Khoisan

Khoi·san

K0051000 (koi′sän′)n. A family of languages of southern Africa, including those of the Khoikhoi and the San.

[Nama khoe(khoe-n), the Nama people; see Khoikhoi + Nama san, the San people; see San.]

Khoisan

(ˈkɔɪsɑːn; kɔɪˈsɑːn) n (Languages) a family of languages spoken in southern Africa by the Khoikhoi and Bushmen and by two small groups in Tanzania. A characteristic phonological feature of these languages is the use of suction stops (clicks)adj (Languages) denoting, relating to, or belonging to this family of languages

Khoi•san

(ˈkɔɪ sɑn)

n. a family of languages found chiefly in S Africa and including the languages of the San and the Khoikhoi.

Thesaurus

Noun

Khoisan - a family of languages spoken in southern AfricaKhoisan languagenatural language, tongue - a human written or spoken language used by a community; opposed to e.g. a computer languageHottentot, Khoikhoi, Khoikhoin - any of the Khoisan languages spoken by the pastoral people of Namibia and South Africa

Translations

Khoisan

enUK

Khoisan:

see African languagesAfrican languages,
geographic rather than linguistic classification of languages spoken on the African continent. Historically the term refers to the languages of sub-Saharan Africa, which do not belong to a single family, but are divided among several distinct linguistic stocks.
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Khoisan

(from khoi-khoi-n, self-designation of the Hottentots, and san, their name for the Bushmen), a term introduced in the early 20th century by the English ethnographer I. Schapera, in particular to describe the languages of the indigenous population of South Africa, the Bushmen and Hottentots. Subsequent research into the languages of the Bushmen has shown that they differ sharply from those of the Hottentots (according to the structure of the language as a whole). The American linguist J. H. Greenberg has continued to combine them under the name “Khoisan languages” on the basis of lexical parallels; however, regular sound correspondences have not been found, and their relationship, as well as the name “Khoisan languages,” remains debatable.

REFERENCES

Schapera, I. The Khoisan Peoples of South Africa. London, 1930.
Westphal, E. O. I. “The Non-Bantu Languages of Southern Africa.” In A. N. Tucker and M. A. Bryan, The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa: Supplement, vol. 3. Oxford, 1956.
Westphal, E. O. I. “On Classifying Bushman and Hottentot Languages.” In African Language Studies, vol. 3. London, 1962.
Westphal, E. O. I. “A Re-classification of Southern African Non-Bantu Languages.” Journal of African Languages, 1962, vol. 1.
Greenberg, J. H. Languages of Africa. The Hague, 1963.

D. A. OL’DEROGGE

Khoisan

Khoi·san

Khoisan

Khoi•san

Khoisan

Khoisan:

Khoisan

REFERENCES

Khoisan

Synonyms for Khoisan

noun a family of languages spoken in southern Africa

Synonyms

Related Words