Khoisan languages

E9577
African languages indigenous languages language grouping

Khoisan languages are a group of indigenous African language families best known for their distinctive click consonants and their speakers’ long-standing presence in southern Africa.

Observed surface forms (7)

Surface form As subject As object
Khoekhoe 0 2
Khoekhoegowab 0 2
Central Khoisan languages 0 1
Khoekhoe languages 0 1
Khoisan (proposed) language group 0 1
Khoisan language family 0 1
Khoisan linguistics 0 1

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf African languages →
indigenous languages →
language grouping →
classificationDebate genetic relationships among subgroups are controversial →
considered linguistic area →
several independent language families →
continent Africa →
distinctFrom Afroasiatic languages →
Bantu languages →
Cushitic languages →
documentationStatus many languages poorly documented →
some languages extinct or nearly extinct →
feature complex consonant systems →
large inventory of click consonants →
rich phoneme inventories →
tone →
hasSubgroup Hadza language →
Khoe languages →
Kxʼa languages →
Sandawe language →
Tuu languages →
historicalPresence southern Africa for tens of thousands of years →
influenced neighboring Bantu languages →
some Afrikaans dialects →
knownFor click consonants →
notConsidered single genetic language family →
phonologicalType use of clicks as regular consonants →
populationTrend declining number of speakers →
primaryCountries Angola →
Botswana →
Namibia →
South Africa →
Tanzania →
region eastern Africa →
Southern Africa →
surface form: southern Africa
researchField African linguistics →
historical linguistics →
researchInterest language contact in southern Africa →
phonetics of click consonants →
spokenBy Khoikhoi →
surface form: Khoikhoi peoples

Khoisan peoples →
Khoisan peoples →
surface form: San peoples
status endangered →
moribund in many communities →
threat language shift to Afrikaans →
language shift to Bantu languages →
language shift to English →
writingSystem Latin script (for many documented languages) →

Referenced by (16)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Nama → alternativeName → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Khoekhoegowab
Nama → alternativeName → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Khoekhoe
Nama → belongsToEthnolinguisticGroup → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Khoekhoe
Nilo-Saharan languages → contrastedWith → Khoisan languages →
Nilo-Saharian phylum → contrastedWith → Khoisan languages →
subject surface form: Nilo-Saharan phylum
Khoe languages → hasAlternativeName → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Khoekhoe languages
Khoe languages → hasAlternativeName → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Central Khoisan languages
Southern Africa → hasLanguageFamily → Khoisan languages →
Africa → hasMajorLanguageFamily → Khoisan languages →
Khoe languages → includes → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Khoekhoegowab
Afrikaans → influencedBy → Khoisan languages →
Hadza language → isNotPartOf → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Khoisan language family
Sub-Saharan Africa → majorLanguageFamily → Khoisan languages →
ǀXam → researchField → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Khoisan linguistics
Khoe languages → subclassOf → Khoisan languages →
Khoe-Kwadi → subgroupOf → Khoisan languages →
this entity surface form: Khoisan (proposed) language group