term Shwakhwe means people (khwe) from the salty area (shwa).

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Lateral Post-
alveolar 		Velar Glottal
Click nasal ᵑǀ ᵑǃ ᵑǁ
voiceless ᵏǀ ᵏǃ ᵏǁ ᵏǂ
voiced ᶢǀ ᶢǃ ᶢǁ
aspirated ǀʰ ǃʰ ǁʰ
ejective ǀʼ ǃʼ ǁʼ ǂʼ
uvular ǀq ǁq ǂq
prenasal ᵑǀᶢ ᵑǁᶢ
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive/
Affricate 		voiceless p t ts k ʔ
voiced b d dz ɡ
aspirated tʰ tsʰ kʰ
ejective tʼ tsʼ kʼ (kxʼ)
prenasal ᵑɡ
Fricative s x h
Approximant j
Cluster
+Velar fricative ǀˣ ǃˣ ǁˣ
+Vd +Velar fricative ᶢǁˣ
+Nasal +Velar fricative ᵑǀᶢˣ ᵑǁᶢˣ
+Velar ejective ǀˣʼ ǁˣʼ

Vowels

Shua has the five vowels /a e i o u/, and three nasal vowels /ĩ ã ũ/.[4]

Syntax

Unlike most Khoisan languages, but like Nama, the most neutral word order is SOV, though word order is relatively free. As with most Khoisan languages, there are postpositions. There is a tense-aspect marker ke which often appears in second position in affirmative sentences in the present tense, giving X Aux S O V order (e.g. S Aux O V).

ex:

Kʼarokwa

boys

ke

ASP

ǀʼuizi

rock-PL

ʼa

OBL

gam

throw

Kʼarokwa ke ǀʼuizi ʼa gam

boys ASP rock-PL OBL throw

"The boys are throwing rocks"

ex:

ǀʼui-zi

rock-PL

ʼa

OBL

ke

ASP

kʼarokwa

boys

gam

throw

ǀʼui-zi ʼa ke kʼarokwa gam

rock-PL OBL ASP boys throw

"The boys are throwing rocks"

This marker appears first in certain subordinate clauses in a manner reminiscent of V2 languages such as German, where a clause-initial complementizer is in complementary distribution with a second position phenomenon (in German, it would be the finite verb which appears in second position).

Numerals

Shua has indigenous terms for numeral terms, it is a restrictive and limited system of numerals.

1)

ta:

1SG

ngona:-n

three-PL

ʔau

fish

xo:-ha

catch-PAST

ta: ngona:-n ʔau xo:-ha

1SG three-PL fish catch-PAST

‘I caught three fish.’[5]

Using this example, the numeral comes before the head noun. More specifically, it appears in the second "opening" of a noun phrase "following a demonstrative or determiner (if there is one), and preceding a qualifying nominal or adjective."[5]

Dialects

Shua is a dialect cluster.

The term Hietshware (Hietʃware, Hietʃo) is used for varieties of both Shua and its sister-language Tshwa.

Tsʼixa (200 speakers) is evidently a distinct language.

References

  1. ^ "Shua". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-05-22.
  2. ^ "Shua". Ethnologue.com. Retrieved 2022-11-03.
  3. ^ McGregor, William B. (2017). "Unusual manner constructions in Shua (Khoe-Kwadi, Botswana)". Linguistics. 55 (4): 859. doi:10.1515/ling-2017-0013. S2CID 148649962.
  4. ^ Vossen, Rainer (2013). Shua. The Khoesan languages: London & New York: Routledge. pp. 190–194.
  5. ^ a b c McGregor, William B. (2014). "Numerals and number words in Shua". De Gruyter Mouton. 35 (1): 53–55. doi:10.1515/jall-2014-0002. S2CID 144719803.
  6. ^ International Encyclopedia of Linguistics: AAVE-Esperanto. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. 2003. ISBN 9780195139778.

External links


Khoisan languages
Languages of Botswana
Categories