Kgalagadi language

{{Short description|Sotho–Tswana language of southern Botswana}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox language | name = Kgalagadi | altname = Kalahari | nativename = ''SheKgalagadi'' | states = [[Botswana]] | speakers = 65,400 | date = 2015 | ref = <ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/xkv|title=Kgalagadi|work=Ethnologue|access-date=2018-08-14|language=en}}</ref> | familycolor = Niger-Congo | fam2 = [[Atlantic–Congo languages|Atlantic–Congo]] | fam3 = [[Volta-Congo]] | fam4 = [[Benue–Congo languages|Benue–Congo]] | fam5 = [[Bantoid]] | fam6 = [[Southern Bantoid languages|Southern Bantoid]] | iso3 = xkv | glotto = kgal1244 | glottorefname = Kgalagadi | lingua = 99-AUT-eh incl. varieties 99-AUT-eha to 99-AUT-ehc | guthrie = S.311 (ex-S.31d) | ethnicity = [[Kgalagadi people|Kgalagadi]] | fam7 = [[Bantu languages|Bantu]] | fam1 = Niger-Congo | fam8 = [[Southern Bantu]] | fam9 = [[Sotho–Tswana languages|Sotho–Tswana]] }}

'''Kgalagadi''' is a [[Bantu languages|Bantu language]] spoken in [[Botswana]], along the [[South Africa]]n border. It is spoken by about {{formatnum:40000}} people.<ref name=e18>{{Ethnologue18|xkv}}</ref> In the language, it is known as ''Shekgalagari''.

==Classification== Kgalagadi (also rendered ''Kgalagari, Kgalagarhi, Kgalagari, Khalagari, Khalakadi, Kxhalaxadi, Qhalaxarzi, Shekgalagadi, Shekgalagari, Kqalaqadi'') is most closely related to [[Tswana language|Tswana]], and until recently was classified as a dialect of [[Tswana language|Tswana]].<ref name="Guthrie"/>

Dialects include ''Shengologa, Sheshaga, Shebolaongwe, Shelala, Shekhena, Sheritjhauba'' and ''Shekgwatheng.''

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels === {| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center |- ! !! [[Front vowel|Front]] !! [[Central vowel|Central]] ![[Back vowel|Back]] |- ! [[Close vowel|Close]] |{{IPAlink|i}}|| |{{IPAlink|u}} |- ![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]] |{{IPAlink|e}} ~ {{IPA link|ɪ}}|| |{{IPA link|o}} ~ {{IPAlink|ʊ}} |- ![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]] |{{IPAlink|ɛ}} | |{{IPAlink|ɔ}} |- ![[Open vowel|Open]] | |{{IPAlink|a}} | |}

* Close-mid vowels /e, o/ are frequently heard as near-close sounds [ɪ, ʊ] among speakers in free variation.

=== Consonants === {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" |[[Labial consonant|Labial]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Dental consonant|Dental]] ! colspan="2" |[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]] ! colspan="2" |[[Postalveolar consonant|Post- alveolar]] ! colspan="2" |[[Palatal consonant|Palatal]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Velar consonant|Velar]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Uvular consonant|Uvular]] ! rowspan="2" |[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]] |- !plain ![[Labialization|lab.]] !plain ![[Labialization|lab.]] !plain ![[Labialization|lab.]] |- ! rowspan="3" |[[Stop consonant|Stop]] ![[Voicelessness|voiceless]] |{{IPAlink|p}} |{{IPAlink|t̪}} | | | | |{{IPAlink|c}} |{{IPA link|cʷ}} |{{IPAlink|k}} |{{IPA link|q}} | |- ![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] |{{IPAlink|pʰ}} |{{IPAlink|t̪ʰ}} | | | | |{{IPA link|cʰ}} |{{IPA link|cʰʷ}} |{{IPAlink|kʰ}} |{{IPA link|qʰ}} | |- ![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] |{{IPAlink|b}} |{{IPAlink|d̪}} | | | | |{{IPAlink|ɟ}} | | {{IPAlink|g}} | | |- ! rowspan="3" |[[Affricate consonant|Affricate]] ![[Voicelessness|voiceless]] | | |{{IPA link|t͡s}} |{{IPA link|t͡sʷ}} |{{IPAlink|t͡ʃ}} |{{IPA link|t͡ʃʷ}} | | | | | |- ![[Aspirated consonant|aspirated]] | | |{{IPA link|t͡sʰ}} |{{IPA link|t͡sʰʷ}} |{{IPA link|t͡ʃʰ}} |{{IPA link|t͡ʃʰʷ}} | | | | | |- ![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] | | |({{IPA link|d͡z}}) | |{{IPAlink|d͡ʒ}} | | | | | | |- ! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]] ![[Voicelessness|voiceless]] | | |{{IPAlink|s}} | |{{IPAlink|ʃ}} |{{IPA link|ʃʷ}} | | | |{{IPA link|χ}} |{{IPAlink|h}} |- ![[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] | | |{{IPAlink|z}} | |{{IPAlink|ʒ}} |{{IPA link|ʒʷ}} | | | | |({{IPA link|ɦ}}) |- ! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]] |{{IPAlink|m}} |({{IPA link|n̪}}) |{{IPAlink|n}} | | | |{{IPAlink|ɲ}} | |{{IPA link|ŋ}} | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]] | | |{{IPA link|r}} | | | | | | | | |- ! colspan="2" |[[Approximant consonant|Approximant]] | | |{{IPAlink|l}} | | | |{{IPAlink|j}} | |{{IPAlink|w}} | | |}

* Click sounds /ʘ, ǀ, ǀŋ, ǃŋ/ are also said to occur, but mostly in rare cases.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Solé |first1=Maria-Josep |last2=Hyman |first2=Larry M. |last3=Monaka |first3=Kemmonye C. |year=2009 |title=More on Post-nasal Devoicing: The Case of Shekgalagari |journal=UC Berkeley PhonLab Annual Report |volume=5 |pages=299–320 |doi=10.5070/P70gk0g18d |eissn=2768-5047}}</ref> * A voiceless trill [r̥] may also occur phonemically among dialects, and may also be pronounced as breathy [r̤] in intervocalic positions. * /r/ may also be heard as a flap [ɾ]. * /n/ may also be heard as [n̪] in free variation, or when preceding dental stops. * /qʰ/ may also be heard as [q͡χʰ] in free variation. * Lateral affricates [t͡ɬ, t͡ɬʰ] may occur from loanwords.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lukusa |first1=Stephen T. M. |title=Shekgalagari grammar: A descriptive analysis of the language and its vocabulary |last2=Kemmonye |first2=C. Monaka |publisher=Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society |year=2008 |location=Cape Town |oclc=391963723}}</ref> * Sounds /z, ʒ/ can be pronounced in free variation as affricates [d͡z, d͡ʒ] in the Bolaongwe dialect. * /h/ can be heard as voiced [ɦ] when in intervocalic positions.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Dickens |first=Patrick J. |title=Qhalaxarzi phonology |degree=MA |publisher=University of the Witwatersrand |url=https://files.core.ac.uk/download/39675170.pdf |year=1986}}</ref>

== Notes and references == {{reflist}} {{incubator|xkv}} {{Narrow Bantu languages (Zones N–S)}}

[[Category:Languages of Botswana]] [[Category:Sotho-Tswana languages]]