CC BY-NC-ND
20
Henry Honken + (Sarona, Wisconsin, USA)
Vocabulary matchings in IXoô and Ju|'hoan *
The word-sets given in the paper consist of 281 matchings of vocabulary items between !Xoo (T) and Ju|'hoan (J1). The Taa (Southern Khoisan) language !Xoo and the Ju (Northern Khoisan) language Ju|'hoan are the best-documented lects in their respective families. The paper also includes a discussion of some interesting structural parallels between the two languages, and implications for language classification.
Keywords: Khoisan languages, Ju family, Taa family, lexical resemblances, areal contacts.
The analysis of lexical similarity in previous comparisons
Although past researchers, most notably Greenberg (1963), Ruhlen (1994) and Ehret (1986), have taken lexical evidence such as the comparisons listed in this paper as proof positive of a common descent from a putative Proto-Khoisan, more recent researchers, e.g. Güldemann (2008), Sands (2009), Honken (2006) and König (2008) have taken the view that such similarities are better explained as the result of extensive borrowing.
A mass of lexical similarities cannot be taken as proof-positive of a relationship between languages; the validity and significance of the similarities must first be ascertained. Ruhlen (1994) rounded out Greenberg's 116 etymologies to a full 645 on the premise that this should convince the rudest skeptic. But Ruhlen uses the same shaky data as Greenberg — Bleek's (1929) Comparative Vocabularies — and his proposed etymologies have numerous flaws of their own, even aside from the fact that he offers no repeated correspondences. To name only a few: he repeats the same data under different headings (#147 BARTER is the same etymon as #191 BUY); he ignores more recent data (e.g. Traill 1986 which would affect such etymologies as #145 BAKE: Ju sau is from an initial affricate, but in Tati coo the initial is from a palatal click); he sometimes repeats Greenberg's data under a different name (#401 'to moo' is the same data as Greenberg's 'to cry'); in comparing clicks, he uses a scatter-gun approach (for example #204 CATCH S1 ¡ki, N1 Ukai, C2 fai) and he has no control over the data (in #260 FATHER S3 baba and N1 ba are compared to Naro auba, even though the -ba is a gender ending and not part of the stem, and he has not one but two etymologies for to writel).
Most contemporary researchers in the Khoisan area follow Westphal (1962) in believing that Khoisan consists of a number of unrelated families, though the possibility of some ancient
* Editors' note. Henry Honken (1938-2012) specialized in Khoisan linguistics for several decades. His earliest studies presumed the existence of a Khoisan family as a single genetic unit; however, in his later works, while searching for stricter sound correspondences between languages, he also became concerned with issues of genetic vs. areal similarities between the many branches of "Khoisan", arguing in favor of a more meticulous, "bottom up" approach to reconstructing the prehistory of these languages. Subsequently, along with Bernd Heine, he helped establish the existence of the Kx'a language family (consisting of Ju and fHoan language families).
When Henry passed away in June 2012, he left behind a number of unfinished manuscripts. Bonny Sands, who regularly provided feedback on his papers, prepared the manuscript that this paper was based on for publication by updating the introduction, adding citations, and writing a conclusion paragraph.
Journal of Language Relationship • Вопросы языкового родства • 10 (2013) • Pp. 43—61 • © Honken H., 2013
connection is kept open. Traill (1986) already showed that certain words are wide-spread in the Khoisan area (macro-Khoisan in his terminology, pan-Khoisan in mine). However, given the overall similarity of the phonological systems and the lack of sound historical information, it is often difficult to decide which similarities are loans and what was the direction of borrowing.
This paper focuses on lexical similarities found between !Xoo and Ju|'hoan, which are provided in examples #1-190. These examples are grouped according to consonant type, beginning with non-click consonants (#1-64), followed by the clicks (#65-190). An additional 91 lexical sets given in the Appendix. These have semantic or phonological irregularities when compared with the examples given in the text.
A general gloss has been given in the leftmost column indicating the shared semantics of the !Xoo and Ju|'hoan words. Where the actual glosses in the language differs, it will be indicated after the entry, with T = Taa (!Xoo) and J1 indicating Ju|'hoan. Occasionally, forms from Okongo !Xuun (J2) based on Heikkinen (1986) will also be indicated. Additional lexical items with related meanings may also be indicated, with fHoan forms cited from Gruber (1975), Naro from Visser (2001), Nama from Haacke & Eiseb (2002), and Kxoe from Oswin Kohler's work. In some cases, sample sentences are given to help the reader see the parallelism between the forms in the two languages.
The original orthography of Traill's dictionary has generally been maintained with some simplifications which should all be fairly obvious. In Ju|'hoan, the tones have been marked according to Westphal's notation and the orthography approximates standard IPA rather than the current orthography used by the Ju|'hoan themselves. However, nasalization has been indicated by a superscript n.
Although there are patterns of sound correspondences in the word sets given here, it is not always possible to declare that there are regular sound correspondences. For instance, in examples #1-2, there are two cases of !Xoo /b/ corresponding to Ju|'hoan /m/, but in #3-5 we see the correspondence /m/ ~ /m/.
Gloss IXoo Ju|'hoan
1.diminutive sg. -ba/-ba -ma
2. insect name -bolobolo |amboro
IXoo and Ju|'hoan lexical similarities
!Xoö lâmtâbôlobolo 'carder bee, leafeater bee'; J1 = 'mosquito'.
3. speak nonclick lang.
4. turn, answer
5. Citrullus lanatus
ma?ni
mâli
tahm
mà?ni, nà?in < *mà?i
màni
tama
in
Both T and J1, identical singular and plural. In T, an irregular diminutive tahlu-ba. In Khoe, this form is recorded only for Nama (in Naro in the pejorative meaning 'Herero', in J1 it also has this meaning) and may have been borrowed into Proto-Khoekhoe from San. We have Nama tshama-p 'C. lanatus'.
6. overcome
tàha kV
tahàn
Cf. T eh \aun n ba taha ka-n
3sg name trs asp overcome tp-1sg 'I can't remember his name' = 'His name overcomes me.'
7. demonstrative
8. striped polecat
9. path
10. slack
11. flutter
12. gums
13. expose genitals
14. tadpole
15. want
16. year
17. hasten
18. walk pigeon-toed
19. drink too little to be satisfied
20. navel
J1 ka tahan mi
3sg overcome 1sg 'I can't do it' = 'It overcomes me.'
tV'V, kata'an to'a
T tV'V 'this', kata'an 'here, this'; J1 = 'that'.
da?an da?
dao ^Ihuu-dao
da^hbu tahu
Cf. Angola !Xu: tabo, fHoan ktfktfbu.
dthaba dhadha-ma
J1 = 'butterfly', presumably < *dhaba-ma.
'na^n'na^n-te da?enda?en
Note: Angolan !Xu: dtftf-si. Proto Ju < *dain.
naan nohn
tamkutuluku tamtakuri
T = 'diving beetle'. Cf. also J1 tamtaturisa 'black crake'.
kani kare
kuli kuri
This is pan-Khoisan.
kue kV koe-ja-khoe
T = 'do in a hurry'; J1 = 'race each other'. cf. also Khoe.
gaba gaba
golo ga'aro
gobo goba
J1 perhaps < *gôbô + nominal formant -a. Cf. also Khoe.
21. to roll gàni gàni
22. goose gaan gahan
23. compress gàlo kV garo
24. to come sîi tsi
25. conjunction (then) sii tsé
T. I'àan àhn n fgé'e èh sii à qllâu
26. to flow
27. gravy
28. medicine
29. sip sthg hot
30. to wag
31. to ritually feed
fire 3sg2 asp heat-3sG3 3sg3 conj pst shrivel 'The fire heated it and (then) it shriveled.' J1 ¡x'aeje !'au ha dshau te sa tse tfau febe-q!ore mPN call 3sg1 wife conj 3du conj travel black-country '|X'ae|e called his wife and then they traveled to Botswana.'
sUni tsuhni
saan tjan
soo tjo
sam kV tjam
samsam kV tjamtjam
T 'flick tail (as lion)'; J1 'wag (of dog wagging tail)'.
soo tJoan (?) < t|on + -a
T ma-n fqheen qtfa n soo ka-n conj-1sg uncle adv asp rit.feed tp-1sg 'Because long ago my uncle ritually fed me.'
32. be disrespectful
33. hunger
34. upper lip
35. male PN
36. thin
37. turn
38. day after tomorrow
39. break
40. erect hairs
41. be wide
42. begin
43. hole
44. to suck
45. long ago
46. nominalizing suffix
47. noun suffix
48. hang the head
49. crush
50. marijuana
51. larynx
52. to help
53. to stir
54. move
J1 ju ku tjoan-a da'ama ko ?m-si people imp rit.feed child TP food-PL 'The people ritually fed the child.'
dzaa za
T. 'be disrespectful, illtreat'; J1 'swear at, insult'.
(tjïn)-zà?'u zùn
zuu
N/NNÏ «
3am 3àbi5àbi
goahra
dza?i dzum
J1 zun, J2 zoy < Proto Ju *dzon. dzao dza?ba-ta dza?bidza?bi Cf. T dzoh'an 'ant'; J2 ndzba-ndzod" 'fly'.
khuma (g!h6)-kh6ma
J1 = 'soon'; Cf. T khube 'tomorrow', J2 khome 'tomorrow'.
kuan koan
J1 = 'stretch', cf. J2 kh0a 'break'. But this may be a loan from Khoe. Cf. Nama khodn, Kxoe khoan, Naro khodn.
k6hla
tshao Jao
tshoatshoa JoaJoa
Borrowed from Nama?
dzuhe tsii ~ dshii
For the voicing contamination see Traill's paper on Taa dialects.
qam ka?'m
T qam (qaBV, H) 'suckle, kiss'; J1 ktf'm 'suck', 05m 'suckle'; T qum (quBV, H) 'suck out and swallow'; J1 ko^'m 'hold back pips in mouth'. But this form is widespread, occurring also in E. |Hoa and Khoe.
qa?a ka?a
J1 = 'a little while ago, now'; cf. also J1 kifd-hd 'already', ka'd-^lhoan 'just now', J2 ka?dn 'then'.
J1 mi ka^a-ha ||'ag 'ari 'I trapped a guineafowl' (1sg + adv + catch + guinea-fowl). J2 se kaTan ||'aq-a ||ha ke qfubi-haq 'They then tied the meat in bundles' (3pl + adv + tie + trans part + meat + trans part + bundle-PL). Cf. Kohler ka'i-hin-ke 'now'.
Cf. also interjection: T qhae'e oh no; J2 khde. -se -si
-se -Je
xo'lo xoroxoro
J1 = 'hang heavy (fruit)'.
xa'm xami
qhana xana
Cf. T qhdla- 'spit out'; J2 ghdrd.
G6?lo uhi
huni sV
uhan
xuru hui huni h6anh6an
T fGdni ka uhan kan !'uan-te 'move eyes back and forth'; J1 'move, alternate'.
55. to eat
56. pack up
57. dawn
58. stretch marks
59. thread together
60. bridge of nose
61. fart
62. gland
63. bump
64. blow a fire
'aan ?m
T W, H. Cf. idiom: T 'ee !hua, J2 ?m !'oa" '(eat a) yawn'.
'aba sii 'abasi
T. 'aba sii st saa 'Let's pack up and go'; J2 ya 'abasi m^m !ao idem. But this may be from Khoe 'aba 'carry on back'.
kx'ao kx'aun
dtxo'a txoan
txom txoma
T txom-sa, txoBV (H); J1 < txom + -a trans. part.
T txoma llga\a ki ¡xai thread-2sG bead tp-1sg cord 'thread ostrich eggshell bead on sanseveria cord'
J1 ka mi !xai HcP'i" mi dshau txoma ka cnj 1sg cloth tear 1sg woman thread 3sgII 'When my clothes tear, my wife darns them.'
ts'kx'unu ts'un
The !Xoo word is Aminuis dialect. J1 = 'nose'.
dtsham (Jare)-3a?m
dtshan zahin
dtshoh?un dfhuun
dtshum dfhuun
Cf. also T dthabi 'butterfly'; J2 thabi 'eyelid' (from flutter).
Clicks
The Glottal Accompaniment
65. be dry
66. medicine
67. to think
68. enough
69. to kick
70. bicep
71. to kiss
72. care for
73. dish
74. stick for stick game
75. possessions
76. fertile egg
|'oo |'o
This is also found in Khoe. Cf. transitive verb: T \'oo\'oo tV, J1 I'd I'd.
|'oo |'un-||ai
T = 'apply medicine'.
fan sV fag
This is pan-Khoisan (Macro-Khoisan in Traill's terminology). J1 < Proto Ju *f'ân.
fäun fàùn
fii fai
folo foré
Cf. T qhâaf'ùi 'caracal'; J2 f'ùi-mà.
fûman fom-a
Cf. fHoâ f'damf'dam 'taste the mouth'.
!'uin !'uin-a
!'û-le !'orè
T pl !'ûn-sân; J1 is cited by Köhler, cf J2 Foré. Also found in Nama !'oré-s. ||'abi ||'àbi
||'ai
|uan|uan
||'ai
|'oan|'oan
77. precede
78. yawn
T. fguan ah n juanjuan jti
egg pst asp fertile auxstat 'The egg is fertilized.'
J1 khukhu q!u j'banj'oan
'The chicken's egg is fertilized.'
^haan fan
^hua !'oan
Cf. idiom: T 'ee 1!hua, J2 ?m !'oan '(eat a) yawn'.
Plain voiceless clicks
79. aardwolf |ihi |ähi
80. increase |aho |ähö
81. to follow |oho |öho
82. finish |oho |öähra
83. buy, sell
84. Black man
85. path
86. sleeping mat
87. to pound soft
88. carry on shoulder
89. carry on head
90. male PN
91. hunting bag
92. Toktokkie beetle
93. spear
94. artery
95. wear on head
96. to push
97. set fire
98. well
Note also: 'prevent' T ¡ala kV; J2 ¡ara. föhon fühün
fabe fabe
folo faro
füa foa
T pl fum-sa-te. Poss. pan-Khoisan, found also in J2 föa and in fHoa, N|uu and Khoe.
fahmfahm fäm
T = 'to pulp'; J1 = 'stamp grain, break up hard nuts with a stone'.
!an !ae
J1 ?< *!äe" < *!än.
!uu f'am !ura
J1 !ura < !uri-a, cf J2 !url. Also J1 !u f'am.
!ae-sa
!üma
!oo!oo
!oo a?a
!ohon
||aa
||ahm
||aon||aon
||am
!ae
!oma
!oo!o
!ü!ü
!ö?'ün
||äh
||äm
||a?on-wa
|aü
T ¡¡äm säa 'go well'; J1 ¡¡äu 'u 'go well'.
Voiced clicks
99. shelter from
100. Karoo robin
|gäa |ga Note: Dickens has gfhä.
|gani-se |gäni-!ae!ae-Je
Also T ¡gah'a 'mat to lay meat on'; J2 gha.
101. rotten egg
102. mound
103. late afternoon
104. vulture
105.enter
fguhi gfhui
fguunfguun to?o-fgun-wa
T = 'mound of sand for ¡¡'abi game'; J1 = 'ash heap'.
Cf. also T rod fguli 'rod'; J2 fguri 'springhare hook'. T fgunu 'dry skin'; J2 fguru.
!goa !gûe
J1 is a praise name for the vulture. !gâ'o
!goá !gohé-
!gnhé-!'án
!ga ámá
T !ga'BV (H). J2 ¡¡gaba 'enter' appears to be a different etymon, comparable to J1 ¡¡gaba 'put on footwear'. Note that the !Xoo word is 'enter' (pl.) and also means 'put on shoes'. Cf also fHoa tfm 'enter' (pl.).
106. music bow !gùma !gohma
Snyman has Igomaha.
107. edible termite !go'obi !gú'úrí-t/í-!go'm
108. spend the day llgaan llgaán
109. red oxide llga'i !go?'ín
110. hip bone llganu !gánú
111. belch llgaha !ga?
112. deep mud llgobo llgohbo
J1 = 'mushiness'.
113. pull through legs llgöh'bi llgúbí
114. (put on) shoes llgù'a !goha
Cf. J2 Hgöhan 'shoes'; fHoä ¡¡'da 'put on shoes'.
115. to slap !góba !o?'óbá
116. Ehretia rigida Hg^u llaT'ú
Cf. also T fgunu, J2 fguru 'dry skin'; T. !gunu, J2 Iguruku 'trachea'
Velar friction accompaniment
117. be fertilized (of egg) fxaifxai fxáífx;
J1 = 'be partly hatched'.
118. have miscarriage fxâm fxam
119. cloth !xai !xai
120. booze !xali !xari
Cf. J2 Ixarï.
121. pipe !xuu !xo
Cf. J2 !xèo.
122. stir a soft substance !xâm !xam
J1 = 'make porridge'.
123. San person !xoon !xúún
124. to (set) trap ||xau llxáú
Cf. J2 Hxâo.
125. unwind ||xabi llxábé
126. bad luck ||xoo !xo
Cf. J2 llxè.
127. sweep
128. leave young at home
129. awl
130. spit ritually
131. "buzz"
T n a n ¡¡xoo 1sg pst asp bad.luck 'I've had bad luck.'
J1 mi !xo te ffie-tama
1sg bad.luck cnj hunt-AUX (aux = unsuccessful) 'I had bad luck and hunted in vain.'
||xai ||xai
Cf. also T Hxaun 'point between shoulder blades' and J2 ¡¡xaun 'back'.
||xao ||xaun
For vocalism, cf. #57 'red color of dawn'.
g|xani g|xain
T = 'drill for eggshell beads'. Cf. J2 gXay < Ju *gXan.
g|xai |xai
g||xoo g||xo° g||xo g||xo
T = 'crackling sound of walking on dry vegetation'; J1 = 'buzz of insect'.
Ejective accompaniment
132. to visit
133. notch in arrow
134. male PN
135. wash by rubbing
136. to mix
137. clay
138. twist body
139. to wring
140. join, together
141. be sated
142. stink
143. to punch
|x'ae |x'an-si
Cf. J2 ¡x'ari 'to notch'.
|q'ae-se
|q'um
fx'umi
fq'aa-ka
!x'am
!x'ali
||x'ae kV
T 'isi n ¡¡x'aen !'aa ¡ii
1PL ASP join sit-PL AUXSTAT 'We are sitting compacted.'
J1 m-!a g!hdo ¡¡x'ae
1PLINCL-PL sit-PL join. 'We are sitting together.'
Note: this etymon is pan-Khoisan.
||x'aan
||x'aun
||x'um
|x'ae
(t/hi)-|x'áí
lx'aé-Jé
|x'óm
fx'úmí
gfx'aá
!x'äm
!x'ari llx'áé
l|x á |x'ú |x'óm
Uvular accompaniments
144. dent
145. sink in sthg soft
146. to hunt
fqao fa?'o
fqohm-||'uma fo^'m
!qahe !a?e
Cf. also T ¡qee sg, ¡qam pl 'Nama person'; J2 ¡ase 'a Black'.
147. snot |coe q|ö?ln
T = 'phlegm'; J1 = 'blow nose'.
148. Barn owl |qa?ho r)|á?'ó
149. look out of corner of eye fcani qfàV
150. Acacia fleckii {caMi
151. corn cricket fcana qfa?nùn
Cf. T fGa^ma 'wing'; J2 gfhaba.
152. Aloe zebrina ||colu q||hö?'örü
153. rinse ||GObu||GObu q||ö?'m
Aspirated accompaniments
154. to drive
155. Corallocarpus bainesii
156. rhino
157. to stretch out
158. real, true
159.sack
160. Fockea sp.
161. womb
162. Oxygonum sp.
163. walk quickly
164. foam
Iqhui |hui
|qhu'lu-ku |horo
Iqhii |hai
T = 'buffalo'.
fqhona fhoana
Cf. also J2 ¡horo C. bainesii, ¡hi 'rhino'. Cf. T ¡qheen, J2 ¡hahr 'raw'; T. fqhui ka ll'aon 'take between fingers and pinch', J2 fhui 'pinch'; T !qhaan 'pound, stamp', J2 han 'hammer in, crack'; T ¡¡haa, J2 ¡¡hadn 'show'.
'Oqahan ^|h6an
Cf. ethnonyms: T tuu 'Oqahan, J1 ju ¡¡hoan. The underlying meaning of the !Xoo word seems to be 'body' and the same semantic connection is found in Naro where ¡xde means both 'body' and 'true'.
^|háo
fqhába
q{ö?hon
göe
q||à?ba
||öhbu
|háó ^hábá
qfha^ö '||hàbà ^||húbú
Cf. also T y!afm 'duck, evade'; J1 r/!yae, J2 ker/!abiki 'stick sp.'; T yUa'u 'stir-
ring stick, dzani game stick'; {Hoa '¡¡rcfu 'zini game stick'; J1 ¡¡ft 'branch'; Nama rl|aun-p 'branch, twig'. For semantics, cf. J1 ¡'un 'bow', J2 ¡'un 'stirring stick', {Hoa ¡'on 'tree'; J1 rft'm 'stick for helicopter toy', T r^'m 'pestle'.
Nasal Accompaniment
165. to love
166. to restrain
167. A. naudinianus
168. long for
169. to rub
q|am kV q|ahm
q|ehen ^|a?e J1 = 'intervene in quarrel'.
q|u?lo q|uha
T 'tuber of Acanthosicyos naudinianus', sg rft-lo, pl r^-n-sa; J1 (?) < r^u + -a nom. suff.
r)!o° D|0
q|uan kV q|6ha
170. to whet
171. thicket/herd
172. glue, tar
173. travel at night
174. get lost
175. to criticize
176. country
177. open space
178. get lost
179. stork
180. talk
181. dish up
182. to scatter
183. shake head
184. (un)wind
qfan qfani
T = 'flint'.
qfa^ni qfa^
T = 'herd of gemsbok', cf. also T qfi?hbi 'stand, clump of small trees or bushes'; J1 = 'swarm, flock, herd, clump, thicket', cf. also ~ jfare 'herd of ~,' qfabe-q!a'an 'big village'.
qfau qfau
q!ohan q!an
q!abe q!abe
q!ule q!ore
T pl q!un-san; J2 j-ore 'country'.
^!am q!am
T 0'aan ¡'aan ki j!am 'Light a fire in the clearing.'
J1 j!am j!un-a tfu ts'i 'There's an open space by the door.'
q!ohan q!an
Also J1 j!uhu 'lose one's way'.
kaq||u'be q||aba
This word may be borrowed from Khoe, where we have Nama ^¡¡dba-p and Naro ^¡¡obe implying Proto Khoe *jHobe(R). Since the *e correspondence in Khoe is normally borrowed into Ju as e or i, the Ju|'hoan form would seem to be borrowed from Nama. At the same time, the prefix and laryngealized vowel in !Xoo suggest that the form has some antiquity in that language. More data is needed on the distribution of this form, especially in Khoe.
q||ahe q||ae
q||aa kV q||a?
q||a?i q||a?un
g||a?niq||a?ni g||a?inq||a?ni
q||u'm kV q||o?'mi
T = 'twist, coil'; J1 = 'unwind'.
Glottalized nasal accompaniment.
185. springhare
186. lame
187. hill
188. whirlwind
189. T. esculentum
r)|oJm r)!om r!om
'|r>UJi
Cf. J2 '¡jotm. '!quma
T = 'limp'; cf. J2 '!jdm. !uhm
J1 = 'dune'; cf. J2 '!jdhm.
Cf. also T '!joh'u, J2 '!jdhbu 'to bark'.
'||qo'lo ||oro
Also cf. T '¡¡r&ho, J2 '¡¡raho 'rainy season'.
?||qa?hn r)||ar)
J1 refers to 'Tylosema esculentum tuber'.
Voicing lead
190. elbow gfhuli fhuni
Cf. J2 gfhuni.
Also cf T fGahima, J2 gfhaba 'wing'. This is pan-Khoisan: {Hoa fhafma, Kxoe fgadmd, |Gui fgafma, Naro fxama. But note that |Gui words with pharyn-gealized vowels and low tone are for the most part loan words and the correspondence with Naro seems unusual.
Discussion of IXoo and Ju|'hoan lexical similarities
If we believe that the Taa and Ju families that these languages belong to are unrelated, then the vocabulary correspondences set out below must perforce be the result of borrowing. But, is there any reason why we cannot take these correspondences as evidence of a genetic relationship, particularly in view of the structural similarities also noted below, as Greenberg and Ruhlen would surely do?
I believe there are several reasons why we should proceed with caution. First of all, although the correspondences cover a wide semantic range, if we look at the vocabulary in terms of basic semantic areas, we see much less similarity. None of the kin terms in !Xoo have any analogue in Ju|'hoan. Although there are many animal and bird names in the list, none of the words for major carnivores or herbivores correspond (lion, leopard, eland, kudu etc.). We find a number of corresponding words for body parts but none of the major words — head, eye, ear, hand, foot, heart — correspond. The same is true in general for natural phenomena, color terms, verbs of motion and so on.
More importantly, however, there are no characteristic sound correspondences: either the words are identical or nearly so, or they show random uncontexualized variation (as is generally true of words with pharyngealized vowels). For examples of nearly identical forms, consider #11-23 and #65-75. For examples of the random uncontexualized variation, see #26 and #94 where !Xoo and Ju|'hoan exactly reverse the correspondence breathy vowel ~ pharyngealized vowel; #26. 'to flow' !Xoo: su?ni; Ju|'hoan: tsuhni vs. 'artery' !Xoo: !dhon, Ju|'hoan: ¡di'un.
We must also be careful of apparent correspondences resulting from group-internal sound changes that have nothing to do with one another. As an example, in #152-153 we seem to have T ¡¡g ~ J1 /¡¡VBut there is evidence that Khoe voiceless and voiced uvular clicks have in Naro shifted to plain voiceless and nasal clicks respectively, followed by pharyngealized vowels (cf. puff adder |Gui ¡¡Gae, Naro /¡fte, Kxoe ¡¡x££, ||Ani /¡Iy¿¿; apparently borrowed into Ju as Okongo ¡¡gae, Mpunguvlei ¡¡gae etc.) So, this apparent sound correspondence may simply be the result of differential borrowing with !Xoo borrowing from |Gui and Ju|'hoan from Naro, particularly since these words are also cited for Naro. Other paths of borrowing are also possible but the point is that the apparent !Xoo ¡¡g ~ Ju|'hoan /¡¡V correspondence here is not necessarily hard evidence for a genetic relationship between Ju and !Xoo.
Nevertheless, the impressive number of points of resemblance between these languages gathered here at the very least seems to indicate some period of intensive contact between the two. Indeed, the much stronger evidence in favor of a relationship between Ju and fHoa, taken with the resemblances set out here, might suggest that, rather than fHoa having wandered south as Westphal proposed, the speakers of Proto-Ju formerly lived much closer to the !Xoo area and eventually wandered north.
Structural Parallels
1. Conditional: T ka, J1 ka.
n n kä ba jhaä saa ki !qahi 1sg asp cond tns precede go trprt hunt 'If I go first on the hunt'
zu l'hdä ka ha ku ¡x'ae ha !o'a person COND 3sg imp sick 3sg chest 'When a person has an illness of the chest'
2. Diminutive: T -bal-bä, J1 -ma.
!Xoö Ju|'hoan diminutive sg. -bal-bä -ma diminutive pl. -mani -mhin
It is not clear from the available data whether the Ju diminutive is productive. The dictionaries list the forms individually. In both Ju|'hoan and Ovamboland !Xu, the singular -ma (also found as an independent noun meaning 'child') has an irregular plural from the subclass of nouns characterized by tonal change in the plural: Ju|'hoan sg. -ma, pl. -mhin, !Xu sg -ma, pl. -me¥. This suffix appears to have been fused to certain stems; e.g., child sg. da'aba, pl. da'dbi (< *da'a-mhin).
In !Xoo, the dim pl is marked by 0'dni, the plural of 0aa 'child' in the Lonetree dialect but in the Kutuku dialect the forms are sg. -ba, pl. -mani. The correspondence here of irregularities between !Xoo and Northern Khoisan is quite striking (presumably Ju -mehe, -mhin < *man).
3. Nominalizing suffix/noun suffix.
Traill's dictionary cites -se as simply a noun suffix, but there appear to be two nominal suffixes of this form. High-toned -se attaches only to verb stems and forms a nominalization of that verb. Examples are T xau 'to respect', xau-se 'kin avoidance', kd'an 'to insult', kd'an-se 'insults'; J1 rld/ 'sit', r/ldq-si 'seat', kx'oan 'look for', kx'oan-si 'eyes', jga'in 'high', jga'in-si 'height'. It appears to be rare in !Xoo; there are only five listings in Traill's dictionary. The only likely overlap involves a change of meaning: T. lgdo 'be generous', lgdo-se 'gifts'; J1 lgd 'be stingy', lgd-si 'stinginess'.
Low-toned -se attaches to a wide variety of stems, the result being a noun. This suffix is non-productive in both !Xoo and Ju|'hoan and its increment of meaning is difficult to define, but the majority of the nouns involved are bird and animal names. With this suffix, the overlaps between the two languages are somewhat more numerous.
T (!ulu)-lehe-se, J1 rfao-Je 'fork-tailed drongo'; T lgani-se, J1 lgani-!ae!ae-Je 'karoo robin'; T qdH-se, J1 ka^e-Je 'male PN'; T lq'di-se, J1 lx'ae-Je 'male PN'; T r!ale !aio-se, J1 rfae g!x'ari-Je 'pale chanting goshawk'.
4. Verb prefix and transitive particle.
In both !Xoo and Ju there is a subclass of verbal stems which take a k- prefix. Some examples from !Xoo are kdOxoo 'shuffle', kd/!ah'm 'stagger', ka'l/d^ma 'blink'; in some cases, the k-element brackets the stem as in kdOddkd 'be smeared with dirt'.
In her grammar of Ovamboland !Xu, Heikkinen treats the analogous element as a "dummy verb" and says it usually takes the transitive particle but does not give any examples. However, from the examples in the vocabulary, we can see that just as in !Xoo there are prefixed forms as in kedu'ubi 'cut' and bracketed forms like kemaniki 'hide'.
In Ju|'hoan this class appears to be very much reduced; the only examples in Snyman and Dickens are kokx'ui 'speak', konam 'slumber' and kdts'au 'jump away'. However, Dickens notes in his grammar that ideophones take the transitive particle kd (kd !gdhbu 'splash'), though like Heikkinen he does not discuss this point in detail.
This leads us directly into another point of contact between the two languages, namely the transitive particle, an element in k- that marks adjuncts of the verb: objects, locative and instrumental phrases and adverbs of various sorts. In !Xoo, this element changes its form to agree with the gender of its head, but Traill gives the base form as ka. Indeed this is the most striking resemblance among the languages involved: that the verbal transitive particle and the verbal prefix have the same vocalization: T. kahd%e 'shake hard', ke kopi tshoe 'in the cup'; J1 kokx'ui 'speak', kd tafer ¡ho 'on the table'; J2 ketsaH 'make haste', ke ts'u /!a/ 'in the house.' Examples of the verbal prefix:
IXoo
eh n tshoa 0an kd'/d^buka 3sg tns begin sleep adv(nod off) 'He is nodding off to sleep.'
ka/!a'm ka ¡¡um surround tp2 springbok 'surround the springbok.'
¡aH n ka ba katupka ih n j'ama '¡/uan lion tns cond asp R&L 3sg1 tns carry aggression (katupka = 'raise and lower the head [as a lion]')
Ju|'hoan
ka v!hoan kdgjhad ¡¡'a-ka dshau faufe tsau COND man fall.asleep deic woman adv rise 'When the man fell asleep, the woman quietly got up.'
ha kd!gdhbu kd zi !x'a te dshau-si kd!uih !aah sara-a-khde 3sgI splatter TP shit heart CONJ woman-PL adv run scatter-jUNC-REClP 'He landed with a splatter in the shit and the women ran off scattering.'
IXu
ma ke ke!a-gu ke ha 1sg pst seize-SG tp 3sg1 'I caught him (by the arm).'
Note: Heikkinen, pp. 29-30: "The marker ke also marks a first extension immediately following... one of the small class of double verbs formed from the dummy verbs ke (or koe)."
Examples of the transitive particle: IXoö
n n rjlum tshûu lîi ké kâlgâ^e 1sg tns dwell sit.SG stat tp3sg k. 'I am living at kâgâ^e.'
Ju|'hoan
mi ho-à Ihâ kd r/làmà qlârj 1sg see-TP meat TP path inside 'I see the meat in the path.'
Conclusion
The number and sort of lexical and grammatical parallels between !Xoo and Ju|'hoan are striking, yet are consistent with the hypothesis that the (proto)languages have had intensive contact. If the Taa and Ju language families are related to one another, the signal of any shared, inherited linguistic forms is obscured by an overlay of forms shared due to contact. Not only has there been contact between Taa and Ju, but there also has been contact between both families and the Khoe languages.
Literature
Bleek, Dorothea F. (1929). Comparative Vocabularies of Bushman Languages. University of Cape Town, School of African Studies Publications. Publications from the School of African Life and Language. University Press. Cambridge. [Pp 94]
Ehret, Christopher. (1986). Proposals on Khoisan reconstruction. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika, 7(2): 105-130.
Greenberg, Joseph H. (1963). The Languages of Africa. Bloomington. Indiana University.
Gruber, Jeffrey S. (1975). Bushman languages of the Kalahari: fHoan — vocabulary — recorded utterances. Technical project report to the National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C.
Güldemann, Tom. (2008). Greenberg's "case" for Khoisan: The morphological evidence. Problems of Linguistic-Historical Reconstruction in Africa. Ed. by Dymitr Ibriszimow, with contributions by Pascal Boyeldieu, Pierre Nougayrol, Gerrit J. Dimmendaal et al. (Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika, 19). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe. pp. 123-153.
Haacke, Wilfrid H. G. & Eliphas Eiseb. (2002). A Khoekhoegowab Dictionary, with an English-Khoekhoegowab Index. Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan.
Heikkinen, Terttu. (1986). Phonology of the !Xü dialect spoken in Ovamboland and western Kavango. South African Journal of African Languages (Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif vir Afrikatale), 6(1): 18-28.
Honken, H. (2006). Fused loans in Khoesan. Pula, 20(1): 75-85.
Ruhlen, M. (1994). Khoisan Etymologies. In: On the Origin of Languages. Stanford, California. Stanford University Press. pp. 45-69. (Chapter 3).
Sands, Bonny. (2009). Africa's linguistic diversity. Language and Linguistics Compass, 3(2): 559-580.
Traill, Anthony. (1986). Do the Khoi have a place in the San? New data on Khoisan linguistic relationships. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika, 7(1): 407-430.
Visser, Hessel. (2001). Naro Dictionary: Naro-English, English-Naro. 4th edition. Ghanzi, Botswana: Naro Language Project & SIL International. [240pp]
Westphal, E. O. J. (1962). On classifying Bushman and Hottentot languages. African Language Studies, 3: 30-48.
Appendix: Additional matchings showing irregularities
Gloss
1. nosebleed
2. tie closed
3. not share
4. stand on tiptoe
5. lift to peek under
6. marijuana
7. gape
8. sly
9. joint
10. eat dry food
11. recline, sg
12. cast skin
13. steal
14. lightning
15. form clouds
16. turn
17. pull/fall out
18. choke
19. cut in pieces
20. bird sp
IXoo Ju|'hoan
dzaJun du'un
But cf. also dzaiun and J1 zaun-wa 'virgin' (underlying meaning 'to bleed').
dtsxa'm tx6m
aJhi kaJ'i
hoJlo t6J'6r6t6J'6r6
ahbi ta'abi
qhana xana
qaa g6'a
But also found in {Hoa ga'a, Kxoe qda 'open mouth', Nama kaa!adn 'yawn'.
kaha kahan
J1 = 'do in secret'. Cf. Nama kad 'be clever'.
gulu g6g6r6
T = ankle, J1 = 'heel'. Cf. also J1 ¡x'di-tjhuun-gunu 'heel'.
gum g6m
J1 = 'swallow'.
tshuu Ju
T = 'sit' sg.; J1 = 'lie down' sg.
huli hurihuri-ja
T = 'cast skin, change to another creature'; J1 = 'smooth'. Cf. also T thulu 'smooth', J1 thuru 'change to another creature'; T duhi~tuhi~dthui 'shaved, shorn, bald, smooth', cf J1 duri 'peel', du'uri 'slough skin', J2 du'uri 'be naked'.
dza'a dfaa
T = 'hide, conceal'; J1 = 'steal, kidnap'.
tali tari
J1 = 'thunder, echo'. Cf T tali ts'een 'sound of a lightning strike, lit. 'lightning cries'. For the quotative verb, cf J1 tfin 'cries'.
oho h66
J1 = 'clear up'. For other comparisons with a semantic reversal of polarity, consider T kx'aba 'get up', J1 khdbd 'go down'; T ¡goo 'generous', J1 ¡go 'stingy'.
qa'bi, q'abi ta ka'abe
T = 'turn inside out', J1 = 'fold over, roll up (i. e. sleeves)'. Also apparently found in Khoe Naro ka'bi, ||Ani yabi (re)turn.
cu^hm k6m
T = 'pull out grass or hair, pluck'; J1 = 'fall out (feather)'. |'uun ^|u'un
T fctfhnu ¡'uun 'choke on food', ¡Guihun -¡'uun 'excess saliva in pharynx'; J1 = 'swallow with difficulty'.
!ahle !ahre
T = 'cut meat in pieces'; J1 = 'cut meat in strips'.
!obo !6b6
T = 'quail'; J1 = 'red-billed francolin'.
21. shake out !ahin !ahin T = 'beat a blanket'; J1 = 'shake out (e.g. liquid)'. Cf. also 'beat out' T !ahin kV; J1 !ahin, J2 q!gaeq!gae. Note vowel lowering in J2 related to nasalization.
22. travel !ao !au T = 'go "up" back home'; J1 = 'move, trek'.
23. tell !ube !6be T = 'tell'; J1 = 'discuss'.
24. take a handful ||'am ||x'am Cf. T ¡¡x'unu 'bridge of nose'; J2 ¡¡xo6nu 'nose'.
25. wrinkled g||x'ai ||x'ai
26. snake sp fqhuu fhu T = 'small python'; J1 = 'banded spitting cobra'.
27. snatch ||qhuu ||hu T = 'snatch'; J1 = 'take back a gift', cf J2 gHhu 'snatch'. Cf also T ¡qhdla 'chop off pieces'; J2 ¡hard 'rip up'.
28. to shake q!abu g||auq||abu T = 'shake, shiver'; J1 = 'shake, twitch violently'.
29. cut off q||aho q||ahu T = 'flay, skin'; J1 = 'shave'.
30. spill q||a?a q||aa T = 'pour, spill'; J1 = 'sow'.
31. churn q||u?hbu q||ubu T = 'shake (of liquids)'.
32. catch qfaho qfahu T = 'catch smth. moving'; J1 = 'take with both hands'.
33. stomach contents q|ahna q|ana T = 'contents of rumen'; J1 = 'shit, dung'.
34. refuse q|a'ni g|aniq|ani T = 'refuse to do what is asked'; J1 = 'dissuade, i. e. causative of not do'.
35. arm £fa'an ^fhan T = 'ulna and radius'.
36. think q!6ho q!6o T = 'speculate, imagine, think'; J1 = 'yearn for, mourn, wish'.
37. to tie '||qahni- ||'ani T 'tie' pl.; J1 = 'tie closed'.
38. wink '|qa?ma -g!6?'oma J1 ¡gad-ts'i-y!oi'6md = 'eye-cover-wink'.
39. carry on stick over shoulder ||galo !ar6
40. caracal qhaa f'ui f'ui
41. mortar !gai !ai
42. Oxygonum sp gue-qfa?hu DfDa?6
43. knife qfun qfahu J1 = 'Ovambo knife'; T = 'spear', pl. Cf. Aminuis dialect 'knife': sg qfdra, pl qfun.
44. warthog gahli-se khari T cited in Traill, Phonology p. 170. J1 = 'wild pig'.
45. to fly
46. hair
47. tease
48. rag
49. tortoise
50. nail
51. tortoise shell
52. Pentarrhinum insipidum
53. tongue
54. growth
55. starling
56. dance
57. stick sp.
58. trick
59. smoulder
60. crowned plover
61. worm
62. to trip
63. to sharpen
64. cool down
65. shoulder
66. syphon water
66. stick sp.
67. chest
68. dent
69. ask for
70. warm by the fire
71. mound
72. seize
dza^hin z6iin
!x'oe !x'ui
T = 'rain'. Cf. J1 !ga!x'ui, ^¡d^Ux'ui 'cloud', lit. 'rain's hair'.
||'ai||'ai ||x'ai
g||x'ali ||x'ai||x'ari
r||ue ||g6e
||ga'm -!a?'ami
J1. !gau-!ai'ami 'finger'.
||Goh'a ||6'a
T = 'plastron of tortoise'; J1 = 'tortoise', cf J2 ¡¡gO'a id.
tgu'a ||g6'a
'na?m !qhaan na'm
T = 'saliva' (?< tongue + water); J1 = 'lick'. su?in
T = 'growth on plant'. Cf. J2 tsuin 'growth on tree'.
dza^ba ihi 3o?ai
J1 cited in Dickens, tone not given. Cf. {Hoa djObari.
r|ahm ^|am
T = 'play with, joke with'; J1 = 'dance (of women)'.
r|u'm r)|6'm
T = 'pestle'; J1 = 'stick for helicopter game'.
rfa?a bii ^habe
T = 'trickster, deceiver'; J1 = 'trick, deceive'.
r!6?hlo D||a?en +gu'un
Cf. K. dialect of !Xoo i-fqhu'un.
igahm-iguli r||a?n
rfua
?||ruTbi tshoe
T = 'armpit' < 'shoulder' (?) + 'inside'. ?fruhn- rfhuri
|cami r|a?'mi
T = 'scraper'; J1 = 'splinter'.
!cahma r!ahma
T = 'sternum'; J1 = 'hold to chest'.
fca'm- gfx'a'm
||gaan ||an
fala f'ara
fguunfguun t6?-fguun-a
T = 'mound of sand'; J1 = 'ash heap' ('ash' + 'mound' + compound marker), cf. also fgunfgun-Je 'ant sp.'
||qhuu ||hu
T = 'snatch'; J1 = 'take back a gift'; cf also J2 gHhu 'rob'. Found also in Khoe.
q!ahru q{ù'un
gfù'ûni
gfhôarà q||u'ùrù
73. burn
74. breathe
75. joint
76.shiver
77. wild dog
78. to siphon
79. chin
80. raise up
81. pan
82. insect sp.
83. erythema
84. septum
85. wolf spider
86. ritual face scars
87. dish up
88. beg
89. carry on pole over shoulder
90. to chop, cut
91. thong
fqh6'obu fx'6b6
T = 'scorch'; J1 = 'boil dry, burn'.
||qho'an ||x6an
J1 = 'pant'.
gfxubi fxubi
T = 'elbow'; J1 = 'shoulder joint'.
fga^ni fa infani
gfxui g||x'auhi
For initial cf #52 Pentarrhinum insipidum.
dtsk'ola dts'ui
T = 'to squirt'. Cf. also T dtsxo'ni 'stick into (hair, branches)'; J2 dsxoe 'put in under belt'.
||gahe !gahin
T = 'dewlap'. Cf. J2 ¡¡gatf 'chin'; cf also Kxoe ¡¡gei, ¡¡gai 'cheek'.
fhabi f'abi
!gaJo-ba !6J
Cf. 'trachea' T !gulu; J1 !oi'dru, J2 !guruku. Also T !gum 'jaw muscle'; J1 !dm 'cheek'.
|gaJhi-si |gaJe
T = 'dung beetle'; J1 = 'termite', cf J2 ¡gehe 'termite' (some forms collected by Amanda Miller-Ockhuizen).
toJhlo d6J'6r6
||x'unu ||xaunu-si
Cf. J2 ¡¡xdonu.
|qhuu r|huu
rfuh'uma rf6m
||ahi kV ||ahi
J1 = 'lure with food'.
||gaan ||an
||galo !ar6
khaan khan
T = 'carve'; J1 (cited by Kohler) = 'to hoe'. Cf. J2 khdn 'to hoe' and also Kxoe sdn < *tshdn < khdn 'to hoe'.
qhule x6re
Snyman derives the Ju|'hoan word from Tsw. kxore id., but this word also occurs as Naro kxore and Kxoe qwere (note also that the !Xoo word is in gender 3, the default gender, but has an irregular diminutive qhulu-ba). It is tempting to bring Nama kare-p 'slingshot' into this group, but the vo-calism presents a serious problem. Vossen suggests that the Nama word is related to Naro !are, Kxoe kyare 'cut in strips' (though these might be borrowed from Ju|'hoan !ahre), as an unusual example of click loss in Nama.
As usual, we have a dauntingly complex web of relationships. The first question to ask is whether the Tswana form has a Bantu etymology. If not, it seems more likely that Tswana borrowed kxore from Naro. Naro kx- corresponds to |Gui qh- in a number of words, so the Naro form might be reconstructed as *qhore. The form is so far recorded only for Kxoe and Naro, but if any other Khoe languages have a cognate, the word may be recon-
structible for Khoe. The !Xoo word might then be a borrowing from Proto-Naro or Proto-Naro/||Gana *qhore and the Ju|'hoan form might be borrowed from modern Naro kxore, as is the Tswana word (with x- replacing kx- in J1).
There is an alternative explanation for the Nama word — as a borrowing from some other Khoe language which has undergone click loss. This may be the case for another unusual form, jda 'tread' (Naro nda) found in Kxoe and |Gui; it may represent a borrowing of *qfda 'dance' from some Shua or Tshoa language which has shifted to p or j.
Г. Хонкен. Лексические схождения между !хонг и и жу|хоан.
Статья представляет собой обзор 281 лексического схождения между языками !хонг (Т) и жу|хоан (Д), относящимися к языковым группам таа (южнокойсанская) и жу (север-нокойсанская) соответственно. По состоянию на сегодняшний день именно эти языки оказываются наиболее тщательно описанными представителями соответствующих семей. Помимо этого, в статье обсуждается ряд любопытных структурных параллелей между данными языками. На основании проанализированных данных автор приходит к выводу, что наблюдаемые сходства удобнее объяснять через сложную систему аре-альных контактов, чем через постулирование генетического родства.
Ключевые слова: койсанские языки, языки жу, языки таа, лексические сходства, ареаль-ные контакты.
