Taa
Tuu (formerly Southern Khoisan)
Taa (also written !Xóõ) holds the world record for the largest documented phoneme inventory of any living language — Anthony Traill's monumental 1985 phonology and 1994 dictionary describe roughly 159 phonemes, including pulmonic and ejective consonants and five fully developed click types: dental (ǀ), alveolar (ǃ), lateral (ǁ), palatal (ǂ) and the cross-linguistically rare bilabial click (ʘ). Each click can combine with multiple "accompaniments" (voicing, aspiration, nasalisation, glottalisation, uvularisation, ejection), multiplying the inventory into the hundreds depending on how contour clicks are analysed. Spoken by perhaps 2,500 people in scattered villages along the Botswana–Namibia border in the southwestern Kalahari, Taa is a member of the small Tuu family (formerly classified as Southern Khoisan, a grouping now widely abandoned).
Where it is spoken
87 core words in Taa
Sources
- Traill (1985) Phonetic and Phonological Studies of !XÓÕ Bushman. Helmut Buske Verlag.
- Traill (1994) A !Xóõ Dictionary. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
- Glottolog: Taa (taaa1242)
- Ethnologue: nmn
Words compared
Compared with languages in the same classification: Tuu (formerly Southern Khoisan)
| Meaning | Taa | Damin | Yangkaal | Korana | Phrygian | Umbrian | Etruscan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ǃqhàa /ǃqʰaː/ | n!2u /ŋ͡ǃŋ͡ǃu/ | nguku /ŋuku/ | ǁammi /ǁamːi/ | bedu /ˈbedu/ | utur /ˈutur/ | — /—/ |
| Fire | ǀʼàã /ǀʼãː/ | — /—/ | ngida /ŋida/ | ǀʼaeb /ǀʔaeb/ | — /—/ | pir /pir/ | — /—/ |
| Sun | ǁʼân /ǁʼã/ | — /—/ | warrku /waɾku/ | sores /sores/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | usil /ˈuzil/ |
| Moon | ǃqhàn /ǃqʰã/ | — /—/ | waldarra /waldaɾa/ | ǁxãb /ǁxãb/ | masê /maˈseː/ | — /—/ | tiur /ˈtiur/ |
| Star | ǃqʰái /ǃqʰái/ | — /—/ | miburlda thungalda /mibuɭda t̪uŋalda/ | ǀʼamirob /ǀʔamirob/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Night | ǃnoe /ǃnoe/ | — /—/ | ngimi /ŋimi/ | thũxub /tʰũxub/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Rain | ǃkxʼôe /ǃkxʼoe/ | — | — | tūs /tuːs/ | — | — | — |
| Wind | ǂqhùe /ǂqʰue/ | — | — | ǂʼoab /ǂʔoab/ | — | — | — |
| Earth | ǂkxʼûm /ǂkxʼum/ | — | — | ǃhūb /ǃʰuːb/ | — | — | — |
| Mother | qáe /qae/ | — /—/ | ngamathu /ŋamat̪u/ | ĩs /ĩs/ | mater /ˈmater/ | matrer /ˈmatrer/ | ati /ˈati/ |
| Father | a̰a /a̰a/ | — /—/ | kanthathu /kant̪at̪u/ | abob /abob/ | atas /aˈtas/ | patre /ˈpatre/ | apa /ˈapa/ |
| I | ń /ŋ̩/ | n!aa /ŋ͡ǃaː/ | ngada /ŋada/ | tita /titá/ | az /az/ | — /—/ | mi /mi/ |
| You | a /aː/ | n!uu /ŋ͡ǃuː/ | nyingka /ɲiŋka/ | sats /sats/ | — /—/ | tu /tuː/ | — /—/ |
| We | īh /iː/ | n!aa /ŋ͡ǃaː/ | ngakulda / ngalda /ŋakulda / ŋalda/ | sada / sida /sada / sida/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Name | ǀqʼûle /ǀʛûle/ | — /—/ | nida /nida/ | ǀkxʼonna /ǀkxʼonːa/ | onoman /ˈonoman/ | nome /ˈnome/ | — /—/ |
| Person | tâa /taː/ | ngaajpu /ŋaːt̠ʲpu/ | — | khoeb /kʰoeb/ | — | — | — |
| Head | ǀnàn /ǀnã/ | nguu /ŋuː/ | — | mũǃʼãb /mũǃʔãb/ | — | — | — |
| Eye | ǃʼûĩ /ǃʼũĩ/ | k'uu /kʼuː/ | miburlda /mibuɭda/ | mũb /mũb/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Mouth | ǂûe /ǂue/ | — | — | kxʼamma /kxʼamːa/ | — | — | — |
| Tooth | ǃxu /ǃχu/ | — /—/ | damanda /damanda/ | ǁũb /ǁũb/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tongue | ǃnani /ǃnani/ | — /—/ | jalngantha /ɟalŋant̪a/ | tamma /tamːa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | ǀkxʼàa /ǀkxʼaː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ǃʼommi /ǃʔomːi/ | zeira /ˈzeːra/ | manuv-e /maˈnuwe/ | — /—/ |
| Foot | ǂnùũ /ǂnũũ/ | nguuwii /ŋuːwiː/ | — | ǂaib /ǂʔaib/ | petes /ˈpetes/ | persi /ˈpersi/ | — |
| Heart | ǀqʼàn /ǀqʼã/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ǂaob /ǂaob/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Bone | ǂàã /ǂãã/ | — /—/ | julda /ɟulda/ | ǂxōb /ǂxoːb/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Blood | ǃxãu /ǃχãũ/ | — /—/ | kandu /kandu/ | ǀʼaob /ǀʔaob/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Love | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ǀnam /ǀnam/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | ʼʘnàje /ʔʘnaje/ | wiijpu /wiːt̠ʲpu/ | — /—/ | hais /hais/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | ǂqhài /ǂqʰai/ | nh!2u /ŋ͡ǀŋ͡ǀu/ | — /—/ | arib /arib/ | kan /kan/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Fish | ǀqhaa /ǀqʰaa/ | l*i /ɬʔi/ | yakuri /jakuɾi/ | ǁʼaub /ǁʔaub/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Egg | ᶢǂúã /ᶢǂũã/ | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| House | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | kxʼommi /kxʼomːi/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Milk | gǂqhèẽ /ɡǂqʰeẽ/ | — | — | bīb /biːb/ | — | — | — |
| Eat | ʼâã /ʔãː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ǂʼũ /ǂʼũ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Drink | kxʼāhã /kxʼaːhã/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | kxʼā /kxʼaː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Sleep | ʘân /ʘã/ | — | — | ǁūm /ǁʔuːm/ | — | — | — |
| One | ǂʼûã /ǂʼũã/ | thuuku /t̻uːku/ | — /—/ | ǀui /ǀui/ | — /—/ | unu /ˈunu/ | thu /θu/ |
| Two | ǂnûm /ǂûm/ | kurrijpi /kuɾit̠ʲpi/ | kiyarrngka /kijaɾŋka/ | ǀam /ǀam/ | — /—/ | dur /dur/ | zal /tsal/ |
| Three | ǁaeˀe /ǁaeʔe/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ǃnona /ǃnona/ | — /—/ | trif /trif/ | ci /ki/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Good | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | ǃãĩ /ǃãĩ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Red | ǀàa /ǀàa/ | — /—/ | kandukandu /kandukandu/ | ǀkxʼaba /ǀkxʼaba/ | — /—/ | rofa /ˈrofa/ | — /—/ |
| Green | ᶢǀa̤ʕi /ᶢǀa̤ʕi/ | — | — | ǃkxʼam /ǃkxʼam/ | — | — | — |
| Blue | ᶢǀa̤ʕi /ᶢǀa̤ʕi/ | — | — | ǃnoā /ǃnoaː/ | — | — | — |
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